malachi is the last of the old testament prophets from a...

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1 Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets .. from a Jewish point of view. - Actually . John the Baptist was the last . o Well touch on that more in the third and forth chapters. - Malachi was written to the Jews in Judah approximately 400 years before Christ. (445-432 B.C.) - The temple had been rebuilt (520-516 B.C). - The exiles had been back in Judea from Babylon for over one hundred years. o The sins found in this book are not new . they were addressed by Ezra (who restored the knowledge of the law) and Nehemiah (who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem). o It is highly probable that Malachi was called by God to aid Nehemiah . in combating the grave spiritual problems in Jerusalem upon Nehemiahs second return in approximately 430 B.C. ! Indifference to the divine law characterized the people at this time . ! Instead of and becoming better . they had become worse . From a moral aspect . And .. from a ceremonial aspect . o Malachi directs his message first to the priests and then to the people collectively

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Page 1: Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets from a ...teacherscommentary.net/talks/Malachi.pdf · Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets ––.. from a Jewish point

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Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets ��.. from a Jewish point of view.

- Actually ��. John the Baptist was the last.

o We�ll touch on that more in the third and forth chapters.

- Malachi was written to the Jews in Judah �� approximately 400 years before Christ. (445-432 B.C.)

- The temple had been rebuilt (520-516 B.C).

- The exiles had been back in Judea from Babylon for over one hundred years.

o The sins found in this book are not new �. they were addressed by Ezra (who restored the knowledge of the law) and Nehemiah (who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem).

o It is highly probable that Malachi was called by God to aid Nehemiah ��. in combating the grave spiritual problems in Jerusalem upon Nehemiah�s second return in approximately 430 B.C.

! Indifference to the divine law �� characterized the people at this time.

! Instead of and becoming better ��. they had become worse.

• From �� a moral aspect.

• And �.. from a ceremonial aspect.

o Malachi directs his message �� first to the priests and then to the people collectively

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! Leadership and instruction by the priests was being neglected �� and consequently the people suffered.

! The priest were supposed to be God�s messengers to the people.

• Malachi 2:7 ��. 7 The priests� lips should guard knowledge, and people should go to them for instruction, for the priests are the messengers of the LORD Almighty.

! Hosea 4:6 �� 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; RSV

• Obviously �� Not just knowledge in general Verse 1b of this chapter says:

o There is no faithfulness or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land; RSV

! But now �� since they had not been properly taught and instructed by the priest, as they should have been, they were to listen to one whose name means �My messenger.�

- Malachi is the unknown prophet.

! Malachi ---- means �my messenger.�

! Some have argued that Malachi ought to be understood as a title (My Messenger) �.. rather than as a proper name. In other words � an anonymous writer.

! The name Malachi ��.. is not found in this form anywhere else in the Bible.

• Some have suggested �� that perhaps it is an abbreviation of Mal�akiyya which means �messenger of Yahweh.�

- Nevertheless ��. since all of the other Minor Prophets are spoken of by a proper name ��.. most feel that Malachi was the actual name of this prophet.

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o The issue of authorship ��.. seems to be more important to us than to the Jews of old who worried very little about it. The books inspiration was never doubted.

- The book is written in a style all its own. Question &

Answer. Sometimes you can feel and hear a sarcastic tone.

o Almost every section ��� leads off with a

statement, by either God or the Prophet, which is then challenged by a question or objection from the people.

! The questions or objections ��. come from apostate Israelites of Malachi�s day.

! The questions ���. may have literally been voiced ��. but at the very least, they were questions in the hearts of the people.

o The city and its walls had been raised �� and the temple rebuilt.

! God had chastised them �� by way of the

captivity. ! But ��. He delivered a remnant back to

Judea, as He had promised to do, and settled them in their land.

! He had graciously forgiving their sin.

! God had done all that He promised to do.

o Why then did they say that some of the promises of God were not being fulfilled?

! Because the promises of God were conditional ��. and they were not living up to their end of the bargain.

! God�s promises had always been conditional.

• Sin was introduced in Gen. 3:6 �� 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

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and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. RSV

• The seed promise is given in Gen. 3:15 ��. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.� RSV

• The great nation promise and the promise to all the families of the earth is given in Deut. 12:2 � 3 ��.. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.� RSV

• What God conditionally requires is laid out in Deut. 6:1-9 �� 1 �Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it; 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son�s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them; that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 �Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; 5 and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. RSV

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o The book of Malachi is done in a literary style �� that provides a great opportunity for very direct and blunt thought.

