MALACHI 2:17- 3:15 Do Not Grow Weary of God. He Is Coming!

 

The book of Malachi is a Word from God on the phenomenon of spiritual backsliding. This happens when the people of God grow weary – when they lose touch with the living God. This book is a wake-up call, and in some ways similar to the message of 2 Peter 3:3ff. 

We saw that Malachi’s burden for this situation began with an affirmation of the love of God (1:1-5) for His people. Let’s be clear on this.  When God’s people backslide they are facing a loving heavenly Father whose primary response is love. That means that He chastises us (Prov. 3:11,12 cf. Hebr.12:5-11). We also saw that in  1:6-2:9  that Malachi, God’s messenger has a rebuke for the spiritual leaders who bore the primary responsibility for Israel’s backsliding. Last time we considered the nature of a true and a false ministry, followed by an analysis of how this affects the spiritual condition of the nation.  The manifestation was seen in the alienation of God’s people   from their God, followed by an alienation between one another, followed by alienation in  that most important of  all  human relationships – the marriage covenant (2:10-16).  Losing touch with the living God means that we find ourselves on a slippery slope. When God becomes marginalised in our thoughts, our lives follow. Our hearts begin to seek other loves and other gods, because our hearts do not like a vacuum. Our hearts become idol factories. When we lose touch with the Living God our understanding of God becomes distorted. Resultantly our theology becomes distorted - we will see this in our passage.  When our thinking becomes warped and distorted, the effects of this will be felt. That’s what it means to live under God’s curse (2:2). And if God loves His people He will not leave them as they are. They will go through the refiner’s fire.   You will see this in our passage  as  we now  consider 2:17 -  3:13-15.

2:17; 13-15 Israel (Judah) at a crossroads

This portion of Scripture begins and ends with a familiar formula. At least nine times[1] we find God making a statement by which He indicts His people,  and they reply by challenging the statement.

Here God challenges them: “You have wearied the LORD with your words”.  But they say, “How have we wearied him?” God's people have the audacity to blame God for this spiritual /economic/political "low" in their lives. They say, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and He is pleased with them." By implication they are saying,  "we who do good  - (please note,  they considered themselves to be good) are evil in God's eyes; we are not  going ahead; we are not prospering; we are still oppressed by the Persians. Where is the God of justice?" And then consider also 3:13-15, where this complaint continues. God says to them, “Your words have been hard against me”. And they say, “How have we spoken against you?’” Here is what they have said, “It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of keeping His charge or walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’” This is what people were saying about God.  What’s the use of serving this God?

Two things about this accusation

Arrogance:  they demand accountability from the only wise, holy, all seeing, sovereign God of the Universe. He must now defend Himself before them. This is what backsliding does. It turns good theology on its back.   How can man who is created by God accuse God, who in His very essence and being is just - how can they accuse Him of injustice? This is actual blasphemy, and it shows you how backslidden in their understanding of God they are. Truly there is no knowledge of God, and therefore there is no fear of God.

Blame-shifting:  They blame God for their plight. But, if God seems far away, guess who has moved? Blame-shifting is the common default of our fallen humanity. At the fall Adam blamed God for what the woman did ("the woman YOU gave me... Gen. 3:11,12); Eve blames the devil (Gen. 3:13).  Israel blames God. Israel wearies God with words, and they have now come to a point of saturation. Enough is enough! The time has now come for God to act. Do you get the point? God is on trial. The people are grumbling- a persistent theme in the book of Exodus. A grumbling heart always distorts the character and the nature of God!

This is very similar to the dilemma which the prophet Habakkuk faced in His own  day, when things were very similar. Habakkuk  accused God of doing nothing  while the nation  was backsliding, and when God did say that He  was going to send the Babylonians to chastise his people, Habakkuk was perplexed. But the end of the story is not that God had to change , but that Habakkuk had to change.

