YHVH Outs His Chosen Ones
Because the nation had despised the true worship of YHVH, YHVH Tzva’ot informed the Hebrews that their failure to properly worship Him as He had prescribed would not be ignored. Despite the people’s outward deceptiveness in worship of YHVH, Father informed the people through Mal’akiy (aka Malachi) that he saw right through their shenanigans. And because His chosen people spitefully engaged in cheating on Him, He would be known and worshiped by the heathen nations of the world. So by default, Father’s favor would be taken from His chosen ones. Instead, it would be lavished upon the heathen nations of people who would turn to Him as their God (vs. 11; cf. Psa. 113:3; Isa. 45:6).
The Offense
Mal’akiy records Father’s charges against the post-exilic peoples of Judah. Father accused the people of profaning His Holy and Righteous Name. How were they profaning His Holy and Righteous Name? They did so by offering sacrifices that were not authorized by YHVH (vs. 12; cf. Eze. 36:21-23).
In Father’s Torah, the sacrifices and offerings rendered unto Him by His people that would be acceptable to Him, were exacting and non-negotiable. And any alteration of His highly scripted worship regimen or worship program was grounds for punishment.
The Profaning God’s Name Through Willful Violations of God’s Instructions
You see, when we willfully violate YHVH’s instructions; His mitzvot (or commandments); His ordinances and statutes, we profane His Holy Name.
In the case of the Prophet Amos, he described the profanation of Yah’s Name by Yah’s chosen people as resulting from their mistreatment of the poor and destitute of their Land and in their gross sexual misconduct:
“That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name” (2:7).
Paul wrote of God’s people profaning YHVH’s name as follows:
“For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written” (Rom. 2:24).
Hypocrisy Often at the Heart of the Matter
In fact, the entire 2nd chapter of the Cepher of Romans discussed the hypocrisy of those (let’s call them Judaizers for the sake of discussion) who demanded the Gentile Romans keep the elements of Torah and the Oral Tradition of the Jews. Nevertheless, they (that being the Judaizers) themselves refused to keep those very instructions they demanded the Gentile converts keep.
Such as these–those who knowingly behave contrary to God’s instructions–bring shame to Yah’s Name. These blaspheme the Name of YHVH; especially so-called Torah-teachers who willfully violate Yah’s Torah. These will be judged by the very Torah they hypocritically demand everyone else keep.
Deceptiveness in Worship Does Not Fool the One Who Knows and Sees All
Going back to verses 6 and 7 of this same first chapter: Father calls the people out for their deceptive worship practices. Father chides the people. He reminds them that they would not treat their pagan leaders the way they treat Him. In other words, the people would not give their profane leaders anything less than the best they had to offer. Yet they deviously made it a practice of giving YHVH the worse of what they had to offer. In all things, Father requires nothing less than our very best (Mal. 1:6-14; Col. 3:23, 24; 2 Tim. 2:15-25).
YHVH’s Chosen People Fail Miserably in Their Proper Worship of Him
According to the HCSB commentary of this passage, God’s people miserably failed in their true worship of Him. The Levitical Priests were the most complicit in this failure. For the priests were duly responsible for proclaiming Yah’s Name (i.e., the character of YHVH) to the world. This proclamation of YHVH’s Name to the world was not limited to verbal pronouncements. The priests’ worship was a great part of that proclamation to the nations.
However, the priests, with gross negligence, miserably failed to fulfill their responsibilities as it related to their proper worship practices and in their living and personal behavior. Given the contemptible nature of the peoples’ behavior and worship, the people of Yah, by default, profaned the Name of YHVH.
The People Profane the Name of YHVH in Their Worship and in Their Living
Thusly, the Reputation and Person (ie., the Name) of the Creator of the Universe is desecrated and disgraced (ie., profaned) among the nation-peoples (i.e., the heathen nations) of the world. And YHVH does not tolerate such gross disrespect, especially from His chosen ones (Lev. 22).
Yah’s Expectations For His Chosen Ones
Thus, holiness and purity must be the basis upon which every Netzari’s relationship with the Almighty is to rest (Lev. 20:7; Psa. 24:4; Mat. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Pet. 1:15,16). This applies not only to our day-to-day behavior, but also to our worship (i.e., our songs of praise; prayers and petitions; and our keeping of Yah’s Torah).
