We are now going to consider the rest of chapter 1 and these words are going to challenge each and very one of us. You may feel uncomfortable, you may have to acknowledge some painful truths in your life, but wherever it takes us do not lose sight of what God has already said to us. He has said “I have loved you and I have demonstrated my love by choosing you, by choosing you out this world not for any good that you have done but simply because he has declared that he will show mercy to those who he will show mercy to. But He has given you the birthright, and the inheritance of the promised land.” We stand in an incredibly privileged position and with that comes responsibility which is what we will consider now.
Remember the theme of the book?
Who may abide the day of His coming?
Mal 3:2
(2) But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
We want to keep dwelling on this question because afterwards none of us should have any doubt in our minds as to the position we presently stand in before God and Jesus Christ.
Lets read verses 6-10 of chapter 1
Mal 1:6-10NET
(6) A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
(7) Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
(8) And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
(9) And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
(10) Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
Now there is no way that we will be able go through all of the magnificent gems that come out of this section but there are some ideas that we would like to draw out.
In verse 6 God starts with 2 earthly examples, The first looks at the relationship between a Father and a Son and the second considers the relationship between a master and a servant. He then asks the nation 2 important questions.
"if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear?"
Now you will note that God asks these questions in a very interesting way. He doesn’t say
“ I am your Father, and I am your Master he says “If I am your Father” and “If I am your Master”
Now why would he do that? There was no question that He was both their Father and their Master. And I imagine that he is getting them to consider for themselves whether they really consider God to be their father and their master. Do they accept that God is their Father and Master?
(I should comment here by saying the people had the opportunity to serve Him in Love (Father) and not by fear (Master))
Exo 4:22NET
(22) And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
There was no doubt the God was their Father, but what about there master. In essence that are being asked to remember when they agreed to serve God. To remember the covenant that they had made with God.
Exo 19:4-8NET
(4) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
(5) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
(6) And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
(7) And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
(8) And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
So clearly they had accepted in the past, God as their Father and their Master! So He then drives deeper by asking for another response.
If I am your father, where is mine honour? And if I am your master, where is my fear?
Honour and Fear this is what God wanted. What do they mean?
Honour in Strong’s in 3519
H3519 From H3513; properly weight; but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness: - glorious (-ly), glory, honour (-able).
God is saying where is my glory, where is my splendour - Honour in the dictionary means respect of esteem.
What about fear?
H4172 From H3372; fear; by implication a fearful thing or deed: - dread, (that ought to be) fear (-ed), terribleness, terror.
Now this brings us to an interesting point and that is the consideration of the Fear of God. In my opinion this subject in itself, is one that is misunderstood on a regular basis. For a correct understanding of rest of the book of Malachi and by implication an adequate answer to the theme “who may abide the day of his coming” we need to correctly understand what it means to fear God.
It is extremely important as this theme affects anyone that would come before the Lord to worship. In Malachi we have seen that the word Fear means fear; by implication a fearful thing or deed, something that ought to be feared, terribleness or terror.
Interestingly, if you go through a concordance you will see that there are many Hebrew and Greek words that have all been translated as fear. In Strong’s you find that the majority of these words refer to reverence at some point right next a comment about terror, dread, frightened or something like that. Now the most common Hebrew word that is translated as fear is H3372 is actually translated as reverence on two occasions.
H3372
A primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten: - affright, be (make) afraid, dread (-ful), (put in) fear (-ful, -fully, -ing). (be had in) reverence (-end), X see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).
So clearly reverence has fear in it. But there must be more than that.
Now there is a verse that on the surface seems to challenge what I just said and I am surprised that no-one has pulled me up and quoted as I have heard this verse quoted on numerous occasions that "we" do not have to fear God.
1Jo 4:18
(18) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
G5401 From a primary φέβομαι phebomai (to be put in fear); alarm or fright: - be afraid, + exceedingly, fear, terror.
Now I would like you to turn to Phil 2:12
Phi 2:12
(12) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear (G5401) and trembling.
So on the one hand we are told that perfect love casts out fear and on the other we are told to work out our salvation with trembling and fear. How do you reconcile the two? Well one of the best explanation of 1John that I have heard simply states “the man that loves perfectly is the man that need not fear God. And I agree with that. We don’t love perfectly and although Gods love towards us is perfect, our response to that love is far from perfect, therefore the relationship does not experience perfect love. But having said that 1 John to me highlights the progression that we need to make. This progression has to do with our motivation for service. In the beginning when God established his relationship with the Children of Israel at the mount the first emotion that they experienced was fear. As we develop in our relationship the motivation needs to change to love. So while we are in this life I believe that our relationship with God will be a combination of Love and Fear. Jesus confirms this in Heb 5:7-8.
Heb 5:7-8
(7) (Jesus) Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared (g2124);
G2124
From G2126; properly caution, that is, (religiously) reverence (piety); by implication dread (concretely): - fear (-ed).
