Welcome back to Daily Bread and our study of the last book of the Old
Testament. Malachi, the last of the twelve minor prophets, prophesied in the
same general time frame as the days of Nehemiah. He directs his message of
judgment to Israel, a people plagued with corrupt priests, wicked practices,
and a false sense of security in their privileged relationship with God.
Using the question-and-answer method, Malachi probes deeply into their
problems of hypocrisy, infidelity, mixed marriages, divorce, false worship,
and arrogance. So sinful has the nation become that God‘s words to the
people no longer have any impact. For four hundred years after Malachi’s
ringing condemnations, God remains silent. Only with the coming of John the
Baptist, does God again communicate to His people through a prophet’s voice.
The meaning of the name Mal’aki (“My Messenger”) is probably a shortened
form of Mal’akya, “Messenger of Yahweh,” and it is appropriate to the book
which speaks of the coming of the “messenger of the covenant” (“messenger”
is mentioned three times in 2:7 and 3:1). Malachi gives a fiery ending to
his message with Elijah coming before the dreadful day of the Lord.
The message of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
I have loved you, yet you say,
How have you loved us?
Wasn’t Esau Jacob's brother? says the LORD:
still I loved Jacob,
and I hated Esau,
and laid his mountains and his heritage waste
for the jackals of the wilderness.
Jeremiah 49:17-18
While Edom says, We are destitute,
but we will return and build the desolate places;
the LORD of hosts says,
They shall build, but I will throw down;
and they shall call Edom,
The border of wickedness,
and,
The people against whom the LORD has indignation for ever.
This is a very interesting thing. Why, you might be wondering does God
hate Esau? You’re probably remembering a cute little story from back in
Genesis about when Jacob returned to his homeland and Esau met him with a
warm embrace and they lived in peace thereafter. And in fact, that did
happen, however, the descendants of Esau, weren’t so peaceable. There was
much animosity between the descendants of Jacob and Esau, and in fact, that
animosity lives to this very day. The descendants of Esau (which today are
called Muslim) claim that the Promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, was supposed to be for Esau, not Jacob, and even though God provided
Esau and his descendants with much more land than the Promised Land that
Jacob and his descendants inherited, they have a never ending hatred for
Israel, and seek holy war (which they call jihad) as their purpose in life.
Now, through the ages, the descendants of Esau have had the hand of God
against them many times, yet they still pursue their purpose of annihilating
Israel, and as you just read Malachi’s warning, they will build up, and I
will knock them down.
And your eyes shall see, and you shall say,
The LORD will be honored from beyond Israel.
Psalms 35:27
Although God has a soft spot in His heart for Jacob, He’s not pleased
about the way that Israel has strayed from Him. To begin with, the priests
offer sacrifices that are defiled in God’s eyes, and this offends Him
greatly.
A son honors his father, and a servant his master:
if then, I am a father, where is my honor?
and if I am a master, where is my fear?
says the LORD of hosts to you,
O priests, that despise my name.
And you ask, How have we despised your name?
You offer polluted bread upon my altar;
and you ask, How have we polluted you?
By doing that you say,
The table of the LORD is contemptible.
And if you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil?
and if you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
offer it now to your governor;
will he be pleased with you, or accept you?
says the LORD of hosts.
Deuteronomy 15:21
As you can see, God is greatly insulted by the carelessness and apathy of
the priests in their offerings. Malachi explains, that they’ve brought this
on themselves and pleads with them to beg the Lord’s forgiveness.
And now, I urge you,
beg God that He will be gracious to us:
this has been by your work:
will He accept you?
says the LORD of hosts.
Now MalachI explains, people don’t even close a door
without a reason, yet your offerings are worth nothing if you care so
little, that you offer the Lord unworthy gifts, (remember Cain’s offering?)
so you shouldn’t bother.
Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for no reason?
neither should you kindle fire on mine altar for nothing.
I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts,
neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
For from the rising of the sun to the going down of the sun,
my name shall be great among the Gentiles;
and in every place incense shall be offered to my name,
and a sincere offering:
for my name shall be great among the heathen,
says the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 66:19
Throughout the Old Testament you’ve read that the Gentiles would have
their time with God, and Malachi prophesies the same thing. He continues to
describe the Lord’s disgust with the way the Israelites have disregarded
Him.
But you have made it unholy, since you say,
The table of the LORD is polluted;
and the fruit of His table, His meat, is contemptible.
You said also, Behold, what a nuisance it is!
and you have sighed heavily at it,
says the LORD of hosts;
Isaiah 43:22
and you brought that which was torn,
and the lame, and the sick;
these you brought as an offering:
should I accept this from your hand?
says the LORD.
But cursed be the deceiver,
which has in his flock a male,
and vows, and sacrifices to the LORD a blemished thing:
Leviticus 22:18-20
because I am a great King,
says the LORD of hosts,
and my name is respected among the heathen.
Can’t wait to share more prophecy from the prophet Malachi with you, so
hurry back soon and we’ll study it together, right here at Daily Bread.
