NEED FOR JUST LEADERS | JUSTICE FOR ALL
Transcript Search
Sunday School • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:14:44
0 ratings
· 156 viewsWednesday Night Sunday School online during the COVID-19 Virus.
Files
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Malachi accuses Israel of selfishness after the exile and announces that the day of the Lord will purify Israel and prepare them for God’s kingdom.
A Good Picture of the Book of Malachi
The temple had been rebuilt and worship restarted. Yet the people were still under the rule of the Persians.
Questioning why God had not restored Israel to glory and power, the people and their leaders had become discouraged.
This led toward a casual attitude toward Yahweh marked by empty religious ritual and private lives that did not reflect reverence for God.
Following their leaders, the people were each one looking out for only themselves. They focused on themselves to advance their own cause and forget about their covenant relationship with God.
No longer were they concerned about ministering to the poor and the disenfranchised among them.
How does your life away from church reflect reverence for God?
Lets read the full text then we will come back and walk through each verse to gain a greater understanding.
1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart,
To give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts,
I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings:
Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed,
And spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts;
And one shall take you away with it.
4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you,
That my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
5 My covenant was with him of life and peace;
And I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me,
And was afraid before my name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth,
And iniquity was not found in his lips:
He walked with me in peace and equity,
And did turn many away from iniquity.
7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge,
And they should seek the law at his mouth:
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But ye are departed out of the way;
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law;
Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people,
According as ye have not kept my ways,
But have been partial in the law.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment;
And I will be a swift witness
Against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers,
And against those that oppress the hireling in his wages,
The widow, and the fatherless,
And that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me,
Saith the Lord of hosts.
6 For I am the Lord, I change not;
Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
I. Failing the Call
I. Failing the Call
Up to this point where our lesson text begins, Malachi has written in Dialogue format.
He does this to challenge the audience to rethink their practices and alter their way of living.
A. Hear the Lord (vv. 1-4)
A. Hear the Lord (vv. 1-4)
1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
Malachi has already said much about the poor quality of leadership demonstrated by the priest.
When he first mentions the priest, he describes them as despising the Lord’s name.
6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master:
If then I be a father, where is mine honour?
And if I be a master, where is my fear?
Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name.
And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
The priest are abusing their sacred office by offering defective, unacceptable sacrifices.
7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar;
And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee?
In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?
And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
Offer it now unto thy governor;
Will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.
God had already made it clear that only the best is to be brought to Him in worship. In the case of animals, only those unblemished are to be brought.
3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.
But instead of finding delight in the privilege of preparing such offerings, these priest looked on their work as a weariness.
The commandment that the Malachi is about to give is an invitation to hear God anew and repent.
So verse 2 begins the transition from problem to solution - or consequences for allowing the problem to continue.
2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart,
To give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts,
I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings:
Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
The Lord issues a solemn warning to the delinquent priests.
Their ministry is intended to bring Glory to the Lords name.
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
He is the one they serve. The work they do is to be viewed as a privilege.
But if the priest are unwilling to lay it to heart - take seriously - what the Lord says, then the Lord will send a curse upon them and even curse their blessings.
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
When difficult times do come, how will you determine if the problem is one of cursed blessings rather than random occurrence?
God says He has already cursed their blessings
2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart,
To give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts,
I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings:
Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed,
And spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts;
And one shall take you away with it.
Sinful behavior of a person or group often has consequences for their seed or descendants.
9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: 10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
In the Hebrew the word “corrupt” rendered hear is usually translated “rebuke.”
Normally the dung of animals that are sacrificed , along with the contents of their intestines, is to be taken outside the camp of the Israelites and burned.
14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.
Malachi is vividly describing how repulsed the Lord is by the priest conduct.
How can the church do a better job of holding their leaders accountable?
4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you,
That my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
The priest have forgotten, either through passive carelessness or by active intent, the roots of their sacred office and heritage.
The priestly covenant goes back to Jacob’s son Levi (Numbers 3:5-13.)
Anytime a role is inherited of earned merit, the danger is greater that a person will simply go through the motions.
B. Fear the Lord (vv. 5-7)
B. Fear the Lord (vv. 5-7)
The special blessing promised to Levi were life and peace, spiritual blessings associated with the Levites special place in God’s service.