Now this really adds weight to what we are saying as Jesus himself was heard of God because he feared. He clearly loved his Father but he also feared. So let’s try and bring this all together.
We must come before God with reverence when we worship. What is reverence? In the dictionary it says that reverence is “To treat or regard with deep respect”. I suppose a true definition would be to say that reverence is the right combining of Love and Fear.
In the day in which we live people tend to highlight the Love of God but there are symptoms that fear is beginning to disappear. Because reverence is the right combining of Love and fear, if you remove the fear then obviously you haven’t got the reverence.
And in Deuteronomy 6 that well known chapter when Moses addressed those words of command to Israel. He said, Thou shalt Love the lord thy God with all thy heart, soul and mind. Yes, and that is true, and that is the first and greatest commandment. But also in that chapter it says “thou shalt Fear the Lord thy God and serve him. How do you love someone and fear them?
The two would almost seem contradictory. Well I think an illustration may help. An illustration of Love and Fear at the same time. And here we think of a sailor, a hardened sailor and it is well said that a good sailor never loses his fear for the sea. He never loses his fear for the sea and yet he loves it, he couldn’t live without it. He loves it and he fears it, and he know that the day he treats it flippantly he may pay the price. He has come to know it in all its moods, by what he has been taught and by his experiences at sea. He Loves it and fears it and that is true.
Now to me that analogy put both emotions in their rightful perspective and to just clarify a little further I would like you turn to Ex 20:20 where we see why we need to have this fear.
Exo 20:20
(20) And Moses said unto the people, Fear (3372) not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear (3374) may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
This verse really puts it all into perspective for me. Moses first says to the people Fear not. God has come to prove you. Now this is a positive. It highlights that God has a good purpose for us. He desires to save us and to give us eternal life.
He is loving towards us. So we are not supposed to live our lives in fear. But there is a place for it. Because God has come to prove us, we need to always be aware of the consequences of our actions. If we step outside the bounds of his love and mercy we know that there is only a fearful looking forward to judgment. This is why his fear needs to be before our faces it is a motivation for us not to sin.
Now that may have seemed like a bit of an aside, but this discussion of Love and Fear is critical in seeing where the nation failed towards God. Reverence is the right combining of love and fear and if we lose either we do not have reverence.
So back to verse Mal 1:6-10. By a series of comparisons and arguments the Father draws attention to the present condition of the nation. In the everyday world, He points out, children honour their parents and slaves respect their masters. How then can the priests of God, who by their very role as representatives of God to the people treat Him with such utter disrespect? Verse 6 tells us that as a result of them not honouring and fearing God that they had actually despised his name.
Now incredibly they once again question God and say when did we despise your name? This just highlights how self deceived we can become when we start to reason with our fleshly minds and justify our actions.
Verse 7 & 8 then give us the Father’s response as he lists in no uncertain terms how they had despised his name.
Mal 1:7-8
(7) Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
(8) And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
So in verse 7 they offer polluted bread. This can also be translated food. It is a general term that is applied to that which is offered to God upon the alter, including the flesh, the fat and the meal. Now this food was contaminated or defiled. The alter was considered the table of God as the food placed on it was consumed by Him. So the polluted bread represented the sacrifices that are mentioned in verse 8.
Deu 15:21
(21) And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.
Lev 22:22
(22) Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
Only in the freewill offering could an Israelite offer an imperfect animal lev22:23, thus acknowledging that they themselves were imperfect.
Lev 22:23
(23) Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
The Jews were perverting the vow offering which we will consider further when we get to verse 14 by offering animals containing blemishes. In offering sacrifices, they are to be a token of the giver offering himself. Therefore, the ritual without the spirit was useless. Sacrifice always implies personal loss on the part of the giver. Cp 1 Chron 21:23-25. The divine principle is such that all sacrifices given in this spirit will be repaid in full. Mal 3:10 hag 2:18-19 Prov 3:9-10.
Mal 3:10
(10) Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. So God says prove me, test me. I will show you that you will be better of by serving me.
The second part of verse 8 gives us a statement of strong irony. Would a gentile official accept such a disrespectful, indifferent sacrifice? He would throw it in their faces! Yet they expected the most high God of heaven to accept such offerings, and became indignant at the thought that they were offending. They offered greater respect for a fleshly governor who they could see with their eyes than for the God of heaven and earth, who they could not see. They lacked faith and vision Heb 11:6 Prov 29:18. They knew God theoretically but not in heart.
Lets move onto verse 9 and 10
Mal 1:9-10
(9) And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
(10) Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
In verse 9 Israel is called upon to beseech God to see if he would accept them. This is an ironical statement which really means “What is the use of your prayer, your beseechings of God – He will not accept your persons”. What was required was not an outpouring of prayer, but a changed heart and mind.
The second part of verse 9 “This hath been by your means”, Roth says “at your hands”. It is simply saying your actions have caused God to hide his face or to turn away from you.
