Honoring the Lord - Part 1 (Malachi 1:6-14)
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we began looking at the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. We learned that the LORD loves Israel and this is seen in that He sovereignly and freely chose Israel to be the recipient of the covenant relationship with Him, to receive the covenant blessings. This love was also seen in the fact that after God judged Israel for her rebellion against Him by sending her into exile, He, then promised restoration and blessing and He brought her back from her exile and restored her to her land.
Affirming the LORD’S unconditional love for Israel did not pardon Israel’s guilt and this morning we will begin looking at Malachi’s opening accusation against the priests, the nation’s spiritual leaders. Malachi writes for the LORD how the priests were not honoring the LORD by first showing contempt for God’s sacrifices. Before turning to our passage this morning let’s pray and ask God to speak to us by His Word.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Malachi 1:6-14. Malachi begins by accusing the priests of not honoring the LORD. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Malachi 1:6-14,
“‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ ‘You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.’ But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’ ‘But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘nor will I accept an offering from you. For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘But you are profaning it, in that you say, “The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.” ‘You also say, “My, how tiresome it is!” And you disdainfully sniff at it,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?’ says the Lord. ‘But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and My name is feared among the nations.’” (Malachi 1:6–14, NASB95)[1]
THE CHARGE OF DESPISING GOD’S NAME (Malachi 1:6a)
Malachi opens the LORD’S accusation against the priests by referring to proper relationships in society. Israel understood that a son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. To not do so brought about punishment. Considering this, what relationship would Israel think comparable to her relationship with the LORD? Scripture uses both of these relationships to describe the LORD’S relationship to His people. In Exodus 4:22 Moses was commanded by God to say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.’” (Exodus 4:22b, NASB95)[2] Isaiah declared for Israel these words in Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8, NASB95)[3] So Scripture clearly describes the relationship of the LORD and Israel as a father and son relationship. The fifth commandment of the ten commandments states that children are to honor their parents. Under the Law a child that rebelled against discipline and would not listen to his parents was to be stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
If Israel as a nation considered itself as a “son” of the LORD should it not honor the LORD through obedience? The question is raised by the LORD of hosts, “If then I am a father, where is my honor, where is the glory due Me?” The word translated “honor” also means “glory.” The glory of God is spoken of very often in Scripture and there is no argument that glory and honor are due Him.
But what if the LORD was the master of Israel? What does Scripture say? It certainly presents Israel as the LORD’S servant. Listen again to Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 41:8-9, “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend, You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.” (Isaiah 41:8–9, NASB95)[4] If the nation of Israel is the LORD’S servant then they certainly must show respect to their master. The LORD’S second question is, “If I am a master, where is My respect?” The word translated “respect” might better be translated “fear.” But this word “fear” does not mean that we are afraid of God, the Bible Knowledge Commentary explains it this way, “Fear of God does not mean being terrified of Him; it means a proper respect and reverence for Him, a reverence that leads to worship and obedience.”[5]
Then the LORD of hosts makes His accusation, it is you, O priests who do not show me honor and glory as your Father, it is you, O priests who do not fear Me as your master, you despise My name. What makes this accusation so sad is that after the exile, the priests were responsible to teach the people God’s covenant and turn their hearts toward the LORD. If the priests failed to honor God and set the example for the people, then the people would follow the lead of the spiritual leaders of the nation. The priests were despising the LORD of hosts, this title speaks of God being the Commander of all the armies of heaven, this title speaks of His sovereignty and the full authority that He has over all His creation.
THE PRIESTS QUESTION THE CHARGE (Malachi 1:6b)
The priests were leading the people in despising the LORD and as in the first section where Israel asked how the LORD had loved them, here the priests are cast as questioning this accusation against them, “How have we despised Your name?” (Malachi 1:6b, NASB95)[6] There question was a denial of their wicked attitude toward God, their Father and their Master. As priests they should have known the requirements of the Law, they should have known what the LORD required of them, but from the proof given in verses 7-14 of God’s charge against them the priests were extremely insensitive to their sin, they seemed surprised and unaware that they had shown disrespect and dishonor towards God.
