WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.800 Happy Father's Day again, Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:22.399 It worked out just right. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:30.399 That is Jason finished the book of Jonah and provided an opportunity for me to preach a text concerning fatherhood. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:38.079 Before we dive into that, before we pick that up, there's a biblical reality that I think should ground us before we start. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:47.119 It's this reality that fatherhood begins not in us, not in humanity, not because of who we are. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.880 But fatherhood begins in who God is. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:55.520 And human fatherhood was created to reflect his heart. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:02.719 And so we can only say things about God's fatherhood, but he says about himself in his word. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:08.959 Because God Almighty is the true Father that all earthly fathers are meant to display. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:11.280 There's lots of applications for that truth. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.400 Stephen read several for us this morning in Hebrews 12. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.920 God treats us like his own children. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:23.040 So we ought to respect him, kind of like earthly sons ought to respect their fathers. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:24.079 That's the picture. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:25.920 But notice we have to be careful. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:34.719 The logic can only go from humanity up to God because it has first gone from God down to humanity. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:36.000 That's important. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:37.920 It's hugely important. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:43.359 Because, like Chad prayed, we've all had, we've all had sinful fathers. 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:49.760 Even more, those of us who are fathers know our fatherhood falls short pretty often, right? 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:57.680 But heaven forbid that we say things that are false, that would come if we made God in the image of our own sense of what fatherhood means. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:02.719 We should never say or think things like, well, God is a dad, and so that means he's never around. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:03.519 Right? 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:06.879 We have to go from God first. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.759 Fatherhood begins in who God is. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.199 Oh, but dads, I think you feel it already. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:27.039 You should tremble with me at the fact that your children will spend the rest of their lives letting Scripture and the Holy Spirit correct the portrait of God that your fatherhood paints on their hearts. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:30.159 So take your Bibles with me. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:31.759 Let's let Scripture do just that. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:33.280 Turn to the book of Malachi. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:40.400 Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, right before the book of Matthew. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:46.319 And Malachi preaches to Jewish people living after the Babylonian exile. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.120 They have been restored with Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:03:00.159 And so now remember that it was Israel's idolatry and Israel's faithlessness that led to the destruction of Jerusalem, led to the deaths of thousands. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:11.599 But here they are now restored to their homes and trying to put their lives back together in the rebuilt Jerusalem before a rebuilt temple. 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:25.680 If then I am a father, where is my honor? 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.879 And if I am a master, where is my fear? 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:35.599 Says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.360 But you say, How have we despised your name? 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:44.879 Just that right there, that much sets up our whole conversation for this morning. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:46.319 The whole idea is right there. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:48.240 Notice that God is the one speaking. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:50.319 It says, says the Lord of hosts. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.520 That's Lord Sabawath is his name, right? 00:03:53.680 --> 00:04:05.599 And he's speaking to the priest who despise his very name because in God's eyes, despising his name is the same thing as not honoring him as their father. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:07.520 See how those things are parallel? 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:13.280 And so the text of Malachi takes for granted, though, that sons ought to honor their fathers. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:18.800 It's a basic teaching for Malachi, because that is the consistent teaching of Scripture for Israel. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:26.399 And God's Ten Commandments to Israel at Mount Sinai, that fifth commandment is honor your father and your mother. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:36.560 And so this word, this word for honor, it means respect, and weight, and even glory. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:42.399 And it has to do with acknowledging the appropriate value due to something. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:52.319 So imagine if somebody did an enormous favor for you, the sort of thing that would cost them an immense amount of money, not because they had to, but just because they loved you. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:57.040 And then you handed them a$20 bill kind of flippantly, like that would cover it. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:04.319 In reality, what they really deserve is your heartfelt thanks and gratitude. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:07.600 And a cheap tip can feel offensive. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.920 That's a lack of honor. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.120 It should match with the honor due. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:18.319 So think then on all that a father is supposed to do for his kids. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:24.399 And what sort of respect, honor, and value their children ought to return back to them. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:27.759 Because it's not really something you can measure, right? 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:30.560 You can't put a price on it. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:33.439 And every father and son dynamic is going to be different. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:42.480 Maybe for you, the best way you can honor your dad is by simply living the honest and upright life he wants you to have and then sharing in its joys with him. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:51.279 Like Solomon says in Proverbs 15, a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.920 But what Malachi is talking about here is more than that. