"'A son
honors his father, and a
servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a
master, where is My respect?' says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who
despise My name.
Malachi introduces the accusation that God has against
the Jewish people through a comparison. This comparison, if communicated in the
language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this:
“It is common knowledge that a son normally shows honor and respect to his
father. It is common knowledge that a slave normally shows honor and respect to
his master or lord. Well if it is normal to show honor and respect to your
earthly father and earthly master or Lord, then why are you not showing Me the
honor and respect that I rightly deserves and should receive as King and Lord
of all?”
What is so interesting is that the word honor, in the language that
this letter was originally written in, literally means weighty or heavy. To
honor someone conveys the sense of giving one who carries weight the due that
is rightly theirs. When Malachi uses the word respect, this word literally
means to fear or stand in awe. This word conveys the sense of holding someone
or something in a state of respectful awe.
Here
Yahweh, the Lord of Hosts, the One True God, is asking the Jewish people why
they were failing to hold Him in a respectful awe and show the honor that He
was worthy of as their Heavenly Father and Lord. The Lord is asking “How could
you honor and show respect to your earthly fathers and lords and not show honor
and respect to your Heavenly Father and Lord? Malachi then reveals the
objection that the Jewish people would have to God’s accusation at the end of
verse 6. Let’s look at it together:
But you say, 'How have we despised Your name?'
The Jewish people’s response was one of denial: “How have
we despised Your name”. The word despised, in the language that this letter was
originally written in, literally means to think lightly of. The Jewish people
denied that they were making light of God instead of making much of God and by
bringing glory and honor to God. The Jewish people denied that they were not
impressed with God instead of viewing God with a respectful awe. And the Jewish
people not only denied the accusation; the Jewish people also demanded proof of
the truth of the accusation. Malachi then responds to their demand by providing
evidence to support his accusation in verse 7:
"You are presenting defiled food upon
My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled You?' In that you say, 'The table
of the LORD is to be despised.'
To understand the evidence that Malachi is presenting
here, we first need to explain how the Jewish people worshipped God in the Old
Testament and then define some terms. When Malachi refers to presenting defiled
food upon My altar, he is referring to the sacrificial offerings that the Jewish
people were required to complete two times a day. In the Jewish sacrificial
system, there were two times every day that sacrifices were made to God for the
sins of the people, one early in the morning and one in the in the late
afternoon at 3 p.m. The sacrificial offerings involved animals who were offered
as a substitute to pay the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that
had been committed against God. There were also burnt offerings that were
offered as an expression of worship and thanksgiving to God.
These sacrifices
and offerings were to be made on the altar at the Temple in Jerusalem. In the
Old Testament, God provided the Jewish people very clear and detailed
instructions when it came to when sacrifices and offerings were to be offered
and what was to be offered in those sacrifices. In a letter recorded for us in
the Bible called the book of Leviticus, we see God offer a summary of what was
to be offered to God on the altar in Leviticus 22:19-25:
for you to
be accepted-- it must be a male
without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 'Whatever has a
defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 'When a man
offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or
for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be
accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 'Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore
or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make of them an
offering by fire on the altar to the LORD. 'In respect to an ox or a lamb which
has an overgrown or stunted member,
you may present it for a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be
accepted. 'Also anything with its
testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the
LORD, or sacrifice in your land, nor shall you accept any such from the hand of
a foreigner for offering as the food of your God; for their corruption is in
them, they have a defect, they shall not be accepted for you.'"
However, the Jewish people were presenting, or offering defiled food upon the altar. In other words, the Jewish people were presenting offerings of worship to God that were contaminated, polluted, or desecrated in some way. Malachi then records the objection that the Jewish people would have to God’s accusation-“How have we defiled You?” This response, if communicated in the language the we use in our culture today, would have sounded like this: “how have we shown contempt for You and Your Name?”
Malachi, anticipating this response, replies with a powerful statement: 'The table of the LORD is to be despised.” When Malachi makes this statement, he is revealing the reality that God was accusing the Jewish people of viewing the worship of Him as being something that was to be loathed and viewed with contempt. God is accusing the Jewish people of failing to approach the altar and the worship that would occur at the altar with any respect. The Jewish people were being accused of being so unimpressed with God and thinking so lightly of God that they failed to give any honor or respect to God.
Tomorrow, we will see Malachi continue to speak for God and provide the evidence of this lack of honor and respect...
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