Honouring God

I wonder, what comes to our mind when we hear “honour God”? Is it an activity that seems attainable or is it one that we know we should do but seldom think about it? Does the thought of honouring God make us anxious or is it something we wholeheartedly seek after? The book of Malachi helps us see what dishonoring God looks like. Sometimes, to better understand what a word mean, it is often easier to establish what it does not mean which is precisely what we will do by looking at what it means to dishonour God as laid in the book of Malachi. Malachi is the last prophetic book of the bible before Jesus Christ came in view. The book is written during the return of the Israelites back to their city of Jerusalem and it is filled with God’s disappointment in his people. In fact, God uses several chapters to let his people know where they have failed him and these are specifically in the areas of worship, and disobedience to his commandments.

In Malachi’s time, Judah is back from exile but is still under the Persian and Medes’ dominion. However, Jerusalem has been rebuilt along with the temple of God, so there is worship that is slowly being reinstated in the temple of God. This happened through Ezra and Nehemiah who were great men of God. Unfortunately, it seems after them, the people of God had a hard time following what the Lord required of them. The priests were neglecting the house of God and did not encourage the people to honour it. For example, tithing (a command instituted by God to give him a tenth of all produce of the land) was not a common practice anymore thus the storehouse of the temple of God was empty. Moreover, sacrifices offered to the Lord were of the type that was a blatant insult to God, that is, the sacrifices being offered had blemishes on them. This was so outrageous that God reprimanded his people by telling them that their own governors would not accept such sacrifices how much more He (Malachi 1:8). Furthermore, priests, who were supposed to be teachers of the Law of God became teachers of the law of men. They did not uphold the highest calling they had as priests of the living God. Their role was to ensure the people of God knew what the Lord expected of them and guide them in the training and instruction of the Lord, but their message became twisted and selfish. As if this was not enough, divorce was rampant in the city and the priests cautioned it. God’s name was being spat upon simply because covenantal relationships between wives and husbands were broken; broken by the very people who knew the Lord and were meant to uphold it. Finally, the Lord complained against Judah because of the injustice that was pervasive in the land. What is more is that the people accused God of being okay with the evil that was in the land (Malachi 2:17, 3:14-15). Judah had become so faithless that it accused God of loving the sinners and being a God of injustice. They defamed the name of God, essentially calling him a liar and God did not approve of that. Therefore, God brought judgement against Judah and said he would bring justice to the world once and for all including restoration (Malachi 3:1-5). Moreover, God made it clear to his people that there is a difference and a distinction to be made between the just and the unjust, the righteous and the unrighteous and that this would be plain to see for all on the day of his judgement (Malachi 3:18).

What we learn from Judah is that returning from exile was not everything. Their return did not automatically bring order and obedience to God’s law. Their return was a good thing but, it did not bring salvation to the people for the people were still living like foreigners. They had forgotten their identity; they had forgotten who they were as a people and most importantly who their God was. Many of them even married foreign women, many did what was contrary to what God required such as working on the sabbath, thus dishonoring it as a day of rest. Living among the gentiles and being under the rule of Babylon, the Perse and Medes had a negative impact on Judah. Nevertheless, when God allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem their city and rebuild his temple, he intended for the people to worship him the way they used to and start living as his people again just as he himself was their God, dwelling once more in his temple. He wanted his people to carry that distinctive mark of people set apart, to wear their identity of being people of God and honour him in everything they did. Unfortunately, Judah became a victim of its idolatry. They idolized their status as children of God to a degree where they believed God owed them something or that God lived for their worship and love. But God declared vehemently that he does not require sacrifices to live or sustain himself and that his Name would be feared among the nations as it should.

As God’s people, we are meant to obey him and surrender our lives to him. Nothing more, nothing less. We are not in this world to question God, to bargain with God, but simply to let Him lead. In light of this, how have you robbed God of his time, his money, his honour? “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God” that is what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13. So where have you failed to honour God in your life lately? I encourage you to think about these seriously, repent and take actions to render to God what is God’s (Mark 12:17) because He deserves the honour and glory in every area of your life.