Levi’s descendants in turn were to respond to these favors with fear.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Later, the Levites did prove themselves to be a God-fearing tribe.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth,
And iniquity was not found in his lips:
He walked with me in peace and equity,
And did turn many away from iniquity.
Three important responsibilities for priest are highlighted in this verse.
They are to teach the law of truth faithfully.
The Priest Daily Walk is to be consistent with his faith profession.
The faithful priest is dedicated to helping others.
Lets look at the first one
10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments,
And Israel thy law:
They shall put incense before thee,
And whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.
This involves communicating the Lord’s requirements to His People.
No iniquity is to be found in a priest’s speech, this should be that way today.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Lets look at the second responsibility.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth,
And iniquity was not found in his lips:
He walked with me in peace and equity,
And did turn many away from iniquity.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
To walk in peace goes hand in hand with loving God’s law.
165 Great peace have they which love thy law:
And nothing shall offend them.
And in equity which is translated straight.
4 Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill shall be made low:
And the crooked shall be made straight,
And the rough places plain:
lets look at the third responsibility:
6 The law of truth was in his mouth,
And iniquity was not found in his lips:
He walked with me in peace and equity,
And did turn many away from iniquity.
7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge,
And they should seek the law at his mouth:
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
The priest is to set the kind of example that draws others to follow and imitate his lifestyle.
The priest in Malachi’s day neglected and even abused the divinely given role they are called to fulfill.
They are God representatives and are to look to God for the knowledge and instruction found only in His Law.
How do we see the same thing going on today?
C. Follow the Lord (vv. 8,9)
C. Follow the Lord (vv. 8,9)
8 But ye are departed out of the way;
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law;
Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
The task of keeping the covenant of Levi means nothing to the delinquent priests.
8 The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
Wheteher the problem is one of mere negligence or of active rebellion, the result is the same: many people stumble.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
Because thou hast rejected knowledge,
I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:
Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God,
I will also forget thy children.
9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people,
According as ye have not kept my ways,
But have been partial in the law.
This scripture makes the case that the problem is not just negligence; if it were, the verse could stop with the phrase “you have not kept my ways.”
The phrase “but have been partial in the law.” points to conscious, intentional disregard of God’s ways.
To be partial in applying the Law is abhorrent (Detestable) to the Lord.
To be partial in applying God’s word even now is abhorrent to the Lord.
II. Renewing the Call
II. Renewing the Call
The Lord does not merely state a problem and stop there. He goes on to state the solution, which begins in:
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:
And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
His messenger will prepare the way before Him.
John the Baptist is the one who will fulfill Malachi’s prophesy.
10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Malachi goes on to speak about a second messenger’s coming, actions and results.
The refining, purifying, and purging mentioned fits Jesus work in raising up in His church those who will faithfully serve Him.
Judgment wii be brought against all individualls who have violated the covenant, the sons of Levi are still called out specifically as teachers, theirs is the greatest accountability.
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:
And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
A. Trying Offenders (v. 5)
A. Trying Offenders (v. 5)
5 And I will come near to you to judgment;
And I will be a swift witness
Against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers,
And against those that oppress the hireling in his wages,
The widow, and the fatherless,
And that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me,
Saith the Lord of hosts.
The first half of the verse and the next elaborate on the judgment to be carried out by the second messenger.
All those listed practices were forbidden by the Law of Moses.
The Lord also calls to account all who take advantage of the most vulnerable in Israelite society.
The Law of Moses included specific directives to care for each of those groups.
Although the hireling, the widow, and the fatherless are likely fellow Israelites, the stranger refers specifically to someone who does not belong to the covenant people by lineage.
God calls special concern for the strangers who live in Israel.
He calls them to remember the time when they were in oppression while they lived as strangers in Egypt.
B. Unchanging God (v. 6)
B. Unchanging God (v. 6)
6 For I am the Lord, I change not;
Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
God can change His mind but He does not change His character.
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
His standards of right and wrong always hold true. He is consistent and constant in all He does.
“Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
The sons of Jacob referring to the Israelites, have not been consumed by God’s wrath - yet.
The Lord is merciful because of His promises and His unchanging character means He will keep His promises.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Malachi’s words should serve as sobering warnings to leaders in the church.
Dangers abound when we become casual about doing God’s work.
In each Milestone in Malachi he shows us Gods Love. Remember working for God requires faithfulness.