Well, good evening, brethren. It's good to be with you once again. You can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Malachi chapter 1. Malachi chapter 1, we're gonna look at verses 6 through 14 this evening.
Malachi 1, begin reading at verse 6. And
God's Claim and Israel's Blindness
a son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my reverence? says the Lord of hosts. To you priests who despise my name, yet you say, in what way have we despised your name?
Defiled Offerings on God's Altar
You offer defiled food on my altar, but say, in what way have we defiled you? by saying, the table of the Lord is contemptible. And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? When you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor.
Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts? But now entreat God's favor, that he may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts?
Who is there even among you who would shut the doors so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from your hands.
God's Name Great Among the Nations
For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and every place incense shall be offered to my name and a pure offering. For my name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. But you profane it, in that you say, The table of the Lord is defiled, and its food is contemptible. You also say, O what a weariness!
And you sneer at it, says the Lord of hosts. And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick. Thus you bring an offering. Should I accept this from your hands, says the Lord?
But cursed be the deceiver. who has in his flock a male, and takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.
God as Great King Among Nations
For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is to be feared among the nations. Amen. Well, let us pray. O God, we are thankful that you truly are the most honorable being there is.
We're thankful, O God, that you are majestic, you are glorious, and we ought to reverence you as such. We confess, O God, sometimes we do not think of you biblically. Sometimes, even in our own practice, we do not think of you aright. We must do what your scriptures say and must recognize who you are, O God, for you are a God who is infinite, eternal, unchangeable in your being, your justice, your goodness, your power, and your truth.
We're thankful that we have such a God who is such an omnipotent being, yet we're also thankful, O God, that you stoop to our nature, that you speak to us in baby talk, you reveal yourself to us in your Word. But we confess, O God, that how we think of you is evidenced in how we worship. We confess, O God, that as we seek to do what is right according to your Word, as we seek to engage in worship in an acceptable way, We confess, O God, sometimes we still do not have a right view of you. Sometimes we do not have a proper view of who you are.
Forgive us for this sin, O God. Forgive us for these things. Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth. Help us to worship you aright, O God, with a proper view of who you are.
We're thankful for your patience and long-suffering. We're thankful that you are the Lord, the Lord slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We thank you for your covenant care and covenant love, especially in the new covenant. We're thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ, who is that perfect covenant keeper, that we might be brought into the covenant through faith.
So God, help us to engage in right worship. Help us to engage in new covenant worship. Help us to worship in spirit and in truth. We ask, O God, that we would love your word, that we would love worship, that we would love the things that you love, and that we would worship you acceptably.
So, God, help us now as we come to your word, the blessed time of worship. Help us to be awake and attentive. Help us to know that we are hearing from you. Help us know that you meet with us in this place, O God.
Help us to have that expectation that when we come, we get to meet with the God of heaven and earth. So we ask, O God, You give us illumination by Your Spirit once again concerning what Your Word says. Prick our hearts, we do pray, and we pray that we would give You glory and praise and honor. We pray these things in the name of Christ.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, in the history of Israel at the time of the prophet Malachi, the people of Israel have been vomited out of the land for their wretchedness. They've been kicked out of the land by Assyria and by Babylon. And thus, in Malachi's time, there's a blessed return. Before Malachi's time, there's a blessed return in 538.
This is the post-exile. This is the second temple period. The people have been kicked out. Now they've been brought back.
There's a lot of hope with coming back. 538, the decree of Cyrus says the people of Israel can return to Jerusalem. 516, the Temple is rebuilt under the first return under Zerubbabel. But then after that, things seem to fade. The hope of the 500s fades into the 400s. Yes, the temple has been rebuilt, but Jerusalem is still in ruins, and they only occupy a small portion in the land of Persia.
What of our God? What of Yahweh? What of His promises? What of His worldwide domination?
Why is it we're still this puny little nation? And why should we worship such a God as this? For if we are so puny, our God must be puny as well. And so Malachi comes on the scene.
Probably the same time as Ezra, same time as Nehemiah, perhaps a little bit before. Same problems we see in Ezra and Nehemiah. And he comes to deal with their false perception of who God is. A false perception of God's covenant love.
And this false perception of God leads to a false practice, especially in everyday life. Malachi really is all about everyday life, and one of the things that we see in verses 6 through 14 is with respect to their worship. See, Malachi is separated into six disputations, each dealing with a specific problem and a specific purpose. The first disputation in verses 2 through 5 is, does God really love us?
Look at where we are. Look at where we're sitting. Look, our city is in ruins. Does God really care for us?
