A Call to Faithfulness: The Book of Malachi

Historical Background

Historical Background

Historical Background

In 586 B.C., the Jewish people in Judah were exiled by the Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar. Eventually, the Babylonian Kingdom falls to the Medo-Persian Empire.

Under the Persian leader Cyrus, the Jews are allowed to return beginning in 538 B.C. Under the reign of Zerubbabel, the temple is rebuilt in 516 B.C., and the sacrificial system is reinstituted.

The Lord then brings great leaders back to the land. One is Ezra, who came back around 458 B.C. with a group of exiles. Ezra the Scribe leads the nation in religious revival. Nehemiah comes, as well, in 445 B.C. and conducts a 52 day campaign to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Things seem to be looking up for the Jewish people.

By the time Malachi comes on the scene around 433 B.C., things aren’t looking up any longer.

Background & Purpose of Malachi

Malachi means “my messenger” or “messenger of the Lord.”

Could be a title for Ezra the Scribe, which is a view some have held (e.g. John Calvin).

By the time of Malachi, the spiritual life of the people and the society in which they lived was devastated.

We think they may have been in a famine at this time ().

The people felt that God had forgotten them (cf. 1:2, 3:13-15) and the promises of God were not going to come to pass.

Renewed Jewish state (); material prosperity (); no Messianic Age ushered in (; ).

Tithing had been neglected.

Sabbath hadn’t been kept.

Intermarriage among the Gentiles was commonplace.

Priests in that day couldn’t be trusted to do their work in a God-honoring way.

Malachi writes this book to awaken them from spiritual apathy and warn them of coming judgment, unless they repent.

Remembering God’s Faithfulness ()

“Yet Jacob I have loved...” -

God had kept his promise with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would continue to keep His promises. God’s past faithfulness ensures His future faithfulness.

When dealing with the situations of life, we begin first with who God is. Then, and only then, can we properly understand, process, and address the issues of life.

A Call to Religious Faithfulness (; )

Stop Vain Worship (v. 1:6-14)

The priests in this day had begun to off defiled sacrifices to God (v.7-8). They were seeking to worship God by abandoning God’s standard for offerings by offering defective sacrifices. See :

“And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord… it must be perfect to be accepted… Those that are blind or broken or maimed… you shall not offer to the Lord...”

God tells them the result of this kind of behavior: it profanes the name of God (v. 11-14), and it has global impact on the worship of God (v. 11).

Consequently, God tells them that it would be better to not worship at all than to bring vain worship (v. 10).

Stop Hypocritical Worship (v. 2:1-9)

The priests had also abandoned the Law of God, and were living wickedly. Not only this, but they were causing the people to abandon the Law (v. 8). They were living in grave hypocrisy; priests commissioned by the Law of God, they were now forsaking and living contrary to that very Law.

As a result, God curses these wicked priests (v. 1-4) for the sake of His covenant with Levi (v. 4). He wouldn’t leave His faithful followers with an evil priesthood forever, but would restore it (v. 7).

Stop Being Spiritually Apathetic (v. 3:6-12)

God Has Been Faithful through the Ups and Downs with Israel (v. 3:6-7)

Quit Robbing God! (v. 8-12)

Application for Today

Be Careful of Vain Worship! Don’t be ones who “honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” ()

Live a Consistently Christian Life! It will affect your witness to others! ()

As priests of God (; ), we are to honor God as living sacrifices ().

Even though there are many wicked “priests” in our world today, God will judge them (, ).

Also, never forget that God has given us a greater Priest, Christ Jesus. He is the perfect High Priest, and will never fail (). Looking unto Jesus and living in His Spirit, we have the ability to live lives of faithfulness.

Give the Lord the “firstfruits” of your life- your finances, your talents, and your time. ()

A Call to Relational Faithfulness ()

Next, the Lord draws attention to the fact that the people were living unfaithful lives, and He points to one obvious example: marital infidelity. The men had apparently been intermarrying with Gentiles, and were leaving their current wives. God is calling these people back to relational faithfulness. God’s people must exhibit godly character in their relationships- whether that is friends, family, or strangers.

God calls marriage “the LORD’s holy institution which He loves” (), states that these men have their current wives “by covenant” () and says that “He hates divorce” (). Why does God point out this sin above all others in the land?

Because the marriage union (and more broadly, the family), is the foundation of society. God says in verse 14 that marriage is a covenant. It is a basic commitment to love, guard, and protect. And God’s primary intention for marriage among God’s people is that they produce godly offspring ().

When that commitment breaks down on that foundational level, and families are broken apart, it will inevitably affect society in profound and disastrous ways.

More crucial for New Testament Christians, though, is the understanding that marriage represents Christ and His Church (). Because of this, we are to uphold and defend marriage as sacred in our lives.

Remember God’s Coming Judgment (; )

A Warning to Sinners (; )

A Judgment of

Verse 1 seems to be a twofold prophecy: of course the messenger to prepare the way before was John the Baptist. But when it discusses the idea of the Lord coming to His temple and in verse 2 referring to the day of His coming, it seems best to interpret this as the Second Coming of Christ.

In verse 3, we find that he will purify the sons of Levi. God promised to purify the wicked priests. As we discussed before, we find ourselves with many false teachers today. God will deal with them. But this is also a warning to those who profess Christ but are not truly His. That day of judgment will be a judgment of purification.

Then in verse 5, we see God’s judgment towards all sin. When we jump down to chapter 4, we find this judgment is with purpose. It says it is burning like an oven. It is a metaphorical way of saying God has pointed judgment towards the unrepentant. We know of that place; it is called Hell.

Now some may look at this and say, doesn’t this verse mean folks will be annihilated? Short answer is no. When it says they shall be as stubble, we know that is metaphorical. And yes, that day shall burn them up. But as Jesus tells us in , their punishment is everlasting.

A Hope for the Faithful (; )

The Hope that God Remembers His Own (v. 3:16-18)

… “In the same way, the victor will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels.”

The Hope of Seeing the Sun of Righteousness (v. 4:2-6)

The Light of the world, when He comes again in His glory, will have two affects: for those who are wicked, it shall be a fiery judgment. For those of us in Christ Jesus, it will be heavenly sunshine.

When He comes, we shall see a restoration of all things, the judgment of the wicked, and the culmination of all things.

With that in mind, we must heed the command to remember the Law of the Lord. For us, that means obeying God’s Word with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

May we be faithful people and a faithful church, ready to meet our Lord. Amen.