Introduction and Malachi 1:1-3
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INTRODUCTION TO MALACHI
Other than his name, Malachi, which means "my messenger," there
is no information extant about the author. And even his name is considered
by some scholars to be nothing more than an appellation or designation,
not a personal name. Other scholars, though, deem "Malachi" to
be an abbreviated form of "Malachiah," and thus a personal name.
The date of the book is circa 435 BC to 400 BC. This date is reasonably
surmised from the following historical framework: Under the ministries of
Zechariah and Haggai the rebuilding of the second temple was achieved in
516 BC; from 516 to 323 BC the Jews and Israel passed through a 'golden
age,' a time of great national prosperity, except for a twenty year span
from 420 to 400 BC. And this time of abundance was predicated upon a relationship
with Jehovah Elohim. Apostasy gained ascendancy in 420 BC, and Malachi's
ministry was the antidote. And the thrust of the book of Malachi is 'how
to deliver a nation from spiritual apostasy.'
This apostate period, 420 to 400 BC, was provoked and intensified by the
priesthood of the nation of Judah; for the priest were unbelievers (agnostics).
And as a result of their unbelief the priests were not teaching the written
word of God. And except for the book of Malachi and Nehemiah, they had the
entire Old Testament Canon in written form.
According to Nehemiah 5:14, Nehemiah himself returned to Persian Babylon
in the year 433 BC. Upon his departure, the incipient apostasy began to
accelerate. This apostasy and its quickening are the subjects of the book
of Malachi.
Nehemiah 13:6 states that Nehemiah again returned to Jerusalem; however,
the date of his return is unknown. It is presupposed that his return coincided
with the ministry of Malachi. Thus the political governor of Judah between
420 to 400 BC was Nehemiah, and the spiritual guide was Malachi. Admittedly,
this is a presupposition; however, precise determination is difficult. The
last dated prophecy of Zechariah is found in Zechariah 7:1, which says,
"In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah
on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev." Here, the
date is 518 BC. And it is acknowledged that Zechariah was still ministering
in 516 BC, and apparently, as late as 475 BC (some sustain Zechariah's ministry
through 445 BC). This will be discussed in more detail later.
It should be noted that the common denominator between the ministry of Zechariah
and the ministry of Malachi is this: Both brought the people back to God.
OUTLINE
A. God's Love for His People (1:1-5). 1. Disbelieved by the Priests (1:1-3).
2. Demonstrated by Jehovah (1:4,5). B. Israel's Sins against God (1:6-2:17).
1. The disbelief of the priests (1:6-2:9). 2. The apostasy of the people
(2:10-17). C. God's Warning of Judgment (3:1-4:6). 1. God will send a messenger
(3:1-6). 2. The people have robbed God (3:7-15). 3. God's grace to the faithful
remnant (3:16-18). 4. Judgment from Justice (4:1-4). 5. Elijah (4:5,6).
[1]
THEME
The theme of the book of Malachi is the direct correlation between spiritual
decline and the decline of nations. And "depend upon God" is Malachi's
announcement; for only God can sustain nations and, as will be demonstrated,
God destroys nations for apostasy. And the spiritual decline depicted by
Malachi will be paralleled in 70 AD by the Jews of the Diaspora generation.
Definition: "Principium" - Individual believers within a nation
can make or break that nation. Thus, the concept of 'patriotism' includes
spiritual growth.
Malachi 1:1
"An oracle: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi."
The Hebrew word for "oracle" is MASA' and refers to a "burden."
And not just any burden, but a burden that smashes down and crushes; "figuratively,
a judgment which lies heavy on a people." [2] Robert Thieme asserts
that this term is the "strongest Hebrew word for divine judgment; and
refers to the 'sin unto death' for believers or 'destruction' for national
entities." Thus, since Malachi is the last prophet to Israel until
John the Baptist, this is a warning or "burden" from God that
must last the Jews for 400 years. And that "burden" or "judgment"
is this: depend upon God, learn God's Word, grow spiritually, or face judgment
from God.
So verse one reads: "The burden of the word of Jehovah to Israel (Judah)
by the hand of Malachi (my messenger)."
Malachi 1:2
"'I have loved you,' says the Lord. But you ask, 'How have you
loved us?' 'Was not Esau Jacob's brother?' the Lord says. 'Yet I have loved
Jacob.'"
