6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ 7 You place defiled food on my altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you? By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty. 9 “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”--says the LORD Almighty. 10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “But you profane it by saying of the Lord’s table, ‘It is defiled,’ and of its food, ‘It is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty. “When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.”
God, through the mouth of the Prophet Malachi, now directs His message especially to the priests who, instead of living exemplary lives, were guilty of breaking the very law they were supposed to obey and teach. The priests’ simplest, most basic, most moral duty was to honor God. Yet, the way they were serving the Lord was a disgrace to His Name and God took a serious view of their behavior that dishonored Him. Their poor actions reflected on the character and reputation of God.
God is referred to in this passage - and throughout Scripture as well - as “Father”. He was the loving Father of Israel. He redeemed them from Egypt with an outstretched arm and He has redeemed us as well with an outstretched arm. He nurtured them like a loving Father as He carried them through the wilderness and He nurtures us like a loving Father as He carries us through our wildernesses. Out of love, He also disciplined them when they were disobedient and out of love, He disciplines us as well (Hebrews 12:3-11):
*4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” *
*7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. *
*9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. *
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:4-11 (NIV)
Is it any wonder then that God, as our spiritual Father, expects our obedience?
Read God Parted The Seas For You (1) – (Equating the parting of the Red Sea to our salvation)
However, we see in our text that Israel did not obey Him as a child obeys a father. Songs to Him were far from their lips. They had become fat and sassy in their standings with Him and took Him for granted. In the first place, they offered Him no honor. The priests, as leaders of God’s children, were supposed to have honored His Name yet they were disgracing it before the people and the Lord. The wording used against them indicates the nature of their wickedness, the breaking up of all that is good or desirable. It especially indicates moral depravity, corruption and lewdness. They did not revere Him, they did not respect Him and they certainly did not appreciate Him for all He had done for them.
To begin with they were offering defiled sacrifices on the altar. These animals were to be perfect – nothing imperfect could be accepted as a proper sacrifice. After all, these sacrifices pointed to the Lamb of God who would one day die for the sins of the world. Therefore, if their sacrifices were imperfect, how could they typify the ultimate Perfect Sacrifice, the Son of God? What they offered reflected their estimate of Him. In the Gospel of John we discover the Baptist’s word:
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 (NIV)
In short, the priests were permitting the people to bring God less than their best. It would have been better to offer nothing than to be totally irreligious, hypocritically presenting an offering with a contemptuous spirit. Likewise, it would be better to shut down a seminary or close a church than to operate such an institution in a spirit of unbelief and callousness. Seriously, why bother???? Pride? Christian service is never to be performed hypocritically. Never. Deception in any area of life is despicable, but deception in the things of God is suicidal. What folly it is to insult the Lord of hosts! The angels who surround the throne of God must view with utmost astonishment the incredible foolishness of human beings who think they can hoodwink God. God’s Name is to be great – held in the highest esteem – and even more so now on this side of the cross. These Israelites were unlike King David, the man after God’s own heart, who would not offer a sacrifice to God that cost him nothing after he had wrongly took the census by counting his men:
*21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped.” 22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. *
23 O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. 25 David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped. 2 Samuel 24:21-25 (NIV)
Is it really a sacrifice if it doesn’t cost? What counts, will cost. Yet we can never out give God. The rapturous blessing comes after the sacrifice:
“God will be our compensation for every sacrifice we have made.” ** F. B. Meyer**
That is not to say that it won’t hurt or we won’t feel the pinch or the pain. Consider the cross. Paul tells us in Philippians Two:
*5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV) *
“God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son at a place three days distant. The word ‘love’ appears for the first time in the Bible in that command. Of course He didn’t allow him to go through with it. On the third day Abraham retained his son alive. Two thousand years later on the day Israel celebrated the sparing of sons Jesus of Nazareth was executed by slow torture. Maybe God wanted Abraham to exhibit a pattern. Maybe He wanted to teach a principle. Or maybe God wanted Abraham to know what it felt like to be God. Instead of slaying his son Abraham sacrificed a ram. He was able to catch the animal because his horns were entangled in the thicket. CAUGHT BY A CROWN OF THORNS. There were lots of startling coincidences like that. It's almost as if the thing were planned…” Ronnie Stevens
“The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours. Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive – He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm……Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.” Oswald Chambers
“A cheerful giver does not count the cost of what he gives. His heart is set on pleasing and cheering him to whom the gift is given.” Julian of Norwich
“Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing.” John Henry Jowett
We need a heads-up here as well. Our offerings are to be an overflow of our hearts thankfulness to God. They are an indication of what is actually in our hearts. Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount:
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 (NIV)
