The Pulpit Commentary — Malachi — Section 20

No one in the whole congregation seemed more hearty in shoutin,,. out those words wit.h his voice than she. Meanwhile the deacon held the plate riuht under her eye but she let it pass without enriching it by even a coppcr.-D. T. "' ' 'Vc>rs. 10-14.-Wrong worship. "Who is there evc>n among you that would shut the doors for n1mght?" et.c. The subject of these words is wrong worship, and they 1uggest, the following remarks. 1. THAT WRONG WORSHIP IS WORSE THAN NO WORSHIP AT ALL. "Who is there eveb among you that would shut the doors for naught? neither do ye ldndle fire on mine J.ltar for naught. I have n-o plea.sure in you, saith the Lord of host~~ neither will I accept an offering at your hand." Keil gives a version more in accordance with the original, .. Oh the.t there were one among you who would shut the •doors; t.ha.t ye might not light mine altar t-0 no purpose I I have no pleasure in you; s.11.ith Jehovah of hqsts, and sacrificial offering does not please me from your hand." '' As iF," says Dr. Dods, "God "'.ere to say i~ were fut be~ter tha! t~e templ 7 were shut t,han tb:at such profane and fruitless worship were earned on in 1t (Isa. 1. 12). Better that· you· and, your offensive beasts be together shut ont of the temple, and that no smoke ascend from the altar, since all such offerings as you present are offered in vain. • The Hebrew ·word translated 'for naught,' is the etymological equivalent of 'gratis;' but the m!l~riirig here is not 'without reward,' but the closely allied, secondary. meaning 'without result;' it is not the mercenary but the fruitless character of the services 'whicli"iil pointed at." There is a deal of wrong worship in the world, not only iii. 'heathen regions but in Christendom, not only in Popery but in Protestantism, not only in the Church but in Dissent. Some of the hymns used are not only gross _but blasphemous, and some prayers, too, are repugnant alike to reason .and conscience. No worsb,ip is a thousand times better than wrong worship. Wrong worship insults the Infinite Father, and degrades the human soul. II. TB.AT WBONG WORSHIP WILL ONE DAY BE l'RAOTICALLY REPUDIATED. "From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my Ne.me shall b_e great Bmong the Gentiles." A modern expositor expresses the idee. thus:·" Since ye Jewish priests and people' despise my Name,' I shall find others who will magnify it'(Me.tt. viii. 11). Do not think I shall have no worshippers because I have not you, for 'ffom the east to the west my Name shall be ~eat among the Gentiles (Isa. lix. 19.;'1x\>i. '19, 20), those very peoples whom ye look down on .as abominable. 'And a. pure offering,' not the blind, the lame, and the sick, such as ye offer." "In every place" implies the catholicity of the Chrutian Church (John iv. 21-23; 1 Tim. ii. 8). The incense is fi:<urative of prayer (Ps. cxli. 2; Rev. viii. 3). Sacrifice is used metaphorically of the offering of a "broken and contrite heart." L Thi~ perioq,, though JQ,'f' in the future, is certain to dawn on the world. God bath promised it,.:md it is "impossible for him to lie." ".And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy risina . . . . Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be e~arged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted into thee" (Isa. lx. 3-5). 2. Thu period will e:xclude all false worship. It will l;e in "every place." Ko room for the knee in the temple of the Jalse worshipper. Neither in this mountain nor in that mountain shall ye worship the Father. "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him mw;t worship him in spirit and in truth." 3. In this period all human sO'Uls will be ble:nd,ed in love and, devotion. No more divisions. "Thy N arne shall be great among the heathen." He will be the great centre around which all souls will revolve, from which all will draw their heat, their light, their harmony. Ill. THAT WRONG WORSHIP I8 SOMETIMES RENDERED EVEN BY THE RELIGIOUS TEACHERS oF :r,i..u.,rmD. ., But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, the 'l'able of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible." From these words we learn that these priests made worship appear: 1. Contemptible. Perhap8 the~e priestR did not literally say the Lord's table was contemptible, but in their acts they declared it. Is tlie word "contemptible" here intended to express the feeling of the priests themselves? Some have considered it as referring to the revenue which tl,t priests drew from their services at the altar. The beasts which were brought for ofkring were so lean, diseased, and wretched,that the flesh which fell to their share fot food was so poor :!,:it they could uoteat it, it lilied 1,hem with disgust, it was contemJ>tible, on, 11. 1-17.] THE BOOK OF MALACHI. 19