Today's Daily Bread

HIS NAME WILL BE GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS

Date : Friday, June 26, 2026
Passage : Malachi 1:1~14
Keyverse : 11  
1
A prophecy: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.
2
"I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, ’How have you loved us?’ "Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob,
3
but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."
4
Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins." But this is what the LORD Almighty says: "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD.
5
You will see it with your own eyes and say, ’Great is the LORD - even beyond the borders of Israel!’
6
"A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you priests who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, ’How have we shown contempt for your name?’
7
"By offering defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, ’How have we defiled you?’ "By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible.
8
When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.
9
"Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?" - says the LORD Almighty.
10
"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands.
11
My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.
12
"But you profane it by saying, ’The LORD’s table is defiled,’ and, ’Its food is contemptible.’
13
And you say, ’What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty. "When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD.
14
"Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the LORD. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.
Malachi opens his prophesy with a declaration of God's love for Israel and contrasts it with his rejection of Edom. The passage begins with the Lord affirming his love, which prompted skeptical Israelites to ask: “How have you loved us?” In response, God points to his choice of Jacob over Esau, emphasizing that while Jacob (Israel) was chosen and blessed, Esau (Edom) was rejected and destined for desolation. Despite Edom’s attempts to rebuild, God declares their efforts will be futile.

The Lord rebuked the priests of Israel for dishonoring God through careless and corrupt worship. The Lord compared the respect a son shows his father, and a servant his master, to the lack of reverence shown by the priests, who offer defiled sacrifices—blind, lame, and sick animals—on God’s altar. These offerings violate the covenant and reflect a careless attitude toward God’s holiness. God deserves honor and pure worship, and God warned that he would not accept such offerings and would instead bring judgment. God's name is great among the nations, and he seeks sincere, wholehearted devotion.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your love for us. May we love, honor and revere you all the days of our lives.
One Word: The Lord’s name will be great