Polluted Priests

About this sermon

There’s a saying regarding grand juries and our legal system. They say, “You can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.” A prosecutor in a grand jury setting can get an indictment. But getting an indictment doesn’t always mean that you get a conviction. Sometimes an indictment is proven to rest on insufficient evidence. Sometimes an indictment doesn’t represent the truth. Sometimes the person indicted is innocent. But you can be sure of this. God has a 100% conviction rate on His indictments. His indictments never rest on insufficient evidence. He never indicts innocent people. And He’s not just the prosecuting attorney. He’s the judge. God has already charged that the people who have returned from exile to Jerusalem, who are now worshipping through the activity of second temple priestly service, are guilty of not recognizing God’s goodness. They don’t recognize God’s grace. They don’t acknowledge how they have been loved. But that is the just the beginning of their problems. THE CHARGE OF DISHONOR (vs.6) Their problem goes beyond a blindness to God’s goodness. Their problem goes beyond a misguided sense that they’ve been mistreated. God brings an additional charge. THE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AS THEY ARE REPRESENTED IN THE PRIESTS, ARE GUILTY OF DISHONORING THE LIVING GOD. They have dishonored Him in every way. THEY HAVE DISHONORED HIM RELATIONALLY Israel is God’s son. God chose to relate Himself to this people as a Father. ESV Exodus 4:21 And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the amiracles that I have put in your power. But bI will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, aIsrael is my bfirstborn son, 23 and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I awill kill your firstborn son.'" Isaiah 63:7-64:12 (read) ESV Hosea 11:1 aWhen Israel was a child, bI loved him, and out of Egypt I ccalled dmy son. 2 aThe more they were called, the more they went away; bthey kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. 3 Yet it was aI who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that bI healed them. 4 aI led them with cords of kindness,1 with the bands of love, and bI became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and cI bent down to them and fed them. 5 aThey shall not1 return to the land of Egypt, but bAssyria shall be their king, cbecause dthey have refused to return to me. 6 aThe sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them bbecause of their own counsels. 7 My people are bent aon turning away from me, and though bthey call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all. 8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? aHow can I make you blike Admah? How can I treat you clike Zeboiim? dMy heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. 9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; afor I am God and not a man, bthe Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.1 10 aThey shall go after the LORD; bhe will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling cfrom the west; 11 they shall come trembling like birds afrom Egypt, and blike doves cfrom the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD. THEY HAVE DISHONORED HIM REVERENTIALLY If you forgot all that God had done for Israel from a relational point of view — if you simply consider God as God, Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign, the people don’t TREMBLE before Him. If you consider the kind of honor and fear that is given in the human realm and you compare what Israel is doing, it’s shameful. Sons honor fathers. Servants respect masters. God has loved His people as only a Father could love a son. God is more deserving of His people’s service than any master. And yet, what the people would give to other mere human beings, they refuse to give to God. They do not honor Him. They do not respect Him. In fact, the priests are DESPISING Him. God is questioning them. “WHERE IS MY HONOR? WHERE IS MY RESPECT?” He’s asking the priests. He’s asking those who are despising His name. The charge is the charge of dishonor.