The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1954-06-18

'HV ~ opiit > K%Gp~x ~
They did really - "
know the mind Of. ~ q
God. And those = S3
prophets one and DR.. Foreman
all-and for that matter every
writer OF every part OF the Bible
teach that God does care. he
does want something of US.
A Great Word
The prophet Hosea preached in
a very religious" era. At least.
that is what his fellow citizens
may have thought There were
temples crowded with Worship
pers, there were treasures piled
high with tithes and offerings. The
smoke Of burning animals CON
sumed as sacrifices to the Most
High God could be seen rising
above every important city. espe-
cially in Jerusalem and Bethel
religious capitals of the little
countries Of Judah and Israel
thought God wanted was public
worship, rites and ceremonies. at
tendance at the temple, plenty OF
animals for sacrifice. Hosea knew
better. In memorably simple words
he says, speaking for God, II de
sire . - At this point our Eng
hsh translatorS OF the Hebrew Old
Testament-it should never be for
gotten that no part OF the original
Bible was written in Englsh-our
tranSlators run into trouble. The
Hebrew word Hosea used at this
point is "chesed" pronounced
rather like "hesseth'D and il is
interesting to see how many diff
ferent words are used in our Eng
lish Bibles TO translate this one
Hebrew word 1t is called good
ness (as in Psalm 1915. Hosea
cd; Kindness" (as in Gen.
20;l3; Neh. 9;lD: pity" in Job
GA; mercy" tas in Ps. 1908
and Hosea 40; loving kindness
Gas in Psalm 1894 Hosea 2:19l.
All these are in the old King
James Bible. More recent transla-
tors have used still other words.
Every student Of the Hebrew Bible
knows that we have here orfs OF
those great words that is bigger
than any word used to translate
or explain it, The translators Of
the Revised Standard Version
have used for the most part the
expression ''steadfast love to ex-
press the deep meaning OF this
word
What God Wants Most
Hosea told his people, and he
tells US. that what God wants most
Of all is this great thing which
is more than mercy. more than
kindness. something that can best
be expressed in the two words
steadfast love- Not sacrifice
and burnt offerings. as it used to
be thought; not anything else we
can think Of. Just steadfast love
Then Hosea puts with this and be-
side it something else: 'the
knowledge Of God" This does not
mean theology out of a book The
Hebrew word for knowledge
never meant simply information
about facts A person could memo
rize all the facts about Presi-
dent OF the United States and still
not really know him. knowledge
in the Bible sense Of that word is
a deeper thing, il is to enter in
tim ately into the understanding of
person. to know him as it were
from within. God wants OF us to-
day. as he did and does always,
more than anything else. that our
lives may show steadfast love"
which reflects his own.
NOTHING Else Will Do
We hear lot in America about
Back TO Religion" or Back to
Church." but good deal Of this
comes from people who have
kind Of vague idea that if the
churches were only full every Sun
day God would reward our fine
record OF church attendance with
bumper crops and prosperity in
general Hosea would smile sad
smile at such an idea. 1t was ex-
actly the kind of idea his wrong
headed people had IT was not
that God did not want sacrifices
at all but they were no substitute
for what God really desired most
of all So with us. Church going.
occasional bursts of reform.
cracking down on gamblers now
and then, more beautiful worship
services. bigger and handsomer
churches-none Of this can be
Americas substitute, or Amer
leans substitute, for steadfast love
and the knowledge Of God. He
wants it. Do we?
Division OF Christian Education. Ma
tionaI Council Of the Churches of Christ
in the U. S. A. Released by Community
Press service)
CATCH ELEPHANT RUSTLERS