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Monday
Malachi 1:1-5
This week we will meditate on the Book of Malachi. Malachi, the last recorded writings of the prophets of the Old Testament, was written around 430 BC. The Jews had been taken captive by the Babylonians around 588 BC. After seventy years of captivity, King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland.
By the time Malachi was a prophet in Israel, the Temple and walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt and the Israelites were comfortably resettled in their land for over 80 years. With their comfort came complacency and deterioration in their religious practices. Both the priests and the people were now treating God with contempt by neglecting to follow His laws. Malachi brings warnings of God’s judgment against Israel and of His blessings if they obey Him and of His ultimate blessing in the coming of the Messiah.
Malachi begins by affirming God’s love for Israel (1:2). God deliberately chose Jacob, the father of Israel, over his brother Esau. This was God’s sovereign choice. Jacob did nothing to earn or deserve this selection; it was totally out of God’s grace. God begins His admonitions against Israel by first reminding them of the undeserved love He has extended to them. This is the approach of a wise father who affirms his love for his children before he disciplines them. Discipline is to be given out of love, not anger or vengeance. The father continues to love his children even though they have disobeyed him.
God’s love for Israel will result in the world admiring the greatness of God (1:5): “Then all the nations will call you blessed” (3:12). The impact of God’s love results in even the world praising Him.
Questions
How has God’s love for you impacted you?
Haiti/Three Angels Children’s Orphanage
Please pray for the nation of Haiti as they navigate through the political challenges and social unrest in the wake of the recent assassination of Haiti’s president. Pray for God’s peace to reign over Haiti.
Tuesday
Malachi 1:6-14
God says to the priests of Israel, “You … show contempt for my name” (1:6). God is not given the basic honor that ordinary humans give to their fathers and masters. Our offerings should be appropriate to who God is: “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun (v. 11) … my name is to be feared among the nations” (v. 14). God the Almighty deserves the best. This is who God is; yet Israel treated God like a host serving scraps to important honored guests.
Israel’s offenses against God are spelled out in detail. They are offering blind, crippled, and diseased animals to God (v. 8). They are regularly coming to God in worship, but the quality of their offerings shows their contempt to who God is.
Could we be just like Israel? Some distractions interfere with my giving full attention to worshipping the Lord during Sunday worship: Sometimes my mind is cluttered with my plans for the rest of the day. During the worship I might notice the clothing or hairstyle of another person. Instead of focusing on the words of the worship songs, I might be distracted by the musicians’ musical abilities or the choice of songs. I might be tired and not able to fully concentrate on the sermon. I might be there for impure motives, such as out of duty, out of habit,
to please others, or to meet others rather than out of love for the Lord. My motive might be half-hearted, singing half-heartedly; not fully focusing on the words of the prayers, Scripture readings, or sermon. This way of worshipping is like offering sick animals to God, treating Him with contempt.
Questions
God the Almighty deserves the very best in our worship. What does your attitude during Sunday worship reveal about your feelings toward God?
Haiti/Three Angels Children’s Orphanage
Please lift up Glenkirk’s partner Three Angels in your prayers as they make critical decision in this initial period of uncertainty. Pray for continued protection over their location and facilities and that the Lord would provide for all their needs.
Wednesday
Malachi 2:1-16
God gives a warning of judgment against the priest and people: “If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name … I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me” (2:2).
God takes sin very seriously. The sins of the fathers will affect many future generations. “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants” (v. 3). Our sins have a serious detrimental effect on others. They “have caused many to stumble” (v. 8). Marriage to non-believers is a great offense in God’s eyes. It is described as “desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves” (v. 11). Our culture takes divorce very lightly while God says, “I hate divorce” (v. 16).