So too here in the book of Malachi whilst Judah was examining her own position and saw that she was suffering at the hand of evil and injustice, she was failing to examine herself. She saw the evil that others did to her, but she did not see the evil that she herself was guilty of. When we backslide we do not see the world from God’s perspective. When we backslide we become weary, but we must also remember that God is wearied by or thoughts, words and attitudes.  So, where is the God of justice you ask?  

3:1-12  God’s Messenger  of the Covenant  will  appear suddenly!

Between those two verses which we have just considered is the answer found in   3:1-12.  Where is God? Where is the God of justice?   God's reply comes in 3:1

1.      He will send a messenger in due time, preparing the personal coming   of the Lord (3:1a). Who does this refer to? This refers to John the Baptist who will prepare the way of the Lord. From a future perspective this will happen in 400 years to come (see Isaiah 40:3 – 5 –  He is the Elijah  of Malachi 4:5).

2.      This will be followed by  a sudden and personal appearance to the temple by the Lord. He is described as 'the messenger of the covenant' (3:1b).  It is one thing for God to send a messenger. That He has done for many years. He had sent many messengers: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel and all the minor prophets of the OT and many more. But now the Lord Himself will come to His temple. That has never happened before! This is a messianic prophecy and in relation to John the Baptist here, it is of course a reference to the first coming   of the Lord Jesus Christ.

3.   His appearance will be challenging - like a refiner’s fire – like fuller’s[2]  soap (3:1c - 2a). He comes  to refine and cleanse.  Malachi tells us, that one of the primary purposes of the LORD's coming would be to purify the worship of God.  "And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple...".  When Jesus came, what did He do? He challenged the shallow prevailing view of worship that was propagated in the temple (see again 1:6 - 2:9). Therefore, the people became what their priests were. When Jesus came He not only overturned the tables of those that had turned the Father’s house into a den of robbers. He overturned the whole system of Pharisaic teaching. Consider the Sermon on the Mount. With its repeated refrain, "You have heard it said... but I say...!", He exposed the hypocritical giving to the needy by the Pharisees, who give to be seen. He exposed their praying on the street corners only to be seen by people. He exposed the Pharisees by calling them hypocrites, blind guides and whitewashed tombs.   He overturned the useless traditions of the elders and He showed the fulfilment of the O.T. law in Himself. What a refining... what a fire! And slowly, out of the hypocritical rubbish dump, a new body of people emerged, whose hearts were regenerated and renewed by the work of the Holy Spirit.  At Pentecost the church was baptized by the Holy Spirit, and the whole worship of God was transformed and renewed. In the meantime the temple in which the Jews took such pride was destroyed in A.D 70. The messenger of the new covenant came to show us, that He alone is the true, pure and great High Priest, who offers the righteous sacrifice to God. He showed us that our self- righteousness has no merits before God. Jesus came to refine, purify and renew the worship of God. He came to get rid of our dirt and dross. Realize then, that this prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming.

Thank God for the refiner’s fire! The metal is brought to a high temperature, so that it melts. The impurities in the metal, which have a lower density than the metal itself, then will float to the top of the molten liquid, and then it is scraped off.  This process can be repeated until there is purity. In the same way God applies the heat of suffering and discipline to the lives of His children until they are refined. The goal of biblical testing/refining is never destruction, but  purification and cleansing. When God's people have been tested and tried by Him, they come forth as pure gold (Job 23:10). That is precisely what Jesus, the messenger of the new covenant came to do. He did not come with a soft message. It was a good message, but not a soft message. He came to do good. But He cannot ignore sin. He calls us to abandon sin- see 3:5. Sin is why Jesus died. God is merciful.

Despite the fact that we and our fathers have sinned and turned aside from God’s statutes (3:7a), He bears with us and calls us  to return (3:7b)

Returning is the key.  And again  the people Malachi is speaking to are running into the same wall  as before: “But you say how shall we return?  And the answer is this: “Will a man rob God?” Here is a particular problem with which God’s people were struggling.   They found an excuse for not giving to the Lord what was rightfully His. Note, that the emphasis on the robbing is with reference to God:  "You rob me!" (3:8,9) – the whole  nation (Hebr. goy - usually a reference to pagans; but in this case it has the overtone of 'unfaithful people') is doing this.  God challenges them to show their concrete turning/ repentance by bringing in the whole tithe and offerings into the storehouse (lit. the house of supplies). Then God charges the people to test Him in this matter  (3:10b - 12), and He attaches  3 marvellous blessings to this test:  

(i) Abundance (3:10)  "I will open the windows of heaven for you and pour  down for you a blessing… ". We see here the incredible generosity of God.

