MALACHI Part 4 - What Were The Priests Doing That Upset Malachi So Much?

 Over the past twenty-nine years of pastoring Legana, I have generally preached through biblical books verse-by-verse. These biblical books series have been interspersed with various shorter topical series (which is why it took me eight years to preach all the way through the Book of Jeremiah). As I now commence my last biblical book teaching series, through Malachi, I hope to leave a deposit in your souls about the value and authority of God’s Word and how we need to worshipfully approach it. While we all want to “cut to the chase” and “get to the point” when we approach God’s Word we must do so carefully. This takes time. “Time” is what most people complain they do not have. This is why I am doing so much background work on this often-neglected book so that you can take advantage of my time investment on your behalf. In this series so far, I have introduced the context of this book, discussed who Malachi was, explored where Malachi was, and examined who was Malachi’s immediate audience. I am now considering why Malachi was so profoundly upset and what we can learn from his passionate love for God and His Table.

¶ “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honour to My Name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
Malachi 2:1-3

Malachi was the last of the Old Covenant era prophets. Although we can read the first three verses Malachi chapter two and see that Malachi was really upset – after all, how descriptive is the expression: if you will not listen I will spread dung all over your faces! To answer the question, why was Malachi so upset? we have to realise that he was upset because God was upset.

Consider this. Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets. His message would be the last message that God would deliver to His people Israel through a prophet before He began to initiate the New Covenant four-hundred or so years later! God had something important, urgent, and profound to say to His people. The people, and especially the priests, did not realise this. What they were doing, and were neglecting to do, was putting in jeopardy the entire plan of redemption – not just for Israel, but for the entire human race!  

The Lord intended for Israel to be the people who would make His Name known and revered among the nations. But Israel had not only neglected this, they had actively undermined this divine mission! The prophet Jeremiah had warned them repeatedly that the curses within the conditions of the covenant they had agreed to with God would be enforced unless they humbly repented and were reconciled with God (Jer. 26:13). But Israel did not repent. The warnings of covenant violation were enacted and God came to judge the covenant-breakers by sending the Babylonians to invade, conquer, exile the inhabitants of Judah, then destroy its capital city Jerusalem along with its sacred yet defiled Temple (Jer. 25:9). But Jeremiah also prophesied hope for these exiles that their captivity in Babylon would only last seventy-years, then the Lord would restore the survivors back into His land (Jer. 24:6-7). After the seventy years of exile was completed, the prophet Daniel read the prophecies of Jeremiah and prayed accordingly:

¶ In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. ¶ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession
Daniel 9:1-4

Malachi arrived on the scene close to a century after the first few returning exiles and their descendants had entered the ruined city of Jerusalem. The lessons that should have been learned about why they had been exiled and lost their homeland in the first place were soon forgotten. The priests who had been expected to live as role-models for the Jewish settlers were living as hypocrites. They mocked the Temple, they mocked the required sacrifices, they mocked the observances, they mocked the ceremonies, and worst of all – they mocked God!

But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table [the sacrificial altar] is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised.
Malachi 1:12

No wonder Malachi speaks of God smearing the faces of the priests with faeces – because this was essentially how they were treating God! But these priests responded to Malachi with, and I paraphrase, “Oh Malachi! Stop being such a bore! Take a chill-pill. You’re wearing us out!” The way the English Standard Version translators render it is:

But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:13a

Malachi does not respond to these apostate priests (‘apostate’ means ‘a person who was dedicated to God but has now turned his or her back on God). But God does through Malachi:

You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD.
Malachi 1:13b

When the nation of Israel was being formed, God had used Moses to rescue them from slavery in Egypt. After fleeing through the Red Sea they were led into the Sinai wilderness where Moses was asked by God to come up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. It was while he was away for nearly six weeks that his older brother Aaron was coerced by the people to offer them a different god to the One Moses claimed he was hearing from. The result was that Aaron built a golden calf as an idol for them to have as their god. When Moses returned down the mountain with the Ten Commandments, he was devastated to find this apostasy led by his own brother! Of all of the twelve tribes, it was the Tribe of Levi which had not joined in with this apostasy. This resulted in God declaring that the tribe of the Levites would be the tribe from which God’s priests would come. After another incident sometime later, the clan of the Aaronites were selected in particular to be the priests with the rest of the Levites appointed to assist them in serving in the tabernacle, then later, in the temple.

