The next series of Blog post will be about the Following World Religions:
- Chinese Popular religions.
- Islam
- Judaism
- Roman Catholicism
- Eastern Orthodoxy
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
World Religions
Sometimes the best way to study for me, is write about what I am studying.
The next series of Blog post will be about the Following World Religions:
The next series of Blog post will be about the Following World Religions:
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Malachi: Conclusion and Applications
Recapitulation
The Lord is Faithful to his Covenant, while the people are
not, but the Lord will remain faithful until the very end. The writing of
Malachi is made up of six rebukes against the people of Israel in the
post-exilic era. The first rebuke concerns the failure of Israel to see that
God has loved them, and is being faithful to his covenant. Israel must only
look to Edom to realize how God has loved them. Secondly, the priests are being
rebuked for despising the name of the Lord by neglecting the offering and their
task as ministers of the Law, they must repent. Thirdly, the people have acted
treacherously against their wives by divorcing them and getting married to
foreign women. The men must remain in a good disposition and not act
treacherously towards their wives. The fifth rebukes concerns the tithe. The
people have neglected the offering. They have not only robbed God, but the
whole nation. The Lord invites them to test him, to see if he does not bless
them, if they give him what he is due. In the sixth rebuke, the people are being
corrected for putting into question the Lord’s justice.
Application
Six rebukes are being made in the writing of Malachi. Many
applications can be drawn from them as they deal with a variety of topics. I
think the rebukes can for the most part be explained by the fact that the
people are not giving God their best.
1)
We must contemplate God’s love for us. Do we ever act like we forget that God loves us? Do
we forget that while we were enemies of God, he sent his son to die for us? We
can just look around us and see everything that is evil, all the misery and
know that Christ was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and
the one who heals us by his stripes. We can rejoice, knowing that God loves,
and that he is indeed great in the whole world.
2)
Leaders in the church must take their role seriously. We see that those in leadership were despising the
name of the Lord. Can we expect that from our pastors today? There are so many
scandals, pastors falling into sin patterns. Pastors will have to give an
account for those they are leading. They must be examples to the flock. It was
the role of the priests to examine the animals being sacrifices, it was their
responsibility to correct people, rather than please them. Leaders of the
church have the same responsibility to be deeply indwelt by the word of God,
and guide the people in the Christian walks in ways that are pleasing to the
Lord, and correct when necessary.
3)
We must offer proper worship to God. We need to be careful in our worship services that we
are not simply going through the motions. The words that we sing are one thing,
but God looks to the heart, we cannot fool him. While the burn offerings were
completely pointless, if they are just a ritual, so is our singing at church.
4)
We must honor God, rather that do a list of tasks. In Malachi 2:2 we see that the end of the law was to
honor God. We can think that some behavior is more “Christian” than other kinds
of behaviors. Being a Christian is not at all about following certain patterns
of behavior, it is first of all about seeking to please the Lord, which will
lead into living in a specific way, but not the other way around. You can live
in ways that might seem right, but God knows the intentions of our hearts, if
we are not living for him, our religious lifestyle is not worth anything.
5)
Let the Word of God abide in you. The Priests were ministers of God’s Word. People were
to go to them for instruction. Pastors among other things must be known for
their knowledge of God’s word. Because we now have a priesthood of all
believers, we must also train all Christians in the word of God, to be keepers
of his word.
6)
Be generous in your offering. It is interesting to see that the tithe not only robs
God but the whole nation. We are very quick to jump to sayings such as: “I do
not have to do anything, because I am not under the law!” When people do not
give to the church, it hurts the church. More missionaries could be sent out, more
ministries could be available in the church, if there was more money. When we
refuse to give, we are robbing the whole church.
7)
Serve God because he is God, rather than what you get
out of it. Often it
does seem like there is no blessing that comes from serving the Lord. It is
those who do not believe who seem to be prospering, maybe even those we know
who are evil. We can remain steadfast in our faith, knowing that God is just.
When final judgment does come on the day of the Lord, he will spare us as a
father spares his son serving him.
8)
Live in a way, remembering the past, and looking forward
to the future. How we live
as Christians can be informed in two ways but us looking back to scripture and
seeing how it teaches us to live, but also looking forward, to the return of
Christ which is still to come. We must live in a way, they he would find us at
any time, living in a manner worthy of his calling on our lives.
Malachi 3:22-24 Canon Bridge
These final verses, not only end Malachi, they end the book
of The Twelve, the prophets and connect the prophets to the third section of
the Canonical Hebrew Bible, the Writings. This closing is twofold. It urges the
people to look back to the Law of Moses, and also to look forward to a time
when the Lord will send his messenger.
