COMMENTARY ON MALACHI
LESSON NUMBER 6
Mal 1:9 “And now, I pray you, beseech God that He will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will He regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. 10 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 1:9-10)
GOD’S POINTED REJECTION
INTRODUCTION
Through the prophet Malachi, God is reasoning with the people – a people that have went backward, not forward. This is a people duly warned of their waywardness, and often admonished to return to the Lord (Isa 44:22; Jer 4:1). They were a people who were punished for their sin with the lengthy Babylonian captivity (Dan 9:2). They were also given grace to return to their homeland, and commence rebuilding the house of God, as well as repopulating the land. Still their downward propensities prevailed, and they were once again stuck in the mire of lifeless and empty religion. They were going through the mechanism of ordained routines, but doing so with no regard for God – and they were insensitive to the whole matter. God is of such a nature that He will not permit His courts to be continually occupied with such people. He will confront them with their ways, and do so in clear and concise words. In all of this He is confirming that sin is always unreasonable, can never be justified, and is never accepted by God or overlooked by Him as though it was something minor and tolerable. There really is no satisfactory explanation for sin. Those who are swallowed up in it cannot put the blame on someone else, thereby exonerating themselves as though they were really good people. In order to yield to unholy influences, sinners must resist holy ones. In order to turn to sin, they must turn from God. In order to find pleasure in what is wrong, they must cease to find satisfaction in what is good. The Tempter, our adversary the devil, is subtle in his efforts to lead people to reject God and accept him, as confirmed in the first defection from God in Eden. However, he is powerless to cause any change in men if they do not yield to him – and to yield to him, they must cease to yield to God. The presence of these realities is why God speaks with such unrelenting candor to those caught in the web of iniquity.
BESEECH GOD FOR US!
Malachi 1:9 “And now, I pray you, beseech God that He will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will He regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.”
HOLY IRONY. This verse is an example of holy irony. It is not an exhortation to do something profitable, but a mocking challenge to get something done with unholy means. God often uses this way of speaking to hardened sinners. Elijah mocked the priests of Baal saying, “Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked” (1 Kgs 18:27). Job chided his accusers when he said, “No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you” (Job 12:2). In bitter irony Ezekiel said to the king of Tyre, “Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee” (Ezek 28:3). Amos mocked those in Samaria who were far from God, “Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years . . . for this you love, you children of Israel” NKJV (Amos 4:4-5). From the heavens God laughed at those who imagined they could break the binding cords of Divinity from themselves (Psa 2:1-4). James chided those who failed to consider God, saying they were going to do this or that on the morrow (James 4:13). He also mocked the rich men, telling them their riches were corrupted and their garments moth-eaten (James 5:1).
This is a Divine manner – to press those who pretend to come to Him to go through their empty routines and see if they can make anything favorable happen through them. This is how Jesus spoke to the Pharisees when they represented themselves as being righteous, and having no need of Him. He said, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17).
I PRAY YOU. This is Malachi speaking directly to the priests, summoning them to engage in a special activity – accompanying their offerings with verbal petitions.
BESEECH GOD. “Beseech God that He will be gracious unto us.” Other versions read, “entreat God’s favor,” NKJV “implore God to be gracious,” NIV “make request for the grace of God,” BBE and “entreat God [earnestly] that He will be gracious to us.” AMPLIFIED This is not an exhortation to do what is right, but to make a valiant effort to move God to bring favor upon the people through the polluted bread and unacceptable sacrifices they are offering.
The objective of an association with the Living God is not simply to offer something to Him. Because He is in no way deficient, He is not advantaged by anything men offer to Him. This is why He insists that those who come to Him have “clean hands and a pure heart” – people who have not “lifted up” their “soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” (Psa 24:4). Supposedly fulfilling outward obligations does not compensate for a life that is lived for self and without a due regard for God Himself. Those, for example, who say praise opens the portals of heaven, or that you can “sow yourselves” out of uncomely circumstances are more closely related to the priests of Malachi’s day that to Jesus Christ. When hearts are not right, there is no outward action that can offset that circumstance – even arduous and consistent religious activity. Under such circumstances, all such labor is vain.
Thus Malachi challenges these thoughtless priests to accompany their miserable offerings with a fervent petition for God to be gracious to the people. He challenges them to cause some relief to come to the people through their sacrifices! Bring some Divine consolation to the people through their religious exercises! That is the challenge he puts before them.
THIS HATH BEEN YOUR MEANS. Other versions read, “While this is being done by your hands,” NKJV “with such an offering on your part,” NASB “The fault is yours,” NRSV “with such a gift from your hands,” RSV “this has been your doing,” BBE and “for by your hand hath this been done.” DOUAY
The words of Malachi are holy sarcasm, designed to confirm the absolute vanity of what the priests were doing. While they were in the very process of offering this polluted bread and unacceptable sacrifices on the altar – which was their manner – let them seek grace and favor for the people. Let all of these offerings be accompanied by fervent petitions for the Lord to make His face to shine upon the people! Let them repeat the Aaronic blessing again and again: “The LORD make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Num 6:25-26). Rather than simply going through a ritual, the priests were to see if they could induce God to bless the people because of what they were doing. That will confirm whether their offerings were acceptable to Him or not.