God expected the Levitical priests to model obedience, adoration, and respect for God by listening to God’s Word and teaching it.

¶ “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honour to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
Malachi 2:1-2

Instead of the priests of Malachi’s day fulfilling their covenanted responsibilities, they had become corrupt – extorting financially from worshipers, and telling people what they wanted hear rather than the truth that they needed to hear! As it turned out, around the time of Malachi, the Persian Empire had ceased to financially support the Temple and its priests in Jerusalem. Rather than trusting and obeying God, the priests neglected their faithful serving of God and became more concerned about their own survival. This led to them distorting God’s Word, defiling God’s altar, and denouncing God’s Name (His character and authority). We can read what the heartbroken Malachi declared to these corrupt and careless priests. I suspect I know what the apostle Paul would have said to these priests as well if he had been alive at the same time as Malachi:

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
First Timothy 6:3-8

One of the things that Pastor Phil Hills said to Kim and I as young pastors echoed what Malachi was rebuking these priests for, and what the apostle Paul was warning ministers of the gospel against: “If you keep money out of your heart, God will keep money in your pocket!” Kim and I took these words from Pastor Phil very seriously and have tried our best to live by them.

What do we learn from this section of the Book of Malachi? Firstly, God still calls His servants to gladly, delightfully, make Him known to the world. Secondly, God still calls His servants to model heartfelt love of God to the world. Thirdly, God still calls His servants to be shepherds of His people who love with God’s love. And, fourthly, God still calls His servants to sacrificially and cheerfully serve Him as their act of worship. This is worshiping with God’s people in and as the church should never be a wearisome drudge for the servant of God. Church should never be neglected by the servants of the Most High Lord of Hosts!

May you never grow weary of loving God’s people or neglecting to fellowship in worship with them each Sunday. And may we each do this together as a witness to the world that God’s Name is indeed very great!

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

The Body Parts Of A Prophet

¶ Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Luke 24:44

The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament are generally categorised into History, Law, Poetry and Prophets. This is the genius of God. He has chosen to communicate His Word to all mankind through a story with sub-stories, art, decrees, narratives, and biographies. He has also chosen to do so largely through prophets. Some of these people were formerly princes, or shepherds, or farmers, or priests. Some of them were so odd they struck fear into entire towns and villages whenever they entered. Others were so ordinary they were laughed to scorn when they dared prophesy to Kings of nations. There was something peculiar about these instruments of God and we are now going to dissect one of them to see what was going on.

So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
First Samuel 12:18

¶ Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
Amos 7:14-15

For those of you who have been tracking with me through our Jeremiah series, I have attempted to show that Jeremiah was not cold-hearted, boney-finger pointing, party-pooper, but a deeply compassionate, caring, and sensitive young man who was given a job by God which he didn’t want. He became known as the prophet who wept. Through the series we have seen how he grew into a prophetic statesman who wanted God’s people to return to God instead of rebelling against God. Yet, no matter how well meaning a prophet was, people still recoiled at the prophet’s message. 

