The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Genesis 49:10
The last book of the OT is Malachi. Malachi, like so many prophets, called God’s straying people back. Even after the exile and the restoration, God’s people settled back into old habits. Bad habits. Very common habits. What were these habits?
(1) They were given to religious formalism. They were going through the motions, but without any real heart for God. The people called on the name of the Lord, but they didn’t reverence the name of the Lord. They gave the appearance of obeying God’s Law, but it was an external, no-heart obedience. It was an obedience that constantly looked for loopholes. Does that sound like any of us? “How much can I get away with and still be saved?”
(2) They had a low view of marriage and divorce. That is a serious error because from the beginning, marriage was intended by God to be a picture of the deep and heart-felt love relationship between Jesus and His people—(called His bride). To treat marriage lightly, to divorce for no good reason other than the people were just tired of each other and couldn’t get along—portrays the love relationship between Christ and His bride in an altogether incorrect fashion. Not to mention our culture’s current love affair with homosexuality, which completely distorts the picture—and marriage is never between two of the same sex in the Bible.
(3) The people became stingy in their giving. God actually said they were “robbing Him” by not tithing. God’s people are not to tithe because God needs our money. Correctly understood, tithing is an act of worship—giving to God a small portion of the money He has graciously given us. It is an act of faith, trusting that He will provide for us as we worship Him with our money.
Dear people, it isn’t enough to give a “nod to God” while practicing heartless religion that doesn’t affect the rest of our lives—including such important issues as marriage and what we do with our money. When God saves us, He saves us to be His—all His!
In addition, Malachi prophesied that a prophet like Elijah would precede the coming of the Deliverer, and that the Deliverer was coming. And then there was silence—for 400 years! We’ll see next time how God broke the silence…
From the time that the kingdom was divided until Jesus came was over 900 years. Many of those years were marked by evil, pain, and suffering. How was that part of God’s plan to create a people to whom He could demonstrate His love?
How better for God to demonstrate His love than to love the most unlovely?