Israel’s Indifference to God
March 20, 2020
Commentary
Malachi took dead aim on the priests of his day (v. 6) and delivered a stinging indictment on their careless, haphazard, and profane service to the living God. He lists the sins that the priests were guilty of (vv. 7-8). Three things they offered that according to Malachi were wrong:
1. Polluted bread
2. Blind animals
3. Lame and sick animals
This text has four separate thoughts that develop the overall theme that we need to be credible:
1. In our profession – (vv. 6-7) No doubt these people had a professed relationship of faith and creed with God, but their life demonstrated something desperately out of touch with reality.
2. In our gifts – (vv. 8-9) The prophet points out the shame of placing on the altar something that is basically valueless. Our Lord judges a gift by what the gift costs the person making the offering rather than by its intrinsic worth.
3. In our service – (vv. 10-12) The problem was the indifference and carelessness of the priests in what they were willing to accept on God’s behalf which resulted in the mediocre service of the priests of Malachi’s day.
4. In our time – (vv. 13-14) Boredom had to be the outcome of such hypocritical ministry for the one whom the priests claimed was their Father and Lord.
Application
I want to make sure that what I do and what I say is credible and it lines up with the Word of God. The priests in Malachi’s day, indifferent and careless, were just playing church. A church like this is boring and as a result the young people stop going and eventually the church dies.
Malachi 1:6– 14 (NET)
6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’ 7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance. 8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them to your governor! Will he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “But now plead for God’s favor that he might be gracious to us.” “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. 11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings despicable. 13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” asks the Lord. 14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
Illustration: Why an English Actor Gets a Bigger Crowd Than a Preacher
It has been said that an eminent preacher once asked the great English actor Macready, “What is the difference between you and me? You are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth of the Word of God, and I am not getting any crowd at all.” Macready’s answer was this: “This is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.” (G. Campbell Morgan, Preaching, p. 36).