We now come to the last words of the OT. No further word will
be given until God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Final Word (Hebr. 1:1-3) appears. The name Malachi
means, “my messenger” or “angel”[1]
(Hebr. mal’āk cf. 1:1; 2:7; 3:1). Malachi may actually not be the proper name of the author of this
book. This could be an anonymous
prophetic messenger. Whatever the case may be, it does remind us of one of the
first rules in God’s service: Proclaimers of God’s Word are not meant to draw
attention to themselves. It is not the man that matters, but his is message
(cf. 2 Cor. 4:5).
The date of this message is around 450 B.C. It was written approximately 100 years after Cyrus decreed in 538BC that captive Israel could return to their land. Although there is no exact date given, the internal testimony suggests that
(i) the temple had been rebuilt after the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon
(ii) a Persian governor was over Israel at this time (1:8)
(iii) there is a close relationship of the issues addressed by Ezra/ Nehemiah and Malachi.[2] We know that both Ezra and Nehemiah were post exilic leaders. We find that the sins that angered God in their writings are also reflected in Malachi’s message.
The message in a nutshell is this: After their return from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem, whose walls had now been restored, the temple rebuilt and the priesthood reinstituted, there was a spiritual coldness among the people. Into this situation Malachi speaks words of rebuke, but also of comfort and hope.
1:1-5 affirm the covenantal love of God
for Israel. Having assured them of His love, He also has some hard words for
them. They begin with strong words for the spiritual leaders, the priests (1:6-2:9). They have been instrumental
in producing a spiritual lukewarmness among the people. The spiritual health of
God’s people is directly proportional to a faithful proclamation of the Word of
God. The saying is true: as the pulpit goes, so goes the church! There are so many illustrations from history
of this. If the faithful proclamation of the Word of God is neglected in the
pulpits, the church will soon fall into spiritual apathy, as the people of God in turn fail to keep
their covenant responsibilities. This is what we find in 2:10-3:18. Chapter 4 is
a warning and a plea to God’s church in all ages to remember the Word of
God and
to keep the terms of the covenant.
OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 1
1.
1:1-5
God’s explicit covenant love for Israel
expressed
2.
1:6-14
The corrupt love of Israel
exposed (Part 1)
1.
1:1-5
God’s explicit covenant love for Israel
expressed
“The oracle of the Word
of the LORD (Yahweh) to Israel, by Malachi…“. The word oracle
translates as burden/load. God had put a heavy message into
the heart of His messenger. It is a heavy thing for prophets and preachers to stand
between a holy God and sinful people. They feel this not in a self- righteous
way, because they too are filled with imperfection. And yet it is given to them
to proclaim God’s holy Word. With the Word of God in their hand and heart they see
what a holy God requires and they see what sin is doing in the people they love,
and as human messengers entrusted with the Word of the Lord they must call their
people to account. That is a very heavy work.
Malachi bears the Word of Yahweh to Israel – a people who
have lost their first love (Rev. 2:4).
When love for God is lost, He is not seen for who He truly is. We become
lukewarm (Rev.3:16) in our worship. Our
pursuit of God in terms of private prayer and Bible reading are neglected. We
become irregular at public worship. Our public prayer meetings are not seen as important.
Indifference is infectious as we look at
others and say, ‘Well, they also don’t do
it, and so it doesn’t matter, if I don’t’. The trouble with that view is
that we have our eyes on others and not on God. And if that view has become a
fixed mind-set among church people, then the question is this: How do we stop
the backsliding of the nation? The old, old answer is this - by a return to the
God of the Word. But how shall we hear
the Word of God if someone does not proclaim it? And how shall we find God’s help if we don’t
lift our voices together to the Sovereign Lord? (Acts 4:24ff)? And who will hold up the hands of your prophets and preachers
by prayer if the people of God don’t?
If there is a culture of continuous objection to that which
is clearly required of us by God, then spiritual coldness has overtaken us. This culture of objection is found in this
message of Malachi. You will find this attitude in a repeated refrain… “but you say…”[3].
The ‘but’ is always preceded by a
statement of fact. Illustratively then,
look at 1:2, “I have loved you,” says the LORD“ (FACT: God loves His people). But you say, How have you
loved us”? Here is the first thing
for us to consider – the love of God to us. Here is one of the great privileges
but also one of the great problems. The great privilege for a
believer is the ability to know that God really loves them. The problem is that
we easily become over familiar with the love of God. Malachi's teaching strikes
at the heart of today's nominal, easy-going Christianity, just as it does at
the easy-going nominal Judaism of Malachi's day.
“I have loved you”, says God, and then you respond, “but how? I don’t sense your love in my present circumstances? Here is how God loves Israel – the church – and you. He does so by pointing back to Israel’s history- the story of Jacob and Esau. Do you want proof that I love you? My sovereign election of you is proof that I love you in a very particular way. “I have loved Jacob, and (in comparison to him) I have hated Esau'. God chose Jacob above Esau. He bestowed the covenant promises on Jacob (Israel) and not on Esau (Edom). How so?
Well, here Israel was kept by God throughout the Babylonian exile. They have now been restored to their land. They are now living in relative comfort once again. Edom, Esau’s country by comparison is a wasteland (1:3-4). God loved Israel above all other people. This is a picture of the church. She is a people that God loves above all others. It is also a picture of the Christian man / woman. How so? You were personally loved before the world began (Eph. 1:4-8). You were chosen by God before you did anything good or bad. He did not choose you because you were better than others. He chose you freely and unconditionally. That is the doctrine of God’s covenantal love in election – before time! And in time He gave you His Son Jesus, to lay down His life in exchange for your sin – and this not because you deserved it, but because, like Jacob He loved you unconditionally. Never say, as those in Israel said, “But how have you loved us?” This sort of question is asked when we stop meditating on God’s goodness, when we forget the cross of Jesus and when we forget where we are going. Regular Bible reading with meditation, prayer, worship, fellowship, the Lord’s supper are the means of grace by which God assures you of His love. This is the basis from which God speaks to Israel through Malachi. This is the basis upon which He speaks to us. He is speaking the truth in love. It was God's desire that His name should be magnified beyond the border of Israel (1:5), but this is not happening at all and so God through Malachi actually accuses His people not only of doubting His love, but also despising His holy name- His character.
2. 1:6-14 The corrupt love of Israel exposed
(Part 1)
We will now consider the symptomatic signs of their
backsliding. The first was their insensitivity to His particular love. The next
is the blasé attitude with which His people present their offerings in this
most important act of worship. It follows from the first. When the heart grows
cold, everything follows like domino pieces. They were presenting despicable
sacrifices to God.
God’s case against the nation begins with her spiritual
leaders – the priests. These men should have been leading the people
spiritually. They should have upheld and defended the Name, the reputation and
the character of God. They were called
to uphold the high standard required of a holy God. They had to make sure that
no one was offering a blemished sacrifice.
THE CURSE OF A CORRUPT MINISTRY
1. Offering defiled sacrifices on God's altar: (1:7,8) They were unwilling to admit this, off course. When God said, "It is you, O priests, who despise my name", they replied, "How have we despised your name?" When God said, "You have offered polluted food on my altar", they answered, "How have we polluted you?". The texts tells us that they were OK with despising the Lord’s table by offering blind, lame, sick animals - i.e. animals no one else wanted. It is an ultimate contradiction in worship. God deserves the best! A sacrifice by definition is the giving up of something we genuinely value in order to express our devotion to God. But here was the attitude that says: "Anything is good enough for God." Our modern version of this is, “the Lord knows my heart, even if it's not the best”.
The problem started with the priests.
