Sermon Notes, September 4, 2016 PM
Minor Prophets with a Major Message
Malachi
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A.
Arkansas has many beautiful places. For many years Tami and I have enjoyed
going
to Mount Nebo near Dardanelle. Mount Nebo
is one of the highest peaks in our state
and offers breathtaking views of the
Arkansas River Valley, cool breezes on hot
summer days and some of the most beautiful
sunsets you will ever see. When we
lived in that area we would often drive to
Sunset point in the evening to watch the sun
descend below the mountains and witness the
artistry of God as the shades of
evening chased away the final rays of the
sun.
1. In
this message we come to the sunset of the Old Testament.
2. Beginning with the dawn of creation
through the morning hours of Israel’s exodus,
the noontime of her glory under David
and Solomon and the long afternoon of the
prophets God’s sunset of the Old
Testament is the literary artistry of Malachi.
B. We
know very little about this 5th century B.C. prophet.
1. We are not certain of his name. The
name, “Malachi” means “My Messenger.”
2. Some have speculated whether this is a
proper name or a descriptive name
borrowed from a statement made in 3:1 – “Behold,
I am going to send My
messenger, and he will clear the way
before Me.”
3. Several early Christian writers
including Origen suggested that Malachi was an
angel (the word “angel” means
“messenger”).
4. Another early Christian writer, Jerome,
was convinced that the writer of Malachi
was the scribe Ezra. This view was also
held by the reformation leader John Calvin
5. Rick Ezell describes Malachi with these
words: “He may be described as a
vigorous, clear-cut personality who
strongly opposed anyone who treated the
temple and the things of God with
indifference. Carelessness in worship offended
him. He wanted to restore the genuine
worship of God based on a true relationship
with Him. He was a fearless reformer who
spoke without hesitation or
embarrassment.”
C. It
is important for us to notice the setting in which this message was delivered.
1. Malachi, along with Haggai and Zechariah
were “post-exilic” prophets.
2. The exiles from Babylon and Persia
returned in three stages.
a. The first group led by Zerubbabel and
Joshua (the High Priest) approximately
537 B.C. This group led the initial
rebuilding of Jerusalem and completed the
rebuilding of the temple in 516 B.C.
b. A second group arrived under the
leadership of Ezra in 458 B.C.
c. The final group was led by Nehemiah
in 445.B.C. Nehemiah led this group in the
rebuilding of the walls of
Jerusalem. He later became the governor of Jerusalem
on two occasions.
3. As Malachi was writing the days of
Persia were numbered. Greece was becoming
the predominant power in the ancient
world. In the west the Romans were
beginning to emerge as a political power
(founded in 509 B.C.).
4. The people of Israel had become
complacent and apathetic about their faith. They
were going through the motions of
worship but there was no meaning. The feeling
was gone.
5. Kyle Yates in Preaching From The
Prophets, makes this observation about the
people of Israel during this post-exilic
period. “The people complained against God
and bemoaned their sad plight, refused
to pay their tithes and offerings, were guilty
of social injustice, and had married
themselves with the heathen people of the land.
Divorce was common. YAHWEH’s covenant
had been forgotten and a low type of
behavior was the common order of the
day” (p. 214).
D.
Malachi used a unique method to deliver God’s message.
1. He uses a series of seven discussions in
which God speaks first and is then
answered by the people who state their
objections. God then answers the
objections before moving on to the next
discussion. It is almost like a series of
debates between God and the people.
2. Malachi is the only Old Testament writer
who used this literary form.
E. God
used Malachi to challenge His people to do their best in their worship, in
their
marriage and in their giving. Each of these
challenges is still valid.
I. DO OUR BEST IN WORSHIP
A. God begins the first discussion in verse
6 by asking, “A son honors his father,
and a servant his master. Then if I am a
father, where is My honor? And if I am a
master, where is My respect? says the
Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise
My name.” (There are 55 verses in
Malachi. In 44 of them God is speaking directly).
1. Twenty-four times in Malachi God
calls Himself, "The Lord of Hosts” (NIV – “The
Lord Almighty). This is the term
Martin Luther referred to in his hymn, “A Mighty
Fortress” with the lyrics, “Lord
Sabbaoth His name, from age to age the same.”
2. God is worthy of the highest praise
and best effort we can possibly give.
B. As we read further in Malachi we discover
that these people were not giving God
their best. Malachi begins with the
priests in the section from 1:6-2:9.
1. The people asked in verse 6 – “How
have we despised Your name?”
2. God responded in verse 7 – “You are
presenting defiled food upon My altar.”
3. Again the people ask, “‘How have we
defiled you?”
4. God replied in verses 7-8 – “In that
you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be
despised.’ 8 But
when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when
you present the lame and sick, is it
not evil? Why not offer it to your governor?
Would he be pleased with you? Or
would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord
of hosts.”
a. The priests were not giving God
what He was due.
b. They were bringing animals that
were blind, lame, and injured – the animals
no one wanted – and sacrificing
them. God had given specific instructions
regarding the animals that were
to be sacrificed. See Exodus 12:5; Leviticus.
1:3,10; 22:18-25 and Deut.
