Malaquias 1
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Malaquias 1
Spurgeon has a wonderful word for us: Is this request addressed to the humble? If so it is most fitting. Who can make God great but those who feel themselves to be little? He bids them help him to make the Lord's fame greater among the sons of men. Jehovah is infinite, and therefore cannot really be made greater, but his name grows in manifested glory as he is made known to his creatures, and thus he is said to be magnified. It is well when the soul feels its own inability adequately to glorify the Lord, and therefore stirs up others to the gracious work; this is good both for the man himself and for his companions. No praise can excel that which lays us prostrate under a sense of our own nothingness, while divine grace like some topless Alp rises before our eyes and sinks us lower and lower in holy awe. Ps 35:27 Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say continually, “The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.” Ps 40:16 Let all who seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; Let those who love Thy salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!” Spurgeon: Another result of the Redeemer's passion is the promotion of the glory of God by those who gratefully delight in his salvation. Our Lord's desire should be our directory; we love with all our hearts his great salvation, let us then, with all our tongues proclaim the glory of God which is resplendent therein. Never let his praises cease. As the heart is warm with gladness let it incite the tongue to perpetual praise. If we cannot do what we would for the spread of the kingdom, at least let us desire and pray for it. Be it ours to make God's glory the chief end of every breath and pulse. The suffering Redeemer regarded the consecration of his people to the service of heaven as a grand result of his atoning death; it is the joy which was set before him; that God is glorified as the reward of the Saviour's travail. 2Sam 7:22 “For this reason (see 2Sa 7:22) Thou art great, O Lord GOD; for there is none like Thee, and there is no God besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 2Sam 7:26 that (conclusion from 2Sa 7:25) Thy name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of Thy servant David be established before Thee. Beyond the border of Israel! - This phrase introduces a recurrent theme in Malachi -- the promotion of proper "planetary" praise! In Malachi 3:12 we read that "all the nations will call you (Israel) blessed, for you shall be a delightful land." Indeed, in the end times the LORD of hosts will restore the fortunes of Israel and the nations of the world ("beyond the border of Israel") will see this supernatural (miraculous) work and understand that only Jehovah could have done this and only Jehovah is worthy of being magnified and called "Great!" Beloved, we who have the holy privilege of knowing Him today, should not let a day go by without magnifying the LORD with our life and our lips (cp our purpose in Mt 5:16). Also in Malachi 1:11 we read "from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name will be great (adjective gadol = great in importance) among the nations, and in every place". In Malachi 1:14 we read God's declaration “I am a great (adjective gadol = great in importance) King...and My name is feared among the nations.” The Psalmist echoes Malachi's words... Ps 83:17 Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever; And let them be humiliated and perish, 18 That they may know that Thou alone, whose name is the LORD, Art the Most High over all the earth. Spurgeon: Hearing of the Lord's marvelous deeds in defeating such a numerous confederacy, the very heathen would be compelled to acknowledge the greatness of Jehovah. We read in 2Ch 20:30, that the fear of God was on all the neighbouring kingdoms when they heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel. Jehovah is essentially the Most High. He who is self existent is infinitely above all creatures, all the earth is but his footstool. The godless race of man disregards this, and yet at times the wonderful works of the Lord compel the most unwilling to adore his majesty. Thus has this soul stirring lyric risen from the words of complaint to those of adoration; let us in our worship always seek to do the same.
