The priests were profaning the name of the Lord. But notice the close connection between the name of the Lord and the altar of the Lord. The altar is fundamental to God’s reputation, or God’s glory. To be sure, God’s name and his glory are revealed in creation (Psalm 8:1–9; Psalm 19:1–14). But it is especially in the atoning sacrifice for sin that God reveals his immense love, his immeasurable grace, and his profound wisdom. By defiling the altar, they were corrupting the gospel of God’s love, grace, and wisdom—the very qualities that distinguished the Lord from the gods of the heathen nations. Instead of offering “pure” offerings in thankful anticipation for the perfect sacrifice that God would provide to make atonement for sin, they offered blemished offerings with indifferent hearts.
12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised.