CURSED DISHONOR

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor My name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor Me.”

“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.”

“But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed My ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

Malachi 2:1-3, 8-9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Think about the honor it must have been to be a priest in Old Testament days, to be the spiritual leader ordained by God to care for His people. And if you had the opportunity to be named high priest then you were elevated in religious authority to supreme levels.

How set apart were the priests and specifically the high priest?

So set apart that only they were permitted to enter the Most Holy Place inside the temple, standing in the presence of God Himself while sprinkling blood from the sacrifices on God’s throne (also referred to as the “mercy seat”) on behalf of the people on the Day of Atonement. The high priest was also seen as being able to discern the will of God and thus was often sought out for such knowledge.

Yes, the priests, members of the tribe of Levi and thus known as Levites, were given great responsibility by God for the spiritual guiding and nurturing of the Israelite people. And as is usually the case, greater responsibility also results in greater accountability. Such was the case with the priests in Malachi’s day as we see in today’s scripture verses from the second chapter:

“And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor My name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor Me.”

“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.”

“But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed My ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.” Malachi 2:1-3, 8-9

I don’t know about you but I get a sense here that the priests had started to tune God out and do their own thing. I find myself feeling this way because the Lord Himself tells us that they had “turned from the way” and “caused many to stumble” through their false teaching, essentially violating the covenant promise they had made to uphold the way and will of God in their service to Him and others. Perhaps there was a no more dishonorable thing they could have done than turn from the very Lord who had appointed them into their divine positions.

And so since the priests chose to dishonor God, they too would experience dishonor. Look at these words from the Lord:

“I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed My ways.”

A priest who was fully faithful and obedient to God would be revered and respected among the people because they would find themselves in God’s favor, a favor that would ensure they reaped the fullest measure of His blessing.

A priest who decided to break from God would receive the consequences we see here, despised and humiliated before the very people they were trying to lead, unsupported by the Lord they abandoned.

That would have been bad enough but God had other penalties in mind. Look at what else He promised would happen to the sinful religious leaders:

“I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor Me.”

“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.”

Note here the priests, as well as their descendants) would not only be dishonored but cursed because they willingly and willfully decided to disgrace, disregard, and disrespect the Lord. And cursed by God is a place no one should ever want to be.

Let’s take this message and apply it to our lives today. For although few of us would ever elevate to a place where we are ordained clergy, all of us have been called by the Lord to follow His word, will, and way, expected to bring honor to God with everything we do.

When we do this, when we follow the Lord in complete obedience, then we will reap the bounty of blessings that come with living lives that are pleasing in His sight.

However, when we choose to not live in obedience to the Lord, turning a deaf ear to all He calls us to do, then we can expect to receive a cursed dishonor in whatever form God wishes to bring it, a cursed dishonor that will be sure to put us in a place where we will be despised and humiliated before others, a place that will let others know that we are not living in God’s favor but rather His judgment.

The good news here is that we have a choice and that’s why this word from the Lord is so important to us.

Go back to the passage one more time and see where the Lord had tried to warn the priests to stop what they were doing but they refused to listen. So He took actions that would get their attention.

Let’s all make sure that He doesn’t have to consider any punishment for us by committing ourselves fully to all the purposes He has for our lives, purposes that will lead us away from wicked behavior to the righteousness He loves and rewards.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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