They were entrusted with the offering of right sacrifices to God. They should
have rejected such unacceptable sacrifices when the people brought them. The
offering of blind, lame and sick animals was expressly forbidden by the law of
Moses (Lev. 22:18 - 25; Deut. 15:21). God is not pleased when church leaders gloss
over sin in the church which is purchased with the holy blood of Jesus. When
you are a church member you must be prepared to be held accountable to God’s
Word. In 1:6 we read, 'A son honours his father, and a servant his
master: if then I am a father, where is my honour? if I am a master, where is
my fear?'. God is accusing them that they were more concerned what people thought and
brought than what God required.
2. Promoting thoughtless worship (1:8-11). Picture the luxurious dining hall of the Persian governor's palace in Jerusalem. He is ready for his evening meal. In waltzes the butler, uttering the words 'with the compliments of the chef', takes the cover from the silver platter and presents the governor with a stinking, festering leg of lamb, crawling with maggots! How do you think the governor would react? God says here, "You would not dream of doing this to your governor - but you are doing this to me- the LORD of hosts - Yahweh Zebaoth”.
Modern
parallels: God's people would never dare
to skip their work without a legitimate reason or be late at their work, but
they think nothing of skipping worship or arriving late for worship. God’s people who would never dare to cheat on
income tax, cheat on their giving to God. How can we possibly have
less respect for the King of kings, than we do for the political powers who are
appointed by Him? It is a lukewarm heart that thinks that God should be
satisfied with our spiritual leftovers. In this passage the blame is laid at
the feet of the spiritual leaders.The
priests have neglected to lead the people by example and teaching. But God will
not receive thoughtless worship. What is God is saying in response to this? “I
would rather see the temple closed than my name being despised. You Israelites
honour me with your mouth, but your hearts are far from me. You might as well close the temple doors!" (1:10)
3.Holding the
ministerial office in contempt: (1: 12,13). It is clear that the priests here despise the work God
has given them to do. They find their work wearisome. They were no longer paying attention to
detail as required by God. No wonder
that the people have no sense of God's greatness, awesomeness and majesty. The
priests hide the face of God instead of showing Him! We will consider this in more detail in our next sermon (Part2)
REFLECTIONS ON MALACHI CHAPTER 1
1. Congregations generally never rise
above the spirituality of her leaders.
2. It is the duty of leaders to hold
their congregations accountable to the Word of God. Sheep tend to drift. God has so
designed it that his congregations should be led by diligent shepherds.
3. Biblical leadership is not just a
privilege. It is a responsibility. The greater the responsibilities, the greater the
accountability. Lk 12:48: 'Everyone to whom much was given, of him
much will be required…”. Jas. 3:1: 'Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that
we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
4. Beware of weariness in leadership: Spiritual leaders are easily tempted to become
wearied in the work? It is one thing to become weary in the work; it is another
thing to become weary of the work. When you become weary of the work, you
become weary of God. The priests in
Malachi’s day were backslidden in their hearts, therefore they considered their
work as weariness (1:13). How did the apostle Paul
cope in all his trying circumstances? See 2
Corinthians 4: 16-18.
5. A word for New Testament Christians: The days of the Levitical priesthood have
passed, but NT Christians are a
priesthood - everyone of us (1 Pet.2:9). This is a tremendous privilege, but please do
not forget about the responsibility. Peter says that we are to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5). What are those sacrifices?
Romans 12:1-2 has the answer. Are you presenting your bodies to God as living sacrifices?
6. The antidote to backsliding and weariness
is to keep God as our perpetual focus: 1:5,11,14b
[1]
The noun mal’āk appears 213 times in the
OT. It is usually translated as’ messenger. This is the equivalent of the Greek angelos . (Vines)
[2]
E.g. Compare Mal. 2:10,11 with
Ezra 9:1,2 (concerning
intermarriage); Mal. 3:5 with Neh. 5:1-5
(oppression); Mal. 3:8 with Neh.
10:32-39 (tithes/ robbing God) ;
[3]
1:2,6,7,13 ; 2:14,17 ; 3:7,8,13
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