Honor Your Father (Mal. 1:6-3:5)
Hear
The prophecy of Malachi is divided into 6 disputes. Each dispute shows a progression in the people’s apathy toward God and Yahweh’s patience with them. Again, Joyce Baldwin is right, while the prophecy of Malachi does highlight the way of repentance back to the unchanging God (Mal. 3:6), it also highlights that Yahweh invites His rebellious children to turn back to Him (Mal. 3:7), further emphasizing His favor on those who actually repent (Mal. 3:16).[i]
Last week, we looked at the first of the six disputes (1:1-5) where the people of God refuted His love for them. Yahweh made a sincere and heartfelt declaration of His love for Israel, and they questioned it. Merrill Unger claims that it was the people’s insensitivity to their own sin which influenced their insensitivity to the love of God.[ii]
What you might notice as you read Malachi is that the rejection of God’s love in chapter one, is a precursor to the remaining events in this prophecy. The people of God commit spiritual infidelity, and this bleeds over into other parts of their lives and worship. This prophecy, if read correctly, really helps us to better understand why the love of God is of such great importance for our lives. If we cannot or will not accept the fact that we are indeed loved by the God of all creation then, our refusal of His love informs how we relate to Him and others moving forward.
It is akin to the popularized passage adapted from “The Grand Inquisitor” section of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov in which Ivan Karamazov alludes to the idea that if God does not exist, then everything is permitted. If there is no God, then there are no rules to live by, no moral law we must follow; we can do whatever we want.[iii] Similarly, if Yahweh does not love us, as He declares in the opening verses of Malachi, then we owe Him nothing. But, if He does love us as He claims to, then our response to His love matters greatly.
Today, we are taking a quick look at the second through the fourth disputes which are incredibly convicting in the sense that they put a finger on the sore spots of our relationship with God.
Honored? (Mal. 1:6-2:9)
So, the first dispute that we’ll look at today is found in Mal. 1:6-2:9 and it’s the longest of the six disputes.
Malachi 1:6–7 NKJV
6 “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?’
7 “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.’
In Exodus 20 we find the list of God’s Ten Commandments. The fifth commandment on the list says this.
Exodus 20:12 NKJV
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
This commandment is repeated in Deuteronomy and several places in the NT. Paul tells the church in Ephesus that this is the first commandment with a promise (Eph. 6:2) and yet, Israel had not done well at keeping this commandment.
As I mentioned last week, at the time that Malachi is speaking, the place of worship (temple) had been rebuilt, but the heart of worship (temple) was still under construction. The prophet Isaiah, speaking some 300 years before Malachi, prophesied these words from God,
Isaiah 1:1–3 NKJV
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me;
3 The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”
So, Yahweh asks a very straightforward question. If (since) I am a Father and a Master, where is My honor and reverence? This question is presented to the priests who had the responsibility of standing before God on behalf of the people. The priests were the ones to usher God’s people into the presence of the Lord and instruct God’s people in a way that they could honor Him.
Malachi 2:7 NKJV
7 “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
As is often the case, as the leadership goes, so goes those who follow. And this is why I covet your prayers. Not only for my sake, but for yours as well.
So many stories have been written about the failures of pastors and other religious leaders. It seems like every time we turn around another pastor has fallen. I was watching 60 Minutes a few weeks ago and there was a story about how during the 1950’s the Catholic church in Italy had been taking babies born out of wedlock and selling them to Americans without the knowledge or consent of the biological parents. Instead of caring for those mothers (many single), the church shamed them into giving up their children for adoption and mistreated them. Between 1950 and 1970 nearly 3500 Italian children were illegally sent to America on what they called an orphan visa. A year ago, Pope Francis apologized for those crimes.[iv] And that’s just one story.
How does this type of thing happen with those who confess to knowing the Lord? Well, Yahweh tells us how in verse six. He convicted the priests, directly, and the people, by association, of three crimes against the Godhead.
Malachi 1:6 NKJV
6 “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?’
First, they despised the Name of God (1:6). When Yahweh accused them of this crime, they responded smugly by saying, “What are you talking about? How have we despised your Name?” I can see them air-quoting “despised”. Not only had they broken the fifth commandment by not honoring their Father, they had also broken the third commandment by taking the Name of God in vain (Exo. 20:7). We typically think of that as using God’s Name as a cuss word, but it’s much more than that, it means to bear the Name of God; to carry His Name.
If you are you a Christian, then you bear the Name of God.
