The Lord has charged the princes and priests of Israel (the church) for violating His law. This law which the princes and priests have violated and found guilty of profanity, is the law of the priest in regards to their service in the temple of God.
For thus says the Lord; “And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name," Says the LORD of hosts; " I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart.
The first duty of the priest is to give glory to the name of the Lord, and for this reason they have been instructed saying; “Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth” (Psalms 96: 7-9).
Now in order to carry out this function effectively, the priests are required to be holy, for thus says the Lord; “They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.” And what makes them holy according to the scripture is; “Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy.
(Leviticus 21:6; Exodus 29:32-33).
The final instructions David gave concerning the duties of the priests in the house of the Lord was that they were “To stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening; and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the LORD; and that they should attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the LORD” (1Chronicles 23: 30-32).
The church is guilty of the same offense, since it is "A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people, called to proclaim the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light." The church is also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1Peter 2:9, 5).
The admonition given to the church is; "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God' (Romans 12:1-2).
The reason for having been delivered from the hand of our enemies is that the church might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And there is only one way by which this can be accomplished in a manner that is acceptable to God, is by being holy, in order to offer to the Lord the food for His offerings at its appointed time.
To this end the church has been cautioned saying: " Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time' (Numbers 28:2).
This sweet aroma is Jesus Christ whom we have been admonished to be, "Imitators of God as dear children and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma" (Ephesians 5:2).
The question is, how long will the church continue to profane God?
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