Malaquias 1
John Piper · Citado em PreceptAustin
Malaquias 1
Piper explains that... part of what it means to be loved by God is to know that God reigns—that He is great and mighty—even beyond the people called by His name. He reigns in Edom. His purposes are not ultimately frustrated by the wickedness of any people. "Great is the Lord, beyond the border of Israel!" Yes, even in Edom. Constable sums up Malachi 1:1-5... The point of this message was to get the Jews of the restoration community, who were thinking that God had abandoned them and forgotten His promises to them, to think again. Even though they seemed to be experiencing the same fate as their ancient enemy, the Edomites, God would restore them because He had entered into covenant relationship with them. He would keep His promises, both to the Israelites and to the Edomites, for better and for worse respectively. Malachi 1:6 " 'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My respect?' says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My Name. But you say, 'How have we despised Your Name?': (son: Ex 20:12 Lev 19:3 Dt 5:16 Pr 30:11,17 Mt 15:4,6 19:19 Mk 7:10 Mk 10:19 Lk 18:20 Eph 6:2) (servant: 1Ti 6:1,2 Titus 2:9,10 1Pe 2:17-19) (if: Ex 4:22,23 Isa 1:2 64:8 Jer 31:9 Mt 6:9,14,15 Lk 6:36,46 1Pe 1:17)(and if: Mt 7:21 Lk 6:46 Jn 13:13-17)(O priests: Mal 2:8 1Sa 2:28-30 Jer 5:30,31 Jer 23:11 Eze 22:26 Ho 4:6 Ho 5:1)(But you say: Mal 2:14-17 3:7,8,13,14 Jer 2:21,22 Ho 12:8 Lk 10:29) YAHWEH'S BURDEN TO THE PRIESTS, THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS After addressing Israel in general in Malachi 1:1-5, Jehovah begins His "complaint" against Israel by addressing Israel's priests, the spiritual leaders. Why the priests? Because of the principle, "Like priests, like people." In other words as the leaders of the nation go, so goes the nation. How true that is becoming in America (2012). And the sad irony is that the priests should have been the messenger's of Jehovah, but now needed to receive a message of rebuke from one whose very name was "My Messenger!" PROFESSION VERSUS PRACTICE There is a disconnect between what the priest say and what they do. Their creed does not match their conduct. Their belief does not beget behavior that honors and respects God. Their doctrines are in discord with their deeds! Of course, this never happens to us as NT believers who are priests (1Pe 2:9) indwelt by the enabling presence and supernatural power of the Holy Spirit...or does it? A son honors his father...Then if I am a father, where is My honor? - The LORD of hosts now presents two earthly comparisons or analogies (albeit imperfect for God is the perfect Father, the perfect Master, cp terms of comparison), would help His spiritually dull hearers get the point! The priests apparently were calling God "Father" and yet not living like His sons! See Jesus' interpretation below regarding who is the real "father" of unbelievers. This plea to the father-son relationship should have been significant to any of the priests who had children, for their personal experience would help them be better able to understand the pain of a child honoring his father with his lips but not with his life (attitudes and actions). How does a son honor his father? Certainly by obedience but also by love, by the esteem the son has for the father who had trained him in the way of righteousness. A son honors a father by protecting his father's reputation, by not acting or living in a profane way which would bring criticism or even contempt upon the father's reputation. 1Sa 2:30 “Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me–for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. A C Gaebelein explains that... The Lord called Israel to be His firstborn son, and therefore, nationally, He is their Father. He is the Lord, and Israel called to be His servant. But they had not honored Him, as a son should honor the father by obedience; they did not fear Him, but despised His Name. The Pulpit Commentary adds an interesting note that... Disobedience begets dislike. Submission strengthens love....Let our lives be answers to our prayers, "Hallowed be Thy Name. (The Reverence Due to God) Aristotle was