God's Glory Among the Nations

Last week we looked at the first five verses of this oracle or burden of judgment from the Lord to Israel by Malachi. And we saw that this oracle of judgment began with God's declaration, I have loved you, says the Lord. And Israel responded to that by saying, well, how have you loved us? They were skeptical of God's love. You see, their situation was one of poverty and hardship. This was after the exile. The temple had been rebuilt, but the walls of Jerusalem were probably still in ruins. There were marauding raiders. There were difficulties. There was poverty. These were exiles returning with little to nothing. And they're looking around at their circumstances and they're questioning, God, where is your love? Where is your justice? And God responded to that question with a very surprising answer. He said, was not was not Esau Jacob's brother? Yet, Jacob, I have loved and Esau have I hated. In other words, the one thing separating or differentiating you from Esau, separating you from Edom, who lies in utter ruins, is my free and sovereign electing love. And we saw that in the same way for us, for those of us who are in Christ, the only thing separating us from utter destruction from anyone else is the free and sovereign love of God. That God set his love on us before the foundation of the world. That in the fullness of time, he sent forth his son to redeem us. And now in our lifetime, he has sent forth his spirit to regenerate our hearts and to give us the gift of faith in him. Now, in view of the greatness of a God who would love us with a love like that, how then shall we live? Well, that brings us to the second of these six disputations in the book of Malachi. And as I said last week, each disputation consists of an assertion by God, questioning by Israel, God's response, and finally, the implications of that response. Now this second disputation in the book is both the longest and the most complex, but it still follows that basic framework. This sermon will have three points. The first point is on the first three verses, and in these first three verses we have the assertion, the questioning, and God's response. So all of that is right here at the beginning, and point number one is this. God deserves honor. but the priests are despising him with blemished sacrifices. So look with me at verse six where we see the assertion by God. 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. Now it should be self-evident that a son should honor his father and a servant should honor his master. Now we may not appreciate that as we ought because we live in a culture that is very anti-authority. But the thought of dishonoring your father should be as shocking to you and me as it would be if we were to hear someone say, I don't love my mom. Because every bit as much as parents deserve our love, fathers and masters deserve honor, reverence, and respect. And God is saying, if then I am a father, and if I am a master, You know, I am the master who redeemed you from the house of slavery in Egypt. I am the father who has so lovingly and tenderly carried you on eagle's wings and provided food and water for you in the desert. I, who am the perfect father and master, rightly deserve your fear and your respect. So who is it who is not honoring God? Who's not only just dishonoring God, but is despising His name, hating Him. Well, shockingly, it is the priests. And the priests were those who were supposed to be the leaders and models of holiness in Israel. This was Israel's professional clergy. It was the priest's job to teach the people God's law. You know, probably just a few years after this, Ezra will come as a priest and a scribe and teach the law faithfully. The priests were to interpret and apply God's law. So, for example, if you had some kind of skin infection and were unclean, and then you'd go away and you thought you were clean, you'd come back to the priest, and it was the priest who would determine that you were either cleansed or not. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, It was the priest's job to guard and maintain the holiness of the temple as God's dwelling place. Now, to really understand this, I just want to take a moment and kind of, you know, remind you of what, you know, the camp of Israel was like back in the wilderness. Because there was this whole concept of degrees of holiness and it was all laid out for the purpose of making it possible for a holy God to dwell among a sinful people. So as you may recall, there was the camp of Israel and then outside the camp, that was the unclean realm of the dead. Then within the camp, you know, there was all the tribes and they would camp in their certain spot and everything had to be clean. There were all the laws about cleanliness and holiness. But then camped right beside the tabernacle, literally guarding the entrance into the tabernacle, were the Levites. And then there was the tabernacle and there was the court of the tabernacle and that's where the sacrifices were to be made. And then there was the tabernacle itself. And first you'd walk in and there was the holy place. And this was the place that only priests were allowed to go. And everything had to be kept Very holy. And then even beyond that, there was the veil, and behind the veil was the most holy place, or the Holy of Holies. And that's where the Ark of the Covenant was, and that is where God himself dwelled between the cherubim, and no one was allowed to go in there except the high priest once a year. And it was the priest's job to protect the holiness of the tabernacle and then the temple. And they were to do that by maintaining its service. And they were to do that by offering sacrifices on behalf of the people that would make atonement or cover the people's sin. And because of this special