The practical book of the Old Testament
Malachi 1: Godās Word to Israel through Malachi.
The final book of our Old Testament has some interesting mysteries associated with it. Aside from his name the author is unknown to us. In fact, we may not even know his name! āMalachiā may be a title rather than a name. The word means āMy Messengerā therefore the writer may be only identifying himself as a messenger of God. Another challenge is the date of the book. Malachi is unique because it isnāt associated with some coming disaster or some regional event that has everyoneās attention. Instead, this book highlights the danger that threatens when life is just rolling along at a normal pace. The scholars guess Malachi dates a little over 400 years before Christ because it appears the Temple has been rebuilt and the sacrificial system is in full operation. Since most of life is lived somewhere between wonderful, extravagant days and horrible, painful ones, Malachi is a practical book for most of us most of the time. Whoever Malachi is, he marches into their crisis-free lives and boldly proclaims that theyāve been lulled to sleep by the lack of perceived danger and because of that, are in a crisis and donāt even realize it. This little book has something to say to every day Christians just like me.
Take Away: The danger in common days is that weāll be lulled to sleep and neglect that which really matters.
Tag: Book of Malachi
Devotional on Malachi
The theology of the tee-shirt
Malachi 1: God said, āI love you.ā
I saw a shirt with this message on it: āJesus loves you…but then again, he loves everybody.ā The Lordās first word to Israel through Malachi is āI love you.ā His second word, contrary to the wisdom of the tee-shirt, is that the Lord hates Esau (speaking of the nation made up of Esauās descendants, Edom). Both of these concepts ought to get our attention. God loves people to the point that he pays an enormous price to reconcile people back to himself. At the same time, those who oppose Godās people are hated by God. Through the years, Edom has been the enemy of Israel. When possible, Edom opposed itās ābrother-nationā openly. Otherwise, Edom cheered when Israel fell on hard times. Because they insisted on being enemies of Godās people they made themselves into enemies of God. The Lordās love for Israel is, therefore, not a warm, fuzzy kind of āGod loves everybody.ā Instead, itās love with an edge on it; love that says to Israel, āBecause I love you I make demands on you.ā Itās love that also says to the enemies of Israel, āIf you mess with Israel you mess with me.ā Today, through his Son, Jesus, the Lord invites outsiders to join his family and thereby become heirs to all the benefits of being a part of the people God loves. Itās a terrific invitation and one every person can, and should, accept. As you consider responding to that offer, it might be wise to read these opening declarations from Malachi and be reminded that thereās more to the āJesus loves youā message than is stated on the theology of the tee-shirt.
Take Away: Weāre wise to remember that this āGod is loveā theology is theology with an edge on it.
Devotional on Malachi
The challenge of living in the level ground days
Malachi 1: Worship of God is no longer a priority.
Anyone whoās gone through significant weight loss will tell you that the hard part of a diet isn’t the ācut-back-on-the-caloriesā weight loss phase. Instead, itās the maintenance phase. At that time, the individual moves from trying to lose weight to living a healthy lifestyle that doesnāt result in regaining the weight that was lost. The problem is that there are constant temptations to give in a little here and a little there. Once one starts down that road the end result is a return to the former state of things. The people Malachi speaks to are at a cross roads. Theyāre secure and comfortable. The work of rebuilding the Temple was finished by their parents and grandparents. Now, it falls on them to live a spiritually healthy lifestyle as an every day people of God. Frankly, they arenāt doing a very good job of it. When they bring an animal to offer to the Lord, they’ve fallen into the habit of bringing one that they donāt want anyway. Worship, in general, is drifting to a lower and lower priority in their lives. They arenāt back at the stage of their idol-worshiping, baby-sacrificing ancestors, but, without even recognizing it, theyāre gradually drifting away from God. It doesnāt take a big effort to connect the dots from this to my own life. I donāt hope a crisis will come to my life to remind me of my priorities, but, here on the level ground of life, I want to live a healthy, day-to-day spiritual lifestyle.
Take Away: Living for the Lord on the common days of life has challenges of its own.
Devotional on Malachi
How to get a better preacher for your church
Malachi 1: You say āIām bored ā this doesnāt do anything for me.ā
The people of Malachiās day have lost the edge off of their religion. Worship services are a burden rather than a blessing. For them, righteous living is more about āhave toā than āwant to.ā What should be the most satisfying part of life has become just another burden for them to bear. Malachi tells them why itās like this: theyāve settled for a cheap religion. When they bring an animal to the Lord they donāt pick the finest they have. Instead, they pick one thatās probably going to die anyway. Even when they brag that theyāre going to make some significant offering, at the last minute they just canāt bring themselves to do it and settle for a mere token offering instead. The result, according to Malachi, is a dull, boring religion. The less they put into their relationship with God the less they get out of it. Hereās the real kicker: God isnāt satisfied with their religion either. He says, āIf this is how itās going to be just lock the Temple doors.ā Apparently, the Lord isnāt into playing church. I donāt think this concept gives us preachers a license to preach dull, sloppy, poorly prepared sermons or for singers and others to sleep walk through church. However, from years of experience I can affirm that the people who get the most out of worship services are the ones who put the most into them. Why not give it a try? Get up early enough to pray for the services and for yourself, arrive ahead of time, focus on the Lord, and give 100% to worship. Who knows? You might have a better preacher at your church than you think you do!
