7/26/2025

Worthy Worship: Malachi’s Second Disputation

Malachi 1:6–2:9

6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despisemy name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering pollutedfood upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts. 9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. 1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.

Opening Prayer

Our gracious God, now we ask that by your Spirit, you would open our minds and hearts to receive your Word. As we come to this portion of Malachi, show us the majesty of your name, the weight of your worth, and the only path to worthy worship—through Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.

Introduction

Imagine returning to your homeland after an 850-mile journey, filled with hope and dreams of a bright future. This was the experience of the Israelites coming back from Babylon, expecting God to restore Israel’s glory. Yet, reality fell short of their dreams: the temple was rebuilt, but there was no Davidic king and the Persians remained in power.

God had not fulfilled their expectations of a peaceful and prosperous life. But a more important question was whether they were meeting God’s expectations in times of difficulty. When our own expectations are unmet, do we turn away from God, or are we drawn closer to Him?

Malachi, a prophet from the post-exilic era, confronted the Israelites’ spiritual complacency. Were they honoring the Father, the Master, the Creator? Malachi’s message is set out in six disputations—dialogues between God and His people—that reveal how they had forgotten their first love, YHWH. In each disputation, God presents a charge, the people respond, and God explains further, often followed by a call to repentance or a promise of blessing or judgment.

In the first disputation (from last week’s sermon), the people question God’s love, and God reaffirms His love for His chosen people.

The second disputation, our focus today (Malachi 1:6–2:9), addresses corrupt worship that dishonors God.

The way we honor God in worship reveals how much we value Him. To honor means to recognize and affirm God’s worth. The word “worship” comes from “worth-ship”—to declare someone’s value. Proper honor leads to proper worship, dishonor results in dishonorable worship.

How do we know if we honor God in worship? What value do we place on Him in our lives? Value has two components: intrinsic (the inherent worth) and extrinsic (what someone is willing to give to show worth).

For example, the intrinsic worth of a dollar bill—the value of its paper and ink—is less than a cent, but its extrinsic value is set at $1. An old penny’s intrinsic and extrinsic values are similar since its copper content is worth 1-2 cents.

God’s intrinsic value is immeasurable—He is priceless, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. But what is the extrinsic value we place on God? Do we value Him like the merchant in Matthew 13, who sold everything for the pearl of great value? Or are we like the Israelites in Malachi’s time, living as if He has little worth to us?

This is sometimes called practical atheism: claiming belief in God and going through religious motions but living as though God does not exist. God desires our whole heart, not just Sunday worship, but every day.

We will consider three truths from this passage in Malachi.

1.God Demands Honor in Worship

2.God holds spiritual leaders accountable

3. Worthy Worship is only possible through Jesus Christ.

1. God Demands Honor in Worship (Malachi 1:6–14)

 Imagine a child who doesn't honor their parents. How does that make the parents feel? Now, think about how God feels when we don't honor Him. In Malachi 1:6–14, God demands honor in worship. He appeals to the basic human relationships between a father and son, a master and servant, and a potter and clay.

Malachi 1:6

6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor?” 

The people did not honor God—He was not given glory, respect, or high value.

WCF SC 1. What is the chief end of man. To glorify (or honor) God and enjoy him forever.

God appeals to the basic human relationships between a father and son, a master and servant, and a potter and clay.

How should children respond to their parents.  In the 5th Commandment

Exodus 20:12

12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Children are called to honor parents. 

God also asks, If I am your father where is my honor.  God is ultimate Father.

Isaiah 64:8

8But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

If we are called to honor our father and mother should we not also honor God, our ultimate creator and heavenly father even more?

Malachi 1:6

6b“And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you...”

The Scripture presents God’s people as the Lord’s servant. He is to be feared.

Isaiah 49:3

3And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

Isaiah 8:13 ESV

13But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

"How do you honor God in your daily life?" or "What does it mean to fear the Lord?"

Where is our fear?

For a covenant child, the fear of God does not mean being terrified of Him; it means a proper respect and reverence for Him, a reverence that leads to worship and obedience.  

Micheal Reeves states that  “now is a good time to ask yourself what things you fear. Our fears are highly revealing. What your fears show is what your really love.  We fear our children getting hurt because we love them. We fear losing our jobs because of losing the security and identity our jobs give us.  We fear rejection, but we love approval. Which do you fear more. God or people?  Being a sinner or being exposed as a sinner before others.”

But instead of reverence and fear, God received contempt.

Malachi 1:6–7ESV

6b“‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised.

Polluted means unholy. The priests and people offered unholy defective sacrifices to a holy God.

Polluted Worship reveals a Polluted Heart

Malachi 1:13

13b You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.

Now God was not adding new requirements to his Covenant people but reminding them of the original Mosaic Covenant established at Mount Sinai after God redeemed them from slavery.

Leviticus 22:19,20,22 ESV

19…it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you…22 Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar.

God deserved their best—yet his people give him a defective sacrifice not even worthy  of a garage sell.

The priests were warned against offering polluted sacrifices lest the priests thereby profane and defile God’s name.

The people knew they were wrong and their excuse was:

Malachi 1:13 ESV

13a, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts.

Their offerings exposed a deep spiritual apathy.

They gave God what they would never dare present to a human governor as noted in 1:8

Suppose you had a beautiful antique vase in your home that was accidentally knocked of the end table resulting in a large chip. The value would diminish considerable. 

If you decided to give the blemished vase to your employer as a Christmas gift.  Would you employer feel respected and honored?  

Similarly, God deserves our best offerings, not defective ones.