And then this bleeds into that second disputation. Why worship a God like this? Or why worship Him according to His word? Why worship Him since we get nothing? out of it.
And so this second disputation really goes into chapter 2, verse 9. It's really focused. So we're just going to look at the first part this evening. And each disputation has four things.
It has an assurance. God asserts something. It has a question. The people respond to what God says with a question.
God responds to them. Then God brings forth an implication. We're going to see all of those in the first part. The second part in chapter 2, verses 1 through 9 is all implication.
And notice we see throughout repeated themes, profaning, defiling the name of the Lord of hosts, for it is all about worship. For that was the problem going on in Israel at this time. It was corrupt worship of God. They treated worship indifferently, mainly because they treated God indifferently.
And indifference towards God leads to indifference towards worship. What you think of God and how you worship, or very more, how you worship and what you think of worship, says a lot about what you think of the Lord God Most High. How you worship says a lot what you think of Yahweh, of hosts, and the people were treating Yahweh like he was nothing. And problems abounded as the people acted wickedly in worship, and they acted wickedly in everyday life.
Now, yes, the priests are to blame. Well, that's primarily the second part of the disputation. Tonight we're going to see the worship in general and as a whole. I surmise, and I don't just surmise, I know it's a problem in our day and age as well with respect to the worship of our God.
People treat God and Jesus indifferently. People have a low view of who God is and as such have a low view of what worship ought to look like. That's why in Reformed circles we emphasize the regulative principle of worship—worshiping God on God's terms, not on our own terms. But I also think there's perhaps still a problem that does enter into Reformed Baptist churches as well.
We grow tired of the mundane. We grow tired of the everyday. Sometimes we want a little razzle-dazzle. Sometimes we want those things in life, and perhaps we grow a little weary of what God So we'll seek to look at this worship, this focus, Yahweh's indicting the people for their wicked worship, for their low view of Him, and we'll look at this idea of worship under three headings.
Questionable Worship
First of all, questionable worship in verses 6-8. Secondly, Gentile worship in verses 9 through 11. Lastly, profane worship in verses 12 through 14. So he's indicting them for their low view of worship, and we'll see that with questionable worship, Gentile worship, and profane worship.
So let's first look at questionable worship. in verses 6 through 8. As I said, the first disputation, does God love us? And if He doesn't love us, which we view, we don't think He does care for us, why ought we to love God? And so their worship was wrong, their worship was corrupted, their worship was not Right.
Now again, the emphasis is primarily on the priests, but includes the people as well. The priests can't just blame the people. On the flip side, the people can't just blame the priests. Yes, the priests should have known what they're supposed to do, but we are supposed to be Bereans to search the Word of God, and there probably was a faithful remnant in Israel at that time who searched the scriptures and knew the Old Testament and should have called out those priests on their wicked worship.
But the priests and the people are both at fault here, and it has to do with honoring God. And notice in verse 6, we see this assertion. God makes a claim. And notice he makes an everyday life argument regarding his honor.
A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my reverence? Says the Lord of hosts.
In the ancient Near Eastern world, in the world at that time, honor and respect was more important than love. They probably could have gone to pagan nations, pagan households, and saw that fathers received respect from their children. Albeit they're pagans, albeit they're sinners, but perhaps there is some common grace operating in those nations. And some kids did honor their father and their mother.
But that's not happening in Israel. You see, even theologically in Exodus 4, God calls himself the father of Israel, his firstborn. Yet if people in other places, if pagans in other places honor their fathers, where is mine? And I'm a far greater father.
I'm a far more loving father. I'm a far more gracious father. Yet where is my honor? Where is my reverence?
He's not just any father. He's not just a father who actually has hands and stands tall. He's a God Almighty who is unlike any father. He is a holy other being.
He is to be revered. He is to be honored for who he is. recognizing God and His attributes, His majesty, His glory, His power, all these things He's demonstrated. They've seen God's grace in a special way. They've seen God's grace in a powerful way.
Yet they still do not worship Him. God and His kindness appeared to them. God and His kindness dwelt among them, yet they do not worship Him aright or give Him the proper reverence. They don't give Him that proper fear, especially with respect to the covenant Lord, especially with respect to the covenant made with Israel.
And you perhaps noticed throughout, we've seen Lord of hosts, Lord of hosts, Yahweh of hosts. The covenant name of the Lord is repeated throughout Malachi for that specific purpose. Malachi, or God through Malachi, wants us to see that I am the covenant Lord who has kept his promises, yet you still disregard me as your God. So he says, where is my honor, says the Lord of hosts, to you priests who despise my name?
