Malachi Chapter One, Universal Reconciliation

 

Among all of these wonders the Gentiles will be included. “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” says the Lord who does this thing,” Amos 9:11, 12. “Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths,” Micah 4:2. The messianic kingdom was always meant to incorporate the Gentiles, and to reconcile the wayward kingdoms of the earth back to God. Humanity had, as a united body rebelled against God at Babel under the leadership of Nimrod. Disjointed and restless, the Gentiles (referred to symbolically as the Sea in Scripture) will be brought back into God’s graces through one Man, Jesus Christ. Israel’s rejection of their long awaited Savior brought the world back to God.

Malachi Chapter One, Glimpsing the Davidic Kingdom

 

Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts.

 

When Christ was approaching Jerusalem He wept over it and said, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes…because you did not know the time of your visitation,” Luke 19:42, 44. There is much to be said about the time of Israel’s visitation taken from the writings of the prophets. Christ came first to offer Himself as Israel’s Messiah, the Anointed One, or the “Son of Fresh Oil,” that they had been waiting for since Eden, really. The first promise of the Christ was given in the Garden just after Satan deceived Eve, and through Eve corrupted Adam. God explained to Satan that the Seed of the woman, a Seed uniquely from woman without being begotten by man, would crush the serpent’s head. The serpent in turn would bruise Messiah’s heel, Genesis 3:15. The story of Achilles and his infamous weakness illustrates how fallen mankind remembered this promise, distorted though it was, centuries after the Fall and the Flood. The angel Gabriel was permitted to allow Daniel to catch a glimpse of God’s timetable regarding Messiah: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself,” Daniel 9:25, 26.

Malachi Chapter One, Closing The Doors

 

God searches through Jerusalem to find a man with courage enough to shut the doors to His temple and forbid this farce called worship. And make no mistake, shutting the doors would be a courageous act. Those who have succumbed to formulaic service find no error in their present course. God is acknowledged so all is well. He has a part to play in the believer’s life; relegated to whatever time the believer sees fit to grant Him. The roles are woefully reversed. God sits upon the throne of rulership, and we, His subjects ought to bow before His majesty. To close the doors would be to draw alarming attention to gross error being perpetrated amongst God’s people. We learn later in Malachi’s burden that the priests are at fault for the pathetic condition of the offering, “But you (the priesthood) have departed from the way; you have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts,” Malachi 2:8. Much of what is called Christendom today languishes in the same sorry state. The leadership has become careless or corrupted, and through them obedience is seen as optional, some taxing extra to service already rendered on Sundays. In Israel’s instance where the priesthood failed, God elected prophets to recall the Law to their collective minds.

Malachi Chapter One, Religious Formality

 

Malachi 1:8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the LORD of hosts. [9] “But now entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will He accept you favorably?” says the LORD of hosts. [10] “Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of hosts, “Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.

 

The object lesson is the degree of devotion demonstrated in the offering. God wants our all; He doesn’t want a tithe, or tenth of what we possess. He wants us. He wants us to, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you,” Matthew 6:33. The fact that the Jews were selecting the weakest or defective animals was indicative of their inner thoughts and beliefs toward God. It is no different today than it was in Malachi’s time. When I meet someone who claims to be Christian one of my first thoughts is, “I wonder how they live out their life?” Our tithe in today’s nomenclature would include church attendance, volunteer work, Bible reading, etc. These are forms of devotion that can be void of the subsequent faith they ought to kindle, or be inspired by. James tells us that demons believe there is a God, and that prospect terrifies them, James 2:19. Satan can just as eloquently quote Scripture as any believer, Luke 4:10, 11. Church attendance ought not to be for social pleasure but for sanctification, refreshing and worship. Volunteer work should be done in the selfless servant attitude Christ commanded His followers to gird themselves with. Bible reading should educate, and through that knowledge we disseminate His word to and for others.

Malachi Chapter One, Honor And Reverence

 

Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ [7] You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’

 

Malachi elicits two analogies. There is the son that honors his father, and the servant who honors his master. How then does a son honor his father? By obediently submitting to his father’s teaching and wisdom. Solomon writes to his own son Rehoboam, “My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother; for they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck,” Proverbs 1:8. A son honors his parents, as the Law commands (Exodus 20:12), by adorning their counsel as if he is wearing jewelry. In laymen’s terms, our conduct should reflect parental teaching to vindicate their wisdom. Later in the prophet’s message he speaks in much the same language Solomon employed, writing, “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him,” Malachi 3:17. Only the ornamentation has been turned about. God will wear His faithful like jewels adorning His crown when His children, through faith, obey Him. But before honor there comes service. The son who casts away his father’s teaching shames his family name. Instead of wearing the family jewels we have pawned them because honoring our fathers threatens independence and self-expression. Such a son may find himself disowned, as Malachi 3:18 goes on to explain.

