3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
This passage cuts across time and history in a chilling way. The priests of Malachi’s day might have strayed and lead the people astray, but it didn’t stop with them. In current history the news stories of Catholic priest molesting children, Pastors stealing offering money, and leading their followers to hate have become standards. Collectively we shake our heads and feel outrage at their acts. They are meant to lead us to be better versions of ourselves.
The Lord says that he ‘will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices.’ I can’t imagine a worse humiliation. They have disrespected the Lord, so he will disrespect them. There are a ton of places where God speaks out against false Prophets and bad leaders.
I can understand God's stance. We expect our leaders to be better then ourselves. We expect the hero's we worship to be almost more then human. And yet we enjoy watching others fall, because it makes us feel better about ourselves. Why else would reality TV be so popular? Yet God's displeasure isn't simply because the priest have gone astray, they have lead his people astray. The priest have broken a covenant that God made with Levi. God is calling the leaders of his people to be higher and to not stumble.
I can’t imagine something more terrifying for someone who is going into ministry. There is a fear of miss representing God. Of leading people astray. Yet their are clues in this passage about what God expects from those who lead. First they are to have reverence for God. Second they are speak 'true instruction'. And finally they are to preserve knowledge.
Reverence is defined in the dictionary as a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration. And the outward manifestation of this feeling. Levi had a deep reverence for God. And it was because of this reverence that he was blessed by God. If we do not first have a deep understanding of the God we serve and have a deep reverence for him, we can not be effective leaders. If you truely revere God then the thoughts of others mean little. It matters more what God expects. So if God is truly first, then the expectations of others will come second to God's expectations. The Levi's had lost sight of who God was and lost their reverence for God.
From this reverence comes the ability to speak 'true instruction'. True in this sense to be true in reference to God. Truth is a very black and white word. Things are either true or not. God calls his leaders to to speak truth. But its not just truth, this truth is to be instructive to teach. A leader is to teach the respect and awe that they have for God to those around them. They are to lead people in reverence of the Most High.
Out of this reverence and truth comes a call to preserve knowledge, to remember history. God is calling the leaders to keep the great deeds of His love alive. They are to be taught and past down. They are not to become less real. To preserve something is to keep it forever. The dictionary defines preserve as a way of keeping something alive. To protect from harm or injury. We are to keep faith alive and thriving. To feed it and protect it. To make sure that all know the truth and the word of the Lord. Wit
This is a heavy calling. One that the Levi's in Malachi's day had failed. They were not the first. They are not the last. I just pray that as I lead others that I can remember to first have reverence for God, to speak his truth and finial preserve knowledge of his great love.
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I love comments and would love to hear your thoughts! That being said all comments are moderated and I do not post anything with links to random websites. Thank you so much for your thoughts and questions. God Bless~ R.D.