Verse two begins the conversation between God and the apostate priests.
And the dialogue revolves around the Hebrew word for 'love,' AHAB, which
is "used of the unspeakable love and tender mercies of God in covenant
with his people." [3] The verb is used twice in the Qal perfect, then
once in the Qal imperfect participle. In the Qal perfect the verb depicts
the principle, doctrine and integrity of God's love, i.e., that God so loved
all of mankind that He provided the Cross and salvation for all. Whereas
the Qal imperfect participle depicts the real, factual entrance into God's
love by means of acceptance of the Cross and salvation. Respectively, they
would be translated "I have loved," and "I keep on loving."
And Malachi uses as his illustration of the principle of God's love, Esau;
and as the factual experience of God's love, Jacob. Esau was an unbeliever;
Jacob was a believer. The priests of Malachi's day are the same as Esau,
they are unbelievers. Born into the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron,
they have inherited the priesthood; but they are agnostics. And when God
states, "I have loved you," this is a declaration of the principle
of love, and a provocation for the priests to accept this love and believe
in Christ. And the validity of the verb is in God Himself; for the verb
testifies that a relationship can exist between God and mankind. And that
God has made provision for this association in the Cross, and this provision
has as its mainstay the 'love' of God.
So Esau is the illustration of the unbeliever; God loved the unbeliever,
Christ died for him, but Esau rejected Christ and His love. Thus, there
is no relationship with Esau because Esau will not allow it -- even though
God earnestly desired it. And the priests, as the correspondents to Esau
ask, "In what way have you loved us?" They do not see the Cross
and the love that made it possible. And they also do not see that God loved
both Esau and Jacob, but Esau rejected God's love. This is brought out in
they reply, "Was not Esau a brother to Jacob?" In other words,
did not Esau have the same opportunity to believe in Christ, did they not
come from the same believing father, Isaac? And did not Christ die on the
Cross for the sins of both? Then did not God love them both when He planned
the Cross? The answer to all these questions is an absolute and certain
'yes!'
God's Love
According to I John 4:8,16, God is never-ending, unchanging love. "Whoever
does not love does not know God, because God is love." "And so
we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives
in love lives in God, and God in him." And God's love is greater than
man's love. For God's love requires no response or reciprocation, no reassurance,
no proofs. God's love goes on without a beginning, without an end, without
an object, without stimulation of any type. For God loves Himself, God loves
all believers in Christ because they have the righteousness of Christ, and
God loves all unbelievers because His love comes from Himself and is not
from the value or demerit of the unbelievers. "But God demonstrates
his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for
us." (Romans 5:8)
And the love of God for Himself flows through Christ on the Cross and God
the Holy Spirit to us as believers in Christ, according to John 17:24, I
John 4:10, and Romans 5:5. "Father, I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given
me because you loved me before the creation of the world." "This
is love: not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as
an atoning sacrifice for our sins." "And hope does not disappoint
us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
whom he has given us."
Since sinful mankind can never meet the standards of God's perfect love,
we would never have a hope of gaining His love. However, God Himself, motivated
by His love that does not see the value or merit of the object of His love,
decided to provide a way for mankind to obtain His love: the Cross. And
because of the Cross God can, at the moment of salvation, give the perfect
righteousness of Christ to each believer, thus making association with His
perfect love possible. And since God loves His own perfect righteousness
with a perfect love, the believer, after salvation, enjoys the perfect love
of God. It is in this manner that God has used His perfect Justice and Righteousness
to provide mankind with His perfect love. [4]
Malachi 1:3
"But Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a
wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."
The word for "hate" is the Hebrew term SANEE. And just as the
perfect of AHAB indicated the "principium" of love, so SANEEe
indicates the idea of 'hate,' not the reality. The reality of not accepting
the love of God as found in the Cross of Christ is found in the phrase "I
have turned his mountains into wasteland." In other words, the Justice
of God must protect the perfect Righteousness and perfect Love of God; if
the way of entry, which is Christ, into the love of God is rejected, then
the Justice of God has no alternative -- judgment must be administered.
The phrase "his mountains" refers to Esau's progeny and heritage,
the Edomites and the mountains of Edom. And both were eventually totally
destroyed.