Mal 1:10
The first word of verse 10 is “Who”. Instead of the Hebrew “mi” (Who), one of the original text reads “ki” (Surely), and this reading is adopted by scholars such as Houbigant and Newcombe, and is in accordance with the Septuagint version. The verse can then be read:
“Surely the doors will be closed against you, neither shall ye kindle the fire of my alter in vain.”
This alternate reading makes the verse prophetic of God’s intention to take away the priestly functions from Levi, as He did in AD70, in preparation for when His name shall be in all honour among the Gentiles in accordance with Mal 1:11.
This of course shall be because of the Melchizidec priesthood under Christ (Rev 5:9-10), and not through the priesthood that was from Aaron. The “You” in this verse is obviously referring to the priests which we get from Mal 1:6. There was no service that they would do willingly without pay and in love for God; their approach to him was completely mercenary. God says that he has no pleasure in them, this is exactly what happens when we alienate ourselves from God through the things that we do and the attitudes that we have.
Lastly from Mal 1:10 we read “Neither will I accept” - Just because we offer something to God does not mean that he will accept it. We must offer to God what he has asked in the way that he has asked for it to be offered. It has always been the same and it is a lesson that we all need to take on board.
A relationship with God is on His terms not ours.
And to put Mal 1:10 in today’s context; all we have to do is turn to Rev 2:4-5 where we read what was pronounced against the Ephesian ecclesia.
Rev 2:4-5
(4) Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
(5) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Now the choice was clear. Change your ways or I will remove the candlestick out of its place. The candle stick in revelation represents the ecclesia. The start of chapter 2 says the this letter is from “he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks”. They were being told in no uncertain terms that unless they sorted themselves out them the ecclesia would be taken away just as the priests had been told that the doors of the temple would be shut for the way they had acted.
Sobering warning!!!
To Be Cont...
Now this brings us to a quick thought on offering which is mentioned at the end of verse 10 “An offering” Hebrew Minchah. Always refers to the meal offering. It is of prime significance that whenever Malachi uses the word offering he always uses Minchah. There is one exception MAl 3:8 where the word terumah – heave offering, and very closely related to the meal offering in meaning.
It had to contain the salt of the covenant and was not to contain any leaven of wickedness. In Malachi’s day both of these requirements were ignored in a spiritual sense. The covenant had been broken and wickedness and malice were abounding everywhere. The meal offering (lev 2) symbolised an Israelite dedicating the fruits of his labours to Yahweh. It spoke of works, action and service being rendered to the most high. It was a symbol of a person’s very best, given to Yahweh with a hearty and joyful spirit recognising the Father’s blessing. This was Malachi’s bone of contention with the nation. They were offering only that which was of little use to themselves, and then complaining that it was all a weariness.
And you can imagine what an offering it must have been like in Malachi’s days. The nation had been cursed with famine Mal 3:10-11, and the labours of their hands had been fruitless. The minchah (offering) meant nothing to them and in addition they had the audacity to offer it with imperfect animals. It is no wonder that God would not regard their offering. There was an urgent need to purify them selves before they could offer an acceptable sacrifice. The smoke and ashes they produce are an offense to a holy God, a stench in His nostrils rather than a sweet savor (Isa. 65:1-5).
We, like Israel are “an holy priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Pet 2:5). Our lives are a sacrifice to God. Our offering is described in Rom 12:1
Rom 12:1
(1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Paul here appeals to us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Israel minimised God’s requirements and when we give ourselves half-heartedly to the truth we become as guilty as the nation was in Malachi’s day.
Now this is really some thing that we could spend an entire night on in itself but to pull together the thoughts that we have considered in the last few verses we need to consider it all in the light of our own days. I would like you to think for a moment about your service to God. Do you present yourself as a living sacrifice to God? Does your offering represent the best that you have to offer? Does your offering cost you something? What I mean is does it Hurt? An offering meant nothing if didn’t hurt. This is completely logical we think of what the word sacrifice actually means.
So to use the analogy in Malachi we ask the question. For those who work. If you treated your boss the way that you treat God how long would you keep your job for? Think about it.
If you went to work and one day you did what you boss asked, and then the next day you completely ignored what you had been asked and did your own thing or simply just went home. If you were lazy, did a half-hearted job, complained about everything you were asked to do, tried to find a way to get out of any responsibility? If you acted like that at work how long would you last? How long before you were told not to come back. Now interestingly enough we do not seem to have any issues with that being the case. But we find it hard to accept that the creator of heaven and earth requires up to be accountable to Him. So next time you find yourself eagerly seeking more responsibility or promotion at work make sure that you don’t walk away from responsibilities before God. For those that own there own business the same applies, if you treated you clients the way that you treat God how long would you business remain a viable concern. I suggest not very long. For those that bring up children and run a household the same applies. How would those children turn out if you just decide that you don’t feel like looking after them today or don’t want to clean this week, can’t be bothered buying food. Logically in all these examples we can see very clearly how things don’t work. Malachi was telling the people in no uncertain term that if an earthly governor would throw there offering in their faces then how foolishly they are to think that the creator of heaven and earth would accept them.