And then they say, they don't see it. Yet you say, in what way have we despised your name? Again, it's with the priests, but the people as well. They despise his name.
And the name will come up often in this disputation, or this part of the disputation. Namely, the name has to do with God's revelation. They saw God in a, once again, a special way. Yahweh, that special theophany, in that burning bush scenario in Exodus chapter 3, where God appears to Moses and said, I am who I am, I am Yahweh.
He appears to them in such a special way. And even in this, it's not just recounting who He is, but what He has done for them. He brought them up out of the land of Egypt. He saved them from bondage.
But he also has already engaged in a second exodus. He brought them up out of the land of Babylon, the land of Persia. He brought them up out of that place in a second restoration for them, yet they still forget it. Isn't that egregious?
Isn't that a terrible thing that the people of Israel are doing? God has done these gracious things, but they do not see it. They don't recognize it. They think everything they're doing is just fine.
They think everything's acceptable. They think God can't be mad with us. And as such, they do not see that they are defiling and profaning the name of the Lord God Most High." Oh God, that's a weird thing to think. We're just doing what we want to do.
We do love you, God, but they're evidencing otherwise. Don't be so sensitive. God is perhaps what they're thinking. And yet you say, what way have we despised your name?
But then God gives another assertion and question in verse 7, with respect to profaning that name. You offer defiled food on my altar, but say, in what way have we defiled you? Again, the idea comes up again. They still don't recognize what they are doing.
They still don't recognize that they're defiling the altar of God. You offer defiled food on my altar, but say, in what way have we defiled you? There was the Old Testament regulative principle of worship. They had to worship God according to what he says with bulls and goats.
They had certain things they had to engage in to make sure everything was right. And the language here you offer is language typically used, especially in Malachi, of drawing near in worship. You come in worship, you offer these things, you offer defiled food on my altar, you offer vile things on my altar. They do not do what God says, but they do what they wanted to do.
And they think that what they're doing is just fine because their heart's in the right place. In what way have we defiled you? Again, they still do not see it. Twice they asked that question.
According to Malachi, they do not see what is going on. Now, I do surmise in a modern context, People probably don't realize what they're doing. People don't see what they're doing. They have to be told what they're doing.
They have to be told that what you're doing is an abominable practice. I don't deny that there are still good churches who have all the big bands and that sort of thing. They are more tame. They are true churches.
But there are some churches that really do engage in idolatrous, wretched, vile, awful things. On a Sunday, they make this the place where everybody can do their special gift, and shine on the stage, and do their dancing in the aisles, and have their pottery, and want to show it at the front, and their paintings, and their sand art. I remember I went to a church, and on Easter Sunday, this lady was doing sand art while everybody played. That's not the place to do your sand art.
If you want to do your sand art Monday through Saturday, that's fine. But it's not for Sunday. You see, people don't realize that what they're doing is actually defiling God's name. Again, perhaps because people have a low view of who God is.
They don't see that he is the God of heaven and earth. And what they're doing is based on the way they feel, not based on what God says. So twice they question God, and he responds again in verse 7. The table of the Lord is contemptible.
They consider God so low that they offer Him lowly things. They completely disregarded the Levitical laws on sacrifice. Leviticus, I know we get to it, we get bored in our devotions, and we start to glaze over when we read about the entrails and all that sort of stuff. But Leviticus is all about drawing near to God.
It's all about God's holiness or God's holy otherness. And there are certain laws they had to engage in when they approached this holy God, and they had to approach God with the best, with the firstfruits, which is what the people in Malachi's time were not doing. Notice verse 8. It shows how they are contemptible against the altar, against the table of the Lord.
When you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Blind here does not refer to people. It refers to animals. refers to offering the blind, the lame, and the sick.
The priests were supposed to know better. They were supposed to accept the best of God's people. Yet the priests accepted these ones. They accepted the ones they were not supposed to be accepted.
Now, this isn't a clean versus unclean thing. It's a blemished versus perhaps unblemished type of scenario. They want to keep the best ones for themselves. They want to keep the best goats for themselves.
They want to keep the best bulls for themselves rather than give the best to God Almighty. And so they said, we don't need the lame one or the sick one or the blind one. Let's not let it go to waste. We'll bring it up to the altar of the Lord.
And the priests just accepted it. They should have said no. Now, maybe they were bullied. Maybe the farmers were like, we eat the blind ones all the time.
We don't want to let them go to waste. Maybe they bullied the priests. But I don't think that's the case. Verses one through nine, God really deals with the priests in that section, showing forth how awful and wicked they have actually been.