THE PROOF OF GOD’S CHARGE (Malachi 1:7-14)
The rest of this chapter is the proof given by God that the priests are despising His name. The LORD of hosts replies to their question of how they have despised the LORD’S name. He says, you have despised My name by offering polluted food on My altar. This rebuke by the LORD should have been enough to cause the priests to repent. The Law specifically laid out what was an acceptable sacrifice and what was not acceptable. Leviticus 22 where Moses laid out for the priests what was acceptable and what was unacceptable wrote in verse 22, “Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar.” (Leviticus 22:22, ESV)[7] In that same chapter of Leviticus they were warned if they offered unacceptable sacrifices they would profane and defile God’s name.
The priests recognized how serious this charge was, they could not plead ignorance of the Law, they were to be the experts in the Law, to offer polluted sacrifices was the same as polluting the LORD. So, the priest still denying the charge against them asked, “How have we defiled You?” (Malachi 1:7b, NASB95)[8] Malachi was quick to bring an answer to this second question, he replied, “In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’” (Malachi 1:7c, NASB95)[9] The priests may not have been saying this audibly, but their actions and attitude spoke louder than words. Instead of regarding temple service as an undeserved honor, they regarded it as a distasteful, miserable job. The table of the LORD is another way of describing the altar, this is where the food of the LORD was consumed by fire.
The LORD of hosts clearly spells out for them how they have despised His name. He says, “…when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil?” (Malachi 1:8a, NASB95)[10] They were offering the very animals that they were forbidden to offer on the altar. The animals that were offered on the altar were a picture of the sinless Son of God who would offer Himself as the sacrifice for the sin of the world. To offer up blind, lame, sick animals was an abomination to the LORD, it was making light of the sacrifice that was to come that would pay for the sins of the world. It was saying that sin could be paid for by anyone, which we know is impossible, even an eternity in the lake of fire being tormented forever and ever would not be enough for a sinner to erase his or her own debt, let alone pay the price for the sin of the world.
The LORD of hosts goes on and says, if these blemished sacrifices are good enough for me, try offering them to your Persian governor as your allotted tax to supply the food for his table. If you offered him a blind, sick or lame animal would he accept you or show you favor? No one would ever consider giving anything but his best to the governor, that was what was demanded, to do any less would not end with favorable results.
Just as you would not expect favor from the governor if you presented him with such offerings, why do you entreat God’s favor asking Him to pour out His grace on us when you present to Him blemished sacrifices. Do you really think that God will receive you kindly with the kind of sacrifices you are offering Him? Is not the LORD of hosts greater than your governor, yet you fear your governor, who is human, more than you fear the LORD who is the sovereign, absolute Ruler of the universe.
The LORD of hosts continues, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘nor will I accept an offering from you.” (Malachi 1:10, NASB95)[11] The LORD wishes that there was one faithful priest among them that would see what they were doing was not pleasing to God, was not an act of obedience, was not worshipping God and that they would shut the gates to the temple courtyard were the altar stood, that they would shut down the temple, that they would not kindle a fire on the altar. Rather then continue to insult God with their polluted sacrifices, it would be better to shut down the temple, bring an end to the temple services. They lit the altar fire in vain each day, their sacrifices were doing more harm than good. God was not pleased with them, and He was not accepting any offerings from them.
The LORD then speaks of a day when His name will be great among the nations, or among all peoples of the whole earth, this phrase “from the rising of the sun even to its setting” is a way of referring to the whole earth. From one end of the earth to the other end, the peoples will honor me, my name will be great among them. This verse can only be pointing to the millennium, when the whole earth will worship the LORD in the rebuilt temple, and incense and offerings will be present. The incense as often in Scripture may represent prayer and the offerings may refer to pure worship. It is in the millennium that the LORD will receive this pure worship throughout the world, and His name will be great and honored everywhere.
Following this brief look at the glorious future, Malachi returns to the inglorious present of his day. The same name that would be great among all the peoples in the future was being profaned by the priests of Malachi’s day. In the remaining three verses of this chapter Malachi gives six ways in which the priests are despising the name of the LORD.