The offering was the best that a person could give. We are expected to give the best that we have regardless of the circumstances that we find ourselves in. In the days of Malachi there was a famine in the land and the nation was offering up sick animals. Let’s put this in perspective because sometimes we are a bit too hard on the Israel. In a famine you don’t have any food. So you look outside and you see your herd shrinking both in number and in size. You know that soon the animals would run out and you would have absolutely nothing to eat. You have two animals left, one is lame the other is healthy. You need to make a sacrifice on the alter.
Which animal will you offer?
The healthy one that has good meat on it that will help your family to survive and may give you an extra week of food? Or do you keep the healthy because it is the best for your family, and it may be the only way they survive. This is how serious the decisions were. What would you do? Would you offer the healthy or the sick? You know that law says that you can’t offer the lame but surely that is better than offering nothing. And how could God expect you to give the best of you food knowing that you probably stare. Well God expects you to give your best regardless. Give that healthy animal and have faith that God will supply your every need as he has promised. That takes it to a whole new level doesn’t it.
Now If you are anything like me you can go through this thought process and feel that it is just so hard to please God and to have the faith that is required. But we need to remember that what God is asking for is so simple that we feel that we need to complicate it so the we are comfortable with it.
Mic 6:6-8
(6) Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
(7) Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
(8) He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
It is not sacrifices that God desires. The LORD requires us to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. That is it. But is must be done at the exclusion of all other things that will get in our way.
The reason for the sacrilegious behaviour of the priests, described so graphically in Mal 1:6-10, becomes clear in verse Mal 1:11-14 as we see that it was their spirit itself that was sacrilegious. They betrayed the simplest of principles - that good works must originate in pure hearts. It is no wonder then that these priests, by their works of hypocrisy and self-centeredness, reveal an attitude that equals their deeds, an attitude that at best can be described as high minded and contemptuous.
Mal 1:11-14
(11) For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
“For” the first word of verse 11 highlights that what follows will be the reason why the doors of the temple were shut to the priesthood. It highlights that even though they had failed to live up to their responsibilities God would still accomplish his purpose.
In this verse we have a glimpse of the changed conditions when God’s purpose is fulfilled in the earth: The gentiles in all parts worshiping Him in truth; Israel with a pure offering; prayer ascending to Him from all parts; His name great because of the mighty deeds He has accomplished. It is an expressive word picture of the kingdom. Beautiful
We will skip verse Mal 1:12 and move straight on to verse Mal 1:13
(13) Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
So they say, “What a weariness it is”. The Septuagint renders it “these services are troublesome “weariness is derived from a word meaning distress. It is as though they were saying “Look at all the trouble and inconvenience we are going to – and for what?” But once again they were deluded they were not going to a lot of trouble. The joy has left their worship, and it has become a heavy burden. The loss of a true understanding of worship leads easily to a total disregard or even failure to accept its requirements, and so these priests of the Temple sniff at their responsibilities, considering them as beneath their dignity, and they go about establishing religion on their own terms.
This is summarised by their willingness to receive and to offer in sacrifice stolen, lame, and sick animals (Mal 1:8), a gesture that is completely abhorrent to God who says (literally), “Can I be pleased with it from your hands?” The same occurs in v. 8 where God asks whether the governor would be pleased with an insulting gift. The argument is clear. If a mere human authority can be offended by a gift and an attitude that portrays indifference or even hostility, how can one expect God to feel other than complete revulsion? And finally verse Mal 1:14.
(14) But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Continuing with another example of ritual failure, God singles out the individual who pretends that he will offer the male of his flock but presents instead a blemished animal (v14). The “male” refers to the choicest animal, physically whole and well and in its prime (Ex. 12:5; 34:19; Lev. 1:3, 10; 4:23; 22:19). The hypocrite (lit., “deceiver,” ptc. of lk^n`, nakal, “to be crafty”) goes so far as to select such an animal from his flock, to make a public vow to offer it to God, and then secretly substitutes it for an inferior animal. But what he does secretly among men is wide open before God. Such blasphemous works brings down upon its perpetrator the divine curse, for God is a Great King.
God says that the evidence that He is a Great King lies in the fact that He is feared among the nations of the earth. This does not (as v. 11 does) suggest that the nations know Him redemptively, but only that His name or reputation has become known by His mighty deeds on behalf of His people. Surely a God whose name is revered by the pagans deserves and has a right to demand that His servant people render Him appropriate reverence.
So in conclusion then we have seen very clearly tonight the way God felt towards the priests of the nation, it has been explained in very simple terms were they failed, yet they did want to recognise the error of their way. God expects honour and fear and we saw that this does not mean that we quiver every time that we approach him rather is to draw from us a reverse that is required for true worship. Our offering was examined and we considered how excellence is not something that is promoted in the days that we live. We are taught from a very young age that we just have to do enough to meet the status quo and everything will be alright. God on the other hand expects our life to be a living sacrifice to Him and anything less than our best is just not acceptable. His love has been highlighted, his desire to save us is certain. His purpose will be accomplished and we need to use the lessons from the nation to help us in our walk so that we can re-dedicate our lives to him so that our worship is acceptable.
