Malachi 1 · The Lantern

The LORD’s Love for Israel

The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.

I have loved you, says the LORD. Yet you say, How have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,

And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the jackals of the wilderness.

Whereas Edom says, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus says the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD has indignation for ever.

And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.

The Polluted Offerings

A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be 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, that despise my name. And you say, How have we despised your name?

And indeed Balaam the prophet, when he had corrupted Israel by Baal-peor, suffered punishment; and Caiaphas at last was his own murderer; and the sons of Sceva, endeavoring to cast out demons, were wounded by them and fled away in an unseemly manner; and the kings of Israel and of Judah, when they became impious, suffered all sorts of punishments.

"There is a great distinction, then, between the fear that lacks for nothing, which is the treasure of wisdom and knowledge, and the one that is imperfect, which is called "the beginning of wisdom." This latter has punishment in itself, and it is cast out from the hearts of the perfect upon the advent of the fullness of love.

If a man is impious, he is in need of punishment; if he is foolish, he is in need of understanding. Wherefore it is also said in Malachi: "The son honoreth the father and the servant his master: if then I be a father, where is my honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear?"

You offer polluted bread upon my altar; and you say, How have we polluted you? In that you say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now to your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept you? says the LORD of hosts.

HOW HAS THE LORD IN LEVITICUS COMMANDED THAT SACRIFICES AND LIBATIONS BE OFFERED, WHICH ELSEWHERE HE REJECTS? FOR IT IS CLEAR IN LEVITICUS THAT THE LORD COMMANDED THE FATHERS TO OFFER LIBATIONS OR SACRIFICES OR BURNT OFFERINGS: YET HE SAYS THEREFORE THROUGH THE PROPHET JEREMIAH: THEREFORE SAYS THE LORD, GATHER YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS WITH YOUR SACRIFICES, AND EAT FLESH; FOR I DID…

(Verse 8) If you offer the blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and sick animal, is it not evil? Offer it to your governor; see if he is pleased with it or accepts your face, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: For if you offer the blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and sick animal, is it not evil?

Such was the offering of the murderous Cain that was rejected. He had been told by God, "If you act well, I will receive it." Such again were all the offerings of the Israelites that were rejected, whereby they received the curse of the prophet who says, "Cursed is the man who has a ram in his flock, and he vows and sacrifices to the Lord one that is sickly." He rebukes and rep…

And now, please, beg God that he will be gracious to us: this has been by your means: will he regard you? says the LORD of hosts.

Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nothing? neither do you kindle fire on my altar for nothing. I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

"And the offering of fine flour, sirs," I said, "which was prescribed to be presented on behalf of those purified from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, the celebration of which our Lord Jesus Christ prescribed, in remembrance of the suffering which He endured on behalf of those who are purified in soul from all iniquity, in order that we may at the same time t…

(Verse 10 seqq.) I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

Lastly, O Jews, if you try to distort these prophetic words into another meaning according to the dictates of your heart, you resist the Son of God against your own salvation.… The house of Jacob or Israel is the same people, both called and cast off—not called in respect to some and cast off in respect to others, but the entire house called to walk in the light of the Lord.… T…

For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the pagans, says the LORD of hosts.

But every Lord's day do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned.

And in addition to what has been said, it is good with our head cleansed, as the head which is the workshop of the senses is cleansed, to hold fast the head of Christ, from which the whole body is fitly joined together and compacted, and to cast down our sin that exalted itself, when it would exalt us above our better part.

It was with bread and wine that Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God, received Abraham, when he was returning from the slaughter of the alien tribes. That altar prefigured this mystical altar, even as that priest was a type and a figure of the true archpriest, who is Christ.

But you have profaned it, in that you say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and its fruit, even his food, is contemptible.

You said also, Look, what a weariness is it! and you have sniffed at it, says the LORD of hosts; and you brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus you brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? says the LORD.

But cursed be the deceiver, which has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the pagans.

Malachi1

The LORD’s Love for Israel

The Polluted Offerings