As we turn to Malachi, we find a prophet who served after Haggai and Zechariah. Their calls to return to the LORD and to build the Temple had been partially heeded, as the Temple was rebuilt. However, the people’s hearts had not returned to the LORD. Malachi condemned the priests for their unfaithfulness, the people for their lack of true worship, for their injustice, and for their unwillingness to offer tithes to the LORD. Malachi refers to both John the Baptist and Jesus, calling them “messengers” of the LORD.
In Malachi 1, the LORD tells the people of Israel of His love for them and reminds them He loved Israel but hated or rejected Esau. Thus, the people needed to return to the LORD. The LORD rebukes the priests harshly for offering blemished animals to Him. He reminds them that a son offers allegiance to his father, and a servant to his master, but He is their father and master and they offer “blind” and “lame” sacrifices to Him. He asks them whether the governor would accept such offerings and calls them to repent.
In Malachi 2, the LORD continues to rebuke the priests for their failure to offer true worship. He tells them they will be humiliated and their offspring as well. He reminds them of His relationship with Levi, and how the priests were blessed in earlier times, because they honored that relationship. The LORD also rebukes Judah as a whole. One of the chief complaints the LORD offers is the men’s lack of commitment to their wives. He tells them He hates divorce and calls them to honor their commitments to the wives of their youth. As Malachi 2 closes we start to read about the LORD’s coming messenger. (Remember, the chapter and verse distinctions are artificial, so chapter three is a continuation of these closing verses.)
In Malachi 3, we read about the messenger of the LORD who will come and prepare His way. This is a prophecy about John the Baptist. We’re told the messenger will condemn the injustices practiced by the people and call them to faithfulness. In this chapter the LORD focuses on how the people have “robbed” Him. He even asks rhetorically, “How can a man rob God?” He answers His own question: In tithes and offerings. While we live after the time of Jesus, in an age of grace, not Law, the point here is so vital: Everything we have belongs to God. When we fail to recognize that and keep everything He has entrusted to us for ourselves we are robbing Him. We must be generous as He is generous. He tells the people to “test” Him. In so many places, God tells us not to test Him, but here He tells us to test His generosity and faithfulness. When we are faithful God is more so! The LORD tells the people, He will put the names of the faithful in a book of remembrance. What an amazing picture for us, and we know in the final book of the Bible, Revelation, we read of the Book of Life, where the names of the faithful are recorded. This book is also referred to in Daniel, so we can be sure of its reality.
In Malachi 4, the prophecy ends with a picture of the coming day of judgment. In that day the people will be separated into those who are faithful and those who are not. The LORD promises to send His messenger, who will be like Elijah, the final promise of the final prophet of the Old Testament is the message will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. He tells us if this does not happen it will usher in destruction. As we look around in our day, we see the need for this prophecy to be fulfilled. The hearts of many fathers and children are not toward each other. We must all repent of our part in that and move toward our children or parents as the case might be. We can only do that in the presence of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, but we must do it.
As we return to John 12, the chapter begins with Jesus being anointed by Mary, Lazarus’ sister. Some in the group, led by Judas Iscariot complained about the “waste” of money, because the ointment Mary used was costly, and the money it would have brought could have been used to feed the poor. On the face of it, the argument seems sound. But Jesus proclaimed Mary’s act was the generous one, because it showed her deep love for Him. We must never let our desire to do the expedient thing in Jesus’ name, overcome our desire to do the loving thing. Following this, Jesus marches triumphantly into Jerusalem, and is recognized for who He is: The King of kings. The triumph is short-lived as more bickering erupts between Jesus and the religious leaders and people. They still don’t understand who Jesus is, and when He tells them He must be “lifted up” i.e. crucified, they respond with their theology that the Messiah must remain forever. In the end, Jesus tells them He came to save the world, not to judge it. The distinction He makes is powerful: The word will judge the people, not Him. In other words, when we know the truth and reject it, we are judged by our response to the truth. Jesus came to offer us a saving relationship with Him, and when we do, we move from darkness to light. How vital it is for us to take that step, because unless we do, we will face the judgment we brought on ourselves for that failure, when we face Jesus at the end of our earthly lives.