"Contemptible Sacrifice" July 2 Readings: Malachi 1-4

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New. 

Bible Readings: Malachi 1-4

Background:  

Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, is a Q&A between God and Israel. God makes statements and Israel challenges them. These are directed at insincere worship and improper practices by leaders.

1. God declares his love. 1:2
2. God declares that Israel's priests have denied his name. 1:6
3. God declares that their words (of worship) have wearied him 2:17
4. God declares that Israel is robbing God. 3:8
5. God accuses Israel of harsh words against him. 3:13

After the prophecy of Malachi, the Lord went silent for 400 years until he spoke to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist.

Daily Devotional: Contemptible Sacrifice

 "Well, I go to church."

I read a story about DL Moody being rejected for membership by a church because of his awful grammar. If true, it is awful that a church would make grammar a point of church fellowship, but it shows how things have changed in the modern church. Today, we will do anything to get people to join - lowering our standards as low as we must!

Concepts such as the one that stands behind the entire book of Malachi are foreign to us. God is confronting the worship of Israel. They were doing the stuff they were supposed to be doing but their hearts were not in it and they were not careful about the way they did it. Their offerings - speaking of their sacrifices,  not their tithes - were "contemptible" in the eyes of God according to Malachi 1:7.

Can you even process that? A Hebrew worshipper came with a sacrifice and offered it to God according to the Law and God found it contemptible! The work of the priests was profaning his name. To profane is to cause what is holy to be viewed as common. In Malachi 2:8, the priests were accused of causing people to stumble by what they taught.

Is it possible that we could go to church, sing our songs, give our offerings, listen to the sermon, and God would find it all contemptible? Will God accept the table scraps of our lives? Does the way we treat him, speak of him, worship him, and live for him cause people to view him as common instead of holy? These are jarring thoughts.

The gist of the problem in Malachi was that these people were going through the motions of worship without a heart for the glory of God or a desire to seek God. God is not pleased just because you show up at church or because you do some religious, churchy stuff. He has called you to seek him with a whole heart. When you read the Bible it is not to check that off of your daily to-do list but to draw near to God.

We must remember two things as we read Malachi. It is possible to "worship God" but for God to find our worship unacceptable and even contemptible. He called us in Romans 12 to worship by giving our bodies as living sacrifices and any worship that falls short of that is not pleasing to him. Second, the heart of worship is in our hearts. Going through the motions is not enough. God doesn't pass out brownie points because we show up or because we do certain things. He looks for pure hearts that desire to seek him, love him, and serve him.

Father, may my worship be acceptable in your sight. May my heart seek you and may my single desire be your glory in all things. 

Consider God's Word:

Would God see your worship and your religious deeds as acceptible or contemptible - by the standards of Malachi?