Category: Malachi

Ask Not for Justice, but for Forgiveness

Nehemiah 13 and Malachi 1-4

Devotion by Telva Elwell (SC)

Oh, how Nehemiah must have wished for a happy ending.  Jerusalem seemed to have been on the right track. The people were singing songs of praise and worship as they marched on the newly rebuilt wall of Jerusalem.  Joy filled the streets of Jerusalem and the hearts and souls of the people.  Fast forward to the future by about 11 or 12 years, and during that time the people had jumped off the wall and were up to their eyeballs in the filth of sin and rebellion to God and His laws.  Nehemiah had gone back to Shushan to his previous position, but when he heard the news of the sad state of affairs in Jerusalem, he returned to Jerusalem once again.  How could things have gone so terribly wrong?

If Nehemiah had prepared a list of things the people were doing wrong, it would have looked something like this.

Things you are doing wrong:
Nehemiah 13
  1.  You are mixing it up with outsiders like the Ammonites, and Moabites, who are enemies.
  2. You are allowing Tobiah to live in a large room in the temple.  Eliashib, a high priest, has given him a room because one of his relatives was married to Sanballat’s daughter, and Sanballat and Tobiah were friends.  (I know, it’s a bit confusing.  But we all know who Sanballat and Tobiah are, and this just can’t be good.)
  3. Tobiah is literally living in a room of the temple dedicated to the storing of the offerings used by the Levites.  (Umm, not good.  Where are the offerings kept now?)
  4. Where ARE the offerings?
  5. You are allowing your daughters and sons to marry people from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab, which you promised NOT to do.  Many of their children even speak foreign languages.
  6. You have stopped paying taxes!  You have stopped giving tithes and offerings to the priests and can’t even provide wood for the altar. (13:32-39). (Guess that is why “room” previously used for storage and offerings had opened up for Tobiah in the temple.)
  7. You are working and selling on the Sabbath, which you promised not to do! (10:31).
  8. Need I continue?
Signed:  Nehemiah

Sounds like Nehemiah had his work cut out for him.  Apparently so did Malachi, the prophet.  Malachi’s words against the people of Israel sounded hauntingly similar to Nehemiah’s words when describing the sins of the people of Israel.

Things you are doing wrong:
  1. You doubt the love of God (Mal 1:1-5) (see also Deut. 6:4,5).
  2. The priests are cheaters who offer polluted, lame, sick and blemished offerings to God (1:6-14).
  3. You divorce your wives then marry pagans (2:1-16).
  4. “You have wearied God with your words saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them” (2:17-3:6).
  5. You are thieves.  You are keeping your tithes and offerings (3:1-8).
  6. “You have spoken against God by saying that it is vain to serve Him, and what is the profit of keeping His commandments? You call the arrogant blessed” and say that “evildoers prosper”. (3:13-15)
  7. You ask, “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17)
        Signed:  Malachi, the Prophet

What Israel did not realize was that they did not need justice as much as they needed forgiveness.

Whereas Nehemiah took a more hands on approach to the problems, even to the point of throwing furniture, hitting and cursing certain men, and pulling hair from their heads (Neh 13:25), Malachi would debate them, beginning with an accusation, then Israel would dispute that accusation, but in the end, God would have the final word. 

Israel demanded to know “Where is the God of justice?”  What they wanted was justice for their wicked enemies and they wanted it now. They claimed that “everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He is pleased with them” (2:17). How can a just God do such things?

And so, God Almighty responded! “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come. (3:1) He then asked a question: “Who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears?” (3:2) For “He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver” (3:2,3) “So I will come to put YOU on trial…says the Lord Almighty.” (3:5).

This is not where Israel expected the debate to go. They wanted God to deal with their enemies now. Instead, Malachi is telling them that they need to be cleansed and purified now.

 “Return to Me, and I will return to you.” (3:7) Will they accept that cleansing?   Will they return to Him?  Will they accept His forgiveness? Oh, how Nehemiah and Malachi must have longed for the people to return to God, and “to assemble with fasting, and with sackcloth and earth upon them.  And for the seed of Israel to separate themselves from all strangers, and stand and confess their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers”, as they did when the wall was rebuilt. (9:1-2).