Malachi 3:22 Look back to the Law
The Lord urges the people to remember the instruction of
Moses. This has been the theme throughout the Prophets. From Joshua 1:7 “to
keep to doing all of the instruction that I commanded to Moses my servant” (לִשְׁמֹר
לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּכָל־הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי) with very similar words in
Malachi 3:22 (תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי
אוֹתוֹ), closing the Prophets with an inclusio. In the Septuagint this
verse is placed as the very last verse.
Malachi 3:23-24 Look forward to Elijah
The second element we have in this final section is a call to
look forward to Elijah. This is a parallel to Malachi 3:1 where the Lord was
warning of a time he would send his messenger. In BHS, the one being sent is “אֵלִיָּה הַנָּבִיא” (Elijah the Prophet) while the Septuagint has “Ηλιαν τὸν Θεσβίτην” (Elijah the Tishbite). It seems the Hebrew keep the
identity of the prophet vague. The Septuagint narrows it down, but they might
be going too far. The messenger to come might not be the exact same as “Elijah
the Tishbite”. In the New Testament, John the Baptist is connected to Elijah. Jesus
talking about John the Baptist, said that he was Elijah who was to come.
(Matthew 11:14, 17:1-5).
We know the Elijah who is still to come before the coming of
the great and feared day of the Lord. His ministry is described in the final
verse with his purpose. The Elijah who was to come was going to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to the father, for the
purpose of avoiding God’s wrath, the smiting of the land with a ban (וְהִכֵּיתִי אֶת־הָאָרֶץ חֵרֶם). וְהִכֵּיתִי אֶת־הָאָרֶץ חֵרֶם literally “I
will smite the land (with) a ban”, to be understood as completely, if we see
how the Septuagint reads it (ἄρδην). In Luke 2:16-17 an angel of the Lord speaking
to Zechariah and said concerning John the Baptist, that he would turn many
people to the Lord, and going before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah,
he would turn the fathers hearts to the children, and connecting Malachi 3:24
to Malachi 3:1 he also mentions that he would prepare the people.
The concluding paragraph speaks of the day of the Lord, and
of what will happen before it. Two names are mentioned, Moses, and Elijah.
Moses gave the Torah, and according to Deuteronomy 34:10 is the greatest
prophet, at the coming of the Lord, Israel needs to be living according to this
law. Before the day of the Lord, Elijah will also return, he did not die, was
taken up to heaven, he will come as a messenger to precede the Lord and
reconcile a father to his sons, so that they will not be subject to Judgment.[1]
Malachi 3 and Deuteronomy 34
As one of the two seals of the Old Testament, connecting the
prophets to the writings, it is interesting to compare Malachi 3:22-24 to
Deuteronomy 34:5-12, which is the other seal, as both have a lot in common.
Deuteronomy 34 focuses on Moses who is the key prophet in the Torah, while the
end of Malachi 3 focuses on Elijah, the key prophet in the Prophets. Both
passages stress the role of Moses and the Law, both call Moses a servant of the
Lord. The same way Malachi anticipates the coming if Elijah, in Deuteronomy 34,
we see that when the Canon took its final form, we have in Deuteronomy 34:10 a
comment implying that the prophet like Moses spoken about in Deuteronomy
18:15-18 had not yet come, and is still to be anticipated.[2]
Malachi 3:13-21 Rebuke 6: People not trusting in God justice over the wicked and the righteous.
In the final section of this writing, the Lord rebukes the people for not trusting in his justice. The Lord clearly shows the wicked will be separated from the righteous. This idea was already treated in Malachi 3:3-5, but also in the following chapter in the canonical Bible, Psalm 1.
Malachi 3:13-15 A wrong view of God’s justice
To lead into the subject of the separation of the righteous
from the wicked, this section begins with some confusion over God’s justice.
Those serving him do not understand the benefits and furthermore, they see that
those who do evil are prospering. This misunderstanding is dealt with by the
end of this section. The righteous will indeed be blessed, and the wicked will
perish.
The rebuke begins with a sixth verbal exchange, between the
Lord and the people. The Lord’s statement is: “Your words are hard against me.”
The objection follows, but this time we have “מַה” instead of
“בַּמֶּה”. If it was the latter: “Ἐν τίνι”, the Septuagint could have a different vorlage or it could be that they
are following the pattern of the rest of the text. The people object: “What
have we said (נִּדְבַּרְנוּ) to one another concerning
you?” נִּדְבַּרְנוּ is a Niphal so the verb is reflexive, the
people are talking among themselves.[1] The Lord tells
them exactly what they said: “it is vain
to serve the Lord, what profit because we keep his charge and we walk (as)
mourners before the Lord of Hosts.”, “and now we called blessed the insolent,
the ones doing evil are established, also they test God and they escape (וַיִּמָּלֵטוּ)”. וַיִּמָּלֵטוּ the waw is for sequence, they test the Lord
and then they escape. The people’s words
are hard concerning the Lord because they have a skewed view of his justice.
