Malachi: The Unchanging God

Malachi: The Unchanging God

Forgotten OT Books:  Malachi—The Unchanging God

 

Have you ever said—or do you know someone who has said—that the Bible is out of date?  Old-fashioned?  

We can criticize it for being out of touch with our advanced, sophisticated culture.

 

Yet when I read the Bible, I find it is incredibly relevant and up-to-date.

Why?

Because human nature hasn’t changed.

The externals have changed.  Technology, for example.

But the condition of the human heart has not.

We are still sinners exactly like several thousand years ago.  

  • We still turn to idols and false gods.
  • We still have sexual temptations and sins.
  • We can still lie and cheat.
  • We still find all kinds of excuses why our sins are OK.

 

So to me, the Bible is incredibly relevant.

It points to the CORE of our problem, which is our heart.

And it points us to the Ultimate of Solutions:  Salvation through the grace of God, through his Son, Jesus Christ.

 

This morning is the last week in our 8-week series looking at Forgotten OT Books.

These books are not truly forgotten.  But we can forget.

We can ignore.  We can not study them or teach about them.

 

Today we are going to cover the book of Malachi.

The last book of the OT.

 

Some of the books of the prophets in the OT are difficult to understand.

They often speak in terms and to nations and addressing problems that I don’t fully understand.

 

But Malachi seems different to me.  The points are rather clear.

So clear, in fact, that the problems that this prophet is addressing sound a lot like today’s problems.  

 

There are essentially six messages or ORACLES in this short book.

I am going to focus just on three of them.

  • 1:6-14  On honoring God.   We can APPLY one word:  Honor.  
  • 2:10-16  On the covenant of marriage.  We can APPLY one word:  Faithfulness.  
  • 2:17-3:5  On judgment and the hope of the Messiah.  We can APPLY one word:  Hope.

 

 

 

Turn to Malachi 

Last book of OT.  Just before Matthew in NT.  

 

HANDOUT in BULLETIN:

One side:  a table summarizing KEY events and people over a 500-year period.

The other side:  a very brief summary about Malachi.

 

Malachi was written in the 400’s B.C.  around the time of Nehemiah.

It is the last recorded prophetic word from God until John the Baptist, who announced the Messiah.  

 

The Jews had been sent into exile 150 years before.

A remnant of them were allowed to come back, rebuild the temple.

And under Nehemiah, they rebuilt the city walls of Jerusalem.

 

Sometime later—maybe 15 years after the wall was re-built, they were not doing well spiritually.

They had turned against their God, the One who loved them so much.

 

 

Message 1:  Honor the Lord

 

We will cover three of Malachi’s six messages.

And we will consider how we can apply it to our lives today.

We will start with Malachi’s SECOND Message.

 

Give your all to the Lord.  Honor him and do not despise.  Chapter 1.  

Read vs. 6-11.

Vs. 6-8

Malachi 1:6–11 ESV “A son honors his father, and a servant his master.  If then I am a father, where is my honor?  And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name.  But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil?  Present that to your governor;  will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.

 

Throughout this short book, they ask questions, but not in a good way.

 

Let me say first that asking questions to God can be a good thing.  Even hard questions about 

 

But the questions the Jews ask here, however, are defensive and defiant questions.  

Like a 4-year old unwilling to obey Mom, and he covers his unwillingness with, “Why?”

 

In vs. 6, Israel was not Honoring God.  

The word HONOR means GLORY.  He calls on Israel to Honor him, to bring him glory, to celebrate him.

 

The Lord says here, “Just like a son honors his father, and a servant his master, and a citizen his governor, so we are to honor the Lord.”  

 If your favorite Presidential candidate came to your home, would you give him leftovers for the meal?

No!  You would buy the very best.  And set the best table.  

You would HONOR him.  

 

Why are the priests not honoring the Lord when they would expect much more in their human relationships?

 

Israel is offering sacrifices for atonement and in worship, but sacrifices that are unlawful.  

 

Deuteronomy 15:21 ESV “But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.” 