So the people come, the priests receive it, they disregard God by giving their worst rather than giving God their best. And then God argues, Malachi argues, with respect to this scenario, once again, from the lesser to the greater.
Argument from Lesser to Greater
Offer it then to your governor, verse 8. Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts. There were governors at that time in the area.
If you brought a blind or lame one to them, they would say, get out of here. They would say, this is unacceptable. Yet you would bring this to the God of heaven and earth. You would bring this to the Lord God of hosts.
You bring this to God who saved you and brought you out of captivity twice. You did not love him and care for him. You bring these things to him. Would your governor accept such a sacrifice?
The people do not worship God acceptably with what they're bringing. They think everything's fine, but you do not see, because that's what sin does. Sin blinds hearts. But nonetheless, brethren, in our day and age, we must worship God acceptably.
When we say acceptably, we mean based on God's terms. That's the regular principle of worship. Just because it's not forbidden does not mean it is okay. We must do what God prescribes in His Word.
And specifically in His Word, what He prescribes is just His very Word. We sing the Word, we pray the Word, we preach the Word, we partake visibly in the Word with the sacraments. Those are the Word and a means of grace for us that we get to enjoy. Be present, brethren, with the baptism that is coming up.
It is not just for the party baptized, but it's for you as well. It is a sign and symbol. It is a blessed means of grace for all of us that we might see the way God stoops to our nature in these sacraments of dying and rising again. or with the Lord's Supper. Don't absent yourself from the Lord's Supper.
God gives us a visible representation of the gospel. We do believe in visible things, don't we? Just what God says are appropriate for visible representations of what has happened. Worship must be done according to proper regulations, or John 4, in truth, according to his word, but we must also have a proper heart.
We must also worship Him in spirit as well, quickened by the Spirit. Reformed people are not against the Holy Spirit. We believe very much in the power and the work of the Holy Spirit, but it's not always when we sing shah-dah-dah-dah-dahs, or it's not always when we spout off prophecies. It's not in those scenarios.
That is wrong and not right. The Spirit works in ordinary ways in the midst of God's people, and He meets with us and we come and worship Him acceptably. So we must worship God acceptably and not questionably. So that's questionable worship.
Gentile Worship
Let's then look secondly at Gentile worship in verses 9 through 11. Again, people have a false assumption of what they're doing. You see, the priests thought they were bringing blessing, and they thought they were seeking God's favor. They think what they're doing is acceptable, but God has other plans.
Verse nine, but now entreat God's favor that he may be ingracious to us. He's taunting them. While this is being done by your hands, will he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts. Now even here, verse nine, God is the word El.
It's probably in contrast with the governor. Now entreat, not the governor, but entreat God and see what you may receive. Entreat this one who is greater and see what shall happen, says the Lord of hosts. And he goes on to speak of their unacceptableness all the more in verse 10.
Who is there even among you who would shut the doors so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain? Do you know what he's saying there?
God Rejects Corrupt Worship
It's better to shut the doors of a corrupt church than to let it go on. It's better to shut down the church rather than to continue on in such blasphemy. It's better to close the doors of the altar than to continually offer the blind, the lame, and the sick. It's better to shut down those things than to let those things continue.
Because it's true, many churches have degenerated into synagogues of Satan. And it would be better if they were shut down. It would be better if they were closed down, because they're bringing forth a false gospel with a false message, leading people to a false hope. It would be better if they were shut down, so the only options people had would be good churches.
That would be far greater. Now that's not reality, but that's what God is saying here. it's better to shut down those doors, it's better to shut down the altar, because people kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from your hands." They knew the laws, but didn't practice them. They knew the truth, but did not keep them.
Perhaps with the sick, we don't want to let them go to waste. We'll just bring him in. We'll take him. We'll accept him.
That's probably what the priest thought. They're being pragmatic. They're being practical. Or perhaps even at this time as well, there were bribes.
Here, we'll give you a lot of money. Just take this lame one. They were sinister people. Or perhaps as well, maybe they had a value deal going on.
Three maimed ones equals one good one. They're engaging in pragmatism because they want to appease the people rather than appease the Lord God Himself. But God will not accept such an offering. God will not accept such a sacrifice.
It would be better to shut the doors of the altar altogether at this time. Now, if Israel isn't going to worship a rite, God is still going to receive worship. Verse 11. This is where we see the Gentile offerings coming in.
For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles. In every place incense shall be offered to my name and a pure offering. For my name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. There's going to be worldwide praise.
God doesn't need just Israel to be praised. Yes, God can be praised through creation, but the Gentiles are going to praise him as well. Notice the name. The name, the name, my name, the revelation of God and who he is will come to them.
