Malachi ( I’m going to give you most of this one…it’s
that important!)
It is nearly impossible to look at the Book
of Malachi and not talk about tithing. But, what this book is really about is
“attitude.” The question to be asked is; “What was the people’s attitude toward
God?” The reason is because their attitude toward God would be reflected in
their responsibilities toward the temple, or in today’s case; the church and
toward one another. This in turn would either promote or hinder the development
of the Kingdom of God. You could say that this is God’s way of leading us into
the New Testament that would be all about the church and Kingdom people. So,
let’s look at some verses to begin with and see what their attitude was;
Read - 1:6-8… (Where is the honor? Where is the respect?) To describe their
attitude in a word I would say - “Contempt.”)
How did they show
contempt? What do blind, crippled, and
diseased animals represent? What does God expect?
Read verse 13-14 They were
thinking “What a burden.” Should God
accept their offering and bless them?
What do you think? (One thing we
need to remember is that we are talking about attitude.)
Read 2:1-9 …He turns his
attention to the priests; (Who would he be talking to today?)
Another problem is found in
verse 11 – this is the problem Ezra and Nehemiah had to deal with.
Also - 13-16…God hates
divorce, but is divorce the unforgivable sin? (No)
Author Comment - In Matthew
5:31-32 Jesus said: “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his
wife must give her a certificate of divorce. ‘But I tell you that anyone who
divorces his wife, except for marital
unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries
the divorced woman commits adultery.” So, define “marital unfaithfulness”… I
believe it encompasses a lot of things. If one fails to uphold any part of the
marriage vow, it is unfaithfulness. The first part of the vow is: “I take you
______ to be my wedded (wife or husband). I promise to love, honor…etc. Now if
you go to 1st Corinthians 13 you can read about God’s definition of
love…If you love someone you do not abuse them physically or verbally; you do
not dishonor nor disrespect them. If you do, you have broken the first promise
of the marriage covenant. To me it is marital unfaithfulness.
Jump to 3:14-15 “It is futile” - In other words, we do what
we think is right, but there is no blessing; it seems things just get worse.
Not only that but the rich get richer and the world calls them “blessed” and
“prosperous” and even though they challenge God, they seem to escape …it’s an
attitude of injustice.
Go to 1:10
and 2:1-2 and
3:8-9 … ( “under a curse” ) I don’t know about you, but that bothers
me! I don’t like to think of being under
a curse; especially by God! Again,
remember we are talking about attitudes.
Question; How many think that
God is just kidding, raise your hand?
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