When Men Despise God in Worship, God Despises Men's Worship

Through the prophet Malachi, God condemned the priests and people for bringing sacrifices that were lame, blind and defective. By doing so, they despised God, treated Him lightly, regarded Him as no one in particular, and probably figured He wouldn't mind since He was "loving and merciful." God indicated that He would not accept their worship, their offerings or their prayers. He expressed the wish that someone would shut the gates of the temple, because no worship at all was better than insulting worship. There are many churches like this today. God "wishes" someone would lock the doors and throw away the key, because they dishonor God in all that they do. They do not look to Christ as their satisfaction and trust, but instead offer blemished sacrifices.