Glories & Curses

Glories — Blessings, straight out of God’s hand/mouth

Curses — self- explanatory, but essentially God’s hand rises in opposition to that which He curses.

When someone does something for us we do not expect and it catches us off guard, we might say what a blessing.

When that blessing comes straight from God’s promise, we may call it a glory. Because that is where our heart should be in response to Him who gave it.

Curses come as an outflow of our brokenness or bad decisions.

As we begin today, we will grab the background passage first.

Deuteronomy 28:1–12 ESV

1 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

Covenant — Blood Covenant

Malachi 2:1–9 ESV

1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

Let’s build for a moment on the idea we spoke about over the last couple of weeks: the Priesthood of the believer.

If Malachi is continuing to speak to priests…he is continuing to speak to the messengers.

Who are the messengers of the New Testament: each of us who have trusted Jesus as both Lord and Savior.

Today we take this further with the realm of the lay messenger and the vocational messenger.

Often we hear from the Lord in the O.T. a command to:

Get Your Heart Right!

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

yes we can many of quote this verse from memory, but...

Christianity is not a mental ascent.

Christianity is a Spiritual Pursuit.

So we go to Malachi 2:2

Malachi 2:2 (ESV)

2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

Notice the passage gives an idea of an opportunity for blessing.

If we consider the if then clause in the text.

The Glory of the Deuteronomic Covenant is made clear in the reality of the converse of the text.

You see logically if one thing leads to a curse the converse should lead to a blessing.

So in our text there is opportunity…

God says through Malachi, “…if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, …then I will send a curse...”

So what is the converse?

“If you do set your heart to give honor to my name,…then I will send a blessing...”

Here is the Glory — Honor God — Receive the Blessing

Here is the curse — Dishonor God — Receive the Curse of the Blessing

What’s the Outflow?

Set your heart rightly

Honor what God honors

Hold the Standard

Get your heart right!

Renew in the Covenant!

Malachi 2:4 ESV

4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 2:5 (ESV)

5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.

The converse of the renewal in the convenant:

Malachi 2:3 ESV

3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.

How was Levi contrasted?

True instruction.

He walked upright.

He turned from sin.

The responsibility:

Malachi 2:7 (ESV)

7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

Guard Knowledge

Deliver proper instruction

Recognize the Lord.

Deal with the Opposition!

Malachi 2:8–9 ESV

8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

Walking Away, But In...

Check the messenger including yourself.

Renew daily.

Hold steady.