Take Away: The people who get the most out of worship services are the ones who put the most into them.
Devotional on Malachi
Who gets to define marriage?
Malachi 2: God, not you, made marriage.
During the exile their ancestors clung together, maintaining their national identity even in a diverse society. Now that Israelās been reestablished in itās own land the people have let their guard down and are breaking Godās command that they be a people set apart as his very own. Theyāve married outside their own nation. They shouldnāt be surprised that when they blatantly disobey God that he withdraws his blessings from them. Beyond that, even those who havenāt mixed with other nations are treating marriage differently than God intends, making it relatively easy to toss a marriage aside if it suits them. Through his prophet the Lord declares that heās the one who designed marriage and he hasnāt given them the authority to redefine what itās all about. He tells them that he āmade marriageā and that āhis Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage.ā Then he adds, āI hate divorce.ā I think the Lordās speaking to the whole institution here rather than to individual situations. He isnāt denying the possibility of divorce in a specific situation so much as heās stating his opposition to a culture that takes marriage vows lightly. Also, it goes without saying that the Lord insists that heās the one who defined marriage and, as this passage says, an outcome of marriage is to be āchildren.ā While there are circumstances in which children canāt be the product of a marriage at least the potential is to be there. That settles it. Marriage is between man and woman and no majority of voters or federal court or anyone else can define it otherwise. Donāt ever doubt it: God takes this kind of stuff very seriously.
Take Away: If we want to understand what marriage is all about we need to start with the Creator of it.
Devotional on Malachi
Malachi 3: Return to me so I can return to you.
If my relationship with God is strained or even broken today thereās a remedy. When, like the Prodigal Son, I come to my senses, rise, and return to my Father I find that heās been waiting for me all along. What a relief it is to know that the Lord doesnāt hold a grudge against me. Rather, he patiently reaches out to me, calling me to himself. When Malachi states this spiritual fact of life to his congregation, someone asks for more information on this āreturningā business. Exactly how do they do that? The prophet has an answer ready. A sure sign that a person’s returning to God is honest repentance on their part. In Jesusā parable, the Prodigal is honest with himself and with his father. Heās messed up and he wants to make things right. He knows he doesnāt deserve re-admittance into his fatherās household as a son, so heāll take what he can get. That, my friend, is honesty. In this passage, Malachi points out that theyāve been dishonest with God in the stewardship of their possessions. He tells them that, for them, honesty with God means admitting their failure in this matter. This business of bringing sick and blind animals for sacrifice has to be stopped, confessed, and made right. Their practice of shortchanging God with their tithes has to end and be corrected. Thatās what repentance is all about: confession and change. Through his prophet, the Lord says, āIf youāll return to me in repentance, Iāll return to you and bless your life in wonderful ways.ā When a nation as a whole makes things right with God, Malachi says, itāll be voted āHappiest Nationā and be known as a ācountry of grace.ā Thatās a good place to live.
Take Away: A sure sign that a person’s returning to God is honest repentance on their part.
Devotional on Malachi
On the brink and not realizing it
Malachi 3: It doesnāt pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it?
The message of Malachi is for people who are living in the broad middle, somewhere between the best and the worst days of life. Theyāre comfortable and secure, just going about the business of living. However, thereās hidden danger in that. When Iām living in the middle Iām tempted to take things for granted. Blessings that would have thrilled those who went before me are lost to me. God feels distant and that makes it easier for me to take spiritual shortcuts which make him feel even more distant. If Iām not careful, one day I look around and God is nowhere to be found. I think to myself, āDo I really need the hassle of religion? I donāt think itās worth the effort I put into it. People who live as non-religious individualists seem to get along okay. Maybe thatās for me.ā Thatās where Malachiās congregation is. Without a sense of desperation for God theyāve drifted away from him. Now, theyāre on the verge of stepping off the cliff into the canyon of unbelief. The Lord responds that heās well aware of whatās going on and that the day’s coming when theyāll be abruptly moved from the broad middle to the hard side of life. With all else ripped from their grasp, their faith will be all there is left to hold on to. Thereās unseen danger for those of us living in the broad middle of life.
Take Away: We have to pay attention to spiritual things or they slip from our grasp.
Devotional on Malachi
The curtain falls, but Act II is about to begin
Malachi 4: Remember and keep the revelation I gave through my servant Moses.
Did Malachi understand that these words were to become, for Christians across the ages, the closing words of the Old Testament? Itās highly unlikely. However, I believe God, the Holy Spirit knew it. The last two paragraphs of Malachi are an excellent ending for the Old Testament. For those of that day, still living under the Law, one of the last words is āremember.ā Theyāre to keep the ārules and procedures for right livingā given them by Moses. If they do that theyāll have done what the Lord requires of them. However, thereās another last word. Itās, āalso look ahead.ā The Lord isnāt finished working out redemption for them and all that has happened thus far has prepared the way for the really big deal thatās yet to come. As the curtain’s falling on this, the first act weāre told that the next act is going to be both interesting and surprising. Theyāll know itās starting when Elijah shows up to usher it in. For the people of Israel, thatās a long 400 years distant in the future. As for me, all I have to do is turn the page to see what has, up to now, been the black and white picture of Godās salvation plan displayed in living color.
Take Away: Even to this day we are wise to obediently remember what the Lord has told us while at the same time look forward to what he has promised us.