Tony Merida says,
It does not mean to simply speak God’s name; it means to carry or bear God’s name. People who have publicly declared themselves to be followers of God are to exalt God’s reputation by living in a way that honors Him.[v]
You take the Name of God in vain when your worship is a checklist. You take the Name of God in vain whenever you refuse to forgive or you don’t show mercy. You bear the Name of God vainly when you don’t love your spouse well. Or when you don’t train up your children in the way they should go. When you have opportunity to share a reason for your hope in Christ and don’t, you bear the Name of God vainly! Football season is upon us. Let somebody talk badly about your football team. You’ll be ready to fight. Some people are more indignant towards those who lack patriotism than they are toward those who lack piety. They are quicker to condemn those who mock the name of America than those who mock the Name of God. And you know it’s true because your body just tensed up when I said that.
1 Peter 3:15 NKJV
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
Secondly, they defile the table of God (1:7-12). Now, this has to do with the sacrifices they were required to bring. One of the functions of the priests was to take the sacrifices from the people and present those to Yahweh on behalf of the giver. There were certain prerequisites for the offering of animals. For example, it had to be the first and it had to be the best. To make a proper sacrifice it required observation and inspection on the part of the giver. The people were to take notice of what they possessed that could possibly be used as an offering and then they needed to examine each potential offering to find the very best one to present to God.
Speaking of the Lord’s table in 1 Cor. 11:27-32, Paul urges the church to examine itself lest we also be guilty of defiling the table of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:28 NKJV
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
He basically says that we are to respect this table and that failure to do so was the cause of weakness, sickness and death in the church.
We need to take inventory of our own lives before approaching the Lord’s table and upon close inspection, we must present to Him the very best of ourselves.
Failure, or refusal, to meet God’s standards is what led to Yahweh’s strong words in verse fourteen. God calls the people a bunch of cheats.
The Lexham English Bible Chapter 1
14 “Cursed is the one who cheats, who has in his flock a male and vows it, but instead sacrifices a blemished one to the Lord! For I am a great king,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
They were promising to bring a proper sacrifice, but then they changed their minds and gave God inferior offerings. This is certainly reminiscent of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.
If you remember, they sold their land and promised to give the money to the Lord in order to help the church. However, they changed their minds (probably after seeing how much they made from the sale) and decided to keep some of that money for themselves and God’s judgment against them came in the form of death. They both died for cheating God out of what they had promised to give. The late Tim Keller, in a message titled, Blessed Are the Poor, once made a damning observation regarding our willingness to give. He said, in effect, we often are willing to give out of our abundance and not out of our lack. What he meant by this is that, so long as our giving doesn’t hinder the comforts of our lives, we can still go on that vacation, we can still buy that car or house, or in my case - running shoes, then we are comfortable giving. However, once the requirement to give infringes upon the comforts of our lives, well, maybe we don’t give or maybe we don’t give as much. Again, these attitudes toward God all began with how they viewed the love of God. Because Israel rejected God’s love for them, they denied their own sin and it showed in how they had despised His Name and defiled His table.
Finally, they felt drained by the demands of God (Mal. 1:13-2:9; Isa. 43:22-24).
13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty.
“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD (Mal. 1:13, NIV).
We’ll talk more about this in a minute. Basically, they were tired of doing what God had demanded.
Treacherous? (Mal. 2:10-16)
Malachi 2:10–16 NKJV
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
11 Judah has dealt treacherously, And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned The Lord’s holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.
15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
16 “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”
In this section, Malachi presents a case for unity as the people of God. How appropriate is this message for us today? As we become increasingly divided by politics and ideologies, being reminded of our unity in the God who called and created us is crucial. The psalmist tells us,
Psalm 133 NKJV
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.
The blessing of life is in Zion. We learned about Zion in our study of Revelation. This is the City of God where the Lord dwells with His people. Not only is the blessing of life located in Zion, but it is also wherever God’s people are united. Where two or more or gathered in the Name of the Lord He is there and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom!
Listen to Derek Kinder’s thought on Ps. 133:3.
In short, true unity, like all good gifts, is from above; bestowed rather than contrived, a blessing far more than an achievement.[vi]
But God’s people were not unified and their disunity had ramifications that affected the entire community. They were dealing treacherously with one another. In the NKJV the word is “treacherous”, but in the ESV and NIV it is translated as “faithless” (ESV) or “unfaithful” (NIV) and that is exactly what the word means.[vii]
In what way were the people being unfaithful to God? They were unfaithful by profaning His covenant (Mal. 2:10). They were also unfaithful in the way they treated their spouses and in how they profaned their marital vows (Mal. 2:11-12, 14-16).
