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MALACHI: TURNING POINTS
A little history will enable you to
understand the message of Malachi better. Malachi is correctly placed at the
end of the Old Testament Canon (not all books are in chronological order) for
he is the last prophet to record Holy Scripture before the Gospels and the
beginning of the New Testament. It is sadly, the sunset of a nation that has
continually rejected God’s offers of hope and restoration. Malachi is part of a
group of prophets known as the post-exilic prophets.
·
Pre-Exilic
Prophets (Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habbakkuk)
·
Exilic
Prophets – Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc
·
Post-Exilic
Prophets – Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
Basically, the
pre-exilic prophets said, “If you don’t repent God will judge you and you will
be carried off into exile.” The exilic prophets said, “We are in exile because
of our sin,” and then they helped the people understand God’s purposes. The
post-exilic prophets encouraged the people to be faithful to their current
tasks and look forward to a time in the future when God would do a new work in
the world.
Malachi
was a post-exilic prophet. He ministered the Word of the Lord in a time when
God’s people had been through so much they had become lazy, indifferent and
apathetic to the call of God on their life as a people. Malachi’s message is
one of confrontation and a call to repentance. His time marked a turning point
for the people of God:
·
Would they turn to renewed faithfulness or
continue down path of unfaithfulness
·
Would the leadership remain corrupted and
ministries selfish or would the exposure of the prophetic word turn them back
to fulfilling their purpose.
·
Would the people continue in a path of marital
disintegration by callously divorcing the wives of their youth or would the
family be restored?
·
Would the people respond to a renewed
sensitivity to the fulfillment of the promise of coming of Messiah or would
they disregard His coming?
·
Would the people seek prosperity only to line
their own pockets or would they turn to a greater kingdom vision that aligned
themselves with God’s blessings in stewardship?
These and other are the turning
points that Malachi presented to the people of God. They are our turning points
at this season as well.
These
turning points were so important. Three hundred years earlier God had thundered
through a prophet named Amos:
Amos 8:11-12
"Behold, the
days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will
send a famine on the land, Not a famine of
bread, Nor a thirst for
water, But of hearing the
words of the LORD. They shall wander
from sea to sea, And from north to
east; They shall run to and
fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find
it.
These turning points were
disastrous for the people of Malachi’s day because when he finished His sermon
God brought down the curtain on His prophetic word for 400 years! From
Malachi’s message we see a people who have turned from joy to bitterness,
expectation to skepticism, faith to apathy, and national revival to
indifference. We also see God’s will is not forever frustrated as the rays of
sunshine begin to peek through the clouds of judgment in the anticipation of
God’s arrival:
Malachi 3:1
Behold, He is
coming," Says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 4:2
But to you who fear
My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you
shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed
calves.
Why Malachi?
This
is not light summer fare. This message of Malachi applied to the church by the
Holy Spirit today is counter-cultural. It is not feel-good, easy, how to be
rich and happy in life stuff. It is deeply probing and powerfully unmasking of
our attitudes and approach to God in a season that should be growing in passion
rather than ebbing away from it.
1. It is a Biblical Book –
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be
complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2. It is a Transitional Book –
There were certain
servants of God who were called to minister a message when the people were at a
turning point from one season to another. These were more critical times than
others and called for a renewal among the people of God. Malachi was such a
prophet.
-From O.T. to the N.T.
-From Moses
to Jesus
-From Law
to Grace
-From a Curse
to a Blessing
-It was the
Sunset of an old Kingdom to the Sunrise of a new Kingdom
3. It is a Practical Book –
This
message is to a people who are not to grow weary in waiting, a people who must
not lose their passion for God in unspiritual times.
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