The reverence God requires of you is ultimate, for everything about him is sacred and inviolable.
When God first spoke to Moses at the burning bush, he uttered the familiar words, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). What does this tell us about God’s holiness?
Several years ago my wife and I took our granddaughter to the Art Museum. It is surprising how close you can get to valuable art. We got so close to one painting that our granddaughter reached out and touched it with her finger. We immediately had the full attention of the museum staff. Paintings in art museums deserve respect. Some get nothing short of reverence as entire rooms can be hallowed spaces for one, inviolable painting.
When God told Moses to keep his distance and remove his sandals, he was requiring reverence.
Ultimate reverence
When Scripture says God is holy, it means we must treat him with ultimate reverence. Everything about him is sacred and inviolable. He has exalted above all things his name and his word (Psalm 138:2); therefore in our thoughts and actions, we must set God apart from what is profane. He is most important of all that exists, and we must treat him accordingly.
Therefore Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.” To hallow means to treat as sacred, as greatly revered and honored. So when we pray, “Hallowed be your name,” we are asking God to cause his name, his identity, himself, to be revered in our lives and world.
Similarly, the 3rd commandment says, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) God forbids people from using his name—that is, his identity, the idea of God, the word God and other names for him such as Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit—in an empty, meaningless, profane way. To do so is to bring God down, to treat him as less than sacred. (See also Mark 3:29)
The cost of the reverence God requires
We also reverence God by treating him as most important. One way we do that is to give him what is most important to us: our time, energy, money, possessions. When we sacrifice what we value to God, we declare that we value him more than what we give him and in doing so we give him glory by showing he has ultimate value. Consequently, God commanded Israel, “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God” (Exodus 23:19).
It is good and kind for God to require this, for it is right, and of course everything comes from him in the first place. Furthermore, since he alone is good, and he is the ultimate good, he is upholding what is good and life-giving at the center of our lives. If God is diminished in our lives, we are diminished.
Far less than the reverence God requires
At one point in the history of Israel, God had become grievously diminished in the hearts of his people, even his priests, and the rebuke God gave them for their irreverence reveals how serious is the reverence God requires and how seriously we must take it.
In Malachi 1:6–14 the Lord says, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name.”
Note that God begins by directly addressing the priests, who of course were to be the holiest men in Israel and understand best what it meant to treat the Lord with reverence. Nevertheless, they were the worst offenders—so bad that he says their actions proved they actually despised him. The Lord continues:
“But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
“[7] By offering polluted food upon my altar.”
Note that God focuses on the sacrifices the priests were offering. To understand this section, we need to call to mind one of the requirements God gave to Moses about the quality of the animals used in sacrifice. Leviticus 22:21–22 says, “When anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to the LORD as a food offering on the altar.”
Giving one’s worst
So Malachi continues with God’s rebuke of the priests: “But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’
“By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised.”
The priests were telling the people it was okay for them to offer defective animals—their least valuable animals. Apparently the priests were even saying through some upside-down reasoning that people could despise the Lord’s table.
Slap in the face
God continues, and uses strong language: “[8] When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.”
To treat God irreverently is “evil.” The worst sins anyone can commit are to mistreat the holiest, most exalted being.
God says even a human governor will not accept a disrespectful gift. Imagine being invited to dinner at the home of the most important person in your community and bringing as a gift a four-year-old can of beans you found earlier that day in the back of your pantry, which you intended to throw away because the can was so old but decided to give instead to your host to save money. What a slap in the face.
Shut the doors
Verse 10 continues: “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. [11] For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.”
Notice that the issue in these animal sacrifices is respect. When we say God is holy, that means we must revere him. We must treat him with the greatness he deserves.
The great king
The Lord concludes his rebuke of the priests: “[12] But you profane [my great name] when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. [13] But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. [14] Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.”
Fear and reverence are closely linked ideas. Everything about God is sacred and inviolable. The Lord is most important of all that exists, and we must treat him as most important. He is to be honored always and above all. He is holy.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)