function, the priests above all people were required to be especially holy. So for example, they had to dress a certain way. There were certain regulations about how they had to stay clean and they couldn't become unclean. And in fact, if you were the high priest, Even if your own mother or father died, you could not go into them and touch them because that would make you unclean. And the point I'm trying to make is that the priests were to be wholly set apart for the service of Yahweh. And yet, shockingly, it is the priests who've been given this sacred privilege who are dishonoring, even despising the name of God. Now what is it exactly that they were doing? Well, the people were bringing blemished sacrifices. And it was the priest's responsibility as leaders to rebuke the people and reject the sacrifices and say this is dishonoring to God and send them away. But rather, the priests were accepting these sacrifices and they were offering them to God. In other words, the priests feared man more than they feared God. And I want to pause here and point out to you that God always holds leaders especially accountable. We should note the fact that the people were every bit as much deserving of rebuke But God directs this oracle against the priests. He holds the leaders accountable. And that means for us, as parents, as husbands, as managers, as pastors and elders, in whatever sphere of authority we have, this means God will hold us especially accountable. And we must be leaders who care supremely for the honor of God rather than the honor that comes from men. And that means that as leaders, we have to have the gumption to offend people when necessary. You know, think of Zerubbabel probably 50 years before this when they were building the temple and the people are coming who weren't Israelites, who didn't fear God and they wanted to help. And Zerubbabel told them, no, you have no part in this matter. And he offended everybody. He made enemies. We must protect the honor of God. And yet, if we are going to be leaders who truly protect the honor of God by offending people when necessary, it means we must also do it with love for their souls. You know, I'm reminded of a story about Robert Murray McShane. This was a minister in Dundee in Wales in the mid-1800s. And this was a town filled with poverty and drunkenness. And McShane was an eminently holy man. He cared supremely for the honor of God, and everybody knew that. And yet, when he would walk down the street, even the dirtiest drunks would tip their hats respectfully to him. And one day someone comes along and they ask one of these drunks, you know, why do you do that? You don't listen to this man? You don't go to church? What are you doing that for? And this drunk responds, he says, because there goes the man who loves my soul. There goes the man who loves my soul more than I do. I don't care enough to stop drinking to seek the Lord, but I know he loves me and I know he cares about the honor of Christ. So brothers and sisters, let us be leaders who lead like that. Now look with me at the questioning. Look at Israel's first question. Second half of verse six. But you say, how have we despised your name? And I think that is a genuine question. I don't think the priests thought We are hating God by offering these sacrifices. We are despising God with what we're doing. I think they hear this and they're shocked. They're defensive. They don't get it. You see, they have such a low view of God that they are oblivious to their sin. I remember one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life was back in engineering school, and I would go to class, and I remember there was a particular classmate that always sat next to me, and many times in the morning, his breath was horrible. It made me feel sick. And that left a permanent mark on me. To this day, you know, if I leave the house and I realize I forgot to brush my teeth, I turn around and go home. Because I do not want to submit anyone else to that. And the scary thing about bad breath is everyone else knows it but you. And in a similar way, we have these priests, and because they do not have regard for the majesty and the greatness of God, they're utterly offending them, offending him with the stench of their sin. And they do not see it. And so friends, in the same way, you know, the question is really not how much do you feel like you love God? The question is, do you have such a high and exalted view of him? Does the thought of him inspire godly fear and reverence in you in such a way that you are careful to obey his commandments? As God says in Isaiah 66, but this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. And as Jesus makes very clear, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Look at God's first response in verse seven. God says, by offering polluted food upon my altar. The picture here is of someone serving up a plate of rotten food. Then Israel asks another question. But you say, how have we polluted you? Now, notice what Israel does here. God just said, you're offering polluted food upon my altar. And they say, well, how have we polluted you? They don't mention the altar. You see, what seems to be going on is in Israel's mind, there is a separation between the way they treat God's altar and the way they treat God himself. It reminded me of something that happens later in Jesus' day, when he is dealing with the scribes and the Pharisees. And apparently the scribes and Pharisees would say, if anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. And Jesus looks at them and he says in Matthew 23, woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you blind fools. For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies it? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. Friends, the point is that the way we approach the holy things of God is the way we approach God himself. If we approach worship in a way that is casual and lackadaisical, then that's how we're approaching God. If we treat God's word as something that can be obeyed optionally, that's how we're treating God. And if we treat our brother or sister in Christ with impatience, unforgiveness or hardness of heart, then we should take heed that Jesus says in as much as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. The way we approach the holy things of God is the way we approach God himself. Let's look at God's response. So he responds to the question, how have we polluted you? By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? First of all, this is in direct disobedience to the law of God. Leviticus 22, 22 explicitly forbid offering blind, lame, or sick sacrifices. And Deuteronomy 17.1 says that whoever offers anything blemished, it is an abomination to God. And yet if that were not enough, you know, not only does this explicitly contradict God's law, but this is just self evidently evil. I mean, if you want to show honor, you give your best. If you want to show reverence, you give something that actually costs you. I mean, you would be ashamed to offer something blind or lame to your governor. How much more should you be ashamed to offer it to God? So brothers and sisters, let's take a moment and consider it. Are we offering God our best? Are we honoring him by giving him our best? Consider Romans 12.1, where the Apostle Paul beseeches us in view of the mercies of God, in view of this everlasting love that he has set upon us, in view of the mercy we've received from Christ, to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. So just look at your life. Is your life a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, or is it like these blind, lame, and sick animals? Consider, are we giving God the best of our time? Are you giving him the first fruits of your week by gathering for public worship? Do you prioritize the other public gatherings of the church? Do you prioritize time to pray and study God's word? And do you prioritize gospel-centered time with your friends and your families? And are we giving God the best of our money? Now consider for a moment, the sacrifices the Israelites were making were costly. I mean, they were required by law to give at least 10% to the Levites, and then there's all kinds of sacrifices on top of that. And as I said before, these people were not rich. They were poor. The problem is not that they were stockpiling excessive riches. The problem is that they were not trusting God. Now, it is possible for us to give in a way that is unfaithfully reckless. It's right to save. It is right to provide for our families. But I think if we're honest, most of us are far from that extreme. I think The real problem is that we tend to value our comfort more than God's kingdom. And I think we often stress financial security or even prudence in ways that cloak an unwillingness to trust God with our finances. I wonder how comfortable you'd feel if you were divinely audited. I think we would do well to meditate on Malachi 3.10, where God says, bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. Oh, friends, let's give generously and sacrificially for the gospel. And finally, let's consider not only what we're giving, but how we're giving it. You may have heard everything I just said and think, you know, I check the box of church. I check the box of Bible study. I check the box of prayer. I check the box of giving. Well, the Israelites checked the box of sacrifices. It's not just a question of what we're doing, but how are we doing it? You see, God doesn't want our stuff. He doesn't need our service. He wants our hearts. So are we giving cheerfully? Are we worshiping wholeheartedly? Are we praying fervently? And above all, are you seeking him? Does your soul yearn for God, for the living God? Do you hunger and thirst for his presence? Or like Cain, do you just bring an offering, you know, not the first, not of the firstborn or their fat, but you just bring an offering and then you get angry when God doesn't accept you. Or like Israel in Malachi's day, do you question God's love for you while holding him at arm's length by your side? Brothers and sisters, God deserves honor. He deserves our best. Let's give him the honor he deserves. Now, we've seen so far that Israel is despising God's name by offering blemish sacrifices. Let's consider the implications. The rest of this passage breaks down into two basic implications. So those will be points two and three of the sermon. So point number two, which is the rest of chapter one, Israel's sacrifices will be rejected, but God will make his name great. Listen as I read this section. God says, present that to your governor. Will he accept you or show you favor, says the Lord of Hosts? And now entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you, says the Lord of Hosts? Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. But you say, what a weariness this is, and you snort at it, says the Lord of Hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering. Shall I accept that from your hand, says the Lord? 