THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 1, NUMBER 42, NOVEMBER 18, 2001

“MY, HOW TIRESOME IT IS!”  

            The book of Malachi is a fascinating book for a number of different reasons.  It is the last book of the Old Testament canon – the final word from God to His people before the fulfillment of that to which the entire Old Testament looked forward – the coming of the Messiah.   It also depicts the spiritual condition and attitude of the people about 450 years before the coming of the Lord.  

            Let’s give a little background of the book.  It 586 B.C., the southern kingdom had been finally carried away into Babylonian Captivity, just as Isaiah and Jeremiah had promised that it would be.  Their captivity would last for 70 years and in truth, only a remnant would ever return.  In 538 B.C., Cyrus, the king of Persia who had overthrown the Babylonian Empire, issued a decree allowing the children of Israel to return to their land and to rebuild their temple.  The really neat thing about that is that approximately 175 years before Cyrus was born, the Lord spoke concerning him through Isaiah the prophet.  In Isaiah 44:28, we find, “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem , Thou shalt be built: and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”  Just as God had promised, it came to pass.  

            The first group of exiles had returned in 536 B.C. under the leadership of Zerubbabel.  Encouraged and prodded by the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, they finished the temple in 516 B.C.   In approximately 445 B.C., the Persian King Artaxerxes allowed Nehemiah to come back and rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem .  The conditions that existed in the land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem during the time of Nehemiah as described in that book, and the conditions that Malachi attacks in the book that bears his name, make it pretty clear that the two books are contemporary.  So we can date Malachi somewhere between 445 and 432 B.C.  

            Something else that is unique and very interesting about the book of Malachi is the way that it is written.  It is the first book written in what is referred to as “the didactic – dialectic method”.  That sounds confusing, but it really isn’t.  In this type of writing the writer makes a charge or an assertion, responds with a possible objection raised by the readers, and then refutes the objection.  It is a very effective style of writing and teaching and would become universally used in the Jewish schools and synagogues.  Paul used the same method on occasion.  Portions of the book of Romans, such as 2:28 – 3:9, are masterful examples of the “didactic – dialectic” style.  

            It is the message of the book that I want to focus on.  There are timeless lessons contained within it.  By the time of Malachi, the people had been back in Judea for over 100 years.  God had brought them back just like He said He would.  The temple was rebuilt – although not to its previous glory; and the walls of the city of Jerusalem had been very recently rebuilt.  They had every reason to be a worshipful, thankful people.  But instead of getting better spiritually, they had gotten worse.   

            Malachi talks about indifference on the part of God’s people to the moral and ceremonial aspects of divine law.  Their worship was in a state of decay.  Oh they did it, but it was not occupying the place of priority in their hearts and lives that the worship of God deserved.  As a matter of fact, Malachi teaches that worship that is mere ritual is of no value at all.  Worship only has value when it is the result of sincere love and adoration of God.  They were giving God the leftovers, so to speak, and not the first fruits.  That included the animals offered in sacrifice and the tithes that they gave.  Let’s look at some examples.

            In Malachi 1:6 – 8, we find, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master.  Then if I am a father, where is My honor?  And if I am a master, where is My respect?  Says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name.  But you say, “How have we despised Thy name?  (By the way, this is the “didactic – dialectic method.  Greg)  You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.  But you say, How have we defiled Thee? In that you say, The table of the Lord is to be despised.  But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?  And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil?  Why not offer it to your governor?  Would he be pleased with you?  Or would he receive you kindly? Says the Lord of hosts.”  

            Instead of giving God the very best, they were giving Him the worst.  Why offer to God a perfectly healthy animal that would prove very profitable to themselves, when they had sick and lame animals that weren’t worth nearly so much?  God said that if they gave the same kind of gifts to a political ruler it would be an insult to him and he would not accept it.  How much more of an insult is it to give to God less than our best?  That is the lesson.   

            In v. 10, we read, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar!  I am not pleased with you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from you.”    What is God saying here but that it is better to shut the gates and stay home rather than to pervert the worship by giving God less than our best.  

            Look at verses 13 & 14.  “You also say, My, how tiresome it is!  And you disdainfully sniff at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you bring what was taken by robbery, and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering!   Should I receive that from your hand? Says the Lord.  But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock, and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and My name is feared among the nations.”   Instead of their worship being a expression of joy out of a grateful and reverent heart, they viewed worship and their part in as a burdensome chore.  Do you ever feel that way come Sunday morning, evening, or Wednesday night?  

            Consider 3:8, where we find, “Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed me.  But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings.”  God is God of all, and everything is His.  Yet the people were not willing to freely give their tithes and offerings as an acknowledgement of God’s ownership and their stewardship.   

Now we are not obligated to tithe under the New Covenant, but we are most certainly obligated to recognize God’s position of ownership and ours as stewards.  We are most certainly obligated to demonstrate our love and recognition in our offerings to God.  In 2 Cor. 8: 8, Paul wrote, “I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.”  That statement was made in the context of a discussion of giving, and he spoke of it as proof of “the sincerity of your love.”   We are most certainly obligated to give freely and cheerfully out of a heart filled with love and gratitude.  Just one chapter over, in 2 Cor. 9:6 & 7, we find, “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”  

All was not lost, however.  The book closes with marvelous words of anticipation.  Chapter 4:5 & 6 says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”  John the Baptist would come and prepare the way of the Lord.  

Let’s be sure that we are not guilty of apathy when it comes to our service and worship to God.

                                                Greg Litmer