Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2 Quarter 4 Lesson 11
This week in Sunday school, we turn to the book of Malachi. What did the last Old Testament prophet have to say to Israel regarding the worship of Yahweh? How were the Jews of Malachi’s day demonstrating hypocrisy and apathy in their worship? What truths were those Jews failing to understand? And what must we learn lest we fall into the same pattern? We’ll consider these questions and more.
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so we’re actually going to examine the whole book all the verses over this week and next week I want to find out what was the last word that God sent to his prophet to give to Israel and how is that word relevant for us today here is our outline for today’s class we’re going to first examine the introduction to the book of Malachi well then look at Malachi’s rebuke to Israel’s priesthood well then consider out Malachi’s more general rebukes to the people of Israel and will finish by considering application of this first part of Malachi as a salute blessing on this time Yahweh God you are worthy of all glory and that’s something that’s easy to repeat God well at the same time loving idols in our hearts god I pray that the this great word that you gave to the Prophet Malachi would pierce her own hearts it would convict were necessary and it would encourage and that we would be giving pure worship before you that we’d be enjoying you today not with any sort of secret sin in our hearts but Lord trusting you and believing that your way is good and then waiting for your reward okay that you’d help me to be able to explain this word and I pray that you bless our time together amen okay so please open your Bibles to Malachi one first chapter Malachi so if you’re using hbu Bible that’s page 9 50 Alec I chapter one request we’re just going to read the first five verses as we look at the opening word of Malachi so Malachi 1 vs.
1 25 page 9 50 in the pew Bible all along as I read please the Oracle of the word of Yahweh to Israel through Malachi I loved you says Yahweh but you say how have you loved us what’s not Esau Jacob’s brother declares Yahweh yet I have loved Jacob but I have hated esau and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the Jackals of the wilderness though Edom says we’ve been beaten down but we will return and build up the ruins thus says Yahweh of hosts they may build but I will tear down and Men will call them the wicked territory and the people toward whom Yahweh is indignant forever your eyes will see this and you will say Yahweh be magnified beyond the border of Israel okay just a short little section let’s observe notice the very first words of the prophecy of Malachi to Israel Yahweh says I have loved you I have loved you but immediately there’s a questioning response from Israel how have you loved us God replies by pointing to the example of Jacob and Esau even though Esau was Jacob’s brother and the firstborn of Isaac God reminds Israel I did not choose Esau but I chose you and remember God’s declaration about these two men before their births the declaration that God made to Rebecca at Genesis 25-23 God said two nations are in your womb and two peoples will be separated from your body and one people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger Esau was that older son Jacob was the younger yeah the prophecy was that esab would serve his brother now in Genesis 25 notice the terms love and hate were not used but they are used here in Malachi God says I have loved Jacob I loved him in the past i’m still loving him but i have hated esau and as you would have seen this historically the nation that came from Esau the nation of Edom experience the blessings that Israel did as God’s chosen nation the land of edom to the southeast of Judah that the map here is a little bit misleading because this is post exile Palestine I post return from exile so Edom would have actually been a little bit further down here you can see where my mouse is pointing but the land of Edom to the southeast of Judah was mostly rocky and barren it was not a fertile land like the Land of Israel was the people of it Edom did not know or follow yahweh nor did they have his temple moreover in the time of Israel’s Kings Edom was often defeated by Judah and put into subjection the kings of Judah forced Edom to give tribute and military support Edom was never a great Kingdom and seldom an independent Kingdom they were often in subjection to Judah and when Israel and Judah were judged severely for their sin with Babylonian conquest in exile Edom also experienced judgment edem to was conquered by Babylon and brought very low some surviving eventually moved from their original land to some of the territory vacated by the exiled Jews which is why in the map you see that the the territory of ado Mia is basically in the southern portion of Judah oh we’re Judah originally was and here’s the post exhale territory small territory around Jerusalem the they moved into the land that was formerly inhabited by the Jews and perhaps some of the Jews notice this and they say what’s going on with didn’t God promised that that um we would be a special people and that the the descendants of Esau the older would serve the younger and God tells the Jews I have loved you and not eat him look at what I’ve done to eat him and even now as they attempt to rebuild as he goes on in a latter part of this introduction to say even now as they attempt to rebuild I will make their efforts useless God also tells Israel you will see what I will further due to eat them and you will glorify me you will see it and you will glorify me and that’s a sure promise we should note that Eden’s behavior historically has deserved the hatred of God the descendants of Edom where idolatrous like their father when the people visual came up from Egypt to Canaan and the oppose them and would not let them pass through the land of Edom Edom attacked and rated Israel various times there are Israel’s history and when judah fell to the Babylonians Edom rejoiced over Judas fall and helped Babylon capture many fleeing Judeans throughout the Old Testament God has acknowledged Eden’s continual wickedness