Malachi 1:10

The Bible says in Malachi 1:10-11, “Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.” It is important to notice clearly what is being said in these two verses. Of course, the Israelites were the chosen people. One reason that God chose them to be His servants in this earth was to use them to spread the truth to others. What a privilege to be used of the Almighty God Jesus Christ for such a purpose. To be called to such a purpose carries with it a responsibility. The primary responsibility is to keep your heart right with God through daily trusting in Jesus. It is His work, and He can only do His work through us as we walk in fellowship with Him.

But there is a danger that we could become disapproved of God resulting in Him deciding that He cannot use us in His service. The Apostle Paul was concerned about such a possibility. Paul wrote in First Corinthians 10:11-12, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Paul also wrote in First Corinthians 9:27, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” The word that is translated “castaway” in First Corinthians 9:27 is often translated as “reprobate.” It literally means “unapproved.” Sometimes it is used in reference to those who are not saved, and sometimes the word “reprobate” is used in reference to those who are saved but who are unfit for the Lord’s service. The Lord disapproves of some people either because they have no faith or because they are not living by faith.

What is very obvious is that the Israelites became disapproved. They were no longer spiritually fit to be used of God for His great purposes. What God is saying in Malachi 1:11 is that He is going to turn to the Gentiles to find those who will glorify His name. The Jewish people failed, so someone else would be given the opportunity that once was given to them. The Lord said in Malachi 1:11, “my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen.” The Apostle Paul told us the same truth in Romans 9:25-33, quoting both the prophet Hosea and the prophet Isaiah, “As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

Now that we live in the age of the church of Jesus we know that God has set aside Israel in a particular sense, especially in regards to God’s servants on this earth. God uses people. And the people that He now uses are the believers in Jesus. But God has not cast aside Israel forever. They are still His chosen people in the lineage of Abraham. They will all be saved by Jesus at His Second Coming, and they will have a permanent part in the eternal state. Does that mean that Christians have something to boast about? No, it does not. The truth of what happened to Israel means that Christians have something to fear. The same thing can happen to Christians. Israelites stopped loving God the way that they should, and God took away their opportunity. Notice the warning that the Holy Spirit gave through the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:13-33. It says, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

The Lord is rebuking the Israelites for the lack of respect for His name, and He says to them in Malachi 1:11-14, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the LORD a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.” In these verses once again it is made clear to us that the Israelites failed because they did not give their best to the Master. And to make things even worse, they pretended that they did give their best. God said in verse 14, “cursed be the deceiver.” There are deceivers today among Christians who pretend to be something that they are not. It is strange that someone would do such a thing because God sees all things and God knows the heart. Jesus had a deceiver in His group, named Judas. God knows who the deceivers are, and when it is the right time, the Lord will take them out. This sin is all about holding back something from the Lord. According to Malachi 1:14, this person “hath in his flock a male,” but he held it back from the Lord. It is strange, but people are always tempted to believe that if they surrender something that is dear to them, then they are going to lose. But the opposite is actually true. If you do not surrender everything to the Lord, then you will lose. The Lord Jesus is the Almighty God. He knows better than you do what is best for you, and He wants what is best for you. For example, a young person had better learn to surrender to Jesus Christ the entire situation of whom they choose to spend time with of the opposite sex and ultimately whom they marry. If you hold onto those choices for yourself without surrendering them to God, then you just might be headed to making a terrible choices with long-term disastrous consequences.

The Bible says in Malachi 2:1-5, “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.” The book of Zechariah had a lot to say about how much leaders of the children of Israel had failed the Lord and had failed the people. Zechariah talked about “shepherds.” Zechariah 11:3-8 said about the shepherds who had failed the Lord, “There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.”

In Malachi 2:1-2 the Lord gives a warning to the priests. It is a warning that we should all heed. The Lord said, “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.” God speaks, and then we are expected to lay it to heart. God has spoken to every generation of mankind. That is the reason that He gave us the written Word: so that every generation can read and know the truth from God. That is one of the reasons that Jesus came into the world in addition to dying for our sins. Jesus manifested and taught the truth about God. Jesus is our Savior, and He is also our teacher. In order to learn from a teacher, we must be willing and desiring to listen and to obey what we hear from the teacher. The Spirit of God is also a teacher. The Spirit of God moves throughout the world teaching whoever has a heart to hear that Jesus can save them from their sins. God has done His part to teach mankind. He has given us His written Word, He has sent Jesus, and He has sent the Holy Spirit. Why do not more people know, and why do not more people understand? As it says in Psalms 2:1, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?”

If only someone will listen with a heart desiring to receive and obey the truth from God. Jesus said in Mark 4:9, “And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” And Jesus said in Mark 4:23 and Mark 7:16, “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” God does not force us to listen. He gives us a free choice. Make sure that you chose to believe in and to trust Jesus.

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