15:21. These people were giving God the
left-overs.
c. Malachi chides them in verse 8, “Try
offering them to your governor! Would he
be pleased with you? Would he
accept you?” They were giving things to God
that their governor would not
accept.
d. I recently read of a man who had
done mission work in Africa. He told of
receiving a shipping container
filled with clothes. As they went through the
clothes they discovered most of
them were old, worn out, torn and dirty.
e. Many churches quit stocking food
pantries because people were bringing
canned goods with dates that had
expired. For too long many people have had
the mindset, “I will take the
best for myself and give whatever is left to God”
C. What was the crux of the issue? They
were not honoring God’s name. The quality
of our worship is inseparably linked to
our view of God.
1. If we recognize God’s power,
holiness, awesome nature and majesty our worship
will reflect a spirit of reverence and
awe. The higher our view of God the greater
our worship of Him will be.
2. In verse 11 - “For from the rising of
the sun even to its setting, My name will be
great among the nations, and in
every place incense is going to be offered to My
name, and a grain offering that is
pure; for My name will be great among the
nations,” says the Lord of hosts.”
3. At the conclusion of verse 14 - “for I
am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts,
“and My name is feared among the
nations.”
D. What was God’s response to the attitude
and actions of His people?
1.
Notice verse 10 - ““Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates,
that you might not uselessly kindle
fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,”
says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I
accept an offering from you.”
2. God says, “I would rather you lock
the doors of the church building rather than
come in and give me the leftovers of
your life.”
3. What they needed and what we need is
to recapture a vision of the power and
majesty of God.
II. DO OUR BEST IN MARRIAGE
A. Beginning in chapter 2:11 Malachi talks
about Judah. This is a reference to the
people of Israel who had returned.
1.
He says, “Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem.”
2. The word, “abomination” is translated
“detestable” in some versions.
3. What is this thing they have done?
Verse 11 continues, “Judah has profaned the
sanctuary of the Lord which He loves
and has married the daughter of a foreign
god."
B. The Old Testament was very specific
about who the Israelites could marry.
1. Exodus 34:15-18 – prohibition against
covenants with foreign people.
2.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 – “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with
them; you shall
not give your daughters to their
sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your
sons. 4 For they
will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods;
then the anger of the Lord will be
kindled against you and He will quickly destroy
you.”
3. Do you remember what happened to
Solomon in 1 Kings 11 when he married
foreign women? They turned his heart
away from God.
C. What was taking place in Malachi’s day
was that men were divorcing their wives
in order to go out and marry someone
else.
1. Malachi sets the stage for what Jesus
would later say about marriage and
divorce in Matthew 19:1-9.
2. In verse 15 he said, “But not one has
done so who has a remnant of the Spirit.
And what did that one do while he
was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed
then to your spirit, and let no one
deal treacherously against the wife of your
youth.” See Proverbs 5:18 – “Let your fountain be
blessed, And rejoice in the
wife of your youth.”
3. In verse 16 he said, “For I
hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and
him who covers his garment with
wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take
heed to your spirit, that you do not
deal treacherously.”
D. If divorce is not God’s will it makes
sense that we should do everything in our
power to avoid the things that lead to
divorce.
1. There must be a recognition that
marriage is a covenant with God and not
merely a civil matter.
2. There must be planning and
preparation. You cannot receive a driver’s license
or hunting license without taking a
test. You cannot receive a medical license
without passing an exam. You do not
have to take a test to be married but it
makes sense to spend some time preparing
and understanding what God
says about marriage and some things
about marriage itself.
3. It is never too early to begin
teaching children about God’s plan for marriage.
May I suggest the children’s book Picking
Melon’s and Mates by Cindy Colley,
III. DO OUR BEST IN GIVING
A. In chapter 3:8 the question is raised,
“Will a man rob God?” He could have
asked,
“Will a man cheat God?”
1. Once again the people reply, “How
have we robbed you?”
2. God responds, “In tithes and
offerings.”
a. In the Old Testament there were
numerous regulations regarding tithes
and offerings (Leviticus 27). The
foundational principle to all of them was that
God was to receive the first
portion. Remember, tithing actually predated the
Law of Moses (Genesis 14:20).
b. In the same manner the people had
been bringing inferior sacrifices to offer at
the altar they were withholding
the amount they should have been giving to
God.
c. According to verse 9 – “You are
cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me,
the whole nation of you.”
B. At this point God sets forth a Divine
principle for giving. You cannot outgive God.
Notice verse 10 – “Bring the whole tithe
into the storehouse, so that there may be
food in My house, and test Me now in
this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open
for you the windows of heaven and pour
out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
1. Is there any limit to God’s
resources?
2. Our greatest limitation is the one we
impose on ourselves when we fail to give
with a proper attitude. Remember, in
the New Testament we are not under a
tithe but we are recipients of
better promises and a better covenant offering
better hope. God calls on us to be
“cheerful givers” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
3. A mother wanted to teach her daughter
a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a
quarter and a dollar for church
"Put whichever one you want in the collection
plate and keep the other for yourself,"
she told the girl. When they were coming
out of church, the mother asked her
daughter which amount she had given.
"Well," said the little
girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the
collection the man in the pulpit
said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew
I'd be a lot more cheerful if I gave
the quarter, so I did."
CONCLUSION:
A. In
Malachi 3:7 we find a phrase that is repeated often in the Minor Prophets. “Return
to Me, and I will return to you,” says the
Lord of hosts.” This is ongoing repentance
such as 1 John 1:9.”If we confess our sins
He is faithful to forgive…”
1. Though these twelve books are called the
minor prophets their message is
extremely important and always timely.
2. We must return to God, seek Him with all
of our hearts and put Him first in every
area of life.
B. May we heed this
message and return to Him as we encourage one another.
