Reference: Malachi
American
The last of the minor prophets, and of all the Old Testament writers; so little known, that it is doubted by some, though without sufficient reason, whether his name be a proper name, or only a generical one, signifying the angel of the Lord that is, a messenger, a prophet, Hag 1:13; Mal 3:1. Malachi most probably prophesied about B. C. 416, in the latter part of the administration of Negemiag, and after Haggai and Zechariah, at a time of great disorder among the priests and people of Judah, whom her reproves. He inveighs against the priests; reproves the people for having taken strange wives, for inhumanity to their brethren, for divorcing their wives, and for neglect of paying tithes and first fruits. He seems to allude to the covenant that Nehemiah renewed with the lord, together with the priests and chief of the nation. In the latter part he foretells the coming of John the Baptist in the spirit and power of Elijah, Mal 3:1; 4:5-6; Mt 11:10,14; 17:10-13; Lu 1:17. He also foretells the two-fold coming of Christ, and the blessedness of those who fear and serve him. Thus the Old Testament closes with Predictions of the Messiah, and the New Testament opens with the record of their fulfillment.
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Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke the Lord's word to the people: "I am with you!" says the Lord.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment."
This is the one about whom it is written: 'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.
The disciples asked him, "Why then do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?" He answered, "Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things. read more. And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.
And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."
Easton
messenger or angel, the last of the minor prophets, and the writer of the last book of the Old Testament canon (Mal 4:4-5,6). Nothing is known of him beyond what is contained in his book of prophecies. Some have supposed that the name is simply a title descriptive of his character as a messenger of Jehovah, and not a proper name. There is reason, however, to conclude that Malachi was the ordinary name of the prophet.
He was contemporary with Nehemiah (comp. Mal 2:8 with Ne 13:15; Mal 2:10-16 with Ne 13:23). No allusion is made to him by Ezra, and he does not mention the restoration of the temple, and hence it is inferred that he prophesied after Haggai and Zechariah, and when the temple services were still in existence (Mal 1:10; 3:1,10). It is probable that he delivered his prophecies about B.C. 420, after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia (Ne 13:6), or possibly before his return.
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During all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time I had requested leave of the king,
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on the day that they sold these provisions.
Also in those days I saw the men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
"I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you," says the Lord who rules over all, "and I will no longer accept an offering from you.
You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi," says the Lord who rules over all.
Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! read more. May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all! You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. Yet you ask, "Why?" The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and the one who is guilty of violence," says the Lord who rules over all. "Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful."
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
"Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. read more. He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment."
Fausets
("messenger of Jah"), or Jehovah; contracted for Malachijah, as Abi for Abijah (2Ki 18:2; compare 2Ch 29:1). The name is that of an office rather than of a person; it occurs in the sense "My (Jehovah's) messenger" (Mal 3:1, compare Hag 1:13). Malachi was Jehovah's last inspired messenger of Old Testament, announcing the advent of the great Messenger of New Testament; the transition link between the two dispensations, "the skirt and boundary of Christianity," to which is due his abrupt earnestness. Not identical with Ezra, as Chaldee paraphrase represents, for Malachi is never called a scribe, always a prophet, but Ezra always a scribe, never a prophet.
The analogy of the headings of the other prophets favors the view that Malachi is a proper name. He supported or followed up the governor Nehemiah in the restoration of the national polity civil and religious, as Haggai and Zechariah previously had supported Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the civil governor in building the temple, Malachi (Zec 1:10; 3) presupposes the temple already built. Like Nehemiah (Ne 13:5,15-30) he censures the secular and mercenary spirit of the priests (Mal 1:10; 2:14-16; 3:8-10); the people's marriages with foreigners; the non-payment of the tithes (Nehemiah states the cause, the high priest's alliance with Tobiah the Ammonite and Sanballat); and the rich men's want of sympathy toward the poor. Nehemiah (Ne 6:7) implies that "prophets" supported him, by his desire, in his reformation.