and foretold judgment on the nation of Edom so this is how God through Malachi starts this prophecy Israel I have loved you uniquely and even as you see edem remember I have loved you not eat them but that question from Israel how have you loved us is that a genuine desire for clarification or is it something more sinister we’ll come back to that question I think we’ll get a better sense as we read through more of Malachi let’s now go to the second section let’s look at what God has to say towards the priests of Israel in Malachi’s time now this is going to be a longer section we’re going to read from Malachi 1 verse 6 to Malachi 2 verse 9 right so Malachi 162 Alec I to verse 9 what does gon have to say to the priests starting in verse 6 he always says a son honors his father and a servant his master then if I’m a father where’s my honor and if i’m a master where is my respect says Yahweh of hosts to you Oh priests who despise my name but you say how have we despised your name you are presenting defiled food on my altar but you say how have we defiled you and that you say the table of Yahweh is to be despised but when you present the blind for sacrifice this is not evil and when he present the lame in the sick are lame and sick is it not evil why not offer it to your governor would he be pleased with you or what he receive you kindly says Yahweh of hosts but now will you not entreat God’s favor that he may be gracious to us was such an offering on your part will he receive any of you kindly says Yahweh of hosts hope that they were one among you who would shut the gates that you might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar I am not pleased video says Yahweh of hosts nor will I accept an offering from you 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 Yahweh posts but you are profaning it and that you say the table of the Lord is defiled and as for its fruit its food is to be despised you also say my how tired some it is and you disdainfully sniff at it says Yahweh of hosts and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick so you bring me offering should I receive that from your hand says Yahweh but cursed be the swindler who has a maleness flock and vows it but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord for I am am a great King says Yahweh of hosts and my name is feared among the nation’s and now this commandment is for you o priests if you do not listen and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to my name says Yahweh of hosts and I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings and indeed I have cursed them already because you are not taking it to heart behold i’m going to rebuke your offspring and i will spread refuse on your faces the refuse of your feasts and you will be taken away with it then you will know that i have sent this commandment to you and my covenant may continue with Levi says Yahweh of hosts my covenant with him was one of life in peace I gave them to him as an object of reverence so he revered me and stood in awe of my name true instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips he walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned many back from iniquity for the lips of the priest should preserve knowledge and many should see construction from his mouth for he is the messenger of the of Yahweh of hosts but as for you you have turned aside from the way you’ve caused many to stumble by the instruction you’ve corrupted the Covenant of Levi says Yahweh of hosts so I also have made you despise and a base before all the people just as you are not keeping my ways but are showing partiality in the instruction oh wow let’s observe this section I noticed we have many questions here both from God to the priests and also from the priests to god but God asked the question first he says if a father deserves honor and a master respect where is my honor and my respect from you priests who despise my name now that’s quite a question than quite an indictment on the priests you mean the priests of Israel those who are responsible for mediating the relationship of Yahweh to the people and giving God the prescribed worship these priests actually despise Yahweh they hate and treat Yahweh is of little importance we hear a question from the priests and response how have we despised your name and God tells him you’ve you presented defiled food on my altar and precess further how have we defiled you how is the food been defiled and God sets them you say you priests say that the table of Yahweh’s to be despised you treat my table as contemptuous and of little account and we see number of details about the priests offerings following God’s eyes you present the blind the lame the sick even stolen animals even animals that were obtained by swindling as sacrifices to me I God asked twice is that not evil what is the general requirement for sacrifices according to law of Moses yeah Rob yeah I mean there were different regulations depending on the sacrifice but generally they were all to be unblemished usually an unblemished mail but unblemished there’s no imperfection in it there’s nothing physically that you can point to and say there’s an issue with this animal that was necessary for the sacrifices but the priests are not giving unblemished sacrifices here then God even asks if a human governor would be pleat where would a human governor be pleased to receive any of these blemished animals from you of course the expected answer is no governor’s not gonna be like oh thank you for sending me this blind animal or offering this animal on my honor and verse 9 God asks further will you do all this and then entreat my favor and expect to be received kindly what wish does God expressed in verse 10 God’s a he wish would happen yeah he says I swish the whole temple worship would be cancelled I wish you’d shut the doors were meant for anybody else from coming in or doing any sacrifices just cancel all this useless worship I wish that what happened God says and he says bluntly to them I am not pleased with you nor will I accept an offering from you that’s a big deal of God says I’m not going to accept an offering from you notice the word for at the beginning of verse 11 we always