Malachi, Part 2

The passage for this session is Malachi 1:6-2:9. Last secession we learned about the three Worlds of context.

Does anyone remember what those are?

There is the World of the Text.

There is the World Behind the Text.

There is the World in Front of the Text.

The first context we deal with is the world of the text.

Read Malachi 1:6-2:9 and make observations about the world of the text.

Malachi 1:6–2:9 LEB

6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master; but if I am a father, where is my honor, and if I am a master, where is my reverence?” says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. “But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 You are presenting defiled food on my altar! But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the table of Yahweh is despised! 8 When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and the one who is ill, is that not wrong? Present it, please, to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Will he show you favor?” says Yahweh of hosts. 9 So then, implore the favor of God so that he will be gracious to us. “This is what you have done. Will he show favor to any of you?” says Yahweh of hosts. 10 “Who also among you will shut the temple doors so that you will not kindle fire in vain on my altar? I take no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is being presented to my name, and a pure offering. For my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts. 12 “But you are profaning it by saying the table of the Lord is defiled, and its fruit—its food—is despised! 13 And you say, ‘Look! This is a weariness,’ and you sniff with disdain at it,” says Yahweh of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the one that is sick—this you bring as the offering! Should I accept it from your hand?” says Yahweh. 14 “Cursed is the one who cheats, who has in his flock a male and vows it, but instead sacrifices a blemished one to the Lord! For I am a great king,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and my name is awesome among the nations.” 1 “And so then, O priests, this command is for you: 2 If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; moreover I have already cursed them because you are not taking it to heart. 3 Look! I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will scatter offal on your faces, the offal of your religious feasts, and you will be carried to it. 4 “Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi continues,” says Yahweh of hosts. 5 “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe before my name. 6 The instruction of truth was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found on his lips. In peace and in uprightness he walked with me, and he brought back many from sin. 7 For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts. 8 But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have ruined the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. 9 “And in turn I have made you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you are not keeping my way, but are favoring your own instruction.”

What questions are being asked in the text?

What is the subject of those questions?

What do we learn about Yahweh from this text?

What are the consequences of not listening to Yahweh?

After briefly examining the World of the Text, let's examine the World Behind the Text. Does anyone have footnotes in their Study Bible that address the world behind the text?

Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Comment has this entry.

The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 5 Malachi’s Second Disputation: Faithless Priests Rebuked (1:6–2:9)

“Sacrifice crippled or diseased animals (1:8). The prophet rebukes the people and the priests for shaming Yahweh with inferior offerings that were considered inappropriate even for the local Persian-appointed governor. The termination of temple funding from the Persian government may have prompted such behavior as a “cost-cutting” measure (see 3:8 below), but it seems more likely that the burden of cultic and imperial taxation became so heavy that compromising the temple sacrificial rituals and ignoring the tithe requirements was a pragmatic solution for maintaining the barest standards of subsistence living in the face of persistent economic depression as a result of drought and blight (cf.

Based on the World Behind the Text, what was the possible motivation to offer the second best?

Now let’s apply the World in Front of the Text to the passage.

What parallels can we make between us and the Jews of Malachi’s time?

What parallels can we make between church leaders and the priests?

With those parallels made, what should the application for this passage be for us as God’s people?