Yahweh will come to the Gentiles. And how does that happen? How does God appear? How does God engage in a theophany with his people?
You see, the people of Israel were wanting and waiting for Yahweh to come. In fact, the messenger in chapter three, verse one, I said, my messenger, he will prepare the way before me, before Yahweh. And then Mark comes on the scene, and he talks with the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he brings Malachi, he brings Isaiah, he brings Exodus 23 all together, who will prepare the way of the Lord. John the Baptist prepares the way of the Lord.
John the Baptist prepares the way of Yahweh. When Jesus comes on the scene, brethren, it is a theophany. And when we think of theophany, it just means God appearing, but it doesn't always refer to every time God appears. It has to have a sensibleness to it.
The burning bush is a theophany. The Mount Sinai is a theophany. And Jesus coming is a theophany as well. Yahweh appears.
Yahweh is here. Yahweh dwells among us. And because of Yahweh's dwelling, because of a pure and righteous priest, because of a pure and righteous messenger, the Gentiles shall sing his praises. The Gentiles shall offer pure worship in my name.
Jerusalem, is no longer the place to worship. Great name, great God, great worship versus demeaning worship. Now, I should say this is not a section that's saying you can worship God in any way you want. It's not someone who's offering pagan sacrifices.
I'm seeking God in my own religion. That's not what he's saying. What does he say? In every place, incense shall be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
True sacrifice, according to what God says, will be offered up in worship. Malachi is pointing ahead to spiritual gentile inclusion. Even the prophets are anti-dispensational. I need to throw that in there.
The prophets are very much against dispensationalism. They're looking ahead to a time when Gentiles will be brought in singing the praises of God. They will be the true people of God who sing praises to His name. Philippians 2.10, when Paul goes into that great hymn of Christ, he drives to the point with respect to the Lord Jesus being raised from the dead.
And what does he say? He says that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and those under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And many other places in the New Testament, with the Gentiles coming in and Acts, Revelation, shows forth the fulfillment of what Malachi says here in Malachi 2.11. So they must worship God, and they must not worship Him acceptably, but we also must not worship God with false assumptions.
The people thought everything was hunky-dory. The people thought everything was just fine. The people thought they were worshiping God. Oh, right, there is this prevailing thought in evangelicalism today, which we call the normative principle of worship.
If it's not forbidden, it is okay. That's why you have people saying, I have a heart for God, and this is my gift, and this is how I'm going to glorify God on a Sunday. I don't like just standing and singing hymns and sitting there while this guy drones on for an hour. I don't like those things.
I want to be involved, but I want to be involved in my way. I like my own program. I like a sewing program. I like a children's program.
I like a this program. I like a social program. I want all these things to meet my felt needs where I can execute and exercise my gift. Let's just be honest.
It's all about us in that scenario, isn't it? It's the place where I can do what I want to show forth how great I am, to show forth my gifting. Everybody wants a ministry for themselves, really not for the glory of God. We can couch things in holy language.
We do this all the time. People always go, I prayed about it. I think this is the thing I should be doing. Well, I prayed about it too.
And I know it's not the thing you should be doing. Please don't we use that prayer thing as a trump card. I prayed about it. Therefore, I'm right.
Not according to what the Bible says. The Bible says we do what God says, and perhaps sometimes people might go, you know what? Your regular principle of worship infringes on my liberty. Really?
It infringes on your liberty? You see, I actually think the regular principle preserves liberty. You want to know why? I used to go to many evangelical churches in the past.
I'm sure many of you have as well. Do you ever feel like a jerk or feel like you didn't love God very much when someone was standing at the front dancing and all you were doing was just sitting down and just worshipping God in your quiet space? You felt, wow, I must be sub-Christian because I'm not dancing like that guy. They're not great at it, but at least they're dancing for Jesus.
At least they're getting themselves out there. You felt like a terrible person, didn't you? See, the beauty of the regular principle, brethren, we stand together, we sing together, we sit down together, we pray together, we listen together, all together, so that our liberties might be preserved. You see, it's the point of the regular principle of worship that we get to preserve that blessed liberty that God has given us that we might glorify his name, and we must not have false assumptions about worship, but have right assumptions about it.
What pleases God as we search the scriptures to understand what he says, and we should not relax the standards. Stuart says, when the inspectors relax their standards, the people can openly relax theirs, but God has not relaxed his. to defile worship is to defile God and is an evidence of a faithless people. That's harsh, isn't it? To defile worship is to defile God and is an evidence of a faithless people.
