The Offering of Contempt, The Covenant of Fear and, How's Your Sacrifice?

God requires holiness and respect for his name from those in the priesthood and those who minister to God and the people. In I Samuel 2 Eli, the priest’s sons began to treat the offerings that the people would bring to sacrifice to the Lord with contempt by literally taking by force, the most and the best parts of the animals for themselves. But God took the lives of the two sons in one day.

Again, in Malachi 2, God had a sobering message for the priesthood because of their deep levels of corruption, in that they were offering polluted food on the altar of God by offering blind, lame and sick animals to sacrifice to desecrate his name. God said he would not accept an offering from dirty hands. He cursed their blessings and their children.

I Peter 2:9 says that those who come to him are spiritual houses, and a holy priesthood and we offer spiritual sacrifices—which have been made acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’s blood sacrifice. It still matters that we bring holy and pure spiritual sacrifices before the Lord. He’ll not accept offerings from dirty hands.