WILL HE REGARD YOUR PERSONS? Other versions read, “Will He accept you favorably?” NKJV “Will He receive any of you kindly?” NASB “Will He accept you?” NIV and “Will He show favor to any of you?” NRSV Will God accept you because you are a priest? or in the right lineage? Does your office carry favor with it, so that it sanctifies everything you do? Will God accept flawed offerings because a supposedly good person offered them? The answer will be found in putting the matter to a test. While a person’s life is unacceptable, and while they are offering something to God that He has forbidden, or while they are failing to do what He has commanded, let them ask for favor, for blessing, and for benefit. The answer will tell the story.
SHUTTING THE DOORS FOR NOUGHT
1:10a “Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought.”
Notice the probing nature of Divine interrogation. He does not stop with the surface of the intellect, but probes the recesses of the heart, calling upon the people to employ all of their resources in giving an account to Him. This is how He “searches all hearts” (1 Chron 28:9; Rom 8:27; Rev 2:23). It is written that “the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins,” or interior parts of the unseen man (Psa 7:9). I understand this to be a process that involves the introspection of the one being searched or tried. While God does know all of our thoughts, the searching of them involves confronting men with what He has found. That is exactly what the Lord is doing in this passage – informing the priests of His findings, and summoning them to reason with Him on the matter. The remarkable strength of this reasoning is now seen, showing the impact that lawless and futile religion has upon the God of heaven.
WHO SHOULD SHUT THE DOORS? Other versions read, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates,” NASB “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors,” NIV “Why doesn't even one of you shut the doors,” CJB “I wish one of you would shut the doors to My house,” GWN and “Oh, that there were even one among you [whose duty it is to minister to Me] who would shut the doors.” AMPLIFIED
The point is that God would rather see the Temple doors shut than have such miserable sacrifices offered to Him within its sacred precincts! It is a most difficult thing for religious men to learn, but lifeless and aberrant religion is obnoxious to God. He would rather see nothing come up to Him at all, than offerings that do nothing more than anger Him.
This is not the only time the Lord has spoken in this manner. Solomon said, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD” (Prov 15:8; 21:27). Again he wrote, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (Prov 28:9). Through Isaiah, God rebuked Israel for even coming into His courts: “When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you that your [unholy feet] trample My courts?” AMPLIFIED (Isa 1:11-12). Through Jeremiah God said to a wayward people, “your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto Me” (Jer 6:20). While Israel was busily engaged in worship, He said to them: “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols” (Amos 5:21-23). Jesus said that the Pharisees, who appeared outwardly righteous, would actually “receive the greater damnation” (Matt 23:14).
NEITHER DO YE KINDLE FIRE. Other versions read, “So that you would not kindle,” NKJV “that you might not uselessly kindle fire,” NASB and “so that you would not light useless fires.” NIV The purpose for shutting the Temple doors was that the priests would no longer waste their time in kindling a fire upon the altar in order to offer sacrifices. Because the people had forgotten their Master (1:6), and the priests offered polluted bread and flawed sacrifices upon the altar, all of their religious activity was pointless and vain. Until their persons and offerings were acceptable to God, no amount of religious activity would be accepted. It would be far better to close up the Temple that to use it in such a manner.
This is why Jesus twice cleansed the Temple (John 2:13-16; Matt 21:12-13). What was going on there was unacceptable. He did not close the Temple doors, because that is where He was ministering (Mk 12:35; Lk 19:47; 20:1; John 18:20), fulfilling the prophesy of Malachi (Mal 3:1). However, because the vanity continued, the Lord actually removed the Temple (Matt 24:2; Mk 13:2; 2 Kgs 24:13; 25:9,13) – doing it for the same reason cited in Malachi.
BABYLONISH RELIGION. The glorified Christ revealed a corrupt religious system that would arise in His name, referring to it as “Babylon the Great” (Rev 17:5; 18:2). Like Israel of old, it was noted for its “abominations” (Rev 17:4-5). Paul defined the chief characteristic of this spiritual aberration: “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Tim 3:5). That is, just as in Malachi’s prophecy, that form of religion is a waste of time, because it cannot obtain Divine favor. The effectiveness of “pure religion” is found in its fruit, not its routine. When the lives of people cannot be appropriately called “light” (Matt 5:16; Eph 5:6), their nature is not being changed from one increasing stage of glory to another (2 Cor 3:18), and they are not growing “in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18), all outward routine is pointless and worthless. Such people are treading the courts of the Lord uninvited. Their prayers are not heard (Isa 1:15), their songs are not heard (Amos 5:23), their offerings are not accepted (Jer 14:12), and their persons are not received (Jer 14:10). As James would say, “this man’s religion is vain” (James 1:26).
