Malachi 1:-6-14 Make God Great Again Reaffirming God’s Glory and Greatness
In Mal 1:6–14, God has a word for everyone, but it is particularly, firstly for those of us who are leaders: says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, but the message was also to the people who the priest were allowing to worship God in a false way. God, in the Old Testament had arranged a specific pattern of worship that was acceptable to him (Gen 4:1-4). The Prophets were to bring the word of God to the people and the Priests were to direct the people in the way to approach God in worship. The prophets were the messengers of God’s word pointing men to the principles of God telling us what pleases God. The priests were the mediators between God and men directing us in how to come into the presence of God. These truths were illustrated through every aspect of the tabernacle and later the temple. When the principles of God are misinterpreted and/or the method of approaching God is misleading then worship doesn’t please the Lord. When worship is about pleasing yourself, asking, “what can I get out of it?”, rather than pleasing God by asking, “How can I glorify Him through worship?, then your worship is self-centered and vain rather than God-centered and valued. Four things that can be learned about true Worship:
Revolves around God
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; Master, 14 . . . For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts. Worship is about the Lord not us. True worship is our response to the character and greatness of our God. Three essential titles are given to God in the text: Father, master and king. God is a “Father” and a “Master.” “Father” reveals to us his affection for us, and “Master” reveals his authority over us (Driscoll) God desires reverential esteem and respectful honor. (Piper) the Heb word kabod has the figurative meaning of both glory and honor. Thus, to give glory to the Lord is to honor him. When we regard God as insignificant and do not bestow upon him the respect due to him, we do not behave as a father might have rightly expected his sons to behave, as a master might expect from his servants, or a king from his subjects. (Verhoef). They had forgotten who God was and thus didn’t worship Him the proper way. (Ferguson) By forgetting who God was, they no longer revered (feared) or respected (honored) Him. God is to be feared, respected, revered, and honored with our life, our dollars, our deeds, and our days. It refers to respect, esteem, value, submission, and obedience. (Driscoll) They treated him as if he was some trivial deity to whom they could give second-best. They had forgotten who they are, whose they are and who he is. If he is their master they are his servants if he is their father they are his beloved sons. If he is the great king they have been called to be his obedient subjects. (Sinclair Ferguson) When God’s love is no longer acknowledged, His honor is no longer advocated, and his name is no longer articulated, we lose the passion and desire to worship. Being in God’s presence becomes like the offerings we present it becomes lame and stagnant. Worship, then, becomes our weariness (1:13) rather than his worthiness. .. . . careless worship is a failure to see and feel the greatness of God. (Piper) They were
living as if they were ordinary men and women like the people around them. They were the only people on the face of the earth that God had revealed himself to, the only people on the face of the earth who God had cast his love upon, they were called to be wonderful children and glorious subjects his kingdom. So Malachi has a burden to bring a clear vision to the people who are shortsighted who don't even see how far they have turned away from their master, father and King. (Ferguson)
Responses with Good 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. 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? 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. The prophet’s accusation and motivation concern both the priest and the people. The defective animals were presented by the people and accepted by the priest. These actions were contrary to the law (Lev 22:13-33). Instead of honoring God’s name they had despised it through their actions in worship (Verhoef). The problem is contempt for God’s name, his table and the service of the Lord. The litmus test for my relationship to God is the character and the quality of my Worship. The evidence that my spirit has begun to drift from loyalty to the Lord will always appear first of all in the character of my worship (Ferguson). For them, their sacrifices were second rate (v 7,14). Would you do this to the government? Would you go before your boss the way you go before God? You've become so deranged spiritually that you can't think straight, as you enter the presence of a mere mortal, you come into the presence of one who could sniff you out in an instant. Second-best will do for God but not for others. A casualness that they would not show in their daily work, but they show when they come into the presence of God. Their spirit was self-pleasing. 1:12,13. Instead of asking, “How can I please Almighty God?”, they are asking, “How can I arrange for things to please myself, so that I enjoy it, so that it suits me?” They have turned away from the purpose of worship which is to glorify him (Ferguson). They were also saying that it was tiresome and distasteful to worship the Lord. Their worship should have been passionate and joyful instead of boring and burdensome (Col 3:16-17, Ps 100). The weariness is where you just start going through the motions. You get hardhearted. You get sick of it. You hit your lid. You’re not going to go to the next level. You’ve maxed out. (Driscoll)They were sniffing at it as something they despised. (Constable) It was a metaphor of cattle who do not like their fodder. They blow strongly through their nose upon it; and after this neither they nor any other cattle will eat it. (Clarke). Authentic worship comes from a heart where God is treasured above all human property and praise (Piper) When a person no longer honors God, It makes a person bored with God and excited about the world. If you don't see the greatness of God, then all the things that money can buy become very exciting. If you can't see the sun, you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightning, you'll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God, you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures. Worship is weariness because the one worshiped is not of ultimate worth (v 13) They are bored with God. Their basic attitude toward worship: "What a weariness this is!" And when you become so blind that the maker of galaxies and ruler of nations and knower of all mysteries and lover of our souls becomes boring, then only one thing is left—the love of the world. For the heart is always restless. It must have its treasure: if not in heaven, then on the earth. And so when it is time to bring sheep from the flock to sacrifice, what do you bring? You bring the sheep with disease and broken legs. Or you steal a sheep to bring. Why? It's obvious. The good sheep sell better and you love money more than God. (Piper)
See, the whole point of the Old Testament sacrificial system was to foreshadow the coming of Jesus. You bring a sacrifice without spot or blemish, foreshadowing that Jesus would come without spot or blemish, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish. If Jesus was not a lame sacrifice, if God gave us his only begotten Son, the best, perfect, without spot or blemish, sinless, why would we think that Jesus, who was a perfect sacrifice, would be excited about a lame sacrifice? (Driscoll).
