Malachi Review:
Malachi = My Messenger or Messenger of the Lord
Jeremiah 29:10-11 (ESV) 10 "For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Haggai 2:5-9 (ESV) 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.' "
Promises of Zechariah 1:16 (ESV) 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.' "
Point 1: You don't appreciate my Love
Malachi 1:2-3 (ESV) 2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert."
Point 2: You don't honor me and you despise my name
Malachi 1:6-9 (ESV) 6 "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, who despise my name. But you say, 'How have we despised your name?' 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, 'How have we polluted you?' By saying that the LORD's table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
Point 3: You have started marrying Idolators and introduced foreign Gods
Malachi 2:10-11 (ESV) 10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV) 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
1 Peter 3:7 (ESV) 7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
Point #4 You Question My Justice
Malachi 2:17-3:3 (ESV) 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?"
3:1"Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
Point #5 You have Robbed Me
Malachi 3:6-8 (ESV) 6 "For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions.
Point #6 You have said there is no point in Serving God
Malachi 3:13-16 (ESV) 13 "Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?' 14 You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.' "
Psalm 73:1-28 (ESV) 1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. 18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. 23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Judgment and Covenant Renewal
1 "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire," says the Lord Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.
On the Day of the Lord, God's wrath toward the wicked will burn like a furnace (4:1). But he will be like the healing warmth of the sun to those who love and obey him. John the Baptist prophesied that with the coming of Jesus, the dawn was about to break with light for those in sin's darkness (Luke 1:76-79). In Isaiah 60:20 and Revelation 21:23-24, we learn that no light will be needed in God's holy city, because God himself will be the light.
The "Sun of Righteousness" can refer both to the glory of God, whose coming will be as bright as a sunrise (Habakkuk 3:4), and to Jesus, the Messiah. When the Kingdom of God comes, the Lord will bring healing to all creation. When Jesus ministered on earth, he healed many (Mark 3:10; 6:13). Through his death, he brought healing from sin and disease (Isaiah 53:5). On the Day of the Lord, God will heal Israel from faithlessness (Hosea 14:4). This brings great hope for all who love and worship God. One day, water from the throne of God will produce leaves of healing for all the nations (Revelation 22:1-2). Now, we should pray for God to heal us and all who suffer. One day in his marvelous presence, all who love him will be healed from all sin and brokenness.
3 Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act," says the Lord Almighty.
4 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
The law of Moses, which God gave to him at Mount Sinai, became the first five books of the Old Testament. This law was the foundation of Israel's civil, moral, and ceremonial life (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 4:5-6). It showed the people how to live in the presence of God and follow his way. The moral laws apply to all generations.
5 "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction."
Luke 1:15-17 (ESV) 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
These last verses of the Old Testament are filled with hope. Regardless of how life looks now, God controls the future, when everything will be made right. We who have loved and served God look forward to a joyful celebration. He sets us free from sin and death, our problems, addictions, despair, and anything else that enslaves us. This hope for the future becomes ours when we trust God with our lives.
Elijah was one of the greatest prophets who ever lived (see his story in 1 Kings 17—2 Kings 2 and his profile on page 0000). With Malachi's death, the voice of God's prophets would be silent for 400 years. Then a prophet like Elijah would come to herald the Messiah's coming (Matthew 17:10-13; Luke 1:17). This prophet was John the Baptist. John prepared people's hearts for Jesus by urging people to repent of their sins. Christ's coming would bring not only unity and peace but also judgment on those who refused to turn from their sins.
Malachi gives us practical guidelines about commitment to God: God deserves the best we have to offer (1:7-10). We must be willing to change our ways of living that do not line up with God's way (2:1-2). We should make family a lifelong priority (2:13-16). We should welcome God's refining process in our lives (3:3). We should support our spiritual leaders and God's work in the world through our tithes (3:8-12). We shouldn't let pride gain a foothold in our lives (3:13-15).
Malachi closes his messages by pointing to the great final Day of Judgment. For those who are committed to God, Judgment Day will be a day of joy because it will usher in eternity in God's presence. Those who have ignored God will be "straw," to be burned up (4:1). To help the people prepare for that Day of Judgment, God promised to send a prophet like Elijah (John the Baptist), who would prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah. The New Testament begins with this prophet calling the people to turn from their sins and to turn toward God. Such a commitment to God demands great sacrifice on our part, but we can be sure it will be worth it all in the end.