Malachi Chapter One, Tarnishing Worship

 

Paul wrote, “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed,” Romans 9:6-8. Those of the promise, like believing Abraham trust in God, and their faith is counted to them as righteousness, Genesis 15:6. Like James had written extensively on, one’s actions define the thoughts and intents of the heart. Faith is a practical thing. The object of our faith, if real, will move us to behaviors, attitudes and mindsets otherwise or formerly alien to us. When such transformation is absent, there is reason to believe saving faith is likewise vacant, James 2:14-18. The Israelites of Malachi’s time are simply going through the motions, as we would call it today. Worse, though, what the body does the mind protests against. The attitude of the Jews dare to insult their King with blemished offerings, even torn, lame and sick ones, Malachi 1:13.

While talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus imparted to her an amazing theological truth: God did not intend for worship to be relegated to a locality, e.g. the temple in Jerusalem. Fleshly ordinances and houses of stone were not what God desires. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth,” John 4:23, 24. In Israel’s day, in Malachi’s time, it wasn’t the animal, or the temple; it was faith working through obedience to perfect the worshiper. Not perfect in the sinless sense, merely perfect in a positional sense. True worshipers worship God in spirit. If the soul of man is the seat of his reason or personality, his spirit is that which connects him to the divine. This is certainly a distinct aspect of our humanity that has made us in the image of God, Genesis 1:26, 27, 2:7. The inspired narrative definitely demonstrates a different manner of creation regarding mankind than the sea creatures (Genesis 1:20, 21) or the land animals, Genesis 1:24, 25. God had the earth bring forth land dwelling animals. Though God made Adam from similar material physically, He breathed His own breath into him and made him alive, that is, spiritually alive as well as physically. Jesus informs us that through the spirit we commune with God and only through our spirit may we worship Him. Having our spirit renewed, our thoughts, words and actions should be cleansed of the former lusts that were tainted by this present evil world to offer to God what is right. Like a child eager to please their mother simply out of innocent love, our spirits inspire our whole person to conformity to Christ’s will, 2 Corinthians 10:5.

 

It is clear that truth must be present as well. The Holy Spirit, who seals and fills us for God’s work, is also known as the Spirit of truth, John 14:17. Worshiping in spirit then, will not abide that which is untrue. Spiritual compromise cannot, will not be tolerated in the hearts of true worshipers. We see compromise today every bit as much as Malachi bemoaned in his time. Christians compromise on abortion, marriage, fornication, homosexuality, the creation account in Genesis 1-11, plurality in religion, et al. Like the torn animals God disdained to profane His altar, we bring the remnants of our piecemeal faith, sanitized of anything controversial, thought provoking, or difficult. The Bible is subjected to the new authority of pseudo-scientific speculations, humanistic philosophical assertions, relativism breaking down any objective claims of what is right or wrong, while the god called “self” is enthroned over this flood of heresy.

 

Once more the Lord tells His backsliding people that His name is to be feared (revered, held in awe) among the nations. The Gentiles were to look to Israel, and seeing Israel know that God was among them. There was a God in Heaven, and He ruled still. The Gentiles, though still possessed of the witness of nature and governed by their God-given conscience, held only the residue of their primeval history and dealings with God. It is no small secret that the Gentile cultures the world over tend to have Creation accounts, giant legends, Flood legends, even tower building stories passed down from antiquity. But there history diverged and while the peoples were separated into tongues and nations, the line leading to Israel and Messiah was being narrowed to the Jewish state. We read, “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world,” Ephesians 2:11, 12. God had not forgotten the work of His hands. “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works,” Psalm 145:9.

 

God’s name was to be magnified beyond Israel’s borders (see verse 5) so that the Gentile nations would fear, or revere, the God of Israel and come to Him. In the spiritually torpid condition of Israel they were not being the city on the hill that would draw those dwelling in darkness. This was why God did not want integration with the nations, not only of Canaan but any country outside of Israel. Becoming just like those outside, the Jewish state forfeit its witness. The potency and purity of Jewish worship was neutered in their desperate scramble to be like the nations, though God told them they were taken out of the nations and would not be counted among them. Rather than the Gentile nations fearing God’s name and being influenced by godly Israel, profane Assyria, Babylon, and others heavily influenced the Israelites. Religious duty was now seen as a means, with God’s blessing being the ends. Roles had revered, and of course when that happened the fervor to serve God diminished. The Gentiles saw nothing more than another country, with another temple, calling on the name of one God out of many. How did it come to this in Malachi’s time? Nehemiah, Ezra and the rest did such a fine job with their revival. As it happens, chapter 2 is not remiss in sharing the reason as to why the average worshiper treated God’s temple and the altar with such disesteem.