Hope and a Promise

God, the God of Justice, assured them that He will take care of the evil ones.  “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.  But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.  And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.  Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,”’ says the Lord Almighty. (4:1-3) But for Israel it depended upon them deciding now which group they belonged to—the arrogant and evildoers, or those who revere His name.

 “Return to Me”, He pleads.

 He then ends with this promise: “I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  And he will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents” (4:5).

 As for us, just like Israel, it all depends upon taking accountability and confessing our sins because He is faithful and just and will forgive. (1John 1:9)

Reflection Questions

  1. Did jealousy play a role in the sins of Israel?  If so, does it still play a role in our lives and sin today?
  2. Why do you think it was so easy for Israel to fall back into sin repeatedly?  Were they sincere when they walked the wall of Jerusalem singing praise and thanksgiving?
  3. Do you find it difficult to stay away from sin?  Why?  Can you relate to Paul’s struggles in Romans 7:7-25? In what ways?
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Born to Set Thy People Free

OLD TESTAMENT: Malachi 1

POETRY: Psalm 149

NEW TESTAMENT: John 20:24-31

While there are many who find their religion in removing Christmas decor before the New Year, no such tradition exists in our home. Oftentimes, Christmas decorations linger well into January (or even February) before finding their way back into totes and closets. With these symbols close by, we try to cling to the lingering sentiments of the season. Unfortunately, there is a sobering of one’s mind from the blinding joy of Christmas spirit as we return to work and school, say goodbye to family and friends, and begin to eat our vegetables again. In this in-between season, we must wrestle with more desperate realities; we are still in the thick of things in the present evil age. Grief, illness, relational discord, anxiety, and stagnation find footholds to beckon or challenge us with a candid question: “Jesus, where are you now?”

If we say this, we are not unlike the captive Israelites of the Old Testament crying out. We are not unlike the apostles or those we have witnessed fall asleep in faith in our lifetime, all holding onto the promise of a soon-coming Savior. This week, as we transition our calendar from one year to another, our study and prayer echo the words of a three-century-old classic Christmas hymn, “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” The first of these reminders, as we commingle a season of great joy with that of longing heart, is that Jesus was born to set God’s people free.

Looking at today’s reading, we start with the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. This book addresses Israel’s increasing spiritual despondency. No doubt, we can connect this to some season we are currently weathering—whether it be the day on the calendar, within our own walk with Christ, or the physical location and time we find ourselves. Malachi begins with the Lord God responding to the question, “How have you loved us?” Spurgeon states in his sermon, “God’s Love Shamefully Questioned,” that the gratitude we give to God is similar to a hog who eats acorns which have fallen from a tree, yet never once lifts its head to bless the tree that has provided the food. The Sovereign God promised a Messiah and delivered, born on the other side of the Silent Years (the time between Malachi and Jesus). His love was demonstrated in the fact that while Israel, and truly each one of us, acted as pigs in our incompetence, lackluster faith, misplaced priorities, broken offerings, accumulation of sin, and running away, He still miraculously gave us Christ to set us free (Rom. 5:8).

We may know this truth, but honestly, it may show that we carry our concerns closer than our Christ when we ask for Jesus to show up in our prescribed time and location, much like Thomas.  We request to put our hands on His scars, or some other litmus test, as proof of His message, so we can freely live in faith.  Jesus replies to this skepticism, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). While there may be times of confirmation that the hand of Jesus is in our life, it is impossible for us to see, to hold, or to understand the preparations that have been made for our future hope.

In this way, our response of faith does not require more evidence of God’s faithfulness to us; we are already redeemed. Instead, we should declare the joy and triumph that is found in the daily redemption that comes through the advent of Christ. Singing a new song and bringing a sacrifice of praise equally remind us of the promises of God, how He has loved us through redemption in His Messiah, and draw us closer to Him. The very words of God we use to sing give voice to the silence as we wait for an answer, an intercession, or the coming of our Lord Jesus. Our present circumstance may tempt us to despair, but the act of praising God rekindles our faith and recenters our thoughts on the saving power of our Heavenly Father.

