Malaquias 1
G. Campbell Morgan · Citado em PreceptAustin
Malaquias 1
Morgan: The prophecy reveals a sensitive God, and a stultified (proved to be of unsound mind, cause to appear absurd) people. Malachi declared the sensitiveness of Jehovah, and charged the people with lack of sensitiveness, hardness, callousness. The people were not conscious of their own shortcoming. They imagined they were perfectly satisfying the Divine heart, and fulfilling the Divine requirement. The book presents the picture of a people having a form, while they are devoid of power; fulfilling all the external requirements of religion, but being utterly without the internal experience; maintaining the sacramental symbols, while destitute of the spiritual grace of which those symbols should be the sign. It should be remembered that this message was delivered not to Judah, and not to Israel, if by Israel we mean the Northern kingdom. The burden of the word of the Lord was to Israel. Malachi spoke not to the ten tribes or to the two; not to the North, or to the South, as in separation from each other, but to the whole nation. When these people had returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel, and when later another contingent had returned in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the returning remnants were made up of members of all the tribes. In the last book of the inspired history of these people, the book of Nehemiah, we saw them without a king, without a priest, and without prophet; and moreover, without any Messianic hope. To people in that condition Malachi delivered his message. As the book of Nehemiah was the last page of inspired history, the book of Malachi is the last page of inspired Hebrew prophecy. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD The master thought of Malachi is that of fellowship with God. He had to deal with a people whose glorious history was that of their fellowship with Jehovah, whose shameful history was that of their infidelity to that fellowship. If that be recognized, we shall find the threefold permanent value of this book. It is first, a revelation of the unfailing love of Jehovah. It is secondly, a revelation of human infidelity. It is finally, a revelation of the secrets of strength in an age of failure. Let us take these in order. REVELATION ONE: UNFAILING LOVE OF JEHOVAH First, its revelation of the unfailing love of Jehovah. If we read this prophecy, listening for the master tone of it, we shall find it to be that of love, the love of God. Its opening words are almost startling, “The burden of the word of Jehovah to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith Jehovah.” That is the whole burden. “I have loved you, saith Jehovah.” Our translation does not quite convey all the forcefulness of the thought. The tense employed is not exactly the Hebrew tense, nor have we any tense that exactly answers the Hebrew. I do no violence to the declaration that fell from the lips of Malachi if I render it thus, I have loved you, I do love you, I will love you, saith Jehovah. It is a declaration of the continuity of His love. That is the opening statement; the burden of the book is that of the constancy of the love of God. God sent that message to His people, when the nation was without king, priest, or prophet, when the nation consisted of a remnant satisfied with formality and lacking power (cp 2Ti 3:5), when the spokesmen of the nation answered the prophet by denying his charges, so callous had they become. There was to be no other voice until the herald (John the Baptist) should announce the Advent of the King. The last message of Isaiah’s thunder had died away. Jeremiah’s lamentations were almost forgotten. Malachi, the last prophet, came declaring, “I have loved you, saith Jehovah,” and right through the prophecy that is the master note of the music. It rises high above all the other notes. Whether we listen to the thunders of judgment, or to the plaintive complaint, we hear the great love-song of Jehovah. Malachi charged the people with profanity, sacrilege, greed, indifference; he charged them with perversion of the moral order, calling good evil and evil good; he charged them with robbing God in that they did not bring the whole tithe to His altars; he charged them also with blasphemy, in that they said, "There is no value in serving God." These charges reveal in every case the consciousness of love in the presence of sin. It is love that is wounded. The book, therefore, is a revelation of the constancy of love, the consciousness of love, and the courage of love. The chief sinfulness of form without power is that it hurts the heart of God. The one master note of the message which God sends to every age of failure is that which affirms the constancy of His love. Then, in contrast, we have the revelation of human failure. This prophecy teaches that all motives other than love fail to produce maintenance of true relationship to love. It is possible to attend the temple, bend the knee, and make an offering regularly, but unless there is love in the heart there is no communion with God. To go to the temple merely as a matter of duty is to blaspheme. To carry offerings to the house of God simply because it