Further, Peter states that believers are now a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God:
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)
Our response to His mercy towards us is an openhanded view of all things He has given us. We are actually to be conduits of His grace, mercy and love to others in our spheres. This does not simply mean money but our time, our talents, our very lives as well! Paul tell us we were bought with a high price therefore we are to honor God with our vessels:
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
Read On This Day September 20 – Ten More Days (2)
It reminds me of the lyrics to “Who Is On The Lord’s Side” (3) **
** **
**If our concept of God is so low that we think that He is pleased with cheap, half-hearted, paste gem ritualistic worship and offerings, we simply do not know the God of the Bible. We are to have an appropriate respect and a reverential honor for a Holy God and it fleshes out in how we live our lives. God is basically stating here that “You have not honored Me and you do not respect Me.” Despite the priest’s privileged position, they despised God. The term “despise” is significant. It is the attitude of ongoing disrespect. It also refers to the act of conveying insignificance or worthlessness upon an object, idea or individual. They despised Who God was. He wasn’t important to them anymore. He wasn’t breathtaking to them anymore. He wasn’t significant to them anymore. God takes His sacrifices very seriously. Remember what happened to Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron the high priest when they offered unauthorized sacrifices to the Lord?
1 Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Leviticus 10:1-2 (NIV)
He didn’t want second best. He didn’t want “good enough,” He didn’t want mere motions, He wanted the very best they had. Indeed, God desires, delights in and deserves our very best. We give Him our best and He empowers it through the indwelling Holy Spirit. In fact, a God who encourages us to do less than our best is a God who isn’t worthy of our worship. Jeremiah also tells us of God’s opinion on the worthlessness of mere religiosity. His soul loathes the half-hearted, hypocritical worship and sacrifice of His children. While lengthy, it is worth our read:
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD.” 3 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!’ 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. 9 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe--safe to do all these detestable things?’ 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 7:1-11 (NIV)
*16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?” 20 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched.” 21 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” Jeremiah 7:16-24 (NIV) *
27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.” 28 Therefore say to them, “This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.” Jeremiah 7:27-29 (NIV)
Indeed, Malachi tells us that the priests would even allow the people to cheat on their vows. If a man promised God a sacrifice but brought an animal that was sick or blemished, the priest would accept it even though the man had a perfect animal back home. In the Mosaic law, vows were purely voluntary, but once they were made, they were binding. If the governor would not accept cheap offerings should God be expected to accept cheap substitutes? God is our great King and He deserves the very best we can bring Him. Further, what we promise, we must fulfill. He does not look lightly on broken oaths.
One would wonder why the priests would allow such shenanigans yet they themselves were polluting the altar of the Lord – they weren’t giving God their best so why make greater demands on the people? Like people, like priest for no ministry rises higher than its leaders. They forgot God’s Word to them in 1 Samuel when He was rejecting Saul as King for disobedience:
22 But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NIV)
King David also tells us:
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:16-17 (NIV)
The Prophet Micah adding:
6 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8 (NIV)
The proper attitude before God – particularly when convicted of sin - is humble repentance. Psalm 18 states:
*27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. Psalm 18:27 (NIV) *
“Now when a man has learned through the commandments to recognize his helplessness and is distressed about how he might satisfy the law…and then being truly humbled and reduced to nothing in his own eyes, he finds in himself nothing whereby he may be justified and saved. Here the second part of Scripture comes to our aid, namely, the promises of God which declare the glory of God, saying, ‘If you wish to fulfill the law….come, believe in Christ in whom grace, righteousness, peace, liberty, and all things are promised to you. If you believe you shall have all things; if you do not believe, you shall lack all things’.” Martin Luther
In modern times God may have reason to say something to us like this: “You offer your best to Uncle Sam, but you offer less to the work of God. You spend all our time watching college football (or whatever!) but you spend minimal time reading my Word. You spend all your time in your hobbies, but you devote little time to praying, seeking, memorizing and meditating. Remember Jesus’ Words to us in Matthew:
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:28-34 (NIV)
And now they had the audacity to solicit the favor of God! In fact the wording indicates “to smooth over” in modern day vernacular “to butter someone up”. As ridiculous as this sounds we do the very same things today: “God, I know I haven’t attended church in a while; I know I haven’t been faithful to read the Word; I know I haven’t given any of my resources to the ministry, I know I continually lose my temper and say ugly things, I know I haven’t memorized and meditated on your Truths, etc., etc., etc.! But God would you please bless this situation at this time? Would you look upon me favorably?” Of course, I am not suggesting that we ever merit God’s favor by actually doing any of these things but the inconsistency is appalling is it not??? We betray our lack of reverence and we despise His great Name with such behavior. Before God ever accepts our gifts, He inspects our hearts. The value of the offering is determined by the heart of the one who is offering it. Before you give anything to God, you must give Him yourself completely. He is to be number One on our lives and He does not take second place.