like to point out these transition words the word for indicate that what follows is a reason for what was just said and what is the supplied reason well God says for my name will be great among the nations in every place and pure offerings will be offered to me everywhere now this would have been a surprising word to the Jews why would this promise be surprising God says in the future my name will be great among the nations there will be offerings among the nations pure offerings before me why is it surprising is that a hand yeah part of it first of all the system of sacrifices as God ordained through Moses it was to be offered by the Levitical priests and by the people of the Jews but also the location God says you have to offer the sacrifices in a certain location that I choose location was Jerusalem and yet in this promise it says among the nations I’m going to be feared and among those nations I’m going to receive sacrifices there will be sacrifices from those nations all throughout the world there will be pure sacrifices to Yahweh so this is a surprising promise and it’s also a great contrast to what is currently going on in Israel and God returns in verses 12 to 13 to the priests profanation he reports another evil statement of the priests and verse 13 got to move my slide let me just do that in verse 13 e reports another evil statement the priests who they say when they say my how tired some it all is how tiring and burdensome is this sacrificing and worship for Yahweh God pronounces a curse on those who promised perfect animals but then give blemished animals instead and then God gives another reason for he says I am a great king or it could also be translated I will be a great king and my name is or my name will be feared among the nation’s the verb is not supplied in the Hebrew the word is or will be so it has to be inferred from the context it could be present times it could be future tense God says I am a great king or I will be a great king and my name is or will be feared among the nations that’s just the end of chapter 1 he has more to say about the priests God gives a warning to the priests in Malachi 21 22 he says you please better take to heart what I’m saying and give me my due honor all right will curse you and your blessings what’s this all about I will curse your blessings remember that the priests cannae often prayed prayers of blessing for the people and for themselves they would give benedictions they would give a prayer of blessing but God says I’m going to curse those prayers when you bless I’m make your blessing into a curse this by the way is the opposite of what famous old testament incident where did we see the opposite curses turned into blessings if you remember when israel’s going into the promised land we had Bay lack the pagan king who won in Israel to be cursed he hired bail him to do so but every time Balon spoke he gave a blessing instead but now we’re seeing the reversal of that God says you wicked priests I’m going to turn your blessings into curses and God says this actually this curse is already in effect because the priests are already not taking God’s words to heart further promises to rebuke the offspring of the priests the descendants of the priests I’m going to bring them in a shame and dishonor I’m going to spread the refuse from your feast on your faces you priest and I’m going to cause you priests to be taken away with the refuse now here is definitely a shocking image because the word refuse it’s translated in the NIV the King James Version ma esv as dung the hebrew word is the same one used in the Torah Moses law to describe the part of the sacrificial animal that contained the animals excrement and which had to be burned outside the camp that’s the same word for refuse here and God tells the priests of Israel I’m going to take the excrement of your sacrifices even the sacrifices that you give me in my feasts and I’m going to spread it on your faces I’m going to carry you away just like the excrement is carried away and burned that’s pretty shocking and what’s the expected result God says from all this verse 4 then you will know then you will know it i have sent this commandment to you that my covenant with levi may continue now Levi was one of the sons of Jacob from Levi’s line came Moses Aaron and all the priests Levi never served as a priest and the pastor talks about how how Levi was a faithful priest so understand this to be Levi himself this is referring to levis faithful priestly descendants and what behavior characterized these priests they reviewed Yahweh they acted righteously they gave God’s true instruction to turn the people back from iniquity and to Yahweh and as a result see with these priests experienced they experience life and peace from Yahweh they were blessed they were blessed by God for fulfilling their calling as priests faithfully but in contrast God says the priests and Malachi’s day you have turned aside from the righteous way you don’t keep it and you caused many to stumble by your twisted instruction you’ve corrupted the Covenant of Levi and then there’s a so in verse 9 it’s another transition word indicating a result for an effect of what was just said and what is the results of the priests behavior God says I have made you despise in the base before all the people you who do not keep my ways and show partiality in your teaching so not to observe here some serious indictments of Israel’s priests so let’s turn to the interpretation step down how should we characterize the attitude of Israel’s priests toward God yeah they don’t fear Him they don’t reverence him they treat God of little account they’re careless they are contemptuous they are apathetic toward God is not that important and why is this attitude monstrously inappropriate according to the passage with one reason and in the back right God emphasizes that he’s worthy of glory I’m a father I have a master but I’m not getting the honor in reverence that I deserve my name will be great among the nations but you’re not showing off my greatness you’re not treating me like I’m a great king even though I am a great king yeah that’s one reason what’s another reason remember had in Malachi begin he says I have loved you I