Remember the theme of the book?
Who may abide the day of His coming?
Mal 3:2
(2) But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
We want to keep dwelling on this question because afterwards none of us should have any doubt in our minds as to the position we presently stand in before God and Jesus Christ.
Lets read verses 6-10 of chapter 1
Mal 1:6-10NET
(6) A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
(7) Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
(8) And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
(9) And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
(10) Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
Now there is no way that we will be able go through all of the magnificent gems that come out of this section but there are some ideas that we would like to draw out.
In verse 6 God starts with 2 earthly examples, The first looks at the relationship between a Father and a Son and the second considers the relationship between a master and a servant. He then asks the nation 2 important questions.
"if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear?"
Now you will note that God asks these questions in a very interesting way. He doesn’t say
“ I am your Father, and I am your Master he says “If I am your Father” and “If I am your Master”
Now why would he do that? There was no question that He was both their Father and their Master. And I imagine that he is getting them to consider for themselves whether they really consider God to be their father and their master. Do they accept that God is their Father and Master?
(I should comment here by saying the people had the opportunity to serve Him in Love (Father) and not by fear (Master))
Exo 4:22NET
(22) And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
There was no doubt the God was their Father, but what about there master. In essence that are being asked to remember when they agreed to serve God. To remember the covenant that they had made with God.
Exo 19:4-8NET
(4) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
(5) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
(6) And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
(7) And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
(8) And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
So clearly they had accepted in the past, God as their Father and their Master! So He then drives deeper by asking for another response.
If I am your father, where is mine honour? And if I am your master, where is my fear?
Honour and Fear this is what God wanted. What do they mean?
Honour in Strong’s in 3519
H3519 From H3513; properly weight; but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness: - glorious (-ly), glory, honour (-able).
God is saying where is my glory, where is my splendour - Honour in the dictionary means respect of esteem.
What about fear?
H4172 From H3372; fear; by implication a fearful thing or deed: - dread, (that ought to be) fear (-ed), terribleness, terror.
Now this brings us to an interesting point and that is the consideration of the Fear of God. In my opinion this subject in itself, is one that is misunderstood on a regular basis. For a correct understanding of rest of the book of Malachi and by implication an adequate answer to the theme “who may abide the day of his coming” we need to correctly understand what it means to fear God.
It is extremely important as this theme affects anyone that would come before the Lord to worship. In Malachi we have seen that the word Fear means fear; by implication a fearful thing or deed, something that ought to be feared, terribleness or terror.
Interestingly, if you go through a concordance you will see that there are many Hebrew and Greek words that have all been translated as fear. In Strong’s you find that the majority of these words refer to reverence at some point right next a comment about terror, dread, frightened or something like that. Now the most common Hebrew word that is translated as fear is H3372 is actually translated as reverence on two occasions.
H3372
A primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten: - affright, be (make) afraid, dread (-ful), (put in) fear (-ful, -fully, -ing). (be had in) reverence (-end), X see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).
So clearly reverence has fear in it. But there must be more than that.
Now there is a verse that on the surface seems to challenge what I just said and I am surprised that no-one has pulled me up and quoted as I have heard this verse quoted on numerous occasions that "we" do not have to fear God.
1Jo 4:18
(18) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
G5401 From a primary φέβομαι phebomai (to be put in fear); alarm or fright: - be afraid, + exceedingly, fear, terror.
Now I would like you to turn to Phil 2:12
Phi 2:12
(12) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear (G5401) and trembling.
So on the one hand we are told that perfect love casts out fear and on the other we are told to work out our salvation with trembling and fear. How do you reconcile the two? Well one of the best explanation of 1John that I have heard simply states “the man that loves perfectly is the man that need not fear God. And I agree with that. We don’t love perfectly and although Gods love towards us is perfect, our response to that love is far from perfect, therefore the relationship does not experience perfect love. But having said that 1 John to me highlights the progression that we need to make. This progression has to do with our motivation for service. In the beginning when God established his relationship with the Children of Israel at the mount the first emotion that they experienced was fear. As we develop in our relationship the motivation needs to change to love. So while we are in this life I believe that our relationship with God will be a combination of Love and Fear. Jesus confirms this in Heb 5:7-8.
Heb 5:7-8
(7) (Jesus) Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared (g2124);
G2124
From G2126; properly caution, that is, (religiously) reverence (piety); by implication dread (concretely): - fear (-ed).
Now this really adds weight to what we are saying as Jesus himself was heard of God because he feared. He clearly loved his Father but he also feared. So let’s try and bring this all together.
We must come before God with reverence when we worship. What is reverence? In the dictionary it says that reverence is “To treat or regard with deep respect”. I suppose a true definition would be to say that reverence is the right combining of Love and Fear.
