““A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts. To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’” Malachi 1:6
How is your relationship with your father? Do you have a healthy and respectful relationship with your parents? How about your relationship with your boss or those in authority over you? Are you faithfully carrying out the responsibilities and duties entrusted to you?
Why am I asking this? Because if we cannot build a good relationship with our parents or with those in authority over us, and if we are lacking in the duties entrusted to us, then how can we truly love and serve God with fear, honor, and high reverence?
When the LORD says, “A son honors his father, And a servant his master,” the LORD is speaking about the expectation within family and societal relationships. We know that one of the greatest commandments after loving God is to honor our father and mother, and this command comes with a promise (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2–3). This commandment is so serious that in the Old Testament, anyone who cursed or struck their parents faced severe judgment (Exodus 21:15, 17). That shows how heavy this command is before God. If we cannot honor our earthly parent, how much more should we honor God, our Heavenly Father?
In the same way, as servants honor their masters, we are also called to respect those in authority over us and to carry out our work diligently and faithfully (Colossians 3:22–23). If we cannot faithfully do the work entrusted to us here on earth, how much more can we be faithful in the work God has entrusted to us for His kingdom?
Then the LORD says, If then I am the Father, Where is My honor?” When I first read this, it broke my heart because I am so convicted. The LORD proclaimed that He is the Father of Israel and also our Father. Because when we believe in the LORD Jesus Christ, we become children of God, and God becomes our Heavenly Father (John 1:12). Is not the Holy Spirit also bearing witness with our spirit, crying, “Abba, Father”? (Romans 8:15–16). Let me give you a simple yet crucial example of how many of us dishonor God. The root cause is our lack of intimate fellowship with our Father. Many of our brethren nowadays neglect spending time in God’s Word. They are illiterate! We know that only through His words did we come to understand His heart, His will, and His character. How can we truly know our Father if we do not spend time listening to Him through His Word?
What is even more unfortunate is that many of us boldly proclaim Jesus as their LORD and Savior while unknowingly bringing shame instead of honor to His name because they neglect spending time in His Word. A child who truly loves and reveres their father listens carefully to his words and values what he says. Yet look how many Christians support and tolerate things that clearly go against their Father’s word, such as supporting same-sex marriage and abortion?
I am not speaking this to condemn anyone. I am speaking truth with boldness because great and holy is the name of our LORD Jesus Christ. His name deserves reverence, honor, and glory. Yet many of us, through our ignorance, compromise, and negligence, bring shame instead of honor to His name. Just like the Israelites, God declared that wherever they went, they profaned His name among the nations (Ezekiel 36:20–23).
Then the LORD continues and says, “And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence?” The Hebrew word for “reverence” here is môrā’, which carries the meaning of fear, reverence, and something awe-inspiring. But the word “reverence” used here is not as strong compared to the word Moses used when he gave his final charge to Israel before they entered the Promised Land, yet these two prophets strongly emphasize the importance of giving God the highest reverence and fear. Why? Because our God is the LORD of lords and the King of kings. He is the Almighty God, the Most High above all. The day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD (Philippians 2:10–11). As it is written,
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Did you notice that the very first thing God required from them was to fear Him? The Hebrew word used here is “yārē’,” which means to fear, to stand in awe, to tremble, to be fearful, to be dreadful, to be astonished, and to deeply revere. This is a very strong word because God is holy!
Throughout the Bible, when prophets such as Daniel, Ezekiel, and John encountered the glory and presence of God, they fell facedown before Him. Daniel said that no strength remained in him (Daniel 10:8–9). Ezekiel fell on his face when he saw the likeness of the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 1:28). John also fell at His feet as though dead when he saw the glorified Christ (Revelation 1:17). Their bodies responded to the overwhelming holiness, majesty, and power of God. This helps us understand the seriousness and the great importance of giving our highest reverence to God, because we are standing before the absolute and sovereign Being, the living Almighty God.
As our LORD Jesus Christ said,
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” — Matthew 10:28
Even Hebrews declares:
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” — Hebrews 10:31
So just as the priests and the Israelites failed to give God the reverence due to His name, many of us today are doing the same. Why do so many professing believers no longer walk in the fear and reverence of God? Why do many continue bringing shame to His holy name and crucify Him again through continual rebellion and willful sin (Hebrews 6:6), choosing sin over God again and again? We know that sin separates us from fellowship with Him (Isaiah 59:2), yet many still cling to the very things that grieve His heart.
Isn’t that what the LORD Jesus said:
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” Luke 6:46
If we genuinely love and reverence Jesus as our LORD, then we would hate the very things He hates and flees from the sins that dishonor Him.
And when the Scripture says, “Says the LORD of hosts,” God is emphasizing His absolute sovereignty, authority, and dominion over every power, kingdom, force, and realm. The title LORD of hosts means that God is the LORD of heaven’s armies. He is the chief commander! He is in charge! These angels are mighty and powerful servants of God. Scripture tells us that just one angel struck down 185,000 Assyrians in one night by the command of God (2 Kings 19:35). Yet this same God is the One whom many of us continue to dishonor and rebel against.
