malachi

1. M malachi “major” thoughts from a “minor” prophet

2. A Recap of Malachi 1:6-14 • Even though we don’t deserve it, through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we have been chosen, loved, and shown incredible grace and mercy and God desires to fulfill His will through us. • The result of this understanding should be an overflow of thankfulness to God. • The same stood for the people of Israel, but instead of responding with thankfulness, they had been treating God with both contempt and indifference – offering Him unacceptable offerings, instead of the best of their flocks. • God made it very clear the He would not stand for receiving their leftovers … a change was necessary.

3. Instruction Matters • Today’s passage confronts us with the value of effective instruction - in the end, it determines the shape of what is produced … you and I.

4. Malachi 2:1-9 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me. Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.  And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 

5. My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.  “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

6. The Priesthood within Judaism • The priests served a major function of offering fitting sacrifices to God on behalf of the people of Israel. • The instruction of the priests was to shape the life of the people of Israel – through proper instruction, the people of Israel would know God’s will for their lives and would be encouraged to live accordingly. • Our passage today makes it clear that this wasn’t the case in Malachi’s time … something had gone terribly wrong. • Our passage holds up two examples – the righteous priests and the unrighteous priests - in comparison.

7. The Ideal Instructor • The ideal instructor is one who listens to God. • A teacher cannot effectively represent God’s will unless his or her heart is attuned to God’s voice. • An ideal instructor is one who resolves to honour God’s name. • At the core of the instructor who pleases God is a desire to “honour God’s name” through his or her teaching and lifestyle. • The teacher who pleases God is one who practices what he or she teaches. • Understand that no teacher will live a fully consistent and sinless life, but it is important that their teaching and their living line up relatively closely. • How can one reveal God’s will unless they themselves are living within God’s will?

8. Why does this matter? • This topic matters because there are specific outcomes associated with proper instruction. • If the priests showed a duty of reverence, then God would bless them with life and peace. • Malachi 2:6 tells us that by proper instruction many were turned from sin. • As the earlier priests performed their function, showing a duty of reverence, truthful teaching, and devout lives, they experienced peace and life and saw many turned from sinful ways.

9. What went so wrong within the priesthood that God was moved to pronounce such firm judgment? • The priests – those ministering at the time of Malachi - showed no duty of reverence, they taught falsely, they “turned away from the way”, and caused many to stumble or sin, thereby ruining the Levitic covenant. • By their teaching and example, others were led astray. • God desires to bless his people with life and peace and see others turned from sin, so He addresses the shortcomings of the teachers of Israel. • Our passage is a warning, an extension of grace from God to the straying teachers.

10. God instructs that unless a change is made, He will turn the priestly blessing into a curse. • When the priests were to offer sacrifices, there were leftovers from the sacrificed animals that were taken and disposed of outside of the Temple area. • Because the priests were actively permitting the people of Israel to offer unacceptable sacrifices – their leftovers – God would take the leftovers of the sacrifices and smear them on the priest’s faces as evidence of His displeasure. • God instructs that unless they shape up, He will humiliate them in front of His people, disqualify them from blessing His people, and remove them from their elevated position in Israel. • If the teachers – the ones who represent God’s will to His people - are removed from their duties, who will teach and represent God’s will to His people?

11. First, to those who would consider themselves to be teachers, this passage is quite sobering. • “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1) • “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). • As Christians, we need teachers, those who can reveal God’s will to us in the midst of some pretty depressing times. • “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”(2 Timothy 2:15)

12. The second idea is that each one of us must be on the lookout for false teaching and false teachers. We must evaluate what we are taught against the word of truth – the Scriptures. • “… there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories … Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings … these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand … they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”(2 Peter 2: 1-22)

13. In the end, none of us want to be misled by false teaching – we all want to believe and learn that which is true, right and honourable. • God has not left us without guidance; He has given us His Holy Spirit to “guide us in all truth”, so that we will not be misled. • Let each one of us seek teachers and instructors to build us up in our faith. Let us find those who listen to God, who seek to honour His name and who practice what they preach and learn from their words and example. And let each one of us seek to become people who do the same, for in the end our hope is that by our teaching and our lives “many are turned from sin” and encounter the Living God.