The Lord God of Israel
warned the priests concerning not hearing Him and laying to heart
what He had to say. The Lord was concerned with their contemptible
worship, and if they would not listen to Him, He told them He would
“corrupt” their “seed” and “spread dung”
upon their faces. In chapter two and verse four of the prophecy of
Malachi, we see why the Lord would go to such drastic measures. We
read:
And you shall know that
I have sent this commandment unto you,
that my covenant might
be with Levi, says the LORD of hosts.
The
verse begins, “And you shall know that I have sent this
commandment unto you,...” Lest
there be any doubt among them, “the Lord of hosts”
desired that the priest know He “sent this commandment”
among them. The “commandment”
concerned the tribe of Levi, and the Lord was willing to go to
extreme measures to insure they knew His commandment if needed.
The
verse goes on to say, “that my covenant might be with
Levi, says the LORD of hosts.”
This is the “commandment”
of which the Lord spoke. His “covenant”
which means “alliance, pledge, treaty, league, agreement or
constitution” was to “be with Levi”
who was the tribe chosen to carry out the temple duties. In the book
of Numbers in chapter three and verse twelve we read:
And
I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel
instead of all the firstborn that opens the matrix among the children
of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;
These
Levites were chosen to fulfill worship, sacrifices, and offerings to
the Lord. Malachi's prophecy reminded them to remember their calling,
and it brought to the forefront the Lord's position for the Levites.
Over
and over again we have seen Malachi use the phrase, “The
Lord of hosts” when the Lord
spoke through Him. “The Lord of hosts”
or “The Lord of the heavenly angels and spiritual beings” has His
order of not only physical but also spiritual things. In the temple
at the time of Malachi's prophecy, the Levites were to be in charge,
and their contempt for matters of worship, offerings and sacrifices
were part of the reason for Malachi's words. The priests or spiritual
leaders were being called to remember their positions and alter their
attitudes and actions. Perhaps their call will be an inspiration to
us to remember our positions of worship, offerings and sacrifices as
well. We must always consider the words of the scripture and their
meaning and discover how they apply to our own lives, and in this
case, we as the Kingdom of Priests for the Lord Jesus Christ, should
be stirred to examine what the Lord would say about our commitment to
Him.
Next
time we see God speaking about His covenant with the tribe of Levi,
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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