Malachi brings a rebuke from the Lord because there is a special covenant between Him and Levi, the priesthood. They were to instruct people, to be God’s messenger to them. Then Malachi brings a rebuke from the Lord to men, husbands that have broken their covenant of marriage with “the wife of your youth”. They were to raise a godly seed, the next generation, those who would also populate heaven. Then there is one more rebuke, “will a man rob God”. As Nehemiah contended to re-establish the tithe, so Malachi also says “bring the whole tithe into the storehouse”. Or, as God says it, “Return to me and I will return to you.
My Covenant With Levi Continues
Malachi 2:1–9
Malachi sends a rebuke from the Lord to the priests because in Malachi 2:8 “you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction” and the Lord remembers Levi in
Malachi 2:5 (LEB) “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe before my name”.
The Lord describes his relationship with Levi in
Malachi 2:6 (LEB) “The instruction of truth was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found on his lips. In peace and in uprightness he walked with me, and he brought back many from sin”.
Then the Lord describes his expectation of a priest in
Malachi 2:7 “For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts”.
Do We Not All Have One Father?
Malachi 2:10–17
Now Malachi sends a rebuke from the Lord to the men, husbands, because in Malachi 2:15 he says “you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth”. But the rebuke goes beyond this to say in Malachi 2:11 “Judah has been faithless, and a detestable thing has been done … Judah has profaned the sanctuary … and has married the daughter of a foreign god”. It was bad enough that they had “married the daughter of a foreign god”. But they had first put away the wife of their youth, they had been unfaithful to their “wife by covenant”. To do this, in Malachi 2:16 he “covers his clothing with violence”. They not only offend their wife, in Malachi 2:15 they deprive God of “an offspring of God”, the next generation.
He is Like a Refiner’s Fire
Malachi 3:1–5
Malachi turns to give a prophetic word from the Lord in
Malachi 3:1 (LEB) “Look! I am going to send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come,” says Yahweh of hosts.
And then he brings a caution in Malachi 3:2 “who can endure the day of his coming?”. But why would he say this? Isn’t God love? Isn’t God merciful? Yes, He is and for those that have come to Jesus Christ and accepted the price He paid for our sin, we are forgiven for the life we lived in the past. But what of the life we are living now? He says in Malachi 3:5 “I will approach you for judgement, and I will be a swift witness against …”. What life are you living now?
Return to Me and I Will Return to You
Malachi 3:6–15
One more rebuke from the Lord in Malachi 3:8 “will a human dare to rob God?”. God asked for a tenth of their increase for the temple, for the priests and the Levites. This is the same problem faced in Nehemiah 13:10-13 where Nehemiah “came to learn that the food of the Levites had not been given to them … so I quarreled with the prefects”. After this, “all of Judah brought the tithe”. It seems though to be this same cycle of following God and then drifting away, “Malachi is far from idealizing past generations (cf. Ezra 9:7; Zech. 1:2). All had shown the same rebellious attitude to God’s statutes through which he revealed his will (Deut. 4:4–7). The call to repent is worded in Zechariah’s phraseology (Zech. 1:3), but it meets no response because there is no awareness of any shortcomings”.1
A Scroll of Remembrance Was Written
Malachi 3:16–4:6
The Lord knows how we value Him and His word and He is recording our names in
Malachi 3:16–17 (LEB) Then those who revered Yahweh spoke with one another. And Yahweh listened attentively and heard, and a scroll of remembrance was written ⌊before him⌋ of those who revere Yahweh and ponder his name. 17 “They will be mine,” says Yahweh of hosts, “on the day that I am acting, my treasured possession. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
And for these, in Malachi 4:2-3 “you who revere my name … healing … you will go out and leap … you will trample down the wicked”.
The Events That Have Been Fulfilled
Luke 1:1–4
Eye witness accounts.
Your Prayer Has Been Heard
Luke 1:5–12
“while he was serving as priest before God”
To Prepare for the Lord a People Made Ready
Luke 1:13–20
“He will be great in the sight of the Lord”
Study Verses
- Malachi 2:1–9 My Covenant With Levi Continues
- Malachi 2:10–17 Do We Not All Have One Father?
- Malachi 3:6–15 Return to Me and I Will Return to You
Today’s Reading
- Malachi 2:1-17
- Malachi 3:1–16
- Malachi 4:1-6
- Luke 1:1-20
A Scroll of Remembrance Was Written
God has recorded the names of those that love Him. See Malachi 3:16–4:6. Are you written in God’s book? Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? Read John 3:16, Acts 2:21 and call on Jesus Christ.
The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ – The Gospels
We began the year reading the gospel of Mark and this is often often the way we read the Bible, one book at a time. As we begin going through the gospels again, this time we will follow the order of readings from the Tyndale One Year Chronological Bible. This means we will move back and forth throught Matthew, Mark Luke and John but with little emphasis on Mark. Covering these events chronologically as they happened, gives a much different context and helps us understand the move of God as He is introducing the Saviour, the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. This series begins here at the end of Malachi and introduces the “Witnesses” writing the Gospels. The series ends on July 5, 2018 with Go and Make Disciples of All the Nations.
Operation Exodus
is helping Jewish people return to their homeland. You might fund one that desires to go home. http://operationexodususa.org/Overview
References
- 1. Baldwin, J. G. (1972). Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 28, p. 268). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
