…”For I am a great King” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”
*GOD in Malachi 1:14*

Malachi is a small prophet if you measure a man by the length of the book he wrote. He lived after the Temple had been rebuilt and the Jews were enjoying the prosperity they had once again attained. And, as usually happens in times of prosperity, the Jews were getting greedy and not worshiping God properly. They also where not obeying His commandments which He gave as “one of life and peace, and…reverence” (2:5). So since the Jewish men where marrying foreign women and improperly offering up blemished sacrifices, God sent “My Messenger” (this is the meaning of the name Malachi).

Malachi writes down a series of grievances that God has for His people: 
1. offering of flawed animals for sacrifice
2. not honoroing the Lord by giving their best
3. promising the best but when it’s time to pony up they are backing out and handing over whatever is left or easily given (like the blind animals over the perfect male animals)
4. not following the convenant
5. preching their own thoughts with partiality and not perserving the knowlegde of God
6. not honoring the wife of their youth
7. wondering why God is punishing them but not repenting
8. arrogance

So God explains that he is going to remove their blessing because they will not obey him. He explains that they are all of one family and that God is the father (this rings of the words of Christ). Malachi records the descriptions of God as He describes it:

For I the Lord do not change…
But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness wil rise with healing in its wings  (generous)
Lord of hosts (leader)
great King
Father
Magnificent

He records a list of people against who will be brought judgement:
1. sorcerers
2. adulterers
3. those who swear falsely
4. those who oppress the wage earner, widow, orphan,
5. those who turn away the alien
6. those who do not fear God

He accuses the priest of robbing him! They have withheld tithes and offerings and God considers this robbery. In this passage of the book we find the often ill-used passage that says: “bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heave and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”This passage is often brought up to get people to bring in more offerings for the church with the promises that if they do God will heap prosperity on them….or to give people the impression that God is actually a Santa Claus that just needs to be buttered up a bit. But if you look at the context, I feel like God is telling the priests to stop being greed because it is all His anyway, and if you will show that you trust Him enough by giving up the best, then you will see that He will take care of you and you will not be in want of anything….that you will recieve blessings. But blessings could be poured out in many ways, not just finacially. I think that’s where we get it wrong when we use this passage in the manners earlier discribed.

Finally, God leaves the people with a promise: that Elijah is coming to restore their hearts. Despite the sins and the consequences God sends (the removal of blessings) He leaves the Jews with a reminder of His ultimate promise. To me this shows just how much God loves us and how he is never-changing. Though we may make a mockery of His commandments and not give Him the ultimate glory, he still loves us and he still keeps his promises.

This reading left me with two important questions about myself and my lifestyle:

1. Am I promising God my best but giving Him only what is easy, unwanted, or left over?
          -I frequently make promises to read so much of my Bible every night, but end up reading only a few verses…or spend at least a good thirty min praying, but then I fall asleep as I go or get distracted….or offer an extra large portion of my earnings this week to give to Feed the Children or some other good Christian organization only to end up giving the same amount as usual because I spent the extra money on a book or video game or movie.

2. How am I robbing God of tithes and offerings?
           -Since no longer under law, we are not required to give tithes (which is actually about 27% of the income of the Israelites, but wasn’t measured in money, but instead in three areas that included animals, crops, and the like), but we are asked to give back to God because He has given so much to us and what He has given is His not ours. So this question ties back to the first….how can I give more of myself and my resources to the glory of God?

Another thought that arises is the idea that people like to entertain about the Bible not being relevant anymore. As I read through Malachi last night I thought about how much this looks like the world today. There are so many Christians out their that are only going through the motions as the priest were doing here. And even though their lives are full of unconfessed sin and unrepentant attitudes they wonder why God allows unpleasant things to happen. We greedily hold on to our money instead of offering up for the glory of our Father. Much of what we do offer is not the best, but only what is left over. I am horribly at fault in this. This of the list of people God will bring judgement on: we still see psychics and earth worshipers (sorcerers), infidelity is not looked down upon by many (adulterers), many will swear false testimony in any setting and participate in immoral business and personal practices, oppression is everywhere and slavery is no where near being dead, many oppress others in third world countries because the labor is so much cheaper, fear of foreigners is not unheard of, and millions do not fear the Lord or they strike out to purposefully make a mockery of Him and His people. You see the Bible is far from irrelevant.

Peace and Blessings.