My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
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| GREAT KING |
| Malachi 1:14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. |
| There are a number of issues going on with this passage. As I read it, certain New Testament passages are erupting in my mind. That Swindler Who is this cheat, this swindler that Malachi is pointing his finger to? Although I rarely am reminded of this fact, Malachi is communicating to a very specific group of Israeli people. He is speaking to the priests, those men called by God to represent the people before Him, to receive the offerings God has prescribed for the nation. This passage begins in verse 16 with the Lord’s direct charge to the priests. Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ Malachi goes so far as to claim the priest “snort” at the offerings, and claim it is a weariness. Malachi then speaks of this cheat, this swindler, this priest who vows a male sheep of his flock. That Land Hold up now – Were priests and Levites provided land in the original covenant? I know there is no mention of land in this verse, but where did the priest keep his sheep? Something tells me the Levites were to have no inheritance, no portion of the land of Israel. Deuteronomy 18:1-2 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD’s food offerings as their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them. Granted, by the time of Malachi, the Levites and Priest’s may have established a reason to have land in order to “manage” the sheep for offerings, but is that not similar to the Lord’s message in Mark? Mark 7:9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! Mark 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ Mark 7:11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”‘ (that is, given to God)– Somehow I think the priest’s conveniently set up a tradition of owning land, but of course, it was a burden they accepted in order to serve God. That Vow We have noted that the priest looks down on the offerings, even snorting at them, and then we find he makes a vow. A vow of providing a male of the flock. An acceptable sacrifice before the Lord is a male of the flock, an unblemished offering before the Lord. Multiple verses in the book of Leviticus, the handbook for the priestly order, speak of offering up an unblemished male. Is it fair to understand that when the priest vows to offer a male, he is referring to an unblemished male according to the handbook of the priests? I think this is a safe assumption! But let us consider the vow for a minute more for making that vow seems to be a problem in my mind. Was it not the priest’s responsibility to offer up the correct sacrifice, so what is going on with this vow? Was it necessary? As the Lord reminded us in the Beatitudes, those who shout out their acts of righteousness have their reward. Matthew 6:2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. By making this vow, the priest may have been looking for his reward. But let’s think about that for a moment. What reward did a priest deserve? He was simply performing his religious duties. Do I want a pat on the back if I go to church? Do I look for a hooray if I give a missionary 50 bucks? Am I to expect accolades if I show mercy to one less fortunate? Luke 17:9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” Something is so wrong in this picture! In Summary We have a cheating priest, owning contraband land, and offering up left over, unwanted sheep to the Great King. How utterly amazing that the religious leaders of the chosen people had sunk so low. Malachi was the last prophet to appear before John the Baptist introduces the Great King to Israel. Much of Malachi’s prophetic message decries the state of the priesthood of Israel. Over and over again Malachi represents the Great King as deserving of so much more respect, honor and devotion than He is receiving. Is it not the same today? It is too easy to relate Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of our modern church! Prior to the crucifixion, Jesus spoke to one of the ruling religious class, and summarized Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of his day. Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. For the laymen in the Body, let us also fear that we are also of the same ilk, providing to the Great King far less than He deserves! For He is the Great King, the Ruler over all. May we recognize our own sin before the Lord, our own disregard of the Great King, and humbly ask Him for forgiveness and power to love Him with all our hearts, soul and mind. |
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
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