First, these priests regarded God’s altar as polluted. At first they denied that they despised the LORD’S altar, but their attitude and actions showed that they detested the whole sacrificial ritual.
Second, they profaned the LORD’S name by complaining about their compensation. Part of the salary of the priest was they received some of what was sacrificed as their food. They were complaining that God got the best parts of the animal and they received what was left. In this way they were saying that the fruit (their part) may be despised because it is not the best part.
Third, the priests complained that their work in the sacrificial ritual was tiresome and unpleasant. They felt that the material reward was not enough for all the work that had to be done at the altar, the slaying and skinning and gutting of the animals was bloody work and it was not worth what they got from it. The LORD says they snort at it, they show their displeasure for the work of the LORD.
Fourth, the priests were presenting unacceptable sacrifices. The priests brought to the altar which they despised in the heart unworthy, unacceptable sacrifices. The animals they brought were not lawfully obtained, but had either been stolen or taken by fraud, they also brought animals which were lame or sick. The LORD asks the rhetorical question, “Shall I accept that from your hand?” To which an answer is not needed, because the obvious answer is “No!”
Fifth, the priests led the people into profaning the name of the LORD. The spiritual leaders of the nation led the people down a crooked path, rather than pointing them to the LORD. The people saw the example of the priests and followed after them. The LORD says, “But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord…” (Malachi 1:14, NASB95)[12] The context is that someone had made a vow to the LORD and had vowed to offer an unblemished male in his flock to the LORD, but once the emergency had passed, he instead brought a blemished, less valuable animal than the one he had vowed. What could the priests say when they were doing much the same thing, so they looked the other way.
Sixth, the priests profaned God’s name because of their failure to recognize the greatness of God. All the faults of the priests could be traced to one essential theological error. Their concept of God did not in any way correspond to the truth about God. First, they did not recognize the position of God. The LORD of hosts said, I am a great King. They feared their governor, they feared the Persian king, but they needed to fear the great King over all the earth. Second, they did not understand God’s power, He is the LORD of Hosts, the Commander of hosts of heaven and earth. Third, they did not recognize the glory of the LORD of hosts, one day His name would be feared among the nations, among all the peoples of the earth.
CONCLUSION:
The priests of Malachi’s day were charged by the LORD for profaning His name in their worship. When they brought a sacrifice to the altar that was an act of worship, it was to be a time of renewing fellowship with the LORD, humbling yourself before the LORD, confessing your sin, and offering a sacrifice looking forward to the perfect sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we think about how these leaders profaned the name of the LORD by despising this picture that God had given them of the perfect sacrifice, we must look at our own hearts and ask ourselves if we are worshiping the Lord from a pure heart. This morning our Scripture reading came from Romans 12 where the first two verses speak of this very thing. Paul writes, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1–2, NASB95)[13] What does this mean to present your body a living and holy sacrifice? It means that we surrender our will, our mind, our actions and all that we have to God because of the mercies of God. God poured out mercy on us when He did not give us what we deserve, because as sinners we each deserve eternal judgment in the lake of fire forever and ever, but God in mercy sent the Lord Jesus Christ to pay the price for our sin, to die in our place, to suffer God’s wrath against sin on our behalf. When we consider what Christ did for us, what He saved us from and what He saved us to, it should cause us to desire to present our bodies to Him as a living and holy sacrifice. That means that we are no longer our own, but we have come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Paul says that to do this is an act of worship. Then to continue in this way we are not to be conformed to this world, you have surrendered to Christ, you are now distinct from the world, so we must renew our minds, how do we do that? By being in God’s Word, by not only reading it, but doing what it says. We can only know God’s will if we are in His Word, when we do what His Word says, then we are in His will, which is good and acceptable, and perfect.
Those priests in Malachi’s day were not renewing their minds through the Word, or they would have had a very different outlook on life, they would have understood who God is, and they would not have feared man, but they would have feared God and served Him in a much different way. Have you surrendered your body as a living sacrifice, holy (set apart) and acceptable to God?
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]Blaising, C. A. (1985). Malachi. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1577). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[7]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.
[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[9]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[10]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[11]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[12]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[13]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995