I WILL Have Mercy and Not Sacrifice

But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matthew 12:7

Some versions are a little more wishy washy in the translation of this verse rendering it “I DESIRE mercy and not sacrifice” yet the word that is translated as desire in some versions is the Greek word “Theol”. Although it can mean to “desire, to wish” the definition listed first is much more forceful:

1) to will, have in mind, intend
a) to be resolved or determined, to purpose

And so this verse can be taken as a promise and not merely a suggestion or something on God’s wish list. The process started long, long ago when he set apart a people from the heathen cultures that surrounded them and slowly began to bring his children out from the sacrificial system which was never in his heart to begin with. So he WILL have mercy and not sacrifice. Someday all the swords will be plowshares and mercy will abound for all.