Malachi

1 This is the message that the LORD gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi.

- �Message� (NLT) � �Burden� (KJV) ��Oracle� (NIV)

- Tanakh ��.. A pronouncement: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.

o It carries the meaning ��. of �a weighty message� or a �judicial sentence.�

o �The Word of the Lord� or as here �The message

of the Lord� ��.. appears frequently at the introduction of a prophecy.

o It identifies the message ��.. as a revelation from God that carries His authority.

The first Oracle �..The LORD�s Love for Israel � (The Chosen People) v.2 � 5 �.. Respond to God�s Love

2 �I have loved you deeply,� says the LORD. But you retort, �Really? How have you loved us?�

- This is the first of six oracles or pronouncements.

o God �� makes the claim of loving Israel.

o Israel �� questions the claim.

And the LORD replies, �I showed my love for you by loving your ancestor Jacob. Yet Esau was Jacob�s brother, 3 and I rejected Esau and

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devastated his hill country. I turned Esau�s inheritance into a desert for jackals.�

- The RSV reads this way ��. �Is not Esau Jacob�s brother?� says the LORD. �Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but I have hated Esau; I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.�

o We tend to find this passage very difficult ��. mainly because we forget that He is dealing with two nations. Gen. 25:23

o The Bible knowledge commentary (on loved and hated) ��. The Lord�s claim over Israel was vindicated by two considerations. First was His love expressed in His free choice, His election of Jacob and his descendants (including this generation which had questioned Him) to inherit the promise. This was contrary to the normal practice of choosing the oldest son. Esau, also named Edom and the father of the Edomites (Gen. 36:1), was the firstborn of the twins. Yet even before birth God freely elected Jacob, later named Israel, as the heir (Gen. 25:21-34; Rom. 9:10-13). The Hebrew words for loved and hated refer not to God�s emotions but to His choice of one over the other for a covenant relationship (cf. Gen. 29:31-35; Deut. 21:15, 17; Luke 14:26). To hate someone meant to reject him and to disavow any loving association with him (cf. Ps. 139:21). Nor do these words by themselves indicate the eternal destinations of Jacob and Esau. The verbs refer to God�s acts in history toward both of the two nations which descended from the two brothers.

! Homer Hailey quotes Keil ��. who �warns the word �hate� is not to be watered down to a simple �love less,� but that Jehovah loves the right and good, He hates the evil and bad.

o God can use the just and the unjust to serve His purposes.

! Rom. 9:10-18 ��. 10 And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God�s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call, 12

she was told, �The elder will serve the younger.� 13 As it is written, �Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.�14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God�s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, �I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.� 16 So it depends not upon man�s will or exertion, but upon God�s mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, �I have raised you

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up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.� 18 So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills. RSV

! Hebrews 12:16 � 17 �� 16lest there be any

fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright. 17For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind in his father, though he sought it diligently with tears. 1901ASV

- Several things become obvious.

1. God is sovereign �.. He elected Israel to a covenant relationship with Himself.

! He graciously chose Jacob and rejected Esau ��. many would consider Esau a better man.

• Rom. 9:21 �� 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? RSV

o God does not select according to the flesh ��. but according to His own purpose and will.

• Acts 9:13-16 �� But Ananias answered, �Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name.� 15 But the Lord said to him, �Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16

for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.� RSV

! God�s gracious choice of Israel �� proved His love for them.

! They had failed to acknowledge and return that love �� and they failed to obey His commands as they should have. (Deut. Chap. 6)

2. Both Israel and Edom received judgment from God at the hands of the Babylonians.

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! But �.. because of His covenant relationship with Israel He promised to restore Israel.

! Edom �� He condemned to complete destruction �.. never to be restored.

3. No one could fail to see (in time) the hand of God in His dealings with the nations.

! Israel was a chosen (set apart) nation �� He called her into existence and ruled over her.

! By questioning God�s love for them �� they

showed both a lack of faith in God�s Word and a distrust of God�s faithfulness to His covenant.

4 And Esau�s descendants in Edom may say, �We have been shattered,

but we will rebuild the ruins.� But this is what the LORD Almighty says: �They may try to rebuild, but

I will demolish them again! Their country will be known as �The Land of Wickedness,� and their people will be called �The People with Whom the LORD Is Forever Angry.� 5 When you see the destruction for yourselves, you will say, �Truly, the LORD�s great power reaches far beyond our borders!� �

- Again �� we remember that both Israel and Edom received judgment from God at the hands of the Babylonians.

o Israel must have thought that God made a terrible mistake ��.. because they had suffered seventy years of Babylonian captivity, while Edom remained intact and seemed to benefit from Israel�s loss.

o Not only that ��. Edom gloated over the ruin of their Israelite brothers �� and they actively helped the Babylonian invaders by acting as informants and cutting off escape routes, They also killed the refugees and poached in the stricken land.

