Learning from Malachi I. Introduction: Series on the Prophets. A. Reference to Series of Lessons. 1. Sermons from the Minor Prophets. 2. Thus far, we have studied from... - Joel - God will punish us. - God will forgive us if we repent. - We will stand before God in judgment. - Micah - God will punish His people. - The need for good leaders. - God is merciful to those who trust in Him. 3. Today, we are going to look at the prophet Malachi. B. Timeline of Events. 1. Kingdom is divided. 930 B.C. 2. Israel falls to the Assyrians. 722 B.C. 3. Assyria falls to Babylon. 612 B.C. 4. First Captives of Judah taken to Babylon. 606 B.C. 5. 10,000 more captives taken to Babylon. 597 B.C. 6. Jerusalem falls to Babylon. 586 B.C. 7. Babylon falls to the Persians. 538 B.C. 8. First remnant of Judah returns. 536 B.C. 9. Second wave of remnant returns. 457 B.C. 10. Last remnant of Judah returns. 444 B.C. C. When did Malachi prophesy? 1. This book is another of the prophecies which do not include a specific time in which it was recorded. - yet most agree on the approximate time. 2. The book of Malachi portrays a time in which Israel was corrupt in their worship to God. - they were not worshiping God in the correct manner nor with the correct attitudes. 3. Most agree that the content of the book makes it likely that Malachi prophesied sometime shortly after or around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. - this would be after the return from Babylonian captivity.
4. If you look at the bottom of the time-line page, you will see the dates given for Malachi. - 445-432 B.C. 5. What does this date tell us? - prophesied about the time when all of the Jewish people had returned from Babylonian captivity. - that will be important to remember while reading this prophecy. D. Plan for this evening s lesson. 1. We re going to do a lot of reading. 2. As we are reading... - consider the message to Israel. - look for lessons that we can apply to our own lives. 3. We ll go chapter by chapter through the book. - please, everyone get your Bibles out. - if you don t, you will be lost during the lesson. II. Chapter One. A. Read verses 1-5. * notice the words, Yet you say. - they are going to be repeated several times. - God says on thing, Israel says another. 1. God declares that He has loved Israel. Vs. 1-5 - yet Israel questions it. - Why? Think about their recent history. - they had been in captivity for seventy years. - beloved Jerusalem had been destroyed. 2. God answers their question by asking them to compare the descendants of Jacob and Esau. - Esau s descendants had had a much harder time of it. - God had blessed Israel greatly. - They didn t realize that the reason they were suffering was because of their own sins, not because God didn t love them. 3. Lesson #1: We need to see the ways that God has loved us. - we need to count our blessings. - don t focus on the negative aspects of life, think about the positive things that God has done for us. - start counting your blessings, the gifts from God in your life. - families. - children. - friends. - brethren. - jobs. - houses. - wealth. - technology. - nation. - freedom. - earth (beauty) - church. - Jesus. - Bible. - Voices. - Abilities. B. Read verses 6-8. 1. The Israelites were not honoring God in their worship. Vs. 6-8
- they were not giving Him the honor that He deserved. - their sacrifices were defiled. - offering the blind as a sacrifice. - offer it then to your governor 2. They were not giving the proper respect to God and worship. - The table of the Lord is contemptible. - means that they felt worship was worthless and not worthy of respect. 3. Notice that Malachi indicts the priests as being the ones who were doing this. - a large part of Malachi s prophecy is directed toward them. - we ll notice that more later on. 4. Lesson #2. Are we honoring God in our worship? - Do we treat worship with respect and give it the attention it deserves? - What kind of sacrifices are we offering to God? - Are we offering the blind and the lame? - the leftovers. - Money, time, energy C. Read verses 9-14. 1. Malachi asks a rhetorical question in verse 9. - While this is being done by your hands, Will He accept you favorably? - obvious answer is no. - God had no pleasure in their perverse worship. 2. Lesson #3: God will not accept half-hearted worship. - God expects our best. - not what s left over. - not the stolen, the lame, and the sick. - Would our boss at work accept the type of effort that we give to God? - if we worked at our jobs like we work in the church, would your boss be happy? 3. The Israelites looked at worship as something that had to be done. - but something that they really didn t want to do. - Oh, what a weariness. 4. Lesson #4: To be acceptable, we must worship because we want to worship. - Why are you here this morning? - Why will you be here this evening? - Why will you pray to God daily? - Why will you study your Bible at home? - The answer must be because you want to, not because you have to.
III. Chapter Two. A. Read verses 1-3. 1. Listen up priests. 2. You had better listen to what I m saying. 3. If you don t take this to heart, then I will punish you. 4. You can see from the tone, that God is fed up with the attitudes of the priests. - the priests should have been the ones who were leading the people. 5. Lesson #5: Listen and take it to heart. - we need to listen and make application. - it s easy for us to see the mistakes of others and see where they need to make correction, but it is very hard for us to see our own mistakes and where we need to make corrections. B. Read verses 4-9. 1. Recalls the covenant that God had made with Levi. - a chosen tribe for a particular purpose. 2. Malachi lists several characteristics of what a priest was to be. - he feared God. Vs. 5 - he was reverent before God s name. Vs. 5 - the law of truth was in his mouth. Vs. 6 - injustice was not found on his lips. Vs. 6 - he walked with God in peace and equity. Vs. 6 - he turned many away from iniquity. Vs. 6 - his lips should keep knowledge. Vs. 7 - people seek the law from his mouth. Vs. 7 - he is the messenger of the Lord. Vs. 7 3. But the priests of Malachi s day had not done these things. - they had done exactly the opposite. - instead of teaching people, they were causing men to stumble. Vs. 8 4. Lesson #6: God expects His priests to conduct themselves in a certain way. - according to the New Testament, we are today s priests. - we must conduct ourselves in a righteous manner. - we must be people to whom others can turn to receive knowledge. - if you will notice, each of those things in this passage that were commanded of Israel s priests, are also commanded to us. - fear God. - be reverent before Him. - law of truth in our mouths. - injustice not found on our lips. - walk with God.