  1. It is not a pure, clean, holy sacrifice.
  2. It is a cheap, half-hearted way to worship the Lord.

It says, “I have to offer this, so let me find the WORST ANIMAL in my herd to give to the Lord.”

 

It is Half-hearted obedience.  And half-hearted obedience  is disobedience.  

 

So the Lord is challenging them:  Why are you DISHONORING me?

 

Vs. 9-10

 9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us.  With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 

 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!  I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.  

The Lord is saying, “I wish someone had the courage to go shut the doors of the temple so that the priests and the people would stop offering cheap and unlawful sacrifices to me.  That someone would HONOR me in that way.”

 

 

Vs. 11

 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering.  For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 

 

The Lord will not be mocked.  His name IS great.  

And though his Covenant people of Israel will not declare his name to be great, people all across the world will do it.

 

 

What is the application for us?

What do we do with such a passage?

It seems to have no relevance to us.

We’re not required to offer animal sacrifices any more.

 

But there is some important application.

 

First, we make a connection to the gospel.  And we rejoice.

The PURE and HEALTHY animal they had to sacrifice is reminiscent of the Gospel.

God offered an unblemished Lamb, the perfect, holy Son of God.  

John 1:29  “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus Christ was the perfect, spotless Lamb who was slaughtered for us.  To exchange his life for ours.  

 

The Gospel depends on this.

This is why we need Jesus to save us.

We are BLEMISHED.  We have spiritual flaws.  We are sinners.  But Christ is PURE.

 

So one important application is to REJOICE that Christ is the perfect sacrifice.  Through him we are saved forever.  And God is greatly honored.  

 

Second,  we are to honor the Lord wholeheartedly.

We don’t honor him with animal sacrifices.  

But once we are saved by his grace, we are to offer to him our WHOLE LIFE in worship..  We give him all that we have to bring him HONOR and GLORY.

 

 

Romans 12:1 ESV “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” 

In view of the mercy of God to save your rebellious, sinful soul, you should now worship him by offering your body—your entire being—to him like a living sacrifice.

 

You would be dead without him, and so now that he has breathed life into your soul, your only logical conclusion is to live for him.  

 

We offer him our lives as an act of worship.

 

What is our life?

  • Our time.  We offer him all our time.

We don’t selfishly manage our time for ourselves.

Even our “Free time” belongs to him.  

God is the great King.  He deserves more than the LEFTOVER time we have.  Sort of like the animals that were Defective and Blind and Blemished.

  • Our careers.  

We don’t selfishly seek our own Fame.

We submit our jobs to him.  

We recognize he is our Ultimate Boss.  Our Lord.  We answer to him ultimately.

  • Our money.  

He doesn’t NEED our money, as if he is impoverished.

But our Money is tied to our Hearts.

 

We give to the Lord.  We are generous with others in need.  We’re not cheap or stingy.

We give to the Lord FIRST.  We don’t wait until the end of the month, and if we have anything left over, THEN we give to him.  

 

 I was challenged in this one recently.

Over the past 3 months, so many of you have been incredibly generous with money, gifts, food, time, cards, and more.

So I’ve been praying,  “Lord, I don’t want to become an entitled receiver.  How can we be generous with our money and possessions?”

An opportunity came up recently, but it was hard.  The recipient seemed ungrateful.  Perhaps a little expectant.

And I wrestled with generosity.  “Should I?  Are they going to be appreciative?”

I spent time in prayer, “Lord, what should I do?  Help me.”

 

This thought came to mind:  God sent his Son knowing that many would not be grateful.  But he gave anyway.

So we gave.

 

So in response to our glorious salvation— life with God forever and ever— we are to offer our whole lives to him in WORSHIP, to bring him HONOR.

Like Israel was to give the BEST out of their flock, so we should give our best to the Lord.

 

So today, is there anything in your life you are holding back from the Lord?  

  • Maybe it’s your time.
  • Perhaps it’s your money.
  • Your career
  • Even your relationships.

 

 

If the story of the Bible is true, and you have believed it, then you owe him HONOR and GLORY.

