Not only have I not written in a long time, but I also just recovered from having Chicken Pox, so I feel pretty happy to be alive and well.
That said, I have discovered a really cool Bible-reading-combo. If you are looking for something to read, I would suggest reading Malachi alongside Hebrews.
This post has nothing to do with Hebrews, but I am reading the two alongside each other currently, and it's pretty cool. Alright, let's talk about Malachi.
Today, I read Malachi 2:1-9.
And now, O priests, this command is for you. (Malachi 2:1)
Malachi, like the other Old Testament Prophets, was there to show Israel the harsh reality of what it meant to break covenant with God. In addressing the priests, he is speaking to the Levitical priests of the old covenant.
But Jesus did say,
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)
Everything in the OT that was meant for the benefit of people who lived in that time, is also meant for our benefit. When I read, "O Priests, this command is for you," I thought of 1 Peter 2:9.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
So, Priests, read this for yourselves.
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. (Malachi 2:2-3)
It's easy for Christians, (at least for me) to read this and think it sounds pretty harsh, and we're under grace, so it doesn't really apply to me. In dismissing the punishment, I dismiss the warning.
But think about it this way. If God felt strongly enough about a command that He would curse, rebuke, and humiliate whoever didn't follow it, would His feelings change? Maybe the standard is easier to live up to because Christ took the curse for us, but isn't it worth considering that the sin was bad enough to merit a curse in the first place?
Moreover, He specifically addressed the priesthood. If we are specifically called priests, we bear whatever responsibilities priests of the New Covenant should bear.
What is the responsibility He's warning about? That they did not "take it to heart to give honour to (His) name."
This is not a command that's unfamiliar to us, but it is one that we don't tend to talk about this seriously. We talk about giving God honour as a privilege, (which it is) but not as a responsibility with consequences. (which it also is)
In a more familiar-to-Christians passage, 1 Peter 2 says the same thing:
"...a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9b)
"O Priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart..."
I have been praying recently that Jesus would show me how to be closer to Him. It struck me so strongly when I read this, that I MUST take this seriously. If I claim to be a Christian, then I am claiming to be a priest, and what God required of priests, is now required of me.
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. (Malachi 2:4-7)
"My covenant with Levi," He describes as something founded on Levi's right understanding of God. This is what the priesthood is all about, and we would be foolish to call ourselves priests without understanding it.
Levi's right understanding of God, was this: That Levi feared God, that he stood in awe of His name, that he spoke truth, that he walked with God in peace and uprightness, and that by his influence, other people turned away from their sin.
This is held up as an example for all other priests to follow, concluding with this statement.
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. (Malachi 2:7)
As a priest, do your lips guard knowledge? Do people seek instruction from you? You are the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
I've heard the saying thrown around that "You are the only bible some people will every read."
In other words, you are the only messenger of the Lord of hosts some people will ever meet.
I looked back at 1 Peter to see if there were more parallels between the instructions given to Old Testament Levitical Priests and New Testament Christian Priests, and here is what I found.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:10-12)
Once, we were not a people. We were not priests. But now we are God's people, and His holy priesthood. Beloved, (this command is for you) I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Instead, fear God. Stand in awe of Him. Keep instruction in your mouth, and no wrong on your lips. Walk with God in peace and uprightness among the Gentiles, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds, hear knowledge and instruction from the Lord of hosts, glorify God, and turn away from their iniquity.
This is my first post of 2020. This year, let's you and I take our calling seriously. Let's not just sing "All glory, honour, power is Yours, amen." But let's live, "All glory, honour, power is Yours, amen."
Let's take to heart to give honour to His name. Let's learn to fear God. Let's stand in awe of Him. Let's abstain from the passions of the flesh that are waging war on our souls, and instead let's fill our minds and words with the knowledge of God. Let's become priests who are worthy of the title. The kind that people come to for instruction, and follow into the presence of God.
Amen?
