A Great King and Contemptible Worship Text: Malachi 1:6-14
Introduction: The Sin of the Second-Best
We live in an age that has perfected the art of casual Christianity. We have made our peace with mediocrity. Our worship services are often designed to be convenient, comfortable, and above all, non-demanding. We approach the living God, the King of the universe, as though He were a benevolent grandfather who is just happy we stopped by at all, never mind that we showed up late, empty-handed, and with our minds still on the football game. We have convinced ourselves that God grades on a curve, and that a C-minus effort is really an A-plus, all things considered.
But the prophet Malachi comes to us as a splash of ice-cold water to the face. His ministry occurred after the return from exile. The temple had been rebuilt, the sacrifices had been restarted, and the forms of religion were in place. From the outside, it probably looked like a successful church plant. But God pulls back the curtain, and what He reveals is a spiritual rot, a deep-seated contempt for His glory that had infected the very heart of their worship, starting with the priests themselves.
The central sin addressed here is not overt paganism or atheism. It is the sin of offering God our leftovers. It is the sin of a bored, cynical, corner-cutting religion. It is the hypocrisy of singing about what a great King we serve, while bringing Him sacrifices that we ourselves would be ashamed to give to a minor bureaucrat. This is not a message for the godless; this is a message for the church-goers. This is a message for those who have the forms of godliness but deny its power. And the central question Malachi forces us to ask is this: Is our worship an act of adoring reverence, or is it a weary, contemptuous obligation?
The Text
" 'A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?' says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Your name?' You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled You?' In that you say, 'The table of Yahweh is to be despised.' But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Please, bring it near to your governor! Would he accept you? Or would he lift up your face?" says Yahweh of hosts. "But now, entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us! With this thing which is from your hand, will He lift up any of your faces?" says Yahweh of hosts. "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not light a fire on My altar in vain! I have no delight in you," says Yahweh of hosts, "nor will I accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be presented to My name, as well as a grain offering that is clean; for My name will be great among the nations," says Yahweh of hosts. "But you are profaning it, in that you say, 'The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.' You also say, 'Behold, how tiresome it is!' And you disdainfully sniff at it," says Yahweh of hosts, "and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I accept that from your hand?" says Yahweh. "But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King," says Yahweh of hosts, "and My name is feared among the nations."
(Malachi 1:6-14 LSB)
The Governor Test (vv. 6-8)
God begins His prosecution with a simple, devastating appeal to common sense and basic human decency.
" 'A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?' says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Your name?' " (Malachi 1:6 LSB)
God establishes two fundamental relationships: Father/son and Master/slave. These are covenantal realities. He is their Father who brought them out of Egypt, and He is their Master, their Adonai, who owns them. Both relationships require a response: honor and fear. Not the cringing fear of a slave before a tyrant, but the reverential awe due to a sovereign. God says, "You call me Father, but you don't honor me. You call me Master, but you don't fear me."
And notice the target: "to you, O priests." The rot starts at the top. When the pulpit is weak, the pews will be anemic. When the leadership treats God casually, the people will follow suit. And their response is one of feigned innocence, a self-righteous bewilderment. "How have we despised Your name?" This is the language of a man caught red-handed who says, "Who, me?" It reveals a conscience so seared that they are not even aware of their own contempt.
God answers their question directly in verses 7 and 8. They despise His name by presenting defiled, polluted food on His altar. They are bringing Him their garbage. The law was explicitly clear: sacrifices were to be without blemish (Lev. 22:20-22). But they were bringing the blind, the lame, and the sick. This was the cull of the flock, the animals that were worthless on the open market. They were treating the holy altar of God like a spiritual landfill.
Then God delivers the knockout punch, what we might call the governor test. "Please, bring it near to your governor! Would he accept you?" The argument is painfully simple. You would not dare treat your earthly, pagan governor with such disrespect. You would bring him your best, polished and prepared, because you fear his power and desire his favor. But you bring the King of kings, Yahweh of hosts, the leftovers you would not even feed to your dog. This reveals their true heart. They feared man more than God. Their priorities were inverted. Their worship was a sham because their theology was bankrupt. They had a small god, and so they brought him small sacrifices.
Shut the Doors (vv. 9-10)
Having exposed their sin, God now exposes the utter futility of their worship.
"But now, entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us! With this thing which is from your hand, will He lift up any of your faces?" says Yahweh of hosts. (Malachi 1:9 LSB)
This is dripping with divine sarcasm. "Go ahead," God says, "try to pray. Try to get my attention with that pathetic, diseased offering in your hand. Do you really think I will listen?" Bad worship makes prayer impossible. You cannot insult God with your left hand while asking for a blessing with your right. The entire enterprise is corrupt.