Stuart goes on to say, disbelief, not accidental failure to maintain standards, was the priest's real fault. Tradition had replaced the word of God, an evolved system of worship had gradually replaced a revealed one. We've always done this. This is just how we do things.
This is just the way it ought to be. That can still creep into Reformed churches, can it not? Brethren, I'm going to tell you something about Sunday school. You know when Sunday school started? 1800s.
Do you want to know why it started? Just how it sounds. Sunday school. Not a religious thing, but a Sunday school for kids who could not go to school throughout the week because they had to work hard to provide for their families.
And so what someone started, I can't remember the guy's name, but he started Sunday schools for that purpose. Eventually, pretty quickly, 50 years or so, it did become a religious thing. But it didn't happen until the 1800s. Yes, it's maybe not necessarily wrong to have Sunday school, et cetera.
But nonetheless, we must understand its place and where it was. and how it started. Brethren, we must not keep tradition because we've always, or we must not always do things because we've always done them. Yes, we can think like that. We must take everything and test it with the Word of God.
It must be a revealed type of worship. Because the beauty is, when Jew and Gentile rot together under the regular principle of worship, we can worship together without worry about what we're doing, without worry about offending anyone, knowing that we're doing what God says. So that's Gentile worship.
Profane Worship
Let's then look thoroughly and finally at profane worship in verses 12 through 14. Profane worship, verse 12, but you profane it just means there's no consequences. We can do what we want. We're not worried about what's going to happen.
But you profane it in that you say, the table of the Lord is defiled, and its fruit, its food, is contemptible. They hate the sacrifice, they hate the food, the evidence that they do not love what God loves. But notice verse 13, you also say,
Contempt and Weariness in Worship
oh, what a weariness, and you sneer at it. They don't like the regative principle of worship. God, this doesn't work. Look at our surroundings.
We've worshipped you this way. This isn't working aright. Our nation's in shambles. Why should we do what you say?
Rather, let's do what the nations say instead. They became whiners, grumblers, and complainers. God, your way is just too hard. God, it doesn't bring the result that we want.
We want some innovation in worship. And really, the third disputation deals with the fact they marry pagan women. So they have these wives that come on the scene and say, this is how we worship Baal. This is how we worship Ashtoreth.
This is how we worship Molech. This is how we worship these other gods. Let's bring a little bit of that into the worship in Israel. They worshiped God and viewed his worship as a weariness.
God's ways are too monotonous, too mundane, and they won't work. Sound familiar? Why is it that people do certain things or add certain things? In fact, in this whole Sunday School historical understanding, do you want to know why they did it?
It was to bring people in. It was for the purpose of the fact that they had not just their members engaging in it, perhaps it was a tool to bring people in. That's why they did Sunday school at that time. Now, I'm not necessarily saying Sunday school is necessarily a bad thing.
You understand what I'm saying. It's a very, very recent thing. We must check that at the door with respect to what it is. is, but the point I'm trying to make with respect to the weariness, sometimes this can happen to Reformed folk. The regulative principle of worship, it is long, it is mundane, but it's also blessed and glorious because of the Word of God and what it says.
But that doesn't mean our sinful minds don't start thinking, we're like, you know what, I kind of like kickoff Sundays. I think we always like something new, right? The rest of the life phrase scares us. You mean we're doing the same thing?
I'm 30 for the rest of my life? Yes, for the rest of your life. You mean I have to marry this person for the rest of my life? Yes, for the rest of your life.
You mean I have to do this job for the rest of my life? Yeah, to some degree, you have to do it for the rest of your life. That scares people. That's what the Bible says.
Faithfulness is important. Faithfulness is key. And the people of Israel at this time wanted to do innovative things rather than what God says. Brethren, it is hard to be a confessional church.
It's hard to be a confessional Christian in this day and age because of the long drawn out monotony that we emphasize, the ordinary that we emphasize. But brethren, even though it is monotonous, please remember it's what God says and God meets with us when we worship Him in such a way. But the people sneered. Oh, what a weariness, and you sneer at it, says the Lord of hosts.
Mackay said it was their highest privilege to serve the Lord who had saved them. But because they had lost sight of His love and the blessings He had bestowed on them, They had no real desire to praise him, and their worship had become sterile and corrupt. And the false worshiper returns in verse 13. And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick.
Thus you bring an offering. Should I accept this from your hand, says the Lord?
Deceit, Vows, and Divine Cursing
But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male and takes a vow, but sacrifices the Lord what is. Blemished. Verse 13, that's stolen there, another category. Probably refers to perhaps a goat or a bull that was actually stolen, or maybe it was mauled by an animal.
