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Malachi

Where is God?

What Kind of God is He?

What Will He Do?

God’s Messenger

SUMMER SERIES — 2012

Review

C. 1:6-2:16 Leaders and Followers — Some Straight Talking:

• 1:6-2:9 — The failures of the priests — the leaders

• 2:10-16 — The failures of the people — the followers

A. 1:1 Title: What, who and howB. 1:2-5 Introduction: God’s covenant love for Israel affirmed

D. 2:17- 4:6 The Lord will Come:

• 2:17 — God’s ways had been misunderstood

• 3:1-5 — The promised Messiah would come

• 3:6-18 — God’s covenant demands remained unchanged

• 4:1-6 — The Day of the Lord

Summary of 1:1-5 — Title and Introduction

• God still loved his people …

• God spoke again to his people …

• God still remembered his covenants …

• God still reigned in the world …

this time through Malachi

even when their faith failed

being faithful to his word, both in blessings and in curses

despite the failures of his people

• This was a message for people who had been through tough times … when many had lost their faith

The Passage for Today

C. 1:6-2:16 Leaders and Followers — Some Straight Talking:

• 1:6-2:9 — The failures of the priests — the leaders

• 2:10-16 — The failures of the people — the followers

A. 1:1 Title: What, who and howB. 1:2-5 Introduction: God’s covenant love for Israel affirmed

D. 2:17- 4:6 The Lord will Come:

• 2:17 — God’s ways had been misunderstood

• 3:1-5 — The promised Messiah would come

• 3:6-18 — God’s covenant demands remained unchanged

• 4:1-6 — The Day of the Lord

1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders (1:6 to 2:9)

1:6 “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for

my name.”

• A son honoured his father

• A servant respected his master

• The priests (God’s sons and servants) showed contempt for their Father and Master (no honour or respect)

1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders

1:6 — “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my

name.”

But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt …?’”

Their response to the statement came as a question …

Answer …

• 1:7 — “You place defiled food on my altar”

• 2:8 — “… you have caused many to stumble”

1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders

Lev. 22:20 “Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted.”

(a) 1:7 “You place defiled food on my altar”

• v. 8 — They wouldn’t offer blemished animals to the Persian

governor, yet they offered them to

God.• v. 10 — Better to close the temple than offer unacceptable sacrifices. Perfect animals pointed to the coming perfect sacrifice — Jesus.

• Compare vv. 6 & 14: God was their Father — to be honoured, their Master (Lord) to be

respected, their King — to be obeyed.

. . . but they failed

1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders

Moses said, “[Levi] teaches your precepts and your law …He offers … whole burnt offerings on your altar.Bless all his skills, O LORD”

Deut. 33:10-11

Jacob said, “Simeon and Levi … have killed men in their anger … Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel.” Gen. 49:5-7

• v. 3 — Life would be like the garbage tip … blessings turned to curses.

• 2:1 — “if you do not …”, “if you do not …” disobedience resulted in

curses.

• v. 4 — Yet for Levi the way had been …curses turned to

blessings.

God is unchangeably God

He is to be honoured, respected and obeyed, and his laws cannot be disregarded.

• 2:7 — “A priest ought to preserve knowledge…because he is the messenger of

the LORD Almighty.”

• 2:8 — “But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant

with Levi” says the LORD Almighty.

Scripture is God’s word to humankind,and must not be neglected.

(b) 2:8 “… you have caused many to stumble”

1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders

2. The Failures of the People — the Followers (2:10-16)

• God was Father to his people …their status as the family of

God

• God was Creator of his people …their origin in the purpose

of God

2:10 “Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?”

(profane = misuse, defile, treat with contempt)

• This unique relationship was formalized in covenants

But …

2. The Failures of the People — the Followers

2:14 “You have broken faith with … the wife of your marriage covenant.”

• They broke covenants with each other by distorting God’s requirements to suit their own ends

2:11 “Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.”

• They broke covenants with God by distorting the use of their God-given sexuality

How did they “profane the covenant”?

2. The Failures of the People — the Followers

(a) They broke covenants with God by distorting the use of their God-given sexuality

• Detestable = revolting or vile. Desecrated = violated or profaned.

• Such behaviour desecrated God’s temple and so disgraced God.

• God did not condemn marriage, but marriage to someone who served a foreign god (idol).

• The practice seems to have become widespread.

2:11 “Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.” Marriage does not only involve

two people…it matters to God as well

2. The Failures of the People — the Followers

(b) They broke covenants with each other by distorting God’s requirements to suit their own ends

2:13 “You weep and wail because [the LORD] no longer pays attention to your offerings …”

2:14 “You have broken faith with … the wife of your marriage covenant.”

• Some had divorced their Jewish wives to marry foreign women.

• Marriage was a significant covenant between people, with God as a witness — but that covenant had been broken in those

cases.

• Covenants depended upon exclusive, loyal and consistent love.

• These people tried to adapt God’s laws to suit their own ends.

2:15-16 “Guard yourself in your spirit,and do not break faith …”

SUMMARY — of this Section

The ineffective Leaders —

• failed to obey covenant requirements about sacrifices …

they had a low view of God

• failed to teach the law …

they neglected God’s word

The disobedient People —

• failed to understand their sexuality …

and tangled up their marriages

• failed to follow God’s ways …

and slipped into ugly self-centredness

But that was in 450 BC …What does it mean today?

SUMMARY — of this Section

• Under the New Covenant …

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength.”

“Love your neighbour as yourself.” Mk.

12:30-31

• What we believe and how we behave …

depends on our worldview, and marks us out from others

What About Today?

• God seeks our exclusive, loyal and consistent love

PEOPLE

A BIBLICALWORLDVIEW

GOD

THEWORLD

OR

WORLDVIEWS — One With God, One Without God

A HUMANISTICWORLDVIEW

GOD

THEWORLD

PEOPLE

SUMMARY — Challenges for Us

• Pray for them as those responsible to God for us.

• Assess their work in the light of the bible.

• Gladly follow them.

(a) Regarding our Leaders

SUMMARY — Challenges for Us

• Understand and express our God-given sexuality in the context of God’s creative purpose for us as his people who bear his image.

(b) Regarding us as Followers

• Resolutely resist the insidious pressures of humanistic worldviews to twist God’s purposes to suit our own desires.

• Commit ourselves to wholeheartedly love God and each other, particularly with respect to

our marriages, our families, and God’s family.

• God loves (and so disciplines) his people, but hates the tactics they use to try and get their own ways.

Malachi God’s Messenger

Part 3:

THE LORD WILL COME 2:17 – 4:6

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Personal reflection and prayer . . .

Our leaders …

Ourselves …

Our marriages …

Our families …

Our church family ...