The Edomites
The Edomites are the descendants of Edom, i.e., Esau, according to Genesis
36:1-19. And according to Numbers 20:14-21, the Israelites were refused
permission to pass inviolate through Edom. This was an instance of religious
aversion probably exacerbated by Satan himself.
Saul ben-Kish, anointed first king of Israel, fought against the Edomites,
I Samuel 14:47; "for Yahweh so hated the Amalekites (descendants of
Esau) that He commanded Saul to have no pity on them -- not even the women
and children -- but to blot out the name of Amalek entirely." [5]
And according to I Kings 11:15,16, King David defeated the Edomites; however,
Hadad, one of the royal princes, escaped to Egypt and later became an enemy
of Solomon's. Indeed, by David's command, Joab ben-Zeruiah, remained in
Edom six months -- "until he had cut off every male organ (ZAKR) in
Edom." [6] Then, in 875 BC, the Edomites allied with Moab and Ammon
to attack Judah, II Chronicles 20:22, in the Valley of Berachah. Later,
Jehoram had problems with the Edomites until, finally, Amaziah killed 10,000
Edomites in the Valley of Salt, took Sela, the capital, and executed another
10,000 by pushing them from the top of the rock (II Kings 14:7, II Chronicles
25:11,12)
Subsequent to this, the Edomites became the vassals of the Assyrians, but
attempted revolutions in 711 and 701 BC. And the Edomites allied themselves
with Nebuchadnezzar when he destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC, according to
Psalm 137:7, which says, "Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on
the day Jerusalem fell. 'Tear it down,' they cried, 'tear it down to its
foundations!'"
Nebuchadnezzar ceded portions of Judah to the Edomites after the fall of
Jerusalem. This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 49; and explains
why Jeremiah had been exhorting the Jews to destroy the Edomites. Lamentations
4:21, Amos 1:11,12, and Obadiah 8-10, all prophecy the destruction of Edom
by God.
The Nabataeans were the first of God's whips against the Edomites; for the
Nabataeans pushed the Edomites back up into a small parcel of land next
to Judah. Then John Hyrcanus I, king-heierach of Judea, 134-104 BC, subjugated
Edom in fulfillment of the above prophecies, "that Jacob shall lay
Esau by the heel." Hyrcanus "permitted the Idumeans to remain
in their country as free men if they would circumcise their genitals and
observe Jewish law." [7]
God's final whip against the Edomites was Rome. For the Romans used 20,000
of the Idumeans as allies in the siege of Jerusalem, 70AD. But afterwards,
the Romans annihilated the Idumeans, stating simply that they were a lawless
and despicable race.
In verses 3 and 4 of Malachi chapter 1, Malachi compares the priests to
Esau and his descendants the Edomites. This was an insult of unimaginable
contempt -- the ultimate slur. For the Edomites were uncircumcised. And
as uncircumcised heathens the Amalekites had "made themselves particularly
hateful by cutting off 'the circumcised members of the Israelites"
(both prisoners and corpses), tossing them into the air and shouting with
obscene curses to Yahweh: 'This is what you like, so take what you have
chosen.' This tradition is deduced from Deuteronomy 25:18, alluding to Amalek's
harassment of the Hebrews at Rephidim during the Exodus." [8]
In other words, Malachi is equating the circumcised Levitical Priests of
his day with the uncircumcised Edomites. The Edomites were unbelievers who
hated Yahweh and the Jews, and who tried to destroy the Jews at every opportunity.
The priests were also unbelievers who hated Yahweh, and who were trying
to destroy their own country from within. Who is more to be reviled? The
enemy who attempts to kill you, or traitorous compatriots who attempt to
kill you?
Notes:
[1] Unger, Merrill F. Unger's Survey of the Bible; page 234. Outline originally
compiled by M. Unger; revised by R.E. Radic.
[2] Wilson, William. Old Testament Word Studies; page 59.
[3] Wilson, William. Ibid.; page 260.
[4] Thieme, Robert. The Trinity; page 9,10. This presentation of God's
Love was originally compiled by Robert Thieme; revised, altered and appended
by R.E. Radic.
[5] Josephus, Flavius. Antiquitates Judaeorum.
[6] Edwardes, Allen. Erotica Judaica; page 73.
[7] Edwardes, Allen. Ibid; page 147.
[8] Ibid; page 56.
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