Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.” (Mal 1:6-14 ESV)

Honor is a forgotten virtue in our society. Many children openly rebel against their parents and do not respect them nor their advise. Employees don’t seem to care anymore about their employers, they just want a paycheck. God was in the position as the disrespected father and master (v. 6a). The priest of Israel ought to have given God the proper respect perhaps more than anybody else. This was their full-time job. Not only did they fail, they dishonored God by not giving Him their best (v 6b).

The priests were given two accusations.

1) They showed contempt for God’s name (v. 6b). This means that they disrespected God’s name. They did not honor Him. They then asked, “How have we shown contempt for your name?” This leads to the second accusation.

2) They placed defiled food on God’s altar (v. 7a). This was concrete evidence that they had dishonored God (v. 8, 12-14). Notice how the priests responded to this second accusation. They did not ask, “How did we place defiled food on your altar?” They asked, “How have we defiled You?” They recognized, at least, that to disobey God was to dishonor Him. God has shown us in His Word how to live an abundant, joyful life, yet we often choose to dishonor God instead in order to live as we choose, for our own gain. But if God’s Word is true, then it’s in our best interest to live according to it.

But notice what the solution to all of this is. It’s not merely to offer the right kinds of sacrifices. We must receive God’s grace (v. 9). Will God accept us because of the kinds of offerings we give Him? No! We need His grace. It’s better to give up on the whole sacrificial system rather than dishonor God through it (v. 10).

God’s name will be great among the nations (v. 11). We can’t expect unbelievers to act like believers. But we who claim to know God must give God the proper place as Lord over our lives.

“And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.” Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?” (Mal 2:1-10 ESV)

God gave a warning to the priests of Israel. If they would not set their hearts to honor God’s name, they would be cursed (v. 2). This meant that they would not experience God’s blessings. It also meant that what blessings they did experience would be cursed. This meant that the things they found joy in would not be of God. It would not be lasting joy. God found no pleasure in their hypocritical festivals (v. 3). God is just and would not offend beyond how He Himself was offended. When we disobey God’s commands, it’s as if we have rubbed excrement on His face. We need to be absolutely disgusted and broken by our sin. Sin affects those around us, too (v. 3). Our children will likely fall into the same kinds of sins that we have fallen into. This ought to make us think: what kind of example are we setting for our children?

God has given this warning for a reason (v. 4). God does not give arbitrary commands just to test our obedience. It was so that His covenant with Levi would continue. But what covenant was He referring to? Read the description of it in verses 5-7. It’s referring not to the Levitical priesthood, but to Christ. Jesus is the Great Priest, and the fulfillment of what the priesthood was all about. We could not be saved by the blood of bulls and goats. We needed a Savior.

I mentioned last week that the book of Malachi follows a pattern. 1) The Lord tells something to the nation of Israel, often an accusation of unfaithfulness. 2) They question God about it, as if denying that they were truly unfaithful. 3) God responds with proof of their unfaithfulness, and often a solution as well.

This week breaks that pattern just slightly in the first verses of our passage (v. 6-7). This pattern is only broken one other time in this book, and we’ll talk about that in a few weeks. But why break the pattern here? I think it was intentional to teach of something very important. Notice the progression of thought in the questions. The first deals more with what we think about God. The second deals more with how we have treated God. What we think about God and how we live are absolutely connected. If we honor God with our hearts, we will also honor Him with our hands. If we are not honoring God with our hands, then we are likely not with our hearts either.