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. God makes crystal clear that even as the priests have despised his name, he despises their sacrifices. He says, if a mere human governor would not accept such a sacrifice or look favorably on you for it, how much less will I, the king of kings and the Lord of lords? And look at verse 10. So far from needing their sacrifices. God does not even want their sacrifices. He wishes someone would lock the doors of the temple shut. And by the way, I think the same could be said for many churches today. God is not just seeking any worship he can get. He only wants worship that's in accord with his word and that truly honors his name. And therefore, so far from these sacrifices bringing about God's favor or his blessing. Verse 14 says, these sacrifices bring about a curse. So I want to pause here and consider for a moment the purpose of sacrifice. You know, someone had read this passage, and we were talking about it this week, and he mentioned to me, he said, well, isn't our best still not good enough? So what's the point of bringing sacrifices at all? That's a really good question. Now, first of all, our best isn't good enough. That is true. And if you're here this morning and you're hearing what I'm saying and you're thinking, you know, I just need to start doing more for God. You know, if I come to church and I pray and I give money and I, you know, love people, then I can earn my salvation. Oh, friends, you have terribly underestimated the seriousness of your sin. The Bible says that even our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags in God's sight. Friend, you need the perfect sacrifice of Christ. You need the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That is your only hope for salvation, trust in Christ. But on the other hand, if you're here and you're hearing what I'm saying, and you're kind of thinking, well, yeah, I don't offer God my best, but I believe in Jesus, so I'm good. Well, friend, you too. have terribly misunderstood this passage. You are terribly misunderstanding the whole purpose of sacrifice. You see, the purpose of the Old Testament sacrifices was not so that the people could earn their salvation. The sacrifices themselves were an expression of repentance and faith. They were to be made with contrition and gratitude. Think about it, they would take an animal. They would slit its throat, drain the blood out, carve it up, put it on the altar and burn it. The point was not to say, you know, this is going to make up for my sin. Now, God, you know, I'm earning my salvation. No, the point of that was to say, oh, Lord, you are such a great king and my sin is so offensive in your sight that that's what I deserve. And I am offering this with a repentant contrite heart. Showing you how grieved for my own sin I am. And I'm offering this also in hope of your promise that you will one day send that perfect sacrifice that I so desperately need. And secondly, the sacrifices were being offered with gratitude. You know, they were to be offered to this God who had redeemed them from the house of slavery and who had provided everything that they had. It was a testimony of the fact that all I have comes from you, oh God. So they were to be offered with contrition and gratitude in humble repentance and faith. And friends, in the same way, that's why we should offer God our best, not to earn our salvation. but with repentant hearts and out of gratitude for the salvation God has freely given. But now contrast that with the way the Israelites are treating sacrifices. Rather than coming before God with contrition, with sorrow for their sin, they're coming before God saying, verse 13, oh, what a weariness this is. They're snorting at it. It's this burden on them rather than coming with gratitude. They're taking goods by violence. They're stealing things and then they're offering them to God. Rather than being grateful for what God has given them, they're trying to get stuff. They're trying to get away with giving him as little as possible or taking things that aren't theirs. And they're giving it thinking this will now manipulate God. This will now obligate him to give us what we want. See, they're turning it into work salvation and that's why God looks down and He says, so far from being what I wanted, so far from receiving my favor, my blessing, you have received my curse. You haven't honored my name with your sacrifices, you have blasphemed my name before the nations. And yet God is telling them, though you have blasphemed my name, I will make my name great. Look at verse 11. God says, for from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations. And in every place incense will be offered to my name and a pure offering for my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. God will make his name great. And brothers and sisters, he has. Just think about it. Here we are 2,500 years later. on the other side of the world. And we are gathered this morning to worship this God of this small, insignificant nation of Israel. Because this God has been faithful to his word. And not only are we worshiping him, but the name of Jesus is worshiped all around the globe. All over, right now, I would say every second of every day, there are people preaching the name of Christ. There are people singing to Jesus. And there are people praying in the name of Christ. And isn't it interesting that God says, in every place incense will be offered to my name, and then over in Revelation, what is that incense before the throne of God? It is the prayers of the saints. God is faithful to his word. He has made his name great. And not only has he, but he will continue to do so. And flip over to Malachi chapter four for a moment, verse one. And we see this promise that there is another day coming. God says, for behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked. For they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Friends, the day is coming when Christ will return, when true justice will be brought to this earth. When those who have refused to bow their knee and worship God now, they will bow their knee and they will worship him then and he will indeed be feared among all the nations. But for those of us who have heard the good news of Christ, who have believed in the gospel, that will be a day of celebration, a day of rejoicing in the mercy of God. As it says in Revelation chapter 