When a child of the Most High mistreats or holds in contempt the things of YHVH (i.e., worship, righteous and holy living, etc.), he/she profanes Yah’s Name. We see this colorfully illustrated today in the state of fundamental Christianity and how the people and leaders of Yah conduct themselves in their day-to-day lives and in their worship. Consequently, the world sees this as the circus that it has become. And thus the world has developed disdain and contempt towards YHVH and His Holy and Righteous Name.
Human Parallels
Of course, parallels of all this may be made at the human level. For every healthy minded person desires to be respected and enjoy a positive reputation.
If we encounter someone in our lives whose actions somehow negatively impacts the respect we desire to receive from people, and or negatively infringes upon our “good” reputation [in the community], no one would blame us for being upset with that person for their actions.
In many cases, the good name and reputation we possess in society are the only thing we have going for us. Not that Father has only His Name going for Him mind you. But as it relates to the whole of humanity in this life, YHVH’s Name is the primary means by which the world knows of Him. The world knows of Him as the God written about in the Bible who is renown and respected for His power, holiness and goodness.
Mankind’s Severed Relationship With YHVH
The vast majority of the 7 or so billion people who inhabit this planet today have no direct, personal contact with our Creator. In fact, most of these people are entirely oblivious to the existence of YHVH. Why? Because their carnal ruach (that is their spirit) is incapable of properly comprehending Him at any appreciable level.
Yah’s Name Remains Vitally Important to Him
So then, it stands to reason that YHVH’s Name remains vitally important to YHVH. And thus, it behooves us to ensure that we do nothing to detract from the holiness of His Name. Be it in our deeds; our thoughts; our hearts. In all things we must glory His holy and righteous Name before the nation peoples of the world.
Are we Faithful in Honoring Yah’s Name Before the Nation Peoples of the World?
In light of what we’ve read here in Malachi, we are compelled to ask ourselves: Are we indeed faithful/true in the way we worship and honor YHVH? In verse 13, Father calls out the people in their worship deportment:
“You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it…’ And instead you bring what is stolen, lame or sick. You bring these things for an offering!”
And then Father asks the bottom line question:
“Should I accept this from you” (such as: ‘should I accept the offerings from your hand’)?
Abba Established What Was Acceptable Worship
Father is clear in His Torah regarding inadequate sacrifices:
“And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God” (Deu. 15:21; KJV).
Is Worship of Yah Burdensome?
Clearly the Hebrews of Malachi’s day felt the solemnities of worship were burdensome and a hardship (i.e., mattela’ah). And as such they devised shortcuts and work-arounds to Yah’s established mitzvot, regulations and ordinances.
Sadly, we see this attitude even today among some of the physical Jews of modern day Israel. For many of these go to extremes to short-cut their keeping of Yah’s commandments. In fact, they’ve become experts at it.
Equally so, many of us in the Netzari/Hebrew Roots/Messianic Faith are not too far behind them in finding ingenious ways to circumvent Torah and worship of YHVH.
Do We Expect to get Away with Our Short-Cuts
I think Abba’s questioning whether He should accept the peoples’ insufficient and offensive offerings goes beyond whether or not He should validate their unauthorized offerings. It is clear to me that Father is asking them as well us today whether or not we expect Him to put up with such shenanigans. In other words, how long do we expect to get away with our foolishness? Furthermore, do we not expect there to be a penalty for our willful sullying of Yah’s Name?
Cheaters in the Body
Father refers to those who seek ways around keeping His Ways, or rather, His Torah as cheaters (nakal; deceivers) (Mal. 1:14). But the only one being deceived is the cheater and maybe those around them.
The Pagan Nations Will Fear YHVH
Because the Jews in Malachi’s day did not fear YHVH, the pagan nations of the world would instead fear Him. In fact, it was Rav Shaul (aka the Apostle Paul) who wrote:
“So I ask, did they (the Jews) stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous” (Rom. 11:11; ESV).
Those Who Should Know Better
The individuals that caused Father the most upset in Mal’kiy’s day were the Levitical Priests (Mal. 2:1, 2). In seeming utter dismay, Abba turns his attention to the very class of Hebrews who should know and do better: the priests. Father tells the priests that if they persisted in cheating on Him, He would “send the curse upon them and curse their blessings…” (cf. Deu. 28:15). In fact, Father tells the priests that He’d already begun cursing them.
