Neglecting God’s Word
Malachi 2:1-9
November 13, 2022
You are aware that we are studying through the book of Malachi
And you are also aware that the theme of the book is INDIFFERENCE.
Malachi is God’s messenger sent to relay God’s burden to His people.
And God’s burden is that His people are indifferent towards Him.
In short, they just don’t care what He thinks.
It stemmed from a failure to realize God’s sovereign grace in their lives.
They had failed to see God’s great love for them.
• God had chosen them.
• God had saved them.
• God had brought them back into their land.
• (All things that He has done for no other nation)
And yet they still couldn’t see how great His love for them had been.
Their failure to see God’s great love for them had in turn led them to a LACK OF GRATITUDE; which is the ROOT of indifference.
They aren’t grateful so worship of God is not important to them.
They don’t see the need to prioritize the glory of God in their lives.
And Malachi is systematically showing them
Exactly what their indifference looks like.
LAST WEEK: Malachi revealed their “Profane Worship”
• Despising the sacrifice and the altar (valuing it too low)
• Bringing the blind and lame for sacrifice
• Scoffing and sighing at the work involved in bringing it
And God finally just said, “Shut the gates!”
• “I am a great King and I deserve better than this!”
• “Your offerings are evil, they are useless, and they are actually harmful to you, because instead of a blessing, I’m going to give you a curse.”
You could see how burdened God was with His people.
Hopefully you have taken this to heart as well.
Several of you have commented to me on the difficulty of the message.
• And I don’t particularly delight in difficult messages,
• But we don’t want to be a burden to God either.
One even asked me this week,
If the rest of Malachi is going to be as hard to handle as the first part?
And I guess the answer to that question is:
IT DEPENDS ON THE LEVEL OF OUR INDIFFERENCE.
Books like Malachi aren’t difficult at all unless they are talking about us.
And if they are talking about us, it only proves how badly we need it.
So last week we looked at their PROFANE WORSHIP
THIS MORNING we move on to their next burden to God;
Their next area of indifference and that is:
THEIR INDIFFERENCE TOWARD GOD’S WORD.
Now before we begin working through the text,
Let’s make a few notable observations at the outset.
1) THIS IS DIRECTED AT THE PRIESTS
It is clearly articulated in verse 1, “And now this commandment is for you, O Priests.”
The main emphasis of application is to those who are in leadership
And charged with the proclamation and enforcing of God’s Law.
It is fair to assume that the attitude of the priests
Had trickled down to the people and so all share in this burden,
YET IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT
THE HEAVIEST BURDEN FALLS ON THOSE IN LEADERSHIP.
That means those who serve in a leadership role
Must really examine themselves here.
• Myself as pastor for sure. (though I’m not a priest in the Levitical sense)
• Those who serve as deacons, since in the current Baptist climate deacons
enjoy a sort of leadership authority in the congregation.
• Those who are currently training as elders, certainly must understand the
weight of burden that comes with leadership.
Those who lead and make decisions for the people
Have to pay attention here.
And yet, no one can exempt themselves from such an application.
After all:
1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”
In the New Testament we are all called “a royal priesthood”
Charged with proclaiming God’s excellencies.
So while we’ll lay the heaviest portion of this burden at the feet of those in leadership, none get to take the week off here.
2) THE LINK BETWEEN GOD’S HONOR AND HANDLING HIS WORD CANNOT BE DISMISSED.
The text will make it abundantly clear that
God absolutely links how you treat His word to how you honor His name.
You can’t separate your devotion to God from your devotion to His word.
It is IMPOSSIBLE (for example) for someone to say,
“I love God, I just don’t love His word.”
There is an inseparable link between the two.
You understand this even in your earthly relationships.
• Guys, if you are watching a football game
• And your wife is talking to you and you are not paying attention.
• And then all of a sudden she asks, “Are you listening to me?”
You know things just got serious.
• You will be tempted to say, “Yes, I’m listening”,
• But beware the following question. “What did I just say?”
At that point, you know it has nothing to do with knowledge.