There was a divine purpose in the unity of Yahweh’s people. Look at verse 15.
New International Version (2011) Chapter 2
15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
The two shall become one flesh He told Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:24) and He commanded them to be fruitful and multiple (Gen. 1:27-28). The reason Yahweh wants His people to be unified is for reproduction. This is why Paul urged the Believers in Corinth to remain married to their unbelieving spouses lest their offspring become unclean (1 Cor. 6:12-16). Paul also stood before the Athenians in the Areopagus and quoted their own poets regarding the offspring of God. Acts 17:28-29
Acts 17:28–29 NKJV
28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
And John reminds us in the first chapter of his gospel record, that we become the children of God through faith in the Son of God.
John 1:12 NKJV
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
If you don’t know Him, today is your day of salvation. You too, can become a child of God through faith in Jesus.
Wearied? (Mal. 2:17-3:5)
In this prophecy, God convicts His people of two counts of weariness.
First, they were guilty of claiming that God was wearing them out with demands for holiness. Second, they were found guilty of wearing God out with idle words.
Malachi 2:17 NKJV
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words; “Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
These folks were calling evil good and then expecting God to hold “lawbreakers” accountable. They were, as Paul said to the church in Rome, Suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. They were changing the incorruptible glory of God into corruptible man-made things. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Rom. 1:18-32). This is eerily familiar in our own day. Among many of those who claim Jesus as Lord today, they have forsaken the way of righteousness. They have so watered down the truth of God’s Word that it has lost its potency. Who among us will stand up for the truth of God and honor Him as a Father in this sinful world? Who among us will show reverence for the Name of our Master?
Regarding the first count of weariness, where they accused Yahweh of wearing them out, Robby Gallaty says,
The priests had viewed their service as a system of checking boxes or punching cards and they just wanted to get their work done in order to return home to relax.[viii]
The sacrifices they were presenting to God were of the most inferior kind. They brought things that had physical defects and health issues. Things that had been stolen or mauled by wild animals. That is the idea behind the word “injured” or “taken by violence” in Mal. 1:13. The attitude in these offerings was such that they were, in essence, telling God, “You should be happy that I brought anything.”
They felt as though God was asking too much of them. They were tired of doing what God’s law requires and so they “looked down” on holy living by turning their noses up at God.
We don’t offer animal sacrifices anymore, but the word of God still has requirements for the offerings we give.
Romans 12:1–2 NKJV
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Hebrews 13:15–16 NKJV
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Mark 12:17 NKJV
17 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at Him.
So, what is it that belongs to God? Your entire life is what belongs to God! The job you have. The money you earn. The skills and talents you possess. The physical strength you use. Your ability to think and reason. The breath you breathe. Every beat of your heart. The very life you live all belongs to God. Are you weary of the demands of God on you to live holy and righteously after all that He has provided for you? Are you feeling “burned out”? Has your worship of God become stale? Are you bored? Would you rather be doing something else right now? Is Sunday morning worship just another thing to mark off the list for you? Or do you hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God? Begin this week by putting away your distractions and focusing your whole heart upon the Lord!
Respond
Let me close with this. In Mal. 2:17 the unfaithful people of God ask, “Where is the God of justice?” and Mal. 3:1-5 opens with the answer to this question. God says,
Malachi 3:1–5 NKJV
1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.
2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness.
4 “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the Lord, As in the days of old, As in former years.
5 And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.
If you are not a child of God, you cannot accurately honor Him as Father. It is not within your power. Honoring God as Father begins with surrendering your whole life to Him for His glory. The first step is faith in Jesus. To those who believe in Him, they are given power to become God’s children. If you don’t know Him this morning, if you’re not a Christian, the Father is calling you into His family. Will you trust Him?
Works Cited
[i] Joyce G. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 28, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1972), 227.
[ii] Unger, Commentary on the Old Testament, p2067
[iii] The Brothers Karamazov, Part II, Book V, Chapter 5 (“The Grand Inquisitor”
[iv] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vatican-sent-italian-children-born-out-of-wedlock-to-america-as-orphans-60-minutes-transcript/
[v] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Exodus (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 126
[vi] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 489
[vii] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.), 1997
[viii] “Micah Fries, Stephen Rummage, and Robby Gallaty, Exalting Jesus in Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 218
