The Worthy Worship: Honor God with Our Lives
Notes
Transcript
Malachi 1:6-14
1. Evaluate Our Offerings, vs. 6-9.
1. Evaluate Our Offerings, vs. 6-9.
Malachi 1:6-9
Verse 6 – God is referred to in this text and throughout Scripture as a father. He is the Father of Israel, their heavenly Father
· He redeemed them
· He nurtured them
· He disciplined when they were disobedient
For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
God commanded in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
As Israel’s spiritual Father, He expects obedience.
How does Israel respond?
They offered God no honor (from Heb. kabod,translated elsewhere as glory)
They did not glory in Him or revere Him.
They did not fear God. This is not in the sense of being horrified or frightened. The Heb. word translated as “fear” refers to an appropriate respect and reverential honor for a holy God.
Therefore, God says through Malachi, “You have not honored Me, and you do not respect Me!”
The blame is laid at the feet of the priests. As the religious and political leaders of Israel, they were representatives of both God and His people. They were ministerial servants in the temple who were commissioned to carry out the sacrifices and to lead the people in the festivals and feast.
But despite the privilege of their position,
They despised God. The Hebrew word translated “despised” signifies an attitude of ongoing disrespect and refers to the act of conveying insignificance or worthlessness upon an object, idea, or person. This is the same word found in Genesis 25:34
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Esau thought his birthright was insignificant and traded it away for stewed meat.
The priests were despising God’s name, shorthand for the person, character and works of God.
o God’s name was not important to them anymore, He was not breathtaking to them anymore.
o Though they may offer extravagant sacrifices, these could not conceal their attitude and estimation of God affected their worship.
The people question: “How…?”
They demonstrated their attitude through their contributions.
Verse 7 – “defiled” (polluted, also unclean) is another way of saying unauthorized or unacceptable.
God takes His sacrifices very seriously, as we see in Lev. 10:1-3
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.
And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’ ” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
Yet the priests were offering unclean sacrifices to the LORD and acting as if there is nothing wrong.
Verse 8 – God expects the best, not just that which is “good enough!”
Note God’s question: “Why not offer it (what you are offering Me) to your governor? Would he be pleased…? The unspoken, logical answer: Absolutely not!! So if you would not offer this to your earthly governor, how much less should you be offering it to Me??
[ Blaising, Malachi,1578] The governor’s “table” was a lavishly prepared banquet (cf. Neh. 5:17) including “offerings” from the people. Certainly the governor (peḥâh, a Persian title) would not have been pleased with the meat of blind, crippled, or diseased animals; in fact he would not have accepted it. How much more absurd it was to expect the favor of the LORD Almighty (cf. Mal. 1:4) with such offerings.
Today:
Give our best to Uncle Sam, less to work of God
More time watching collegiate and/or professional sports, yet minimal time in the Word of God
More time with hobbies, little time to pray and seek God’s face or memorize and meditate on God’s word
And NOW you solicit the favor of God?
Verse 9 – This word “entreat” in this context can carry the idea of “to smooth over” or “butter someone up.” Inconsistency is revealed, betraying our lack of reverence and despising His name with these types of requests.
Before God ever accepts your gift, He inspects your heart! The offering’s value is determined by the attitude of the heart of the one offering.
2. Embrace Sincere Worship, vs. 10-12.
2. Embrace Sincere Worship, vs. 10-12.
They also demonstrated their attitude through their commitment.
Verses 10-11 – The people disgraced God’s table (referring to the altar). God declares that “My name will be great among the nations, even if (apparently) My name is no longer great to you!”
The priests lack commitment, Their heart was not in their service; they were just going through the motions. God’s desire was heartfelt devotion which, judging by their commitment to His worship, was absent. Therefore,
God would not accept their offerings.
The full realization of this condemnation occurred in 70 AD when the temple was utterly destroyed. Life for Israel revolved around the temple and without it, the nation would cease to function.
In the NT, the temple is not needed: Christ fulfills all that the temple offered in the lives of the Israelites. But here in Malachi 1, the priests and people are playing games with God (as go the priests, so go the people). God declares the games are over!
3. Honor God Genuinely, vs. 13-14.
3. Honor God Genuinely, vs. 13-14.
Verse 13-14 – The priests evidenced apathetic attitudes to their responsibilities. They were tired. They felt the sacrificial system was a burden. The word “nuisance” is used five times in OT. It is the same word used to describe the weariness of the Israelites as they walked through the wilderness (translated “hardship” in Exodus 18:8
Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how the Lord had delivered them.
From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us;
They considered their work of ministry a burden to get done so then they could go home and relax.
The people were accused of offering “defective” sacrifices. They were unacceptable because they were stealing from others, not offering the best from their own flock, and doing so secretly.
“If there is no sacrifice in your sacrifice, it’s not a sacrifice!”
Worship is more than music or words—it is an attitude of the heart. When we truly see God for who He is and what He has done, our worship cannot help but be affected.
When you gain a proper perspective of who Christ is and what Christ has done for you, you will never again play games with God. He is worthy of our praise and our worship; our proper response to Him is loving worship and heartfelt obedience.
Malachi speaks about the Aaronic priests, a class that does not exist today.
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Paul says that every believer in Christ is a priest, called to offer spiritual sacrifices of worship. Peter confirms this:
you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
A living sacrifice, as opposed to a dead sacrifice, regularly crawls off the altar. Therefore, we must continually recommit ourselves to God. What do we as believers in Christ over God in worship?
Our body, Rom 12:1-2
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Our finances/resources, Phil 4:14-18
Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.
You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone;
for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.
Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.
But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
Our praise to the Lord, Heb 13:15
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Our good works, Heb 13:16
And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Those who received Christ through our sharing the gospel, Rom 15:16
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