have lucked you Israel but they’re not remembering God’s love they’re not appreciating they’re not giving thanks they’re not giving appropriate devotion based on God’s love to Israel even though he uniquely love them then it’s just God just Yahweh he’s not important presa attitude is inappropriate because of God’s love to israel because of the special covenant role that the priests have I mean that was a quite a privilege and a blessing to be called as God’s priests to be set apart as a Levitical priest and offer the sacrifice is them to draw near to God on behalf of the people but they treat it like it’s nothing they treat it like it’s not important in fact it’s burdensome to them and they pay no attention to God’s greatness His Majesty or his do glory and they act the way that they do and you noticed that God asks a lot of questions of the priests a lot of the things he says are presented in the form of questions what’s the point of these questions what’s God trying to show that a hand no okay we could premiere that a couple different ways but the one one reason that Nettie do so is to lead them to understand your behavior is not justified it’s unreasonable it doesn’t make sense you do all these things you treat my table as contemptuous and then you expect the sacrifices to be um accepted by me you expect that there am I asking that question them use trying to leave them understand that doesn’t make sense what are you gonna say Danny yeah yeah yeah I think that’s another reason for these questions and that’s another thing that we see that they don’t even realize their own sin I don’t even realize how guilty they are and God has to ask them have you thought about this do you realize what you’re doing do you think that this is going to be acceptable to me these questions these rhetorical questions they have easy answers but the answers are meant to convict they’re meant to point out sin meant to show the seriousness of what they’re doing before Yahweh as God’s priests now the priests respond to God’s questions sometimes what questions are their own but we should not think that priests were literally saying these things to God how are we to understand the words of the priests that are reported here it’s not like Malachi SAT between a discussion between God and the priest and he reported what the priest said so where are these workers of the priests coming from yeah Rob yeah this is in essence what they are saying we can these are the answers based on their actions and based on what’s going on in their hearts they may not literally say this to God but this is what they’re saying in their hearts and it’s proven by their actions so it’s not inappropriate for Malachi to report the answers of the priests in this way now considering what we learn about the priests actions and attitudes before God or maybe this is a different way to say what we said earlier the priests questions back to God like how we despise your name how do we defiled your altar how we defile you I showed the priests have a very low view of God and of his proper worship they don’t even realize how guilty they are it’s not like God says you’ve been despising my name and they say uh you know what you’re right then they don’t even acknowledge it even though they clearly have this attitude they ask questions as if they don’t even understand what’s going on what really we’ve we’ve done something you don’t like you don’t realize how guilty they are because they have such a low view of God got stresses to these priests that if they’re obedient like the earlier priests were they will experience God’s blessing but if they are not these priests will be cursed and shamed to the uttermost now what is this concept blessings and curses what does it sound like from earlier in the Old Testament yeah on the side right the general principle that sin brings consequences and repentance brings blessing where’s that principle most clearly illustrated in the Bible our most early Illustrated just go back to the law this is one of the basic aspects of visuals covenant God says I want to bless you you must be obedient but if you won’t be obedient I will curse you this is basic principle of the Covenant given by God to Israel and the principle also extends to the priests if you priests will follow me I will plus you but if you will not I will curse you God says the priests are already cursed because they’re not repentant now notice again the future promise given in Malachi 111 now what had the previous prophets some of the ones that we’ve looked at in the last month or two what are the previous prophets said regarding the gentile nations in the future what do the prophets declared about the gentile nations well one thing for sure is that some of them would be saved there’s a Reno go back to Isaiah and go back to some of the other prophets that talked about how there are nations called by God’s name and he’s going to bring them along with Israel to worship of him in Jerusalem and to true worship but there’s also prophecies of judgment prophecy of judgment on the Gentiles as enemies of Israel as those who would seek to harass shame or attack Israel and God says I’m going to judge them so we should already be aware that this there’s context this statement in Malachi about God being honored and given sacrifices among the nations we’ve already seen that the prophets they declare both that the nations of the world will be judged but also that a remnant of the nations will be saved and be brought in to worship of Yahweh with Israel now we might see this promise in Malachi 111 figuratively fulfilled by Gentile Christians in the present church age they say oh yeah isn’t that happening or other sure sacrifice is going to God throughout the world but i would agree I would agree with John MacArthur here an interpretation that this promise is actually part of the context the other Old Testament promises regarding the Gentiles role in the Messianic Kingdom in the Millennial Kingdom there will be worldwide worship but actually literal worship even offerings taking place among the gentile nations in the future so when Malachi is referring to here certainly there is something similar to that happening in the present church age but