You also say, ‘Look, what a nuisance!’ And you scorn it,” says the Lord of Armies.
“You bring stolen, lame, or sick animals. You bring this as an offering! Am I to accept that from your hands?” asks the Lord.
“The deceiver is cursed who has an acceptable male in his flock and makes a vow but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the Lord of Armies, “and my name will be feared among the nations.
Malachi 1:13-14
Last time we continued on with a prophetic song about the certainty of God’s glory from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. Indeed, every knee will one day bow. But we pushed the envelope and continued on with the Malachi’s burden to warn the priests of their corrupt sacrifice. Today we finish this section.
The last thing we read from God is, “But you are profaning [My Name] when you say, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled, and its product, its food, is contemptible.’”
Remembering that is how we know what the phrase, “You also say…” means. We are continuing on with the same thought:
“And you also say, ‘Look, what a nuisance!’
The most literal translation of this is “Oh! What a weariness!”
Oh or Look here is hinneh which means, “lo! behold!” I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I love learning where phrases come from. Seems like a generation or two ahead of mine would regularly use this phrase, “Then lo and behold.” To find it is directly from the Hebrew makes me smile.
Unfortunately, the meaning behind it today does not make God smile.
What a weariness/nuisance is mattelaah (from mah – what? how?) and telaah meaning “weariness, hardship, travail, travel, trouble; from laah – weary, impatient, exhausted, parched, grieve, faint, loathe, be disgusted.”
Put together this is, “Lo and behold! What a disgusting bother.”
And what is this that’s a bother? His Name, Table, sacrificing to Him. It makes me shudder to think of offering sacrifices to Him as loathsome, impatient, or grievous.
Then in His mercy, He regularly allows me to walk through what I’m typing out. And this week? The idea that my entire life is to be a living sacrifice of worship to Him, has been accompanied with pride in the form of impatience.
I hear you, Lord.
Let’s keep going.
“And you scorn it” is the next phrase, which is one word in the Hebrew with the root naphach – blow, boiling, breathing is labored, disdainfully sniff, give up, seething (literally, to inflate; figuratively, to disesteem).
This is how we can know the heart attitude behind “what a weariness” is not exhausting hardship but disrespectful sneering. I actually asked my family what the sound is called when you exhale disdainfully. We decided on scoffing, and that is the mental image I have with this definition of scorning His sacrificial table. Then He proceeds to give examples of this derision:
“And you bring stolen, lame and sick animals.”
Bring is bo (come in, give, go, harvest, presented), stolen is gazal (to tear away, seize, rob, carried away, commit, consume, force, rob, seize, snatch, take, tear off, torn away, pluck off, spoil, take away by force, violence, to pluck off; specifically to flay, strip or rob), lame is pisseach like we’ve seen before, and sick is chalah (to beseech, be diseased, put to grief, be grieved, be grievous, infirmity).
Not only are His people scorning the act of sacrifice, at least in their hearts, but they’re deliberately bringing unacceptable animals. We’ve already seen lame and sick, but now He is adding stolen animals. To completely miss the heart of offering God what is yours to give by violently tearing away another’s animal must have been devastating to Him.
“This you bring as a tribute!”
Tribute is our minchah from last two times: gift, tribute, offering, sacrifice [bloodless and voluntary]. Didn’t even have to bring it, but brought what was unlawful and stolen.
“Should I accept this (ratsah – accept favorably, accomplish, set affection; specifically, to satisfy a debt) from your hand (yad)?” says Yahweh
Welp. Pretty straight forward here. On we continue:
But cursed be the deceiver (nakal – to be crafty, deceitful or knavish, deal craftily, plotted, swindler) who has (yesh – has, owns, wealth) in his flock a male (zakar – male; an adjective that comes from the verb of same spelling zakar meaning to remember, call to mind), and takes a vow (nadar – a vow; do or give God something)…
But sacrifices (zabach – to slaughter for sacrifice) what is blemished (shacath – perhaps to go to ruin, act corruptly, blemished animal, destroy, devastate, jeopardize, polluted, spoiled, wasted) to Adonay.
You all, this cursed here means…cursed. This offering appropriate sacrifices is a big deal, and thus is repeated several times in this first chapter of Malachi. I appreciate how this is not God mean-spiritedly demanding something His people cannot give or afford. No, this is the people directly refusing to call to mind the Law, and even choosing to vow to give God an offering, but instead polluting the entire act.
Cursed be one who has wealth, owns what he remembers God desires, and vows to give it to God, but instead deceitfully offers what is corrupt and jeopardizes His gift to the Lord.
So what does this look like for those of us on the other side of the Perfect Sacrifice? We know the gospel should so shape our hearts that giving away radically is second nature. Yet just today I had to tell Him what I’m personally holding back from fully offering. What’s that in your life?
How about communally? Anything your group of fellow believers would cling to if asked to release to Him? Not strong convictions or some sort of gift you don’t have, but an idol, anything keeping you from loving Him with your entire being and others more than yourself? Let’s lay on the altar and keep laying back down if need be.
And finally, the repeated “why:”
“For (ki – inasmuch, assuredly, certainly, doubtless) I am a Great King,” says Jehovah-Sabaoth.
“And my name (shem again) is to be feared among the nations.”
Doubtless and with certainty, I am a great King and my uniqueness and glory will be revered among all peoples.
If we’re honest, sometimes these certainties of His worship can feel arrogant. Probably because if a human said such things, it would be. But since we know this flows from a heart of perfection, we can assume this is for everyone’s best. Living in the stream of this inevitable direction creation is headed is the ultimate Way. Best for us, best for others around us.
And our best opportunity for a view of His glory on this difficult planet.