The prophet Malachi recored
the words of the Lord to the nation of Israel and began by sharing
God's love for them. Although the Lord did love them, He found that
they were offering their sacrifices of worship to Him with contempt.
Over and over throughout the first chapter of this book, “The
LORD of hosts” has mentioned specific examples of their
meaningless worship and their lack within the times of offerings.
Their actions turned the Lord to the Gentile nations, and in chapter
one and verse thirteen of chapter one Malachi records more of the
Lord's words as He tells the Israelites they have made worship
“weariness” where we read:
You
said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and you have
snuffed at it, says the LORD of hosts; and you brought that which
was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus you brought an
offering: should I accept this of your hand? says the LORD.
The
verse begins, “You said also, Behold, what a weariness is
it! and you have snuffed at it, says the LORD of hosts;”
“The LORD of hosts” points
out first the words of the people of Israel - “Behold
what a weariness” or
“toil and hardship” is the worship of the Lord. Rather than being
a joy and celebration, the people felt worship of the Lord to be a
drudgery and boredom. They also “snuffed”
at the worship times
which means “blow away, breathe harshly or disperse by snorting or
blowing”. If we use our imaginations we can almost visualize their
snorting in disgust at the idea of offering and sacrificing to the
Lord.
The verse goes on to say, “and you brought that which
was torn, and the lame, and the sick;” Not only did the
people say the worship was weary and snuffed at it, but once again we
are reminded that they brought animals to sacrifice which were “torn”
which is “wounded or galled”, “lame” or “unable to
walk”, and “the sick” or “weak and diseased”. Rather
than bring the best of their animals to sacrifice as instructed in
the law, the people of Israel brought animals that not even they
desired to have any longer.
Finally
the verse says, “should I accept this of your hand? says the
LORD.” God's question to them was whether He should accept this
sort of offering or not. The implication is that their offerings and
sacrifices are rejected, and though they may have thought this
mindless activity was benefiting them, they were actually hurting
themselves by this sort of contemptible behavior.
Has
worship become “weariness” to us? Is it a drudgery to go
to church, sing worship songs, or to hear the word of God spoken? Is
our giving and service done with thoughtless methods that have no
true felt best for the Lord in mind? Do we “snuff” at the
worship services or the efforts of others who commit themselves to
the service of the Lord? Perhaps as we think upon the children of
Israel and their contempt for the offerings to God we will hear the
Lord ask us, “should I accept this of your hand?”, and
when He asks the question, may He find us truly worshiping Him in
Spirit and in Truth.
Next
time Malachi writes concerning the curse who worshiped in weary,
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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