Reflections on Malachi 1

Malachi 01 (Contemporary English Version)


1. I am Malachi. And this is the message that the LORD gave me for Israel.
   
2. Israel, I, the LORD, have loved you. And yet you ask in what way have I loved you. Don't forget that Esau was the brother of your ancestor Jacob, but I chose Jacob
   
3. instead of Esau. And I turned Esau's hill country into a barren desert where jackals roam.
   
4. Esau's descendants may say, "Although our nation Edom is in ruins, we will rebuild." But I, the LORD All-Powerful, promise to tear down whatever they build. Then everyone will know that I will never stop being angry with them as long as they are so sinful.
   
5. Israel, when you see this, you will shout, "The LORD's great reputation reaches beyond our borders."
   
6. I, the LORD All-Powerful, have something to say to you priests. Children respect their fathers, and servants respect their masters. I am your father and your master, so why don't you respect me? You priests have insulted me, and now you ask, "How did we insult you?"
   
7. You embarrass me by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, "How have we embarrassed you?" You have done it by saying, "What's so great about the LORD's altar?"
   
8. But isn't it wrong to offer animals that are blind, crippled, or sick? Just try giving those animals to your governor. That certainly wouldn't please him or make him want to help you.
   
9. I am the LORD God All-Powerful, and you had better try to please me. You have sinned. Now see if I will have mercy on any of you.
   
10. I wish someone would lock the doors of my temple, so you would stop wasting time building fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you priests, and I refuse to accept any more of your offerings.
    
11. From dawn until dusk my name is praised by every nation on this earth, as they burn incense and offer the proper sacrifices to me.
    
12. But even you priests insult me by saying, "There's nothing special about the LORD's altar, and these sacrifices are worthless."
    
13. You get so disgusted that you even make vulgar signs at me. And for an offering, you bring stolen animals or those that are crippled or sick. Should I accept these?
    
14. Instead of offering the acceptable animals you have promised, you bring me those that are unhealthy. I will punish you for this, because I am the great King, the LORD All-Powerful, and I am worshiped by nations everywhere.
    

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The previous two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, addressed a remnant of Israel that had just returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. The relationship of these people to God was more a heritage than a reality. They were attempting to rebuild and return their homeland to some semblance of its former state but had little interest in rebuilding the temple and restoring their relationship with God. Haggai encouraged them to get at the task of rebuilding the temple and thus rebuilding their relationship with God. He held before them their covenant relationship with God and projected into the future to what God yet intended to do through her. Zechariah picked up where Haggai left off attempting to restore hope for this people by painting a picture of God's plans to give them a Messiah who would eventually reign over all the nations and bring worldwide peace.

Here, now, is Malachi who comes on the scene some 100 years later and little has changed for Israel. Yes, the temple has been rebuilt as has the wall and much of Jerusalem, but they are still under the rule of Persia and are angry with God over what they consider to be their hopeless plight. As is so often the case, they have the cause and affect of their situation reversed. They blamed God for their situation and were angry with Him because of it and thus were not just going through the motions of worship, but were actually desecrating it. But in reality their situation was due to their own sins. A covenant relationship with covenant rewards and blessings requires faithfulness to the covenant by both parties. God had been faithful to Israel but Israel had not been faithful to Him. Therein lay the problem. But it seems to be one of the quirks of human nature to blame God for whatever goes wrong, overlooking our part in it, while crediting ourselves for whatever goes right, overlooking God's part in it.

Malachi addresses this blame-game from the beginning of his prophecy. In their blame of God for their situation Israel had asked the question, "How has God loved us?" In response to that question, God, through Malachi, went back to Israel's roots. God chose their forefather, Jacob, to bless over his twin brother Esau. Since Esau came out of the womb first, making him the elder, by tradition he should have been chosen for the blessing. But God chose Jacob instead. It was not based on tradition or on merit. God simply chose to bless Jacob and his descendants. As for Esau, everything he did came to ruin. The unspoken message here to Israel is, "That could have been you." But it wasn't. God chose to bless Israel and was faithful to do so for nearly 1,000 years. But now Israel has come on hard times due to her rejection of the One who blessed her and she is asking, "How have You loved us?"

Next, Malachi moves on to Israel's dishonor of God. If God is their father, where is the honor? In all cultures a son honors his father and a servant his master, but where is Israel's honor of God their father? Rather than honor Him they have despised him. But Israel dares to ask, "How have we despised Your name?" And the answer is, "By presenting defiled food on My altar." Instead of bringing the best they have to offer to God, they bring their rejects, animals that are blind and lame and sick. Animals they would otherwise discard. That is what they offer the Lord. Their discards. Despite this treatment of God, they ask for His favor. God's response to this was to say, "I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so you would no longer kindle a useless fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD of Hosts, "and I will accept no offering from your hands." Their worship was useless. In fact, it was not worship at all. Worship is aimed at honoring and giving praise to the one who is the object of that worship. But through the rituals they called worship they were actually dishonoring God who was the intended recipient of these actions. For all the good their so-called worship was doing, they may as well have shut up the temple and quit.

In the concluding verses of the chapter God says to them in effect, you consider worship to me a nuisance and scorn it with stolen and sick animals, but My name will be great among the nations. "Incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name in every place." Implied in these statements of verse 11 was that God would be honored in every place except in Israel. The undertone of this message brings a warning for Israel if she persists in this attitude.