Malachi 2:5-6 (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.
As I read these verses I wonder when this covenant was made. I don’t remember Levi being all that great. Aaron, a descendent of Levi, is the one who made a golden calf that the people worshiped as their god in the wilderness. That’s what caused Moses to smash the first set of tablets on which the Law was written. So, what is he talking about? This is actually a reference to Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson. In Deuteronomy 25:10-13 God entered into a “Covenant of Peace,” and promised Phinehas a perpetual priesthood. But here are Phinehas’s great-great-great-grandchildren and they look nothing like Phinehas in terms of their zeal for the Lord. What happened?
The priests in Malachi inherit the privilege of serving in the temple, but they did not inherit the same zeal as their ancestor. Christianity is always one generation away from extinction because faith is not inherited. Each generation needs to believe for themselves. That raises the question of whether you are a believer because your parents were believers, or are you a believer because you are convinced of the truth of God’s word and the efficacy of the gospel? Inherited faith is not faith, it’s just religion.
Comments
Post a Comment