They're like, ah, it's been mauled. We'll use it anyway. Let's burn it. Their worship, their pragmatic approach still arose.
In fact, Nehemiah deals with this stuff in Nehemiah chapter 13. Because really what their worship is saying is it's saying that God is not a good king. It's minimizing who God is. You see, why are there blind, stolen, lame, and sick? when you have the firstborn male.
Again, coming back to the idea that God deserves our best. And it's not like we don't have many good males here. They had many wonderful, big, strong male bulls that they could have given up to God. And what makes it worse is they vowed.
We said, yes, God, we're going to give you this big, giant male bull for you. But they reneged on it. Instead, they gave the one that was awful, one that was blemished, one that was blind or lame or stolen or sick, rather than the one they said they would give to the Lord God Most High. Shouldn't God deserve our best?
This is the problem with Cain and Abel. What did Cain do? What did Abel do? Abel offered the first fruits.
Doesn't say that about Cain, does it? Cain probably did not offer the best to his God, and as such, God did not view his worship All right. These ones in Israel at this time of Malachi were reneging. Cursed be the deceiver who has this flock a male and takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.
Doesn't this remind you of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5? What was their problem there? It was that they made a vow. We're going to give this lump sum.
And they said, we're not going to do that. We're going to keep some back. If they hadn't made that vow, things probably would have been fine. The New Testament doesn't give a number on how we ought to give.
It just says be generous. They said, here's the number. We made a vow. Now we're taking it back.
False, wretched, awful worship that they did not truly engage in. Cursed be this one. Oh, what a weariness, verse 13. You profane it, verse 12, against God, the great king, verse 14.
For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is to be feared among the nations. God is not just any God. He is the God who commands angel armies. But that's not how Israel saw it.
They saw God as a puny little God, because Judah was a puny little nation. They forgot Psalm 47. They forgot Psalm 48. They forgot the fact that the Lord God Almighty is King over the earth, and His graciousness chose the people of Israel, not because they were wonderful, not because they were great, but because He is good. because He is gracious.
He chose them as a special people to where the Messiah would come. The loins of the Messiah would come from Israel. Yet they forgot that. They forgot all His goodness and mercy and kindness and graciousness, and they still worship Him in a wicked way.
Sometimes crises don't always shock people into doing what is right, does it? The people were vomited out. They forgot it. They forgot who God was.
They don't see with a bigger picture. They don't cling to the Word of God. They don't go, OK, God, Jerusalem's in shambles. I still see it.
But Nehemiah, we know Nehemiah's on the way. But nonetheless, it's still not its own nation. Hmm. But your word says.
But your word says, but the Bible says. Bill Hughes says murmuring is a sign of a defective memory and defective sight. That is the same thing that we see with the people of Israel. They had defective memory, what God had done for them twice, Exodus, Exodus 2, as well as the many other things he's done for them.
And they only saw with their eyes rather than looking with Faith at the God of heaven and earth, the Lord of hosts, my name is to be feared among the nations. See, brethren, we must not just worship God acceptably. We must also worship him with right assumptions. We must also worship him for who he is.
Again, the main idea, the reason people worship God poorly in our day is because they have a low view of God. God is like us. That's how they view God. He's got emotions like we do.
He needs to be stirred up like we do. He needs to be entertained like we do. We need to worship him like the world. We need to entertain this God.
We need to be entertained by God. He loves the things that we engage in.
The Doctrine of God and Right Worship
Brethren, God is wholly other than you and I. God is a wholly different being than you and I. We must just start there. God exists differently than you and I do.
When we think about the Trinity, how is it one God, three persons? We can't. We don't know, but we can say that God exists differently. And how He exists blows our minds because we cannot comprehend who God is.
The only way we know God is when He reveals Himself to us in His Word. And the people of Israel had a first-row seat to all the blessings that He engaged in with them, and the evidences of who He was. We view God in our day and age. Israel viewed God in their day and age like He was like us.
He was an idol made with hands. He had eyes that can see, ears that can hear. He has emotions like we do. He grows and increases.
God doesn't grow and increase, brethren. God is love. God is wrath. He doesn't grow or decrease in them.
We think God changes like you and I do. But the true God, the God of the Bible, deserves and demands that acceptable worship. Jesus deserves and demands acceptable worship. John 4.24, we worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Isn't theology proper, very practical? Sometimes we go, oh man, theology, big words, I can't understand it. Simplicity, impassibility, what? Brethren, study them and learn them.
