A son honoureth his father, and
a servant his master: if then I be a FATHER, where is Mine
Honour?
and if I be a master, where is My Fear?
saith THE LORD of Hosts
unto you,
O Priests, that despise My
Name.
And ye say, Wherein have we despised Thy
Name? *MALACHI 1:6
Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine
Altar;
and ye say, Wherein have we polluted THEE? In that
ye say, The Table of THE LORD is contemptible. *MALACHI 1:7
And if ye offer the blind for
sacrifice, is it not evil?
and if ye offer the lame and sick, is
it not evil?
offer it now unto thy governor; will he
be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith THE LORD of Hosts. *MALACHI 1:8
And now, I pray you, beseech The Face of GOD that HE will be gracious unto us: this hath
been [done
by your hands] by your means:
Will
HE
regard your persons?
[ Will HE lift up your
faces to HIM ?]
saith the LORD of Hosts.
*MALACHI 1:9
[ Words
in brackets were taken from the
literal translation of the Hebrew by Dr. John Joseph Owens, Analytical Key
to the Old TESTMENT, Vol 4, Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 1989, p.933, Malachi 1:9 ]. In THIS verse, the Italicized words
were not taken from Dr. Owens, but were added for clarity by the writer of this
article. ]
Who is there even among you that
would shut the doors for nought? Neither do ye kindle fire on Mine
Altar
for nought.
I have no pleasure in you, saith THE
LORD of Hosts,
neither will I accept an offering at your hand. *MALACHI 1:10
[ THAT
IS: “ Who, moreover, (would that one WERE among you !), let him
shut the doors and not cause to light My Altar for no purpose, (in vain); there
is not to ME pleasure in you all, said :YAHWEH OF HOSTS, and an offering
I will not accept from your hand. “… adapted from Dr. John Joseph Owens, Analytical
Key to the Old TESTMENT, Vol 4, Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 1989, p.933, Malachi 1:10 ]. In THIS verse, the italicized words are
directly from the literal translation of Dr. Owens.]
For from the rising of the sun even unto
the going down of the same, My Name shall be great among the
Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My
Name,
and a pure offering:
for My Name shall be great among the
heathen,
saith THE LORD of Hosts.
*MALACHI 1:11
But ye have profaned HIM***,
in that ye say, The Table
of THE
LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even HIS Meat,
is contemptible. *MALACHI 1:12
*** Please Note: There is NO
“it” in the Hebrew language; there is only he/ she or him/her,
depending on the grammatical gender indicated, usually in the suffixes.
In this particular verse, the Hebrew word is literally HIM, ( not
a suffix attached to a word) with the
direct object indicator added as a prefix:
אֹותֹֹ֗ו
Ye said also,
Behold, what a weariness is it!
and ye have snuffed at HIM***,
saith THE LORD of Hosts;
and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye
brought an offering:
should I accept this of your hand?
saith THE LORD. *MALACHI 1:13
But cursed be the deceiver,
which hath in his flock a male,
and voweth,and sacrificeth unto THE
LORD
a
corrupt thing:
for I am a Great
KING,
saith THE LORD of Hosts,
and My Name is dreadful among the
heathen.* MALACHI 1:14
*The prophet Malachi, the last recorded Prophet
of the First Covenant, prophesied correction to the wayward People of GOD
during the post-exiled period. The Jews were permitted to return to the Holy
Land by the Babylonian king and were allowed to rebuild the Temple. However, their
offerings in the Temple did NOT please THE LORD.
Blemished, corrupted , impure, and defiled ---
that is how THE LORD GOD evaluated the “sacrificial” animals the Priests of
Malachi’s day offered to HIM. The blind, lame, sickly, and even stolen animals
had been offered on the Altar of GOD.
How , then, would HE
evaluate
the men who OFFERED
such defiled “sacrifices?”