DATE. About 420 B.C. or later will be about the date, from the above facts. Thus kingly (Zerubbabel and Nehemiah), priestly (Joshua and Ezra), and prophetic men (Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi) headed God's people at the earlier and the later stage in the restoration of Jerusalem. The former period was that of building the temple, the later that of restoring the polity and rebuilding the city. The rebuilding of the temple was the theocratic people's first care; the political restoration was secondary. A small colony of 50,000 settled with Joshua and Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:64). These became intermingled with the pagan during the 60 years that elapsed before Ezra (Ezr 9:6-15; Ne 1:3); "the remnant ... left in the province are in great affliction and reproach, the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates burned with fire."
A second restoration was therefore needed, to mold the national life into Jewish form, by reestablishing the holy law and the city. This was the work of Ezra and Nehemiah with the aid of Malachi in about 50 years, ending with the death of Malachi and Nehemiah, at the close of the fifth century B.C. Hence, the "seven weeks" (49 or 50 years) stand by themselves at the beginning of the foretold "seventy weeks" (Da 9:25), to mark the fundamental difference between them, as the last period of Old Testament revelation, and the 62 weeks of years that follow without revelation, preceding the final week standing out by itself in unrivaled dignity as Messiah's week. The 70 weeks begin with Artaxerxes' seventh year, 457 B.C., when he allowed Ezra (Ezr 7:1,6) to go to Jerusalem in accordance with the commandment which then went forth from God.
Ezra the priest purified the nation from within of pagan elements and restored the law; Nehemiah did the outer work of rebuilding the city and restoring the national polity (Auberlen). The time following Nehemiah's second return to Jerusalem from Persia (subsequently to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, Ne 13:6) is the probable date of Malachi's prophecies, about 420 B.C. Socrates at Athens was at about the same time awakening that corrupt city to self examination. The Jews were now in Jerusalem (Mal 2:11); the Persian "governor" (pechah, pasha'; Mal 1:8) was there, the altar (Mal 1:7) and temple rebuilt (Mal 2:13; 3:1), the sacrifices and feasts celebrated (Mal 1:13-14; 2:3).
Nehemiah bore this very title (pechah, Ne 5:14; 12:26), and its equivalent "tirshatha" (Ne 8:9; 10:1; 7:65; Ezr 2:63), the prefect of a province less extensive than a satrapy. It is curious that Malachi is not mentioned in Nehemiah nor Nehemiah in Malachi. But the same evils are sought to be remedied by both: see above; also compare Mal 2:8, "ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts," with Ne 13:29, "they have defiled the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites." Thus the closing chapter of Old Testament history is the key of the last of Old Testament prophecy.
DIVISIONS.
I. The first two chapters are mainly expostulation;
II. the last two mainly prediction.
(1) Charge against Israel for insensibility to God's love, which so distinguished Israel above Edom (Mal 1:1-5).
(2) Against the priests for contemptible offerings, profaning instead of honoring their Master and their Father, unlike Levi of old, who walked with God in a covenant of life and peace, turning many from iniquity, whereas they departed out of the way and caused others to stumble; therefore God will send a curse upon them, making them contemptible, even as they contemned and failed to give glory to His name (Mal 1:6-2:9).
(3) Reproof of the wrong done to Jewish wives by the foreign marriages. Jehovah being the one common Father of all Israel, putting away an Israelite wife for a foreigner is a wrong done to a sister of the same family (Mal 2:10-16). Explain Mal 2:15; "did not He (God) make us Israelites one? Yet He had the residue of the Spirit (namely, an inexhaustible fullness of the Spirit for the rest of the world, but that was to be given them by God's first choosing out, one godly seed). And wherefore did He make us the one people? That He might seek a seed of God," to be the repository of the covenant, the stock for Messiah, the witness for God against surrounding polytheism. Repudiation of Jewish wives for foreigners set aside this, God's, design.
II.