 (ii) Protection (3:11):  "I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear …” 

(iii) Reputation (3:12):  "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight… ".

This is a call to perseverance in your faith in the midst of challenging days. We are currently considering the book of Malachi against the background of our own church society – the people of God. There can be no doubt that we, the people of God – the church as a whole, are currently not in a good place – and much can be blamed on the corrupt nature of church leaderships. As a result of the lack of blessing our people are constantly questioning God, and accusing Him of many things. Like the people of Malachi’s day we have many objections - many ‘but’s’.  We live in a church society with much sin (3:5). We often blame God for our lack of blessing. And we are stingy in our giving. Our churches are struggling to survive.

God is calling His people to look to Jesus, the   messenger of the new covenant. And from His Word we must learn to be content with His refining and cleansing work. It will involve suffering.  Letting go of sin and all our idols is difficult. But it is not vain to serve God. Soon the messenger of the covenant who has come once will come again. And all our endurance, and patience in suffering would have been worth it. Amen

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[1] 1:2, 6,7,13 ; 2:14,17; 3:7,8,13

[2] Fullers were launderers who washed the clothes of the city and also finished processing fabric later made into clothing, blankets, or other necessary items.

MALACHI 2: FALSE AND TRUE SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

 

The book of Malachi is an eloquent, timeless commentary on the nature of spiritual backsliding among God’s people. The Holy Spirit has preserved this book for this reason. He reminds us that one of our great temptations is to grow lukewarm in the things of God. The book began with an affirmation of the love of God for His backslidden people in 1:1-5. Why the effort to send ‘His messenger’[1] if God   did not love His people enough to speak to them and to warn them of the consequences of continuing in their lukewarmness?  God, being who He is – the holy God, whose hatred for sin is synonymous with His character, begins His word through Malachi with a strong rebuke of Israel’s priests. Israel’s backsliding begins with her spiritual leadership. Hosea comments, “And it shall be like people, like priests”(Hosea 4:9; Isa. 24:2). At least three failures of the priests are outlined in 1:6-14:

·         1:7,8  A CORRUPT MINISTRY: Offering defiled sacrifices on God's altar. The offering of   blind, lame, sick animals was forbidden by the law of Moses  (Lev.22:18-25;Deut. 15:21)

·         1: 8 & 9  PROMOTING  OF THOUGHTLESS WORSHIP

·         1:12,13  HOLDING THE PRIESTLY  OFFICE IN CONTEMPT.  The priests despised the work God gave them to do. They found their work wearisome. They dishonoured God.

As we hear these words we need to remember that this is not only a commentary on the state of Old Testament religion. It also is a commentary for the NT church[2]. 1:10 could just as well be applied to the modern church. Many places that call themselves churches would serve the cause of Christ better by closing their doors. They confuse people. They scatter God’s people. They speak peace where there is no peace. They dress the wounds of God’s people lightly (Jer.8:11). They withhold the Word of the Lord (Jer. 8:7; Hosea 4:6).  They exchange the truth of God for a lie (Rom. 1:25).  

