05/12/2019
Honor God (Malachi) 05-08-2019
God is honored when Christians please Him
through their worship, attitudes, and actions.
Malachi 1:11
11But my name is honored
by people of other nations from morning till night.
All around the world they offer sweet incense
and pure offerings in honor of my name.
For my name is great among the nations,"
says the LORD Almighty.
Christians try to please God in many ways,
often in ways that are meaningless or counter productive.
Occasionally,
their responses cover up serious shortcomings
in their relationship with the Lord.
To hide an obvious disregard for the Lord’s way,
they sometimes offer meaningless sacrificial acts as a substitute.
Malachi addresses this very issue
in his prophetic word to the people of Judah.
After years of captivity and exile,
God’s people had renewed their commitment to Him
and had returned to the land of Judah to rebuild the temple.
However,
years later they again grew callous
and returned to the ways that led them into divine judgment.
In many ways,
the failures of God’s people in Malachi’s day
bear a resemblance to many Christians today.
Let us reflect on the areas of spiritual compromise
dealt with in this portion of the Book of Malachi.
Then let us apply the principles for honoring God
found in this week’s study to our own walk with the Lord.
Honor God with Your Worship
Contemptible Offerings
Malachi 1:6-8
Malachi’s prophetic oracle contains six disputes
between God - and the priest - or people of Judah.
Each dispute contains a divine accusation
followed by an objection on the part of those being accused.
The prophet then explained how the people had sinned against the Lord.
In chapter 1,
Malachi contended with the priests concerning their worship.
He accused them of showing contempt - for the Lord’s name.
Unworthy Sacrifices
Malachi 1:6-8
6The LORD Almighty says to the priests:
"A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master.
I am your father and master,
but where are the honor and respect I deserve?
You have despised my name!
"But you ask, `How have we ever despised your name?'
Anticipating the priests’ objections, the prophet explained
the nature of their contemptible worship (verse 7, 8).
7"You have despised my name
by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.
"Then you ask, `How have we defiled the sacrifices?'
"You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD
deserves no respect.
8When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn't that wrong?
And isn't it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased?
Try giving gifts like that to your governor,
and see how pleased he is!" says the LORD Almighty.
They showed callous disregard - for the Lord’s altar.
They brought polluted or defiled food as well as blemished
and crippled animals as sacrifices to Him.
Through Malachi,
God challenged the priests
to try offering defiled animals to their governor.
Will he be pleased?
How could they be so foolish to believe
that blemished sacrifices
would be - acceptable to the Lord?
Let me ask you,
What are some examples of substitutes
that Christians offer God today?
(May be giving him something
you don’t need or want anymore?)
(The left over, as opposed to the first fruit?)
Acceptable Worship
Malachi 1:9
Malachi responded to the dishonoring worship
exhibited by the priests by asking?
“Will he (God) regard your persons?”
The answer is obvious!
God does not accept worship that dishonors His name.
9"Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you!
But when you bring that kind of offering,
why should he show you any favor at all?"
asks the LORD Almighty.
Because of the contemptible worship
offered by Judah’s religious leaders,
God was going to withhold His gracious hand from them
and their nation, unless they repented of their ways.
Malachi begged the priests
to turn from their sinful practices.
“What makes worship acceptable to God?”
The Bible teaches that worship
can never be separated from the worshiper.
Genuine devotion will lead the person offering worship
to give God his or her best.
Honor God with Your Attitudes
Serve God Joyfully
Malachi 1:10-13
10"I wish that someone among you
would shut the Temple doors
so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered!
I am not at all pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, " and I will not accept your offerings.
In Malachi’s prophecy, the Lord declared
His utter contempt for the priests’ imperfect offerings.
He declared their worship was “of no value”
He preferred - that they close the temple doors
and not go through the - pretense of worship,
rather than continue as they had.
11But my name is honored
by people of other nations from morning till night.
All around the world they offer sweet incense
and pure offerings in honor of my name.
For my name is great among the nations,"
says the LORD Almighty.
The Lord’s name would be praised
among the Gentiles throughout the earth.
The worship by the Gentiles that would honor God
would be in stark contrast to the pathetic attitude of the priests who professed to worship God.
12"But you dishonor my name with your actions.
By bringing contemptible food,
you are saying it's all right to defile the Lord's table.
13You say,
`It's too hard to serve the LORD,'
and you turn up your noses at his commands,"
says the LORD Almighty.
"Think of it!
Animals that are stolen and mutilated,
crippled and sick--presented as offerings!
Should I accept from you such offerings as these?"
asks the LORD.
“How do peoples’ hearts
become so callous to the Lord
that they consider service to God as a burden?”
This kind of attitude develops over time?
Let’s explore
the process of growing cold toward the Lord?
How can we protect ourselves from allowing our hearts to drift from Christ?
Keeping our hearts passionate for Christ
is one of the great challenges of our daily lives.
It is so easy to allow the affairs of life
to rob us of our joy and zeal.
Unless we are diligent to regularly search our hearts,
we are likely to find service to God
a burden we despise rather than a joy.
Glorify God’s Name
Malachi 1:14 THROUGH 2:2
Half-hearted devotion to the Lord
can lead to unforeseeable, tragic consequences.
The continuing practice of the priests
to offer meaningless offerings to the Lord
would result in a cursed priestly ministry.
14"Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram
from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty,
"and my name is feared among the nations!
Malachi 2
A Warning for the Priests
Malachi warned the priests
concerning the consequences
of their improper attitudes
toward their worship and service to God
1"Listen, you priests; this command is for you!
2Listen to me - and take it to heart.
