Scripture:
Malachi 2.1-9
Translation: 2.1And now to
you, the priests, [I give] this command. 2If you don’t listen and if
you don’t decide to give glory to My Name—Yahweh of Armies says—then I will
send the curse on you and I will curse your blessings, and moreover I will
curse it, because you haven’t decided [to give glory to My Name]. 3Look
at Me! I’m rebuking the descendents that belong to you, and I will smear
entrails on your faces, the entrails of your feasts, and it will take you away
with it!
4And
you knew that I sent this command to you in order that My covenant would be
with Levi—Yahweh of Armies says. 5My covenant was with him. The life
and the peace—I gave them to him. I’m something to be feared, and he did fear
me, and he was terrified before My Name! 6An instruction/law of
faithfulness/truth was in his mouth. Moreover, injustice was not found on his
lips! He walked with Me in peace and in uprightness, and he brought back many
people from sin! 7Because the lips of the priest should protect
knowledge, and they should seek instruction from his lips, because he is the
messenger of Yahweh of Armies!
8But you turned from the way! You trip up
many people in the law/with your instruction! You destroy the covenant with
Levi! Yahweh of Armies says. 9Moreover, I gave you despicable and
pathetic people to all the people despite the fact that none of you are keeping
My ways and rendering justice through the law/instruction!
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Second Case: 1.6-2.9
i.
Part A: You have
defiled/desecrated My Altar! (1.6-14)
1.
Issue: You give me garbage
for offerings, so I don’t accept it! (1.6-10)
2.
Cause: I am Great, but you
treat Me like I’m not! (1.11-13)
3.
Judgment: The Scammer is
cursed for offering less than his best (1.14)
ii.
Part B: You teach lies!
1.
Judgment: I’m cursing your
blessings, defiling you, and getting rid of you (2.1-3)
2.
Cause: The Covenant of Levi
was to provide life, peace, and instruction to the people (2.4-7)
3.
Issue: You have broken that
covenant of Levi by teaching lies (2.8-9)
2.
Themes
a.
Cursing/blessing
i.
The priests were
responsible for giving the blessing of the animals and the people, but their
ungodly actions, has resulted in God turning those blessing pronouncements into
curse pronouncements
b.
Defiling/desecrating
i.
This theme continues with
the reversal of the blessings into curses
ii.
And God’s threat to smear
them with entrails, which were considered extremely unclean is a threat to
defile them (like they have been doing to His altar and His people), and to get
rid of them, like entrails are…taken out of the camp and burned there
c.
Sacrifices
i.
Sacrifices are again
alluded to, but in this case as part of the judgment Yahweh is threatening the
priests with
d.
Sending
i.
Yahweh is sending His
command via Malachi
ii.
This calls up images of
Moses, especially with all the talk of Torah
e.
Torah/instruction/law
i.
The word תורה here alludes to the Mosaic
law to be sure, since the Levites were charged with teaching it to the rest of
the people
ii.
However, the word is probably a bit broader as well, alluding to instruction
in general, the priests and Levites should have been teaching the people wisdom
and instruction in general, especially as application and interpretation of the
Torah.
f.
Glory and Honor to Yahweh
i.
In 2.2 the theme of glory
and honor to Yahweh is again renewed as a facet of the second part of the
charge
g.
Name of Yahweh/Yahweh of
Armies
i.
Yahweh is very concerned
with the honor and glory due His Name, and His Name is referenced, as is the
“Yahweh of Armies says” formula.
ii.
The “Yahweh of Armies says”
formula is clearly both an affirmation of the authority of the message as much
as it is a threat that Yahweh Who reigns over the heavenly armies as well as
earthly armies will bring judgement upon the covenant breakers via those
armies. The point is they are not messing with a powerless God, but the
all-powerful God.
h.
Abuse
i.
The abuse here seems to
result from false teaching, and probably a denial of justice and hope for the
people
i.
Covenants
i.
Here the Covenant of Levi
for priesthood is in view in terms of it being violated
ii.
In contrast, the overall
setting for the prophetic message of Malachi is the Covenant Love and
Faithfulness on the part of Yahweh, without it being particularly reciprocated
by the Jewish people
3.
Doctrines
a.
Yahweh is the King of the
Universe
b.
Yahweh is the source of the
power of both blessings and curses
c.
Yahweh will send Judgment
if people refuse to repent
d.
False teaching is hated by
Yahweh, therefore, it must be dealt with, and people should be careful to watch
out for it
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
We must glorify Yahweh as
the Sovereign Judge
i.
This means recognizing that
Yahweh is the one in control of all spiritual blessings and cursings—our
blessings only have power if Yahweh is behind them, and so do our curses, but
likewise the curses of others only have power if Yahweh backs them up, and it
is clear that for us in the church today, Yahweh has taken all the curses away
when He died on the cross.
ii.
This also means giving Him
the appropriate fear, respect, and glory, because we know that He is the One
Who is evaluating our actions and who can punish us harshly
iii.
It also means that we don’t
need to be ashamed of the doctrine of hell, because it gives Yahweh glory and
is an important facet of seeing Yahweh as the Ultimate Judge
b.
We must see True Teaching
as Important
i.
This means that we need to be
careful to evaluate the teaching we receive
ii.
This means that we need to
be careful to get good teaching
iii.
This means that we need to
be careful to give good teaching
c.
We must fulfill and embrace
our own calling to be Yahweh’s messengers in the world
i.
This means getting our walk
with God strong and healthy in Jesus’ Name by the Holy Spirit’s power—faithful,
Godly Christian lives
ii.
This means getting deep
into the word and into Christian theology
iii.
This means getting into the
world, and bringing Yahweh’s message, hope, and truth into it
1.
You see, we all in Christ
have been made into priests and messengers to the world, we don’t need a priest
to mediate our relationship with God apart from Jesus Christ our Great High
Priest, but non-Christians do need you to be the person they can come to with
their problems, where they can get good advice, where they can find out about
God and salvation, where they can find someone who will tell them the truth and
teach them the Scriptures
2.
Questions
a.
How do your friends feel
about hell? How do you feel about it?
b.
Where are some places you
can find reliable Bible teaching/preaching/advice?
c.
Plan an event for us as a
group to go out into the world and fulfill our calling to be God’s messengers.
Illustrations/Explanations
1.
My Grandmother and Arminian
Theology
2.
My friend and
hyper-charismatic theology and cessationist theology
No comments:
Post a Comment