As part of the family’s regular series of sacrifices, each household was supposed to offer to the Lord the firstborn of their flock. They were to offer it in Jerusalem, at the altar, as a show of thankfulness to the Lord.
But not if it’s impure, that is.
Deuteronomy 15:21 mentions specific attributes that call it impure, such as lameness or blindness, but also gives the more nebulous phrase of “any serious defect.” For a full list of “serious defects,” please consult Leviticus 22:20-24.
It’s not really as open-ended as we may think; instead, the section is primarily about attitude. Whenever we offer the firstborn (which theoretically should be the most valued member of the flock), we’re telling God that we honor Him.
But when we offer a firstborn that is impure, it signals to Him that we’re performing the sacrifice, but without the spirit of the sacrifice.
This is exactly what God chastises the people for in Malachi 1. They presented food at the altar, but it was “defiled food.” It wasn’t the best; in fact, it was the worst. The people presented blind, lame, diseased animals to God. In some cases, they even stole their offerings to present those (Malachi 1:13).
Think about this from your perspective. If you saved the life of someone, and they gave you a partially used Starbucks gift card as a token of thanks, how would you respond? Should you be thankful for their gift? Would you feel like they cared about your sacrifice?
God doesn’t either. Instead, in most cases, He would rather they “shut the doors” than offer such lifeless and meaningless worship. If they weren’t going to actually tell God thank you, then just stay home.
If this doesn’t hit home when we think about our own worship, I don’t know what does. We’re told to worship God from the heart, with our whole spirit. And yet, over and over again, I find myself miming the words to songs and looking at my watch to see when we’ll get out of services.
That’s what Malachi means when he says that people “disdainfully sniffed” (Malachi 1:13) at the worship of God. They may not have made the face, but in their heart (which was reflected in their actions), they definitely didn’t see it as important.
According to Deuteronomy 15:22, any lame or blind offering is reserved for personal use. Eat it on your own time, in other words. Just don’t try to offer it to God as a firstborn offering.
The same applies to us. We should reserve our poor attitudes for the county tax assessors, the road construction we encounter daily, or the DMV.
Not Jehovah. He deserves the best we have to offer, and more.