Malachi chapter 1

vs 1

Although I appreciate Malachi's effort in telling us what the book is and who it is from, what would be really nice is if he told us when he wrote and who he's writing to a little more specifically.

Malachi is a Second Temple book - written after the destruction of the first, and the building of the second. So we're looking at post exile, and a much smaller nation of Jews rather than the large hulking nation of Israelites.

vs 2-3

You do get the feeling that asking that question isn't really appropriate. But Israel asks it anyway. God's response is to say that not only did he pick Jacob ahead of Esau, the elder son, but he has also turned the land of Esau's descendants into unsuitable land. Israel's land then, we assume, is still lush and fertile.

vs 4

God has judged the people of Edom as being guilty of sin - possibly the sin of trying to hamper the work of the Jews in rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple in the last 100 years or so. God makes it clear that though they might think they can just rebuild, he's got it in for them, at least for the time being.

This message isn't so much for Edom, though. It is in a letter to the Jews, so it is more for their comfort that the enemy is being punished.

vs 5

Nothing has ever stopped God from acting outside his traditional stomping ground before... Jews would have to have a short memory, forgetting not only the passover and the exodus, but also the redemption from exile of themselves to forget that God has power outside Jerusalem's city limits. But even still, this reminds the Jews of another thing - that God actually has an input and an opinion about matters outside his chosen people.

vs 6

We're going to see this question and answer motif runs throughout Malachi. Notice here in verse 6 that God talks about his position (as Father and as Master), and then talks about the contempt for his 'name'. Because what he really means is the contempt for those titles, for his position of authority. It's not a simple blasphemy that the priests have taken part in - that would be pretty unthinkable in a society that stoned you for saying YHWH. Instead, they are not giving God his proper authority somehow - they are showing contempt for his position, rather than bringing him his due honour.

vs 7

These question sections might be poetic, in which case it would be wrong to criticise the priests for asking "how have we defiled you?" when told that in fact they were offering defiled food on the altar. No wonder God feels like he is been treated with contempt. He deserves, and demands, the best stuff be sacrificed to him.

vs 8

So it's not like the priests were fornicating in the temple or anything - they were sacrificing the crappy stuff, and probably keeping the good stuff for themselves. The reason I say that, and not that it was the people who were offering up crappy stuff for sacrifice in the first place, is that the priests are getting the blame here. Even if people were bringing sick and lame animals for sacrifice, the priests could just not accept them. And when you see that the stuff that gets sacrificed gets 'wasted', then no doubt people thought they could pull the wool over God's eyes, or that God wouldn't mind because after all, he'd given them these beasts to eat and enjoy, right?

But humans in authority wouldn't accept this stuff. They'd think it was a slight to their position if they were used to receiving nice stuff, and then got the leftover garbage instead. God is making it clear that it is the message this sends - that they are undermining his position - that is wrong. He doesn't want the best stuff cause it tastes good - he wants it because it reminds them of his position of authority.

vs 9

God will simply not accept the cries of the priests for forgiveness and for blessing if they are treating him like he's some coin-op pokie, rather than like a king.

vs 10

God would rather they did nothing than offered these useless sacrifices! Their work is actually insulting him, making him upset with the nation, rather than doing the job of bringing him honour.

vs 11

God's plan, as he hinted at earlier regarding Edom, is that his name will be great among all nations, not just in Israel. But at the moment, not even Israel's getting it right, so that's got to be pretty frustrating. God compares the purity of the potential future offerings of the nations against the crappy real offerings his people are giving him. Not much hope for humanity at this rate.

vs 12

God says that their actions speak these words, because of course they'd never actually say these words. But it's a good reminder - what we do speaks louder than what we say, even to God.

vs 13

Apparently the hard work of providing sacrifice to God is trying on the priests, who see it as a burden. If it is the people's fault for bringing crappy sacrifices, then their sniffing and complaints might come from the fact that they share in these meals. So then God could be saying "You bitch and moan about the crappy sacrifices, but you still make them to me - as if I, God, should accept them when you don't!"

vs 14

God now puts a curse on those who bring crappy sacrifices. So he is moving the focus of blame from the priests, who have been processing the sacrifices, to the people who offer them in the first place. God wants them to know that he is a mighty God whose power extends across the earth, and that if they don't treat him with respect, he's going to whip their asses.