is commanded, is to be guilty of sacrilege. There is only one motive sufficiently strong to maintain the relation between the heart of God and the heart of man, and that is love. When these people lost their love for Jehovah, all their religious observances became as tinkling brass and a clanging cymbal, noise without music. The death of love issues in callousness. Think how surprising a thing it is, that when the last prophet came with his message, “I have loved you, saith Jehovah,” the people answered, “Wherein hast Thou loved us?” That is the inspiration of all sin, and when we consider it, and wonder at it, we have no astonishment at all the other charges which Malachi brought against these people. The hour in which we cease to love God is the hour in which we begin to wonder whether God loves us. Then form is robbed of power, and form without power is not only useless, it is paralysis, blight, mildew; and when the matchless music of the Divine love is declared by the messenger of love, the formal religionists will say “Wherein?” Irving Jensen: The main subjects of Malachi’s message were the love of God, the sin of the priests and people, judgment for sin, and blessing for righteousness. One cannot help but observe that the Gospel of God has been the same message for sinners of all generations.... In many respects it is a sad book, because it reveals what little progress—if any—Israel had made since the nation was born fifteen hundred years earlier (Gen 12). Dark and distressing as this is, however, the sun of God’s grace arises out of its pages; so, when the reader has arrived at the last verses, there is no question but that in the end the day of glory will come for a repentant Israel, as well as for all believers. James Van Dine: Last words are always important. Malachi is the last word of the Old Testament. It is mostly criticism—a reminder that Israel was still in need of a New Covenant, with a new spirit and motivation (cf. Jer 31:31; Ezek 36:26–27). But it also contains encouragement, for it reminds Israel that Yahweh was indeed coming and that His coming would not only bring judgment but restoration and blessing as well. While awaiting that glorious appearing, Israel is exhorted to give attention to the essence of Torah because it still had value for regulating the life of the community and for exalting Yahweh’s name among the nations. (Analysis of Malachi) Malachi is difficult to date because there are no specific historical events or reigning kings mentioned. Most estimates place the writing between 445-420BC overlapping with the book of Nehemiah, and most scholars agree that Malachi is the last book written in the OT canon. The three post-exilic prophets are Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi. Jensen adds that the following facts support the dating of Malachi in the range of 445-420BC... 1) The Temple project had already been completed, and Mosaic sacrifices were being offered (Mal 1:7–10; 3:1, 8). 2) A Persian governor, not Nehemiah, was ruling the Jews at the time. Mal 1:8. 3) The sins denounced by Malachi were the same sins that Nehemiah dealt with during his second term. E.g.: laxity and corruption of priests (Mal 1:6–2:9; Neh 13:1–9); mixed marriages (Mal 2:10–16; Neh 13:23–28); neglect of tithes (Mal 3:7–12; Neh 13:10–13) G Campbell Morgan elaborates on point #3 above... The reading of these passages is quite sufficient to show that the general conditions described at the close of the book of Nehemiah were identical with the conditions to which Malachi’s message was addressed. Nehemiah deplored the defiled and corrupted priesthood. Malachi’s central charge was that the priesthood had corrupted the covenant. Nehemiah dealt with the mixed marriages and the evil resulting therefrom. Malachi’s message was directed against the same evil which was cursing the people. Nehemiah charged the people with neglecting to bring the tithe into the storehouse and so making it necessary for the Levites to turn from the service of the house of God to earn their own living upon the soil. Malachi uttered a complaint in the presence of the same neglect, there being a deeper spiritual note in his word, in that he recognized the spiritual failure involved in the material which Nehemiah deplored, and against which he made his protest. (Malachi - Living Messages) Given the caveats regarding being too dogmatic on the date of Malachi, it is still profitable to make a few general approximations to help us get a sense of the times (the historical setting or context) in which Israel was living and Malachi was speaking. These days were approximately • 100 Years after the Jews had returned to Jerusalem from 70 years of Exile in Babylon (538-537BC) So Jerusalem was rebuilt at least to some degree. • 80 years after the Temple was rebuilt (516BC), albeit far less glorious than the Temple in Solomon's day. • 10 years after Nehemiah had finished rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem (445BC), so that (as noted above) the sins confronted by Nehemiah were similar to those confronted by Malachi. G Campbell Morgan emphasizes that it is important to understand the historical context to most accurately interpret Malachi's rather caustic