Honor my name," says the LORD Almighty,
"or I will bring a terrible curse against you.
I will curse even the blessings you receive.
Indeed, I have already cursed them,
because you have not taken my warning seriously.
If they - did not listen
and continued to fail to - glorify and honor God,
a - curse awaited them.
The prophet declared
that God would curse their blessings
and cause their ministries to become –
useless to the people of Judah.
The priests’ dishonoring attitudes
had begun to affect the people - to whom they ministered.
When we honor God with all of our hearts,
our lives will become fruitful instead of fruitless.
Honor God with Your Actions
Keep God’s Ways
Malachi 2:3-9
Malachi recalled the covenant made
between the Lord and the household of Levi.
The covenant promised blessings on the priestly clan,
but also prescribed the priests’ responsibilities before the Lord. In order for Levi’s house to receive the blessings
associated with their ministry to Israel, it had to be faith-full.
3I will rebuke your descendants
and splatter your faces
with the dung of your festival sacrifices,
and I will add you to the dung heap.
4Then at last you will know it was I
who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites may continue, " says the LORD Almighty.
5"The purpose of my covenant with the Levites
was to bring life and peace,
and this is what I gave them.
This called for reverence from them,
and they greatly revered me
and stood in awe of my name.
6They passed on to the people
all the truth they received from me.
They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.
Clearly, the priesthood was to model faithfulness to God
in both word and deed.
7The priests' lips should guard knowledge,
and people should go to them for instruction,
for the priests are the messengers of the LORD Almighty.
God’s messengers must be adequate models for the people to emulate.
They had violated the covenant
between God and the house of Levi.
8But not you!
You have left God's paths.
Your `guidance' has caused many to stumble into sin.
You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites," says the LORD Almighty.
Their unfaithfulness had made the divine blessings
that were to accompany the covenant null and void.
Instead of being blessed, the priests would be despised
and humiliated before the people of God.
9"So I have made you despised
and humiliated in the eyes of all the people.
For you have not obeyed me
but have shown partiality in your interpretation of the law."
The dishonoring attitudes of the priests
had led to a dishonorable way of life.
Because of this,
the covenant that was to contain blessing for an anointed priestly clan was profaned and thereby brought shame.
Because the priests failed to live up to the responsibilities
of the covenant, they were to be removed from the place of blessing.
God would not tolerate their unfaithfulness.
Stay Faithful
Malachi 2:10-16
A Call to Faithfulness
The people emulated the callous attitudes of the priests.
Their lifestyles also demonstrated Contempt for God’s ways.
Malachi declared
that not only had the people broken faith with God,
they had also broken faith with one another.
10Are we not all children of the same Father?
Are we not all created by the same God?
Then why are we faithless to each other,
violating the covenant of our ancestors?
The people of Judah had broken faith by their violation of the marriage covenant.
They manipulated the marriage covenant in two critical ways.
11In Judah, in Israel, and in Jerusalem there is treachery,
for the men of Judah have defiled the LORD's beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols.
12May the LORD cut off from the nation of Israel
every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the LORD Almighty.
They compromised by marring foreign women,
an act that was strictly forbidden in the Law.
Intermarrying with those outside of the covenant community was forbidden because it would lead to apostasy.
(The abandonment of a religious belief)
A second way the marriage covenant
was violated was through divorce.
13Here is another thing you do.
You cover the LORD's altar with tears,
weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings, and he doesn't accept them with pleasure.
14You cry out,
"Why has the LORD abandoned us?"
I'll tell you why!
Because the LORD witnessed the vows
you and your wife made to each other
on your wedding day when you were young.
But you have been disloyal to her,
though she remained your faithful companion,
the wife of your marriage vows.
15Didn't the LORD make you one with your wife?
In body and spirit you are his.
And what does he want?
Godly children from your union.
So guard yourself;
remain loyal to the wife of your youth.
16"For I hate divorce!"
says the LORD, the God of Israel. "
It is as cruel
as putting on a victim's bloodstained coat,
" says the LORD Almighty.
"So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife."
Marriages - were ended for lighthearted reasons,
making a mockery of the marriage covenant.
In that regard, Malachi declared,
the Lord himself was a witness against the people.
Malachi saw the ideal as one man for one woman for life,
just as Moses and Jesus did.
Genesis 2:24
24This explains why a man leaves his father and mother
and is joined to his wife, and the two - are united into one.
Matthew 19:5
5And he said,
`This explains why a man leaves his father and mother
and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.'
6Since they are no longer two but one,
let no one separate them, for God has joined them together."
God wants godly parents
to raise godly children
in the nurture and admiration of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4 (New Living Translation)
4And now a word to you fathers.
Don't make your children angry
by the way you treat them.
Rather, bring them up with the discipline
and instruction approved by the Lord.
The marriage union
is the most fundamental of all human relationships.
It pictures the relationship
between God and His covenant people.
For that reason the prophet proclaimed,
God hates divorce.
Malachi 2:16
16"For I hate divorce!"
says the LORD, the God of Israel.
"It is as cruel
as putting on a victim's bloodstained coat,"
says the LORD Almighty.
"So guard yourself;
always remain loyal to your wife."
Because marriage
portrays the relationship between God
and His covenant people,
infidelity between a man and a woman
is symbolic of the idolatrous tendencies
of His people to other gods.
Just as the failure of the people
to live in obedience to the Lord
mocked the covenant between Him
and His people, so our failure to live obedient lives
shows the same contempt.
We must demonstrate
our faithfulness to Christ by our actions.
Righteous living is required of Christians if they are to stay faithful to their commitments to God and others.
