10. In what way were the priests despising Jehovah’s table?

¹⁰ Judah’s priests serving at the temple in Jerusalem during Malachi’s time were not offering Jehovah the best sacrifices. Malachi 1:6-8 says: “‘A son, for his part, honors a father; and a servant, his grand master. So if I am a father, where is the honor to me? And if I am a grand master, where is the fear of me?’ Jehovah of armies has said to you, O priests who are despising my name.” “In what way have we despised your name?” asked the priests. “By presenting upon my altar polluted bread,” Jehovah replied. “In what way have we polluted you?” the priests asked. So Jehovah told them: “By your saying: ‘The table of Jehovah is something to be despised.’” Those priests showed that they despised Jehovah’s table each time they presented a defective sacrifice, saying: “It is nothing bad.”

11. (a) What did Jehovah say about unacceptable sacrifices? (b) In what way were the people in general guilty?

¹¹ Jehovah then reasoned regarding such unacceptable sacrifices: “Bring it near, please, to your governor. Will he find pleasure in you, or will he receive you kindly?” No, their governor would not take pleasure in such a gift. How much less will the Universal Sovereign accept defective offerings! And it was not just the priests who were at fault. True, they were showing contempt for Jehovah by performing the actual sacrifices. But were the people in general without guilt? No, indeed! They were the ones who had selected those blind, lame, and sick animals and who had brought them to the priests to have them sacrificed. What sinfulness!

Each Must Render an Account

17, 18. (a) Why did Jehovah curse “the one acting cunningly”? (b) What had those who acted cunningly not taken into account?

¹⁷ Individuals living in Malachi’s day bore personal responsibility for their deeds, and so do we. (Romans 14:12; Galatians 6:5) Accordingly, Malachi 1:14 states: “Cursed is the one acting cunningly when there exists in his drove [an unblemished] male animal, and he is making a vow and sacrificing a ruined one to Jehovah.” A man who had a drove did not own just a single animal​—say, just one sheep—​so that he had no choice. In selecting an animal for sacrifice, he did not have to choose one that was blind, lame, or sick. If he did choose such a defective creature, it would show that he despised Jehovah’s sacrificial arrangement, for a man who had a drove of animals could surely find one that did not have such defects!

¹⁸ With good reason, then, Jehovah cursed the one acting cunningly, the one who had a suitable male animal but who brought​—perhaps had to drag—​a blind, lame, or sick creature to the priest for sacrifice. Yet, there is not even a hint that any of the priests quoted God’s law that defective animals were not acceptable. (Leviticus 22:17-20) Reasonable individuals knew that they would have fared badly if they had tried to foist such a gift on their governor. But in reality they were dealing with the Universal Sovereign, Jehovah, who is far, far greater than any human governor. Malachi 1:14 states matters this way: “‘I am a great King,’ Jehovah of armies has said, ‘and my name will be fear-inspiring among the nations.’”

19. What do we yearn for, and what should we be doing?

¹⁹ As loyal servants of God, we yearn for the day when the Great King, Jehovah, is revered by all mankind. At that time, “the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)