Malachi Chapter One, Wrath Upon Edom

 

Edom’s ruin demonstrated God’s vital presence as Israel’s benefactor. God defended His people and redressed the wrongs done upon them by a kingdom that ought to have treated the Hebrews like brothers. Rather, Edom became a vessel for God’s wrath. Like Pharaoh, who first determined to harden his own heart, only for God to further strengthen that resolve, Edom clung fast to old hatred and sought Israel’s demise. The Psalmist pens, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; with the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself,” Psalm 76:10. Edom’s wrath brought upon them God’s indignation. Their nation had been judged, and like Canaan would be desolated, and in Malachi’s time, is referred to as “the Territory of Wickedness.” Malachi confirms that this is something the Jews will witness for themselves in an act of providential retribution. The execution of it will provoke the people of Israel to acknowledge that God’s name is magnified, or increased/enlarged beyond Israel’s boundaries. Why? God seeks the good of men, to restore them to the image they blighted in the Fall. Then, and only then, may we enjoy proper fellowship with our Creator.

Malachi Chapter One, Beyond The Border of Israel

 

Malachi 1: 4 Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, and the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever. [5] Your eyes shall see, and you shall say, ‘The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’

 

Verse 5 carries with it the shadow of coming change. Israel was well aware that Yahweh was their covenant God, and for good reason as already stated. But God had already demonstrated interest in the nations beyond Israel since time immemorial. The narrative of Genesis chapters 4-11 demonstrated God’s dealings with all of humankind, even as the Christ’s bloodline was being added to during the antediluvian years. Genesis 4:3 strongly suggests a localized altar where people brought offerings to God in that time, while Genesis 4:26 demonstrates a universal worship as “men” (mankind in general) began to call on the Lord’s name. And as we know from the prophet: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Joel 2:32.

Malachi Chapter One, Sibling Rivalry

 

Malachi 1:3 but Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness.”

 

But what of Esau? Elsewhere in Genesis we learn what became of Esau after he parted ways with Jacob, and with Jacob’s God. “Now this is the genealogy (generations) of Esau, who is Edom,” Genesis 36:1. To ensure the reader understands that Jacob’s lineage and Esau’s diverged, not only to different geographical regions but spiritual destinies, Moses emphasizes verse 1 three more times in 36:8, 19, and 43. Esau is Edom, or the Edomites, while Jacob is Israel, or the Hebrews. To gain a clearer picture, we look back on Rebekah who was having a clearly tumultuous pregnancy. Inquiring of God what was amiss, He told her, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger,” Genesis 25:23. God knows the end from the beginning. In Jacob and Esau, who had not been born yet, He saw the great nations that would arise from them. In the one the messianic line would continue. They would have Canaan, the giving of the Law, the prophets, the tabernacle and the temple, the kingship. All of this, through Yahweh’s divine superintendence, would culminate with the Christ, the Son (seed or descendant) of David, heir to Judah’s scepter. The seed of the woman and its attendant promise would be kept safe in the bloodline of Israel, who became a people separate from the nations, 1 Kings 8:53. “He declares His word to Jacob, His statues and His judgments to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; and as for His judgments, they have not known them,” Psalm 147:19, 20. Jacob then was chosen by God’s election to serve as the conduit, the vessel through which the promises given in their Messiah, the Christ would be realized in due time.

Malachi Chapter One, Jacob Is Chosen

 

We find the name of Israel carried on in Exodus 1:1 where we read, “Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt.” After this it is written that Joseph and his brothers, the biological sons of Israel, passed away, Exodus 1:6. Yet like Eber in Genesis 10:21, the name became an umbrella term for the direct descendants of Jacob through his sons, the twelve patriarchs that would grow into the twelve tribes of Israel. “But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them,” Exodus 1:7. It is interesting to note that the Hebrews, through God’s blessing and their obedience to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, continued to fulfill Yahweh’s command to, “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth,” Genesis 9:1. By honoring the laws passed down through Noah and Shem, they were honoring the God who issued them.

