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Malachi

Malachi
We know very little about this next to the last of the OT prophets (John the Baptist was the last— and 4:5–6 with , , and ).
He ministered to the restored Jewish nation about 400 years before Christ. The sins described in this book are found in .
Malachi directs his first message to the priests, and then he turns to the people collectively—“Like people, like priest.”
As the prophet delivers God’s Word, the people respond by arguing. Note the repeated “Wherein?” (1:2, 6–7; 2:17; 3:7–8, 13). It is a dangerous thing when people argue with God and try to defend their sinful ways.
Malachi 3:1 NIV
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
Matthew 11:10–15 NIV
This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Mark 1:2 NIV
as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—
Luke 1:17 NIV
And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Nehemiah 13:10–30 NIV
I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts. All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms. I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites. Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services. In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.” When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love. Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?” One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task.
Malachi points out the terrible sins of the people and the priests.
I. They Doubted His Love (1:1–5)
“I have loved you,” God says to His people. “Oh?” they respond. “Wherein have You loved us? Prove it.” Doubting God’s love is the beginning of unbelief and disobedience. Eve doubted God’s love and ate of the forbidden tree; she thought God was holding out on her. Satan wants us to feel neglected by God. “Look at your difficult circumstances,” he said to the Jewish remnant. “Where are the crops? Why doesn’t God take care of you?”
God proves His love to His people in two ways: (1) He graciously chose Jacob, their father, and rejected Esau, who in many ways was a much better man; and (2) He judged the Edomites (Esau’s descendants) and gave to Israel the best of the lands. He promised Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, but, alas, their sins polluted the land. Even then, he graciously restored them to their land and delivered them from captivity.
II. They Despised His Name (1:6–14)
Now God turns to the priests, who should have been the spiritual leaders of the land. The priests were not giving honor to God’s name; they were taking the best for themselves. They did not value the spiritual privileges God gave them: serving at the altar, burning the incense, and eating the dedicated showbread. And they did not bring their best for the sacrifices: they brought the poorest of the animals (cf. ). God gave them His very best, and He asked for their best in return, but they would not obey Him.
Deuteronomy 15:21 NIV
If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
Verse 10 ought to read: “Who is there spiritual enough to shut the temple doors and put an end to this hypocrisy?” God would rather see the temple closed than to have the people and the priests “playing at religion” and keeping the best for themselves. The priests would not even accept a sacrifice until they had first gotten their share. It was this kind of sin that brought defeat to Israel back in Eli’s day ( and 4:1–18). Verse 11 states that the “heathen Gentiles” were offering better sacrifices to the Lord than were His own people. It is too bad when unsaved people sacrifice more for their religion than do those of us who truly know the Lord.
1 Samuel 2:12–17 NIV
Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.” This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.
We are priests through Christ, and we too are to bring “spiritual sacrifices” to Him (). What are these sacrifices? Our bodies (); our offerings (); praise (); good works (); souls we have won to Christ (). Are we bringing Him our best—or only what is convenient for us?
1 Peter 2:5 NIV
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:1–2 NIV
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Philippians 4:14–18 NIV
Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
Hebrews 13:15 NIV
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
Hebrews 13:16 NIV
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Romans 15:16 NIV
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
III. They Defiled His Covenant (2:1–17)
It was no light thing to be a priest, for this was a gracious gift of God through His covenant with Levi. Verses 5–7 describe the ideal priest: he fears the Lord and obeys Him; he receives the Word and teaches it; he lives what he teaches; he seeks to turn others from sin. But the priests in Malachi’s day actually led people astray (2:8) and defiled the holy covenant.
What would God do to them? “I will curse your blessings.” This ties in with 3:9 and the lack of tithes and offerings. God cursed the crops; the people were poor; they did not bring the offerings to the priests; therefore the priests went hungry. In sinning against God’s covenant they were only hurting themselves. But vv. 10–16 point out another terrible sin of the priests: they divorced their Jewish wives and married heathen women. They dealt treacherously against the women and their families; see , , . All their weeping at the altar (2:13) could not change things; they had to put away their sins. Read v. 15 like this: “Did not the Lord make husband and wife one? Why? That you might bring forth a godly family.” Actually, the nation’s looseness about divorce was endangering the promise of the Seed, Christ. God hates divorce; it is the breaking of the covenant between husband and wife and between them and God.
Exodus 34:10–17 NIV
Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. “Do not make any idols.
Ezra 9:1–4 NIV
After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.” When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.
Nehemiah 13:23–31 NIV
Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?” One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task. I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me with favor, my God.
IV. They Disobeyed His Word (3:1–15)
In 2:17 the people had scornfully asked, “Will God punish us for our sins? Does He really care?” God answers them by promising to send His messenger (John the Baptist) who would announce the Messenger of the covenant (Jesus Christ). Jesus did come into the temple and expose its sins and purify its courts. In His ministry He revealed the sins of the religious leaders, so much so that they finally crucified Him. Of course, there is a future application here when the Day of the Lord refines Israel and separates the true from the false. Why does the Lord not simply do away with His rebellious people? Verse 6 is the answer: He changes not and must be true to His promises ().
Lamentations 3:22 NIV
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
The people had disobeyed God by robbing Him of tithes and offerings. Actually, when God’s people are not faithful in their giving, they not only rob God, but they also rob themselves. God had shut off the rain and spoiled the crops because of their selfishness. Tithing, of course, is not “making a bargain with God”; but God does promise to bless and care for those who are faithful in their stewardship (). Certainly God is not bankrupt; He wants our tithes and offerings as expressions of our faith and love. When a believer’s love for Christ grows cold, it usually shows up in the area of stewardship. If every church member would bring the Lord His due (10 percent of the income, the tithe), and then add offerings (as an expression of gratitude), our local churches would have more than enough for their ministries. And they would be able to share generously with the many other good ministries that deserve support.
Philippians 4:10–19 NIV
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Malachi closes his message with some wonderful promises to the faithful (3:16–4:6). There was that faithful remnant in this day who did not forsake God’s house, but who met together for mutual blessing (3:16–18; see ). “They are My jewels,” says the Lord. What a beautiful picture of the faithful believer. Jewels are precious, and we are precious in His sight. He purchased us with His blood. He is polishing us with trials and testings; and one day in glory we shall shine in beauty and splendor.
Hebrews 10:25 NIV
not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Christ is pictured as the Sun of Righteousness. To the church, He is the “Bright and Morning Star” (; ), for He will appear when the hour is darkest to take His church home. But to Israel, He is the Sun, bringing the “Day of the Lord,” a day that will mean burning to the lost, but healing to saved Jews and Gentiles. “Elijah” in 4:5–6 refers to John the Baptist (; ), but it has a reference also to one of the two witnesses spoken of in . The last word in our English OT is “curse.” At the end of the NT we read, “And there shall be no more curse” (). The difference? Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:16 NIV
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
Revelation 2:28 NIV
I will also give that one the morning star.
Matthew 17:10–13 NIV
The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Mark 9:11–13 NIV
And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
Revelation 11 NIV
I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon. The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
Revelation 22:3 NIV
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
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