i believe malachite is actually talking about something special for the Millennial Kingdom but notice again is future pure worship of the Gentiles is set in contrast to the present defiled worship of the Jews that’s been a motif that we’ve seen throughout the prophets even the Old Testament you Jews are wicked and not giving me proper worship but the Gentiles certain Gentiles do or certain Gentiles will of course that’s that’s a great shame because of anyone the Jews ought to be offering the proper worship and it’s sooo surprising that the Gentiles would do so now one of the evils that God condemns the priests for here is the failure to faithfully teach God’s Word is this or minus many other section of scripture where the priests of the spiritual leaders of Israel do not faithfully teach God’s Word you may remember it’s one of the things that got indicted through his prophets of Israel and Judah before the Exile where he talks about reasons why a judgment is coming and one of the things he says often is your priests and your profits are corrupt they don’t declare my word or when they prophesied they declare their own word for gain so we’ve already seen this problem in the Old Testament but of course we can also go to the New Testament because consider what Jesus indictment of the Pharisees and the scribes in his own day he says they teach as doctrine the traditions of man they do not faithfully teach God’s word has been a continual problem in Israel it’s a problem here in Malachi and it’s going to continue to be a problem when Jesus comes when the Messiah actually arrives the spiritual leaders that priests included they don’t know or love Yahweh and they don’t faithfully teach his word so we’ve seen a number of things from this passage here when God’s Word of the priests but if the priests the spiritual leaders of Israel are so corrupt what would we expect would be the result for the common people yeah they’re going to be led astray or where they’re already going astray they’re not going to be brought back we expect to see the corruption of the priests reflected in the common people so let’s see if that’s the case let’s look at the third section of malachi now this actually going to be two different sections we’ll take them one at a time first let’s look at malachi to 10 to 17 and hear what God has to say to the people in general people who Israel in general so Malachi to 10 down to 17 starting in verse 10 do we not all have one father has not one God created us why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers Judah has dealt treacherously and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which he loves and has married the daughter of a foreign God as for the man who does this may Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers or who presents an offering to Yahweh of hosts this is another thing you do you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears with weeping and with groaning because you no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand yet you say for what reason because Yahweh has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth against whom you have dealt treacherously though she is your companion and your wife by covenant but not one is 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 for I hate divorce says Yahweh the God of Israel and him who covers his garment with wrong says Yahweh of hosts so take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously you read your way with your words yet you say however we we read him and that you say everyone who does evil is good in the side of your way and he delights in them or where is the god of justice alright let’s observe this section notice we have more questions to start speaker ass don’t we all have one father and one creator god and notice there’s a shift here from the oops I guess I put this on my previous slide so notice there’s a shift here from the you priest to the we all right think I mess up my slides here I’ll be a part in that but nurses are shipped here from the you priest to the we and who is the the we that God is speaking or that the speaker is speaking up here who’s the we had people visual and Malachi has one of the Jews he would include himself in that so that’s why he can say we do the dude I and the Jews don’t we all have this one common condition we will have one father and one Creator God expect an answer is of course yes we do and then there’s a follow-up question if so why do we deal treacherously with one another and profane the covenant of our fathers and what is this treachery and abomination that the people have committed against one another well he tells us they’ve intermarried with foreigners they’ve joined themselves the daughter of a foreign God rather than loving their brethren rather than loving their creator he says that people have joined themselves the daughter before God and profaned God’s sanctuary and then notice a curse another curse pronounced in verse 12 he says may Yahweh cut off from Israel everyone who does this even those who still present their offerings to God and remember that the phrase cut off as using the Old Testament it indicates death but the Lord put to death those who do this and God brings up another issue it says you also weep and mourn over your sacrifices because you no longer see the Lord’s favor or his answering is answering you and you ask for what reason in other words why aren’t you our sacrifices anymore oh god why don’t you answer our prayers why don’t you give us the things that we’re asking for God’s answer is because I have witnessed your treachery towards the wives of your youth your wives where your companion by covenant and you divorce them now verses 15 and 16 are a little bit tricky and if you were following a different translation as i read it may notice it was quite different verse 15 can be translated as it is in the new American Standard as a qualification no one who had a remnant of the Spirit sought a divorce since that one was seeking a godly offspring but the verse can also be translated in another way as a further explanation of the evil of divorce and this is the way the King James Version in E is vague ESV take the sense verse 15 would say did