The proper perspective follows and it is attributed to those who fear the Lord.
Malachi 3:16-17 A right perspective on God’s Justice
In Malachi 3:16-17 we get a corrected view on how God deals
with those fearing him. Those who fear the Lord know that the Lord attends and
he listens and he writes a scroll of remembrance before him. The Lord confirms
this in Malachi 3:17, adding that those fearing him will be a possession for
the day of the Lord, they will be spared, as a son spares his son serving him.
Malachi 3:18 Truth will be seen on judgment day
In Malachi 3:7 there was a call to turn to the Lord, in 3:18
the Lord says that the will indeed turn and they will see, that there is indeed
justice. They will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, the
one serving God and the one not serving God.
Malachi 3:19-21 The Day of the Lord
The Day of Judgment as we saw in section 4 has two sides to
it, for the wicked it is judgment, and for the righteous it is cleansing.
Malachi 3:19 Judgment
For the wicked the day of judgment is coming, burning like an
oven and all the insolent and the wicked will be chaff and the coming day will
blaze them. This is such a different picture than the false view of the Lord’s
justice in Malachi 3:15 where this same group was being called blessed. This
blazing will not leave them anything (שֹׁרֶשׁ
וְעָנָף). שֹׁרֶשׁ וְעָנָף literally translates “a root
and a branch”. It is a merism taking opposite ends, the root and the branch are
the parts furthest away from each other in a tree to communicate totality.
This message is really severe, there is nothing positive or
comforting about this judgment, and this must be communicated when we talk
about final judgment in our preaching.
Malachi 3:20 Healing
To talk about the positive side of the Day of the Lord, there
is a change from the third person, to God addressing his people directly in the
second person. The group receiving blessing is now call “יִרְאֵי שְׁמִי” (the ones fearing my name) rather than “יִרְאֵי יְהוָה” (the ones fearing the Lord). For them the sun of righteousness
shall rise (שֶׁמֶשׁ צְדָקָה) and healing in her wings (וּמַרְפֵּא בִּכְנָפֶיהָ) and they will go out and the will spring about like calves
from a stall (וִיצָאתֶם וּפִשְׁתֶּם כְּעֶגְלֵי
מַרְבֵּק). Verse 20 is very figurative and must be understood as a
description of the blessing. First because it is related to those fearing God,
whose destiny is going to be different from the wicked, who are destroyed.
The sun of righteousness is placed in contrast to the day
burning like an oven for the insolent and those doing evil. This expression is
only used here in the Bible. The sun being so pervasive, the image gives the
idea that with the day of the Lord, righteousness will pervade.[2] “It’s wings” (בִּכְנָפֶיהָ) referring to the sun, agreeing with its feminine gender could
be understood as the sun rays in the imagery.[3]
The main idea is that rather than being burned, it is healing (מַרְפֵּא) that they receive. The verse
ends with a simile: the picture of those fearing the Lord’s name will be springing
about as calves of a stall. It must be assumed that these calves have been let
out from a stall, and are enjoying their freedom.
Malachi 3:21 the right order of things
In verse 21, we have a real answer for those who think that it was vain
to serve God, because it was the wicked who were being blessed. In this verse,
the Lord tells the righteous that they will crush the wicked, and they will be
ash under the soles of their feet. These things will happen on the coming day
of the Lord.
Malachi 3:6-12 Rebuke 5: The people are robbing God
The
fifth section contains a rebuke of the people of Israel for robbing God.
The
section begins with a statement about God’s faithfulness. Because the Lord does
not change, the people of Israel will not perish. If he does not change, he
will always be faithful to his promises. It is because of his faithfulness,
that the sons of Jacob do not perish, even if they do deserve it. This was
similar to Malachi 2:4, where because of the covenant, the punishment for
despising the Lord was only a rebuke.
Since Israel has been God’s people, they have turned aside
from his statutes. The Lord commands them to return (שׁוּבוּ qal imperative) and he will return to them. We find our fifth
verbal exchange, this one again between the Lord and the people. As if they did
not think they were doing anything wrong, they ask: “How can we return?” The
Lord points out that they are robbing him, this is the fifth rebuke in Malachi.
They still do not see what he means, and so the Lord tells that that they have
robbed him by not paying the tithe and contribution.