Rejoices God 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. (Jer 6:20, 1 Sam 15:22-23)True worship pleases God. I care not for your persons, I respect not your performances. (Trapp) They leave undone the things pleasing to him (Whendon). Here the Lord affirms the person to be just as polluted as the sacrifices that they offer. The people must see their sinful behavior, repent, return, and seek to please the Lord. (Duet 10:12, Is 1:11-20, Ps 24:3-5). The hope of this transformation is when the Lord will come purify his people as a refiner’s fire and they will return to him (3:4,7). Then they will bring righteous offerings to the Lord and their offerings will be pleasing to the Him. When polluted become purified their offerings will be pleasing. (Matt 3:11-12).
Radiates His Grandeur 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. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. When God’s people are bored in worship their lives will not exhibit the excellences of God’s character, and God will be despised among the heathen for their sake. (Rom 2:17-24) (Boice). Worship expresses the feeling of God's value and greatness; (Piper) Why should we honor God? v 13 Jesus Christ is a great King We serve, and we belong to. Our King is a great King. Our King is the greatest King. Our King is the King of kings. Our King got off his throne. Our King came down and humbled himself. Our King gave us salvation. Our King gave us the cross. Our King gave us the resurrection. Our King gave us the Holy Spirit. Our King gives us a mission to make his name great among the nations so that everybody would hear about how great our King is. And this was an invitation to Israel that tragically, sadly, historically, they rejected. The point of the church is to scream the goodness of our great King that his fame would echo through the nations of the earth. And the nation of Israel chose not to do that. So God’s name is now being made great in the nations of the earth, and the good news of Jesus is ringing out, not primarily from Israel, but wherever the Holy Spirit chooses to plant a church, and to cause people to meet Jesus, to make disciples, to plant more churches, and to make more disciples. If you have any idea how great this King is, you don’t see this as a burden, but a blessing; not something you have to give your life to, but something that you get to give your life to. Because whatever else or whoever else you were giving your life to—there’s no pleasure in it. It’s not just that God will find no pleasure in it, neither will you. It’s hollow, it’s empty, it’s lame, it’s blind, it’s sick. It’s not life-giving, it’s not sustaining, it’s not eternity altering. Here’s what’s amazing: our King is great, so making his name great is something that we get to do by simply telling the truth about who he is and what he’s done. That’s the whole point, so he says, ‘I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.” “I want everybody to know who I am and what I’ve done.” And Jesus is our King of kings, and Jesus is our Lord of lords, and Jesus is our humble Master. There will be a day when the church comes to an end, and it will be absorbed into the kingdom of God, and Jesus will be seated on his throne, and all the nations will be subject to him, and his name will be great, and we will share in his pleasure. I want you to be part of what God loves, what God does, what God decrees, and what God commands (Driscoll). They fall short of the divine destiny that God has for them. They were to be a light to the gentiles but instead they were self-consumed with pleasures. Through their witness, coming to see the power of God in their lives, the whole world would turn to God and be united together in his presence. The quality and the character of our worship should be the single thing that draws men and women to Christ but when or where it is distorted it repels people rather than draws them. The quality and the impact our lives on the world will be diminish. (Ferguson) When the people of God are bored with the person of God it will push people away rather then pull them in. Malachi says to the priests: the name of your Father which you dishonor with sick sheep and mangy goats—that name is one day going to be reverenced and held in highest esteem by every nation of the world and in every place on the earth. (Piper) How blessedly it speaks of that glorious kingdom of grace, in the Lord Jesus Christ, which was to be so extensive, and including both Jew and Gentile; evidently therefore alluding to the days of the Gospel. to be a pure offering. Here again, it is plainly pointing to Jesus, whose one offering, once offered, perfected forever them that are sanctified. No offering but his could be pure; for even the prayers of the saints can only come up pure before God, in, and through Him ( Rev 8:4-5; Heb 10:14). (Hawker)