(4) In answer to their cavil, "where is the God of judgment?" Messiah's forerunner, followed by the sudden coming of Jehovah Himself the Angel of the covenant (which they had despised) to His temple, is foretold (Mal 2:17-4:6). He shall on the one hand refine the sons of Levi, so that Judah's offering shall be pleasant unto Jehovah; on the other hand He shall be a swift witness against wrong doers, wherefore "return unto Me," instead of "robbing Me of tithes," "prove Me now herewith and I will pour you out a blessing," etc. But still they cavil at God's service bringing no "profit," while God's people commune together; so "the day of the Lord" cometh, consuming to the proud scorners, but with healing beams of the Sun of righteousness to fearers of God's name; ushered in by the forerunner Elijah, preaching a return to the law of Moses, and to the piety of Israel's forefathers, lest Jehovah come and smite the earth with a curse.
CANONICITY. Established by New Testament quotations (Mt 11:10; 17:12; Mr 1:2; 9:11-12; Lu 1:17; Ro 9:13). The "incense and pure offering from the rising to the setting of the sun" points on to the spiritual sacrifices of self devotion, prayer, and praise under the gospel, based on the once for all completed sacrifice of Messiah (Ps 141:2; Re 8:3; Heb 13:10,15-16; Ro 12:1; 1Pe 2:5,12); in every place (Joh 4:21-24; 1Ti 2:8). Style. Bold and abrupt, yet with the smoothness of a reasoner rather than a poet, at the same time modeled after the old prophets.
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He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.
Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
The governor instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim. The entire group numbered 42,360,
Now after these things had happened, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra came up from Babylon. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah,
This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
I prayed, "O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens. From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and priests, have been delivered over by the local kings to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment -- right up to the present time. read more. "But now briefly we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude. Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us to restore the temple of our God and to raise up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. "And now what are we able to say after this, our God? For we have forsaken your commandments which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: 'The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness. Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not take their daughters in marriage for your sons. Do not ever seek their peace or welfare, so that you may be strong and may eat the good of the land and may leave it as an inheritance for your children forever.' "Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this. Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant? O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt no one can really stand before you."
They said to me, "The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!"
From the day that I was appointed governor in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes -- twelve years in all -- neither I nor my relatives ate the food allotted to the governor.
You have also established prophets to announce in Jerusalem on your behalf, 'We have a king in Judah!' Now the king is going to hear about these rumors. So come on! Let's talk about this."
The governor instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.
Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priestly scribe, and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.
On the sealed documents were the following names: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, along with Zedekiah,
These all served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priestly scribe.
He made for himself a large storeroom where previously they had been keeping the grain offering, the incense, and the vessels, along with the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil as commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gate keepers, and the offering for the priests. During all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time I had requested leave of the king,
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on the day that they sold these provisions. The people from Tyre who lived there were bringing fish and all kinds of merchandise and were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah -- and in Jerusalem, of all places! read more. So I registered a complaint with the nobles of Judah, saying to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Isn't this the way your ancestors acted, causing our God to bring on them and on this city all this misfortune? And now you are causing even more wrath on Israel, profaning the Sabbath like this!" When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day. The traders and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. But I warned them and said, "Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!" From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath. Then I directed the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. For this please remember me, O my God, and have pity on me in keeping with your great love. Also in those days I saw the men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod (or the language of one of the other peoples mentioned) and were unable to speak the language of Judah. So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, "You will not marry off your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin! Should we then in your case hear that you do all this great evil, thereby being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign wives?" Now one of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I banished him from my sight. Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, and the Levites.
Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, and the Levites. So I purified them of everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to the priests and the Levites.
May you accept my prayer like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering!
So know and understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.
Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke the Lord's word to the people: "I am with you!" says the Lord.
Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said, "These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk about on the earth."
What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: "I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you say, "How have you shown love to us?" "Esau was Jacob's brother," the Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob read more. and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals." Edom says, "Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places." So the Lord who rules over all responds, "They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, 'May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!'"