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:57.519 It's more than just that. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:01.759 Look at these passages about God's father and son relationship with Israel with me. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:07.199 In Exodus 4, God calls Israel his firstborn son. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:15.600 As he warns Pharaoh of the final plague of Egypt, saying, Let my son go, that he may serve me. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:18.000 That's incredible. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:24.639 What sort of honor does a son owe to his father who wages war on the king of Egypt to rescue him? 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:26.560 That's heavy, right? 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:27.759 Or this one. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:41.120 Not only did God rescue his son from Egypt, but Moses says in Deuteronomy chapter 1 that God carried Israel through the wilderness as a man carries his son. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.920 And here I am expecting a gold medal for carrying my kids around a zoo. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:47.040 Right? 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:59.040 What sort of honor does a father deserve who gathers up his slavery-ruined children in his arms and carries them home to safety and to peace? 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:10.319 So, my brothers and sisters, think now of your rescue from sin and death and the crucified arms of Jesus Christ. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:21.279 Our Father's divine character and power and love demand from us our utmost devotion. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:26.959 Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:31.120 And that's the main point of this text in Malachi chapter one. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:32.800 We'll unpack it together today. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:41.519 But God is a father who deserves the highest honor of our glad-hearted obedience. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:45.199 Malachi lays this out for us negatively. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:50.000 He shows us what not honoring God as your father is like. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:53.600 In the picture of the disobedience of Israel's priests. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:08:06.959 The priests dishonored Israel's father, verse 6 says, They despised his name with polluted offerings in chapter 1, and then polluted instruction in chapter 2. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:13.600 So we'll look at these two things, and then we'll come back at the end to consider God's response to all of this. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.160 And we'll see just what sort of a father the God of the Bible really is. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:20.879 So, first, the polluted offerings. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:26.240 In verse 6, the priests are shocked to hear that they've despised God's name. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:28.480 They say, How have we despised your name? 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:29.439 How? 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:32.080 And so the family imagery continues, right? 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.799 Dishonoring one's father is a lot like despising the family name. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:38.559 Look at verse 7 in your Bibles. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:45.360 They've dishonored God's name by offering polluted food upon my altar. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:48.080 But you say, How have we polluted you? 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.759 By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.519 When you offer blind animals and sacrifice, is that not evil? 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.960 And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:00.639 Present that to your governor. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.200 Will he accept you or show you favor? 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.360 says Yahweh of hosts. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:08.240 And we can see there are three things wrong with their offerings, right? 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:13.759 They're offering blind, lame, and sick sacrifices on God's altar. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:17.759 On the one hand, the problem with that's pretty plain, right? 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:20.399 They have better animals to offer. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:26.159 Israel's not so destitute that there's all of their sheep, bulls, and goats were blind or sick or lame. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:38.879 And so, unlike Abel, who returned to God the choicest fruits of his labors, these priests led Israel to be more like Cain, who seemed to hold something back. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:45.120 Worse yet, they offered noticeably defective offerings. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.759 Cain just didn't give the best. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:52.240 But it goes deeper than just not doing your best, though. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:53.519 It goes even deeper than that. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:54.080 That's one thing. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:10:01.360 But like Mufasa said when Simba went to the elephant graveyard, these priests deliberately disobeyed. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:02.639 You guys remember that line? 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:04.480 Deliberately disobeyed me. 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:05.440 Right? 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.679 These priests deliberately disobeyed the command of their father. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:22.559 Deuteronomy 15 says, if it has any blemish, if it is lame, sound familiar, or blind, or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:26.000 It's the exact list that we have in Malachi chapter 1, verse 8. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:33.919 Except Malachi adds the word sick, which I think means that Malachi is asserting to these priests that sick animals count. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.240 Sickness counts as a blemish. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:41.519 So think also then on how the sacrifices for sin. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.120 So that's really what we're talking about a lot of ways here. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:55.360 The sacrifices for sin in particular were meant to be an expression of repentance, of awareness of the severity of sin and sorrow. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:11:04.480 And so when these priests offer lame and blind sacrifices, they make a mockery of God's holiness and of God's grace. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:11.600 It's like they're saying that their sins aren't really that serious, or they're not serious enough to require a good sheep or a good bull. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:15.440 And so notice how God makes it so clear to them. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:17.679 Go ahead, he says. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.000 Present that to your governor. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.639 Will he accept you or show you favor? 