correct when he said... A son must always be his father’s debtor, because he can never repay him for those greatest of all benefits, birth and upbringing, and in these the fathers resemble God. NO REVERENTIAL FEAR OF ADONAI A servant his master...and if I am a Master (see Adonai), where is My respect (KJV = My fear, Lxx = phobos = fear)? - The priests apparently called God "Master" in word but not in deed, and in so doing they disrespected His Lordship over their lives. The LORD'S words here in Malachi recall His words in Luke... And why do you call Me, 'Lord (Master = Kurios), Lord (Master = Kurios),' and do not do what I say? (Lk 6:46) Comment: Do not miss Jesus' point - one's profession of Jesus as "Lord" does not necessarily correlate with one's "possession" of Him as Savior! In some of the most frightening words to ever come from the mouth of our Lord, He declared "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does (present tense = one's habitual pattern of conduct) the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many (This is frightening! Not a few, but many. Do not be deceived by those who "water down" the Gospel - the true Gospel produces a new style of life, reflecting a new heart brought about by the New Covenant in Jesus' blood - See also discussion of the vital Relationship of faith and obedience) will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles? (Note that Jesus does not counter their claims, implying that they were true, but tragically not true evidence of saving faith! The "fruit" Jesus was looking for was obedience, not mystical experiences!)’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART (a command!) FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE (present tense = as one's general pattern of behavior - Jesus is not speaking of "perfection" but "direction" of our life - are we living lives generally aimed at heaven or at hell?) LAWLESSNESS.’ (Mt 7:21-23-note) As Augustine wisely wrote "Let the acts of the offspring indicate similarity to the Father!" If I am a Father - Jews who are saved today in the New Covenant of course can call God Father (Jn 1:9-11, 1Jn 3:1), but there is a future day when Messiah returns and delivers the believing remnant of Israel (Ro 11:25, 26, 27-note) that all Israel (all who in that day receive Messiah as Redeemer) will call God Father. Lord hasten the day! Maranatha! Jeremiah describes that coming glorious day... In those days (Always ask "When?" "In what day?" - see context Jer 3:14-17) the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel and they will come together from the land of the north to the land (The Land of Israel - promised not to the church but to Israel) that I gave your fathers as an inheritance (Ge 15:18). Then (expression of time = "then" marks an event in a sequence of events) I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, and not turn away from following Me.’ (Jer 3:18-19) (Why will Israel not turn away from following Jehovah at that time? Because they will have received a new "circumcised" heart cp Dt 30:5-6, Ro 2:28, 29-note. They will have entered into the New Covenant [see Why the New is Better] promised to Judah and Israel in Jer 31:31-34 and still not completely fulfilled.) Because of their rejection of their Messiah, some 400 years later Jesus explained who His Jewish audience's true father was... I know that you are Abraham’s offspring; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” 39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham (Ed: Abraham's children = by grace through faith = Ge 15:6, cf Ro 4:3-6, Ro 4:9, Gal 3:6-10). 40 “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth (Ed: A prophecy fulfilled only moments later in Jn 8:58-59!), which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” (Ed: They were deceived just as were their ancestors in Malachi's day!) 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. (Jn 8:37-44) O priests who despise (See word study of bazah below) My Name - They "undervalue" God's great and precious Name with their perverted, polluted practices (Mal 1:7). And mark it down to despise His Name is to despise God Himself, for His Name stands for all that He is!
