Malaquias 1

Malaquias 1

Constable: What follows is evidence that Israel was in trouble with Yahweh because the Jews had not kept the Mosaic Covenant. Yahweh, of course, was completely faithful to His part of the covenant. The last word of the Old Testament is a reminder of the coming of this Day of the Lord. So is the last word of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation. Therefore it must be very important that all people remember that this day is coming and live in the light of it. Let us, too, live by meditating on God (Ed: Meditating on His Word) and fearing Him, maintaining fellowship with others who do the same, with our eyes on the horizon of history waiting for “the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13-note). I would summarize the message of this book this way. Appreciating God’s constant love is the key to revitalizing present spiritual life and assuring future divine blessing. (Malachi Commentary) To Israel - The recipient of Jehovah's burden of rebuke and comfort to all of Israel (implying all the tribes, not just the nation of Judah) Through Malachi - Malachi is a "conduit" through which flows the living Word. NT believers by analogy are to be "vessels for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." (2Ti 2:21-note) Literally this reads "by the hand of Malachi." The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew) reads "by the hand of his messenger." Compare Mal 1:1 to Jer 37:2 which is literally "by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet." It is interesting that the Septuagint renders it "by the hand of his angel" or "messenger" which has led to some ridiculous interpretations such as an angel was the real author of the book or that a real angel came and explained it to the people! Malachi (04401)(malakiy form malak = a messenger or an angel, the idea denoting one who is sent in place of another) means "My Messenger" or "Messenger of Jehovah." It is interesting that the word "messenger" (malak) appears 3 times in this short book (once in Mal 2:7 and twice in Mal 3:1) Scholars debate whether Malachi is actually the writer's name or simply the designation of an anonymous writer. If the latter, it would be the only prophetic book which is not ascribed to a specific known individual (which seems unlikely). Furthermore as Van Dine reasons "meanings of the names of the prophets usually have something to do with their messages, this (Malachi - "my messenger") would not be an unusual play on words." (Ibid) Note that most of the OT prophets (major and minor) spoke before the Babylonian captivity. Daniel and Ezekiel spoke during the captivity while only Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi spoke after the return from exile to Babylon (thus their designation as "Post-Exilic Prophets") Henrietta Mears observes that... Nebuchadnezzar had captured Jerusalem and completely destroyed the Temple. This, however, did not bring the Jews to national repentance. In reading Ezra, we find that when Cyrus, king of Persia, issued a decree permitting all the captives to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild their Temple, only about 50,000 returned. Most of these were priests and Levites and the poorer among the people. Although the Jews increased in power and in numbers, they never established their political independence. They were a subject people under Gentile rulers from this time on. (What the Bible is All About) Malachi is unusual from several standpoints - 47 of the 55 verses are personal addresses to the LORD, the highest percentage (85%) of such a pattern in all the prophetic books. It is as if we the readers of this book are being allowed to "ease drop" on an intensely personal conversation between two parties who had drifted far apart from their original relationship (Israel drifted, not Jehovah!) Malachi's message is based primarily on a repeated pattern of declaration by God (usually an accusation) followed by a question from Israel which was identified by the phrase "you say" in which Israel raised a doubt as to the veracity of God's accusation. God then gives a specific explanation of their sin. See Mal 1:2, Mal 1:6, 7, Mal 2:14, Mal 2:17, Mal 3:7, Mal 3:8, Mal 3:13. Malachi is the only prophetic book which ends with the threat of a curse! (Malachi 4:6-sermon). In fact Israel would have to wait 400 years (the so called "Silent Years" during which there was no direct revelation from God) for the next messenger ("my messenger" = John the Baptist) who cleared the way for Jesus, the Messenger of the Covenant (Mal 3:1-note), Who would in turn