5, around the throne of God, it says, So it says, all the people and all the angels will be singing, worthy are you to take this scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth. And friends, this is why missions is such a privilege. You see, God will take his gospel to all nations. He will redeem people through Christ and make his name great. And he will accomplish that with or without our help. God is not dependent on us to accomplish his purpose, but we have the privilege of participating in that everlastingly significant work. We get to be God's ambassadors and his representatives. God has given us money and time and gifts and resources that we can invest for heavenly treasure. And that's why it's such a wonderful thing that we as a church can support missionaries around the world. That's why we invest time every Wednesday night praying for missions. And it's also why it is so encouraging for young people among us, like Andrew Hodge, to grow up and aspire to be sent out to take the gospel to all nations. Also, as we think about missions, we should bear in mind that this passage informs a lot about the way we think about missionary methods. You see, the driving motivation and goal of missions is not just to go out and attract as many people as we can. You know, it's not even as necessary as it is that we love people. We should love people. But the primary motivation, the primary goal of missions is the glory of God. That His name would be great. Oh friends, would we have the heart of Christ that when we pray, we would pray, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May that be the kind of burden that we have. Longing to honor God's name ourselves and longing to see all the world honoring the name of God because he's worthy. Well, let's turn now to the second implication of the fact that the priests were offering these blemish sacrifices. This is point number three in the sermon, the second implication, and this is chapter two, verses one through nine. The priest's blessing will be cursed, but God will keep his covenant. The priest's blessing will be cursed, but God will keep his covenant. Listen as I read verses one through nine in chapter two. And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will 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. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of Hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. And so I make you despised and abased before all the people. And as much as you do not keep my ways, but show partiality in your instruction. Now we're confronted here with the sobering reality that even the greatest of blessings when abused by sin can become a terrible curse. You know, I think of the example of Judas Iscariot. I mean, what a blessing he received when he was called by Jesus himself to be one of the 12. He got to live with Christ, to follow Christ, to hear Christ's teaching. He got to see the miracles. He got to be with the Lord. And yet rather than being blessed by that, the way he abused it with his greed and his sin led him to such a destruction that Jesus could say, it would have been good for that man if he had never been born. And in a similar way, God is saying that the blessing of priesthood, for these priests will become a curse." Now consider for a moment the blessing that the priesthood was. I don't think anything depicts this better than the Aaronic Blessing from Numbers chapter 6, where the people would come to the priest and the priest would declare to them this blessing and they would say, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And friends, the priests were the ones who got to declare that blessing, because that's the blessing that they themselves were supposed to enjoy. They didn't receive an inheritance of land, the Lord God was their inheritance. And consider also this covenant that God says he made with Levi. In verse four, he references the covenant and then verse five he says, my covenant with him was one of life and peace and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and a brightness and he turned many from iniquity. In fact, he was even called, in verse seven, a priest is to be the messenger of the Lord of hosts. I mean, that's reminiscent of the angel of the Lord. What a high view of the priesthood. Now, what is this covenant referring to? Well, it's probably referring to Exodus 32 and Numbers 25. So back in Exodus 32, remember this was the golden calf. Moses comes down from the mountain and the people have turned aside to sexual immorality, to idolatry. And they are, you know, indulging in this terrible feasting and so forth. And Moses comes down and remember he calls, he says, whoever's on the Lord's side, come to me. And who came? The Levites. They rallied to Moses. They took out their swords and they went and they started killing people. And as they killed people, finally the plague was turned away. And then after this, Moses says to them, today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that God might bestow a blessing upon you this day. They were zealous. for the honor and the holiness of God. And then think again in Numbers 25. And this is a similar episode where now Israel, they go off after the Moabites and they're committing, you know, adultery and idolatry with them. And the plague breaks out and then Phineas comes and there's the Israelite and he's got the Moabite woman and Phineas takes a spear and drives them through. And then the plague stops. And then after this, God said to Moses, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel and that he was jealous with my jealousy among them. Therefore say, behold, I give to him my covenant of peace 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. Now the point I want you to see in those two stories is that God had appointed the