Malaquias 1
Piper applies these truths to our lives asking... How would you describe God's love to you. Is your life and family in such a shambles that you feel as skeptical about it as the Israelites did? Do you want to say, "How hast Thou loved me?" I don't doubt that there is a little of that in all of us. And so it will do us all good to listen to God's answer which is almost never heard today. How hast thou loved us? Answer: "Is not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. Steven
Malaquias 1
Piper explains that God showed Jacob... free, sovereign, unconditional, electing love; that is how I have loved you. My love for you is electing love because I chose you for myself above your brother Esau. My love for you is unconditional love because I chose you before you had done anything good or evil—before you had met any conditions—while you were still in your mother's womb (Genesis 25:24). My love for you is sovereign love because I was under no constraint to love you; I was not forced or coerced; I was totally in charge when I set my love upon you. And my love for you is free because it's the overflow of my infinite grace that can never be bought. Now I ask you, if you are a Christian here today, and if you say to God, "How have you loved me?" can you answer the way God answered the Israelites? Do you look at your sister or brother living in sin and tremble that you have been chosen? And that your election is not because of anything in you? And that your faith and hope are owing wholly to God? Do you look at that childhood friend or college roommate who took a turn away from God when you stayed on the path, and tremble at the awesome thought that God chose you? (Ibid) Yet I have loved Jacob - Note the "bookends" of this verse are the love of God for Israel! One would think this should have given them a deep sense of conviction! ><>><>><> Returning God's Love - The book of Malachi begins with this wholehearted word from the Lord to His halfhearted worshipers: "I have loved you" (Mal 1:2). Though Israel had long been the object of God's love, they no longer returned His love. God listed the ways His people had offended His love through their disobedience. Israel's response was to question God. When He implored them, "Return to Me, and I will return to you," they questioned Him in their blindness, "In what way shall we return?" (Mal 3:7). With divine "tough love," the Lord exposed their many blind spots. He did this so that they might repent and accept His love, and return it with wholehearted obedience. We too are often halfhearted in our faith, appearing to love and serve God but really loving and serving ourselves. Today, as in Malachi's time, God looks for people who reverence Him by maintaining two spiritual practices: speaking to each other about Him, and meditating on His wonderful attributes (Mal 3:16). The first is fellowship with God's people; the second is fellowship with God Himself. Not only are we to receive and share God's love, we are also to return it through glad obedience. "We love You, Lord Jesus," we often will say, But are we as ready His will to obey? Let's heed what God's Spirit would have us to do— That's how we show Him a love that is true. —D. De Haan To love God is to obey God. (Ed: Yes His Spirit tells us what to do but also enables us to do it! Php 2:13-note. Beware of the subtle trap of legalism - "I must do this or that" to prove my love! We can do nothing supernatural in reliance on our own strength! cp Jn 15:5 Remember that Faith/Trust includes renouncing confidence in our own power & Relying wholly on the Holy Spirit's enabling power! Click for more elaboration on this topic) ><>><>><> WHICH DO YOU SAY? IT'S SO UNFAIR! or I'M SO UNDESERVING! We seem to use some things more than others—our mouths more than our ears, our stomachs more than our minds. We also seem to use the phrase "It's so unfair!" so much more often than "I'm so undeserving." In Malachi 1:1-5, we read about God's love for Jacob and His hatred for Esau. On the surface it seems so unfair, especially when we think about the kind of person Jacob was. He deceived his father into giving him the blessing that should have gone to his older brother Esau (Genesis 27:1ff). It's easy to think of him as a "low-down schemer." Was God unfair to love Jacob and hate Esau? Why was Esau undeserving of God's love? These are valid questions that are difficult to answer or explain. But have we considered a more basic question: Has anyone ever been deserving of God's love? God is perfect, and even in our best moments we still struggle with sin. Dare we think we are anything but undeserving? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? —Wesley God's grace gives us what we don't deserve. (God's mercy keeps us from getting what we do deserve! Remember also that Grace includes God's privileges and His power) Malachi 1:3 but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.": (hated: Ge 29:30,31 Dt 21:15,16 Lk 14:26)(made his: Isa 34:9-12 Jer 49:16-18 Eze 25:13,14 Ezek 36:3,4,7,9,14,15 Joel 3:19 Ob 1:10,18,19-21) (the jackals: Isa 13:21,22 34:13,14 35:7 Jer 9:11 51:37) GOD'S COMPASSION DEMONSTRATED: GOD CHOSE JACOB NOT ESAU
Malaquias 1