And we owe him our BEST.  Even our very lives.

 

Life is not a game we are playing.

There is more going on than you and I can see.  

The Lord is worthy of our worship.

 

The word is “HONOR”.  Let us bring him HONOR with our entire lives.

 

Message 2:  Be Faithful in Marriage

 

In the middle of chapter 2, Malachi starts on another subject.

 

Malachi 2:10–16 ESV  

 

Vs. 6-12

Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

The Jews were marrying outside their faith.

 

1000 years before when the Lord gave Moses the entire Covenant, including the Ten Commandments, he told them, “Don’t marry foreigners from the land of Canaan.”

 

WHY?

It was not a racial problem.  It was a religious problem.

Other nations were worshiping false gods.

And if they intermarried, it would draw their hearts away from the One True God, the Creator and Lord.

 

 This was Solomon’s downfall 500 years later.  

 

1 Kings 11:1-4 ESV  “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women… 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.”

His disobedience—his IGNORING God’s clear command— ruined his own life.  And it ruined the nation.  

The Lord judged Israel.  And ever since then — even today 3000 years later— they have never fully repented and recovered.  

 

Application for us today:  Our charge as Christians is very similar to Israel.  We who know Christ and love him are to marry only someone who shares our faith.

Not someone we HOPE does.

Not someone we THINK might someday.

 

But someone who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and is walking with him.  Our relationship with him is #1, not #2.  

 I have known many stories where that didn’t happen, and it caused great pain and difficulty.  And in some cases, the marriages didn’t survive.  

 

I speak, though, to you who are not yet married.  Don’t miss this one.

 

Yet I also know many, many of you in this room, DID obey the Lord and married a fellow believer.

I know your lives are richer for it.

And we should thank the Lord every day for our spouses that he gave us.

 

No, your spouse isn’t perfect.  Yes, you have problems.

 

But the Lord has and will bless you in this covenant you made.

 

Now back to Malachi 2:

 

Vs. 13-16

 13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.” 

 

The Jews were wondering why the Lord was not pleased with them.

It’s quite easy to figure out, Malachi says.  “You’re being unfaithful to your wives.  You’re giving up on them.  Divorcing them.”

 

Note in vs. 14:  “She is your wife by covenant.”

It’s not entirely clear what covenant Malachi is referring to.

  • The covenant he made with Israel.
  • The covenant—i.e., the vows—between the man and the woman.

 

In either case, by neglecting and abandoning their wives, Israel is breaking their promises to God and to their spouses.

 

It’s not difficult to see the connection for us, is it?

Husbands and wives:  don’t be unfaithful.

Be LOYAL.  Be true to your word, “Till death do us part.”

I’ve thought about my vows to my wife:  “In sickness and in health.”  We’re in the sickness portion right now.

I VOWED to her before God that I would love her through that.

 

And it’s more than just staying married.  It’s having a marriage that is flourishing and growing and vibrant..

Have a marriage that HONORS God and brings him GLORY.

Have a marriage that shows the world a picture of Christ and the church.

 

For you who are married, tend the garden of your marriage.  We looked at this 4 weeks ago in the Song of Songs.

Weeds grow up very quickly.  Busyness.  Distractions.  Boredom.  

 

Too often we settle for WEEDY Marriages.

We simply don’t put the energy into them that is needed.

 

And for those who aren’t yet married, prepare yourselves to enter into marriage with earnestness and seriousness.  

 

So let’s put increased energy into our marriages:

 

Here are some steps and questions.

  • Examine what ways is our culture influencing me negatively?  What steps can I take?  
  • Stop watching or listening to voices that corrupt or diminish the value of marriage.

 

For example,  every movie or show or voice or even jokes we hear that ELEVATE immoral behavior subtly corrupts your view of purity and faithfulness in marriage.

 

We can’t be naïve about the influence the world has on us.

If you don’t think it’s affecting you—let me be blunt— I can assure you, you’re naïve.  And even FOOLISH.

 

  • Guard against pornography.  Even flirting.
  • Get regular date nights to ensure the busyness of life doesn’t crows out your most vital relationship.  

