After beginning with the
premise that He loves the people of Israel by showing His preference
of them over Edom, God turns His attention toward the lack which He
has found within them. Malachi the prophet records the Lord's words
in chapter one and verse six where we read:
A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if
then I be a father, where is my honor? and if I be
a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts unto you,
O priests, that despise my name. And you say, Wherein have we
despised your name?
The
verse begins, “A son honors his father,
and a servant his master: if then I be a father,
where is my honor?” Malachi
wrote God's questions to Israel, and the Lord gives two examples of
those who are subject to another. The first is “A son
honors his father”. Most
generally it is expected that“a son honors”
which means “to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard,
be rich, be honorable, be glorious, or be burdensome” to“his
father”. Secondly, He uses
“as servant his master”
which we shall take up in the next portion of this verse. The idea is
that it is normal for a son to give honor and respect to his father,
and since the Lord is as a “father” to
Israel, He questioned their honor of Him.
The verse goes on to say, “ and if I be a
master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts unto
you, O priests, that despise my name.” As the Lord employed the
example of a “son” with his “father”, He also
used the servant's relationship to his master as part of His
questions to Israel. He asked, “where is my fear?” which
means “reverence or terror”. As a servant gives such a high
regard to his master, so should the children of Israel have “fear”
or reverence toward “the LORD of hosts” which is a
reference to God being over the heavenly hosts or army of angels.
However, the children of Israel do not reverence the Lord, and God's
reference to the “priests, that despise” which means “hold
in contempt and disdain” God's “name” or “fame,
reputation and glory” is an example of their rejection.
Finally
the verse says, “And you say, Wherein have we despised your
name?” Although God pointedly tells the Israelites that they
have dishonored and not feared Him, they questioned Him as they did
when He told them He loved them. “Wherein have we despised”
which means “hold in contempt, disdained, deemed to be despised and
worthless” “your name”. Though they were told directly
by God they “despised” His “name”, still they
could not perceive His conclusions concerning them.
As we
ponder the words in this verse, let us put ourselves in the places of
the Israelites. Do we “honor” God as a son honors his
father? Do we “fear” or “reverence” the Lord as a
servant does his master, or do we rather “despise” and
deem as worthless the “name” of God? As we read these
words it is easy to condemn the Israelites for the appraisal that God
has given them, but would He give to us the same? The wonderful part
about taking our time through the scriptures is that we allow the
Holy Spirit to convict us in areas within which others have been
challenged, and as He does, may we yield to Him rather than question
His perfect assessment of that which He sees.
Next
time we will see how Israel dishonored the Lord's altar,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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