0112/2
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0112/2. Malachi. God’s Messenger. … and Ours !. Where is God? What Kind of God is He? What Will He Do?. SUMMER SERIES — 2012. Review. A. 1:1Title: What, who and how. B. 1:2-5Introduction: God’s covenant love for Israel affirmed. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
0112/2
Malachi
Where is God?What Kind of God is He?What Will He Do?
God’s Messenger
SUMMER SERIES — 2012
Review
C. 1:6-2:16 Leaders and Followers — Some Straight Talking:
• 1:6-2:9 — The failures of the priests — the leaders
• 2:10-16 — The failures of the people — the followers
A. 1:1 Title: What, who and howB. 1:2-5 Introduction: God’s covenant love for Israel affirmed
D. 2:17- 4:6 The Lord will Come:
• 2:17 — God’s ways had been misunderstood
• 3:1-5 — The promised Messiah would come
• 3:6-18 — God’s covenant demands remained unchanged
• 4:1-6 — The Day of the Lord
Summary of 1:1-5 — Title and Introduction
• God still loved his people …
• God spoke again to his people …
• God still remembered his covenants …
• God still reigned in the world …
this time through Malachi
even when their faith failed
being faithful to his word, both in blessings and in curses
despite the failures of his people
• This was a message for people who had been through tough times … when many had lost their faith
The Passage for Today
C. 1:6-2:16 Leaders and Followers — Some Straight Talking:
• 1:6-2:9 — The failures of the priests — the leaders
• 2:10-16 — The failures of the people — the followers
A. 1:1 Title: What, who and howB. 1:2-5 Introduction: God’s covenant love for Israel affirmed
D. 2:17- 4:6 The Lord will Come:
• 2:17 — God’s ways had been misunderstood
• 3:1-5 — The promised Messiah would come
• 3:6-18 — God’s covenant demands remained unchanged
• 4:1-6 — The Day of the Lord
1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders (1:6 to 2:9)
1:6 “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for
my name.”
• A son honoured his father
• A servant respected his master
• The priests (God’s sons and servants) showed contempt for their Father and Master (no honour or respect)
1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders
1:6 — “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my
name.”
But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt …?’”
Their response to the statement came as a question …
Answer …
• 1:7 — “You place defiled food on my altar”
• 2:8 — “… you have caused many to stumble”
1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders
Lev. 22:20 “Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted.”
(a) 1:7 “You place defiled food on my altar”
• v. 8 — They wouldn’t offer blemished animals to the Persian
governor, yet they offered them to
God.• v. 10 — Better to close the temple than offer unacceptable sacrifices. Perfect animals pointed to the coming perfect sacrifice — Jesus.
• Compare vv. 6 & 14: God was their Father — to be honoured, their Master (Lord) to be
respected, their King — to be obeyed.
. . . but they failed
1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders
Moses said, “[Levi] teaches your precepts and your law …He offers … whole burnt offerings on your altar.Bless all his skills, O LORD”
Deut. 33:10-11
Jacob said, “Simeon and Levi … have killed men in their anger … Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel.” Gen. 49:5-7
• v. 3 — Life would be like the garbage tip … blessings turned to curses.
• 2:1 — “if you do not …”, “if you do not …” disobedience resulted in
curses.
• v. 4 — Yet for Levi the way had been …curses turned to
blessings.
God is unchangeably God
He is to be honoured, respected and obeyed, and his laws cannot be disregarded.
• 2:7 — “A priest ought to preserve knowledge…because he is the messenger of
the LORD Almighty.”
• 2:8 — “But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant
with Levi” says the LORD Almighty.
Scripture is God’s word to humankind,and must not be neglected.
(b) 2:8 “… you have caused many to stumble”
1. The Failures of the Priests — the Leaders
2. The Failures of the People — the Followers (2:10-16)
• God was Father to his people …their status as the family of
God
• God was Creator of his people …their origin in the purpose
of God
2:10 “Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?”
(profane = misuse, defile, treat with contempt)
• This unique relationship was formalized in covenants
But …
2. The Failures of the People — the Followers
2:14 “You have broken faith with … the wife of your marriage covenant.”
• They broke covenants with each other by distorting God’s requirements to suit their own ends
2:11 “Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.”
• They broke covenants with God by distorting the use of their God-given sexuality
How did they “profane the covenant”?
2. The Failures of the People — the Followers
(a) They broke covenants with God by distorting the use of their God-given sexuality
• Detestable = revolting or vile. Desecrated = violated or profaned.
• Such behaviour desecrated God’s temple and so disgraced God.
• God did not condemn marriage, but marriage to someone who served a foreign god (idol).
• The practice seems to have become widespread.
2:11 “Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.” Marriage does not only involve
two people…it matters to God as well
2. The Failures of the People — the Followers
(b) They broke covenants with each other by distorting God’s requirements to suit their own ends
2:13 “You weep and wail because [the LORD] no longer pays attention to your offerings …”
2:14 “You have broken faith with … the wife of your marriage covenant.”
• Some had divorced their Jewish wives to marry foreign women.
• Marriage was a significant covenant between people, with God as a witness — but that covenant had been broken in those
cases.
• Covenants depended upon exclusive, loyal and consistent love.
• These people tried to adapt God’s laws to suit their own ends.
2:15-16 “Guard yourself in your spirit,and do not break faith …”
SUMMARY — of this Section
The ineffective Leaders — • failed to obey covenant requirements about sacrifices …
they had a low view of God • failed to teach the law …
they neglected God’s word
The disobedient People — • failed to understand their sexuality …
and tangled up their marriages • failed to follow God’s ways …
and slipped into ugly self-centredness
But that was in 450 BC …What does it mean today?
SUMMARY — of this Section
• Under the New Covenant …“Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength.”“Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Mk. 12:30-31
• What we believe and how we behave …depends on our worldview, and marks us out from others
What About Today?
• God seeks our exclusive, loyal and consistent love
PEOPLE
A BIBLICALWORLDVIEW
GOD
THEWORLD
OR
WORLDVIEWS — One With God, One Without God
A HUMANISTICWORLDVIEW
GOD
THEWORLDPEOPLE
SUMMARY — Challenges for Us
• Pray for them as those responsible to God for us.• Assess their work in the light of the bible.• Gladly follow them.
(a) Regarding our Leaders
SUMMARY — Challenges for Us
• Understand and express our God-given sexuality in the context of God’s creative purpose for us as his people who bear his image.
(b) Regarding us as Followers
• Resolutely resist the insidious pressures of humanistic worldviews to twist God’s purposes to suit our own desires.
• Commit ourselves to wholeheartedly love God and each other, particularly with respect to
our marriages, our families, and God’s family.
• God loves (and so disciplines) his people, but hates the tactics they use to try and get their own ways.
Malachi God’s Messenger
Part 3: THE LORD WILL COME
2:17 – 4:6 NEX
T
WEEK
Personal reflection and prayer . . .
Our leaders …
Ourselves …
Our marriages …
Our families …
Our church family ...