! However ��. Edom would not escape God�s

judgment. (Unlike Israel �� God is patient and longsuffering)

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- God had ��.. (many years before) ��. condemned Edom to complete destruction never to be restored again.

o Ezek. 35:1-10 ��. 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 �Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. 4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the LORD. 5 Because you cherished perpetual enmity, and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment; 6 therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you are guilty of blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation; and I will cut off from it all who come and go. 8 And I will fill your mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD RSV

! But Edom was both confident and arrogant �� she said they would rebuild (in essence they were saying we will fight against God) and return to our former state of prosperity.

! God said �� go ahead and I�ll tear down.

• See Edom�s wickedness �� Obadiah verses 8 thru 14

- God repeatedly promised ��. to restore Israel because of His covenant promise.

o When the people of Israel ��.. would eventually see Edom in perpetual ruins but Jerusalem rebuilt and restored, they would have to recognize God�s love rather than their present question �� �Wherein hast thou loved us?

! And they would understand also of His greatness over all the earth ��. even beyond the borders of Israel.

The Second Oracle: The Sins of the Priest ��. Unworthy Sacrifices - (Neglecting God � a charge of disrespect) � Honor God!

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6 The LORD Almighty says to the priests: �A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. I am your father and master, but where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have despised my name!

�But you ask, �How have we ever despised your name?�

- They are a �called out people� �.. they have a covenant relationship with God.

o He says ��. you show respect for your earthly fathers and masters ��. shouldn�t you honor your sovereign God and heavenly Father with the honor and respect He deserves?

o God says ��. �You have despised my name!�

o And they ask ��. �How have we ever despised your name?�

o And He says �� 7 �You have despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.

- They are not only blind to God�s love ��. they are blind of their own guilt.

7 �You have despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices on my

altar. �Then you ask, �How have we defiled the sacrifices?� �You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD deserves no respect. 8

When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn�t that wrong? And isn�t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!� says the LORD Almighty.

- They make a show, by going through the ritual �.. but they do so without heed to either the letter or to the spirit of the Law!

o The priests were irreverent �.. they had only contempt for things sacred.

! Contempt �.. was shown by their complete disregard of the requirements for the kinds of sacrifices that were acceptable.

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! The problem was compounded �� when we understand that the priests received their food from the offerings.

o The blind, the lame and the sick �� such sacrifices were explicitly forbidden. (Lev. 22:20-25; Deut. 15:21)

! He then says ��. Try offering them to the governor �� obviously the governor would not be pleased!

9 �Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?� asks the LORD Almighty.

- The statement is ironic �� God would not accept worthless sacrifices from these priests.

- And He will not hear the prayers ��. of those who dishonor Him.

10 �I wish that someone among you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not at all pleased with you,� says the LORD Almighty, �and I will not accept your offerings.

- This is basically a plea �� for someone to have the nerve to close the Temple.

o No worship �� would be better than insulting and contemptible worship.

o Lastly He says �� that He would not accept any offering from them!

o Why not? The reason is obvious ��. John 4:23 ��. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. RSV

11 But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,� says the LORD Almighty. 12 �But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it�s all right to defile the

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Lord�s table. 13 You say, �It�s too hard to serve the LORD,� and you turn up your noses at his commands,� says the LORD Almighty. �Think of it! Animals that are stolen and mutilated, crippled and sick�presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?� asks the LORD. 14 �Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,� says the LORD Almighty, �and my name is feared among the nations!

- A contrast is made here ��. between the present contemptible offerings of the priests with what the Gentiles will offer in the future when they see the light and become worshippers of God. (Prophetic)

o In other words �� if the Jewish priests and the people �despise My name� �� I shall find others who will magnify it.

- The prophets predicted a time when Gentiles would see the light ��� and become worshipers of the Lord (Isa. 45:22-25; 49:5-7; 59:19)

o 1Peter 2:10 puts it this away �� 10who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. ASV1901

- In contrast to the people�s offerings at this time �.. which should have been an expression of their love and devotion, but was instead contemptible, the Gentiles would offer a pure and acceptable worship.

o Rom. 12:1-2 �� 1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. RSV

! Any true worship must honor and exalt God.

• It is honoring and praising God for who He is.

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! Our greatest offering to God �� is our life itself. (Which is our reasonable service or as some versions have it �.. our spiritual worship.)

