We have already learned that the problem God is dealing with in the book of Malachi is a problem of the heart. Many of the people's hearts have cooled toward God. Their hearts are still lukewarm enough to go through the motions of worship, but as we learned earlier in the week, the quality of their offerings and sacrifices betrays their lack of respect toward the Lord. The Lord has harsh words today for the ungodly priests who accept such offerings and who do not stand up for what is right. The priests bear a greater responsibility than the regular citizens to lead godly lives, since the citizens look to the priests for an example to follow. A corrupt priesthood gives the people an excuse to become corrupt themselves. The primary duty of religious leaders is to lift up the name of the Lord, so when they fail to carry out this duty the people find it easier to shirk their own duties toward the Lord. In Malachi's day the priests weren't honoring the name of the Lord or holding Him in high esteem, so it's easy to see why the citizens stopped bringing their best to the house of the Lord.
"And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor My name,' says the Lord Almighty, 'I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor Me.'" (Malachi 2:1-2) The blessings mentioned here may be the gifts and offerings that the priests had a right to share in. The priests made their living from the temple. The Lord did not intend for a priest's attention to be divided between serving in the house of God and having to work outside the temple to provide for his family. In 1 Corinthians 9 the Apostle Paul points out that the commandment not to muzzle the ox who treads the grain (Deuteronomy 25:4) also applies to the priesthood and to those who preach the gospel, "Don't you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered at the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:13-14)
The Lord gave no territory in the promised land to the priestly tribe of Levi because, "They shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as He promised them...This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord's name always." (Deuteronomy 18:1-5) When the priests accepted lame and blind and sick animals at the temple, they were dishonoring both the Lord and themselves. The priests and their families had to eat the meat of these unwell animals, so in essence when they denied God the best they were also denying themselves God's best. Whenever we refuse to bless the Lord we are essentially refusing blessings for ourselves. It's simply the way things work in God's economy. When He tells the priests He has already begun to curse their gifts, we find that they have actually cursed themselves by their own behavior. They have brought judgment upon themselves, and it's only going to get worse if they don't repent. The Lord has the power to strike the crops with drought or to allow disease to invade the flocks and herds. Then what will the people be able to bring to the temple? Where will be the healthy bull or sheep to eat for food? Where will be the firsfruits of the grain and the olive oil and the wool that the priests are used to receiving?
"'Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that My covenant with Levi may continue,' says the Lord Almighty. 'My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.'" (Malachi 2:3-6) Dung from a sacrifice was considered unclean and it had to be burned outside the gates. In Malachi's day the priesthood has become just as unclean in the Lord's eyes as a pile of dung. To come in contact with offal was to be ceremonially unclean for a period of time, and the hearts of the priests have fallen so far from God that to Him they look the same as if they have rubbed their faces in dung. In other words, their faces are covered with shame, something that David promised would never happen to the one who reverences the Lord, "Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." (Psalm 34:5)
The Lord reminds the priests how far they have fallen from the example their ancestor Levi set. He did what a priest is supposed to do: he revered the name of the Lord and taught the truth of God's word. In faithfully performing these two duties he turned many from sin. The generation of priests in Malachi's time look nothing like their ancestor Levi. The Lord can hardly tell they are related to Levi at all. "'For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,' says the Lord Almighty. 'So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed My ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.'" (Malachi 2:7-9)
Matters of the law were brought before the priests and they were to judge these matters according to God's word, but here we learn that they have been giving special treatment to certain persons. They are showing partiality to those who are in close relationship to them or to those who are influential or wealthy or powerful. But God's laws apply equally to everyone. The priests are giving the people a false idea about the character of God when they judge with partiality. God does not twist the law to allow certain persons to escape penalty. God doesn't care how much money we have in the bank or what position we hold in the community or how highly esteemed we are by our friends. He judges by His word, and only by His word. The person God holds in high esteem is the one who is "humble and contrite in spirit" and who "trembles at My word". (Isaiah 66:2)
No comments:
Post a Comment