Your wife is not asking anymore if you know what she’s talking about,
Now it is an issue of respect and honor.
You understand that certainly with God.
Jesus said:
Luke 6:36 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
• Do hear the perplexity in the Lord’s question?
• It just doesn’t make sense that you would call me Lord, but not obey Me.
Or how about:
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”
• Jesus distinguishes who is truly saved by their obedience to His word.
You just can’t separate the two.
We’ve all read the glorious Psalm 19 or even the glorious Psalm 119
Where God’s honor is shown in the way the Psalmist loves God’s word.
So it’s not just about the Bible here today.
It’s actually about God’s honor.
We AREN’T just talking about IGNORANT people or ignorant priests.
We ARE talking about INDIFFERENT people or indifferent priests.
These are priests and people who do not care about God
And they show that through their lack of care for His word.
That being said, let’s work our way through this text this morning.
We’ll break it down into 4 points.
#1 GOD’S CONFRONTATION
Malachi 2:1-2
I hope you see that there is A CONDITION listed here for the priests.
You see the words “If” and “then”.
There is a condition here.
(2a) “IF you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “THEN I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings.”
And this of course comes straight from the Mosaic Law.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God:”
Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Blessing or curses have always been directly linked to obedience.
That was the central issue of the Old Covenant.
• If you hold up your end of the deal (obedience) then I will hold up My end of the deal (blessing).
• If you break your word (disobedience) then I will still hold up My end of the deal (curses).
AND THAT IS LAID OUT HERE FOR THE PRIESTS.
Don’t forget that the central part of your ministry
All centers around what you do with My word.
NOW, CERTAINLY
• We have been redeemed from the curse of the Law.
• Christ fulfilled the Law.
• He redeemed us from the curse of the Law having become a curse for us.
We are now under a New Covenant and we want to make that clear.
But that DOES NOT MEAN that the general principle of obedience and blessing are totally removed from the situation.
Romans 2:5-11 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”
Romans 6:15-19 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”
It is still a reality from God’s word that to walk in OBEDIENCE
Is to invite BLESSING into your life
And to walk in DISOBEDIENCE
Is to invite judgment or PUNISHMENT into your life.
That principle hasn’t changed.
And so we understand the principle
And here these priests are being confronted with it.
They are being told to handle God’s word appropriately.
HOW?
1) “If you do not listen”
The first implication is that they must be those who listen to God.
• They have to know God’s word.
• They have to know what God is saying.
If the one in charge of teaching God’s word doesn’t know God’s word
Then we already have a massive problem.
But as I said, this trickles even beyond the priest.
Many times in the Old Testament the people showed their indifference and irreverence toward God in their refusal to listen.
Isaiah 28:9-10 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.’”
The Hebrew there is such as though it sounds like Charlie Brown’s mom speaking. They simply don’t want to hear God’s word.
Isaiah 30:9-11 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
That reality is echoed in the New Testament.
2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”
Jeremiah 18:11-12 “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’ “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
We don’t want to do what God says.
That is an attitude of indifference.
And it was not only in the people, here it was also in the priests.
• They didn’t want to hear from God.
• They didn’t want to take the time to study God’s word.
• They didn’t care what God had to say about the subject.
They wouldn’t listen.
But that wasn’t all.
2) “and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name”
That has the idea of what you do with God’s word.
It’s one thing to hear it, but what do you do with it?
James said:
James 1:21-22 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
That was the warning here from God.
I don’t just want you to know what My word says,
I want you to honor Me by taking it to heart.
• I want you to believe it.
• I want you to apply it.
• I want it to be more important to you than any other thing.
I want there to be a sober reverence regarding what My word says
So that all other arguments stop and God’s word is given the day.
And God said IF YOU DON’T do that, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings;”
If you don’t honor My word then I’m not going to honor yours.
• You can declare people blessed, but I won’t bless them.
• You can declare people forgiven, but I won’t forgive them.
• You can declare people pleasing, but I won’t accept them.
If you don’t honor My words, I won’t honor yours.