Malaquias 1
Spurgeon adds... The prophets of old were no triflers. They carried a burden. The servants of God mean business; they have something to carry, worth carrying. Those who speak for God must not speak lightly. God’s true servants, who are burdened with His Word, right willingly and cheerfully carry that burden. We bear a burden indeed, but we should be sorry not to bear it. Why is the word of the Lord a burden to him that speaks it? It is a burden because it is the Word of the Lord. 1. The Word of the Lord becomes a burden in the reception of it. No man can preach the Gospel aright until he has had it borne into his own soul with overwhelming energy. True preaching is artesian, it wells up from the great depths of the soul. 2. The Word of God is a burden in the delivery of it. He that finds it easy to preach, will find it hard work to give an account of his preaching at the last great day. To speak aright, God’s Word beneath the Divine influence is, in the speaking as well as in the getting of the message, the burden of the Lord. 3. When we have preached, the Gospel becomes a burden in after consideration. If God sends any of us to do good to our fellow-men, and to speak in His name, the souls of men will be a perpetual burden to us. (For Spurgeon's other 4 points of why God's Word is a burden see The Burden of the Word of the Lord) Warren Wiersbe introduces his exposition of this chapter with a church story... A church member scolded her pastor for preaching a series of sermons on “The Sins of the Saints.” “After all,” she argued, “the sins of Christians are different from the sins of other people.” “Yes,” agreed her pastor, “they’re worse.” They are worse, for when believers sin, they not only break the Law of God, but they break the heart of God. When a believer deliberately sins, it isn’t just the disobedience of a servant to a master, or the rebellion of a subject against a king; it’s the offense of a child against the loving Father. The sins we cherish and think we get away with bring grief to the heart of God. As Robert Rayburn says the minor prophets are for many of us terra incognita, unknown territory, and I want to overcome your sense that the message of these prophets is inaccessible, inscrutable, or too far removed from the issues of your own lives. I love to help you see how down-to-earth, how practical, how helpful, how relevant the prophets are. They were, after all, just the best preachers of their time. Malachi is all about "preparing ourselves for God's blessing by presenting to Him the kind of lives He delights [to bless]." [Jack Collins, Syllabus, 57] We ought all to be aspiring to do that and Malachi will tell us how. In particular it will tell us what baskets we ought to be putting our eggs in if we would bring the blessings of the Lord down upon our heads. (STUDIES IN MALACHI No. 1) The Word of the LORD - This phrase speaks of divine revelation and divine authority behind the Word spoken by God's prophet or "mouthpiece." The Word of Jehovah or Yahweh, the Name of God which especially recalls the fact that He is a covenant keeping God. Malachi is addressing the nation of Israel with whom He was in covenant , a relationship in which the priests and people had been unfaithful. In fact God's covenant with Israel was pictured as a "husband" and "wife" (Israel) relationship (Jer 31:32, cp Hos 2:19, Isa 54:5, Je 2:2, 3:14), which accounts for the frequent figurative description of Israel's unfaithfulness as spiritual "adultery" or "harlotry." For example, in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, God describes Israel's judgment for unfaithfulness declaring that... those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I (God!) have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes, which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. (Ezekiel 6:9)
Malaquias 1
Spurgeon comments on this beautiful song: From early morn till eve the ceaseless hymn should rise unto Jehovah's throne, and from east to west over the whole round earth pure worship should be rendered unto his glory. So ought it to be; and blessed be God, we are not without faith that so it shall be. We trust that ere the world's dread evening comes, the glorious name of the Lord will be proclaimed among all nations, and all people shall call Him blessed. At the first proclamation of the Gospel the Name of the Lord was glorious throughout the whole earth; shall it not be much more so ere the end shall be? At any rate, this is the desire of our souls. Meanwhile, let us endeavor to sanctify every day with praise to God. At early dawn let us emulate the opening flowers and the singing birds...when the sun sinks to his rest, let us not cease our music, but lift up the vesper hymn (Treasury of David—Psalm 113) (All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises - Paul Baloche - YouTube) My Name will be great - This is a sure promise. God's Name has always been great, is great today and will be great in the future and forever. A day is coming when all men everywhere will recognize and acknowledge and respond with proper worship to His great Name. The NET Bible note In what is clearly a strongly ironic shift of thought, the LORD contrasts the unbelief and virtual paganism of the postexilic community with the conversion and obedience of the nations that will one day worship the God of Israel. Malachi 1:12 "But you are profaning it, in that you say, 'The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.': (You are: Mal 1:6,8 2:8 2Sa 12:14 Eze 36:21-23 Am 2:7 Ro 2:24)(The table: Mal 1:7,13 Nu 11:4-8 Da 5:3,4) Profane (02490) (chalal) means to defile, pollute, desecrate. To desecrate is to treat a sacred place or thing with violent disrespect and so to violate. Profane is used primarily of ceremonial objects of worship (Ex. 20:25; Ezek 44:7; Da 11:31); of the Sabbath (Ex. 31:14; Neh. 13:17; Ezek. 23:38); of God’s Name (Lev. 18:21; Jer. 34:16); of God’s priests (Lev. 21:4, 6). But you (priests) are profaning it, in that you say - First, what are they profaning? From the context, it is clear that they are profaning His great Name (Mal 1:11). Second, how were they profaning the LORD's Name? The priest defiled the table and despised its food. They were treating the Lord's table (altar) with abuse, irreverence and contempt. In Malachi 1:7 they were profaning God's altar by presenting defiled food on it Its fruit - This refers to the offerings on the LORD's table or altar. G Campbell Morgan... What is profanity? The root meaning of the word is “away from the temple” (pro, from; fanum, temple), and it has come to be used with reference to things not sacred, but commonplace. These people were guilty of profanity in the worst possible way, in that they took the names of God, and claimed the relationship that those names imply: Father, “honor”; Master, “fear”; and yet they did not fear Him; they accorded Him no honor save in their words, and their creeds, and their outward doings. Thus they degraded the sacred things of God to the common level of mediocrity, and in effect made the statement, “The table is contemptible.” There is no profanity which is so awful as that of orthodox expression and heterodox heart. Gifts presented to God by hands that are impure, are themselves impure, for God only receives the gift according as He has received the giver. The offering that we bring to God is the true expression of the value at which we appraise the altar. If a man says, “I honor the altar of God,” and then puts upon it something that his own life has contaminated, his true estimate of the value of the altar is not the statement he vouchsafes, but his contaminated gift. Such a consideration should make us exceedingly careful how we give to God, and save us from that heresy of heresies, of imagining that we can purchase our acceptance by our gifts. God receives or rejects all the gifts of man in proportion as He has received or rejected the giver. If that be a true statement, how many gifts are not received by God which have been placed upon His altar? And is not this profanity within Christendom to-day more terribly profane and far-reaching in its evil influence than all the profanity of the slum? Malachi 1:13 "You also say, 'My, how tiresome it is!' And you disdainfully sniff at it," says the LORD of hosts, "and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?" says the LORD.: (My how: 1Sa 2:29 Isa 43:22 Am 8:5 Mic 6:3 Mk 14:4,5,37,38) (Lame: Mal 1:7,8 Lev 22:8,19-23 Dt 15:21 Eze 4:14 44:31) (should I receive: Mal 2:13 Isa 1:12 57:6 Jer 7:9-11,21-24 Am 5:21-23 Zec 7:5,6 Mt 6:1,2,5,16) My how tiresome - What a trouble. What hardship. That which produces weariness. What is that the priests are saying is so tiresome? The Levitical regulations for sacrifices were so exacting that the priest were saying they were wearisome! Dear saint, are you growing weary of worshiping and serving God. It is one thing to be tired from the work but quite another to be tired of the work. