This blog serves as an outreach for Pastor Randy Powell of the First Baptist Church of Franklin, PA. Feel free to ask questions or send me an e-mail at pastorpowell@hotmail.com
Following up on his explanation as to how God has loved his people, Malachi examines the way in which God's people have shown love, devotion, and honor to God in return, and the results are not good. The priests in Israel had been offering animals for sacrifices with significant defects, in violation of the Law of Moses. The implications of this violation are very serious, not only is it a sign of great disrespect for God, it will also result in sacrifices which are not accepted by God, causing a rift to develop between God and his people.
Now that Christ has fulfilled the sacrificial system, the equivalent of Malachi's warning for the Church age is the ongoing need for God's people to show respect and gratitude to God by giving God acceptable offerings of love, worship, prayer, and service, offerings that reflect our best not our leftovers.
The last of the prophets before the 400 years of silence preceding John the Baptist, Malachi brings a message to the people of Israel reminding them of their covenant obligations. The Word of the LORD through Malachi begins with a hypothetical conversation between God and his people in which the people question the validity of God's statement of love for his people. In response, God replies with, "I have loved Jacob, but Esau I hated". The use of the example of Jacob and Esau, Abraham's twin grandsons, serves as a stark reminder of the nature of the relationship between God and his people, for it is a relationship founded entirely upon grace. Esau was the older brother, but God chose to make Jacob the heir of Abraham's promise, before the boys were even born. It was not a question of which brother was superior, for Esau displayed greater character than Jacob, but of the choice of God. Because God's love is an act of grace, not obligation, those who receive it have no basis to demand anything of God, and ought to simply respond by praising the goodness of the Lord.
Having returned to Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul finds renewed controversy there as false rumors being spread about him have antagonized the Jewish Christian community against his work among the Gentiles. In response, James encourages Paul to make a public demonstration of his own ongoing personal commitment to the Law of Moses by sponsoring the completion of the Nazarite vows of several of his fellow Jewish Christians. Despite having done nothing wrong, Paul accepts this advice and takes on the sponsorship expense in order to foster peace within the Church. In the end, it will be a futile attempt, as fresh lies against Paul will result in his arrest, but the willingness of Paul to act as a peacemaker is an example of the humility required of a servant of the kingdom, and of the sacrifices that may prove necessary to preserve unity within the Church.