Men may have become accustomed to this kind of religious activity, but God has not. The vicarious atonement of Jesus did not make such audacities acceptable to God. It did, however, give God a just basis to change men, so that their persons and gifts are acceptable.
I HAVE NO PLEASURE IN YOU!
1:10b “ . . . I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.”
The awareness of the unchangeable nature of Deity is imperative – particularly in the day in which we live. Often men remind us of the changeless nature of our Savior in regards to blessing: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb 13:8). For “the righteous” (1 Pet 3:12), that is a most blessed consideration. However, the Lord’s attitude toward the “unrighteous” is also unchanging, for that also is an expression of His nature, or being. “The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9). If it is countered that God considers some men to be righteous, even if they do not live righteously, the Spirit reminds us, “he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous” (1 John 3:7). That is, just as the Lord acts in perfect accord with His righteous nature, so those who are “made righteous” (Rom 5:19) conduct their lives in accord with what they have been made. Therefore we read, “If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29). In Christ, God does not beget children that are fundamentally unlike Himself (1 John 5:18).
When, therefore, we are exposed to the Divine reaction to insincere and flawed religion, we are not reading of some former manner of the Lord. This is the way the Lord is! This unalterable fact is what stands behind the inscrutable wisdom required to find a way to justify sinners in a manner that was just and righteous (Rom 3:26).
I HAVE NO PLEASURE IN YOU. Other versions read, “I am not pleased with you,” NASB “I take no pleasure in you.” CJB and “I have no delight in you.” DARBY I do not care for the expression “I am not pleased,” for it does project the strength of the expression. As used here, the word “pleasure” is a noun. Objectively it speaks of the Divine quality of delighting in something, and taking pleasure in it. It involves a holy longing as well. Here the idea is that this Divine quality could not be placed on the people Malachi was addressing. God cannot be pleased with the ungodly or ungodliness. He can find no delight in who or what is wrong. Men are tempted in such matters, and must engage in a struggle to “abhor that which is evil”(Rom 12:9), and “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess 5:22). The Lord, however, experiences no such struggle. His nature is repelled by iniquity, and drawn toward righteousness. He states that He tenderly looks toward “him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word” (Isa 66:2). There are others whom He “knoweth afar off,” or “from afar” (Psa 138:6).
Who is able to measure the magnitude of the statement, “I have no pleasure in you!” – and this is addressed to a people of whom God said, “This people have I formed for Myself” (Isa 43:21). God has spoken concerning things and people in which He has “no pleasure.” “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness” (Psa 5:4). “He hath no pleasure in fools” (Eccl 5:4). “ . . . He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man,” or human speed and dexterity(Psa 147:10). He hath “hath pleasure in uprightness” (1 Chron 29:17), and “them that fear Him” (Psa 147:11).
At the time of our text, Israel was going through the mechanisms of religion without any due regard for the God they professed to be serving. They did not order their lives around Him, but served their own interests. They viewed their religion, or outward requirements, as “a weariness,” or “tiresome,” NASB and “a burden” NIV (Mal 1:13). Actually, however, what they were doing was wearisome and burdensome to the Lord, for it chaffed against His holy nature (Isa 1:14).
NEITHER WILL I ACCEPT AN OFFERING AT YOUR HAND. “ . . . neither will I accept an offering at your hand.” Other versions read, “nor will I accept an offering from you.” NASB If these people offered something to God, He would not receive it! The words “an offering” mean any offering. The condition of the people rendered all of their offerings worthless. Oh, that men were more persuaded of this Divine trait. Through Isaiah, the Lord said of Israel’s prayers, “I will not hear” (Isa 1:15). If even Jeremiah prayed for Israel, the Lord said, “I will not hear thee” (Jer 7:16). He told the people, “I will not show you favor” (Jer 16:13). To the elders of Israel He said, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you” (Ezek 20:3). Once He said, “I will not be your God” (Hos 1:9). Israel’s pretension was answered by this word from God, “I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.” He said He would not accept their “offerings” (Amos 22), and would “not hear the melody of thy viols” (Amos 5:23). Truly, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” so that He has no delight in you, nor will He receive anything you offer to Him (Heb 10:31).
THE SOUL THAT DRAWS BACK. What we have just read does not refer to a passing aspect of the Divine nature. God remains the same. To those in Christ Jesus this word comes with staggering power: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Heb 10:38). I realize there are some who cannot accept this statement, but they do well to reconsider their ways. There is a reason why we are admonished to be “followers of God as dear children” (Eph 5:1), and to “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (Col 1:10). Texts such as the one we are considering “are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor 10:11).