Bible Prophecy and Inspiration

Malachi 1:6-8 – ⁶ “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

⁷ “You place defiled food on my altar.

“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. ⁸ When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.

When I read the scripture I’m reminded that our God doesn’t appreciate scraps.  There was an effort in the above scriptures, but they were offering the lowest of what they had.

It’s like the Lord walking up to your dinner table, there’s a huge meal, and you sit him to the side and pull out the cold leftovers in the fridge that is just a little out dated.

Your attitude may be, hey I made an effort here.  There was no ignoring the Lord, however, you know by the example that it would be sad and not a good thing.  The one who gives us life is coming to us and we give him our …..scraps.

Proverbs 3:9 – ⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;

Genesis 4:1-6 –  ¹ Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” ² Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. ³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. ⁴ But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

⁶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Cain was giving an offering, but he wasn’t going all out.  Abel was giving the fat portions or the first born.  It was probably the best he had.  We all know what happened next.  Sin was crouching and Cain killed Abel.  Sin keeps us from giving our best to the Lord.

We need to give God our best not scraps.  It matters very much.

Exodus 32:1-5 –¹ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who
brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”  ² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”  ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and
got up to indulge in revelry.

God had just brought the Israelites out of Egypt.  By this time no one had seen such great miracles before and no one since has seen the vast number of them in a short time period of time.  Yet the stiff necked people were quick to forget the Lord God that brought them out of Egypt and referred to them as His
people.

What happened?

I believe they got idle.  They were free, Moses was gone for quite awhile and they didn’t know what to do with themselves.  Fresh out of slavery and the Egyptians served many idols.

How Aaron so quickly turned is another amazing story of how even those closest are prone to falling on their faces when it comes to correctly living for the Lord.  These stories are throughout the Bible and actually give us hope.  Men trying to serve the Lord have never made an impossible example to live up too.  It’s what makes the Bible Unique.

When we are walking on the path and seeking God on a regular basis, we have a tendency to be walking closer to Him.  Once we get bored and look elsewhere, get idle, we tend to wander off the path.

Idleness is a bad thing.  We need to constantly stay linked into the Holy Spirit or the batteries run down.  We get amnesia on things we should be doing.  Once we start trying to please the flesh it hungers for more and never fulfills.

Seek the Lord and leave the golden calf alone.  In the spectrum of eternity it’s a no brainer.