Malachi
Some people may not understand this, but Malachi is my favorite book of the Minor Prophets and one of my favorite books in the Bible. I think that the reason in twofold. I've preached and written about this book more than any of the other books that constitute the Minor Prophets. I also like Malachi because he is very direct. He tells it like it is. Much of what he has to say is very relevant to the times in which we live.
We don't now anything about the person who wrote this book. We aren't even sure that a person with the name Malachi wrote it. Malachi means "My Messenger". That could simply be a title for an unnamed person that God chose to bring His word to His people. Personally, I think that there was a person named Malachi.
We know from the book's content that the book was written after the completion of the new Temple after the people returned from exile. Most Bible scholars believe that the work was penned around 450 BC.
This work starts out in chapter one with God wanting to know why the people do not show Him the proper amount of respect. The people can't understand why God thinks that they do not respect Him. The Lord responds that one way that they are showing a lack of respect is due to the fact that they are bringing diseased and unsuitable animals for sacrifice. They would not serve the governor or an important person what was not the best, so why do they bring what is inferior as a sacrifice to the Lord?
God is the great King over the entire universe. By His word everything that is has come into being. The entire universe holds together due to His great power. He is definitely worthy of respect.
Sometimes, I think that in our modern world we are not showing God the proper respect that He deserves. The way people dress for church has become very lax. They doesn't seem to be much respect for the sanctuary as people are talking and making a lot of noise right before the services.
I believe that the greatest disrespect that we show to God is when we say that we are His followers, but we do not do the things that He has told us to do.
The Lord has Malachi list some of the things that the people were to do but weren't doing. One of the people's major offenses was divorce. According to Jesus, the only reason that divorce is allowed is due to infidelity. I also believe that the Bible teaches self-defense. So, if necessary a person can Biblically get a divorce in order to keep themselves or their children from harm.
Another thing that Malachi lists is that worker's are robbed of their pay. Christians should pay the best wages. They should pay living wages so that their employees can take care of their own needs and the needs of their families. Malachi also talks about treating immigrants in the right way.
I believe that it comes down to this. The main sin that Jesus came down on was hypocrisy. We need to practice what we preach. In that way, we are showing the proper respect and honor to God and not taking the name of the Lord in vain.
The book of Malachi closes with a prophecy. The Lord said that Elijah would come. This prophecy was fulfilled with John the Baptist. Jesus Himself said that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy. Once again, we see the Word of God proved to be correct in all that it says.
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