¶ “For my people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
JEREMIAH 4:22

This week I had an interesting coffee with someone who died. Let me explain. Several months ago he experienced intolerable pain and was taken to hospital in the dead of night. As he got to Emergency Department, he passed out. The medical staff realised that he hadn’t just fainted, he had had a cardiac arrest. Despite their best efforts, the E.C.G. showed a flat-line for the twenty minutes they worked on him. Then an African doctor came into the room and took the dead man’s right foot. In less than a minute a feint pulse suddenly appeared on the ECG screen and the cardiologist ordered that he be taken immediately to ICU to be put on their specialised equipment. In all, doctors say that he was clinically dead for forty-five minutes before he was revived. During this time, and the subsequent recovery time afterwards, he met with the Lord in a way that he struggled to explain to me. “It was more real than you are across this table from me now” he said. “The Lord spoke to me,” he went on, “but not with words.” “I heard Him, but not in the same way I am hearing you now.” 

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
JESUS, Matthew 11:15

Prophets learned to use their spiritual ears. When Jesus said, “let him hear” it might sound like He was asking for permission on that person’s behalf, but the beauty of the Greek language, in which the New Testament is written, is that each verb tells us far more than can be translated into English. ἀκουέτω (akou-ettoe) is the Greek verb translated let him hear. It is what translators refer to as an imperative  – a command, in the sense of a parent saying to one of their two squabbling children – Let him go!  This is why more modern translations put an exclamation mark into the translation, such as the New English Translation (NET Bible)-

The one who has ears had better listen!
JESUS, Matthew 11:15

Prophets used these kinds of ears which Christ referred to. Some people argue that if God speaks He will have no trouble being heard and understood. If this is indeed the case, the New Testament would have had no need to repeat this imperative “Listen!” thirteen times (Matt. 11:15; 13:9; 13:43; Mark 4:9; Lk. 8:8; 14:35; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Just as in any relationship, it’s possible (and common) for you to listen to someone without hearing what they are saying. Prophets learned to listen, hear and heed (advanced listening) what God was saying to them.

When God called Moses to be a Prophet and the Deliverer of Israel out of Egypt, He used a burning bush to get his attention. Moses saw something odd. Prophets tend to seethings differently to most of us. 

(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today’s “prophet” was formerly called a seer.)
First Samuel 9:9

Prophets saw people and often wept.

¶  Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jeremiah 9:1

How easy it is for us to look at people but never actually see them? God opened the eyes of the prophets to see what they were already looking at and then to begin to see with their spiritual eyes. The prophets themselves foretold of the coming New Covenant when this would become increasingly common when the Holy Spirit was poured out onto believers.

¶  “And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
Joel 2:28-29

The heart of a prophet was full of love for God. In First John we are told that it is simply impossible to love God without loving people. The prophet who closes our Old Testament, Malachi, sounds like he is angry and perhaps cold-hearted. But nothing could be further from the truth. Angry? Yes. When a heart is full of love it is more prone to anger – because that heart’s expectations of the ones they love are higher. Malachi was angry that the people had neglected God and His House (Mal. 1). Malachi was angry that the people of God had compromised marriage (a picture of our relationship with God for the world to observe, Mal. 2). Malachi was angry that the people had begun to treat their religion as routine and worthy of their left-over time/talent/treasure, and as such, he charged with robbing from God because He deserved their first, their best, not their spare-change (Mal. 3). And Malachi was angry because fathers no longer cared enough for their children to ensure that they were taught the ways of God, and as such, the land was now full of fatherless delinquents who carried out violence in the streets (Mal. 4). But Malachi’s anger was caused by his heart being full of love for God and people. He cared. Just as a parent who cares for their child and thus does all they can to guide them, correct them, and discipline them, so Malachi sought to guide, correct, and even bring a disciplining rebuke to those who had grown complacent, routinised, and half-hearted in their devotion to God.

Christ has called His Church, you and me, to a prophetic voice to our generation. In this light, we each and all would do well to develop the ears, eyes and heart of a prophet by drawing nearer to God with open ears, open eyes, and an open heart. Time prevents me from exploring the other body parts of a prophet, but I do hope that as come together as the Church we will be an increasingly complete prophetic body to a world that seems to be becoming increasingly delinquent and violent just as it was in Malachi’s day.

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
Malachi 4:2

Ps. Andrew