- He goes on to say �� 13 You say, �It�s too hard to serve the LORD,� and you turn up your noses at his commands,� says the LORD Almighty

o They grew weary �.. bored �� their function at the altar had become a burden to the priest.

! Why? Because they had lost sight of the glory, majesty, character, nature and holiness of God.

! Portrait of God ....... Frank Chesser �� �The altar

personified redemption with all its attendant elements. It symbolized the holiness of God, the ugliness of sin, and the beauty of forgiveness. It was God�s love and grace looking at sin through blood. The altar looked backward to the sin of the first Adam and forward to the sacrifice of the second Adam. Polluted sacrifices on the altar were demonstrations of the priests� contempt for God and the redemptive process upon which their own souls depended.�

o He then returns to the subject of their offerings ��. Animals that are stolen and mutilated, crippled and sick.

! Road kill!

! Defective!

! Broken vows!

! Stolen!

o Both the priest and the one offering the sacrifice were guilty.

! The Law stipulated what was required as an offering ��but inferior offerings were substituted. (All symbolism was lost)

! There seems to have been an attitude of �something is better than nothing� �� lukewarm was better than cold.

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o He ends this section by saying �� For I am a great king,� says the LORD Almighty, �and my name is feared among the nations!

! Deception ��. was an affront to the authority of God. They did not take God seriously.

• Gal. 6:7 �.. 7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap RSV

o You can�t fool God.

o Irreverent, hypocritical worship dishonors God.

! The Lord�s name is feared �� among the nations.

• Heb. 10:31 �� 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. RSV

A Warning for the Priests

2 �Listen, you priests; this command is for you! 2 Listen to me and take it to heart. Honor my name,� says the LORD Almighty, �or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning seriously. 3 I will rebuke your descendants and splatter your faces with the dung of your festival sacrifices, and I will add you to the dung heap. 4 Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites may continue,� says the LORD Almighty.

5 �The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and this is what I gave them. This called for reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 They passed on to the people all the truth they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin. 7 The priests� lips should guard knowledge, and people should go to them for instruction, for the priests are the messengers of the LORD Almighty. 8 But not you! You have left God�s paths. Your �guidance� has caused many to stumble into sin. You have

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corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,� says the LORD Almighty. 9 �So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown partiality in your interpretation of the law.�

- This section begins with a heart to heart talk to those of the priesthood. (Verses 1 - 4)

o They were to honor God ��. or suffer the hardship of the curses outlined in the Law for their disobedience to the Law. (Deut. 27:15-26 and 28:15-68.)

! The priests �� lived off of their allotted portions of the sacrifices.

• Eating of the sick beasts �.. would likely cause disease.

! They would also suffer ��. because of the limitation of tithes.

o The curse �� was already in effect.

! Because of their hearts condition (no love of God �. they were only carrying out a form of ritual) and their indifference and irreverence.

o Verse 3 �� 3 I will rebuke your descendants and

splatter your faces with the dung of your festival sacrifices, and I will add you to the dung heap.

! 3I will put your seed under a ban, and I will strew dung upon your faces, the dung of your festal sacrifices, and you shall be carried out to its [heap]. Tanakh

• Underlined above �� meaning of Hebrew uncertain. Tanakh

! The verse seems to point to the priests or Levites being delivered over to shameful treatment ��.. which shall cover them with contempt.

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• The idea is derived from the filth left in the courts by the victims. (see the following clause.) Your solemn feasts (chaggim); i.e. the animals slain at the sacrificial feast. God calls them �your,� not �my,� because they were not celebrated really in his honour, but after their own self-will and pleasure. The dung of the sacrificial animals was by the Law carried forth and burned without the camp (Exod. 24:14; Lev. 4:12; 16:27) One shall take you away with it. They shall be treated as filth, and cast away in some foul spot (comp. 1 Kings 14:10). Pulpit Commentary

o Verses 5 � 7 describes the ideal priest.

! One who �.. fears and obeys the Lord.

! One who �.. receives the Word and teaches it.

! One who �.. lives what he teaches.

! One who �.. seeks to turn others from sin.

o The priests in Malachi�s day ��.. led people astray and caused them to sin. (v.8)

! They corrupted the covenant God made with the Levites.

• How?

o By saying ��. that defiled sacrifices ��. were accepted.

o This violated God�s covenant with Levi.

• Consequently �� the priests became despised and humiliated before all the people.

