Sunday, April 26, Anno Domini 2009
Introduction
Review
In considering the book of Malachi we come to the last book in our survey of the Old Testament.
In this series we have been considering the history of the covenant. The covenant, you will remember, is the relationship which God has established between himself and his people. That is the easiest way to understand a covenant—as a relationship; but not just any relationship. A covenant is a formal relationship, by which I mean one in which the parties to the covenant have clearly defined roles with certain privileges and responsibilities clearly spelled out.
Much like marriage.
In fact, marriage is the human relationship to which God’s relationship to his people is most often compared in Scripture. God is the divine husband of the church. The church is his bride. And just as a marriage covenant is established by means of an oath (the husband and wife exchanging vows), so also is God’s covenant with his people established by means of an oath. God promises to be our God and to take us as his people, by caring for us, providing for us, defending us, forgiving us, redeeming us; and we in turn pledge our fidelity to him.
This covenant is signified and sealed with a token or a covenant sign that God gives his people, much like when a man places a ring on the hand of his wife. He gives it to her as a token of his promise to be her husband: to love her, to care for her, to provide for her. God does the same for his people. He gives them a sign of the covenant. In Old Testament times it was circumcision. Now it is baptism. By giving the sign God is claiming us as his own. By receiving the sign we are pledging our fidelity to him.
God formed a people for himself in the calling of Abraham. He chose Abraham and his descendants after him to be in covenant with him. Israel was unique of all the nations of the earth because they had a special relationship to God, a relationship no other nation had.
He called them to be a holy people, an upright people, to reflect his character by obeying his laws. The Old Testament records his dealings with them: preserving them in times of oppression, delivering them from bondage; giving them the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) to instruct them in how he wished them to live; settling them in their own land; giving them priests to minister on their behalf; anointing kings to rule them; sending them prophets to call them back to obedience when they strayed from his ways.
Of Malachi’s Times
We have seen that the disobedience of Israel had reached such a level that God raised up a foreign nation to invade and plunder them and carry them away into captivity as a punishment. This happened in 586 b.c., when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and the people were sent away into exile. God had warned of this ahead of time, that if they did not repent and return to him, he would bring on the Babylonians. But they failed to repent and turn back to God, and so he brought upon them the threatened punishment.
And then, in fulfillment of what God had spoken through the prophets, 70 years after the initial invasion, they were permitted to return to the Land of Promise and rebuild the temple and the city, which is recorded for us in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
The new temple (second temple) was completed in 516 b.c. in the days of Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest.
Ezra priest returned to the land in 458 and diligently taught the people the law. Nehemiah returned a dozen or so years later and led the people in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. It was at about this same time that the word of the Lord came to Malachi. Some place him a little before, and some place him a little later than Nehemiah.
Of Malachi the Man
We know nothing of the identity of Malachi beyond the simple introduction in 1:1, “The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.” We do not know his tribe. We do not know his vocation. We know nothing of his ancestry. We are not even sure of his name. Many biblical scholars take “Malachi” to be the prophet’s title rather than his name. “Malachi” means My Messenger. Various ancient Jewish traditions identify him with Ezra or with Mordecai.
The Conditions of the Day
A Jewish commentator describes the conditions of the day:
The Temple service had fallen into disrepute. The priests had grown careless in the discharge of their duties, and the people had become remiss in the payment of tithes and other dues (cf. Neh. xiii. 10ff.). A spirit of skepticism and indifference to religion was prevalent. Save for a small group of those that feared the Lord (iii. 16), the people had been influenced by doubts that led them to declare, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge? (iii. 14), and to question the Divine rule in the world: Where is the God of justice? (ii. 17). Moreover, morals were lax, divorce was common, and the people had departed from their distinctive position as the people of God by intermarrying with foreign women (cf. Ezra ix.; Neh. xiii. 23ff.). These conditions, as revealed in the Book of Malachi, are identical with the conditions prevailing in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Literary Structure of Malachi
The message of the book is presented as a dialogue between the Lord (or the prophet) and Israel. The dialogue is actually a series of disputations. The Lord makes some opening or introductory statement, often in the form of an indictment, which the people then question or challenge. I have attempted to lay it out for you in the sermon notes in the bulletin to help make it easier to follow.
Exposition
(1:2-3a) In this context, Jacob and Esau are not individuals, but nations. Jacob is Israel; Esau is the country of Edom. God says, “You want to know how I have loved you? Let me tell you. Both Israel and Edom were overrun by the Babylonians and their lands were both laid waste. I have restored your land; but I have not restored theirs.”
The Lord’s love for Israel is shown in the fact that he has favored them. He has restored them to the land. Their temple is rebuilt. But the nation which was closest to them in ancestry, God has left desolate.
(1:3b-8a) This had been strictly forbidden in the law (Lev.
This only stands to reason. The quality of the gift is an expression of the worth of the One to whom it is given. We naturally desire to give the best we can possibly give to those whom we most esteem. The fact that they gave worthless animals to God testified of their opinion of him.
(1:8b) “You wouldn’t give such gifts to your governor. You have more respect for him than that. How is it, then, that you give such worthless things to me?”
Isn’t the same thing true of us? Shouldn’t we offer the Lord our best? I’m not just talking about offerings of money, but across the board. Shouldn’t we give him the best of our time, the best of our efforts, the best of our talents? Shouldn’t we seek excellence in everything we do for him? Shouldn’t we strive to offer him the best in our worship? Shouldn’t we strive to improve our singing? How dare we mumble our confession of faith! Instead, we should loudly affirm our faith. How dare we merely mutter our corporate “Amen”! Let’s say it heartily, with vigor, with emphasis. How dare we throw him a buck every once in a while in the offering plate, as if we are doing him a favor!
(1:9-10) It’s better that you just shut the doors of the church, better that you just lock them up and no one enters, than come in here and dishonor me by your pro forma religion…just going through the motions. You say, “Let’s just get it over with so we can get back to what we really want to do, get back to the things that are important to us.”
This is powerful stuff! This is a stinging indictment. It is reminiscent of Isaiah and Amos (see Isa. 1:10-20; cf. Amos 5:21-24)
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(2:1-9) What hope is there when those who are in charge of teaching the truth pervert the truth—when those who are the representatives of God are unfaithful in their representation?
Do we not find it to be the case in many churches today, that the ministers have “turned aside from the way”, that they have “caused many to stumble”, and have “corrupted the covenant”?
They say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you’re sincere.” They deny that the Bible is timeless truth from God, and teach instead that it’s just ancient man’s speculations about God; and therefore subject to error. Consequently, its moral precepts are not binding. And so we have the spectacle of ministers in Christian churches advocating for abortion rights; advocating for the ordination of practicing homosexuals; etc.
The church is in a sad state when it is the leaders who are leading the way in apostasy.
(2:10-11) Here he is talking about mixed marriages—marrying the daughter of a foreign god, meaning a woman from another nation besides Israel; and being from another nation, a worshiper of a false god. This is one of the things that ties the book of Malachi to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. They both had to deal with this issue as well.