1.To Give an Offering
Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the Lord Almighty.
A. Where Is My Honor ......... My Respect
"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the Lord Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, ’How have we shown contempt for your name?’
The thought that God would even have to ask this question shakes the very fiber of my being! This is not someone who walked up on the street demanding respect. Nor, is this someone who has yet to prove himself as one deserving respect. This the Creator of all that was created! He is the God who is in time and at the same time outside time! He is the Alpha and Omega! The great I Am!
God is asking the priest who he called to bring him praise, honor, glory ¡§A son honors his father¡KIf I am your Father where is my honor due me, In the Old Testament dishonoring your father and mother was dangerous,
Deut. 21:18-21 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, [19] his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. [20] They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." [21] Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
The priest whom God was speaking too claim that God was their Lord, but refuse to submit in no area of their lives. Jesus you could be my savior but you could never be my Lord. God is asking them if I you call me your Father and your Master ¡V where is it. I cant see it. Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me, ’Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Illustration: You think a slave would say to his master this is the list I have for you to do today. As a servant you ask your Master, what can I do for you. I am at you disposal. Paul the apostle in his letter to Timothy says¡¦
2 Tim. 2:4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer.
What kind of hideous thing could the people of Israel be doing that would cause God to even ask such a question?
B. They were giving anything but their best to the Lord! (v.7)"You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, ’How have we defiled you?’ "By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong?
The Law, as laid out in the book of Leviticus, was specific about the sacrifice before the Lord that had no defect. They knew the Law, and yet they still brought their blind, lame, defected sacrifices before the Lord, to offer upon His Altar. They sacrificed lambs with blemishes which was forbidden in the law.
The passage tells us 3 wrong ways to offer sacrifices to God
1.By being Expedient meaning being as cheap as possible.
2.By Neglect meaning not caring how they offered the sacrifice.
3.With Outright disobedience meaning sacrificing their own way and not as God commanded.
Do expedience, neglect, disobedience characterize your giving?
God was to get the best of the crop and flock. But they were giving second rate sacrifices. God was getting the leftovers. Let me give you guys examples of those who gave their leftovers to God and was judged because of it;
Cain ¡V Genesis 4:3-4 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. [4] But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
Nadab and Abihu - Leviticus 10:1-4 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. [2] So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. [3] Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord spoke of when he said: " ’Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’ " Aaron remained silent.
Uzzah ¡V 1 Chron. 13:10-11 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.
[11] Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.
Would you serve leftovers to your boss if you invited him over for dinner?
Would you give a broken present to someone as a wedding gift? No!
It is amazing that we do this to God, when we wouldn¡¦t dream of doing it to others. We don¡¦t sacrifice anymore but we can relate it to giving of our money and time. Do you give the first part of every check to God? Or does He get what is left over at the end of the month? So, what does that have to do with a New Testament believer, who is not required to sacrifice an animal on the altar, knowing the ultimate sacrifice had been made once for all? If we were to examine Paul¡¦s letter to the Romans, we would discover, in particular, Chapter 12, that our reasonable sacrifice is that we present our bodies (all that we are) as a living sacrifice!
C. They gave earthly authority a higher priority then their heavenly father! v8
When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the Lord Almighty.
God here makes a suggestion to the priest Try offering them to you governor. Usually the governor banquet were lavish, meaning it was a five course meal with all the treamings. Certainly the Persian governor would not have been pleased with meat of blind, crippled, or even diseased animals.
How much more absurd it was to expect the favor of the Lord Almighty.
The twenty elders and the four living creatures in Rev4:8-11 and the poor widow in Lk21:3
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." [9] Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: [11] "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
Luke 21:3 "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
2.Gods Response to their Offering v10-12
"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the Lord Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. [11] My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the Lord Almighty. [12] "But you profane it by saying of the Lord’s table, ’It is defiled,’ and of its food, ’It is contemptible.’
As intermediaries between God and the people, priests were responsible for reflecting God¡¦s attitudes and character. By accepting imperfect sacrifices, they were leading the people to believe that God accepted those sacrifices as well. But God says, ¡§I am not pleased with you.¡¨ To emphasize this point, Malachi said the whole temple service might as well be shut down. It was even useless to light the fires on the altar of burnt offering. God was not pleased; He would accept no offerings from them.
As Christians, we are often in the same position as these priests because we reflect God to our friends and family. What image of God¡¦s character and attitudes do they see in you? If you casually accept sin, you are like these priests in Malachi¡¦s day, and God will not be pleased with you.
Verse 11 tells us the theme that can be heard throughout the Old Testament is affirmed in this book¡X¡¨my name will be great among the nations.¡¨ God had a chosen people, the Jews, through whom he planned to save and bless the entire world. Today God still wants to save and bless the world through all who believe in him¡XJews and Gentiles.
3. To Give Our Time
And you say, ’What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the Lord Almighty. "When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the Lord. [14] "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the Lord Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.
Worship was a burden to these priest. Too many people think that following God is supposed to make life easy and more comfortable. They are looking for a God of Convenience. In situation such as this, God is able to raise up another people to replace those who have grown bored in their service to Him. After all, God is a great King service to Him should be a joy and an honor.
Their boredom to God was so evident in their
Words ¡V Their words were blunt, how tiresome. All worship and service of the Living God had become a drudgery and a burden. They believed that going to church is worthless.
Spirit ¡V their action showed by bringing whatever were stolen, lame, and sick.