+ + +
The
PRIMARY sin: Corrupt Offerings break
the TYPE , the PATTERN, the IDENTITY that The LORD was establishing of The Coming
MESSIAH+… HIS pure SON+ Who+ had no
unrighteousness in HIM+.
In all the requirements of the LAW of Moses,
The LORD GOD set the Pattern, the TYPE, of an unblemished Sacrifice for the
purpose of POINTING HIS People to The unblemished LAMB+ of GOD Who+
taketh away the sin of the world… Whose+ Blood was much more
precious than that of a bull or goat. [See HEBREWS 9:13-14]
NOW, take a minute to NOTE THIS WELL: When we
“break the TYPE, or break the PATTERN” which identifies the Character of The
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, it is called SIN. Everything which defiles before the eyes
of man the True Character of GOD WHO made us in HIS Image is defined as SIN
with serious, eternal consequences. HE wants HIS People to reflect to the world
WHO HE IS. Whether in the Old Testament or New, this principle is what “makes”
a thought, word, or behavior to be SIN.
THE LORD says: “
Offer these blemished animals as a gift to your governor. Will he be pleased
with YOU ?” MALACHI 1:8
NO , indeed !
Instead, your governor
will seek vengeance of you
for thinking him to be
a fool !
+ + +
And HE shall sit as a Refiner
and Purifier
of silver: and HE shall purify the SONS of LEVI, and
purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto THE LORD an offering in
righteousness. MALACHI 3:3
+ + +
From the SONS of LEVI, through Aaron, came
the appointed Priests of THE LORD
, doing Priestly service of offering the Sacrifices in the Temple.
WHO are the “Priests of
THE LORD” nowadays,
while there are no
Temple Services?
THE LORD allowed the destruction of the last
Temple around 70 AD.
Those who follow The LAMB+ wherever
HE+ goes REVELATION 14:4, those who are “NEW CREATURES in
CHRIST” 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 …
these are the NEW Priesthood, yes ?
Ye also, as Lively
Stones,
are built up a Spiritual House,
AN HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up Spiritual
Sacrifices,
acceptable to GOD through
*GK: διὰ JESUS CHRIST.
1 PETER 2:5
“NEW CREATURES in CHRIST” make Spiritual
sacrifices in the NEW Temple of GOD, which The LORD JESUS established: Our
Consecrated-to-The-LORD Body.
WHAT ?
Know
ye not ?
that your BODY is the Temple
of the HOLY SPIRIT
which is in you, which ye have of GOD,
and ye are not your own? 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 Know ye not that ye are the Temple
of GOD,
and that the SPIRIT of GOD dwelleth in you? 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16
If any man defile the Temple
of GOD,
him shall GOD
destroy; for the
Temple
of GOD
is HOLY,
which temple ye are. 1 CORINTHIANS 3:17
+ + +
What are our OFFERINGS unto The LORD in this
“NEW” Temple ?
What KIND of offerings do we, as Priests, put
upon The Altar for The LORD ?
The LORD JESUS CHRIST
was
the SUPREME, ETERNAL offering
for us ALL,
WHO+ washed us from our sins by HIS+ own
Blood.
REVELATION 1:5
So…. what is left, that WE are required to put on the Altar ?
We offer Sacrifices WITH
Joy !
Now then, our acceptable Sacrifices are Commitment,
Consecration, and Companionship with CHRIST JESUS at all times and in all
seasons.
Yes, we offer the Sacrifice of Praise with Joy…
when we feel like it, when things are going good and working out for our
pleasure.
HOWEVER… Are we “offering Praises with confidant
Joy” during those HARD times ? Do we affirm HIS+ LORDSHIP with Joy
and embrace HIS+ WILL without complaint ?
Now then, let us “new” Priests consider another
area of “our” required Temple Sacrifices, which JESUS
consistently practiced:
Rising for PRAYER and QUIET TIME
Think: Where does our energy come from ? Our Food, naturally.
We MUST eat the same
food daily which HE+ ate.