The conclusion is stark and shocking. "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not light a fire on My altar in vain!" God's desire is not for a better-run program. It is for the whole charade to stop. He is saying, "I would rather have an empty temple than a temple full of hypocrites. I would rather have no worship than this contemptible worship." This demolishes the modern pragmatic idea that what matters is getting people in the building. God is not interested in numbers; He is interested in honor. A locked door is better than a profane altar. This is a terrifying thought. God is not delighted with our mere attendance. He is not flattered by our half-hearted songs. He despises vain worship.
From Sun to Sun (v. 11)
Just when the indictment seems total, the sky breaks open with one of the most glorious prophecies in the Old Testament.
"For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be presented to My name, as well as a grain offering that is clean; for My name will be great among the nations," says Yahweh of hosts. (Malachi 1:11 LSB)
This is the great postmillennial promise. God declares that the failure of the Levitical priesthood in Jerusalem will not thwart His global purpose. His plan is not Plan B. He says, "You priests may despise my name here, in this small corner of the world. But I tell you, my name will be great. Where? Among the nations, the goyim, the Gentiles. How far? From the rising of the sun to its setting, a phrase that means the entire globe. What will they do? They will offer true worship, incense and a clean offering, in every place."
This is a prophecy of the success of the Great Commission. This is the engine of Christian mission. The worship that was once confined to the temple in Jerusalem will explode across the entire world. God will get His glory. He will have a people who offer Him pure worship. If the priests of the Old Covenant will not do it, He will raise up a new priesthood from every tribe and tongue and nation to do it. This is not a description of a far-off heaven, but of the course of this age. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. God's name will not be merely known, but it will be great among the nations.
The Weariness of False Worship (vv. 12-14)
God then returns to the priests and details the attitude behind their actions.
"But you are profaning it... You also say, 'Behold, how tiresome it is!' And you disdainfully sniff at it," (Malachi 1:12-13 LSB)
The root of their profane worship was that they were bored with God. Worship was a chore. "How tiresome it is!" It was a burden, a weariness. They sniffed at the holy things with contempt, like a picky eater turning his nose up at a meal. This is a profound spiritual diagnosis. When worship becomes a burden, it is because we have lost our vision of the greatness and glory of God. When we have a small god, worship is always a drag.
And so they bring stolen, lame, and sick animals. Their contemptuous hearts lead to corrupt hands. And God asks the rhetorical question again: "Should I accept that from your hand?" The answer is a thunderous no.
The final verse pronounces a curse on the swindler, the bait-and-switch worshiper.
"But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King," says Yahweh of hosts, "and My name is feared among the nations." (Malachi 1:14 LSB)
This is the man who has the best, who has the perfect male lamb the law requires. He vows to give it. But when the time comes, he keeps the good one for himself and digs out a sickly one for God. He thinks he can cheat God. But God is not mocked. Such a man is cursed. Why? The reason for everything is given in the final clause: "for I am a great King."
This is the foundation. He is not a tribal deity. He is not a cosmic suggestion box. He is a great King, and His name is to be feared, held in awe, among the nations. The standard for our worship is not our emotional state, or our convenience, or what the culture finds palatable. The standard is the infinite worth and majesty of the King we worship.
The Perfect, Clean Offering
This entire passage leaves us with a problem. If God demands a perfect offering from a pure heart, then who can be saved? We are all like these priests. We are all swindlers at heart. We sing "Take my life and let it be," and then we hold back. We offer God our tired Friday nights instead of the fresh energy of our week. We give from our surplus, not from our substance. Our hearts are often bored, our minds wander, and our offerings are blemished.
If we are honest, the doors of the church should be shut on us as well. But this is where the Gospel shines against the black backdrop of our failure. The prophecy of a "clean offering" among the nations is fulfilled in one man and one offering. Jesus Christ is our great High Priest, not like the tired, cynical priests of Malachi's day, but a priest forever. And He did not offer a blemished animal. He offered Himself, the spotless Lamb of God, without spot or blemish (1 Peter 1:19).
He is the only "clean offering" that has ever been presented to God on behalf of men. And because of His perfect sacrifice, our imperfect sacrifices are now made acceptable. When we come to worship, we do not come in our own name. We come in His name. We offer up spiritual sacrifices, the incense of our prayers and praise, and they are accepted not because of our merit, but because they are offered through the merit of our great High Priest (1 Peter 2:5).
Therefore, the application is not to try harder to dredge up a worthy sacrifice to appease God. The application is to repent of our cheap worship, to look to the one perfect sacrifice of Christ, and then, out of sheer, unadulterated gratitude for such a great salvation, to joyfully offer Him our very best. We do not give our best to be saved. We give our best because we are saved. We do this because He is not a petty tyrant or a distant governor. He is our Father who loves us, and He is a great King who is worthy of all the honor we can possibly give.