Here the study continues.. I stole this title from Peter Adam, one of the commentators I read, primarily because I thought it was spot-on. The term “taken by violence”, would probably be similar to our term “road-kill”. It would be like finding a dead sheep on the side of a road that was struck by a wagon and offering it God as a “sacrifice.” It cost them nothing and was a useless carcass anyway. “But hey,” they probably thought, “maybe YHWH will take it.” Bringing otherwise worthless sacrifices to offer to God for atonement of sin, or as a thanksgiving to God for the abundance he has provided you, is such an offense to YHWH that in the next verse, He curses those who brought them. *APPLICATION* While we no longer have a physical altar to defile or treat with contempt, the attitude of the priests and the people during Malachi’s time is still seen today. In God’s Church, the leaders and the people can be just as disgusting and contemptable to God. While most of us haven’t slipped into such extremes, we do need seriously ask ourselves, “are we just going through the motions in our Christian activities?” During our studies, several times I have referred to the letters to the seven Churches in Revelation (Rev 1-3). These are the only Epistles of Jesus found in Scripture. I find them very instructive, as they were written to different churches during John’s time, specifically addressing the situation in each of the churches. One of the letters was written to Ephesus: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Rev 2:1-6 Here we see a church that is working hard and preserving in their faith -- yet they have forsaken the love they had at first. Many churches today have big services, wonderful worship, prayers, fellowships, programs to help the poor and needy, and so many more useful things. But, as the Ephesians, many are so concentrated on the things, and have lost their first Love. In the beginning, Ephesus was one of the more dynamic churches in early church history, but it is interesting to note that nothing more is heard about Ephesus until almost 350 years later. A council of church leaders across Christendom was held in Ephesus to settle a controversy. There it was decided that the Virgin Mary would be called the “Theotokos” or the mother of God. If you find that you are very busy with the activities of your Christian Life, yet finding that Jesus seems to be slipping from the real center of your life - take some time to rekindle your relationship with your first love.
Here the study continues..
I stole this title from Peter Adam, one of the commentators I read, primarily because I thought it was spot-on. The term “taken by violence”, would probably be similar to our term “road-kill”. It would be like finding a dead sheep on the side of a road that was struck by a wagon and offering it God as a “sacrifice.” It cost them nothing and was a useless carcass anyway. “But hey,” they probably thought, “maybe YHWH will take it.” Bringing otherwise worthless sacrifices to offer to God for atonement of sin, or as a thanksgiving to God for the abundance he has provided you, is such an offense to YHWH that in the next verse, He curses those who brought them.
*APPLICATION*
While we no longer have a physical altar to defile or treat with contempt, the attitude of the priests and the people during Malachi’s time is still seen today. In God’s Church, the leaders and the people can be just as disgusting and contemptable to God. While most of us haven’t slipped into such extremes, we do need seriously ask ourselves, “are we just going through the motions in our Christian activities?”
During our studies, several times I have referred to the letters to the seven Churches in Revelation (Rev 1-3). These are the only Epistles of Jesus found in Scripture. I find them very instructive, as they were written to different churches during John’s time, specifically addressing the situation in each of the churches. One of the letters was written to Ephesus:
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Rev 2:1-6
Here we see a church that is working hard and preserving in their faith -- yet they have forsaken the love they had at first. Many churches today have big services, wonderful worship, prayers, fellowships, programs to help the poor and needy, and so many more useful things. But, as the Ephesians, many are so concentrated on the things, and have lost their first Love. In the beginning, Ephesus was one of the more dynamic churches in early church history, but it is interesting to note that nothing more is heard about Ephesus until almost 350 years later. A council of church leaders across Christendom was held in Ephesus to settle a controversy. There it was decided that the Virgin Mary would be called the “Theotokos” or the mother of God.
If you find that you are very busy with the activities of your Christian Life, yet finding that Jesus seems to be slipping from the real center of your life - take some time to rekindle your relationship with your first love.
Thank You. Loved it!!