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.360 Oh, I love reasoning like that. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.960 We can check our devotion to the Lord in so many ways with a move like that. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.320 Ask yourself, how often do you turn to the Lord in prayer? 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:33.519 Go ahead. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.080 Spend that much time a day with your spouse. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:38.080 Will that go well for you? 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:39.200 You see? 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:48.000 Or how often, or maybe you we beam with gladness and pride when our kids succeed in their activities or sports as we should. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:49.120 That's good. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:55.120 But then you come on Sunday and the saving work of Christ barely draws a thank you from our cold hearts. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:56.559 Right? 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.120 I could go on and on and on. 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:09.120 But the point remains that God is a father who deserves the highest honor of our glad-hearted obedience. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:26.240 But the priests' half-hearted offerings of blemished animals betrayed, maybe even revealed, their contempt for God's honor, for God's word, for God's holiness, and God's grace. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.039 And it wasn't just the priests. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:33.519 Malachi summarizes the whole lack of honor for their God in verses 12 to 14. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:34.879 Look down at verse 12. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:42.000 He says, But you profane it when you say that Yahweh's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:48.960 But you say, verse 13, What a weariness this is, and you snort at it. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.000 Oh, do we have to go to church today? 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:52.720 Right? 00:12:53.600 --> 00:13:04.159 You just you say, What a weariness this is, and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:06.320 Shall I accept that from your hand? 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:07.600 says the Lord. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:15.360 But now look at how verse 14 extends their sin beyond the priesthood and to the entire nation. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:17.360 Cursed be the cheat. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:26.799 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:29.360 So what good thing? 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.120 What good thing are you holding back from entrusting to God's care? 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:34.799 That's the question. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:43.200 Israel was trusting in their own hands to provide rather than in God's provision, as they kept the good male of the flock, even after promising it. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:52.240 And that's not that different, guys, from coming to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith and then rejecting his instructions about how we ought to live. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:54.159 But that's the idea. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:00.960 James says, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:11.600 Because God is a father who deserves the highest honor of our glad-hearted obedience. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.879 We're gonna skip over several verses for now, but we'll come back to how God responds in chapter one. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:22.960 Because not only were the offerings of the priests polluted, but their instructions were too. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:27.200 We saw how the sin of the priests spread to the people by the end of chapter one, right? 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:38.000 That's because the priests didn't refuse lame or blind or sick sacrifices, so they taught the people of Israel to share their contempt for God. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.480 And that's the heart of God's second rebuke. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:45.120 Their lack of honor for God is evident, and their polluted instruction, too. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:47.519 Look at chapter 2, verse 7. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:57.360 Malachi says, the lips of a real Yahweh says, rather, the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.960 For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:04.480 But you have turned aside from the way. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:08.799 You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.759 You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says Yahweh of hosts. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.440 And so the problem here is simple enough, right? 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:22.720 The priests were supposed to teach the people what God expected of them. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:25.200 And it wasn't like today. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:32.879 It wasn't like today where you have access to dozens of Bibles and tools to understand its meaning at your fingertips, just 24-7 in your pocket. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:47.600 No, the average Israelite didn't have personal access to the copy of the law, and so the people of Israel were far more dependent upon the priests in a way that you haven't known dependence since you learned how to read. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:48.879 Right? 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:53.360 And so there's a little Father's Day application for you, dads, out there. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:16:00.720 As members of the new covenant kingdom of Christ, Peter says that we're all a nation of priests under the high priesthood of Jesus. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:05.120 So when you're parenting, make sure your lips guard knowledge for your kids. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.320 Help your children know that they can seek good biblical instruction from you. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:14.559 And maybe today's as good a day as any to ask yourself that hard question. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:24.240 Have your habits, your excuses, or your neglect caused your children to stumble rather than embrace the truth of God's word. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:28.240 But it goes far beyond fathers, right? 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:30.799 Far beyond fathers, friends. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:42.799 We should make sure that our witness to all the little ones among us is faithful, and that our instruction to those who have not known the Lord for long is clear and helpful to them. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:47.120 Malachi reminds us why it's so important. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:53.120 It's so important that we strive to be faithful as teachers of God's word. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:00.240 Because in Christ, God is our Father, and He deserves that respect from us, right? 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:16.000 But this condemnation of the priest is set up in this chapter as the opposite of what a true priest is supposed to be. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:17.599 Look at verse 5 and 6. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:25.119 A true priest of Yahweh walks in a covenant of life and peace and fear and awe of God's name. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:29.200 A true Levite walks in uprightness and turns many from iniquity. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.720 I think Malachi, when he writes this, has Phineas in mind. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:33.839 Remember Phineas? 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:45.200 Phineas was the grandson of Aaron and was filled with zeal for the Lord after 24,000 people died for their idolatry in the wilderness and were struck down. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:54.079 And then Phineas rose and struck down a man who flaunted God's judgment by bringing a Midianite woman into the camp while Israel mourned. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.599 Their idolatry led to the death of thousands. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:02.559 Because they went after the daughters of Baal. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:06.799 And then this guy just does it again right in front of everybody. 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:11.039 And so Phineas rose up and struck him with a spear. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:15.440 And here's what God said of Moses, here's what God said to Moses concerning Phineas. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:32.160 He says, The Lord said to Moses, Phineas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:38.319 Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:49.759 And it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:55.440 Compare that passage on the screen with the text of Malachi, chapter 2, verse 5 and 6 in your Bibles. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:03.920 Malachi is calling again for this covenant of peace that turns back the wrath of God and makes atonement for the people of Israel. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:16.960 That's the sort of priestly zeal Malachi says is so lacking when they allowed for these polluted offerings, because Malachi chapter 2, verse 9 says that these priests did not keep God's ways. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.359 And they showed partiality in their instruction. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:26.960 The point is that the priests didn't listen to God's word. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:36.720 And they twisted its teaching to suit themselves by dishonoring God with their polluted instructions. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:42.640 Such that what they really did was lie about God to the people. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:49.599 And they despised his name and they corrupted his covenant relationship with the people of Israel. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.599 And that's the result of all this polluted instruction and polluted offerings, really. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:59.039 The real the real center of the issue, the real heart of this thing is back in chapter one, at the beginning. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:00.799 They have despised. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:05.680 They have despised the name of their father. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.480 We could make much of the significance of God's name in the scriptures. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:11.599 We don't have time for that. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:19.920 But suffice it to say that God takes his name far more seriously than normal men consider their own reputations. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.680 It's that word despise, though, that we should focus on. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:30.400 It shows up all throughout these two passages in both chapters. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.880 And the word despise is a great translation. 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:43.839 It means that, to look upon something with scorn or disdainfully, or regard something with contempt, like the way an older child may look upon the embarrassing behavior of a younger child. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:45.839 Right? 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:58.079 But I'm convinced by the first six verses of chapter one that Malachi expects his readers, that means us, to remember a crucial moment in the book of Genesis. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:04.960 In chapter 25, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:12.640 And Moses records for us that it was in that way that Esau despised. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:14.400 It's the same word. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.799 Esau despised his birthright. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:20.799 And you know the rest of the story, I hope. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:28.240 It was in that way that Jacob would later receive Isaac's blessing rather than Esau, even though Esau was the firstborn. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:39.759 And so Esau, as he despised his birthright, he showed contempt for his father's house, saying it was worth less to him than a bowl of stew when he was hungry. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:44.640 And so Malachi's argument here suddenly just gets incredibly sophisticated. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:46.160 Incredibly sophisticated. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:56.799 In the first part of chapter one, Malachi accuses the people of Israel of doubting God's love for them in verses two to five, reminding them that no, God chose Jacob and loved him. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:06.480 But then in verse six, Malachi What he's saying in our text is Jacob, you're acting like your brother, Esau. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:15.839 Though I love you, you are despising my name and trading your birthright. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:16.880 For what? 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:20.400 Keeping the best sheep to themselves? 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:23.839 Not much better than a bowl of soup. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.079 Maybe they're despising their birthright just because they're lazy. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.039 They're avoiding the hard work of keeping the law. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:34.000 We don't know what motivates them. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.039 But the point is right there. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:42.880 They despise God's name just as Esau despised his birthright. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:59.839 And so we see that the highest honor God's children can pay to their Heavenly Father is the devotion to stay true to our birthright as his kids. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:11.119 One way we do that, like Malachi talks about here, is simply by caring enough to listen to his word, to trust him, and to obey. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:20.720 Because God's a father who deserves the highest honor, the highest honor of our glad-hearted obedience. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:32.880 But now the hard question really is how does an honorable father, one so honorable as the God of Israel, how does he respond? 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.519 How does he respond to his children's contempt of his own name? 