Malachi 2:8-9 (ESV)

⁸But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, ⁹ and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

The last two days were a defense of good pastors. That does not mean that all pastors are good. Some do have selfish gain at heart. Ezekiel 34 warns the selfish shepherds who care only for themselves of the judgment they will receive. Pastors are more accountable and will be judged more severely as they are entrusted to lovingly guide the flock in the way of righteousness. (James 3:1) If instead they misuse their authority and take advantage of the flock, the Great Shepherd will deal severely with them.

How do you spot them? The passage today tells us they turn people from the way, meaning the way of righteousness. Their actions and words may be deceiving but see the results in the lives of those they lead. Their instruction actually causes their flock to stumble, meaning to sin. 2Peter 2 describes them as lustful and despising authority. They justify their own behavior with a “prophecy” or the twisting of Scripture. They refuse to be accountable to other godly leaders.

Verse 9 says that God will cause the evil priests to be despised. This is the one thing they dread, for it is the misplaced trust of the flock that gives them their power over others for selfish gain. You can be sure their sin will be exposed in time, but until it is, many are led astray. They leave ruined lives in their wake. They have no fear of God.

Are there some shepherds that are in between? Sure, as we are all growing and struggling with the old nature. But you can be sure they are either maturing in Christ or giving in to the flesh. They are surrendering to the Lord, or they are surrendering to the flesh, just like the congregation. So pray for them. If you see obvious sin, warn them. If you see spiritual growth, encourage them. Greed, lust, and the twisting of Scripture for personal gain are signs of a false shepherd. Sacrificial service, love, and sound teaching from Scripture are signs of a true shepherd.

Also see False Teachers blog

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To blame pastors for the moral decay in our country is like blaming our military for not finding Bin Ladin. Day in and day out they sacrifice for the cause of Jesus. Of course we realize that we will be the first to be sent to jail, but not for politics, rather for standing for Biblical truth, for calling sin, sin. I know a lot of pastors. None of them avoid political issues because of fear, rather out of conviction. They don’t hesitate to speak on moral issues that are unpopular.  They work hard, most of them 60 hours or more a week. A lot of the work is unseen and never gets any recognition. Very few make what they could be making in the world, in fact, many left more lucrative jobs to obey God’s calling. Statistics tell us they will have the highest rates of health problems due to the stress of the job. Many quit after a year or two out of frustration. All they need is one more reason to tell them everything is their fault. How many times does scripture say to honor the elders, to hold them in high esteem? But they get slammed from every side. They don’t pick the right music, they didn’t exegete that passage correctly, and God help us if we take a vacation. We ask for help with something and everyone is too busy so we do it ourselves, and when we get a team together to do something, we have to referee personalities.

But what is really sad about blaming them for our country’s condition is it is completely unscriptural. It may have been applicable under the theocracy of the Old Testament Israel, but not today. Obeying God rather than man was a quote from Peter to the Sanhedrin about preaching the Gospel, which is exactly what pastors do day in and day out. Some seem to think that in writing Romans 13, Paul made a big mistake. (Titus 3:1-3) In all of Paul’s writings do you see one word against Rome? Rome will behead him, but he knew that railing on Nero was a waste of time. Saving souls is what changes hearts and minds and is the only way that Christianity defeated Rome. Peter said the same, 1Pt 2:13-15 and I would encourage you to look at the reasons Peter and Paul give. Yes, both will be killed by that government, but they knew something else was more important and lasting. When pastors obey these passages, we get railed on for being cowards or looking for personal gain. But like Peter and Paul, we know we will be the first to go to prison and lose all worldly goods, yet we keep on, not because we love the prestige, or the money (I know one unpaid pastor that would laugh at this) but because Jesus called us to proclaim the Good News and die daily.

Adonirum Judson was an incredible man of faith. He was one of America’s first missionaries. He went to Burma, lost his first wife to disease and stress while he was in prison as a spy. He lost several children and his second wife as well. He only returned once to the USA. Children in the streets called him old glory face. He and his colleagues  made a pact. As much as they hated the government and its methods, they determined that if they were imprisoned, it would be for the Gospel. And they were. Sometimes hung with by the feet with their head and shoulders touching the ground. He developed a lung disease from which he never recovered. The last year of his life he had to whisper his sermons to someone that then proclaimed them outloud.  Would you accuse him of watering down his message for not preaching politics? Would you accuse Peter and Paul? How dare they not say more about Nero! Were they the cause of Rome’s decadence? There may be some pastors that are only concerned about numbers or salary, but if you judge their heart, remember with what measure you judge, you will be judged.

I’ll do the concluding Malachi passage tomorrow.

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Malachi 2:5-7 (ESV)
⁵ My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. ⁶ True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. ⁷ For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

In this passage, the Lord was rebuking the priests of Malachi’s day because they had strayed so far from God’s covenant with Levi. These verses describe the original priests as a model for all priests. God was contrasting the way it should be with they way they had become.

True instruction is literally “instruction of truth” which was understood to mean the clear teachings in the Torah. Good priests are to faithful convey the word of God to guide the people, to turn them from sin. They don’t water down the message to fit the ever changing culture. They guard the unchanging word of God from the pressures of men to compromise its demands.They should be the one place we can go to get the straight story, unadulterated by trends and popular ideas.

The Lord calls the priests messengers of the Lord Almighty! Malak (messenger) is a term that was used for angels and prophets, but here at the end of the Old Testament, God is applying it to those who convey the word of God. Since the Old Testament was almost complete, the messengers then became the ones who convey what is already revealed, and they must do it as faithfully as the ones that first delivered it. Malachi means “my messenger”. In the early church, the one that delivered the exposition of the Word was called “The Angel” and thus the letters to the 7 churches are addressed to the angel at the church of…

How careful we should be then, to deliver the Word of God as it is. We should be clear when something is our opinion rather than expressly stated in the Word. We should also not shy away from speaking what is clearly in the Word as so many tend to do in this day when culture is shifting away from the Word.

Tomorrow I will share the contrast of these good priests with those in Malachi’s day.

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