In the book of Malachi, God, warns of religious worship actually being contemptuous of God, by offering defiled sacrifices in worship.   God accuses his people of despising him with their “shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship” (Mal 1:7 -Message).  “The altar of God is not important anymore; worship of God is no longer a priority ……And when you offer worthless animals for sacrifices in worship, animals that you’re trying to get rid of – the blind and sick and crippled animals – isn’t that defiling” (Mal. 1:8 – Message).  

God  exhorts them, “Get on your knees and pray that I will be gracious to you.  Your priests have gotten everyone in trouble.  With this kind of conduct, do you think I’ll pay attention to you” ( Mal 1:9).  God reminds them that all over the world He is honored and worshipped.  He, however, tells them, “All except you.  Instead of honoring me, you profane me.  You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored – this doesn’t do anything for me.’….And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless.  Do you think I’m going to accept it?” (Mal 1:12-13 – Message).

Then God expresses how serious he view shoddy, sloppy and defiling worship.  ” A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me – an expensive sacrifice, say – and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless!  I’m a great king, God-of-the Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it” (Mal. 1:14 – Message). 

I am convicted of how quiet I have been regarding the profane manner God is treated in our culture. As nation we have lost our way.  Our worship of God does not reflect an awe of an holy and almighty God.  Our worship is “shoddy, sloppy and defiling.” By dishonoring God with our indifference,  judgment can already be discerned by the faithful “watchmen” looking into the future.  Malachi’s prophecy is warning us, “Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire” Mal. 4:1 – Message).  “All the arrogant people who do evil things, will be burned up, like stove wood, burned to a crip, nothing left but scorching earth and ash – a black day” (Mal 4:2-3).  

But for those, whose worship is whole hearted and sincere it will be like a sunrise.  “The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings.  You will be bursting with energy, like colts, frisky and frolicking.  And you’ll tromp on the wicked. They’ll be nothing but ashes under your feet on that Day” (Mal. 4:2-3 – Message). 

Writing this blog on Malachi’s prophecy has convicted me.  I want to publicly make a commitment.  First, I will not be silent.  I will quietly, yet confidently warn those in my sphere of influence that God’s judgment is coming on a nation that profanes Him.  Secondly, I will make my warning as simply as this:  Jesus is Lord and King of all history – He has already won the battle – His kingdom is here – We have a choice to make – Make him Lord or suffer the consequences.  

Since I am in the fourth quarter of my life here on earth,  thirdly, I will “not be ashamed of the of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).  Only Jesus can save us from ourselves and fourthly, I am willing to count the cost of following Jesus. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). 

This is the title of a new book by Noelle Mering.  She wrote a condensed article about the woke movement for Ralph Martin’s monthly newsletter.  She contends there are victims of the movement, who need healing.  There are those who, “have been given some poison of ideology that has harmed and wounded them.” Others have simply been deceived.  Then there are others who are “the source of the poison and need to be stopped.” This all causes confusion.  “Some people need to be befriended and listened to.  Other people need to be woken up.  And the people doing immediate harm need to be stopped.” 

The woke movement started in the Garden, where Adam and Eve were tempted to be as god.  “It is a self-deification movement,” writes Mering, “that corrodes the human person as well as friendships, families, and relationships.”  Following Marx, woke sees “every person either as an oppressor or the oppressed.” Marx believed, “the biggest obstacles to a revolution as faith, family, and the father.”  Why?  “All three give us a particular identity and help us to feel named and known.  They root us and give us purpose.” 

The poison of the movement is “a redefining of what a human is.”  According to Mering, woke has three dogmas.  “The first dogma emphasizes the group and sublimates the person.  It redefines humanity according to society’s hatred and demands uniformity of thought.  Identity is found in fighting oppression.  It creates a society looking for a perpetrator and seeking victimhood.”  Instead of being children of a loving God, “the movement defines us by society’s hatred.” 

The second dogma, “emphasizes will at the expense of reason.  It attempts to re-engineer society by claiming that society and humanity have no fundamental nature….our feelings and desires define us and that we should pursue transgressive identities…..moral law is oppressive and innocence is a form of dominance that must be destroyed.”  We are oppressed by our own internal repression, which is based on a moral law that is really a social construct and not actually real. 

The third dogma, “emphasizes power over authority.  It harms the whole family by targeting and weakening the father.  This harms our understanding of God as well.”  Targeting fathers implodes the human family.  But warms Mering, “the real target is our Lord.” 

But Mering is hopeful.  “Social re-engineers think,” observes Mering, “human nature is putty, but the human person longs for and is made to know, love, and serve God.”  The woke movement understands, “everything is systemically wrong around me.”  As believers we say, “What is wrong with me?  Mea culpa.”  Each of us is self-accused; We don’t accuse others.  “From there,” she declares, “we can bravely call out the lies that are harming people.”  “The thin veneer of ideology will not satisfy the human soul.  We all need to know they are named and known by God.”  

In my opinion, the poison of Woke has already done much harm to families and especially the young. Men, we need to be alert to the intention of this poison in our society.  We are no longer seen as beloved children of God, but victims of society’s hate.  The moral law and reason are  devalued, while personal choice is promoted.  Men need to know Woke has them in their crosshairs, with its emphasis on power over authority.  Mering points out that faith, family and faith are the biggest roadblocks in the movement, since any authority is seen as oppressive.

Men, don’t be deceived by this poison.  Don’t allow those in your family to be wounded.  We must wake up. “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph 5:14).