The people have been cursed, and they have robbed the Lord,
and the whole nation in neglecting their contribution. The Lord commands them
to bring their tithe to the house of treasury and it will be food. He commands them to test him, and he makes the
promise that if they tithe he will bless them in abundance. The expressions
used are “אֶפְתַּח לָכֶם אֵת אֲרֻבּוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם” and “וַהֲרִיקֹתִי לָכֶם בְּרָכָה עַד־בְּלִי־דָי׃” the first literally God says:
“I will open for you the window of heaven” and the second: “I will cause it to
empty for you a blessing until there is not sufficiency.”
In verses 11-12 the promise of blessing continues. The Lord
will rebuke the one eating (devouring) them and he will not ruin the fruit of
his land and the vine will not be barren. All the nations will call them
blessed because they will have a land of delight.
Malachi 2:17-3:5 Rebuke 4: The people are doubting the Lord is Just
Malachi 2:17 Fourth verbal exchange
The fourth section is a rebuke for
the people’s lack of trust in the Lord. It begins with the fourth verbal
exchange. The Lord’s statement against them is that they are causing him to
become weary with their words. They object, by asking how that is so. They have
wearied the Lord by saying “all doing evil are good in the eyes of the Lord and
he delights in them”, or “where is the Lord of judgment?” Both these statements
are going to be dealt with. First the second, with the coming of the Lord, and
then with what really happens to the ones doing evil.
Malachi 3:1-2 The Lord’s Messenger, the Lord and the messenger of the Covenant
In response to the second statement, the Lord says that he is
sending his messenger[1]
and he will prepare (וּפִנָּה)[2] the way before him. Suddenly,
the lord (הָאָדוֹן)[3]
who the people are seeking will enter into his temple. The messenger of the
covenant, in whom the people are delighting, will enter. Normally instead of הָאָדוֹן we have
had יְהוָה. We have good reasons to believe that it refers to the same
person. First because the Septuagint translates it κύριος and secondly, because
the individual entering his temple (הֵיכָלוֹ) which can only be appropriate if it referred to the Lord
himself.
So far we have three people mentioned: the messenger who prepares the
way, the Lord entering his temple, and the messenger of the covenant. The first
two are definitely distinct, but who is the messenger of the covenant?
This messenger of the covenant is placed in parallel to the Lord. To
connect these two we can look to Jeremiah 31 where the messenger of the
covenant can be something in the future connected with Jesus’ prophetic
ministry. It would seem from the following verse that only talks about the
coming of one person, so the Lord and the messenger of the covenant are the
same person.
The beginning of Malachi 3 connects well with other parts of the Bible. In
Matthew 11, John the Baptist is seen as the one preparing the way for the Lord,
“the Elijah who was to come (Mat 11:14). John the Baptist has a significant
role in all the gospels he is doing the preparatory work. After him, the people
are then waiting for the Lord. In Exodus 23:20 the Lord send his angel ahead of
the people to bring them to a place he had prepared for them. In this case, the
angel prepare the way for a new era, also talked about in Jeremiah 31, the
prophetic era is coming to an end.
Malachi 3:3-5 Purifying and Cleansing
With the entering of the Lord, and the coming of the messenger of the
covenant who are the same person, comes purifying and cleansing judgment. These
are the same things John the Baptist says about Jesus in Matthew 3:11.The
positive aspect of the refining is given in Malachi 3:3-4, and the negative
aspect in verse 5.
The purifier will sit (וְיָשַׁב) and cleansing silver and he will cleanse
the sons of Levi and he will purify them as gold and silver, and then will bringing
an offering to the Lord in righteousness. The offering of Judah and
Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as they were before. A cleansing of the
priests produces a trickle affect which then falls upon all of Judah and
Jerusalem.
In verse 5 we have the negative side of judgment. This verse shows
what really happens to those doing evil. The Lord will draw closer to them and
he will bear witness against sinners: sorcerers, adulterers, those who lie,
those who extort the wages of their hired worker, those who oppress widows and
orphans, and deal badly with the sojourner. The Lord is coming to judge, and
they, they will not fear him.
[1] מַלְאָכִי « my
messenger » has been translated as a name « Malachi » in Malachi
1:1, but here it is exactly the same and remains “my messenger”. In Malachi 2:7
the priests are called messengers of the Lord, and so we can see that there
seems to be a connection between prophets, priests and messengers of the Lord.
We see this also when we see that Jeremiah was a priest (Jer 1:1) and so was
Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:3).
[2]
In the piel means to make clear, free from obstacles, Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English
Lexicon, 815.
[3] This is the first time this form appears in this writing.
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