The challenges we may face in this coming season may have us crying daily, “Come, thou long expected Savior,” but know that God’s plan set you free long ago. Jesus is now interceding, preparing, and indeed, residing in our hearts as we carry our cross. We have yet to see our faith made complete in the second advent, but we can pray that our next year is the first within eternity. Until then, let our pining become our praise because God so loved us, He sent His Son.

-Aaron Winner

Reflection Questions

  1. How have you acted as a hog eating the acorns and never giving thanks? What can you do to change hog-like behavior?
  2. What are you waiting for? What is your relationship with God and His Son Jesus right now?
  3. How would you answer the question, “How has God loved you?”
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Do You Get It?

Malachi 3

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Have you ever tried reasoning with someone who just doesn’t get it? After reading Malachi that’s exactly how I felt. At this point the temple is built and the Israelites are settled back into their traditions and way of life. They are now waiting for the prophecies of their Messiah to be fulfilled. But with this wait and settling in came the return of sin, doubt and once again a disconnection and separation from God.

The Israelites began to sacrifice improper animals, they were withholding tithes, they were marrying outsiders, they weren’t obeying and honoring the covenant they had with God. With all this corruption going on they refused to see themselves as the problem. Instead they put the blame on God questioning his very love for them (Malachi 1:2) . Almost desperately God points the finger back at them, reminding them of his great love and his promise of a Messiah. He urges them to take responsibility for their actions and remember to obey the covenant they have with Him.

I found it interesting that the last book of the Old Testament left me with a feeling of desperation. You felt the need for the Messiah and I almost couldn’t wait for him to come, then I realized: wait, Jesus did come! Today we have a new covenant with God, one that is fulfilled by grace through Jesus Christ.

I hope you get it.

-Elleigh Dylewski

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove -then named Grow16 – on April 26, 2017)

Reflection Questions

  1. Verse 13 of Malachi 3 says: “’Your words have been arrogant against Me,’ says the Lord. ‘Yet you say, “What have we spoken against You?’” Have you heard others (or yourself) speaking arrogantly against God? Are there still some who don’t recognize this as an offense to God?
  2. What other offenses are being done against God – in Malachi 3 and today?
  3. How do we return to God? When? Why?
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Resolution 6: Finish What You Have Started

Malachi 3-4 and Revelation 22

If you are reading this, you have officially made it to the end of 2021, like it or not.  For many, whether they have faced greater hardships or substantial joy, they are ready to see what God has in store for their next year of life.  For me, the calendar is one of the few things that I can say each year that I saw through to completion.  I have successfully completed the calendar 36 or so times; however, one year, if the Lord tarries, I simply won’t.  Poof.  My dusty remains will most likely rest in some sentimental location in the earth’s crust to wait for the return of Jesus Christ, awaiting to receive his promise alongside all those who faithful have served Him (Hebrews 11:39-40).

Conversely, with about every other element in my life, I am a terrible finisher.  Currently, I have several projects going on at my home: a mostly finished deck, one mostly finished fence, one mostly unfinished fence, and a horseshoe pit that I decided to begin work on a couple of days ago. I present this as evidence that I am a terrible finisher, and this is just a single outlet of my life.  This is true in pretty much every aspect, from professional work to text messages, there is always something left undone.  Thank you, God for not making the Christian walk a checklist that has to be completed before I bite the big one. No matter how many “tasks” I have performed, how many prophecies I have spoken, or how much love I have shown, if I wake up the next day still sucking air, I am not finished, and that is a feeling very familiar to me.

Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” – Revelation 22:10-11

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4: 6-8

God has us covered with grace.  If He cared, like Kingdom of God-cared, about my fences, deck, or horseshoe pit, then they would already be made complete, and I could move onto the next project at hand.  But we have an eternal God whose mind is set on eternal things.  He doesn’t care about my home projects.  Only my heart in pursuing them. He doesn’t care about my career, only my heart in pursuing it.  He doesn’t care about my resolutions, text messages, or what I am leaving undone, only my heart when pursuing each of those things.  His grace is already complete, so the thing He and I work on are the hearts that will find their way to the Kingdom of God, including, and most importantly to me, my own.

