Despised
Malachi 1:6-8, 13
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar.
But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lᴏʀᴅ’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts.
But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. 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 Lᴏʀᴅ.
Do we ever take the time to consider our relationship with the LORD from His viewpoint? Many of us see life through filters that are all about us. Malachi begins with several perspective snippets:
A son honors his father, and a servant his master.
If then I am a father, where is my honor?
And if I am a master, where is my fear? 1
Usually it is easy to see from our perspective as we have spent years investing in the way we think life should be, how we should be treated, what is worthy of our time and attention and just how entitled we are to all the good stuff. Yet, that view often displaces God from our life view. We know about Him and can even quote passages that enable our views but we tend not to see through His perspective.
The priests of the LORD apparently had grown satisfied with their viewpoint for our text continues,
…says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lᴏʀᴅ’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts. 2
Did those whose purpose was to serve God get so busy with lesser things that they ignored the most important parts of their service? Were they keeping back the best for themselves and giving the leftovers to God? And how did they not know this was disdaining their Master God? Is it because God is merciful that we ‘get away’ with giving Him the inferior? Does God become so irrelevant as to be bothersome?
But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. 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 Lᴏʀᴅ.
Let us hope and pray that this is Old Testament and that the LORD no longer has such a standard or that we are so much better than His called priesthood of ancient times. May it never be such with us.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
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