Sermon Tone Analysis

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I’m always concerned about giving good gifts.

But, it’s hard to give a good gift.

The best gifts are the gifts that come from the heart—the whole heart, not a half heart.

Have you ever got so busy that you forgot to give someone you love a gift?

Maybe it’s a birthday or Christmas or your anniversary and you knew it was coming up, but you waited until the last minute to even think about it.

So, you rush out to the store, maybe on the way to the party, or whatever, and you purchase the best gift you can find—the most suitable gift you can find at the last minute.

And it’s fine.

They open the gift.

They like it.

It’s fine.

It’s not spectacular, but they are genuinely appreciative.

But, you feel like a failure.

You know it was last-minute and halfhearted.

You feel as though you failed your friend, spouse, child, whoever it is.

I often find that the most heartfelt gifts are gifts that are either made or enacted.

When you purchase a gift, even if it’s exactly what the person wants and needs, they know that you didn’t put much effort into it other than going to the store.

But, when you craft a gift from hand, or you give a gift of service, the person knows how much time you have spent thinking of them and the gift takes on that value.

Many hours over many days must have gone into this gift, and so you feel appreciated.

A gift that comes from the self is often a wholehearted gift, but a gift that is merely purchased and offered can feel like a halfhearted gift.

But, giving gifts is hard.

Sometimes the best you can do is offer a halfhearted gift.

You just don’t know the person well, so you grab a gift card or give cash as a gift.

It’s halfhearted but it’s the best that you can do with what you know.

So, sometimes that’s what you have to do.

PAUSE

Well, the Israelites, we will see, were called to give gifts to God.

They knew how to give a great gift to God because God laid it out for them in the Law.

But, they still chose to give halfhearted gifts.

It isn’t like when you have to give a gift card, because it’s the best you can do.

They weren’t doing the best they could.

They were being negligent.

They were being selfish.

They simply didn’t want to put forth a wholehearted effort.

In the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites to provide animal sacrifices as gifts.

That meant that in the Old Testament times, the Israelites gave…

Dead Sacrifices

…as gifts to God.

That will become an important principle to remember when we get to the New Testament.

They killed an animal and burned it—at least part of it—on the alter as a gift for God.

The Lord had very specific requirements for dead sacrifices or burnt offerings.

I’d encourage you to read through on your own time to see how specific the requirements were, but the specific part I want you to make note of for today is verses 3 and 10.

Notice a few specifics in this passage of the law: TRIM THIS

(CSB) — Then the Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the Lord from the livestock, you may bring your offering from the herd or the flock.

“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male.

He will bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord.

He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

He is to slaughter the bull before the Lord; Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and splatter it on all sides of the altar that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Then he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.

The sons of Aaron the priest will prepare a fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.

Aaron’s sons the priests are to arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat on top of the burning wood on the altar.

The offerer is to wash its entrails and legs with water.

Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

“But if his offering for a burnt offering is from the flock, from sheep or goats, he is to present an unblemished male.

He will slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord.

Aaron’s sons the priests will splatter its blood against the altar on all sides.

He will cut the animal into pieces with its head and its fat, and the priest will arrange them on top of the burning wood on the altar.

But he is to wash the entrails and legs with water.

The priest will then present all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

“If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present his offering from the turtledoves or young pigeons.

Then the priest is to bring it to the altar, and will twist off its head and burn it on the altar; its blood should be drained at the side of the altar.

He will remove its digestive tract, cutting off the tail feathers, and throw it on the east side of the altar at the place for ashes.

He will tear it open by its wings without dividing the bird.

Then the priest is to burn it on the altar on top of the burning wood.

It is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

The specific part I want you to make note of is verses 3 and 10.

, (CSB) — “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male.

He will bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord…“But if his offering for a burnt offering is from the flock, from sheep or goats, he is to present an unblemished male.

Rules for animal sacrifices with REF:

The key word there is unblemished.

The Israelites were to bring an animal that was completely pure—no blemishes of any kind—to sacrifice on the alter.

This is consistent with so many other commands the Lord gave to Israel.

When they brought in the produce from their fields, they were to give the first share of the crop—the best portion—to the Lord.

God always deserves the best we have to offer.

So, here’s the prophesy of Malachi regarding the Israelites in his day.

(CSB) — 6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master.

But if I am a father, where is my honor?

And if I am a master, where is your fear of me? says the Lord of Armies to you priests, who despise my name.”

Yet you ask: “How have we despised your name?” 7 “By presenting defiled food on my altar.”

“How have we defiled you?” you ask.

When you say: “The Lord’s table is contemptible.”

8 “When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong?

And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong?

Bring it to your governor!

Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Armies.

9 “And now plead for God’s favor.

Will he be gracious to us?

Since this has come from your hands, will he show any of you favor?” asks the Lord of Armies.

8b (CSB) — “A son honors his father, and a servant his master.

But if I am a father, where is my honor?

And if I am a master, where is your fear of me? says the Lord of Armies to you priests, who despise my name.”

Yet you ask: “How have we despised your name?” “By presenting defiled food on my altar.”

“How have we defiled you?” you ask.

When you say: “The Lord’s table is contemptible.”

“When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong?

And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong?

The Lord began by illustrating that sons don’t treat their earthly fathers with the same contempt that the Israelites were treating God.

He says that they have despised the name of God, Yahweh, Lord.

[DEAD SACRIFICES]

The question that they posed was, How have we despised your name?