What HE+ ate while by the well in Samaria was
HIS+ Meat every day.
Being weary with HIS+ journey, JESUS
sat thus on the well.JOHN 4:6 Later, HIS+ Disciples
brought food for HIM+, urging HIM+ to eat. JESUS said to them:
“I+ have meat to eat that ye know not of.” JOHN
4:32
“My+ MEAT is to do the WILL of HIM that sent ME+,
and to finish HIS Work.” JOHN 4:34
HIS+ FOOD: Doing The WILL of GOD His+
FATHER.
DAILY, we must eat the SAME food our LORD JESUS
ate.
+ + +
What are we New Priests OFFERING to The LORD in
“our” Temple Sacrifices? Are we “sleeping in” every chance we have ?
I beseech you therefore, Brethren,
by the Mercies
of GOD,
that ye present your bodies a Living
Sacrifice,
Holy,
Acceptable
unto GOD,
which is your reasonable service. ROMANS 12:1
And be not conformed to this world: but
be ye transformed by the Renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, WILL of God. ROMANS 12:2
[NOTE: WILL is singular, not plural. There are
NOT “three” wills of GOD presented here for our choosing. HIS WILL is Good,
Acceptable, and PERFECT ! ]
Do we say, “ I love YOU+, JESUS “ …
and then do our OWN will ?
Do we sing, “ I praise YOU, Heavenly FATHER” …
and then ignore HIS express WILL
to be like HIS Beloved SON+ JESUS ?
Do we follow The GOOD SHEPHERD+ …
but turn away from the Still Waters where HE+ leads us and
refreshes our soul ? There is NO OTHER place to go to “renew our mind” and
access the Mind of CHRIST.
Do we forsake HIS+ menu, and
instead, dine on “many good activities” … which distract us from HIS+
Stillness and keep us in a perpetual state of agitation…
. . . SO THAT WE CANNOT
ASCERTAIN HIS+ WILL in daily situations ?
What does The LORD think about those “many good
activities” which we do in HIS+ Name ,
forsaking the Stillness
that is ESSENTIAL in order to find HIS+ Will …
that Divine, Holy WILL which
is HIS+ Priority for our daily life ?
Let’s read what HE+ thinks:
Not every one that saith unto ME+, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven;
but he that doeth the WILL of My+ FATHER which is in Heaven. MATTHEW 7:21
Many will say to ME+ in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy
Name?
and in Thy
Name
have cast out devils? and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? MATTHEW 7:22
And then will I+ profess unto them, I+ never knew you:
depart from ME+, ye that work iniquity.
MATTHEW 7:23
Thus, is our DAILY offering AS BLEMISHED AS IN
THE DAY OF MALACHI ?
Is our “Sacrifice of Praise” empty because we
are NOT still enough to SET OUR PRIORITIES to seek HIS+ WILL ?
Are we DETERMINED to
seek the Heart of JESUS ?
Have our Temple Sacrifices to The LORD of Time,
of Priorities, become such “lame, weak, sickly, blind animals” that we could
not even honestly sell them at market price to the un-Redeemed public ?
[ Unless we lie, of course, pretending they are
“pure” … stealing their money which they have invested in our blemished livestock
? Even the secular government would arrest us for fraud. ]
Do we treat our Heavenly FATHER, our LORD JESUS
CHRIST, with such fraudulent daily sacrifices while our hearts are SET on
accomplishing our OWN Will ?
HE that planted the ear, shall HE not
hear?
HE that formed the eye, shall HE not
see? PSALM 94:9
Be not deceived; GOD is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.
GALATIANS 6:7
Let us hasten to REPENT, dear Brethren in
CHRIST.
Let our daily prayer be: “LORD JESUS, save
me from my SELF. “
+ + +
And now, O LORD, we present unto THEE+
our Self, our Soul, and our Body,
to be a
Holy and Living Sacrifice unto THEE+,
which
is our Reasonable Service.