If 2021 is my last calendar year, I will leave behind much undone, which may resound with you because many of us are in the same boat. However, my heart is the one project that I have assuredly been working on and hope and pray that it is finished and made God complete through Christ Jesus (Col 2:10). Everything can be (and really will be) left undone, unfinished, and incomplete. I encourage us all to close out this year being finishers. Not by checking off the last couple of boxes of projects, resolutions, or bucket list items that remain, but by considering matters of the heart: your faith, your actions, and your pursuit of eternal things, so you can end this day, this year, and this life, strong.

“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. – Malachi 3:17-18

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:4-6

-Aaron Winner

As we finish off our 2021 Reading plan…we are excited about beginning a new plan for SeekGrowLove for 2022. Watch for more information coming today! Sneak peak – tomorrow’s reading will be Matthew 1. We are glad to have you on this journey working on our hearts as we Seek Him, Grow Our Faith and Love Him and Others through another calendar year!

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Malachi 3-4 and Revelation 22

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Resolution 5: Make Healthy Choices

Malachi 1-2 and Revelation 21

I think we all have flirted with the “best by” dates on food products.  Some of us have done it out of necessity, others maybe more out of laziness, but there is no doubt that some are more sensitive to these subjective guidelines .  I personally give it a sniff and stir test.  Looking for foul odors or curious textures before giving it a taste.   The level of craving or hunger often determines how much flexibility I will give.  At work, I still haven’t lived down a tub full of moldy hummus I ate because I didn’t want to waste it.  I should have just kept my mouth shut (well open really, I was eating), but alas, here I am telling another audience. Surely, the carrots, celery, and apple I was enjoying with the hummus offset any of the negative consequences.  I am willing to eat leftovers, perform sniff tests, down some soft grapes, because when I do this, I give my family an opportunity to buy healthy fresh foods, and treat them to a pleasing sit-down meal from time to time.  This Outback Dinner was brought to you by the goat cheese that sat on the bottom of the meat drawer for weeks and the awful cauliflower-something dish that no one else would eat. Nevertheless, it would seem a bit more detestable if I only treated myself alone and made my family eat the stuff growing hair in the back of the fridge.

 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. – Malachi 1:8

Now to frame these choices into a different context.  Is this the way we are treating our relationship with God?  Are we giving him the leftovers, the surplus of our pantry, or the rejects of our storehouse?  Is there an allotted time that you are giving God each day for prayer?  Or do you pray when you have time.  Or if you get up early.  Or when you’re in the car alone.  Are you only tithing what you have left after you pay your bills?  And that is only if there is anything left.  Or maybe not this month because things are tight.  Are you filling the church with single-ply toilet paper when you have triple-ply at your house?  Or bringing your recipe-gone-wrong to the potluck?  Or going to church only when it’s convenient to your and your kids schedule?  Or donating things because you didn’t like the style anyways? If you answered yes to any of these, what you are giving God is going to require a sniff and stir test; your offering may be lame. Your discipleship is growing mold and diseased.  When we are talking about God, we give him the firstfruits.  The unblemished.  Simply the best we have (which still is the equivalent to nothing) but it is fragrant to God and His desires.  He acknowledges the sacrifice when we bring it with a merciful heart. He sees the effort we are making to have a relationship with Him. Our offering is not animals or crops, it is our time, our effort, or energy, our money, and our stuff.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? – Romans 8:32

God didn’t skimp on salvation.  He didn’t provide someone who was expendable.  He didn’t choose someone who was already terminally ill. He didn’t choose a criminal.  He picked the firstfruits, or as Colossians 1 says the firstborn of all creation, meaning before it all, God had already set aside the sacrifice of His son for our sins.  He picked the best.  The only man unblemished by the disease of sin.  This is our example of what sacrifice should look like.  Even though we don’t live in the age of sacrifice, giving first, going without, but most importantly showcasing with our very best effort our desire for God is still a beautiful way to show our love for Him and our request to receive the magnificence of his mercies.  He doesn’t require our sacrifice, but he desires our worship.

