Malachi: When worship insults God

New Zion Bible Study Series

Have you ever found yourself in the wrong because you totally missed the point? It could have been a school assignment, a botched task given by your employer, feeling the cold shoulder of relationship because you missed the point of something said, or even the punchline of a joke that everyone else understood. Regrettably, when we face those kinds of situations, most people revert to a self-defense mechanism that questions our guilt or failure. Sometimes that is displayed by pushing off our failing to others. I didn’t have enough time. The instructions were unclear. I was not given adequate training or resources. We don’t like to admit failure and accept blame, even when it is deserved. When the prophet Malachi reproached Israel’s failure, this very thing happened. What makes this last book of the Old Testament intriguing is that it has many parallels to the church today. Does your worship insult God? It is a question that we will all find has a surprising answer.