Bad Sacrifices

Read through the first chapter of the book of Malachi and you'll see how God is complaining about Israel (again). He says how much He has loved Israel (Mal 1:2-5) and then asks why they hate Him (Mal 1:6). "But you say, 'How have we despised your name?'" And He tells them.

God's primary complaint is that His people are offering Him "polluted food." Wait ... what? That's most of the first chapter of the book. "You give me tainted food; would you present that to your governor?" (Mal 1:8) And they complained about doing that (Mal 1:13). God was not pleased.

But why? We know it wasn't about tainted food. It was the Levites who ate the food. So what was it? When you examine the Scriptures the answer becomes obvious. It wasn't that God wanted clean lambs. It was that he wanted changed hearts.

You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psa 51:16-17)

The problem is not the "what"; the problem is the "why". It wasn't a problem with bad lambs; it was a problem with unrepentant hearts. Unrepentant hearts offered bad lambs.

This can be our problem as well. We will go through all the "right" motions. We will go to church and read our Bibles and say our prayers. We will beat people over the head with the Gospel evangelize and indulge in the proper "righteous indignation" at sin. The problem isn't the outward appearance -- the "sacrifices" we are offering. The problem is our failure to have changed hearts. In biblical terms, our problem is our failure to die (Rom 6:2-8). We act like we're fine, like we're "giving it all to God", but what we're offering is "tainted meat", not our hearts, not our souls, not our lives (Rom 12:1).

Things didn't go well for Israel in offering those bad sacrifices. We should not likely expect God to be pleased with us when we offer the same. Just because it looks like we're doing the right thing doesn't mean it's what God wants. And all that really matters is what God wants. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."