The Lord Must Have the Best

View daily reading plan: Malachi 1.7-14

The Lord challenges the people further. He tells them that it would be better to bring nothing to the Lord, neither light the fire on the altar, because as long as their hands were bringing polluted things, the Lord would neither accept their sacrifice, nor be pleased with them. What a challenge for us as believers, all priests, that we are “an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5).

If in Malachi’s day there was little for God, verse 11 of our chapter looks forward to a day when the Lord will receive what is rightfully His. This worship will not be restricted to Israel, but will be from the whole world from the sunrise to sunset. The work of preaching the gospel of the grace of God in the entire world has brought saved sinners, as true worshippers (John 4:23).

There is, however, a future aspect when, in the thousand year reign of Christ, when Israel as a nation will be restored and brought back to their land, literal sacrifices will be brought again into the temple. “The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa 2:11, 17), and worship will flow out from Jerusalem yet again.

Thursday, 21 March, 2024