Nielsen’s Nook

7 מַגִּישִׁ֤ים עַֽל־מִזְבְּחִי֙ לֶ֣חֶם מְגֹאָ֔ל וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּמֶּ֣ה גֵֽאַלְ� ֑וּךָ בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֕ם שֻׁלְחַ֥ן יְהוָ֖ה � ִבְזֶ֥ה הֽוּא׃

8 וְכִֽי־תַגִּשׁ֨וּן עִוֵּ֤ר לִזְבֹּ֙חַ֙ אֵ֣ין רָ֔ע וְכִ֥י תַגִּ֛ישׁוּ פִּסֵּ֥חַ וְחֹלֶ֖ה אֵ֣ין רָ֑ע הַקְרִיבֵ֨הוּ � ָ֜א לְפֶחָתֶ֗ךָ הֲיִרְצְךָ֙ א֚וֹ הֲיִשָּׂ֣א פָ� ֶ֔יךָ אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃

Translation

“In presenting defiled food upon my altar.”

But you say, “How have we defiled you?”

“In saying the table of YHWH may be despised. So when you present blind animals for sacrifice - is that not evil? And when you present lame and sickly animals - is that not evil? Go ahead, present that to your governor; will he accept you or honor your presence?” says YHWH of Hosts.

Reflection

Do we not have great parallel in this today? God’s people, myself at the top of this list, will use a spoon to address sin in their own lives rather than wield the sword given us in the sacraments, the word and prayer. I am cut to the quick as I think about this. We so quickly come to the Law of God as mere mechanical prescription, failing to see that YHWH’s disturbance here is that the priests failed to see that the matter of the Law was and always will be concerned with the heart.

Often I find myself obeying the speed limit not because I want to further my relationship with the state troopers but because I want to avoid a relationship with them. This is the kind of obedience that brings our worst to the altar of God, seeking to appease him and avoid relationship with him. “I brought your stupid lamb so leave me alone,” is essentially what the priests were saying.

Worse than that they brought animals from which they had no benefit, that cost them nothing. In such acts the priests declare to God that sin is not costly; it is easily brushed aside. This, of course, was an all around perversion of obedience. One would ask the question to the priests (and perhaps to ourselves), “If you care nothing about the Law of God, such that you bring sacrifices that are contrary to the ones set forth in that Law, then why bother pretending? Why continue the masquerade?”

I think if we are honest, we find this is precisely what the Lord is asking, not only the priests, but ourselves also. He is exposing the mask behind which we hide from him. We wear it to give us an appearance of obedience or goodness, much like the way we do not speed when we see a police officer, and yet our hearts want nothing to do with God. We are beggarly inside and happy that way. Yet the Lord wants more for us than this. He will pursue His people behind every mask and evil pretense, that we may stand in his glory made again after his likeness.

Lord have mercy upon us, your people, for our obedience is imperfect. We hunger and thirst for righteousness and a thousand other things. Let us lay down the spoons and take up swords, not to shed the blood of others, but that they would be as a scalpel in the hands of a loving Physician who would work in us that we would be enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Amen.