- If they had chosen to live by the Law �.. they would have known life and peace and righteousness. (v.5) And they would have been a blessing to the people.

o Deut. 10:13 ��. 12 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart

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and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the LORD�s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? NIV

- Verse 9 says �� 9 �So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown partiality in your interpretation of the law.�

o The priests were intended to hold a position of honor ��.. but they had corrupted the covenant of Levi.

! 1Samuel 2:30 �.. 30Assuredly�declares the LORD, the God of Israel�I intended for you and your father�s house to remain in My service forever. But now�declares the LORD�far be it from Me! For I honor those who honor Me, but those who spurn Me shall be dishonored. Tanakh

o Malachi also points out ��.. that they had shown partiality in the administration of Law.

! 2Chron. 19:7 �� 7Now let the dread of the LORD be upon you; act with care, for there is no injustice or favoritism or bribe-taking with the LORD our God.� Tanakh

The Third Oracle: A Call to Faithfulness as God�s Covenant People (Broken Commitments � Divorce and Mixed Marriages)

10 Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why are we faithless to each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors? 11 In Judah, in Israel, and in Jerusalem there is treachery, for the men of Judah have defiled the LORD�s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. 12 May the LORD cut off from the nation of Israel every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the LORD Almighty.

13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the LORD�s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings, and he doesn�t accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, �Why has the LORD abandoned us?� I�ll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made to each other on your wedding day when you were young. But you have been disloyal to her, though she remained

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your faithful companion, the wife of your marriage vows. 15 Didn�t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard yourself; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 �For I hate divorce!� says the LORD, the God of Israel. �It is as cruel as putting on a victim�s bloodstained coat,� says the LORD Almighty. �So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife.�

- He begins this section by talking about being their Father.

o Not ��. from a universal Fatherhood of mankind standpoint.

o But instead ��. from the standpoint of being the

Father of the covenant people.

! Speaking to the priests in chapter one he said �.. Malachi 1:6 �� 6 The LORD Almighty says to the priests: �A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. I am your father and master, but where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have despised my name! NLT

! Exodus 19:5 � 6 �� 5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.� RSV

- They were profaning the covenant God made with them at Sinai.

o How? By dealing treacherously (breaking faith) in their relationships with one another �� in this case with their own wives.

! Verse 11b ��.. by marrying women who worship idols

o God�s covenant with Israel prohibited this sin �.. (Ex. 34:10-16; Deut. 7:1-4) The nation�s looseness about divorce was endangering the promise of the Seed �. Christ.

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! Nonetheless, they persisted ��. in marrying pagan wives who worshiped foreign gods.

! Solomon�s violation of this law ��. had opened the door for idolatry to enter into Judah.

• 1 Kings 11:1-8 �.. 1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, �You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods�; Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. RSV

! Intermarrying was a big problem after the return from the Exile (Ezra 9:1-2, 10-12; Neh. 13:23-27) Both the priests and the people were involved.

o Illegal intermarriage was their first act of unfaithfulness �� and divorce was their second.

! We often use the phrase mentioned in this text �.. �God hates divorce� when we talk about this subject today. And indeed He does.

o However ��� we need to understand the context of this statement to fully appreciate it.

! This society had adopted divorce as a lifestyle. (It was the thing to do.)

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! Many things can prompt divorce. (Some we can even understand rather easily.) Proverbs 25:24 �� 24

It is better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a contentious wife in a lovely home. NLT

• But �. This is not what�s happening here.

! Hardheartedness is evident.

• This is not divorce ��. that is stimulated by a partner�s sin or unwillingness to maintain the marriage covenant.

• It is divorce motivated by lust ��. by an older man�s desire for a new and younger wife!

• This is an example of the proverbial phrase �� �there�s no fool like an old fool!�

! This kind of faithlessness is something that God cannot stand. (It is � in your face defiance)

o What are some of the results of this sin?

! God would not accept their sacrifices any longer ��. because He was displeased with their conduct. (v.12)

! Plus verse 13 says �� You cover the LORD�s altar with tears

• Not only had they married foreign wives ��. but they had put away their faithful companions, rejecting the covenant of their youth.

• As one commentator put it ��.. The rejected wives were covering the altar with their tears ��. weeping and sighing to such a degree that the fire was

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extinguished and the sacrifices were never received but rather rejected by Jehovah.

! These �put away� (divorced) wives ��.. were innocent of any wrong doing.

• Verse 14b says �� But you have been disloyal to her, though she remained your faithful companion, the wife of your marriage vows.

