Malachi 1:11 is a common “proof-text” for the Catholic Mass. Robert Sungenis, who has written perhaps the best book defending Catholic theology on the Mass, has used this previously as a prophecy of the propitiatory nature of the Catholic Mass (e.g., pp. 95-101 of Not By Bread Alone [2d ed.; 2009]). However, in his March 12, 2025, livestream, he has come out against it being a valid proof-text for the Catholic Mass and the Eucharistic sacrifice being propitiatory. The following is from 52:05-58:38 of his livestream (transcription slightly cleaned up) (the context: Sungenis is addressing the debate on whether the Catholic Mass is a propitiatory sacrifice between James White and Joe Heschmeyer):
So let's just deal with this
verse first and then we'll go to the context now I don't know whether Joe Heschmeyer
knows Hebrew or not I don't think he does I don't think he knows the Greek of
the New Testament okay if I'm wrong I'm wrong okay but there was no appeal to
Hebrew in any of his debate or he or Greek so for that matter I don't know
whether White did either I don't think he did because it just wasn't a topic of
discussion but it could have been okay and here it should have been okay
because verse 11 of Malachi chapter 1 has no verbs okay so every time you read “my
name shall be great among the nations” doesn't say that in the Hebrew and where
it says “and everywhere incense shall be offered to my name and a Pure Food
offering my name shall be great” no it doesn't say that so that's the first
thing there's no pointing to the future so in other words it basically would say
“my name among the Gentiles” or “among the Nations and in every place incense
is presented to my name and a food offering or a grain offering is presented in
my name among the nations.” So it's a present tense not a future tense because
there is no verb no perfect or imperfect verb if it was you had an imperfect
verb there in the Hebrew you could say “yeah that that could possibly be
referring to the future.” But it's not so, and the other thing, of course is
that we don't have grain offerings. Our Catholic priests don't make grain
offerings and Mr. Heschmeyer’s explanation of that was “well that's just
symbolic of you know the blood offering.” It's not okay–“grain offering” is a
grain offering and then incense now we do have incense in the Catholic Mass of
course yes as a copy of what they did in the Old Testament. All right so but
then why don't you copy the grain offering okay somebody could say well the
grain refers to the bread before it's transubstantiated all that that's you
know it's a stretch. It's a real stretch because the grain offering actually
meant something. I mean if you offered the bread of the grain or the grain of
the bread in the Old Testament it was a real offering okay the bread here in
the new test is not an offering because it's nothing it's just bread nobody's
going to present bread to God okay or wine it has to be changed in order for it
to be presented to the Father in Heaven okay you don't get any of that in verse
11 here now the other thing is the context the context of the passage is all
the things that Israel is doing wrong all right starting at let's say verse
seven you are offering defiled food on my Altar and you say in what have we defiled
you in your saying the table of Jehovah it is to be despised and if you offer
the blind for sacrifice is it not evil and if you offer the lame the sick that
you know they're bringing sick animals lame animals all kinds of crap to the
Lord presenting it as a real sacrifice bring it now to your Governor will he
accept you or lift up your face says Jehovah of hosts in other words he says go
try it on somebody else see if they like it, bringing them a lame sacrifice and
now entreat the face of God that he will be gracious to us this has this has
been by your hands will he lift up your faces says Jehovah of hosts no
obviously who is among you that will shut the doors and you not Kindle Fire on
my altar in vain no Delight is to me in you says Jehovah of hosts I will not be
pleased with a food offering from you and then verse 12 but you are profaning it
when you say the table of the Lord is polluted and his fruit his food is to be despised
in other words there is something really bad going on here with these sacrifices
but what does the Lord say from east to west among the Nations incense is
offered to me and grain offerings are offered to me from the nations in other
words it's already happening in the present time you see and Israel itself the
one who's supposed to be the epitomy of those who sacrifice great sacrifices to
God are the very ones that are polluting the altar okay so there's nothing here
about the future I'm sorry to say many Catholics have taken this as some kind
of Prophecy of the future there may be an obscure illusion to it somehow but
not with the grammar in the context of the Hebrew of Malachi 1 I would not go
in that direction at all.
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