Malachi 1

11. The sinful priests This is the message* that the LORD gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi.*

The LORD’s Love for Israel

22“T have always loved you,” says the LORD. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?” And the LORD replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, 3pbut I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.” 4Esau’s descendants in Edom may say, “We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.” But the LORD of Heaven's Armies replies, “They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the LORD Is Forever Angry.’ 5When you see the destruction for yourselves, you will say, ‘Truly, the LORD’s greatness reaches far beyond Israel's borders!’”

Unworthy Sacrifices

66The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If lam your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’ 7“You have shown contempt 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’tit 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 of Heaven’s Armies. 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 of Heaven's Armies. 10”How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings. But 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 of Heaven's Armies. 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 my commands,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should Iaccept from you such offerings as these?” asks the LORD.

14“Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices adefective one to the LORD. For lama great king,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, “and myname is feared among the nations!1:7 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads defiled you? 1:11a Or will be honored. 1:11b Or will offer.4:6ff God charged the priests with failing to honor him (to thepoint of despising his name) and failing to be good spiritualexamples to the people. The Temple had been rebuilt in 516 BC.,and worship was being conducted there, but the priests did notworship God properly. They were not following his laws for thesacrifices. Ezra the priest had sparked a great revival around458 B.C. However, by Malachi’s time, the nation’s leaders hadonce again fallen away from God, and the people right along withthem. The worship of God was no longer from heartfelt adoration;instead, it was simply a burdensome job for the priests.1:6-8 God’s law required that only perfect animals be offeredto God (see, for example, Leviticus 1:3). But these priests wereallowing the people to offer blind, crippled, and diseased animalsto God. God accused them of dishonoring him by offering imper-fect sacrifices, and he was greatly displeased. The New Testamentsays that our lives should be living sacrifices to God (Romans12:1). If we give God only our leftover time, money, and energy,we repeat the same sin as these worshipers, who didn’t want tobring anything valuable to God. What we give God reflects ourtrue attitude toward him.1:7, 8 The people sacrificed to God wrongly through (1) expedi-ence—being as cheap as possible, (2) neglect—not caring howthey offered the sacrifice, and (3) outright disobedience—sacrific-ing their own way and not as God had commanded. Their meth-ods of giving showed their real attitudes toward God. How aboutyour attitude? Do expedience, neglect, or disobedience character-ize vour aivina?4:10 As intermediaries between God and the people, priestswere responsible for reflecting God's attitudes and character.By accepting imperfect sacrifices, they were leading the peopleto believe that God accepted those sacrifices as well. But Godsays, “I am not pleased with you.” As Christians, we are often inthe same position as these priests because we reflect God to ourfriends and family. What image of God's character and attitudesdo they see in you? If you casually accept sin, you are like thesepriests in Malachi’s day, and God is not pleased with you.