As we hear these words it is also important to remember that the NT church is no longer served by a priesthood. Jesus alone is our great High priest (Hebr. 7:15-28).The church is a holy priesthood (1 Pet.2:9). Pastors, elders, overseers are a part of the church and gifts given by the Holy Spirit to the church. As such they have no priestly function in the sense of offering sacrifices on behalf of the people. They are shepherds of God’s flock and co- workers with God’s flock.  And as such they are accountable  (James 3:1; 1 Pet.5:2,3)

OUTLINE

1.      2: 1-3  A warning to unfaithful ministers

2.      2:4-7  Marks of a faithful minister

3.      2:8 -9  The devastating consequences of an unfaithful ministry

4.      2:10 – 16  The effects  of an unfaithful ministry upon the nation

 

1.         2: 1-3  A Warning To Unfaithful Ministers

We have already seen in 1:6-14 that the backsliding of Israel has to do with her spiritual leaders – the priests. Chapter 2 continues with this theme. It is a call of repentance to the OT priests. This call is accompanied by a stern warning and even a curse. The priests did not listen to God. They did not honour His Name (2:2). And so God would turn their blessings into curses. To understand the biblical concept of curse (which in the OT is usually found in parallel with blessing e.g. Gen. 12:3; Deut. 28) we find that only God truly curses, and in that sense it is a revelation of His justice in response to any disobedience of His revealed will. In this case the holy, righteous God will not suffer the unfaithfulness of the priests.  God is not mocked and 2:3 is enough commentary on this matter:  “Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.” Unfaithful church leaders are under God’s curse, and they will be shown up for what they are, and God will judge them. We  will find the  legacy and the sad effects  that unfaithful leaders leave  when we get to 2:8.

2.         2:4-7 Marks Of A Faithful Minister[3]

Here we find a portrait of the ideal OT priest.  Here we look back to Levi, the father of the tribe of priests in Israel. At least 4 marks of a   true minister emerge:

a.      2:5 A proper relationship with God based on true fear and reverence. They manifested a holy seriousness and a deep reverence for God, and the things of God. He knows God. More than anything else God's ministers need to cultivate this knowledge and attitude. How many churches look at this, when calling a pastor? There is an enormous responsibility resting on the shoulders of those that are called by God to the spiritual leadership of the church. Theirs is the duty   to convey a sense of the greatness of God to the people for whose souls they care.

b.      2:6a A commitment to the truth of God's Word. “True instruction was in his mouth and no wrong was found on his lips.” A good minister  is a servant of the Word of God. He does not enter the pulpit to entertain his people. He is a messenger boy of the Most High God.  His work is to feed the flock of God with true instruction.   

c.       2:6b. A true minister walks with God in peace and uprightness.  A true minister walks in a harmonious fellowship with His God - consistently so! He practises what he preaches. It is always a mark of a false teacher that he does not practise what he preaches.  A true minister reveals a spiritual consistency in his life. He practises the presence of God. He leaves his people with a sense of God.

d.      2:6c He turns many from iniquity. He helps people to turn from sin. False, ungodly leaders tempt their people. They turn their people to sin. The great work of a godly leader is to influence people towards God and away from sin. Shepherds, elders must not be afraid to talk to people about their sins. They are not appointed simply to keep peace in the church. They are appointed to the end that the Lord Jesus might truly have a godly flock which walks the narrow road to heaven. Don't be offended when your pastor sometimes wounds you by confronting you with the sin to which you are clinging. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”  (Prov. 27:6).

e.      2:7 “The lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord”. Sermons are not a mere transfer of information. They are not a lecture. They speak with prophetic authority. They declare the Word of God. They are divine ‘logic on fire’ (Martyn Lloyd Jones). This is the Holy Spirit using a spiritually gifted messenger to speak God’s truth to God’s people. And therefore people are helped by his instruction. His is the voice of divine reason. It is the voice of home. It is the voice of the Good Shepherd (John 10:3,16). Listen to Martin Luther’s commentary on this verse:

“Certainly God could with His Spirit instruct and justify those whom He would, but it has pleased His wisdom more to instruct and save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. The Word is the channel through which the Holy Spirit is given. This is a passage against those who hold the spoken Word in contempt. The lips are the public reservoirs of the church. In them alone is kept the Word of God. You see, unless the Word is preached publicly, it slips away. The more it is preached, the more firmly it is retained. Reading it is not as profitable as hearing it, for the live voice teaches, exhorts, defends, and resists the spirit of error. Satan does not care a hoot for the written Word of God, but He flees at the speaking of the Word. You see, this penetrates hearts and leads back those who stray.”[4]