Malachi Chapter One, Questioning God's Love

 

Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have you loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved;

 

God begins this burden with a declaration of love toward His people. Malachi, in an interesting dialectical approach, asks on Israel’s behalf: HOW have You loved us?” The verse impugns God’s sovereign love by indicting Him with a lack of demonstrable care. This travesty of flippant callousness in opposition to God’s unceasing love for His people is utterly amazing. Starting after the Flood, one can veritably track the progress of proto-Israel from Shem (whose lineage conspicuously looms into the fore during Genesis chapter 10). We read: “And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder,” Genesis 10:21. Chapter 11 also singles out Shem and his lineage for consideration, tracing the patriarch to Abraham, to demonstrate that the bloodline of Adam, and from Adam to Noah (and through Shem) carried on in Abraham. God was narrowing His focus after the Flood to a particular bloodline for a particular purpose. Among other things, securing the coming promise given originally in Eden. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel,” Genesis 3:15. It should be noted that Shem, by the time his great grandson Eber was born, was only 165 years old, give or take. This same patriarch was still alive (324 years old or so) when Abram (Abraham) was born.

Malachi Chapter One, Messenger of Yahweh

 

Malachi 1:1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.

 

Malachi, which means, “my messenger” was the final writing prophet of the Old Testament, as well as the last of what is commonly referred to as the Minor Prophets. The time of his prophecy settles in the 5^th century B.C. with dates ranging between 430-423 offered as potential the years of his activity. Malachi’s name hails from the Hebrew word “malak” and can be translated as “messenger” or “angel,” who are of course seen in Scripture as God’s messengers. The word “malak” denotes someone sent over a great distance by an individual or by a community to deliver a message.

Looking For Hope In A Hopeless World, Part 3 (of 3)

 

But what of the First Cause? Monotheism suggests a singular being beyond space/time. Powerful and intelligent they may be, but alone even the Uncaused Cause lacked something that he/she/it needed humanity to experience: a relationship. A being independently complete apart from the universe they have designed, it would seem peculiar to have the imperfection of lacking a relational quality to himself/herself/itself. The highest emotion humanity can manifest, love, is one that requires a subject-object relationship. Did our creator then need to make humanity to experience what they have been missing? Orthodox Judaism and Islam classify Yahweh and Allah as singular personages. The Islamic faith presents the identity of their creator, Allah, as unknown and unknowable, creating an effective barrier to loving or being loved by him. Judaism attests that Yahweh, their covenant God, is a single God who is the maker of heaven and earth. Despite the fact that the Tanakh speaks often of Yahweh’s love for His people, this depiction of Him that Judaists hold would also mean that before creation God did not know love experientally. There was no object to be the subject of His love, so to speak.

Looking For Hope In A Hopeless World, Part 2 (of 3)

 

Evolution, of course, is also nothing new as far as existential views are concerned. Many Greek philosophers believed that evolution explained how reality came to its current state. Since no significant evidence supporting macro-evolution (vertical, progressive changes in a species over time) has been accounted for in historical records or by eyewitnesses it remains a theory. Or to coin it in religious terminology, it is a matter of faith. Let us consider for a brief moment the silent “god” of the agnostic. If this entity is not personal then he/she/it should not be endowed with the mantle of deity. There is a law of cause and effect: an effect cannot be greater than its cause. If we are caused, then somehow being relational, social beings came not from this god. Therefore any entity that has interacted with humanity or the universe in any way demonstrates intelligence, intention, and expression. To expect that such an entity would express him/her/itself again is understating the matter. Being social creatures, we know quite well that interaction with others is a defining point of our personhood. If this entity did not cause humanity, or anything else no matter its power it is unrelated to our existence and therefore even positing its presence is meaningless because as a “thing” it will never care what we are doing. Caring requires self-awareness, intelligence and emotion: capabilities a thing does not possess.

Looking For Hope In A Hopeless World, Part 1 (of 3)

 

As we move through life we have to operate day by day with a certain number of assumptions that we perhaps just take for granted. They are unchallenged, perhaps even unexplained assumptions, but they reside in the recesses of our minds, molding and compelling us on our path of choice and consequence. These assumptions, taken as a collective, formulate our worldview, which in turn determines our opinions and outlook on life in the social, logical and existential spheres.

James Chapter Five, Restoring Wayward Brethren

 

James 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. [18] And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

 

The verse begins with mention of Elijah, who was among the prophets mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, who “through faith subdued kingdoms,” Hebrews 11:32, 33. Yet James quickly humanizes the prophet, likening him to you and I. Elijah was not superhuman. He was called by God and separated to Him for prophetic service. But in the end he too was merely a man and his prayers were the prayers of a man convinced that what God said He could perform. It’s easy to find Elijah amazing, and to place him in a camp of special saints more equipped to fulfill God’s will than we are. But James disagrees. Elijah was simply a man more surrendered to God’s will, and so could be used by his Savior more readily, and more powerfully.