Speaking of Levi, God says:

Verse 5: "My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

So Levi did it right. He lived with a deep reverence toward God for the covenant that God had made with him. He was not casual or flippant about the things of God. Malachi goes on about how this affected Levi's ministry of the Word:

Verse 6: True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

Levi was concerned about getting the message right, that his teaching was true to God's revelation. He was not free to say whatever would attract a crowd or win approval. He spoke the truth.

Along that line, here is a recommendation. When I began working with Preaching Today, I became aware of a ministry called Proclamation Trust in England. I came in contact with two of their leaders, Dick Lucas and David Jackman. The heartbeat of Proclamation Trust is teaching preachers to get the message right, that proper interpretation is the first step in all faithful preaching. (In the U.S., the vision of Proclamation Trust is carried on by Kent Hughes and the Simeon Trust, which conducts annual Workshops on Biblical Exposition. )

Back to Malachi. Levi also lived the truth. He walked with God. Job one for the preacher is walking with God, not preparing sermons.

And Levi turned people from sin. What a great definition of the preacher. What's my job description? Turn people from sin. Through the gospel we call people to turn from their wicked ways and follow Jesus Christ.

Malachi continues:

Verse 7: For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty.

The role of messenger is important in Malachi. This verse says that priests were God's messengers. Malachi writes also about the messenger of the covenant (3:1) who will come to the Lord's temple for judgment. In addition, Malachi speaks of the messenger who will prepare the way for the messenger of the covenant (3:1). Malachi, whose name means messenger, was God's prophetic messenger. And he concludes the book talking about Moses and Elijah, who are God's messengers (4:4, 5). God's messengers are important people, no matter what size crowd they speak to on Sunday morning. It is a role of awesome importance and responsibility, and the job description for the messenger is to preserve knowledge and give it faithfully to those who seek instruction in God's ways.

Malachi continues by contrasting the faithful work of Levi with the faithless work of the priests in his day:

Verse 8 & 9: But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi," says the LORD Almighty. "So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law."

These priests had turned from the path of Scripture themselves. And rather than teaching in a way that turned people from sin they taught in a way that actually led people into sin. This is the stern warning I must attend to. In my teaching of God's Word am I straying from God's true message, even a little bit, out of a commendable desire to relate to my hearers or out of a subconscious desire to draw a crowd?

In what other ways do you think a pastor can unconsciously edge away from faithfully speaking God's truth in ways large or small?