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:42.880 Well, he he sure doesn't shrug it off, right? 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.400 He doesn't pretend it's not happening. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.880 He doesn't hope it just goes away. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:52.240 He's been patient, that's for sure. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:24:00.799 But he doesn't beg them to change their ways, he doesn't get embarrassed by them and try to cover it up, he doesn't flip out and destroy them. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:10.160 What we see is that the father's honorable response is that he exercises discipline and he practices steadfast love. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:19.759 Malachi gets incredibly sharp with the priests in verse 9 of chapter 1. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:29.359 Right after challenging them that their governor wouldn't accept their offerings, he comes for the priests again and he asks them, go ahead and entreat God's favor. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:31.279 It's somewhat sarcastic. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:38.240 He's saying that God will certainly not be gracious to the people because of the intercession of these priests. 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:41.839 And if you look at verse 10, it gets pretty scary. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:45.759 God says, in effect, oh just let it rest. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:46.880 Why don't you? 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:48.640 Just give it up. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:56.720 I wish that one of you would just shut the doors of the temple so that you stopped offering me these offensive sacrifices. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:59.039 Just knock it off, would you? 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:04.559 I have no pleasure in you, says verse 10. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.359 And I will not accept an offering from your hand. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:12.400 He says, stop it. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:14.720 You're making it worse. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:16.720 As they are. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:23.200 And that's what an honorable father does when his children are dishonoring him by ruining their lives. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:25.920 Stop making it worse. 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:36.319 But notice though, how how throughout verses 11 to 14, God insists that he still has his honor. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.039 His name is great. 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:47.599 Despite all the sins of his people, his glory extends from east to west, from rising sun to setting sun. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:50.720 Scholars debate the exact meaning of verse 11. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:26:02.559 It might mean a future Gentile inclusion of the worship, or future Gentile inclusion, maybe in the New Covenant, or it can mean the worship of all the scattered Jews outside Jerusalem. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:12.960 But no matter how we read that, future tense or not, Malachi is making the point that God is not insecure. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:14.160 Right? 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:17.759 He's not insecure in his fatherhood or in his lordship. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:18.960 So let that sink in. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:23.599 God does not need your obedience to feel honored. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:24.799 No. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.000 Our father knows who he is. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:30.880 He knows who he is. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:34.240 He is the great King. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.519 Whether his children acknowledge his name or not. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:40.720 And so God's discipline isn't out of control. 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:44.240 He tells them that their behavior brings him no pleasure. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.480 He refuses to accept their offerings. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:49.359 He makes the consequences for future disobedience pretty clear. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:50.640 Look at chapter 2. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:53.519 He says, Now, O priest, this command is for you. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:27:02.000 If you won't listen, if you won't take it to heart and give honor to my name, says Yahweh of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:06.240 Indeed, I have already cursed them because you do not lay it to heart. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:09.200 He's saying, I've already disciplined you. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:13.680 But if you don't take my warnings to heart, it's just gonna get worse. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:15.359 When are you gonna let up? 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:18.160 And look at verse 3. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:29.279 Behold, he says, I will rebuke your offspring and spread dung on their faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:31.359 What's that? 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:40.079 The dung and the waste of the sin offering was carried away to a heap outside the temple. 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:49.440 Exodus 29, 14 says, the flesh and the skin and the dung of the sin offering were unclean, and they had to be burned outside of the camp. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.400 And so God's discipline fits the sin. 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:58.720 The priest who offered blemished animals and treated God's holiness as unclean. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:02.160 And so God responds to them the same way. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:03.680 He's making a point. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:06.799 And they're carried out with the trash. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:07.680 Right? 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:13.440 A day is coming when these priests won't get to be priests anymore. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:22.400 And God exercises this discipline upon Israel, his firstborn son, for a reason. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:24.319 He's doing it for a reason. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:30.000 Because God's exercise of discipline is not opposed to his display of steadfast love. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:30.559 No. 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:34.079 God disciplines because he loves. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:35.839 Stephen read that for you, right? 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:38.000 He disciplines because he loves. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:42.319 And God's discipline is designed to bring healing. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:44.720 So why? 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.400 If you look at your Bibles, why, what reason does God give? 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:51.440 Why does he say he will remove these priests from their position? 