God values sincere and genuine worship over mere external rituals. When our offerings and worship are polluted or insincere, they reflect a deeper issue within our hearts and our relationship with God. It's a call to introspection and to ensure that our worship truly honors and glorifies Him.

Malachi 1:10, Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.

God would rather see the temple shut down than receive insincere worship.  

Worship without heartfelt devotion that does not reflect God's worth is offensive to Him.

Malachi then moves from speaking of sacrifices in general to discussing the payment of vows. Making a vow to the Lord was not mandatory, but if a person did so he was required to pay it

Malachi 1:14ESV

14Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

Moses gave the priests specific instructions about the kinds of sacrifices acceptable for payments of vows

In Deuteronomy 23:21–23 The vow to give an acceptable animal and then  to bring a blemished sacrifice was an evil in God’s sight.

The cheat is the person who promises to do something and fails to do it. Certainly, no one would try to cheat a king or governor, for fear of being reprimanded and punished by that authority.

Nor should one try to cheat the great King, the One whose name is to be feared among the nations.

Let us look now at

Malachi 1:11

11For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

Psalm 22:27-28 (ESV) "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations."

God promises His name will be great among all nations—true worship will come from everywhere. This prophetic vision points to a future when all nations recognize and honor the Lord.

Malachi 3:1 ESV

1“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

This prophecy points to the ultimate fulfillment in Christ's condensation to the earth, his life, death and resurrection that results in his reign and the pure worship of the redeemed, reflecting God's glory and sovereignty over the entire earth. 

2. God Holds Spiritual Leaders Accountable for worthy worship (Malachi 2:1–9)

Consider a coach who ignores the rules—how does that affect a team’ performance?

Similarly, when spiritual leaders fail to honor God, it harms the congregation.

Malachi 2:1–9, God holds spiritual leaders accountable for worthy worship.

Malachi 2:2ESV

2If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them because you do not lay it to heart.

There job descriptions is in

Leviticus 10:10–11

10You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”

The priests had become an obstacle.

Spiritual leaders are held to a higher standard. Those who lead God’s people must uphold the purity of worship and teach the covenant faithfully.

This admonition does change for those ordained spiritual leaders in the NT.

Preaching elders, Teaching elders, deacons and all who teach or lead must take these words seriously.

James 3:1

1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

God gives a graphic warning,

Malachi 2:3

3Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.

This is the most graphic image in all of Malachi.

When the priests prepared the sacrifice, it was similar to those of you that hunt and field dress a deer.

The internal organs of digestion and the feces are to be removed and are unclean literally and figuratively.

Exodus 29:14ESV

14But the flesh of the bull… and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

In our passage, the priests failed to guard the purity of the temple and offered impure sacrifices that in the eye of the Lord was dung, and now they themselves would be made unclean and God threatened to punish them similarly.

Malachi 2:9

9and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

God is saying to the Priests that because they allowed the people to offer unholy sacrifices that shame him, they to would be publicly shames and made unholy by having dung spread on their faces. 

This would make them ritually unclean so that they could not perform their duties.

C. The Example of Levi

Malachi 2:5ESV

My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.

The ideal priest, the prototypical Levi, was faithful. 

Malachi 2:6–8

6True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts,

By contrast, the current priests had turned many to sin and corrupted the covenant.

God requires reverence, honor and truth in all spiritual leaders. They are the gatekeepers to ensure our worship remains holy.

Matthew Henry said, “Nothing profanes the name of God more than the misconduct of those whose business it is to do honor to it.”

"How do we hold our spiritual leaders accountable?"

"What does it mean to honor God as a leader?"

3. Worthy Worship Is Only Possible Through Jesus Christ

Imagine a person who sacrifices everything for their loved ones. How does that reflect their love and devotion?

In the same way, Jesus sacrificed Himself for us.

Jesus it the true High Priest who is greater than Levi.

Malachi 1:11 looks forward to the day when all nations bring acceptable offerings, fulfilled in Christ who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice

Hebrews 7:27

27Jesus has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Unlike the priests of Malachi’s day, Christ fulfilled the entire sacrificial system as a pure and perfect sacrifice and now intercedes as a high priest for his people.

By being in Christ, we can draw near to God with confidence. Jesus transforms worship from obligation into heartfelt response.

Romans 12:1ESV

1I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Honorable worship should occur on the Sabbath, but also daily. Our bodies, thoughts, finances, relationships are to be laid before God as a holy offering.

Hebrews 13:15ESV

15Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Because of Christ, even our imperfect worship is made pleasing to God.

Not because we are worthy, but because He is.

There was no completely perfect Lexical priest or sacrifice in the OT, but Jesus fulfills every requirement that Levi was commissioned to fulfill and became that perfect holy sacrifice.

Recognizing Jesus as our High Priest changes worship from obligation to a joyful response of honor and obedience.

Conclusion: What Is God Worth to You?

Just like Israel, we are tempted to bring God our figurative crumbs—what is left over from our time, energy, resources.

But Christ is the great King whose name is to be feared among the nations and deserves our best.

Revelation 5:12 declares,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Our worship on our own will never be worthy, but if we have faith in Christ, God deserves our best.

Pray that God will give you or increase your faith in Christ by God’s grace.

Let us then worship not out of obligation, but in reverence and joy—because Jesus Christ, the great King is worthy of our best.

Final Prayer

Lord, forgive us for every careless act of worship. Forgive us when we treat you lightly. Restore in us a holy fear and joyful love for your name. Let our lives be worthy offerings—not because of what we bring, but because of what Christ has done. May His name be great among the nations—and in our hearts. Amen.