3.         2:8 -9  The Devastating Consequences Of An Unfaithful Ministry 

a.      They have turned aside from the way. They have lost touch with the living God.

b.       They have caused many to stumble by their instruction.

c.       They have corrupted the covenant of Levi – this amounts to false teaching

d.      They have shown partiality in their instruction. (see James2:1)  

4.         2:10 – 16 The Effects Of An Unfaithful Ministry Upon The Nation

God, through Malachi now turns His attention to the people as a whole. The effect of an unfaithful ministry is seen in these verses. 2:10-16 raises the issue of what happens when God's people become faithless, when they break faith with each other and with God?  Against this background, the prophet asks the 3 questions found in Malachi 2:10

a.      Have we not all one Father? i.e. are we not His children by adoption? Has God not chosen us out of all the nations of the world? Are we not His covenant people?

b.      Has not one God created (Hebr. ba'ra ) us?  Israel was a special act of God's creation (cf. Deut. 7:6 - 8)

c.       Why then  are we faithless, profaning the  covenant of our fathers? 

GOOD QUESTIONS!

If all these things are true (and they are),  then  how is it possible that Israel has fallen into this  state of  spiritual backsliding?  What has happened?  The answer is given in 2:11: “Judah has been faithless… Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD… Judah has married the daughter of a foreign god”. Judah has committed spiritual adultery in many ways…

Now follow the logic with me. When we lose touch with the living God, (Questions 1 &2)   it is a small step from losing touch with God’s covenant people (Question 3). We lose touch  with our covenant relationship  with God,  and we lose touch with the profoundest of all  human relationships - marriage.  And so Judah has slidden into a real mess.

1.      People who backslide from their relationship with God, loose a sense of God.

2.     People also backslide in their relationship with God's people - the church. By losing touch with the living God, we easily break faith, dealing falsely with one another. When we deal falsely with one another we violate the unity of God's people.

3.  People lose a sense of the most important of all relationships by which the human race is effectively propagated: Marriage.

4.      First of all: compromised marriage. They were now  marrying  daughters that were serving foreign gods (2:11). This was forbidden in Deut.  7:1-4.  In the NT  1 Cor.  7:39  encourages  Christians to be married only in the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14).

5.      Divorce! One of the greatest curses in our society – the breaking of the marriage covenant – see 2:13-16. Here we find Israel in a bad way.  They practise easy divorce.  This again is a serious problem, because the Word of the Lord regards marriage as a covenant, which in its essence is unbreakable. See the seriousness of this expressed in 2:15 “Did he not make them one with a portion of the Spirit in their union?”  God is the witness of this union when vows were made. Marriage is a sacred institution.  One of the reasons why it is a scared thing is because, by this means, godly offspring is produced for the glory of God - in the context of a God fearing marriage! And  therefore God  hates divorce. It contradicts  and destroys  his good plan for this world.  The root of divorce proceeds from spiritual barrenness!

6.      They subsequently found that  their prayers were not answered (2:13). They have finally lost touch with the living God.

“…So Guard  Yourselves In Your Spirit” (2:15,16)  

 How do you do that?

1.      Take care of your heart

2.      Stay under a faithful  ministry; seek true instruction; hold yourself accountable

3.      Fear God, shun sin.

4.      Do not be faithless to others

5.      Seek a godly partner for marriage

6.      Keep your marriage covenant and do not divorce.

7.      Know that divorce proceeds from a barren spirit

8.      Let nothing hinder your prayers

         

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[1] The meaning of Malachi’s name is “my messenger”

[2] 2 Timothy 3:16,17 : “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God  may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

[3] I am using this term in the sense of ‘leitourgos’ – a man who performs a public duty – a public servant

[4] Luther's Works, Volume 18 (Lectures on Minor Prophets)

MALACHI 1: THE COVENANTAL LOVE OF GOD AND THE CORRUPT LOVE OF MEN

 

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

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[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