not God with a portion of the Spirit make them one that is make husband and wife one since God was seeking a godly offspring as you can see the different of the senses who’s the one who has the remnant of the Spirit and who is seeking the godly offspring the translation could be that it’s the righteous man or it could be that it’s God himself who’s the one bringing them together with the spirit and who’s seeking the godly offspring verse 16 also can be translated a couple different ways new American Standard and the King James Version have God saying I hate divorce and those who cover themselves with wrong but the ESV an NIV on the other hand they have the verse saying those who hate and divorce their wives cover themselves with violence they’re kind of the same issues in the previous verse who’s the one doing actions is it God saying this about the people or is it God sink or I’m sorry is God saying he hates divorce or is God saying the people who hate and divorce their wives they do this thing they cover themselves with violence either way whichever sense we take these these verses I’m not going to try and wade through and figure out which is our try and discuss which one is the proper interpretation here certainly we see emphasize how seriously gone takes divorce it’s not like we’re unsure what he’s talking about here God is emphasizing just how evil divorce is and it counsels Israel to take heed take heed you are acting treacherously when you do this don’t act righteously take heed and finally God tells the people that they have wearied him with their words and people ask again how have we we read him what did we say that offended you Oh Yahweh God tells him you say everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh and he still delights in him and you also say where is the god of justice let’s talk about interpretation again what is the author’s point in bringing up the Jews common ancestry and heritage why ask those questions it’s at a hand no well no okay thought it’s like an well and the thing that comes right after those questions is a word about betrayal about treachery the author is stressing that there’s something about your heritage that means that you shouldn’t be treacherous to one another you’re all one family you’re all one people your brethren you’ve all been given a special dignity and privileges not just because God created you as a special creation has man as men and women but also as this special possession as the people of Israel you want not to be doing harm to one another you want not to betray one another then surprisingly he says the way that they’re betraying them is by intermarriage you’re betraying your people by intermarriage with the daughters before God why would this be considered an act of treachery okay your words are a little bit quiet Jos I couldn’t quite hear the last part of what you said can you say that part again only partially hear what you’re saying but I think I heard part of it maybe if I rephrased it I’ve got along the line to what you’re saying certainly we know that the they are corrupting themselves and their own families these individuals who intermarry with idolaters intermarry with the women who served foreign gods but that’s not going to stay compartmentalize it’s not going to be all right there’s just one idolatrous family in Israel there’s just these different ideologies families and they’re just gonna curse themselves now it has an effect on the other people they bring their corruption into the rest of Israel they have an influence on the other people not just because of their actions not just because their sin is going to have consequences naturally for what they do but as different segments of Israel take part in this in this sin they bring God’s judgment on the whole people so by sinning by the individual sinning in these intermarriages they’re actually harming the whole people of God and they’re bringing judgment on the people of God and certainly you can see a parallel I think here between Israel and the church where God says don’t you know a little leaven leavens the whole up of dough that’s one of the reasons why the church has to take them seriously why the church practices church discipline as it does because there is a sense that unrepentant sin within God’s people is a betrayal of God’s people even if it’s just on an individual basis it has an effect on the whole group so it was indeed a treachery and act of treachery even though they should have done this to their brethren now another thing that he said that this intermarriage was that it was a profanation it was a profaning of God sanctuary how is it that pagan intermarriage would corrupt or profane God’s temple you yeah okay that could definitely be one of the ways with an evil worship the idolatrous worship gets mixed in with the worship of Yahweh and even that worship is brought into the temple as possible certainly it could also be that the people actually are bringing unholy family members into the temple complex they have children or if they have a spouse who doesn’t actually follow yahweh and yet they bring them into the temple space that’s defiling but even as you were saying Rob came to the people don’t bring unclean people into the temple space they do bring their sin and even if they do everything right within the temple space but they sin right outside the temple space that’s still corrupted God can’t have his holy temple in a land of unholiness if the people are sinful the temple is going to be corrupted and God’s oh holy God his dwelling place can’t be in a land of corruption in a land of sin so there intermarriage is actually defiling God’s dwelling place now God clearly taking a different question here god clearly condemns divorce in this passage but if you remember just recently we’re talking about how God ordained he called for divorce in Ezra and Nehemiah particularly when it came to her yeah I’ll just say that so why is it that God called for divorce there or seem to prescribe divorce there but condemns divorce here what’s the difference hidden you right yeah it certainly we know that the situation in ezra nehemiah specifically dealt with people who had married foreigners god says you were two separate