• Divorce ��. was almost completely male dominated at this time.

o Women �� were considered basically as property.

o Women rarely were able to divorce their husbands:

! With regard to divorce, the inequities between husbands and wives had become even more pronounced than they had been under the original Mosaic language. Women still were denied the right to divorce their husbands, with but rare exceptions. The rabbis had permitted women to take such action if they were married to a man who developed leprosy or dropsy or who embarked on one of three vocations: dung hauling, tanning, or copper working. All three of these were associated with strong, offensive odors which defied effort to cleanse them from the body. A women who simply could not stand to live around such odor could gain a divorce on that basis.

• They were the wives of their youth.

o Youth indeed �� Celibacy was frowned on and early marriages were urged (12 or 13 for a girl, 18 for a man). It was taught with vigor

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that a man who had not married by the age of twenty had transgressed the law of God. The Book of First Corinthians � Jim McGuiggan

• This type of harshness on the part of husbands ��.is what prompted Jesus� remark in Mathew 19.

o Mathew 19:8-8 �.. 7 They said to him, �Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?� 8

He said to them, �For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

• This type of hardness of heart ��is what brought about God�s commandment through Moses in Deut. 24:1-4 ��. 1When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man�s wife. 3And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. KJV

o God�s equity is seen in this �� without a written bill of divorcement, the put away (divorced) wife, who was sent out was still bound to her husband.

! The marriage ties ��. were not severed.

! If she married another �. she would commit adultery, and anyone who married her would also commit adultery.

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! The husband sent her away �.. but he also made her to commit adultery.

o The divorce �� gave the husband what he wanted.

o The bill of divorcement �� gave the wife what she needed.

! The divorce or putting away �� left her homeless, empty, and without anyone to care for her.

o The bill of divorcement �� gave her the right to have another husband. (It made one, two again.)

o God knew that a woman had a need for a husband ��. as well as a husband had a need for a wife.

! The bill of divorcement gave her that right.

! Deut. 24:2 �.. 2And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man�s wife.

• But what God wants most of all �� is what He intended from the beginning.

o God�s ideal has always been �� one husband and one wife for life.

• And again we need to remember Deut. 10:12 � 13 ��. 12 �And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I command you this day for your good? RSV

o God always tells us what is best for us.

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o God wants us to bring up godly families.

o God instituted the marriage covenant �� for the common benefit of all mankind.

• However �� God knows, and deals with us in an imperfect world of reality.

o Today �� we need to teach our youth the importance of marriage in every way we possibly can. Most importantly by the example of a good marriage!

o In broken homes �.. all suffer the consequences. Parents, children, extended family, society in general.

! Of course God hates divorce!

o But when divorce does happen �.. try to help eliminate suffering where you can. Remember �. God hates the sin �. but he still loves the sinner.

! To the Ehpesian church He said ��. Rev. 2:6 �� 6But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 1901 ASV

o And many times �� there is such

a thing as an innocent party.

o However �.. we make poor judges in such matters.

o But we can often help by just

being a friend. God will take care of any judging that needs to be done in due time.

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! We also need to remember one other thing �� we are usually hardest on the things we�re not personally having a problem with.

! But that can change so very quickly and unexpectedly.

o Most importantly �.. don�t isolate and shun anyone simply because they�ve suffered a divorce �� this is when they most need our love and help.

! 1Cor. 13:1 �� 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. RSV

! A poem to remember:

• All the world is froth and bubble, Yet two things stand out like stone, Kindness, in another's trouble, Courage in our own.

17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. �Wearied him?� you ask. �How have we wearied him?� You have wearied him by suggesting that the LORD favors evildoers

since he does not punish them. You have wearied him by asking, �Where is the God of justice?�

- Verse 17 �� forms the transition ��. to the third and fourth chapters.

o Their faithlessness and skepticism �� were wearing the Lord�s patience thin. (Verses 13 � 15)

! By saying that He favors evildoers since He does not punish them ��. questions the very existence of an all knowing righteous God.

• It insinuates that if God existed ��. He would have acted. (Atheistic thinking)

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• The RSV reads �� 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, �How have we wearied him? By saying, �Every one 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?�

o Even though their religion had become an empty form ��.. they still took issue when their piety was brought into questioned.

The Fourth Oracle: The Coming Day of Judgment - God of Justice. 3 �Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,� says the LORD Almighty. 2 �But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal or like a strong soap that whitens clothes. 3 He will sit and judge like a refiner of silver, watching closely as the dross is burned away. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold or silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD. 4 Then once more the LORD will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in former times. 5 At that time I will put you on trial. I will be a ready witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,� says the LORD Almighty.

