God’s system of leadership and authority
is really really different from the way the world and other religions work. For
example, I’d like to contrast the God of the Bible with Allah of the Koran. Mohammed
was his prophet, so over and over you see in the Koran and in other stories how
Allah told him that he (Mohammed) wasn’t under the same rules as the rest of humanity. For
example, Muslims are officially restricted to (at most) four wives, but Mohammed—so conveniently—was told by
Allah that he could have as many wives and concubines as he wished.
This is completely the opposite of God’s system as stated in
the Bible. Nowhere do you see
leadership given special privileges. Nowhere do you see leaders given a pass
under a different standard from what the hoi polloi are under. Quite the
opposite: Over and over and over God makes it clear that his standards for
leaders are far more stringent than for the common people. I could cite
dozens of examples, but here’s one you might have missed. I have to give R. C.
Sproul credit for this one. In the Torah God accuses
the people of Israel of rebelling against his directions and leadership “ten
times”—which might be literal or just a way of saying “too many times to
count.” For these crimes, they were excluded from entering Israel and were
sentenced to die out in the desert. Moses, their leader, is recorded to have
screwed up one time. One
time he lost his temper and flagrantly disobeyed the Lord’s express
command. For this one screw-up, he was also sentenced to never enter the
Promised Land, to die 40 years later on the very borders. For this one
transgression, he was given the same punishment as the people who'd
transgressed on multiple occasions.
That’s illustrated in today’s
passage. Malachi—under the inspiration of the Spirit—has a lot to say in
condemnation of his society. The entire nation—or the majority of them—were
turning away from the Lord. But first off he starts with the priests. These
were the spiritual leaders. They were the main representatives for the people
before the Lord. But more than this, they also, in a sense, represented the
Lord before the people. They were expressly commanded
to teach the people his ways, his teachings in the Torah. They were to
pronounce the official blessings
of the Lord on the people in his name.
But they were completely failing his
expectations. As such, the Lord said that he would “send a curse” on them, and
“curse [their] blessings.” If a leader screws up, the blessings he’s supposed
to convey turn into curses. What were they doing wrong?
By implication (in contrast to their
ancestor Levi), they weren’t teaching the people God’s ways. We already know
from the 1st chapter they were accepting unacceptable sacrifices
from the people. This showed a disregard, a total despising of God’s name, in
stark contrast to Levi who revered the Lord and “stood in awe of [his] name.” Levi
“turned many from sin.” They “caused many to stumble.” Levi believed and
followed God’s standards, which apply equally
to the king all the way down to the lowest peasant or slave. They showed “partiality
in matters of the law.”
And the Lord was very very angry at
this. They had publicly flouted his standards, and he would return the favor by
publicly humiliating them. They would learn to regret playing these games with
the Almighty. As we mentioned yesterday, “God
cannot be mocked.”
So what should we take from this? I
think this passage says something to leaders. If anyone reading this has been
called into a position of spiritual leadership, take care. His standards for
you are, if anything, higher than for
those you lead.
But if you’re saying “But I’m not called
to any type of leadership in the church,” then number one I’d question that
premise. I’m pretty sure God’s called you into some type of leadership in some
area. But leaving that aside for a moment, if you are a believer in Jesus, you
are a priest. Peter said
so: “[You] also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to
be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ.” Every true believer represents God before men, and men before
God. So all this stuff we’ve talked about? Yes, it applies to you too.
Father God, it is an awe-inspiring,
rather frightening responsibility to which you’ve called me. I so desperately
need your empowering grace here. Please.
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