from them and wasn’t just that one time in ezra but we see a nehemiah also it says what do they do when these different reforms are happening in Israel twice it says they separated themselves from foreigners I think that phrase is another indication there were more divorces taking place and I think you’re right Daniel is the lesser of two evils there was what um even though God loves marriage and he hates divorce he prescribed that issue would not join themselves to idolaters through marriage and if they had that they would divorce them but that’s not the situation here in Alec I there’s no indication that people are divorcing because they’re trying to follow yahweh they’re trying not to intermarry with foreigners as we saw even just earlier in this section no they are intermarrying with foreigners so what kind of divorces are they having while these are unjustified divorces these are divorces of Jew with Jim and God says did this is treacherous you are going against the Covenant that you made with the companion of your youth I hate that you were covering yourself with violence it’s like you are you’re a murderer and you’ve just got blood all over your clothes that’s what your divorce is like to me now there are on some variations in verses 15 and 16 but what is the connection between refusing divorce and seeking a godly offspring can you say that last phrase again yeah I think you’re right I think this is something that we all appreciate especially in our day with the prevalence of divorce but divorce counteracts or works against the teaching of God’s Word a parents both mother and father are to be teaching the children not only what they say but also in how they live and when you divorce not only do you remove one of those teachers and supply them with someone maybe who’s not going to be committed to teaching but you also you set a terrible example you on the one hand you say we’re supposed to be faithful to our covenants because God is a faithful God we were to be holy because he is holding and yet you’re not living in a holy way you’re doing a quick great act of treachery it’s possible also that and I think some commentators go along the set of lines that the people were divorcing their Jewish wives in order to marry foreign women obviously that’s going to have a terrible effect on I’m a godly seed that’s not going to result in the teaching and inculcation of godly principles but even if they didn’t go that far but that wasn’t the reason for the divorce clearly those who value marriage and that one to treat their spouse as well I want to have godly children they know the value of keeping their marriage healthy keeping it together honoring your spouse’s for the Lord’s sake and for the sake of their children being blessed it’s just a truism families that have god-honoring marriages tend to raise better children broken marriages they result in great spiritual harm to the children so whether it’s God intending the godless eat here or whether it’s the godly ones certainly those things I think go together if we want to be or if a person wants to be your spiritual blessing to his children and have those children be spiritual blessings to himself and to others then he must work hard for the health of his marriage he must take heed that he does not betray the wife of his youth not just through divorce but also in other actions not be treacherous towards her of course that’s true for wise to their husbands also now notice all this is taking place is intermarriage and this divorcing and yet the people are weeping and asking God why don’t you regard our sacrifices anymore and so we see the same thing with the people as we receive the priests they don’t they don’t understand or they don’t appreciate that their acts are so evil before God that God’s going to be affected by them and they think so lowly of God’s standards and of God’s holiness that they don’t take their sin seriously they don’t even notice it they don’t even appreciate it or if they know that they are sinning they think that they can offer these sacrifices in the temple and that’s just going to make everything good think they can cover their sins with proper external worship the people like the priests are shockingly ignorant of their own guilt and furthermore in state and verse 17 with these wearisome statements that people presents before God actually let me ask this what what aspect of God are the people blaspheming by their statements in verse 17 yes hmm yeah so it’s an assault on the goodness with a justice of god he must be a god who’s okay with this in because I think you’re right Steve as they’re pointing out oh we don’t see any justice so that must be a sign of God’s character rather than realizing that God is being patient and gracious with them over their sin they take his lack of judgment as a sign that he’s not he’s not that serious vasan he’s not just he’s not good those who cook those continued people can continue to sin without fear he’s just a God who winks at sin of course this is one of the reasons why we must never look to our circumstances to understand God’s will say well things are going well God must approve no that’s not necessarily the case must pay attention what God actually said in the Bible because by making the statements that they did they were actually blast naming the character of God God’s not a God of justice now what’s interesting is we don’t have time to look at this today but the statements are the verses that come right after this section where they question whether God’s a God of justice or not the same as they come right after this section are all about the future judgment of God Malachi 3126 it’s all about the coming judgment how God’s going to purify and he’s going to judge evil so much to the opposite of what they were actually saying about God God says you haven’t seen my justice but it’s coming I’ve been patient with you actually running a little bit low on time so I’m just going to summarize the last section that we were going to kind of look at we certainly see that the people’s behavior is evil when it comes to their marriages they intermarried with foreigners they also pursue divorces and betrayal of their marriage covenants it’s not just that