Malachi: Pt. 3 Magnifying Jehovah or Despising His name?

Good morning to each of you and welcome back to our Bible study blog.

We are working through the small book of Malachi and were reminded of God's vast love that motivates what He does to bring sinners to Himself through faith in Jesus Christ. I was encouraged thinking about His unfailing love toward each of us. (Large telescope below  magnifies things in space).

One example Malachi gave to the people he ministered to was God loving Jacob and setting Esau aside. Jacob's descendants received the promises of God whereas the Edomites would eventually disappear. 

Malachi wove together both a near fulfillment of his prophecy as well as a forward look toward the time Messiah would establish His kingdom on earth. 

Israel will one day magnify Jehovah.

Malachi 1:5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.

Malachi concluded his first explanation of the burden God laid on Israel. He spoke about the love of God and told the people that one day they would see these great things come to pass and they would break out in exuberant praise and honor to Jehovah. 

The word "magnify" means to make much of God. It means to extol His works and His word by telling others of His greatness and by living in obedience to His commands. 

When we think about the word "magnify" today, we typically think about glasses, microscopes or telescopes. (Photo of Milky Way below)

A telescope brings distant things into sharp view. The Milky Way system is 100,000 light years across. One light year is how far a beam of light travels in one year. The distance one light year represents is 5.8 trillion miles and if we multiply that number times 100,000, that is how vast the Milky Way galaxy is. Yet a telescope can take it all into view and show us spectacular and detailed pictures of it.

A telescopic view of redemption through the lens of scripture enlarges Jehovah's vast plan of redemption, encompasses eternity past, the time, space and matter continuum, and eternity future.

A microscope takes tiny things and magnifies them into sharp view. An atom can now be seen under an electron microscope.  An atom is one million times smaller than a human hair. 

A microscopic view of redemption through the lens of scripture would be examining an individual’s conversion to Jesus Christ. It would also include the ongoing work of sanctifying the believer each day until death or Christ returns and the work is completed.

Magnifying Jehovah means making much of Him as He works in the small details of our lives and as He fulfills His vast, eternal promises to us.

Do we think about magnifying Jehovah in the way that we live, speak and think?

Jehovah drilled deeper into what is wrong with their relationship.

Malachi 1:6-8  A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7) Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 8) And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 

First, God used normal family relationships to help drive home His point that their relationship was in need of repair. A child honors his parents by obeying and listening to them. This fulfills their obligation according to the law of God.

The Father's children rebelled.

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 19) Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20) And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 21) And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. 

The people Malachi preached to were familiar with the Law of Moses even if they did not obey it. This is why the prophet referenced the command to children to honor, listen and obey their earthly parents. God established serious consequences for a rebellious child in the home because of how important the nuclear family structure is. God ordained it as part of His plan for mankind. 

How did this apply to Israel? God entered into a covenant relationship with Abraham that passed on to Isaac, Jacob and his 12 sons. Israel inherited the precious promises and were given clear instruction from God about what they should or should not do. 

Exodus 4:22-23 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23) And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

God was Father to the people of Israel. Their consistent plunges into idolatry were a sign of rebellion that would ultimately invoke the severe consequences stated in the law. God cast them away into captivity for 70 years before bringing them back into their homeland. Notice in the text above that God calls the people His firstborn twice and son twice. 

Next, Malachi used another familiar illustration of a servant and his master. God included numerous provisions, protections and prohibitions regarding how a servant was treated by his owner. A servant was to fear or respect his master and his master was not to abuse the servant in any form. 

The idea Malachi is conveying is that the nation Israel was to serve Jehovah loyally, purposefully and with a reverential fear of God. He was their provider, protector and Savior. 

The problem is that the priests and the people had neglected their spiritual duties toward Jehovah. Their sacrifices were so bad that Malachi challenged them to offer them to the Persian governor to see if he would accept them. This rhetorical question demands an answer of  "No!"

They despised Jehovah's name.

Malachi 1:6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

Malachi gave us details of how the priests and the people were sinning against Holy God. Israel had the great privilege of knowing the One, True, Living God of heaven and they did not treasure this relationship.

Psalm 34:1-3 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2) My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3) O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Psalm 35:27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

The verses above are representative samples of many verses challenging the people of God to magnify Jehovah by the way that they think speak and act. 

Instead the people despised Jehovah's name. They dismissed His deity, disrespected His majesty and were just like Esau who despised his birthright and traded it for a bowl of soup. The people no longer cared about the things of God.

They polluted Jehovah's altar.

Malachi 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 

The people offered substandard sacrifices and the priests accepted them as good enough for God. They knew the kind of sacrifices that were pleasing to God. All animals were to be free from defects, disease and deformity. Instead they brought animals that were sick, blinded and expected that God would accept them.

This shows how much the people disregarded God. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

The believer's great privilege is being able to magnify God. We can make much of God by simply hearing and heeding what He says to us in His Word. We can place our complete trust in Him and strive to always give Him our best in terms of attitude, service and worship. 

Israel and her priests despised the name of Jehovah. Jehovah saves is the meaning of the beautiful name, Jesus. Are we living for Him today? Do we seek to honor and obey Him? Are we telling others about Him? 

Israel also polluted Jehovah's altar by giving less than their best. What are some of the ways that we might pollute His altar today? 

God calls us to gather together as church families to worship and hear from Him (Hebrews 10:25). Are we setting aside the Lord's Day and dedicating it to honor Him? 

God calls us to tithe when we give our offerings. Abraham gave tithes and this pre-dates the law.  He also loves a cheerful giver, one who does so with a willing heart rather than grudgingly. Are we cheerful givers who gladly tithe?

We are called to walk a worthy walk with the Lord as we live this life. The worthy walk means thoughts, words and actions that are different from what the world does. Does our life reflect God in us, the hope of glory?

I pray that we will each consider these things and seek God's help to truly live in a way that magnifies and extols our Great God.

Bob