MALACHI Part 4 - What Were The Priests Doing That Upset Malachi So Much?

 Over the past twenty-nine years of pastoring Legana, I have generally preached through biblical books verse-by-verse. These biblical books series have been interspersed with various shorter topical series (which is why it took me eight years to preach all the way through the Book of Jeremiah). As I now commence my last biblical book teaching series, through Malachi, I hope to leave a deposit in your souls about the value and authority of God’s Word and how we need to worshipfully approach it. While we all want to “cut to the chase” and “get to the point” when we approach God’s Word we must do so carefully. This takes time. “Time” is what most people complain they do not have. This is why I am doing so much background work on this often-neglected book so that you can take advantage of my time investment on your behalf. In this series so far, I have introduced the context of this book, discussed who Malachi was, explored where Malachi was, and examined who was Malachi’s immediate audience. I am now considering why Malachi was so profoundly upset and what we can learn from his passionate love for God and His Table.

¶ “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honour to My Name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
Malachi 2:1-3

Malachi was the last of the Old Covenant era prophets. Although we can read the first three verses Malachi chapter two and see that Malachi was really upset – after all, how descriptive is the expression: if you will not listen I will spread dung all over your faces! To answer the question, why was Malachi so upset? we have to realise that he was upset because God was upset.

Consider this. Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets. His message would be the last message that God would deliver to His people Israel through a prophet before He began to initiate the New Covenant four-hundred or so years later! God had something important, urgent, and profound to say to His people. The people, and especially the priests, did not realise this. What they were doing, and were neglecting to do, was putting in jeopardy the entire plan of redemption – not just for Israel, but for the entire human race!  

The Lord intended for Israel to be the people who would make His Name known and revered among the nations. But Israel had not only neglected this, they had actively undermined this divine mission! The prophet Jeremiah had warned them repeatedly that the curses within the conditions of the covenant they had agreed to with God would be enforced unless they humbly repented and were reconciled with God (Jer. 26:13). But Israel did not repent. The warnings of covenant violation were enacted and God came to judge the covenant-breakers by sending the Babylonians to invade, conquer, exile the inhabitants of Judah, then destroy its capital city Jerusalem along with its sacred yet defiled Temple (Jer. 25:9). But Jeremiah also prophesied hope for these exiles that their captivity in Babylon would only last seventy-years, then the Lord would restore the survivors back into His land (Jer. 24:6-7). After the seventy years of exile was completed, the prophet Daniel read the prophecies of Jeremiah and prayed accordingly:

¶ In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. ¶ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession
Daniel 9:1-4

Malachi arrived on the scene close to a century after the first few returning exiles and their descendants had entered the ruined city of Jerusalem. The lessons that should have been learned about why they had been exiled and lost their homeland in the first place were soon forgotten. The priests who had been expected to live as role-models for the Jewish settlers were living as hypocrites. They mocked the Temple, they mocked the required sacrifices, they mocked the observances, they mocked the ceremonies, and worst of all – they mocked God!

But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table [the sacrificial altar] is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised.
Malachi 1:12

No wonder Malachi speaks of God smearing the faces of the priests with faeces – because this was essentially how they were treating God! But these priests responded to Malachi with, and I paraphrase, “Oh Malachi! Stop being such a bore! Take a chill-pill. You’re wearing us out!” The way the English Standard Version translators render it is:

But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:13a

Malachi does not respond to these apostate priests (‘apostate’ means ‘a person who was dedicated to God but has now turned his or her back on God). But God does through Malachi:

You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD.
Malachi 1:13b

When the nation of Israel was being formed, God had used Moses to rescue them from slavery in Egypt. After fleeing through the Red Sea they were led into the Sinai wilderness where Moses was asked by God to come up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. It was while he was away for nearly six weeks that his older brother Aaron was coerced by the people to offer them a different god to the One Moses claimed he was hearing from. The result was that Aaron built a golden calf as an idol for them to have as their god. When Moses returned down the mountain with the Ten Commandments, he was devastated to find this apostasy led by his own brother! Of all of the twelve tribes, it was the Tribe of Levi which had not joined in with this apostasy. This resulted in God declaring that the tribe of the Levites would be the tribe from which God’s priests would come. After another incident sometime later, the clan of the Aaronites were selected in particular to be the priests with the rest of the Levites appointed to assist them in serving in the tabernacle, then later, in the temple.

God expected the Levitical priests to model obedience, adoration, and respect for God by listening to God’s Word and teaching it.

¶ “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honour to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
Malachi 2:1-2

Instead of the priests of Malachi’s day fulfilling their covenanted responsibilities, they had become corrupt – extorting financially from worshipers, and telling people what they wanted hear rather than the truth that they needed to hear! As it turned out, around the time of Malachi, the Persian Empire had ceased to financially support the Temple and its priests in Jerusalem. Rather than trusting and obeying God, the priests neglected their faithful serving of God and became more concerned about their own survival. This led to them distorting God’s Word, defiling God’s altar, and denouncing God’s Name (His character and authority). We can read what the heartbroken Malachi declared to these corrupt and careless priests. I suspect I know what the apostle Paul would have said to these priests as well if he had been alive at the same time as Malachi:

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
First Timothy 6:3-8

One of the things that Pastor Phil Hills said to Kim and I as young pastors echoed what Malachi was rebuking these priests for, and what the apostle Paul was warning ministers of the gospel against: “If you keep money out of your heart, God will keep money in your pocket!” Kim and I took these words from Pastor Phil very seriously and have tried our best to live by them.