Shame Brought to the Levitical Priesthood
In fact, the very dung of the defiled and unacceptable offerings the priests were offering unto YHVH, Father metaphorically asserts that He would smear on their faces.
Torah instructed that the dung of the “sin offering” be burned without the camp because it served as a vicarious sin offering. It wasn’t that Father was literally going to smear animal cow dung on the offending priests’ faces. It seems evident to me (in referencing other passages that address curses and penalties leveled at willful violators of Torah), that the metaphor here has to do Father bringing disgrace the entire Levitical Priesthood.
Profanation of Yah’s Name Leads to the Offenders’ Shame
We find in Nahum 3:5 and 6 where Father informs the Ninevites that He would:
“…lift up their skirts over their faces and make the nations of the world look upon their nakedness and shame. And filth would be thrown at them and they would be treated with contempt and made a spectacle of” as a result of their evil ways.
When addressing the crimes and evil of Babylon, Father spoke of uncovering their nakedness and their shame being seen throughout the world (Isa. 47:3).
Similarly, Father speaks of lifting the skirt of Judah over her face and revealing her shame to the world because YHVH” because of her trespasses (Jer. 13:27). And the shamed priests would be carted away from their land as a result of their gross negligence and refusal to do the Will of the Almighty (Mal. 2:3).
Malachi Contemporaneous With Ezra and Nehemiah
Scholars believe that the Cepher of Mal’kiy was written in the post-exile period in Judah and the contents of the message portrays the situation as described in Ezra 9, 10 and Nehemiah 5 and 13 (~ca. 435 BCE). And the problems that were germane to Judah during this post-exilic period included:
- The people of Judah, the priests and the Levites were inseparable from the peoples of the pagan nations round about them (ie., the Canaanites, the Hitites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites (Ezr. 9:1).
- The men of Judah had married women of these pagan nations, resulting in a mixing of the set-apart seed of God’s chosen with that of the pagan nations of the world. This mixing of seeds, so to speak, of course resulted in the mixing of religion and faiths (9:2).
- Judah forsook YHVH’s mitzvot (9:10).
- Exacting usury upon one another (Neh. 5:7; cf. Exo. 22:25; Lev. 25:36; Deu. 23:19).
- Selling each other into slavery (5:8).
- Allowing Ammorites and Moabites to enter the assemblies of YHVH (13:1; cf. Deu. 23:3).
- Defiling the House of YHVH (13:9).
- The Levites were forced to work for their sustenance because the portion that was allotted to them by YHVH was not being rendered unto them (13:10; cf. Deu. 12:19). The people were not tithing (13:12; cf. Lev. 27:30).
- Jews were working and conducting business on the Sabbath (13:15, 16; cf. Deu. 5:12; Exo. 20:8; 34:21; 35:2). In fact the Levites were not enforcing the Sabbath regulations (13:22).
- The Jews abandoned their Hebrew tongue and taught their children to speak in the tongue of the pagan nations of which they had become of mixed heritage (13:23).
- Judah had desecrated every area of the Levitical Priesthood (13:30).
Practical Applications
So what does all this say about us? When we know better, are expected to do better. Yet when we willfully disobey YHVH’s Torah, we bring shame and dishonor to His Name. We not only dishonor His Name before our Faith Community. We also profane Yah’s Name before the nations of the world.
Thus it behooves us to take the lesson of this Haftorah Reading to heart and not do anything that would bring disgrace to the Name of our Father, nor to our Faith. Thus, we must be on cue every second of every day. And we cannot give the enemy ground upon which to bring shame to the Name of YHVH.
The enemy hates us for who we are and what we are slated to become. But more so, the enemy hates our Heavenly Father. So any thing they can use to discredit and disgrace the Will and Name of our Elohim, they will use it. We must be cognizant of this at all times and walk accordingly. That’s why Paul instructed that Netzarim walk out their Faith in fear and trembling (Phi. 2:12). Not just because we are to literally fear the Almighty. Indeed, Father requires us to fear Him (Deu. 5:29). But in addition, we walk out our Faith in such a manner that we are always conscious of the things we do and how those things would either bring glory or shame to our Heavenly Father. Thus, we don’t ever want to take our walk for granted.