In contrast to God’s weighty view of sin, we tend to take sin casually. We compare ourselves with the worst sinners and see ourselves as “good” people. We need to see sin from God’s point of view. God sees our evil thoughts as sin. When we neglect to do good, it is sin. “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 5:45). When we fail to give thanks or neglect to worship God, it is sin. Even the best deeds that we do are tainted with sin. “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Therefore, in God’s eyes the sins of “good people” are just as grave
as those of “bad people.” We are all lost sinners desperately in need of God’s forgiving love.
Questions
God loves us so much that even though we were flooded with sin, Christ died for us. What is your response to such overwhelming love that God has poured out on you?
Haiti/Three Angels Children’s Orphanage
Pray that Three Angels would be able to care for all those under their supervision, including the children at the orphanage and academy, as well as their staff and caretakers. Please pray that the Lord would give strength to all of Three Angels’ staff as many of them are on 24/7 care.
Thursday
Malachi 2:17—4:6
In Malachi’s time there was no fear of God in Israel. The people were saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD” (2:17). “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17). “It is futile to serve God” (3:14). “We call the arrogant blessed” (3:15). “The evildoers prosper” (3:15). “Those who challenge God escape” (3:15). Morals were perverted; the right was wrong and the wrong right. Their consciences were seared as with a hot iron. They thought that God’s judgment would never come.
Malachi reminds Israel that God’s judgment is certain. The LORD will come as a refining fire (3:1-3). He will judge the evildoers (3:5). The day is coming when the evildoer will be punished with fire (4:1). Whatever Israel sows, they will reap. There will be a day when the “Grim Reaper” will come.
Malachi’s description of Israel during his time fits our American society today. Today, we see godliness ridiculed and evil celebrated. As God’s judgment fell upon Israel with certainty, so the day will come when the same will happen to the U.S. Whatever we sow, we shall also reap.
How should we as Christian respond to God’s inevitable coming judgment upon the U.S.? Do we sit back and say, “Let God’s judgment fall upon all these evil people! They all deserve it! Come on, God, pour out your wrath upon them all!” Or do we pray for revival and for God turning the hearts of people back to God?
The American people need to hear the good news that “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (4:2). “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (4:6).
Questions
What is to be your part in sharing this good news?
Haiti/Three Angels Children’s Orphanage
Please pray for Three Angel’s new guest house managers. They run multiple operations within Three Angels and are locked down with two children. Pray that they would navigate these challenges well in light of the political turmoil and outbreaks of Covid-19.
Friday
Malachi 3:6—4:6
God in His grace provides a way to escape His judgment. Because of His unchanging grace, Israel is spared: “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed” (3:6). Even though Israel has continually disobeyed God over the long term—“Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them” (3:7)—God’s everlasting love for Israel does not change. Therefore, in spite of Israel’s severe disobedience, God says, “Return to me, and I will return to you” (3:7). God’s grace is so awesome.
Next, God provides the way by which Israel is to return to God. Israel can regain a right relationship with God by obeying Him through the giving of the whole tithe. As Israel obeys God, He will pour out on them His blessings with such an abundance that “all the nations will call you blessed” (3:10-12). God’s outpouring of love on Israel will be so great that the whole world will marvel at His favor upon Israel.
Israel’s obedience to God is encapsulated in the tithe. The tithe is a reflection of one’s love and devotion to the Lord. Therefore, God takes the tithe very seriously; He considers absence of tithing as robbing God.
Many tend to look at tithing as something minor, a small thing. In many churches the word “tithe” is hardly mentioned. Yet, God’s Word says that failure to tithe is robbing God. God takes tithing very seriously. Therefore, if tithing can be a reflection of one’s love and devotion to God, it is critical for one’s growth in the faith.
Questions
What does the proportion of your income that you give to the Lord say about your love and devotion to Him?
Haiti/Three Angels Children’s Orphanage
Please pray that many would turn to Jesus in this difficult time. Pray that those in Haiti would see their need for the Prince of Peace and seek to know Him. Pray that amidst the challenges of this time, Three Angels would be a light and a witness to the power of God and His kingdom.