What do we learn from this section of the Book of Malachi? Firstly, God still calls His servants to gladly, delightfully, make Him known to the world. Secondly, God still calls His servants to model heartfelt love of God to the world. Thirdly, God still calls His servants to be shepherds of His people who love with God’s love. And, fourthly, God still calls His servants to sacrificially and cheerfully serve Him as their act of worship. This is worshiping with God’s people in and as the church should never be a wearisome drudge for the servant of God. Church should never be neglected by the servants of the Most High Lord of Hosts!

May you never grow weary of loving God’s people or neglecting to fellowship in worship with them each Sunday. And may we each do this together as a witness to the world that God’s Name is indeed very great!

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

FINDING JOY IN YOUR CHURCH THROUGH HUMILITY

 ¶ For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body,though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

First Corinthians 12:12

What is a church? Whatever it is, based on what we read in the Bible, it is an institution that can bring tremendous joy to Christ’s followers and provide a source of great grace. I have previously written about the ten distinctives of a local church which distinguishes it from what it is not – namely, a: (i) Bible study group, (ii) a para-church organisation, or even (iii) a ‘ministry’ (such as an evangelistic association or regular conference). At its core, a ‘church’ is a spiritual organism of the Body of Christ which is comprised of believers who are “in Christ” (Rom. 8:1). This is a point that Sam Allberry has made in his latest book, One with My Lord: The Life-Changing Reality of Being in Christ. Being “in Christ” means that every believer is intimately connected with Christ. This is profound. This realisation should cause a believer to regard such things as partaking of Communion together in an overwhelmingly different light. Thus, when we, the body of Christ, partake of the Bread, the Body of Christ, and the fruit of the vine, the Blood of Christ, we who are “in Christ” then have “Christ in us” through ingesting this sacred meal. It is, as the Church has long declared, “a visible act of receiving the invisible grace of God.” But there is something else more wonderful about the local church experiencing Christ together in this way: we do this as a new family. Just like in any family the church family is a means of God for each believer to minister to each other believer God’s grace in its ‘manifold’ forms which enables a believer to be strengthened and helped, resulting in and from — joy. This tremendous blessing though can only be administered and received when it is done so with humility.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
First Peter 4:10-11

It is the work of the Holy Spirit in each believer to “place them” into a local Body of Christ and to knit them together as a “dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22

This means that in the wisdom of God He will bring together people from different nations, cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds and experiences and make them a united family.

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Ephesians 3:6

But this comes with great risks. Bringing people together from such diverse backgrounds who may not have yet been instructed in the ways of Christ and His Church can quickly degenerate into enmity, factions, and schisms. This is why Christ has ordained that His Church be both ordered and led so that “the unity of the Spirit” can be intentionally upheld without compromise (Eph. 4:1-4).

 

The Role of Local Church Leaders

We noted in the opening biblical reference from First Corinthians twelve that the church is like a human body. Just as the parts of the body including its internal organs have a particular function and work together to enable the body to function as a unity, so it is with the church. Thus, Christ gifts members of His body with abilities which they are to use for the benefit of the whole body. This is the point that Paul made to the Romans (who were , based on Romans 16, meeting in many separate ‘house churches’ around Rome).

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:4-8

In writing to the Corinthians he uses even stronger language to the describe the place of leaders within a local church (note that First and Second Corinthians was specifically not addressed to any leader or group of leaders – partly because there were so many people claiming to be the leader!). Paul counters the claim of his proud opponents at Corinth that he had no right to tell them what to do, by pointing out that Christ ordained that His church be led, “first” by apostles:

That there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together. ¶ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
First Corinthians 12:25-28

The unknown writer to the Hebrews writing about AD 63, told them that:

¶ Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith….Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Hebrews 13:7, 13

This anonymous writer tells the Jewish believers in Jerusalem that their support and cooperation with their leaders should result in joy for their leaders. It it reasonable to see how this would also result in joy for the congregation as well since their shepherds would be leading with joy, care, courage, as they taught, prayed for, discipled, trained, and equipped those in their pastoral charge. This then leads to us considering the posture of a congregation in a joy-filled church.

The Role of Local Church Congregation

In Paul’s climax in his Epistle to the Romans, after he has spent eleven chapters explaining the gospel and what means to be saved, he then describes the posture of a believer. They are to “present their bodies as a living sacrifice” to God (Rom. 12:1). They are “not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed” in their thinking (Rom. 12:2). In additional to this, he introduces their essential virtue necessary for a local church to be functional rather than dysfunctional: humility.

¶ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Romans 12:3

From this foundation the apostle spells out what humility within a local church for each believer looks like as he continue in Romans 12:9-21 (see the small-group Bible study teaching series I have written on this important passage- Building a Covenant Community of Believers).

I encourage you to consider this list of twenty-seven fruits of the humility virtue and see for yourself that none of them are possible without being committed to the local church where Christ has placed you. Here is the conclusion to this observation: it takes humility to surrender to Christ as you Saviour. It takes humility to be a member of a local church family. It takes humility to cooperate with a godly caring leader-shepherd within that local church. It takes humility to serve others within your local church with the gifts and ministry the Holy Spirit has given you. But the pay-off, your great joy and your church’s, is unattainable if you don’t.

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.