“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.  Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

On a final note, the best of God’s plan is yet to come.  The richness in store for us is beyond anything we would do without now.  Again and again, as you read the blueprints of the Kingdom in Revelation 21, you will be blown away by the preparations God has made.  The God outside of time has taken all of His time to make something beyond all fathom, wealth, and existence.  Wow!  Consequently, when your sacrifice is from the healthiest choice, you are going to miss some fun.  You will have to wake up early or stay up late.  You will have to do without some luxuries, or even believed necessities.  There is still a greater inherent blessing from knowing, serving, and honoring God in the reheated stuff that this life is made of in a corrupt, sinful world.  But God…Oh, how God! He is pouring His very best into what is to come.

-Aaron Winner

Read or listen to the Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Malachi 1-2 and Revelation 21

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From Beginning to End

Malachi 1-4

            In the English Bible we’ve come to the last book of the Old Testament, but not for the Hebrew Bible. It’s the end of the Prophets and now the Writings start. In my Hebrew/English Bible the next page starts the Psalms then Proverbs…. The book of Malachi is filled with warnings and exhortations and many familiar and excellent verses for such a small book. He’s a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah.

            “The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.” (1:5) Amen!  That’s for sure these days from those days.  Look how far from the borders of Israel He’s magnified. “If then I am the Father, where is my honor? And if I am Lord, where is my reverence?” (1:6) “For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles.” (1:11) “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” (2:10) Amen.

            “The LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce. For it covers one’s garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts.” (2:16) “Behold I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.” (3:1) “For I am the LORD, I do not change.” (3:6) Those are very simple and yet clear verses.

            “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed you? In tithe and offerings.” (3:8) This is a good question to ask children. I’ve asked some of our older kids before, and now I’m going to ask our younger children and see what response I get. 

            “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble, and the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the LORD of hosts.” (4:1) This is certainly true, and, in some ways, THIS is the ultimate climate change and global warming some are talking about now that will one day take place.  God will purify and purge, and it won’t be by a flood the next time like he promised.

            The last two verses of Malachi 4:5,6 are quoted in Luke 1:17, when the angel told Zacharias about his son, “He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.” So even though it’s not the end of the Hebrew Bible it still fits going into the English New Testament.  So does the end 2 Chronicles in Hebrew that goes into the New Testament, when Cyrus king of Persia was stirred by the LORD which says, “May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!” (36:23) That also goes nicely with Matthew 1:23, which says, “the virgin will bear a son and call his name Immanuel, God is with us.” Same idea, God is with us and helping us (not God the flesh). “The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.” (1:5) Amen! 

Stephanie Schlegel

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at Bible Gateway here – Malachi 1-4

Tomorrow we begin the NEW Testament, with Luke 1 and John 1:1-14. If you haven’t already, now would be a great time to commit to reading the New Testament before the New Year begins. Finish off 2020 strong in God’s Word. Below is the Bible reading plan we will be following with our daily devotions. Let’s seek God together!

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Do You Get It?

Malachi 1-4

Malachi

Wednesday, April 26

Have you ever tried reasoning with someone who just doesn’t get it? After reading Malachi that’s exactly how I felt. At this point the temple is built and the Israelites are settled back into their traditions and way of life. They are now waiting for the prophecies of their Messiah to be fulfilled. But with this wait and settling in came the return of sin, doubt and once again a disconnection and separation from God.

The Israelites began to sacrifice improper animals, they were withholding tithes, they were marrying outsiders, they weren’t obeying and honoring the covenant they had with God. With all this corruption going on they refused to see themselves as the problem. Instead they put the blame on God questioning his very love for them (Malachi 1:2) . Almost desperately God points the finger back at them, reminding them of his great love and his promise of a messiah. He urges them to take responsibility for their actions and remember to obey the covenant they have with Him.

I found it interesting that the last book of the Old Testament left me with a feeling of desperation. You felt the need for the Messiah and I almost couldn’t wait for him to come, then I realized: wait, Jesus did come! Today we have a new covenant with God, one that is fulfilled by grace through Jesus Christ.

 

I hope you get it.

 

-Elleigh Dylewski