Last night I was teaching a class on Offerings and was going through the book of Malachi. It is an amazing book that is probably not read very often. However, I got to the part of the book where Malachi is writing about damaged sacrifices, ones with disabilities and blindness and imperfections, which this is obviously God speaking through Malachi, and realized something that was quite amazing. This is a point in the Bible that most people probably have never read or never realized what it is saying. Read this for yourself…
Malachi 1:10-”Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.”
(If you want to get the detail, I’ll post the context at the bottom of this post.) What God is saying to the people is that it is better if they SHUT THE DOORS of the temple (church) rather than bring in sacrifices that are blemished and damaged. What this is saying to us today is that it is better for you NOT TO GO TO CHURCH than for you to go and offer God your trash. These people were offering God their left-overs, their less-than-perfect offerings, their trash, when all along they knew what God really wanted: the best.
When we come before God in worship on Sunday morning and don’t bring our best–when we offer him just the left-overs from our emotional reserve, physical reserve, mental reserve–it is not what God wants and it is not something that God will accept. I believe God wants our first and best. He wants our full attention, our full worship, our full emotion during the times we have set aside to gather together (and all of our life for that matter), whether that is Sunday or any day of the week. It would be better for us to SHUT THE DOORS of our church than for us to gather together and worship half-heartedly. Hopefully, you will become one who worships with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength for when that happens, you are truly worshiping the Father…it is truly love.
Go read the book of Malachi. It’s only 4 short chapters. God speaks through Malachi in amazing ways with amazing truth and relevance to our situation today. Take special notice of chapter 3. I’ll write on that later.
Blemished Sacrifices–Malachi 1
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ 7 “You place defiled food on my altar.
“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.
9 “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”-says the LORD Almighty.
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty.
12 “But you profane it by saying of the Lord’s table, ‘It is defiled,’ and of its food, ‘It is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty.
“When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.
