Malachi 1:6-8 (Honoring Our God)

Hello everybody or anybody reading this blog! This post is the text of a study I prepared for the boffer group hosted at my house by our sons. If you are unfamilar with boffers, they are basically pvc pipes cushioned with foam and taped with various colors of duct tape to resemble swords and various other weaponry from the middle ages! The boys have been inviting various friends and the dads from our previous church and we have a great time beating on each other for a couple of hours! :)

Since we have now had some neighborhood children attend, I thought it would be a good idea to include a Bible lesson for the boys. So now when we meet we have about an hour of fighting, a 5-10 minute lesson, and then a half hour of more fighting before we stop for refreshments. It is a good time of fellowship for us dads and the moms as well as a time for the boys to enjoy themselves!

Anyhow, the following is the text of the first Bible lesson I gave to the boys on June 30, 2007:

Malachi 1:6-8
Honoring Our God

Background:
In verses 1-3, God has declared His love for Israel. He has loved them so much that He chose them as a people over and above Esau. He has poured out His blessing on them even though they have not deserved these blessings.

Understand that God loves us, His church…those who are Christians…in the same way. But while this passage might give us cause to rejoice in His love, it also reminds us that we are not always faithful to what we say we believe.

This passage we now turn to focuses on the thanklessness of man, or the ungratefulness of God’s people.

Read Malachi 1:6-8

As we examine these verses of Scripture, I want us to think about our lives as Christians...think about it while meditating on the fact that without His sacrifice we would have no hope, we would face eternity in hell...and then think about this: We deserve hell! And yet, despite this, He accomplished on the cross the salvation of His people!

Two things we see from these verses that apply even to us:
1) God is NOT being properly honored today
2) Worshipping carelessly is a curse and a sin

"A son honors his father, and a servant his master"

Malachi first takes us back to the commandments, the law! Which commandment is this? The fifth, in which we read from Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother…”

Ask) What are your thoughts when you see a young man or lady who treat their parents disrespectfully? (discuss)

It is only natural to expect that a child will honor his/her parents!
It is UNNATURAL for a child to be disrespectful towards his parents.

Likewise, the good servant/slave, honors his master through obedience. A disobedient servant is not a good servant, right?

So God , through His prophet...is establishing the fact that good sons and good servants honor and obey.

Note now the next part of verse 6:

"If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name."

In the first part we see that God points out that it is natural for a son or daughter to obey their parents. Here He follows that with the question..."why do you not honor Me?"

Read Hebrews 12:9-10

Note the powerful statement within this verse! Our parents, and we who are parents, give discipline to correct behavior...we do so as seems best to us...God, however, has perfect understanding and therefore any chastening He chooses to give out is ALWAYS for the best!

This is why the writer of Hebrews asks the question..."shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father...?"

Now then, this being the case...why does the Lord find it necessary to ask this question in verse 6?

God asks the question of us because it is clear that in some manner in our lives we are not treating Him the way we ought to! We have failed Him!

Ask) What does the Lord deserve?

We have a sacred obligation to honor Him, to respect Him, and to revere His name and His attributes! And to our shame, we have too often failed to meet these obligations!

Note that God says the priests "despise My name"

Ask) In what way do people despise the name of the Lord?

When we fail to honor Him, we despise Him!

Note carefully the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:22.

Read also 1 John 2:3-5

We can say we love the Lord all we want...but unless we show it by the way we live, we are liars.
"Yet you say, 'In what way have we despised Your name'"

Note here how the priests reply. They are shocked! Surely God is mistaken! But can God be mistaken, or can He lie? Romans 3:4 says "Let God be true but every man a liar"

Furthermore, their response, judging by God's response to them, is not one of repentance, not one of desiring to know how they perhaps ignorantly offended the Lord. No, their response is one of pride. How could they, the priests, possibly have despised the name of God? Come on, they're the priests!

Ask) Is this how we are tempted to reply?
Do we, being on the receiving end of this question from God, choose to reply as if we are innocent?

If we do so we are arrogant! We dare to assume in our sin that we are doing everything perfectly the way God wants us to! If we choose to reply as these priests, then we are basically saying that we do not need the grace of God because of our own selves we are quite capable of keeping the entire law!

How does God answer this arrogant question?

"You offer defiled food on My altar, but say 'In what way have we defiled You?' By saying , 'The table of the Lord is contemptible [or to be despised].'"

Note what is happening here. God says they have offered up defiled food. Meaning that they had not offered up their very best! Then God presupposes their defense and says that they have made the table of the Lord a thing of contempt, something to be despised!

For them NOT to offer Him their best was the same as saying His altar, His table, was not worthy of true honor! Note His next angry words!

"And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?"

Again, the Lord is striking home the point that He deserves the best! Then...

"Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the Lord of Hosts"

Can you imagine!?! Were these people to take their second, their third best offerings to a human authority, he would be angry...why then would they risk offering these things to the Lord of Hosts!?

This shows that it was more important for them to be polite than reverent! Better to offend God rather than a man!

In a real sense, we likewise show contempt for God when we do not offer Him our very best!

Ask) In what way do we offer God our second best?

Think about when you spend time doing the things you like…hobbies, reading, playing, whatever it may be. How much time do you spend preparing for it?

Think about this: How much time do we spend in prayer, or in the reading of the Word of God?

How often would we rather not go to church because we’d prefer to sleep in

Ask: How do we offer up defiled food upon the altar?

Ask: Is our worship of Him careless? And I don't mean necessarily here on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, but in our daily worship of God through our private lives! (Discuss)

Allow me to say this:
If we claim to love the Lord, but we fail to meet with Him regularly, then we are deceiving ourselves!
If we say we honor God but give Him the second best parts of our lives, then we are deceiving ourselves!
If we say we revere His name, but we take it in vain, then we are deceiving ourselves!

Ask: How can we change this?
Read Psalm 1 (discuss)
Read Psalm 119:9-16 (discuss)

Finally...
Let us refrain from taking His name in vain
Let us refrain from engaging in things that are not honoring to Him
Let us commit to being in the Word daily
Let us commit to studying the Word daily
Let us live our lives for His glory!

Amen?