- turn people away from iniquity. - lips should keep knowledge. - people seek the law from us. - messengers of the Lord. C. Read verses 10-17. * At first reading, this passage may be confusing. 1. This whole section is dealing with the subject of marriage. 2. I want to point out several verses which will put this all together. - Vs. 10, Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers? - He s talking about a way that they deal treacherously with each other. - Vs. 11, For Judah has profaned the Lord s holy institution which He loves; He has married the daughter of a foreign god. - now he brings up marriage in the following verse. - marriage of a Jew to a foreigner. - Vs. 14, Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously;. - Here he explains how they were dealing treacherously with each other. - Vs. 15, let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. - What they were doing, was divorcing their Jewish wives and marrying these foreign women. - Vs. 16, for the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce. 3. Not only were they violating God s commands, but they were also dealing wickedly with each other in doing this. 4. Lesson #7: God designed marriage to be a permanent relationship. - What God has joined together, let no man separate. - The divorce rate continues to climb. - We need to look back to God s laws of marriage. - Divorce, except for the cause of sexual immorality, is a sin. - Not only are we violating God s law when we divorce, but we are sinning against our spouse. 5. Lesson #8: Brethren should have a special relationship with each other. - Vs. 10, Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another? IV. Chapter Three. A. Read verses 1-3. 1. The prophet shifts to the future. 2. The time when God would send the forerunner of Christ.
3. Jesus confirms in Matthew 11:10 that this passage refers to John the Baptist. 4. The message to Israel is that things will get better in the future. - they should be looking for this messenger, whom Malachi calls Elijah in 4:5. - with Malachi being the last prophet, Israel should hold on to this message. 5. Lesson #9: We learn about John the Baptist and his mission. - to prepare the way before Me. Vs. 1 - look also at 4:5-6. - before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. - turn the hearts of the... B. Read verses 2-5. 1. In connection with the prophecy about John the Baptist, Malachi also talks about the coming of the Lord in verses 2-3. - Vs. 2, who can endure the day of His coming? - Vs. 3, He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. 2. Picture of a return to faithfulness. Vs. 4 3. But also a picture of future judgment. - a swift witness against... 3. These sins would not be overlooked. - the perpetrators would be punished. 4. Consider also the root cause of all of these sins among Israel. - Why would they do these things? - because they do not fear Me. - when man sins, he shows a lack of the fear of the Lord. 5. Lesson #10: Judgment is coming, and God will punish. - This is an ultimatum delivered to Israel. - straighten up or else you will be punished. - worse than you already have been. - The application is the same to us. - Judgment day is coming. - God will reward, and God will punish. - We had better learn the fear of the Lord. - and change our behavior. C. Read verses 6-12. 1. Notice the connection to the early parts of the prophecy. - Why had they suffered? - it was not because God didn t love them. - it was because of their sins. - Vs. 7, from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them.
2. But God offers the Israelites another chance. - Vs. 7, Return to Me, and I will return to you. 3. Verse 8-9 mention another sin of the Israelites. - they were robbing God, literally. - not following the tithe law. 4. Verse 10 offers a test. - God says for them to test Him. - Verse 10, Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try 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 such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. 5. Lesson #11: God is merciful and offers us the chance to repent. 6. Lesson #12: God has not changed: He is loving, merciful, and just. - Vs. 5 talks about judgment. - Vs. 6, For I am the Lord, I do not change. - then he talks about mercy, Therefore you are not consumed. - God will give men chances, but there will be a time when God will punish. 7. Mercy is extended to each one of us. - With the promise of judgment, God also promises a chance to repent. - No matter what we do, we know that God will forgive us. - if we will simply repent and turn back to Him. 8. Two great stories from the Old Testament. - The Justice of God. - The Mercy of God. 9. God has not changed from that in the New Testament. - God loves us and wants us to repent. - But God will punish us if we don t repent. 10. If we will turn to God, God will bless us more than we can imagine. D. Read verses 13-18. 1. Lesson #13: The Lord hears those who fear Him. - Vs. 16-17 tell us how to be acceptable to God. - It all starts with fearing Him. - Giving Him the respect and honor He deserves. - Listening to Him and obeying Him. - Vs. 17, They shall be mine...on the day that I make them my jewels. 2. Lesson #14: Beware of the danger of human wisdom. - look again at vs. 14-15. - the Israelites had made certain observations and drew conclusions from them. - useless to serve God. - no profit to keeping the ordinances.
- those who do wickedness are raised up; they tempt God and go free. - why did they draw these conclusions? - Babylonian captivity. - heathen nations succeeding. - they didn t draw the right conclusions. - to repent and change. - they didn t understand God s plan. - Vs. 18 points out that they will find out one day. - but it will be too late. V. Chapter Four. A. Read verses 1-6. 1. Behold, the day is coming! 2. A day of judgment and punishment. - the day which is coming shall burn them up. Vs. 1 3. Also a day of judgment and reward. - the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. Vs. 2 4. Malachi is pointing towards the coming of the Christ. - indicated by his mention again about the coming of John the Baptist. B. Lesson #15: The Day is Coming! 1. Christ has already come once in fulfillment of Malachi s prophecy. 2. But He has vowed to come back again. 3. Revelation 22:12, And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 4. Are you ready for that day?