The Lame and The Blind
In the Old Testament, under the terms of the Sinai Covenant, men primarily gave plant products and animals to God for their sacrifices and “offerings”. They gave Something that could be verified, falsified, and evaluated for quality. The visible quality of what a man offered in worship or in tribute (tithe) would reflect his opinion of the nature of God. “First fruits” and “without defect” imply the offerer would give his very best, symmetrical, whole, unsick fruit or animal to demonstrate his understanding of the ultimate goodness and strength of God Himself.
Lev 3: 6 But if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord is from the flock, he shall offer it, male or female, without defect.
If the faith of the people declines, so would the quality of their sacrifices/offerings. Thus the theme in Malachi of giving lesser honor to God than to their less-good, and less-strong, mortal, sinful human leaders.
Mal. 1:8 But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts.
Why did offerors give inferior sacrifices to God? Men would have the potential to sell or use a good animal at full value. Killing the animal for a sacrifice would be a definite cost or loss. But if you could still manipulate a Blessing from God by giving up something worth much less in trade or usefulness – that would appeal to a man who had lost trust in God’s knowledge, goodness, and power.
We primarily give money now instead of animals or anything material. Like in the past, the actual service/worship of God could be enabled by trading money for the actual offering where it was less efficient to only offer the “stuff” itself. To the men who serve God and us in spiritual things: evangelism, teaching, counseling, guarding – we could bring eggs, hamburger, bread, and gasoline. This would supply their economic needs and free them for the important work that can’t be paid by normal market trade. But using money is more efficient than forcing barter activity on the recipients of our gifts.
Dt. 14:22 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.
But what if our money is flawed and substandard? This article will attempt to apply those apply those contrasts in animals (best of the flock vs. lame, sick, blind, blemished, stolen) to the kinds of money we use to offer out life and labor to God during this age of the world.
The falseness of our money now is like the embarrassing imperfections of sick/lame/blind/defiled animals of Malachi 1. We also can say, by what we offer, that our God is not worth very much honor because He must not be very Good, or not very Strong to either bless us or discipline us. Any old gift will do. Granted, the Lame/Blind/Sick idea applied to the US Dollar (or any of the current national money-units) is metaphorical in the comparison. Obviously we cannot directly apply tangibility or quality standards to something that does not exist.
13 You also say, ‘My, how tiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord. 14 “But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”
This paragraph adds “stolen” & “blemished” to the lame/sick/blind adjectives above. Giving what was stolen could mean giving to Yahweh what costs you nothing. It can also mean you traded fairly for what you have to present to the Lord, but it may be destined to steal in the future, or that theft was committed by its origin. You are actually giving what was gained by means of sin and/or crime. The sickness or imperfection of our national money-unit offends in the issue of Creation and in criminal activity.
First, our pretended money-unit: All dollars are taken by robbery, in that banks pretend to create them in the loaning process, with a result that the reckoned increase in quantity reduces the purchasing power of all dollars in the world, robbing every dollar holder. By doing so, you entangle your “Levites”, those whom you support to extend Christ’s kingdom of righteousness, in theft by deceit. I said “pretended” because – though the Federal Reserve/Central Bank claims to create them – we know finite men cannot create from nothing by just saying so. Only the infinite Creator can do that. The most men can attain to is manufacture out of what is already created ex nihilo. But when banks want you to believe that they are loaning you what is claimed to be money, there is nothing tangible or real.
Our deficient money-unit: In Malachi’s generation, men who dishonored their covenant Lord and ruler by contributing damaged animals or substandard agricultural products – were still giving real sheep, cows, or grain. There was a definite, verifiable, or falsifiable LAMB there. Maybe sick about to die, maybe a blind lamb, maybe stunted or mis-shapen – but for sure a lamb. Maybe stolen so it didn’t cost the offerer market price/loss to give, but still – a real animal with life and tangible mass. But what God’s covenant people have to conveniently offer since American money (and that of all the nations) became undefined – is a nothing. There is no “lamb” there. It is not just lame, it has no legs. It is not just sick, it has no nerves, blood vessels, or metabolism. It is not just blind, it has no head or eyes. It cannot be a gift, because no thief can trade or offer what he has no title to. Thus is the state of our international “reserve” money-unit we are currently using.
Think of the life cycle of the mammal. Its life and blood and body derives from its parents. It is nursed by real milk. It has real growth in size and weight and increases value over time. It then is given to God, used for food for people, keeps weeds down, produces wool, hides, offspring, or fertilizes the ground in death.
Our money units have a life-cycle of being pretended-out-of-nothing as banks “loan” to borrowers. They function as a leaky store of value and a means of exchange wherever they are regarded as a unit of account. They facilitate exchange of products and services. They provide interest/rent to the creditors as income during the course of the loan. Then they “die” when their originating loan principal is paid off. They disappear into the black void from whence they came. (I’m sorry I can’t help giving false impressions by using verbs implying reality for that which is nothing. It is the only way to help us understand.)
So What?
If we keep on using this imaginary, stolen money unit as the means to honor our Ruler and attempt to use to further His civil and spiritual administration, will He bless our efforts? When we think we are climbing the stair of honoring Him and building His kingdom in this fashion, won’t we be dismayed to find that “it takes us down”?