One commentary gives the following great story making this point:
“There was a young believer who had attended church shortly after being baptized in Africa. During part of the service, they were passing the offering plate. Because she was a new believer, this was an unfamiliar practice. She saw people taking money out of their pockets and their wallets and putting it into the offering plate. She, as a new believer and living in menial conditions, reached into her pockets and realized she had no money. As the plate was being passed down her row, the usher handed it to her. She didn’t know what to do so she set it on the ground, and she stood inside the plate before speaking out loud, ‘God, I don’t have any money but You can have all of me.’ Surely this was an acceptable act of worship!” Christ-Centered Exposition
“If we truly understand God’s economy, we will realize that our sacrifices are not really sacrifices at all. The Lord will always bless the fully surrendered sacrifice.” Michael Youssef
God’s people had despised God’s Name. They had forgotten about His wondrous nature and His glorious works. He wasn’t impressive to them anymore. They did not stand in awe of Him. Their service to the Lord seemed monotonous and it was a merely a rote job to them. God indicts His people for simply going through the motions. He was sick and tired of their heartless rituals and routines. He desires wholehearted devotion and a willing mind which judging by their commitment to worship was absent. As stated prior, when the priest possess a lackadaisical attitude toward God, the people adopt the same mentality. Yet Malachi reports for God that the game is over.
We should resolve decisively today to cease the spiritual farces. Let’s be through with casual Christianity once and for all. Let’s be through with worthless worship and selfish service that we give in order to get and let’s come before the One who know all. Perhaps you can fool every soul in the world but you can never fool God. Scripture tell us:
*9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV) *
*10 “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10 (NIV) *
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
Malachi proves that when there are listless actions, at the root is always an apathetic attitude. When our actions are tedious toward the Lord, when we are monotonous in our rituals, it’s always stemming from a heart filled with apathy. The priests in Malachi’s day were burdened by the sacrificial system. They viewed their service as a system of merely checking boxes or punching time cards so to speak. They simply wanted to get their work done in order to return home and relax. Remember, worship is so much more than mere words and actions and fulfilling duties, it is always an attitude of the heart. The heart of the problem is always a problem of the heart.
“Why don’t we see more miracles and supernatural interventions today? As long as Christians choose to live, for all intents and purposes, as if they were atheists, God says, ‘Go ahead and live by sight and not by faith. If you change your mind and decide to live by faith, I will intervene.’” Michael Youssef
There was a blindness and hardness in their attitudes resulting in their low view of God. As long as we are playing games our sacrifice and worship count for less than nothing. Yet, when we sees God for Who He is and what He’s done for us we will be affected and we will respond in authentic worship.
On this side of the cross, you and I, as priests, offer up sacrifices to the Lord. Living sacrifices as opposed to dead sacrifices. The problem with living sacrifices is they often have the tendency of crawling off the altar on which they are laid. For this reason we must continually recommit ourselves to God and to His leading.
Read A Right To Lead – Spurgeon (4)
By God’s grace, may we offer meaningful worship to the only One Who is worthy of all honor and glory and praise, even among all the nations.
These are Beth’s personal notes, due to this fact sources are not often stated.