Lacking Leadership Part 2
Malachi 2.1-9
Introduction
We talked last week about failure of Christian leadership specifically citing the Christianity Today podcast, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” But it’s not just ecclesiastical leadership that has been in the media lately; it’s also political leadership. I’ve been watching a show entitled, “American Crime Story: Impeachment,” which is about the Lewinsky scandal and the subsequent impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.
Of course it’s not only Democrats like President Clinton who have had moral failures in political leadership. The word Watergate reminds us of the scandal of Republican President Richard Nixon, the only U.S. President to ever resign the most powerful office in the world. If you’ve taken even the most basic American History course you know that many Presidents in U.S. history have been indicted with adultery or any number of moral failures. For us men like Pastor Mark Driscoll and President Bill Clinton seem like worlds apart, even though both men abused their authority. But for old covenant Israel politics and religion were one in the same.
When Malachi prophesied 400 years before the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ he spoke to theocratic Israel. There was no separation of church and state. Under the old covenant Israel’s politics and religion were intricately tied. The Law of God was the law of the land. And even though during the restoration Israel was under Persian rule, in their land the governor and the priests still held much local political authority.
Last week was part 1 of 2 sermons entitled, “Lacking Leadership.” This morning we look at part 2. Last week in Malachi 1.6-14 we saw the rebuke of YHWH to the religious leadership of God’s people specifically pertaining to the abuse of sacrifices. Now in Malachi 2.1-9 we hear a more general rebuke about abuse of the office of priest. Let’s dig into the text and see what the Word of God has to say for Christ Community Church.
Unworthy Priest
Malachi 2.1-9 follows an ABA pattern of 1) rebuke; 2) remember; 3) rebuke. First, in verses 1-3 YHWH rebukes the priests for not giving him proper honor. Then in verses 4-7 YHWH calls them to remember when He covenanted with Levi, the father of the old covenant priesthood. Finally, in verses 8-9 God rebukes them again for not following in the footsteps of Levi, particularly with regard to the teaching ministry.
Rebuke
God’s first rebuke in verses 1-3 comes because the priests of Israel did not honor his name. Malachi says in verse 2 that the priests will not take it to heart to honor [YHWH’s] name. The leadership in Israel was offering sacrifices that were blind, lame, and sick; they were taking animals by violence to offer as sacrifice. Their actions of their sinful hands reveal their stone hearts. Twice in verse 2 Malachi says that the priest are not honoring God in their hearts. The heart of their problem is a problem of their heart.
When Scripture speaks to the heart it is different than how we talk about it in English. When we talk about the heart it’s either medical or emotional. In the Bible the heart is command central for the person. It is the mind, the will, and the emotions. The Hebrew word for heart is used 814 times in the Old Testament. Scripture views the heart, the inner man, as the center of the individual.
Scripture reveals here that even though God’s old covenant people had returned from exile, their hearts had not. We’ve mentioned several times in this series that Malachi prophesied during the time of the restoration. Israel returned from the Babylonian exile, still under Persian rule. Chronologically Malachi prophesies after Haggai and Zechariah and before Ezra and Nehemiah. But even though the people are back in their old covenant land they are still in need of new covenant hearts. Ezekiel and Jeremiah had promised a new covenant and a new heart and it has not yet come.
Notice in verse 3 the ESV translates the first word behold. It’s the Hebrew word הִנְנִ֨י. This is the first of five times that this word is used in Malachi. It’s an interjection that draws attention to what’s about to be said. It’s like a grammatical flashing neon light. It’s calling us to pay close attention to what’s about to be said.
And what is it that we’re supposed to pay attention to? God warns them that if they don’t follow his law sincerely with their hearts that he will rebuke their offspring. Their sin will have generational consequences. And then we get this impolite illustration from God himself. The LORD says he will spread dung on their faces and they will be taken away with it. Wow. Doesn’t God know that it’s not a good witness to talk like that? He compares their heartless offerings to feces and then says that he will rub their faces in it.
Insincere covenant-breaking worship is dung. It’s feces. The Hebrew word literally means, “horse dung.” I’ll leave the other synonyms to your imagination. But that’s what God is saying. He’s saying their disingenuous worship is horse poop and he’s going to rub their faces in it. After that they will be taken away with it. What does that mean? Well, what do you do with feces? You get rid of it. You flush it. You burn it. That’s the destination of them and their children if they don’t repent.
Remember
Then in verses 4-7 God calls them to remember their history. He reminds them of when the old covenant priesthood was first established with the tribe of Levi. In the book of Joshua all of the tribes of Israel were allotted a portion of land except for Levi. The Levites were set apart to serve as priests for God’s people.
The Levites were established under the old covenant, the covenant with Moses or Israel. And YHWH even uses the term covenant specifically with them. Malachi is referring to Numbers 25.12-13, which says, therefore say, “Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.”
YHWH’s divine promise to the Levitical priests entailed life, peace, and fear. It entailed life because the priests governed the liturgy of Israel. The only way the people could live rightly before YHWH was via the worship facilitated by the priests. The priests also interceded peace between YWHW and the people. They were the intercessors that administered the sacrifices that would temporarily stay the wrath of God for their sins. The priesthood also induced fear. Their presence reminded the people to have a healthy fear of YHWH. God was not to be approached casually. The people had to come via his ordained means – the sanctified Levitical priesthood.
In verse 6 Malachi reminds them that the earlier Levitical priests were faithful teachers of God’s Word. The word instruction in verse 6 is the Hebrew word torah. The Levites were charged with faithfully teaching God’s Law as they organized and administered Israel’s liturgy. The priests were charged to guard knowledge and instruct the people. This is the history and heritage that the priests in Malachi’s day had inherited.
Rebuke
But in verses 8-9 Malachi returns to his rebuke because the priests were not walking faithfully in the footsteps of their Levitical forefathers. Verse 8 says that they have turned aside from the way. They were causing people to stumble. They were corrupting the covenant. Verse 9 says that they were not keeping God’s ways and they were showing partiality in their instruction.
Again YHWH warns them that unfaithfulness to the covenant yields cursing. If they do not repent he will make them despised and abased before all people. And there’s a sense in which their sin did yield cursing. God did not speak after Malachi for 400 years. Their sin earned them the silence of God.
You know what it’s like when you get into a fight with someone you love, a spouse or friend, and you don’t speak for a period of time? That’s the worst. There’s a sense in which God’s people experience that for 400 years. Now God is not a petty sinner like us. His silence was holy. But the people would not repent of their sin and God disciplines them with his silence.
The True Priest
The next time God spoke was when His Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1.14). The Word of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a truly human life yet without sin (Heb 4.15). And Jesus’ sinless life then qualified him to be the true and final priest of the people of God.
We read in our call to worship from Hebrews 4.14-5.10, which reveals to us that Jesus Christ is the great high priest of the New Covenant. This is good news because the problem we see in Malachi is a failing priesthood. The people did not have an adequate intercessor between God and themselves. That problem was perpetual because every man who served as a priest was a sinner. There was no perfect advocate.
That is until the incarnation of the Son of God. Jesus Christ lived without sin thus qualifying himself to be the perfect priest. And on the cross Jesus offered the only perfect sacrifice to God – his life. On the cross Jesus Christ bore the wrath of God for the sins of his people and because he was the sinless God-man he exhausted God’s wrath for his elect. Jesus drank the full cup of God’s wrath dry.
Then Jesus died and on the third day he rose again. The resurrection of Christ is our verification that God accepted his sacrifice. Jesus ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father almighty. At God’s right hand Jesus of Nazareth rules as the New Covenant King, he speaks as the New Covenant Prophet, and he intercedes as the New Covenant Priest. Christ Jesus is the one mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2.5).
That’s good news for us because we need a priest. As Protestants we’re so worried about differentiating ourselves from the Roman Catholic Church that we believe we don’t need priests. Dr. Al Mohler says, “That’s so right, it’s wrong.” We don’t need sinful men to be our priest, but we need a priest. We need a perfect man to stand between God and us. Jesus Christ is the New Covenant priest.
That’s good news for us because that means if you repent of your sin and trust in Christ God will save you. It means that even after you’re saved you can keep repenting of your sins and Jesus is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1.9). It means that you can know for sure that your sins are forgiven. It means that the Father hears your prayers and that Jesus himself prays for you.
New Priests
The priesthood of Jesus in the New Covenant now creates a new reality for the people of God. Under the old covenant only the Levites were sanctified as priests. Under the New Covenant all of God’s people make up a nation of priests. Listen to 1st 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.
Peter recapitulates the old covenant language about the Levites and reveals that in the New Covenant all believers are a royal priesthood. Jesus Christ is the true and final King-Priest and we are in Christ. Because all believers have the Holy Spirit there is no special sect that have direct access to God, or who can hear confession. All Christians are believer priests.
I want to give you three ways as a believer priest that you can stand between God and neighbor. And if all of us do these three things then we will indeed continue to build a gospel culture here at Christ Community Church. The first thing is evangelism. The second is discipleship. The third is confession.
First, you are called to be a royal priest by sharing the gospel. You stand between God and your fallen neighbor when you announce the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. You know the good news and they need the good news. You’re not called to save them. You’re not called to pressure into a decision. You are simply called as a royal priest to announce the good news and trust the Holy Spirit to save. God, may we build a culture of evangelism at Christ Community Church!
The second way you’re called to be a royal priest is through discipleship. Discipleship is teaching other Christians how to follow Christ. It can happen through Bible classes, through kid’s Sunday school, through small groups, or even one-on-one meetings. It isn’t complicated, guys. Read the Bible together. Pray together.
Make the effort to intentionally place yourself in situations where you’re around Christians who know more than you and learn from them. Then place yourself in situations were you’re around Christians who know less than you and teach them. This is nowhere more important than fathers in their own homes. Every dad is the pastor of his home and is called to disciple his family. If you haven’t been doing this start today. Oh God, may we build a culture of discipleship at Christ Community Church!
The third way you’re called to be a royal priest is through confession. Confess your sins to Jesus Christ. When you sin against your neighbor confess your sin to them. If you need accountability for struggles in sin meet with a trusted brother or sister in Christ and confess your sins. Pray with each other. Oh God, may we build a culture of confession at Christ Community Church!
Conclusion
It’s hard for us as 21st Century Americans to see the pastoral abuse of Mark Driscoll and the political abuse of Presidents Bill Clinton or Richard Nixon as the same. And under the New Covenant indeed the office of Pastor or Elder is far more important than the office of President of the United States. But in old covenant Israel they were tied together. The priests were politically and religiously abusive. But thanks be to God that the true Prophet, Priest, and King Jesus Christ has inaugurated his Kingdom in perfect righteousness. Now those who place their faith in Jesus alone are made into a kingdom of priests, interceding Jesus’ gospel to sinners. May Christ Community Church be a faithful outpost in this kingdom of priests as we tell the world of the true priest who intercedes between God and his people. May we herald the righteous King was will never be impeached and will never resign.