message. It would seem as though the special evils which Ezra and Nehemiah set themselves to combat still existed, side by side with correct outward observance. The people are seen restored to Jerusalem, their temple built, the services of the temple observed, both special fasts and feasts and regular seasons of worship. Malachi marks the beginning of God's 400 years of silence broken by John's cry "Behold, the Lamb of God" Jn 1:29 (Mal 3:1) Malachi 1:1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. (Isa 13:1 Hab 1:1 Zec 9:1 12:1) MALACHI'S HEAVY BURDEN Dr Charles Ryrie has an excellent outline of this first section GOD'S COMPASSION FOR ISRAEL - Malachi 1:1-5 His Compassion Declared (Malachi 1:1-2a) His Compassion Doubted (Malachi 1:2b) His Compassion Demonstrated (Malachi 1:3-5) Oracle (Burden = KJV) (Dictionary articles) (04853)(massa' from nasa' = to lift up to carry, to bear or to support) means that which is carried, and thus a burden or load, focusing on the effort needed to transport something. Figuratively refers to a prophetic utterance. Massa' is used literally to describe a load or burden on an animal (Ex 23:5, 2Ki 5:17, 8:9) or man (Parts of the Tabernacle to be carried - Nu 4:15, 19, 24, 27, 31, 32, 47, 49). In Malachi massa' refers to a weighty word full of meaning. Notice that the root Hebrew verb nasa' can mean either to bear or to lift up. Focusing on the first meaning (to bear) has led to the meaning of massa' as burden, a message speaking predominantly of judgment. Other scholars have focused on the second nuance of nasa' (to lift up - "lifted his voice" Jdg 9:7, "cry out" in Isa 3:7) and conveys the sense of lifting up (with one's voice) whether in the form of a threat or a promise. Craig Blaising notes that "In the prophetic books maśśā’ introduces messages of a threatening nature 27 times." Indeed, the Word of the LORD is a "heavy" one, but in view of the fact that it is "to Israel" and not "against Israel," it is also a word of comfort (E.g., cf promises of future consolation, Mal 3:1, Mal 4:2). Blaising adds that... Standing alone at the beginning of Malachi, the word maśśā’ gives this prophet’s entire message a sense of anxiety and foreboding. John Piper gives two reasons explaining why Malachi's message was a "burden"... One is that the word of God is never light and trifling. It is always weighty and serious and heavy. I don't mean dull, or boring, or morose. I mean it is always substantial. There is no mirage in the word of God. It's always meaty—even the milk is meaty. The word of God comes to a prophet as a burden because it is so thick and rich with truth. The other reason that the word of God is called a burden is because even when it's good news, it will be rejected by many. You remember how Isaiah groaned under the weight of his preaching ministry (in Isa 6:11-note)? Why? Because even the glorious things that he spoke made the heart of the people fat and their ears heavy and their eyes shut (Isa 6:10-note). And he cried out (in Isa 53:1), "Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" So the word of the Lord is a burden because it meets with opposition. Words designed for life become the aroma of death for those who are perishing. My understanding of what it means to be a faithful pastor is that I should take up the burden of each text that I preach on, and deliver it to you as my own burden with as much of the spirit and truth of the text as God gives me. So I come this morning with a burden—a burden first because the word of God in this text is weighty and because I know that not all will believe what I say. (The Greatness of God's Electing Love)
Malaquias 1
Morgan adds that... It is possible to attend the temple, bend the knee, and make an offering regularly, but unless there is love in the heart there is no communion with God. To go to the temple merely as a matter of duty is to blaspheme. To carry offerings to the house of God simply because it is commanded, is to be guilty of sacrilege. There is only one motive sufficiently strong to maintain the relation between the heart of God and the heart of man, and that is love. When these people lost their love for Jehovah, all their religious observances became as tinkling brass and a clanging cymbal, noise without music. ><>><>><> The Polluters - For centuries man has polluted the earth. Now he's cluttering up space. Experts say that enough high-flying debris has accumulated to raise the possibility of space collisions. In addition to all the worthwhile satellites circling our globe, it is estimated that over a million small pieces and many large chunks of metal are orbiting the earth. Man contaminates more than his physical environment. The Bible says that he's also prone to defile his worship of God. When we fail to give God proper reverence, we bring dishonor to His name and reputation. That's what Israel did. Malachi chapter one pictures the people as polluting their worship by giving the Lord their "leftovers." If the halfhearted respect they showed to God had been given to their human leaders, it would have been rejected (Mal 1:7-8). They littered their worship of God by offering forbidden sacrifices and by complaining that what God required was wearisome and contemptible (Mal 1:12-13). May our best be offered to You, Gracious God, Almighty King; As we come to You in worship, Let our lives Your praises sing. -Sper True worship acknowledges God's true worth. ><>><>><> In Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a relentless God, Francis Chan writes “The priests of Malachi’s day thought their sacrifices were sufficient. They had spotless animals but chose to keep those for themselves and give their less desirable animals to God. They assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something. God described this practice as evil. Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God’s point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one who matters), they’re evil. Let’s stop calling it ‘a busy schedule’ or ‘bills’ or ‘forgetfulness.’ It’s called evil.” (Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a relentless God, P. 91-92. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson) ><>><>><> F B Meyer in Our Daily Homily - Present it now unto your governor - Malachi’s special work was in stirring up the priesthood to their duty, to the proper maintenance of the Temple services. They were very careless of these, and treated their holy duties with great contempt. The special method adopted seems to have been in the presentation of the blind, the lame, and sick on the altar; while the healthy and whole were reserved for private use. “The table of the Lord was polluted, and his meat contemptible.” Such unconcealed irreverence and greed could not pass unrebuked. They are asked to compare their service to God with their service to man; their sacrifices in the Temple with their gifts before their governors and rulers. Would these be pleased, and accept the gift, if they were treated in the same way as God was? Professing Christians might sometimes be addressed in the same terms. When they slip a copper coin into the collecting-bag, which they would not think of offering to the butler in a friend’s house; when they give more to the revenue officer than to the Church or poor; when they give to the Lord’s work whatever they can spare without loss, and, indeed, are glad to be rid of; whenever they spend more time and strength on public duties than on the calls of Christianity—at such times we might fairly bid them present it to their governor. In Malachi 1:10 God is heard asking for someone to close the doors of the Temple. He would rather this than be mocked by such heartless rites. It was as though He would rather that no prayers were offered, no services maintained. no holy hymn sung—than that there should be such perfunctory and heartless worship. Let us be very careful against this spirit in our daily devotions! Malachi 1:9 "But now will you not entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?" says the LORD of hosts.: (entreat: 2Ch 30:27 Jer 27:18 Joel 1:13,14 2:17 Zec 3:1-5 Jn 9:31 Heb 7:26,27)(God's favor: Heb. the face of God, Ex 32:11 Jer 26:19 La 2:19) (will He: Ac 19:15,16 Ro 2:11 1Pe 1:17) NLT = "Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should He show you any favor at all?" asks the LORD Almighty. Comment: Implied answer? No! NET = But now plead for God's favor that He might be gracious to us. "With this kind of offering in your hands, how can He be pleased with you?" asks the LORD who rules over all. Will you not entreat God's favor - Notice that this is the LORD of hosts speaking. Although some see this as a call for Israel to repent, more likely this request is divine irony. The psalmist says "If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear" (Ps 66:18) and these priests clearly had wickedness in their hearts as evidenced by their evil deeds (Mal 1:8). God would not hear nor respond to their futile entreaties for God to show favor! Spurgeon's comments on Psalm 66:18 are relevant to the sins of the priests and any petitions they might seek to make to Jehovah... If, having seen it (wickedness) to be there, I continue to gaze upon it without aversion; if I cherish it, have a side glance of love toward it, excuse it, and palliate it; The Lord will not hear me. How can He? Can I desire Him to connive at my sin, and accept me while I willfully cling to any evil way? Nothing hinders prayer like iniquity harbored in the breast; as with Cain, so with us, sin lies at the door, and blocks the passage. If you listen to the devil, God will not listen to you. If you refuse to hear God's commands, He will surely refuse to hear your prayers. An imperfect petition God will hear for Christ's sake, but not one which is willfully miswritten by a traitor's hand. For God to accept our devotions, while we are delighting in sin, would be to make Himself the God of hypocrites, which is a fitter name for Satan than for the Holy One of Israel. (Treasury of David—Psalm 66) How can we apply this truth today? Plainly put, if we are simply going through the motions of worship, we must not be deceived into thinking that such "worship" warrants God either hearing or answering our prayers. False worship blocks true prayer. Compare God's declaration in face of Israel's disobedience... And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the LORD of hosts (Zechariah 7:13) John