“And now plead for God’s favor. Will he be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will he show any of you favor?” asks the Lord of Armies.
“I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Armies, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.”
Malachi 1:9-10
Last time in Malachi’s prophetic burden we saw Yahweh direct His anger toward the priests offering unacceptable sacrifices on His altar. Today we continue on in this rebuke.
Let’s start with “now plead for God’s favor.” The interesting thing is plead and now both mean ask or pray. Plead is chalah -to beseech, be diseased, put to grief, be grieved, be grievous, infirmity. And now is na – I, we, pray now; a prim. particle of entreaty or exhortation, Ah, beg, implore, Oh may, please.
Yes, this makes sense to us in our language as well. Yahweh is not saying to simply pray, but to ask, “Oh please God!” It is that serious.
And what are they asking for? God’s favor – paneh (face). They should want His face to turn toward them again.
What do you think the difference is in seeking God’s face and asking for Him to move? To me it feels like relationship. Yes, I want circumstances to change, but more than that, Oh! Please! turn Your face to me. Let me see You in this, even if it’s my sin that has caused a rift in our communion. Otherwise what is the point?
“I wish one of you would shut the temple doors…” Literally translated this is “who is there even among you who would shut the doors?”
Who (mi) is there even (gam – also, moreover, yea). This seems to be more insistent language, this time almost as if to protect God’s dignity.
Is there even anyone who will close the doors and stop this insult?
And while He never needs us to defend or protect Him, He is pointing out what needs to be stopped:
“So that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar!”
The root word for the phrase kindle fire is or and it has a fascinating definition: to be or become light, bright, dawned, enlightened, illumine, kindle, make shine, resplendent.
To become light is exactly what the gospel offers us. In a world that decays with death, we get to be salt, bringing out and preserving God-flavors in this world. And in the midst of darkness, we are the light of the world. In this context, it is believers together, seeking God’s kingdom rather than our own.
And that was to be the fire kindled on the altar: illuming God’s perfect character, resplendent holiness, shining like the dawn.
Unfortunately, the fire kindled here is described as useless, technically translated “in vain.” It is chinnam: out of favor, nothing, uselessly vain, which cost me nothing, without a cause.
Want to know what I love about this word? It can also be used in the positive sense, like when David was offered a threshing floor that belonged to Araunah in order to sacrifice to God. But rather than take it freely, David insisted on paying for it. Why?
“…I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
2 Samuel 24:24b
That phrase “cost me nothing” is also chinnam. Almost as if a sacrifice that is not a sacrifice for the offerer is useless. Pointless. Nothing. May as well shut the doors and stop.
And now for the most chilling part: When Jehovah-Sabaoth says, “I am not pleased with you.”
Pleased or pleasure is chephets – delight, pleasure, care, desirable things, matter, precious, sight. Whew, do we need the some good news after this section. And we have it: because of the Gospel, we are His beloved children.
So what does such a rough verse – “I am not pleased with you” – have to say to us today? I believe it wouldn’t be used unless stubborn unrepentance was involved by the priests. God is not pleased with my behavior, either, when that’s the case. Yes, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, I am precious and cared for, but I do not have carte blanche with sin. Particularly defiant disobedience.
But we’re not quite finished: “Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.”
Accept is ratsah (accept favorably, accomplish, set affection; specifically, to satisfy a debt), offering is minchah (gift, tribute, offering, sacrifice [bloodless and voluntary]), and hands is our familiar yad.
I will not accept affection on your voluntary offering, either. It will not accomplish a thing or satisfy a debt.
I sometimes think of parenting or elementary teaching in these contexts. Like if a child or student is asked to do something, but instead colors me a picture or cleans out their desk or empties the dishwasher. Like, thanks, but that’s not what you’ve been asked to do. I want obedience, not a “gift” that is actually what you want to do instead of obey.
Whoo, does this hit me personally this week. This idea of dancing around, doing everything but what I’ve been asked. Worried way more about my personal kingdom, my plans, than His. And all the while He waits on obedience.
Is there anything like that in your life? How about our communal life together as the Church? Anything we know that we know He’s asking us to do?
We can know if we’re treating others with contempt, Jesus wants our reconciliation over a gift at any altar. And if we’re ignoring injustice which would break Yahweh’s heart, we can know He wants action in our faith.
In this time of refining His Bride, may we throw off everything that hinders, and run our individual and collective races with perseverance and single eyes.