and Malachi 3 7 215 you hear how the people are not bringing their tithes and offerings to God’s temple remember those are important because the ties it just means a tenth but there were a series of ties and Israel series of giving regulations so it was actually more like twenty five percent thirty percent of their goods they were to bring them give them to the Lord so that the temple servants and the alright so that the work of the temple could go on and the Levites and the priests they didn’t have to work their own fields and also the the government and Israel could minister to the poor but these people weren’t bringing in their tithes and offerings they weren’t bringing in the full thing God says you’re robbing me will a man Rob gone yet you’re robbing me and God challenges them if you would only trust me test me by bringing in the full tide and see how generous I can be to you see me see if I don’t open the windows of heaven to you and just give you abundant blessing but as it is you won’t trust me and therefore I must curse you I must curse you I must make you not receive the benefit that you could have your your land is not as productive as it could be you can’t be satisfied with what you have and you’re cursed and the people God reports the people in this lecture last section saying again oh it’s futile to serve God you can get away with sin you can just keep on doing what you want it’s actually in vain or seeking God is a vain thing to do but God emphasizes to them no actually if you would only turn you would see how profitable it is to serve God I’m trying to show you for your own benefit that you need to return to me but you won’t believe me and therefore you’re cursed God tells them to repent and it gives them an example of how to repent in returning to giving the tithes and offerings that they were required to do but they won’t do it and so God says your judgment and shame is coming you are cursed but not all not all the Israelites there were there were some faithful ones among them and then there’s another section of Malachi which we’ll look at next week as well we’re God makes it a differentiation he says this is what’s going to happen to those who are faithful they are going to be blessed they’re going to be vindicated even while the whole nation is not even while the people as a whole stubbornly refuse to follow God the nation I mean the individuals who are faithful they’ll be blessed so as a whole just looking at the spiritual State of Israel in these verses we see it’s very much like some of the situation’s we saw in ezra nehemiah people stubborn they don’t want to give up their sins they don’t want to trust the Lord as a whole they are not willing to follow yahweh it may be less obvious about their sim than they were before they may not be sacrificing their children to Molech they may not be bowing down to worship bail but the way they treat Yahweh and the way they treat Yahweh’s commander arts as a whole still have not been changed and not circumcised on the heart I don’t love God even though he has loved them and been good to them uniquely know there’s more to say about Malachi but we’re gonna leave that till next week there’s a word about what God thing to do in the future for the people of Israel and involves both restoration but also judgment the day of the Lord we’ll talk about that next time hopefully you can see that what we’re talking about today has obvious application for us because we are those who would call ourselves God’s people have been brought into God’s people and we live lives at worship not only in what we do in church but also in our obedience but do we present impure worship to God because that won’t be acceptable God hates hypocrisy God hates when people say oh god please hear us God we’re your people God please bless us on the one hand and on the other hand they have known sin in their lives they’re not they’re living materially they’re not they’re not willing to give their goods for the for the service of God they betray they they deal evilly with their spouses that says that’s not going to be acceptable to me so here are just some questions to leave us with today questions for you to think about some application of this this sobering word from alki do you present impure worship to God do you go through the motions even here in church today knowing that your life is not lined up with God’s will as he explains it in the Bible number to do you believe that your good deeds an external acts of worship can cover up your contempt for God your lack of love for him your idolatry to something in this world number three you also think that you will get away with your sin God doesn’t see doesn’t care he just wink sits in do you also malign the Justice of God have you forgotten number for God’s unique love to you the good that he’s done you have you concluded like the people of Israel did and they’re evil that it’s vain to serve God now number five if you have repented do you love Jesus Christ for taking away the curse of your sin this curse that your sin deserves and instead giving you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places as the Apostle Paul explains in Ephesians so these are some words for you to think about I can say next week we’ll finish up with malachi will finish with the Old Testament you have any questions or comments please email it to me let me close in prayer gotta thank you for this word but we do not want to give we do not want to attempt to offer impure worship to you to say we are your people even while we don’t love you and don’t submit to your commands God we know that we are weak we know that we can do like Peter did betray you deny you even when we say that will go with you even to death but Lord where we’ve done that please restore us we know what you said to Peter you said do you love me and God we we want to love you so where our love has been lacking or pray that you would change us and Lord where we have failed restores but Lord we do love you forgive us for our sins I just walk in purity so that we can be your lights and so we can see your name glorified indeed among the nation’s create your bless the rest of the server state for Calvary and grow them in Jesus name Amen