THE BOOK OF MALACHI

Author - LITTLE ONE

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T R E A S U R E... S E E K E R S ... I N ... T H E ... O L D ... T E S T A M E N T - MALACHI

'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path......Where your treasure is

there is your heart also'

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BIBLE STUDY ON THE BOOK OF MALACHI

MALACHI

Malachi means “my messenger.”

There are 400 years between the end of Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament.

Malachi was written approximately 100 years after the Jewish people returned from exile.

Outline:

Part 1: Title (1:1)

Part 2: Introduction: God’s covenant love for Israel affirmed (1:2-5)

Part 3: Israel’s unfaithfulness rebuked (1:6-2:16)

Part 4: The Lord’s Coming Announced (2:17-4:6)

The Temple has been completed. Nehemiah had been permitted to return and has rebuilt the walls of the City.

Unfortunately when Nehemiah left Jerusalem the Jewish people fell into sin once again.

The people had become cold, spiritually, and were in danger of turning away from God completely. Pagan practises were rife; there was corruption, greed and religious indifference.

The promises contained in Haggai and Zechariah had not yet been fulfilled and the people had once again become discouraged.

Malachi specifically singles out the priests for judgement. Their duties had become insincere and without commitment, and they had failed to learn the lessons of the past.

God was angry and told them that He would rather close the Temple than accept their half-hearted sacrifices:

(1:6) "A son honours his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honour due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' (7) "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. (8) When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.

(9) "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty. (10) "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. (11) My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.

Malachi also contains the famous passage about tithing:

(3:8) "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. (9) You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. (10) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (11) I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. (12) "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

This is quite a controversial passage of Scripture, and has been both used and misused to encourage and condemn!

At its heart is God’s promise to bless those who honour Him with their lives. It is not just talking about keeping an obligation to give God the first 10% of our income. It is much bigger than that!! It’s about giving God the best of our best!! It’s about giving God the best of our energy, the best of our love, the best of our finances, the best of our time, etc.,etc.!

The thought of robbing God scares me, but the truth is, how often do I do it?? Do I devote the best of my time to Him, or do I squeeze Him into my day? Do I give Him the best of my everything?

The rewards for doing so are awesome!!! God has promised to pour out His blessing on those who put Him first. Does it seem like to high a price to pay for such reward??

Malachi 4 again talks about the Day of the Lord and the coming judgement on the people.

(4:1) "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them.

But again comes the promise:

(2) But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. (3) Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty. (4) "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. (5) "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. (6) He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

New Testament scholars believe the prophet Elijah mentioned here is actually John the Baptist. The closing paragraph of the Old Testament clearly points to the New, and the fulfilment in Jesus.

The end of the Old Testament is a promise to those who remain faithful to the Lord. The Old is a signpost to the New; the New is a fulfilment of the Old. Together they are complete.

Let’s pray:

Thank you Father, for Your Word. Would you quicken to our hearts that which You would have us remember from tonight’s study. Let us not be condemned, but instead be blessed and encouraged in our walk with You.

Help us to give to you unconditionally. Show us the areas of our lives that need more of your touch. Help us to yield to Your promptings. Help us to serve You and Your people. We adore You Lord.

Amen.