Read good books. God Without Parts, Dolezal, God Without Passion, Sam Renahan. That'll be a good starting place with respect to the doctrine of God. Sometimes we feel like we have to water down everything and have to have an analogy for everything.
Not in the doctrine of God. Just please learn it. And I need to keep learning it. That sounds arrogant.
I know I'm an arrogant guy, but we still need to learn those things. The people back in the 1600s just knew this and understood it and had it part and parcel for their own parlance with respect to theology. Proper, study it, love it, learn it, and glorify the God that we study. When we think about His attributes, His infinity, His eternality, His unchangeableness, the fact that He is Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the fact that there's not three gods but one God, yet there are three persons, that the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Spirit, and the Son is not God, all those things, that's difficult for us to comprehend, but it calls us to what?
Stop and worship. And if we have a big view of who God is, a theological view of who God is, a right view of who God is, hopefully we'll have a right view of what worship is as well. How we worship, what we think of worship, says a lot about what we think of the God of heaven and earth. Because sometimes for us, brethren, familiarity breeds contempt.
Same thing I've already been saying, familiarity breeds contempt. We do the same thing, same thing, same thing, same thing, and we get bored. We must read, study, be reminded, study God, study His Word, and ask Him to meet with us in this place when we do worship Him in such an acceptable way. Mackay says, such honor and respect were missing from the worship of Malachi's day because there was no true appreciation of what the God they professed to worship was really like.
Judah's not big. There's no more king. God ain't big nor worthy of true worship. Let us not have that mindset.
When we see the world around us, we see difficulties around us, let's come back to the Word of God and recognize who He is, that His ways are not our ways, that His plans are not like our plans, that He has everything under control as the God of heaven and earth. And thankfully, the God of heaven and earth does meet with us, brethren. The flip side of everything going on here, yes, they worship God in an improper way, but the beauty is, and the promise is, God does meet with his people. God does dwell with his people, especially when we worship him on his terms.
Again, we freak out about Leviticus, and it isn't just about how we worship God, brethren, it's about how God dwells with us. It's about how God meets with his people. It's about how this holy other God condescends in these bulls and goats. Thankfully, we live on the other side of Christ's coming, that he condescended in the Lord Jesus Christ, that that second person took on human flesh.
Not the first, not the third, yet there's no mixture. There's no mixture between the divine and the human, yet that second person still took on human flesh, is like us in every way, yet without sin, as He dwells among us. And the beauty is, because He dwells among us and dwelt among us, we can dwell with God. And we can dwell with God now.
Yes, we can do it throughout the week through prayer and reading, etc. But the beauty is, there is a special sense when we gather together as God's people. God does meet with us in His Word. It might not all be bells and whistles and razzle-dazzle and dancing and all those things, but what God meets with us according to what His Word says as we approach Him and worship Him in an acceptable way.
How we worship, what we think of worship, says a lot about what we think of the God we worship.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Lord God, we are thankful for true worship, that we confess, O God, sometimes we do grow weary, but we ask, O God, that we would always take every thought captive and make it obedient to your word, that we would follow what the Bible does say concerning who you are and concerning your worship. We're thankful, O God, for your promises that you do meet with your people. We're thankful, O God, that you're with your church even to the end of the age.
Christ is with his people even to the end of the age. And we're thankful, O God, when we gather together in a special way with worship, we're thankful that you do meet with us. We pray, O God, that you would have met with us this evening, that you would speak to us concerning who you are, concerning what worship is and what true worship looks like. Help us, O God, to cling to worship.
Help us to love right worship. And help us to never grow tired and weary of true worship. Help us to be faithful, O God, in this life. Help us to be faithful to the things that you've called us to.
Help us to love the things that you love, and to worship you in an acceptable way, for you are a consuming fire. We're thankful, O God, that you encourage us. It is a means of grace. It is for our growth that we get to gather with you.
Help us to remember, O God, that we are singing with the saints of heaven. We are singing with the saints throughout the world as well, that we get to gather as your church and come and get a glimpse and foretaste of what heaven will be like. We long, O God, for that new heavens and new earth when Christ comes back and ushers it in, where we get to sing your praises, world without end. But we're thankful, O God, for the glimpses and foretastes we see now.
Thank you for your dwelling. Thank you for your love. Thank you that Christ dwelt among us and Christ loved us and died for us. And we're thankful, O God, that we can dwell with you.
So we ask, O God, that we would worship you aright. We ask, O God, that we have a right view of worship. And we ask, O God, we have a right view of you. And we're thankful for your word that you reveal these things to us.
May these things be an encouragement to our souls as we go into the world. Help us, we pray, in the name of Christ, amen.