Piper applies the truths of Malachi to the church reminding us that... The great temptation for Israel in the OT and for the church of Christ today is to forget that we are pilgrims not natives in this world (cp 1Pe 1:1-note, 1Pe 2:11-note). The temptation is to let the Lord's delay (in returning) make us settle into the world and become passive as we wait, forgetting that we are aliens & strangers on the earth, seeking another homeland.” (Piper) Comment: Malachi and Revelation both close with a description of the Second Coming of Christ, a truth which should serve to continually motivate us to seek “a better country, a heavenly one” (Heb 11:16-note), living set apart lives in light of the Coming of the "Sun (Son) of righteousness" Who will bring complete healing in His wings. (Mal 4:2-sermon by Spurgeon) Hallelujah! Listen to this old Keith Green song To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice which does a great job summarizing the message of Malachi... To obey is better than sacrifice I don't need your money, I want your life! And I hear you say that I'm coming back soon But you act like I'll never return! Disciple's Study Bible sums up this introductory chapter... The Book of Malachi is a reminder of how God's people allowed the worldly thinking of their day instead of their reverence for God to determine their behavior. It does matter if the people of God do not truly fear God (Ed: Reverential awe) and magnify His name. (Disciple's Study Bible) William Orr says the story of Malachi is... the same old story of sin and unrighteousness. Mankind has not changed in all these years. But turn around and look the other way. There is coming a day of light when the Sun of Righteousness will arise. Thank GOD there is also a New Testament! A TEST BASED ON MALACHI 1 Pastor Steven Cole devised a short test based on the truths in Malachi chapter 1. Consider taking it yourself (It's not even pass/fail). Here are the five questions: 1. Is your service for God less than you would offer a human dignitary? If you heard that John MacArthur would be sitting in on your Sunday School class, would you prepare any differently? If Chuck Swindoll had been sitting next to you during worship, would you have sung more enthusiastically or dropped more into the offering plate? The point is, Jesus is watching all that you do. He listens to every sermon I preach. We must serve as unto Him. 2. Is God answering your prayers? In Mal 1:9, Malachi sarcastically tells the people to entreat God's favor. Then he adds, "With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?" The implied answer is, "No!" If we play games with God by giving Him the leftovers, how can we sincerely ask Him to bless our lives? 3. Are you playing church? These priests were going through the motions, keeping the fires burning on the temple altar. But God says that it was useless (Malachi 1:10). He would rather that they close the doors than to go on playing their religious games. It's easy to have all sorts of activities and programs in a local church, but to lose sight of the reason why we do these things. It is not to attract people. Who cares how many people attend your church if they are just giving God the leftovers of worldly lives? God looks on our hearts, not on activities or programs (cp 2Chr 16:9, Pr 5:21, Pr 15:3, Job 34:21, 22). He is looking for those who worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:24). 4. Are you bored with worship and/or Christian service? These priests were tired of the routine (Malachi 1:13). Offer another animal, go through the motions one more time, put in your shift at the temple to get your paycheck and go home. They were bored with worship because they had lost sight of the greatness and majesty of God, "the Lord of hosts" (used 7 times in these verses), which means that He commands all the armies of heaven and all of the galaxies in the universe! If you're bored with worship or with serving the Lord, you've lost sight of the glory and majesty of God. Rituals and routines can be pretty boring, but the living God is definitely not boring! Whenever in the Bible someone got a glimpse of God, I assure you, they were not glancing at their watch to find out how much longer the service would last! I realize that not every worship service will give you a glimpse of God! Not every quiet time will be glorious. But if you're consistently bored with worship, you probably need a fresh glimpse of the greatness of God. 5. Is your passion in life to promote God's glory among the nations? You may be thinking, "Hey, I'm not a pastor or missionary! I'm just a layman." But if God's aim is that His name will be great among the nations, and you are His blood-bought servant, shouldn't His aim be your aim? Shouldn't pleasing Him be your daily desire (see Mal 1:8, 9, 10)? Shouldn't His kingdom and glory be your passion? Comedian Rodney Dangerfield is famous for his line, "I don't get no respect." But he stole that line from the Lord! God says to His people, "If I am a father, where is My honor? If I am a master, where is My respect?" Don't give God the leftovers. Give Him the best you've got! His name will be great among the nations. Make sure that He is great in your daily life!