You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, 'How have we offended you?' By treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance! For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them to your governor! Will he be pleased with you or show you favor?" asks the Lord who rules over all.
"I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you," says the Lord who rules over all, "and I will no longer accept an offering from you.
You also say, 'How tiresome it is.' You turn up your nose at it," says the Lord who rules over all, "and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?" asks the Lord. "There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the Lord who rules over all, "and my name is awesome among the nations."
I am about to discipline your children and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it.
You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi," says the Lord who rules over all.
Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god!
Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all! read more. You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you.
You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. Yet you ask, "Why?" The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.
Yet you ask, "Why?" The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.
No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.
No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and the one who is guilty of violence," says the Lord who rules over all. "Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful."
"I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and the one who is guilty of violence," says the Lord who rules over all. "Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful."
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and contributions! You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me -- this whole nation is guilty. read more. "Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
This is the one about whom it is written: 'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands."
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way,
Then they asked him, "Why do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?" He said to them, "Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised?
And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."
Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. read more. But a time is coming -- and now is here -- when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice -- alive, holy, and pleasing to God -- which is your reasonable service.
and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, because he has nothing evil to say about us.
We have an altar that those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat from.
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name. And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne.
Hastings
MALACHI
1. Author.
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"'Any tithe of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. If a man redeems part of his tithe, however, he must add one fifth to it. read more. All the tithe of herd or flock, everything which passes under the rod, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord. The owner must not examine the animals to distinguish between good and bad, and he must not exchange it. If, however, he does exchange it, both the original animal and its substitute will be holy. It must not be redeemed.'"
See, I have given the Levites all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform -- the service of the tent of meeting. No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin and die. read more. But the Levites must perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites have no inheritance. But I have given to the Levites for an inheritance the tithes of the Israelites that are offered to the Lord as a raised offering. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they are to have no inheritance." The Lord spoke to Moses: "You are to speak to the Levites, and you must tell them, 'When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you are to offer up from it as a raised offering to the Lord a tenth of the tithe. And your raised offering will be credited to you as though it were grain from the threshing floor or as new wine from the winepress. Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord's raised offering from it to Aaron the priest. From all your gifts you must offer up every raised offering due the Lord, from all the best of it, and the holiest part of it.' "Therefore you will say to them, 'When you offer up the best of it, then it will be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the winepress. And you may eat it in any place, you and your household, because it is your wages for your service in the tent of meeting. And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.'"
The Lord spoke to Moses: "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. read more. Therefore, announce: 'I am going to give to him my covenant of peace. So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites.'"
From the day that I was appointed governor in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes -- twelve years in all -- neither I nor my relatives ate the food allotted to the governor.
and I returned to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by supplying him with a storeroom in the courts of the temple of God.
On the first day of the sixth month of King Darius' second year, the Lord spoke this message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak:
Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke the Lord's word to the people: "I am with you!" says the Lord. So the Lord energized and encouraged Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the whole remnant of the people. They came and worked on the temple of their God, the Lord who rules over all.
What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi:
What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi:
What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: "I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you say, "How have you shown love to us?" "Esau was Jacob's brother," the Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob
"I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you say, "How have you shown love to us?" "Esau was Jacob's brother," the Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals." read more. Edom says, "Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places." So the Lord who rules over all responds, "They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, 'May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!'" "A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, 'How have we made light of your name?'
For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations," says the Lord who rules over all.
If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses -- indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.
Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant may continue to be with Levi," says the Lord who rules over all.
Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant may continue to be with Levi," says the Lord who rules over all. "My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me.
"My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me.
"Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your instruction." Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? read more. Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all! You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. Yet you ask, "Why?" The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.
You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" Because you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord's opinion, and he delights in them," or "Where is the God of justice?"