- The Lord here in verses 3 � 5 answers the question they asked in 2:17 �.. �Where is the God of justice?�

o He says that He himself will come �.. and come suddenly. (Jesus was divine, the essence of Jehovah)

o But first �� before He comes �.. He will send His messenger to prepare the way before Him.

! This messenger �� is the Elijah of Malachi chapter 4 and verse 5.

• This promised messenger rest on the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3-5 �� 3 A voice cries: �In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4

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Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.� RSV

! This messenger �� would go before and prepare the way for the Lord�s coming.

• Matthew 3:1-3 �� 3 A voice cries: �In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.� RSV

! And Luke 1:17 �� (along with other like verses) explains even more clearly �� as an angel of the Lord says �� 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.� RSV

o Israel supposedly longed for the appearance of the God of judgment.

! However �.. the coming of Jehovah will not be as they had expected.

! Often ��the prophets had spoken of the Lord�s judgment being poured out on the nations.

• As a matter of fact �� Malachi makes no mention of the other nations.

! They assumed ��. a time of blessing for Israel as His chosen people.

• But �� they did not expect a time of judgment on unfaithful Israel.

• Because �� they were blind to their own sinfulness.

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• Contrary to their assumptions ��.. He concentrates on this being a day of judgment on Israel �� especially on the Levites.

! But the whole nation would be judged for such things as ��. sorcery, adultery, lying, depriving workers of their wages, mistreating foreigners, and oppressing widows and orphans.

• All of these things were prohibited by the Mosaic Law.

! This judgment ��will be their answer to the nation�s question about His justice.

• He would purify the land by judgment.

o Then ��. the offering of the faithful remnant would be pleasing to God.

o The statement concerning �.. The �refiners fire� and the �launderer�s cleansing with soap� ��.. emphasis God�s spiritual purging of the nation.

o This would involve first the Levites and priests ��.. followed by the people of Judah in general.

• When we refuse to purify ourselves �.. God must act for us.

! This is an enduring principal:

• 1Peter 4:17-19 �� 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And �If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?� 19 Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God�s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good. RSV

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The Fifth Oracle: Ritual Offenses ��.. A Call to Repentance � Obey God.

6 �I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,� says the LORD Almighty.

�But you ask, �How can we return when we have never gone away?� 8 �Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! �But you ask, �What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?� �You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are

under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,� says the LORD Almighty, �I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won�t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not shrivel before they are ripe,� says the LORD Almighty. 12 �Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,� says the LORD Almighty.

- Two facts are made very clear from the beginning of this section of Scripture.

o First �� God�s ��.. never changing faithfulness.

o And ��.. Secondly ��. the perpetual apostasy of Israel.

- But the most amazing statement is made in verse 7.

o With a history of ingratitude and sin as their only legacy ��.. God once again extends to them the age-old invitation �.. �Now return to me, and I will return to you,� says the LORD Almighty.�

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- Not to surprisingly ��.. This call to repentance is deflected by the people by asking ��.. How can we return when we have never gone away?�

o The response ��.. is a bit surprising.

! 8 �Should people cheat God? (or rob God)

o And they ask ��. When did we ever cheat you?�

! The answer comes back very directly ��. �You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.

! Not only had they cheated God �� they shot themselves in the foot, so to speak, by cheating or robbing God.

! The Temple was the organ through which the

produce of the land was redistributed ��. both to the Temple personnel and to other groups in the land. (Civil & religious)

• God�s commandments ��.. are always looking out for our good.

o God wanted to bless His chosen people.

• These blessings ��. simply awaited their obedience.

o We must be careful in applying these promises to believers today.

! The Mosaic Covenant �� with its promises of material blessings to Israel for her obedience is no longer in force.

! However ��.. the NT does speak of generosity and giving.

! It speaks of God�s eternal blessings on those

who do good to all men.

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• Ga. 6:7 � 10 �� 7 Do not be deceived; God is

not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. RSV

The Sixth Oracle: Triumph of the Just ��.. Fear God. 13 �You have said terrible things about me,� says the LORD. �But you say, �What do you mean? How have we spoken against you?� 14 �You have said, �What�s the use of serving God? What have we

gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for our sins? 15 From now on we will say, �Blessed are the arrogant.� For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them go free of harm.� �

- This sixth oracle �� charges the people ��. with speaking harsh things against the Lord.

o And in typical response ��. they asked God ��.

�How have we spoken against you?�

- They were questioning God�s justice.

o The contrast being made is ��. between the supposed righteous and those who were wicked ��. and the seeming prosperity of the wicked.

! They said �.. it is futile to serve God!

• What have we gained?

• Evil doers are successful and even when they test God they escape punishment.