 I was recently talking to one young couple with several young children.

They are in a very busy phase of life.

 

I encouraged them to get dates.  There are time and money needs, but they have to find a way to keep their marriage vibrant.

  • Don’t be afraid to get advice.

Some of us may even need some intense help.

That’s OK.  Don’t be ashamed or afraid.  

It’s OK.  God is for you.  He has made you Holy through his Son.  

 

The word here is FAITHFUL.

Be true to your word.

 

Message 3:  Judgment and Hope

 

Let’s go to a third message from Malachi.

This one is about HOPE.  Hope.

 

 

Malachi 2:17–3:6 ESV  

Vs. 2:17

You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone 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?”

They are saying that Evil people are good in God’s sight.

And so they criticize his sense of justice.

 

Vs. 3:1

 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

This verse is quoted by Jesus in the gospels, and he tells us it refers to John the Baptist.  

 

John’s role was to announce the coming Messiah, the hope of the world.  

 

Vs. 2-4

 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?  For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.

4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.  

Refiner’s fire purifies the gold and silver, making it completely pure.

Fuller’s soap was used to make clothes WHITE.

 

God will cleanse his people and be pleased with them.  

 

Vs. 5

 5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment.  I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi speaks some very hard words.

We all have to decide if we really believe there is a God out there.  If heaven and hell are real.  If God really is holy and righteous and pure.  If God really is a Judge.

They are all true, in reality.

But the problem is, we can live as if they are not real or true.

 

And we have to wrestle with that.

 

The Jews in Malachi’s day had to wrestle with that.  

The Lord is being very clear here:  “I will judge all sin.  Do not trifle with me.”

 

 

Strong words of judgment are all over the NT, too.

Vs. 5 reminds me of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ESV  “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived:  neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 

Some of you in this room have not ever been serious with God and about God.

You need to decide if you really believe that God exists, and that he is the Judge of the whole earth.

 

Honestly, if you ignore him, you are in real trouble.  Eternal trouble.  The heavy hand of God’s judgment.

 

For you (and for all of us) there is only One Hope.  Jesus Christ.

 

Acts 4:12 ESV  “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

 

Vs. 6

 6 “For I the Lord do not change;  therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 

This simple sentence is glorious.

We change all the time.  We are UP and DOWN.

We have GOOD days and BAD days.

 

Politicians are not the only ones who are FICKLE.  We are too.  

 

Some days we’re kind.  Other days we are jerks.

 

But the Lord is steady.  Unchanging.  He never neglects his promises.

When he says he will do something, he WILL do it.

 

 

Application for us:   

Hope in Christ, believe in him, long for him.

 

 This past week or two, Annette and I have been talking about our current health trials.

We are looking forward to better health.  To being back home together.  And more.

 

We continue to pray and long for such things.

But those things are only temporary.

There is a better HOPE.  A bigger hope.  An eternal hope.

 

We are learning to set our hope on the only unshakeable thing:  The God who doesn’t change (3:6), who promises life through the Only Exchange he allows, the death and new life of his Son.  

Our circumstances are unpredictable and even unstable.  But the Lord is not.  

 

He is our ROCK.

Slide 

Psalm 62:1–2 ESV  “For God alone my soul waits in silence;  from him comes my salvation.   He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress;  I shall not be greatly shaken.” 

Our life is unstable right now.

But the Lord is our Rock.  He is steady.  Unchanging.  Immovable.  

 

 

Two practical steps you can take:

  • Read your Bible, and look for passages that speak of God’s unchangingness.

That he will do what he says.

This is how we HOPE in him.

 

  • Read Revelation 19-22 periodically.  

To be reminded of what is to come.  

 

Conclusion

 

The Bible from cover to cover is relevant.

It teaches us about the nature of God.

It teaches about what God has done, particularly through the work of his Son.

It teaches about FAITH, or the Lack of it.

 

Lessons

Honor the Lord wholeheartedly

Be faithful in marriage

Hope in Christ’s return