The Message of Malachi

I. This is the last of the Prophetic utterances before the coming of the Messiah

A. Malachi's central charge was that the priesthood had corrupted the covenant

1. Nehemiah and Malachi both dealt with the evil that resulted from mixed marriage.

2. Nehemiah and Malachi both charged the people with neglect in the matter of their bringing the tithes into the Lord's house.

B. The spiritual condition of the people is revealed by a question repeated seven times.

1. Wherein hast thou bed us

2. Wherein have we despised your name

3. Wherein have we polluted thee

4. Wherein have we wearied thee

5. Wherein shall we return

6. Wherein have we robbed thee

7. Wherein have we spoken against thee

C. Malachi charged the people with seven sins and their reply was wherein.

1. They defended themselves and their lifestyle

2. They refused to admit that they had failed as God declared they had

3. Malachi declares the sensitivity of God and the contrasting hardness and callousness of the people.

4. These people had no awareness of their shortcomings

5. They imagined they were serving God and pleasing Him.

6. But the truth is their religion was all external totally devoid of an inward experience

D. There are three things of permanent value to learn from this book.

I. First, a revelation of the unfailing love of God

2. Second, a revelation of human fickleness and infidelity

3. Thirdly, the secrets of strength in an age of apostasy.

II. Consider the Revelation of the unfailing Love of God

A. Mal. 1:1 - I have loved you, saith the Lord.

I. Our English translation does not convey the tense of the Hebrew. We don't have a tense to express the original.

2. We should render the verse this way, I have loved you, I do love you and I will love you.

3. It is a declaration of the continuity of His love.

B. Malachi teaches us that nothing but the return of love can satisfy the heart of God.

1. We can go to church, make our offering, be regular in our attendance but if there is no real love in our heart then there is no communion with God.

2. When these people lost their love for God all the religious observances became a clanging cymbal.

3. James speaks of having the form of religion but with no power.

III. We also view the Strengths of the Believer in an Age of Failure (Mat. 3:16)

A. Their strength is mentioned in this verse - they thought on His name

1. The Hebrew word translated thought is elsewhere translated regard

2. When Paul wrote, if there be any virtue if there be any praise, think on these things.

3. The Greek word think is the same word used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word thought in Mal. 3:16

4. The Greek word means to take inventory - they were to take inventory of the wealth they had in His name.

B. All about them was formal religion devoid of reality.

1. But there was left to them the real value of life - they thought on His name.

2. Psalmist knew it - The Name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into and is set on high.

3. When the king has failed, the prophet is silent, the nations had declined, then let us think on the name.

4. Let us take inventory of the Name, let's count it our wealth. We need to take time to discover how rich we are.

IV. They Also Spoke to Each Other.

A. The King James says, They spoke often to one another. The word often is not in the original.

1. Sometimes it is possible to say less and say more

2. To say they spoke often means there were times when the fellowship was interrupted. There would be a pause and then they would commune again.

3. But the prophet is referring to unbroken, continuous constant fellowship with each other based on thought centered on the

name of Jehovah.

4. These people took inventory of the name and shared what they were learning of Him with each other.

B. Look what this produced - the Lord hearkened

1. The word hearkened presents the picture of a horse pricking up ifs ears at the sound of its masters voice.

2. It is only a figure of speech, but it conveys a rich thought.

3. The horse is arrested by a voice it knows

C. They spoke with one another and the Lord hearkened.

1. God was bending over to patiently listen to each and every word.

2. Think of it, God listening intently to us

3. Notice when God was listening - not when they spoke to Him, but when they spoke to each other. It is then the Lord bent over to listen.

4. It begins by thinking on His name and then fellow shipping with each other about that which we are learning.

D. God always attends to the conversation of those who are bound together by their loyalty to His Name.