The people of Israel made
their sacrifices within the temple with contempt as they brought
moldy bread and unfit animals to offer to the Lord. This lack of
concern for the worship of God turned the Lord to the Gentile nations
to find a people who would make great the name of the Lord. In
chapter one and verse twelve of Malachi, the prophet shares more of
God's words to the people of Israel as they profaned and polluted the
table of the Lord. We read:
But you have profaned it, in that you say, The table of the LORD
is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat,
is contemptible.
The
verse begins, “But you have profaned it, in that you say,
The table of the LORD is polluted;” Rather
than be as the Gentiles who honored the name of the Lord, the nation
of Israel “profaned”
or “defiled, polluted, laid open and desecrated” it. They
did so by making a statement with their actions that “The table
of the LORD” which refers to “the altar of the Lord” “is
polluted” or “defiled, stained, made impure and unclean”.
The nations around the world were honoring the Lord and worshiping
Him with respect and regard, but the Israelites were simply going
through the motions.
The verse goes on to say, “and the fruit thereof, even
his meat, is contemptible.” The manner in which
the people of Israel polluted “The table of the LORD” was
in the “fruit” or “produce” and the “meat”
or “corn, grain or meal” which they offered to the Lord. God told
them their sacrifice “is contemptible” which means
“despised, disdained, despicable, and worthless” to Him. As
though one time was not enough for the Lord to share this complaint
of them, He repeated this idea to the people of Israel that He
already shared in verse seven of this chapter.
When we
consider the words of the Lord to the people of Israel, it does us
well to be reminded that He said these things twice to them. Whenever
we see the Lord say something twice we should pay particular
attention to what He declares. In this case, the children of Israel
were polluting “the table of the Lord” by not giving their
best to Him when they made their offerings to Him. Do we do the same?
Are there times when we do not give our best to Him? Is there any
“contempt” within us as we worship the Lord? The wonderful
aspect to studying through the Bible is that we have the
opportunities to examine our own lives in light of what the Lord says
to others. As we ponder these words may the Lord not only bring
conviction and change to our ways of worship, but also help us to
worship Him in the holy manner in which He is worthy.
Next
time Malachi writes concerning the weariness that Israel had toward
the offerings to the Lord,
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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