The Honor Due
Israel has been a rebellious son, and God has been a beneficent and merciful Father to them. He has loved them and protected them, disciplining when necessary and being gracious always. There has never been a time when God did not love Israel. From the beginning of the nation, starting with Abraham, you hear the words, "Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed," (Gen 12.1-3, ESV).
This was a blessing from God upon His first "child" Abraham and it was a blessing that he made to all His children Israel through Abraham (their representative). He would love them and bless them and protect them and make their name great! And how did they respond? By rebelling and complaining. "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness," (Psalm 86.15, ESV). God responded as any good father would. He lovingly disciplined His children. Again, discipline is a form of love. It displays a care for the individual because the one disciplining is attempting to teach the one disciplined. Remember that discipline comes from the same word as disciple. God does not punish those whom He loves. Punishment is to feel the wrath of God upon your life and it is pain for pains sake. There is no lesson to learn. But God so desired for Israel to learn to love Him and trust Him that He would discipline her in such a way that every time they would come running back to Him. But rather than becoming someone they loved, He became more like an old security blanket. When times are rough we can always go back to God.
And so all the love and honor that God was seeking did not come. Rather a lazy, self-centered, taking advantage and using of God became the norm. When I need Him I will let Him know, otherwise He needs to stay out of my life. That's not love! If your husband or wife or child or friend said something like that to you or treated you in a similar fashion you would instinctively know that there is no love there. But this is how Israel, and so often, we treat God.
And so God asks, "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name" (Mal 1.6, ESV). How is it, God wants to know, that He can love this people like a Father, and yet receive no love or respect back from them? Isn't it natural for a child to love his mom and dad. Sure they are disobedient at times but one of the greatest concerns to children is to have their parents pleased with them, especially young children.
When Katie and I took fostering classes the teachers would remind everyone that the goal was to get children back with their parents. And inevitably the question arose as to why they would want to go back to their parent who abandoned them or abused them or neglected them. And the answer was that children inherently love their parents and want to please them. So if a child loves and honors a parent who does not show nearly the same love that God shows for us, why could Israel not then show such love and honor to their heavenly Father?
The same goes with a master and his servant. We in America have a view of slavery that was different than that of the Hebrew slavery of the Old Testament. God instructed Israel to be kind to their slaves and release Jewish slaves after 6 years of labor. It was a picture of Israel's relation to God. As John MacArthur wrote in his book, Slave,
From the Exodus to the Exile and beyond, Israel's corporate identity as God's slaves was an integral part of the nation's history. Many of Israel's heroes, including Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, and the prophets, are specifically referred to as His slaves.[1]
Even a slave would honor his master even if it was simply out of sheer obedience and nothing else. Even if love had nothing to do with what the slave did. It was only due out of obedience and fear, the slave still honored his master.
Not so for Israel. There was no obedience. There was no fear of God in the people, even in the priests! Rather than love, rather than honor, rather than any fear from the priests there was a sense of despise toward God. They despised Him.
Now remember, we might be willing to give these priests and people a pass, due to their situation. We would probably agree with them if it didn't sound so "unholy." Remember that nothing is the same. The temple is a sham of what it used to be. There is no sacred fire, no ark of the covenant, no mercy seat. What's the point. For all the people knew God had abandoned them. But through it all God had been behind the scene showing them His love. Yet they allowed their situations in life to smokescreen God's displays.
So we might be tempted to give them a pass. To agree with them would be a natural response, especially since we could identify with them. We've had those times in our lives. We've been where they have been, where we feel abandoned by God and His love. We've been blinded by our own circumstances in life. And some of us may still be blinded by them. And so, we've allowed our love to grow cold, though God's is burning hot. We allowed ourselves to disrespect God, and have no fear of Him. And some of us may have not just allowed, but purposefully and spitefully disrespected Him. So we can relate. But the fact that we can relate makes neither what they have done nor what we have done or are doing ok.
[1] John MacArthur, Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2010), p. 33.
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