And then comes the sobering reality.
“and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.”
God says, “In fact, this is already happening.”
• You are not listening.
• You are not taking it to heart.
• You are not honoring My name.
I am already cursing your ministry.
That is God’s confrontation to those priests.
AND ANY MAN who sits in leadership should heed this warning.
• It is not enough to have God’s word you must listen to it.
• It is not enough to listen you must take it to heart.
• You must honor God with what you do with it.
Consider the VILLAINS of the New Testament:
Matthew 23:1-4 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”
Do you see the problem of the Pharisees?
• Oh sure, they claimed to know the Law.
• They even sat as experts, but they didn’t do it.
• They tied up burdens on people, but they didn’t take His word to heart.
In fact Jesus said about them:
Matthew 15:1-9 “Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”
There was indifference there.
There was no concern for God’s word.
It’s no wonder Jesus confronted them so harshly
And you see why God is confronting the priests here in Malachi’s day.
God’s Confrontation
#2 GOD’S DISDAIN
Malachi 2:3-4
Now we ask the question: HOW FRUSTRATED IS GOD?
• When we talked about PROFANE WORSHIP God said, “Shut the gates!”
Here we see God’s frustration again.
(3) “Behold, I ma going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.”
What in the world is God talking about?
• What is this “refuse” that He is going to “spread…on your faces”?
Exodus 29:10-14 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. “You shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. “You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. “You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. “But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.”
You want the definition?
“refuse” is the word PER-RESH
It means “fecal matter, offal, dung”
It’s the colon and the stuff found inside it.
It was unclean and unacceptable to God
So it was hauled outside the camp and burned.
Do you want to know how frustrated God is with these priests?
“I’m going to take that colon and I’m going to smear it on your face and then carry you outside the camp in the wheel barrow with it!”
If that causes you to sit there wide-eyed then you get the picture.
God is incredibly agitated!
He is sick of the way these priests are handling His word.
AND WE SIMPLY ASK OURSELVES:
HOW SERIOUS IS IT TO GOD THAT HIS LEADERS HONOR HIS WORD?
Can we just state the obvious and say: “Very serious!”
• What manner of arrogant man nullifies God’s word to the people?
• What manner of lazy man ignores God’s word when leading the people?
• What manner of cowardly man omits God’s word to satisfy the people?
I’ll tell you what kind of man.
AN INDIFFERENT MAN!
James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”
Does that verse weigh a little heavier now?
It matters to God whether or not
Those whom He has entrusted to teach and enforce His word do it.
These priests didn’t teach.
These priests didn’t enforce.
And God’s disdain for them is evident.
They were treating God’s word like a suggestion
And God is frustrated.
So He’s going to humiliate them and cast them aside.
(4) “Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the LORD of hosts.”
AFTER God thoroughly humiliates them,
THEN they will see that perhaps honoring His word was important.
You see the frustration of God.
God’s Confrontation, God’s Disdain
#3 GOD’S INTENT
Malachi 2:5-7
Here God clarifies what they should have been doing.
Here God clarifies what the role of the priest actually was.
And first you see the OBLIGATIONS of the covenant.
(5) “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.”
• GOD’S OBLIGATION was to give life and peace.
• AARON’S OBLIGATION was to revere God and stand in awe of His name.
But what does that look like?
What did it look like for Aaron to revere God and stand in awe of His name?
(6) “True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity.”
There you have it, the three-fold expectation of God
From a leader who honors Him.
1) HIS WORDS
“True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips;”
Very simply put, the priest was supposed to teach the truth.
He was not to dabble in man’s opinions.
1 Timothy 4:7 “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;”
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”
So it is here.
• Preach the word!
• Teach the truth!
• Accurately handle the word of truth!
• Certainly don’t distort what is true.
Paul gave the Galatians that intense warning that
If you change the gospel you are to be anathema!
God simply expects His leaders to deliver His word
As He said it to the people.
FAILURE to do that IS DETRIMENTAL to God’s people.
