You know much about the Tabernacle?

One thing you might need to know today:  there was only one fire.  That one fire was spread to more than one altar, but there was only one fire, an important one, God Himself lit it.  When the temple was dedicated to the Lord, He indwelled the place, the priests offered the first burnt offerings shortly after, and God personally lit the fire of the bronze altar as He consumed that first offering. (Leviticus 9)  He then told them to take fire from that altar and light the other altar, the incense one in the Holy Place.  He didn’t want just any fire or just any offering on it.

Aaron had two sons that didn’t quite grasp this.  They lit that incense altar with unholy fire and felt the heat themselves when God consumed them for their hubris.  They had forgotten that while He loved them and had them construct this beautiful place in which He might commune with them, He was still God and not a mere man to be trifled with.

“Oh that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar!  I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.”                            Malachi 1:10

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron who died that day before the altar, clearly had some sort of love for the Lord, otherwise why offer Him anything.  But their little offerings were not merely unwanted by the Lord, they were repugnant.  They were such a defamation that the Lord had to consume them where they stood for the lack of respect that they represented.

Just because we come before the Lord and lay down our offerings doesn’t always mean that He looks lovingly on them and smiles.

Just because we come into His ‘house’ on Sunday morning and we lay down our time, our talents, our service, or any other offering we believe ourselves to be contributing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that God has a welcoming “well done” waiting for us.

Just because you light the fire doesn’t mean that it isn’t a useless one.

Those Israelites put a great deal of time and money and muscle and life into the work of the temple.  It was a focal point of their lives and their families.  But in Malachi’s day, that temple duty was not the focus of their hearts as much as it was of their schedules.  And their God was not pleased.

What a devastating blow if you were to hear your Maker say, “Please shut this church down!  Just close the doors so that your people will stop offering me the useless ‘sacrifices’ that I don’t want and find no pleasure in!  Stop giving them the opportunity to feel as though they’ve earned my blessing!  For all that they offer me, I do not accept.”

To have this be true of our own offerings and our own churches would be more than deflating or sad, it would be more than disappointing or humbling.  It would be dangerous.  This great God to whom we continue to offer our ‘useless fires’ is not to be messed with!

“Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord.  For I am a great King,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.”               Malachi 1:14

This is not some trifling thing with which we toy.  This ‘playing religion’ is a consuming fire of a jealous God who should be both revered and feared.  Don’t mess around offering your leftovers and your disposables and the dregs of your day and your life and your wares to Him.  He doesn’t want those and considers it a ‘cheat’ when you offer it–He isn’t to be cheated!

Your mind might go straight to money.  Do you give Him that which is left over when the bills have been paid?  You may have thought time.  Do you give Him those final minutes of the day when you’re not entirely focused or even awake? How about your service?  Do you give to Him by giving to others only that which costs you nothing–time you were already going to be spending at the church anyway, shoes that don’t fit anymore anyway, love that you would have shared anyway?

What lovely trifles are you laying into the useless fires on the altars of your life?

He wants no part of our leftovers.  He doesn’t want the blemished goods that we wouldn’t miss anyway.  He “will accept no offering from our hands” when it is only laid down after we have no use of it anymore anyway.  And not only will He fail to accept it, He has nothing but a bad name for us for offering it.  Cheat.

This is no mere man with whom we deal.  We must offer the Lord that which is of value or keep our useless fire until it burns right through the charade of religion we play the fool with.

                                  “I am a great King and my name is to be feared.”