In the day in which we live people tend to highlight the Love of God but there are symptoms that fear is beginning to disappear. Because reverence is the right combining of Love and fear, if you remove the fear then obviously you haven’t got the reverence.
And in Deuteronomy 6 that well known chapter when Moses addressed those words of command to Israel. He said, Thou shalt Love the lord thy God with all thy heart, soul and mind. Yes, and that is true, and that is the first and greatest commandment. But also in that chapter it says “thou shalt Fear the Lord thy God and serve him. How do you love someone and fear them?
The two would almost seem contradictory. Well I think an illustration may help. An illustration of Love and Fear at the same time. And here we think of a sailor, a hardened sailor and it is well said that a good sailor never loses his fear for the sea. He never loses his fear for the sea and yet he loves it, he couldn’t live without it. He loves it and he fears it, and he know that the day he treats it flippantly he may pay the price. He has come to know it in all its moods, by what he has been taught and by his experiences at sea. He Loves it and fears it and that is true.
Now to me that analogy put both emotions in their rightful perspective and to just clarify a little further I would like you turn to Ex 20:20 where we see why we need to have this fear.
Exo 20:20
(20) And Moses said unto the people, Fear (3372) not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear (3374) may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
This verse really puts it all into perspective for me. Moses first says to the people Fear not. God has come to prove you. Now this is a positive. It highlights that God has a good purpose for us. He desires to save us and to give us eternal life.
He is loving towards us. So we are not supposed to live our lives in fear. But there is a place for it. Because God has come to prove us, we need to always be aware of the consequences of our actions. If we step outside the bounds of his love and mercy we know that there is only a fearful looking forward to judgment. This is why his fear needs to be before our faces it is a motivation for us not to sin.
Now that may have seemed like a bit of an aside, but this discussion of Love and Fear is critical in seeing where the nation failed towards God. Reverence is the right combining of love and fear and if we lose either we do not have reverence.
So back to verse Mal 1:6-10. By a series of comparisons and arguments the Father draws attention to the present condition of the nation. In the everyday world, He points out, children honour their parents and slaves respect their masters. How then can the priests of God, who by their very role as representatives of God to the people treat Him with such utter disrespect? Verse 6 tells us that as a result of them not honouring and fearing God that they had actually despised his name.
Now incredibly they once again question God and say when did we despise your name? This just highlights how self deceived we can become when we start to reason with our fleshly minds and justify our actions.
Verse 7 & 8 then give us the Father’s response as he lists in no uncertain terms how they had despised his name.
Mal 1:7-8
(7) Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
(8) And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
So in verse 7 they offer polluted bread. This can also be translated food. It is a general term that is applied to that which is offered to God upon the alter, including the flesh, the fat and the meal. Now this food was contaminated or defiled. The alter was considered the table of God as the food placed on it was consumed by Him. So the polluted bread represented the sacrifices that are mentioned in verse 8.
Deu 15:21
(21) And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.
Lev 22:22
(22) Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
Only in the freewill offering could an Israelite offer an imperfect animal lev22:23, thus acknowledging that they themselves were imperfect.
Lev 22:23
(23) Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
The Jews were perverting the vow offering which we will consider further when we get to verse 14 by offering animals containing blemishes. In offering sacrifices, they are to be a token of the giver offering himself. Therefore, the ritual without the spirit was useless. Sacrifice always implies personal loss on the part of the giver. Cp 1 Chron 21:23-25. The divine principle is such that all sacrifices given in this spirit will be repaid in full. Mal 3:10 hag 2:18-19 Prov 3:9-10.
Mal 3:10
(10) Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. So God says prove me, test me. I will show you that you will be better of by serving me.
The second part of verse 8 gives us a statement of strong irony. Would a gentile official accept such a disrespectful, indifferent sacrifice? He would throw it in their faces! Yet they expected the most high God of heaven to accept such offerings, and became indignant at the thought that they were offending. They offered greater respect for a fleshly governor who they could see with their eyes than for the God of heaven and earth, who they could not see. They lacked faith and vision Heb 11:6 Prov 29:18. They knew God theoretically but not in heart.
Lets move onto verse 9 and 10
Mal 1:9-10
(9) And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
(10) Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
In verse 9 Israel is called upon to beseech God to see if he would accept them. This is an ironical statement which really means “What is the use of your prayer, your beseechings of God – He will not accept your persons”. What was required was not an outpouring of prayer, but a changed heart and mind.
The second part of verse 9 “This hath been by your means”, Roth says “at your hands”. It is simply saying your actions have caused God to hide his face or to turn away from you.
Mal 1:10
The first word of verse 10 is “Who”. Instead of the Hebrew “mi” (Who), one of the original text reads “ki” (Surely), and this reading is adopted by scholars such as Houbigant and Newcombe, and is in accordance with the Septuagint version. The verse can then be read:
“Surely the doors will be closed against you, neither shall ye kindle the fire of my alter in vain.”
