Malachi 1:1-14 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today we begin our look at the book of Malachi. Here is some background on the book of Malachi that you may find helpful:
1. The book of Malachi was most likely written in the 5th century B.C. (around the same time as, or maybe slightly before or slightly after, the events described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah). It is the last of the Old Testament prophetic books to be written.
2. During the time that Malachi was written, the Jews were under Persian rule. Jewish governor Zerubabbel and prophets Haggai and Zechariah had already successfully led the Jews in rebuilding the temple by 515 B.C. Still the Jewish people had become cold spiritually and were struggling financially. Doubt about God’s promises and spiritual apathy had set in, resulting in many Jews marrying non-believers and refusing to tithe or to be accountable to their spiritual community. It is in this context that God sends several hard-hitting messages to the people through the book of Malachi. Let’s go!
Malachi 1:1 (NIV)
1 An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.
On verse 1: “Malachi” means “my messenger”. Some scholars believe that the author of this book was using a pseudonym “Malachi”, since no other facts about the author’s background or ancestry are given. Whether or not “Malachi” is the real name or a pseudonym for the author, the focus of the book is clearly not on the messenger but on the message itself.
As followers of Jesus, we also are messengers. We’ve been entrusted with the most important message in the world: the gospel of Jesus Christ. Always remember that the message is more important than the messenger. It’s more important that the message gets across than that the messenger looks good.
If a UPS courier were to knock on your door and give you a package, your interest would be in the package they’re delivering much more than whether the messenger’s breath smells or if the messenger is well put together. In the same way, don’t discount a message because you don’t like the messenger. And don’t discount your ability to deliver the message just because you think you have all these shortcomings. Remember: focus on the message, not the messenger.
Malachi 1:2-3 (NIV)
2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” the LORD says. “Yet I have loved Jacob,
3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
On verse 2-3: In Malachi’s day, people doubted God’s love and questioned His Word. When God said, “I have loved you”, the people doubtingly ask, “How have You loved us?” God then points to how, between two twin brothers Esau and Jacob, God chose the younger Jacob over the older Esau. God then made Jacob a great nation, while turning Esau’s mountains into a wasteland. (In this way God could say, “I have loved Jacob, but Esau I hated”.)
God mentions this story to remind us that, just as God chose Jacob over Esau even when Jacob did not deserve to be chosen, God chose us, even though we did not deserve to be chosen and even though someone else could have deserved it more. God’s undeserved grace toward us is evidence of God’s love for us.
Malachi 1:4-5 (NIV)
4 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the LORD Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD.
5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the LORD–even beyond the borders of Israel!’
On verses 4-5: From these verses we learn that God is sovereign. Nothing can keep God from doing what He wants to do. No matter how hard we try to fight God, His plans stand firm forever.
Malachi 1:6 (NIV)
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty…
On verse 6a: God cares about the kind of honour and respect we give to Him.
Malachi 1:6-14 (NIV)
6 …”It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
7 “You place defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible.
8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.
9 “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”–says the LORD Almighty.
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty.
12 “But you profane it by saying of the Lord’s table, ‘It is defiled,’ and of its food, ‘It is contemptible.’
13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty. “When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD.
14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.
On verses 6-14: Since God is a great king (v14), God made His name to be great among the nations (v11, 14), that worship to His name will rise up from every place.
Yet here God goes after the priests for how they “show contempt for my name” (v6a) though the priests are unclear as to how they have done so (v6b). So God identifies four ways that the priests showed contempt for God’s name, and we must ask ourselves the same question: “Do I show contempt for God’s name in any of these ways?”
1. We show contempt for God’s name when we sacrifice to God less than our best (v6b-9);
2. We show contempt for God’s name when we look down on God’s table (such as when we don’t see gathering with God’s people as important, or we take for granted the preaching and teaching of God’s Word at church, or we take communion with the wrong attitude) (v7b, 12);
3. We show contempt for God’s name when we see serving and giving to God as a burden rather than a privilege (v13).
4. We show contempt for God’s name when we do not fulfill our vows to God, when we give God less than what we promised to give Him. In so doing, God calls us “cheats” (v14).
Do you show contempt for God’s name in any of these ways? Let’s give God our best, not our scraps. In our approach to worship, offering and church, let’s make it our goal to make God’s name great among the nations.
Lord Jesus, You are worthy of all worship and honour. May my aim always be to make Your name great wherever I am and to give You the honour You deserve. In Jesus’ name AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