Then the LORD directly addresses the ones who committed this impudent act against Him. He says, “To you priests who despise My name.” The book of Leviticus can give you detailed instructions concerning the duties and responsibilities of the priests. They were appointed by God to minister before Him, maintain the holiness of the Temple, offer sacrifices according to His commandments, discern between what is holy and unholy, and teach Israel the commandments and statutes of God. Yet God declared that these very priests failed to give Him the honor and reverence due to Him, which eventually led them into despising His name.
A little context here: Malachi prophesied during the period when the Temple in Jerusalem had already been rebuilt under Zerubbabel (Malachi likely ministered around the same era as Ezra and Nehemiah). The Temple in Jerusalem had already been rebuilt after the exile. The priestly service was restored, sacrifices resumed, and temple activities continued. But the hearts of the priests and the people were not right before God. The priests failed to consecrate themselves and neglected the sacred responsibilities entrusted to them (Ezra 9:1–2; Nehemiah 13:28–29). As Malachi later reveals, they were offering polluted sacrifices to God such as lame, sick, and blind animals upon the altar (Malachi 1:7–8). They were never supposed to offer such corrupted sacrifices because the God they served is holy. God had already given clear instructions in the Law that offerings presented to Him must be without blemish (Leviticus 22). Yet the priests profaned the very sacrifices that were meant to sanctify themselves, the Temple, and the people of Israel before the LORD.
They no longer placed value on the holy things God entrusted to them. What was sacred became common in their eyes. Is this not also happening today among us? Scripture says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and that we are a royal priesthood before God (1 Peter 2:9). Yet many of us continue to corrupt and defile the very temple where God chooses to dwell, treating our bodies casually instead of honoring them as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Just like this priest, no longer treat holy things with reverence and fear before God. Instead of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1), many have become contemptuous toward the sacred calling entrusted to us. We no longer place high value upon what the LORD Jesus Christ has done for us through the cross.
That is why Scripture commands us:
“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” — 1 Corinthians 6:20
This is truly terrifying. What makes it even more fearful is that the priests seemed completely unaware of the seriousness of what they had done.
When God rebuked them, they responded by saying, Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ They were unable to recognize their own sin and dishonor before Him. This is frightening because it reveals how hardened and spiritually blind a heart can become. Their consciences had become dull, and what was holy no longer convicted them. Their minds become corrupted and reprobate because of the deceitfulness of their sins and as they continually reject the truth (Romans 1:28). Is this not also happening to many of our brethren today? As they all continue living in sin, compromise, and rebellion against God while justifying themselves, unable to see their own transgressions before a holy God. Their minds become reprobate!
A reprobate or hardened heart is terrifying because a person can reach a point where they no longer feel conviction over sin. What once grieved the heart now feels normal. What God calls evil, people begin to justify. Instead of trembling before the Word of God and repenting before God. Many now use Scripture itself to justify their wrongdoing while still claiming they belong to Jesus, yet their actions do not reflect the character of God. We must remember that we are called children of God (1 John 3:1). If God is truly our Father, then our lives should reflect the character of our Heavenly Father. We are called to walk in holiness, righteousness, love, truth, and obedience just as Christ walked (1 Peter 1:15–16; 1 John 2:6).
To remain in this spiritual condition is a terrifying thing because a hardened heart can reach the point where a person no longer even feels the need to repent and ask God for forgiveness of sins. Remember that the LORD Jesus commanded the church in Thyatira to repent because they were tolerating sin and corruption among them (Revelation 2:20–22). A hardened heart slowly loses sensitivity to conviction, repentance, and reverence before God (Ephesians 4:18–19). This is the dangerous point where a person can unknowingly begin drifting away and turning away from the salvation Jesus freely offered through His sacrifice (Hebrews 2:1–3).
Remember, no one can take away the salvation God freely gives to us because it is a gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8–9; John 10:28–29). Yet Scripture also warns believers not to depart from the living God through unbelief and the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12–13). We still have the choice to reject, abandon, or turn away from that gift through continual rebellion, unbelief, and refusal to repent before God (2 Peter 2:20–22; Hebrews 10:26–29).
But here is the good news: God spoke these rebukes not to condemn the priests but to reach their hearts and call them back to Him. He is also doing the same for us today. God’s correction is an act of His mercy and love, because He desires repentance rather than destruction. As it is written, Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings …” (Jeremiah 3:22) and “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be blotted out …” (Acts 3:19)
Therefore, repent and return to the LORD while your heart is still sensitive to His voice!
Ask God to create in you a new heart of flesh, a heart that truly seeks after Him (Psalm 51:10 & Ezekiel 36:26).
thespeiro.com 