This alternate reading makes the verse prophetic of God’s intention to take away the priestly functions from Levi, as He did in AD70, in preparation for when His name shall be in all honour among the Gentiles in accordance with Mal 1:11.
This of course shall be because of the Melchizidec priesthood under Christ (Rev 5:9-10), and not through the priesthood that was from Aaron. The “You” in this verse is obviously referring to the priests which we get from Mal 1:6. There was no service that they would do willingly without pay and in love for God; their approach to him was completely mercenary. God says that he has no pleasure in them, this is exactly what happens when we alienate ourselves from God through the things that we do and the attitudes that we have.
Lastly from Mal 1:10 we read “Neither will I accept” - Just because we offer something to God does not mean that he will accept it. We must offer to God what he has asked in the way that he has asked for it to be offered. It has always been the same and it is a lesson that we all need to take on board.
A relationship with God is on His terms not ours.
And to put Mal 1:10 in today’s context; all we have to do is turn to Rev 2:4-5 where we read what was pronounced against the Ephesian ecclesia.
Rev 2:4-5
(4) Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
(5) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Now the choice was clear. Change your ways or I will remove the candlestick out of its place. The candle stick in revelation represents the ecclesia. The start of chapter 2 says the this letter is from “he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks”. They were being told in no uncertain terms that unless they sorted themselves out them the ecclesia would be taken away just as the priests had been told that the doors of the temple would be shut for the way they had acted.
Sobering warning!!!
To Be Cont...
Now this brings us to a quick thought on offering which is mentioned at the end of verse 10 “An offering” Hebrew Minchah. Always refers to the meal offering. It is of prime significance that whenever Malachi uses the word offering he always uses Minchah. There is one exception MAl 3:8 where the word terumah – heave offering, and very closely related to the meal offering in meaning.
It had to contain the salt of the covenant and was not to contain any leaven of wickedness. In Malachi’s day both of these requirements were ignored in a spiritual sense. The covenant had been broken and wickedness and malice were abounding everywhere. The meal offering (lev 2) symbolised an Israelite dedicating the fruits of his labours to Yahweh. It spoke of works, action and service being rendered to the most high. It was a symbol of a person’s very best, given to Yahweh with a hearty and joyful spirit recognising the Father’s blessing. This was Malachi’s bone of contention with the nation. They were offering only that which was of little use to themselves, and then complaining that it was all a weariness.
And you can imagine what an offering it must have been like in Malachi’s days. The nation had been cursed with famine Mal 3:10-11, and the labours of their hands had been fruitless. The minchah (offering) meant nothing to them and in addition they had the audacity to offer it with imperfect animals. It is no wonder that God would not regard their offering. There was an urgent need to purify them selves before they could offer an acceptable sacrifice. The smoke and ashes they produce are an offense to a holy God, a stench in His nostrils rather than a sweet savor (Isa. 65:1-5).
We, like Israel are “an holy priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Pet 2:5). Our lives are a sacrifice to God. Our offering is described in Rom 12:1
Rom 12:1
(1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Paul here appeals to us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Israel minimised God’s requirements and when we give ourselves half-heartedly to the truth we become as guilty as the nation was in Malachi’s day.
Now this is really some thing that we could spend an entire night on in itself but to pull together the thoughts that we have considered in the last few verses we need to consider it all in the light of our own days. I would like you to think for a moment about your service to God. Do you present yourself as a living sacrifice to God? Does your offering represent the best that you have to offer? Does your offering cost you something? What I mean is does it Hurt? An offering meant nothing if didn’t hurt. This is completely logical we think of what the word sacrifice actually means.
So to use the analogy in Malachi we ask the question. For those who work. If you treated your boss the way that you treat God how long would you keep your job for? Think about it.
If you went to work and one day you did what you boss asked, and then the next day you completely ignored what you had been asked and did your own thing or simply just went home. If you were lazy, did a half-hearted job, complained about everything you were asked to do, tried to find a way to get out of any responsibility? If you acted like that at work how long would you last? How long before you were told not to come back. Now interestingly enough we do not seem to have any issues with that being the case. But we find it hard to accept that the creator of heaven and earth requires up to be accountable to Him. So next time you find yourself eagerly seeking more responsibility or promotion at work make sure that you don’t walk away from responsibilities before God. For those that own there own business the same applies, if you treated you clients the way that you treat God how long would you business remain a viable concern. I suggest not very long. For those that bring up children and run a household the same applies. How would those children turn out if you just decide that you don’t feel like looking after them today or don’t want to clean this week, can’t be bothered buying food. Logically in all these examples we can see very clearly how things don’t work. Malachi was telling the people in no uncertain term that if an earthly governor would throw there offering in their faces then how foolishly they are to think that the creator of heaven and earth would accept them.