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. (Gal 6:9) Brian Bell cautions that if we find ourselves wearying in worship, we are in dire straits and desperate need of... personal revival so we don’t fall into the same burn-out trap as the priests did here! Personal Revival is like remodeling your house: it takes longer than you hoped, costs more than you planned, and makes a bigger mess than you ever thought possible. [1] Longer – no quick fix to spiritual apathy! [2] It Costs – no cheap way. [3] Big Mess – no leap frog over personal hidden sins. You disdainfully sniff (ESV = "you snort at it") - NET = "You turn up your nose at it." You belittle it. We have to be careful not to disdainfully sniff at the sacrifices of others for we don't necessary know their heart nor their motives... Charles Spurgeon and his wife, according to a story in The Chaplain magazine, would sell, but refused to give away, the eggs their chickens laid. Even close relatives were told, "You may have them if you pay for them." As a result some people labeled the Spurgeons greedy and grasping. They accepted the criticisms with out defending themselves, and only after Mrs. Spurgeon died was the full story revealed: All the profits from the sale of eggs went to support two elderly widows. Because the Spurgeons were unwilling to let their left hand know what the right hand was doing (Mt 6:3), they endured the attacks in silence. You bring what was taken by robbery (ESV = "You bring what has been taken by violence") - They were bringing that which was stolen, that which did not belong to them! Lame (also Mal 1:8) - Crippled or disabled in a limb, or otherwise injured so as to be unsound and impaired in strength. The point is that these animals were of no real value - either they could not work or they could not be sold. They were essentially worthless to their owners and yet that is what the priests allowed to be presented on God's altar! Spurgeon comments that... When we listen to the reading of the Word of God or the preaching of His truth, shall that be a weariness? Yes, when we have no part or lot in it, when it is like reading a will in which we have no legacy. But if the Gospel be preached as our Gospel, the Gospel of our salvation, and we have a share in it, what can so inspire our soul with joy? If God had been weary of us we need not have wondered. But we ought to blush and be silent for shame, because we have wearied of Him. Are we tired of God? If not, how is it that we do not walk with Him from day to day? Really spiritual worship is not much cared for in these days, even by professing Christians. Many will go to a place of worship if they can be entertained with fine music or grand oratory, but if communion with God is the only attraction, they are not drawn thereby. (2200 Quotations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon) "It is a sure sign of want of grace in your hearts, when God’s service is a weariness." (Montagu Villiers) ><>><>><> Shopping Strategy - “I have no pleasure in you.” This was the Lord’s stinging rebuke to His people through the prophet Malachi (Mal 1:10). God was angry with their careless, shoddy methods of worship. The animals they brought for sacrifice were not acceptable to Him because they were not the best of the herds and flocks. Instead, they offered stolen, lame, and sick animals (Mal 1:13). While we may not be showing this degree of contempt toward God, sometimes we are too casual in our worship. A friend of mine made this observation about herself: “When I shop for simple things like soap or butter, I hardly think about it. But when I’m looking for a blouse to match a skirt, I shop very carefully. I go from store to store until I find exactly what I’m looking for.” Then she added thoughtfully, “I should pay that same attention when I am worshiping God. But sometimes I approach Him as casually as if I were shopping for a box of Kleenex.” During worship services in our churches, we may fail to give God our full attention. We rush in late. (Ed: You never do that do you?) Our thoughts wander. We need to discipline our minds so that we are not focusing on yesterday’s cares or tomorrow’s responsibilities. When we worship the Lord with all our heart, He will be pleased with us.— by David C. Egner Our very best we offer to You, Gracious God, Almighty King; As we come to You in worship, Let our lives Your praises sing. —Sper At the heart of worship is worship from the heart. Malachi 1:14 "But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King," says the LORD of hosts, "and My name is feared among the nations.: (cursed: Mal 3:9 Ge 27:12 Jos 7:11,12 Jer 48:10 Mt 24:51 Lk 12:1,2,46 Ac 5:1-10 Rev 21:8)(who has: Ec 5:4,5 Mk 12:41-44 14:8 2Co 8:12) (for I am a great King: Mal 1:8,11 Dt 28:58 Ps 47:2 48:2 95:3 Isa 57:15 Jer 10:10 Da 4:37 Zec 14:9 Mt 5:35 1Ti 6:15) (My name: Ps 68:35 76:12 Da 9:4 Heb 12:29 Rev 15:4) Steven Cole... We should give God the best in terms of personal integrity. Here we're talking about motive-why you do what you do. In Mal 1:14, the Lord says, "But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, ..." This guy wants to look good in public, so he makes a grandstand vow to give the best to the Lord. But when it comes time to give, he slips in an inferior animal and keeps the best for himself. He wasn't really offering his sacrifice to the living God, who sees the motives of the heart. He was doing it to be seen by men. John