Malachi 1:10 must have been like a bolt from the blue for the Israelites just back in Jerusalem from exile; "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!" And it is not a one off, there are other times God says when it would be better if Israel shut the temple doors and padlocked them because their "worship" does more harm than good.
In every case in the Old Testament it is when Israel have let a sacred secular divide infiltrate them. When they do worship at the temple but leave worship at the temple. When the temple has just become the place where we do our God slot for the week and the rest of the week we live how we like.
It is a shocking things for God to say, Israel must have been staggered by God saying this, it ought to have brought them up short. It got me thinking about whether God would say the same thing about some of our churches today? Are there places where for the glory of God's name and for the spread of the gospel it would be better if churches closed?
And as you read through the Bible you realise it isn't just an Old Testament challenge. Read the gospels where Jesus challenges the religious practices which take place at the temple, or which are done for show and favour of man. Or read Revelation 2-3 where Jesus warns churches of the dangers they face and even of the potential his coming to remove their lampstand(2:5) or of his vomiting them out of his mouth(3:16). God cares passionately for his glory and he invests his glorious gospel in the church, his church, and he is passionate about it's purity and integrity. How can we be any less?
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