The offering was the best that a person could give. We are expected to give the best that we have regardless of the circumstances that we find ourselves in. In the days of Malachi there was a famine in the land and the nation was offering up sick animals. Let’s put this in perspective because sometimes we are a bit too hard on the Israel. In a famine you don’t have any food. So you look outside and you see your herd shrinking both in number and in size. You know that soon the animals would run out and you would have absolutely nothing to eat. You have two animals left, one is lame the other is healthy. You need to make a sacrifice on the alter.
Which animal will you offer?
The healthy one that has good meat on it that will help your family to survive and may give you an extra week of food? Or do you keep the healthy because it is the best for your family, and it may be the only way they survive. This is how serious the decisions were. What would you do? Would you offer the healthy or the sick? You know that law says that you can’t offer the lame but surely that is better than offering nothing. And how could God expect you to give the best of you food knowing that you probably stare. Well God expects you to give your best regardless. Give that healthy animal and have faith that God will supply your every need as he has promised. That takes it to a whole new level doesn’t it.
Now If you are anything like me you can go through this thought process and feel that it is just so hard to please God and to have the faith that is required. But we need to remember that what God is asking for is so simple that we feel that we need to complicate it so the we are comfortable with it.
Mic 6:6-8
(6) Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
(7) Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
(8) He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
It is not sacrifices that God desires. The LORD requires us to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. That is it. But is must be done at the exclusion of all other things that will get in our way.
The reason for the sacrilegious behaviour of the priests, described so graphically in Mal 1:6-10, becomes clear in verse Mal 1:11-14 as we see that it was their spirit itself that was sacrilegious. They betrayed the simplest of principles - that good works must originate in pure hearts. It is no wonder then that these priests, by their works of hypocrisy and self-centeredness, reveal an attitude that equals their deeds, an attitude that at best can be described as high minded and contemptuous.
Mal 1:11-14
(11) For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
“For” the first word of verse 11 highlights that what follows will be the reason why the doors of the temple were shut to the priesthood. It highlights that even though they had failed to live up to their responsibilities God would still accomplish his purpose.
In this verse we have a glimpse of the changed conditions when God’s purpose is fulfilled in the earth: The gentiles in all parts worshiping Him in truth; Israel with a pure offering; prayer ascending to Him from all parts; His name great because of the mighty deeds He has accomplished. It is an expressive word picture of the kingdom. Beautiful
We will skip verse Mal 1:12 and move straight on to verse Mal 1:13
(13) Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
So they say, “What a weariness it is”. The Septuagint renders it “these services are troublesome “weariness is derived from a word meaning distress. It is as though they were saying “Look at all the trouble and inconvenience we are going to – and for what?” But once again they were deluded they were not going to a lot of trouble. The joy has left their worship, and it has become a heavy burden. The loss of a true understanding of worship leads easily to a total disregard or even failure to accept its requirements, and so these priests of the Temple sniff at their responsibilities, considering them as beneath their dignity, and they go about establishing religion on their own terms.
This is summarised by their willingness to receive and to offer in sacrifice stolen, lame, and sick animals (Mal 1:8), a gesture that is completely abhorrent to God who says (literally), “Can I be pleased with it from your hands?” The same occurs in v. 8 where God asks whether the governor would be pleased with an insulting gift. The argument is clear. If a mere human authority can be offended by a gift and an attitude that portrays indifference or even hostility, how can one expect God to feel other than complete revulsion? And finally verse Mal 1:14.
(14) But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Continuing with another example of ritual failure, God singles out the individual who pretends that he will offer the male of his flock but presents instead a blemished animal (v14). The “male” refers to the choicest animal, physically whole and well and in its prime (Ex. 12:5; 34:19; Lev. 1:3, 10; 4:23; 22:19). The hypocrite (lit., “deceiver,” ptc. of lk^n`, nakal, “to be crafty”) goes so far as to select such an animal from his flock, to make a public vow to offer it to God, and then secretly substitutes it for an inferior animal. But what he does secretly among men is wide open before God. Such blasphemous works brings down upon its perpetrator the divine curse, for God is a Great King.
God says that the evidence that He is a Great King lies in the fact that He is feared among the nations of the earth. This does not (as v. 11 does) suggest that the nations know Him redemptively, but only that His name or reputation has become known by His mighty deeds on behalf of His people. Surely a God whose name is revered by the pagans deserves and has a right to demand that His servant people render Him appropriate reverence.
So in conclusion then we have seen very clearly tonight the way God felt towards the priests of the nation, it has been explained in very simple terms were they failed, yet they did want to recognise the error of their way. God expects honour and fear and we saw that this does not mean that we quiver every time that we approach him rather is to draw from us a reverse that is required for true worship. Our offering was examined and we considered how excellence is not something that is promoted in the days that we live. We are taught from a very young age that we just have to do enough to meet the status quo and everything will be alright. God on the other hand expects our life to be a living sacrifice to Him and anything less than our best is just not acceptable. His love has been highlighted, his desire to save us is certain. His purpose will be accomplished and we need to use the lessons from the nation to help us in our walk so that we can re-dedicate our lives to him so that our worship is acceptable.
we had to exit the river once but thankfully no one got bitten!)