remove the curse (Gal 3:13-sermon, Rev 22:3-note) and enable the NT to end with a blessing... The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen (Rev 22:21-note) While Malachi does not end with a word of hope, Malachi does record prophecies which clearly promise Israel a Messianic Hope... Mal 3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger (John the Baptist), and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, Whom you seek (the Messiah), will suddenly come to His temple (Lk 2:21-32,38,46); and the Messenger of the Covenant, in Whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. Mal 4:2 “But for you who fear My name (Ed: Here this equates with "believers", cp Rev 14:6-note, Rev 14:7-note) the Sun (cf Ps 84:11-note) of righteousness (The LORD our righteousness = Jer 23:5, 6; 1Co 1:30) will rise with healing in its (Lxx = genitive masculine singular = "His") wings and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall (Allusion to the Ro 11:25, 26, 27-note and the immediately following Millennium). Malachi 1:2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have You loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob;: (Dt 7:6-8 Dt 10:15 Dt 32:8-14 Isa 41:8,9 Isa 43:4 Jer 31:3 Ro 11:28,29) What is the oracle or burden that Malachi the messenger of Jehovah is to convey? It is one of the most beautiful phrases a holy God could ever utter to children of Adam (Ro 5:12) GOD'S COMPASSION DECLARED: "I HAVE LOVED YOU" Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were ev’ry stalk on earth a quilt And ev’ry man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Tho’ stretched from sky to sky. The NLT paraphrase really catches the sadness and tragedy of this first interchange... "I have loved you deeply," says the LORD. But you retort, "Really? Yes "really" - God has really loved Israel and still really loves them! And yet they question His love... How have you loved us?" And the LORD replies, "I showed my love for you by loving your ancestor Jacob. Love (0157) ('ahab) describes an affection based on a close relationship, a strong emotional attachment and desire either to possess or to be in the presence of the object of one's love. It implies an ardent and vehement inclination of the mind and a tenderness of affection at the same time. The Bible uses 'ahab to refer to love of a man for a woman (Ge 24:67), love between a parent and a child (Ge 22:2 - first use of 'ahab in Scripture), of family love (Ru 4:15) and God's love for Israel as in our present usage (Dt 4:37, 1Ki 10:9). I have loved you - The message from Jehovah begins with a clear reminder of His love for Israel. He is not speaking of love for all mankind as in Jn 3:16, but specifically of His love which prompted Him to choose Israel out of all the other nations of the world (See Levy's expansion of the meaning in the following paragraph). As noted above, the perfect tense of the Hebrew verb means "I have loved you, I do love you, I will love you." The idea is "I have loved you in the past and will continue to love you." Considering Israel's sins against God as outlined in the Book of Malachi, God's persistent love is an excellent example of unconditional love, even in the face of Israel's unfaithfulness. David Levy gives an excellent summary of God's love for Israel... First, His love is unconditional, for it was an act of pure grace, not dependent on anything Israel had done (Dt 7:7-8, Dt 10:15; Dt 23:5). Second, God’s love was sovereignly bestowed. He called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans, made a covenant with him, and confirmed it through Isaac and Jacob. Third, God’s love for Israel is everlasting (Jer 31:3)-a commitment He has not made with any other nation. His compassion for Israel is like that of a mother for her child. In fact, God has engraved them on the palms of His hands (Isa 49:14-16). Fourth, God’s love for Israel is like that of a husband and wife (Malachi 2:11). Fifth, God’s love for Israel is like a father’s love for his son (1:6; 3:17). On two occasions He called Israel His son (Ex 4:22; Hos 11:1). Scripture pictures Israel as the apple of God’s eye (Dt. 32:10), which literally means the pupil of the eye. When we look into the eye of another, that person’s pupil acts as a mirror reflecting our image. In this passage, the Jew is the reflected image from the pupil of God’s eye. Israel is so precious in God’s sight that the Lord protects them from danger as He would His own eye. When the Jew is afflicted, God feels it as if it had happened to Him. (Malachi Messenger of Rebuke and Renewal David M. Levy) Matthew