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
"I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me," says the Lord who rules over all. "Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished. read more. From the days of your ancestors you have ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord who rules over all. "But you say, 'How should we return?' Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and contributions! You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me -- this whole nation is guilty. "Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest," says the Lord who rules over all. read more. "All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land," says the Lord who rules over all. "You have criticized me sharply," says the Lord, "but you ask, 'How have we criticized you?'
"You have criticized me sharply," says the Lord, "but you ask, 'How have we criticized you?' You have said, 'It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? read more. So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!'" Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.
Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. "They will belong to me," says the Lord who rules over all, "in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. read more. Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.
Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.
Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.
Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.
"For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up," says the Lord who rules over all. "It will not leave even a root or branch.
"Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey.
"Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey.
He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment."
Morish
Mal'achi
The last of the minor prophets. Nothing is recorded of the prophet's personal history, he is named once only. He was prophet near the time of Nehemiah's return to the land, and the prophecy reveals the moral condition of the people. The first chapter, while it shows their insensibility, shows also the sovereign love of Jehovah to them, a love on which His purpose depended. When charged with their sins, they asked wherein had they sinned. The answer is that they brought to the Lord that which was torn, the lame, and the sick, and had offered polluted bread upon Jehovah's altar: in effect saying, "The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible." This brought judgement upon those who were insensible to what was due to the Lord. Yet Jehovah should be magnified beyond the border of Israel, and His name be great among the Gentiles.
Mal. 2. The priests who ought to have been guides to the people, are called to account. Judah had intimate fellowship with idolatry; had symbolically married the daughter of a strange god; and had associated this with the worship of Jehovah. Israel had also dealt treacherously with the wife of their youth: this was but the discovery of a treacherous principle in them. God hated putting away: notwithstanding all this, they were apathetic, and asked wherein had they wearied God.
Mal. 3 opens with the announcement of the Lord's messenger, which was fulfilled in John the Baptist. But the first coming of the Lord is here connected with His second coming, when He will sit as a refiner, and will purge away the dross, and then shall the sons of Levi offer an offering in righteousness.
God challenged the returned Jews to be faithful to Him, and they should have such a blessing that they would not have room enough to contain it. When called upon to return to Jehovah they are still unconscious of their condition, and ask, "Wherein shall we return?" and "Wherein have we robbed thee?" "What have we spoken so much against thee?" They had said it was in vain to serve the Lord; they had called the proud happy; the wicked were built up, and they that tempted God were delivered.
Yet God's purpose should stand: their land should be a delightsome land, and all nations should call them blessed. In the meantime the remnant are spoken of as those that feared the Lord and thought upon His name: they communed often one with another. God had a book of remembrance of such: they shall be remembered when the Lord of hosts makes up His jewels, and shall be spared when He comes in judgement.
Mal. 4. A day of great judgement is coming when the wicked shall be consumed. But to them that fear His name the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings (not the morning star here, as for the church). There will be judgement for the disobedient, as was indeed fully shown in the law at the beginning of the covenant with them.
But Elijah will come as Christ's forerunner, to call them to repentance before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. John the Baptist would have fulfilled this mission had they received him; but, except a few, they did not, and therefore when asked if he was Elias, he said, No. He fulfilled the prophecy in the first clause of Mal 3:1; but not that of Mal 4:5-6; the people did not repent. Elijah will still come. There will be judgement first, but great blessing in the end to those that are spared.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.
Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment."
Watsons
MALACHI, the last of the twelve minor prophets. Malachi prophesied about B.C. 400; and some traditionary accounts state that he was a native of Sapha, and of the tribe of Zebulun. He reproves the people for their wickedness, and the priests for their negligence in the discharge of their office; he threatens the disobedient with the judgments of God, and promises great rewards to the penitent and pious; he predicts the coming of Christ, and the preaching of John the Baptist; and with a solemnity becoming the last of the prophets, he closes the sacred canon with enjoining the strict observance of the Mosaic law, till the forerunner, already promised, should appear in the spirit of Elias, to introduce the Messiah, who was to establish a new and everlasting covenant.