For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi opens with God calling out a religion that's gone through the motions — offerings brought without care, worship reduced to obligation. And right in the middle of that critique comes this odd, sweeping claim: from sunrise to sunset, God's name will be great among the nations, in every place, not just among the people who currently claim to represent Him.
That's a strikingly wide statement for a book mostly aimed at a small, specific, struggling community. It suggests something bigger going on than one nation's religious performance — a vision that reaches past whoever's currently getting it right or wrong, out to "every place."
If your impression of God has been shaped mainly by institutions or people who seemed to be phoning it in, this verse is worth separating from that impression. It describes something not contained by anyone's half-hearted practice of it — a reach far bigger than the failures Malachi is actually addressing.
If disappointing religious people shaped your view of God, this verse suggests looking at something bigger than them.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.