Dead Leaders, Dead Churches

The Lord's rebuke of Israel's Priests continues in Malachi 2. Always remember that in both the Old and New Testaments, the leaders of God's people are held to a higher account than the people.

Malachi 2:1-3 (ESV) “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 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. 3 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.

The Priests of Israel had dishonored the name by allowing second-rate sacrifices to flood the altar. They had also grown weary of their service in the Lord's house. It was so bad that, in chapter 1, the Lord wished the Temple doors were shut. So now the Lord says their blessings are cursed. Then the picture of dung on their faces suggests absolute humiliation from the Lord. They would be rendered unclean before the Lord in the most violent manner. When leaders do not honor God, they are useless in His purposes. For when God is not feared, the nation suffers foolishness. 

Psalm 111:10 (ESV) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

In the next verses, the Lord reminds the priests of the covenant He made with Levi. 
Malachi 2:4–6 (ESV) So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts. 5 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. 6 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.

God made an agreement with Aaron's sons, a Levite, that they would have a perpetual service before the Lord (see Exodus 29 and Numbers 25). Yet by this time, the priests had taken their privilege to serve and represent God and turned it into a drudgery, an empty ritual they had to keep running just to get paid. That is why the allowed imperfect second-rate offerings. From those offerings, the priests would eat and live. What it all boiled down to was this: the work of ministry has simply become a job to pay the bills. 

May this never be the reality of my life! As a preacher, I long to love the Lord more and more, and I long to connect God's people to Him more and more as I grow older. Here is Israel, restored to the land from exile, and while not falling into idolatry and pagan offerings, they did something just as evil - they turned the Lord's house into a lifeless, empty system where the bottom line was what they stood to gain from their involvement. 

This happens far too often in established religious institutions. A church or denomination can get so large and well-off that it turns lethargic and vapid. Their service to God's people turns into a career to protect rather than a ministry to reflect His glory. 

Malachi reminds the role of the priest in verse 7:
Malachi 2:7 (ESV) 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.

What a sacred opportunity. To GUARD knowledge and instruct the Lord's people. What a heavy responsibility, to speak for the Lord. Here, in the midst of a decaying religious institution, we find the root of the problem - dead leaders create lifeless churches. 

Malachi 2:8 (ESV) But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts,

And the Lord will bring their reputation to ruin as a result:
Malachi 2:9 (ESV) and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”



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