• Even mourning our sins doesn�t help.

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• In essence they were saying �� we�ve done everything faithfully �.. all that is left is for God to keep His end of the bargain and bless us.

• A subtle way of saying �� God is not keeping His promises.

! Malachi had already pointed out their disobedience.

• And God �� was responding accordingly.

• Instead of doubting or questioning their own faithfulness �� they doubted and questioned God�s faithfulness.

• That�s why the Lord said earlier in the chapter �� 6 �I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed.

o God was their only hope �.. He is always faithful to His Word and His promises.

! Today ��. If your religion is based on secular expectations being fulfilled ��. you are indeed shortsighted and can not see afar off.

• To many � when the secular good does not come as they expect - - they too will likely say �� �it is futile to serve God.�

! God always wants us to keep His commandments ��. but we so often forget that God wants our hearts and souls.

• 1 Cor. 15:58 �� 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. RSV

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• Philippians 4:12 � 13 �� 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. 13 I can do all things in him who strengthens me. RSV

• Matthew 5:43 � 48 ��.. 43Ye have heard that

it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: 44but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; 45that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. 46For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same? 48Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 1901 ASV

• Matthew 13: 37 � 43 �� 37And he answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels. 40As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, 42and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear. 1901 ASV

The LORD�s Promise of Mercy

16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him. 17 �They will be my people,� says the LORD Almighty. �On the day when I act, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient and dutiful child. 18 Then you will again see

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the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.�

- To the faithful remnant �� to those who feared God and thought upon His name.

o He says ��. They will be my people ��.. my own special treasure ��.. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient and dutiful child.

o And the Lord listened to what they had to say.

o A scroll of remembrance ��was written to record the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him.

! Rev. 20:12 �� 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. 1901 ASV

o There will be a final judgment ��. but there will also be many other judgments of God before that day.

! 18 Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.�

• God rules upon the earth �� He rules the nations.

• But �.. He does everything on His own timetable and in His own way.

The Coming Day of Judgment

4 The LORD Almighty says, �The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. The arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw on that day. They will be consumed like a tree�roots and all.

2 �But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like

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calves let out to pasture. 3 On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,� says the LORD Almighty.

4 �Remember to obey the instructions of my servant Moses, all the laws and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel. 5 �Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.�1

- The day of judgment is indeed coming.

o He says ��. The arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw on that day. They will be consumed like a tree�roots and all.

! 2 Thes. 1:9 � 12 ��. 9 They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. RSV

o But to those who fear His name he says �� 2 �But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.

! The phrase �� �the Sun of Righteousness� only appears here in Scripture.

• 1 Cor. 1:30 �� 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; RSV

1Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

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• Ps. 103:3 � 5 �� 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle�s. RSV

o Devine righteousness �� is assessable like rays of light to those who fear His name.

! The wicked will indeed be judged.

• Complete victory is indicated �� On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,� says the LORD Almighty.

o Verse 4 �� Recalls to their minds the Law of Moses ��.. and he says obey all the regulations and instructions.

- The Old Testament ends here with this promise:

o 5 �Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.�

- God would send a prophet �� spoken of as �Elijah,� who would prepare the way for the coming of Christ.

o The Gospels make it clear ��� that the coming �prophet� was not to be Elijah the Tishbite but one of like spirit and power (Mt 11:14; 17:13; Mk 9:11-13; Lk 1:17).

! Luke 1:16 � 17 says ��. 16 And he will turn many of the sons 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.� RSV

o A return to God was the only way to avert destruction �� Through him, men were to be brought to a unity of faith�to repentance, conversion, and to a heart felt obedience to God�s law.

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! This was to prepare the soil of the heart �.. for a glad and ready acceptance of the coming of Christ.

• Some listened and obeyed �. most did not. (Especially among the leadership)

o Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

! These words ��. are related both to the exhortation to keep the law of Moses and to the ministry of John the Baptist.

o For those Christians who lived after the destruction of Jerusalem ���.a picture of the final judgment would be all to clear ��. because it�s destruction served as an example of the final judgment.

! When Jehovah destroyed their city and their land he also left the temple desolate �.. it was left a carcass, fit only for the vultures.

! The book of Malachi served as a fitting close

to God�s revelation to His chosen people.

• It is God�s final appeal ��. to purge the wickedness among them and to render heartfelt and acceptable service to the Lord.

! There would be 400 years of prophetic silence �.. and then when the Messiah did come ��.. there would be no doubt who He was.

• No man � ever spoke like this man spoke.

• No man � ever did the miracles He did.

• No man � ever died for the sins of the world.