King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023
Chapters: THE BOOK OF MALACHI
Message: What is Acceptable to God
Hello My Friend,
This passage came to mind as I was reading the chapters for today, [2 Corinthians 5:8-11 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.]
Since we are all sinners, even those who are saved will face judgment for how they lived their lives after they received Christ as their Saviour. While we will not receive the same judgment as those who are not saved, every knee will bow before Him as then we will fully understand just what Christ did for us. Now, I always say that since we will not see hell that our judgment takes place while we are here should we continue to live in sin, and there is plenty of Scripture to prove that, [Isaiah 45:22-23 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.]
The Book of Malachi contains four chapters, the author is Malachi, and it was written to Israel. The timeline for these events took place approximately between 440BC and 410BC. The purpose of the book was to call Israel to repentance and return to righteousness in order to restore the nation, with great emphasis on the Levites. What we are to learn from the book is that God only accepts the sacrifices (offerings) of those who love Him wholeheartedly, [Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.]
When the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon they did not expect it to be in ruin, and even though the temple had been rebuilt, the walls restored, and city was being restored nothing was changing. The labor was hard, but the wages were meager, the sewing was much, but the reaping was little. They began questioning God, in which God responds by sending Malachi, the last prophet to speak out about God for four hundred years. He first reminds them that He loves them.
[Malachi 1:1-5 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. 4 Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever. 5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.]
[yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau,] Why did God hate Esau? While much of it has to do with him selling his birthright to Jacob for a mere bowl of soup, it goes beyond that. Esau, mocked God by giving up his birthright so easily, in fact it showed that he despised his birthright. In God’s eyes that meant that he despised Him and therefore, He returned the gesture. God, will not be mocked, whether we are saved or not, we will reap what we sew, [Galatians 6:7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.]
Now, that God reminded them of His love for them, He turns to the reason why they were sewing so much, but reaping so little. First, He addresses the priests themselves, these were the ones who were supposed to be laboring for Him and in return He would provide for them. They were doing the work, but it was spotty and halfhearted and therefore, God goes on to tell them why He does not accept their offering.
[Malachi 1:7-8,10-12 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.]
[my name shall be great among the Gentiles; But ye have profaned it,] This would be the first time that we learn of God revealing that the Gentiles will start worshiping Him over the Jews. Now, there were some Jews that believed that Christ is the Messiah and gladly accepted Him, but very few have and it will remain that way until He returns, [Luke 21:24,27-28 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.]
You see, two things were going on here, not only were the priests offering their halfhearted offerings, they were not consecrating themselves or keeping themselves out of sin, and accepting the sacrifices. God, goes on to not only rebuke the priests, but let them know that their brethren were more righteous than they were.
[Malachi 2:1-5,7-8 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. 4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. 5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.]
[O ye priests, this commandment is for you.] One can conclude that God is also speaking to the preachers and teachers of today who make themselves look good on the outside, but have more sin in their lives than their brothers and sisters in Christ. Again, God will not be mocked, in fact, Jesus points out this out as well, [Matthew 23:24-26 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.]
[ye have caused many to stumble at the law;] The congregation looks to the preachers and teachers of the Church to guide them in the right direction, naturally, if they are living in sin, then the congregation will follow as well. It does not matter if we commit sin out of ignorance, it is still sin, and now, God goes on to address Judah for their stumbling at the Law.
[Malachi 2:11-13,17 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. 12 The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts. 13 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. 17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?]
[insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more,] Sadly, we too can just be going with the motions of serving God without even thinking about it in so much that it becomes routine rather than with our heart. God, will not accept any offering if it is not given wholeheartedly, [Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.]
[Ye have wearied the LORD with your words.] Wow! In other words, talk is cheap. They were not only condoning those who were living in sin, they were telling them that God approved of what they were doing. Jesus, Himself said to those whom He redeemed that were caught in sin to sin no more, [John 8:10-11 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.]
Men and women of God should be knowledgeable in the things of God and seek to know and teach them everywhere they go. The Jews were not use to that, in fact, Ezra, was the first person to read the Law to anyone for ages. If I am not mistaken, Josiah, was the last person who had the Law read to them, [2 Kings 22:10-11 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.]. Through Malachi, God, reveals the messenger who will teach believers in the way that they should go. As you read it you will discover that this is actually Jesus speaking.
[Malachi 3:1-4 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.]
[Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant] The tithes and offerings, the services and duties of the whole Christian church will be pleasant and well pleasing to Him when they are solely given to Christ. Unless they know Christ as their Saviour, He does not know them and therefore, they will not be accepted, [Luke 13:26-27 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.]
The messenger of course, is none other than John, the Baptist, he would be the first prophet to speak to them about the coming of Christ in those four hundred years of silence. God, also used John to purify the Levites of their sin, and I believe this went all the way back to Aaron and the golden calf. God, had specifically chosen the Levites for the work of His ministry, of whom John was born of, but only sanctified high priest’s were permitted to present the sacrifices of the people to God. This opened the door for Jesus, who descended here in the flesh through Judah to be able to not only present the offering as the high priest, but be the offering as well. God, never changes, what He believes and taught from the very beginning is the very same thing that He teaches us today. He goes on to remind the Jews and all of us of that fact and to point out that He is being robbed.
[Malachi 3:6-11 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.]
[for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.] We have surely made a mess of things, and this goes beyond robbing God financially of tithes and offerings, we have robbed Him of the very thing that He truly longs for, and is not money, it is our fear of Him. It is like Jesus said, [Matthew 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.]
We really do need preachers and teachers who are knowledgeable of God’s Word to help us as we are reading and studying it ourselves. God’s children, those who believe in and receive Him, are the only ones able to discern His Word as He reveals it to them through the Holy Spirit. God’s children are not just any children by the way, all mankind is a creation of God, but only those whom have His Spirit upon them are His children and their actually have their names written in a book, which God refers to as the book of remembrance.
[Malachi 3:14-18 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. 16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.]
[Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another…a book of remembrance was written before him for them] Jesus, is the only one with the key that opens the book that contains the names of every saved soul in it from Adam. If you wonder how a soul that did not actually accept Christ before His passion has their names written in the book as well, it is because they lived by the same faith. In fact, when the Bible talks about graves opening when Jesus arose from the dead and people ascending up to heaven, it was all the souls that were in what is called paradise, went up there with Him, [Matthew 27:51-53 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.]
By the way, more precious to God than any jewels on the earth are the souls of man, which is why He made one way for all who truly want Him in their lives to be saved. Through Malachi, God, reminds them of the day that all the earth will be gone and why the only ones to survive will be His jewels.
[Malachi 4:1-3,5-6 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.]
[But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing] What does the Sun of righteousness heal us from? Christ, who is our righteousness, heals our dead souls with life upon it through our faith in Him. He also heals our body, even if we are in pain right now, one day, we will be in pain no more, [Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.]
[I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming] This is also speaking of John the Baptist, he had a particular message, the coming of Christ. Many of the Jews questioned if Jesus was in fact Elijah, even Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was, but those who truly believe will know who Christ is, and will accept Him without a doubt, [Matthew 16:14-17 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for giving us the one perfect sacrifice that will redeem our souls forever. We can live in such a way that our limitations define us and guide us in all that we think, do, and say to the point that we do not give You our very best. Lord, we recognize the true freedom that comes when You accomplish Your will in our lives as when we humbly serve You with the very best of our abilities. The constraints we place on ourselves can be lifted by the power of Your Holy Spirit as we wholeheartedly devote ourselves to You and Your service. When we give You our very best, that is when You give us Yours. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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