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
2) HIS WALK
“he walked with Me in peace and uprightness”
God expects His leaders to practice what they preach.
1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”
1 Timothy 4:16 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
And certainly this was something Paul took very seriously in his own life.
1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”
That is quite a responsibility.
And that is the calling of the leadership.
God expects His leaders to teach the truth
And then live the truth as an example for the people.
His Words, His Walk
3) HIS WORK
“and he turned many back from iniquity.”
There is perhaps the hardest one for today.
Good old fashion enforcing of God’s truth.
To approach someone allotted to your charge
And to tell them on the authority of God’s word
To stop doing what they are doing.
It is a requirement of God for His leadership.
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
Titus 2:15 “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”
This is the expectation.
AND WHEN YOU PUT THEM ALL 3 TOGETHER
You get the picture of what it looks like
When someone honors God by honoring His word.
• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t learn God’s word?
• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t teach God’s word?
• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t obey God’s word?
• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t enforce God’s word?
GOD’S WORD IS EITHER AUTHORITATIVE OR IT IS NOT.
You cannot claim to be a man who seeks to honor God
If you won’t teach His word, or obey His word,
Or if you omit or nullify God’s word because people don’t like it.
That is to honor men not God.
God expects all believers, but especially those
Who sit in roles of leadership to care for His word.
Titus 3:8-11 “This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”
2 Timothy 2:14-19 “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”
IT IS AN INDIFFERENT MAN
Who will sit in a seat of leadership but fail to know, obey, and enforce God’s word to the people whom God has allotted to his care.
(7) “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”
Do you see that?
• If anyone here is protecting the truth of God it should be the priest.
• If anyone here is an available resource for God’s will, it should be the priest.
“FOR HE IS THE MESSENGER”
THAT’S HIS JOB!
Not to neglect, not to omit, not to substitute, not to ignore,
But to teach, obey, and enforce.
ANYTHING SHORT OF THAT IS INDIFFERENCE TOWARD GOD.
And look, I lay that right at my feet. This is directed right at me.
And in our current structure it is laid right at the feet of those who have been ordained as deacons who sit in a leadership role in our church.
And I would lay it at the feet of those men who are training to do the work as elders.
Can we say that we are not indifferent to the honor of God
When we examine how we handle His word?
God’s Confrontation, God’s Disdain, God’s Intent
#4 GOD’S VERDICT
Malachi 2:8-9
You see what the priests were supposed to be,
Now comes God’s assessment of what they current priests actually are.
(8) “But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts.”
You were supposed to teach truth and obey it,
But instead you have DEPARTED from the truth.
“you have turned aside from the way”
You were supposed to enforce the truth and turn them back from sin,
But you have DECEIVED the people.
“you have caused many to stumble by the instruction.”
Your teaching doesn’t lead men to honor God,
Your instruction leads them into sin.
And here is the verdict:
“you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts.”
You have failed to keep your agreement.
You are not doing as you should.
(9) “So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.”
Do you see that?
I’m going to dishonor you like you dishonor My word.
How do we dishonor Your word?
You “are showing partiality in the instruction.”
• You are distorting the truth according to your hearers.
• You are not preaching My word in its pure form.
• You are changing it to make it more acceptable to sinful people.
And so God is going to judge you.
That is God’s final verdict on these indifferent priests.
SO WHAT IS OUR TAKEAWAY FROM THIS?
Certainly the heaviest burden here has to fall at the feet of those in leadership.
Anyone who has seated themselves in a position of authority had better examine themselves to see if indifference toward God’s word exists,
And if it does we must repent.
It’s clear what God thinks of leaders
Who won’t pass His word along to His people.
But this also applies to us all
Since we are all a priesthood
And we are all charged with carrying God’s word to the world.
Can you see that God cares deeply about how His word is handled?
• Is it listened to?
• Is it taken to heart?
• Is it applied?
• Is it taught?
• Is it enforced?
God was burdened by these indifferent people
Who failed to honor Him because they failed to honor His word.
THIS MUST NOT BE US!
Isaiah 55:7-11 “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