tribe of Levi to serve as priests because of their great zeal for his name, because of their zeal to protect God's honor. And they were to be blessed with life and peace and nearness to the Lord. And yet, because these priests had done the very opposite, despising God's name, God says they will be cursed. You know, verse 9, I will make you despised and abased before all the people. Rather than standing in this elevated position of honor before others, you will now be despised and abased. Or back in, look at verse 1. It starts with, this command is for you, O priests. Now this is an ironic kind of twist on the priestly office because priests were to command or judge the people. And God is now saying, I will judge or command you. And by the way, you know, we live in a society that tends to want to elevate the command, judge not, to this place of universal application. And yet we should note that right here, the very reason that the priests are now liable to the judgment of God is their failure to judge and rebuke the people and protect God's honor. Then verse two, God says explicitly, I will curse your blessings. When you pronounce this Aaronic blessing on people, I will curse it. Indeed, I have already cursed them because you do not lay it to heart. He says, behold, I will rebuke your offspring. That is, I will cut them off from being priests and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings. You know, so when the priest would sacrifice animals, they have to cut them open. They take out all the entrails, all the excrement. And they would have to haul that off and dump it outside the camp, you know, in the unclean realm of the dead. And God is saying, I'm going to take that very excrement, smear it on your face and dump you out with it. This is the picture of being under God's curse. And so friends, how are we responding to the blessings God has given us? The blessing of hearing God's word. Are we like the priests where we don't take it to heart and therefore turn this blessing into a curse? Or will we heed God's word? What about the blessing of the privilege of leadership? Are we leading others under our care to Christ? Or are we despising God's name and fearing man more than God? Now, finally, this has been a hard message, but I want you to notice this ray of promise. Look back at verse four. God says, so shall you know that I have sent this command to you that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. So the priest's blessing will be cursed, but God will keep his covenant. Now, how is God going to keep this priestly covenant? We'll flip over to Malachi chapter three. God says, behold, I send my messenger. Remember the priests were supposed to be messengers of the Lord. God's saying, I'm going to send my priest. and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. And He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. And they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. God is promising the day that He will send the true priest. The priest who will truly cleanse the temple. The priest who will truly purify the sons of Levi, the priest who will truly turn his people away from iniquity, being truly zealous for the honor of God. I know, friends, the good news of the gospel is that this priest has come. Christ is the priest who came to truly cleanse the temple of blind, lame and sick sacrifices. Not only did he drive the money changers out of the temple with whips, but he's the one who came to replace the temple. Remember he said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up, but he spoke concerning the temple of his body. You see, Christ is the true dwelling place of God among men. Christ is also the one who came to establish the new temple, the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. The church is the dwelling place of God in the spirit. So not only did he come to replace and purify the temple, but Christ is also the priest who came to offer the truly unblemished sacrifice. He didn't pass into some earthly temple with blind, lame and sick animals. Rather, he passed into the heavenly temple with his own precious blood. He came to offer one sin for all the perfect sacrifice that would truly take away sins. He himself is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And Christ is also the priest who came to bring about true blessing. rather than bringing curses upon his people by his own sin. He is the priest who bore the curse for his people, suffering outside the camp, that all who trust in him might receive the blessing of Abraham, might be justified forever. Oh friends, Christ is our great high priest. He died for us and he ever lives for us to make intercession according to the will of God. And through faith in him, We have all become those sons of Levi. We have been made into that chosen race, that royal priesthood, that holy nation, that people for his own possession, that we might proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. And if that were not enough, in Christ we have become sons and daughters of the living God. Therefore, in view of this love, in view of this mercy, let us honor our Heavenly Father. As dearly beloved sons, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. And as faithful servants, let us present our bodies as living sacrifices. holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. Let's pray. Our holy and heavenly Father, you are indeed worthy of all fear and reverence and honor and glory and respect. We confess that we have failed to honor you. We have failed to give you our best. We have failed to come with true contrition and gratitude. Yet you have loved us so richly in Christ. Oh God, empower us by your spirit to give ourselves more holy to you for your honor and for your glory, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.