Malachi 1:8

"And when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is no evil! and when ye offer the lame and sick, it is no evil! Present it now to thy governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith Jehovah of hosts."

The sin evident in this passage is that, "They failed to give God the very best, attempting to offer to God that which was of no value to men."[25] Every spiritually minded person who ever lived instinctively accepted the principle that, to God one must give the very best. David also understood the inherent principle of sacrificing in all worship, saying, when he might have received the threshing floor of Ornan as a gift upon which to build the temple, chose rather to pay for it, saying, "Nay, but I will verily buy it of thee at a price; neither will I offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing" (2 Samuel 24:24). Also, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, king of Salem, it is recorded that, "He gave a tenth of all." That means, of course, a tithe of the best and most valuable spoils procured in the victory. The law of Moses defined the character of offerings to God as being of the most valuable possessions, "without spot or blemish," etc. The reprobate priesthood of Malachi's times were accepting the sick, the lame, and the blind, and doing many other things forbidden.

"Present it now unto thy governor ..." "The word here rendered 'governor' meant lieutenant or viceroy ([~pechath]) among the Chaldeans, Syrians, and Persians; for neither at this time, nor ever after, was there a king in Israel."[26] Arguments regarding the date of Malachi suppose that this passage means that Nehemiah was not the governor; for he had specifically stated that he refused to accept gifts. However, Nehemiah could have changed that policy, announced at the beginning of his administration; or even at that time, it might not have applied to all types of gifts. Besides that, Malachi was hero merely appealing to a principle valid throughout the Orient in all ages and until the present day. It is a mistake to build a case for the date of this prophecy on a statement like this.

"Is it no evil ..." Indeed, nothing could be more evil than the perversion of God's worship through the offering of inferior and forbidden sacrifices. Christianity has fallen into the same abuse, offering to God as worship and obedience, all kinds of forbidden and inferior substitutes for what the Lord commanded. This warning to ancient Israel should be heeded today, Moreover, the practitioners of such abuses arrogantly deny that they do anything wrong, just as did these priests of old. We shall not attempt any elaborate list of such abuses; but, as an example, may we cite "a saxophone duet" offered to God instead of the singing he commanded!