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:57.920 What's the reason for this admittedly kind of stern but fair discipline? 00:28:58.079 --> 00:28:58.880 Why is he doing it? 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:00.319 It's in verse 4. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:11.759 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says Yahweh of hosts. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:17.440 So that my covenant with Levi may stand. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:22.319 God disciplines to preserve. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:27.359 God disciplines to preserve. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:42.640 And an honorable father corrects his children to keep them. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:45.359 He's angry. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:48.319 There's no denying this God is angry. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:52.400 He's angry, but it's not petty, right? 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:55.119 It's not irrational, it's not unstable. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:06.720 And no, God's anger is a holy, careful, precise anger of a perfect father who refuses to let his children destroy themselves by rejecting his instruction. 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:23.039 So if you consider yourself a child of God, redeemed by the blood of his son and adopted by his spirit, then remember when God tests you, when God convicts you, when God corrects you, when God sends hardship to refine you, remember that God disciplines you to keep you close to him. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:26.319 So don't run away. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:29.440 Don't run away. 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:33.200 But lay it to heart and draw near. 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:55.839 Notice how our Heavenly Father prioritizes understanding in his discipline. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.880 He wants Israel to know something. 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.200 And so when God disciplines us, we must listen. 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:05.200 We must take it to heart. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:07.839 Just like he tells the priest too in verse 2. 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:13.440 Even then they have time, right? 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:17.039 What grace? 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:30.480 What great-hearted graciousness that even despite our sins, God gives us time to learn and time to grow so that we can stay near Him. 00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:35.920 God's exercise of discipline. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:45.839 God's exercise of discipline is itself a display of his steadfast love and an expression of it. 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:47.440 They work together. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:50.160 Don't ever think these things are opposed. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.880 Don't ever think these things are opposed. 00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:53.440 No. 00:31:54.079 --> 00:32:03.599 God preserves the Levitical priesthood, despite these wicked priests, as a way to preserve Israel before him until the time of Christ's coming redemption. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:09.119 Because the truth is, not even the finest offerings from Levitical priests could bring atonement for sin. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.839 Even if they did their best, it wouldn't be enough, right? 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:19.839 Hebrews tells us that every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:26.880 But no, when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:33.519 And so the priests, like here in Malachi, stand constantly at work because they're never doing it well enough and they gotta keep going. 00:32:33.599 --> 00:32:37.200 But Jesus sits down because his work is finished. 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:46.079 God preserved the priesthood until such a time as the new priest of a better covenant could come and offer the perfect sacrifice for sin. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:54.240 Guys, the life and death of Jesus carried more honor for God the Father than the offering of a thousand spotless firstborn lambs. 00:32:54.640 --> 00:33:01.519 His single sacrifice for sins upon the cross could bear the entire wrath of God and make for an everlasting atonement. 00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:21.839 So if we come to Jesus as our priest, the result is that he secures for you an everlasting covenant of an eternal life and peace with God by the strength and power of his holy, indestructible, perfectly obedient, glorious life. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:27.119 Hebrews 5 says it better than I've been trying to for the last 20 minutes or so. 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.720 It's probably been 50 minutes. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:29.759 Who am I kidding? 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:31.599 Hebrews 5. 00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:41.279 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save from death. 00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:46.240 And he was heard because of his reverence. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:48.240 Do you hear Malachi all through here? 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:49.279 Because of his reverence. 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:59.759 Although Jesus was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the source of an eternal salvation to all who obey him. 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:05.279 Being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. 00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:07.279 So turn to Jesus. 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:10.960 He's the priest who makes true atonement. 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:13.360 There is no other priest who makes such atonement. 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:19.440 He's the true priest who guards true instruction, who leads away from iniquity, who will never cause you to stumble. 00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:22.800 We have to bow before Jesus and cling to Jesus by faith. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:27.280 We have to obey his commandments to repent and to believe in the gospel. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:34.320 We have to obey his commandments to love one another as God in Christ has loved you and cry out for his mercy and forgiveness. 00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:41.760 Mercy and forgiveness come no other way than but through the blood of the Lamb poured out on the cross of Christ. 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:47.360 Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:53.199 And by becoming obedient to faith in his name, that's the only way. 00:34:54.320 --> 00:35:02.960 The only way we can give God the glory or the honor he deserves as our Heavenly Father. 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:12.320 If you haven't caught it yet, this word for honor in this text is the same Hebrew word your Bible so often translates as glory. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:14.639 It's the same word. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:17.360 To God be the glory. 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:19.599 Great things he hath done. 00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:29.840