Malachi : Conclusion
We bring our study to an end by looking at the qualities and attributes of God as displayed in His rebukes aimed directly at the Levitical priesthood, and His warnings to the royal priesthood that is His Church!
1. His absolute Sovereignty : “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. “
There is no dancing away from this by saying, Oh no, that was based on His perfect foreknowledge of what they would do…. He will have compassion on those He has compassion, and He will show mercy to those He desires to save! No one can stay His Hand, or ask Him, what are you doing?
2. His zeal for His own Glory : — “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, —-My name will be great—- among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts. You are profaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’
This is the key to understanding everything He does —— it is to justly display the wonders of His Glory!
3. Covenant giver and keeper : —-He—- was the one that entered into a Covenant with Levi, and He abides faithful, though we break His Covenant by committing adultery with other gods.
4. His Holiness expressed in His Judgment against sinners. “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”
He is a Holy God, and His ways are not our ways…. His perfect justice demands payment for every wrong committed and He can no more overlook them than He can tolerate sin in Himself! He does not change, ever, and that should give us pause….. if you do not have a sacrifice for your sin, you will be thrown in prison, and not come out till your debt has been discharged !
5. Provider of our daily bread. “ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.
6. He sees the end from the beginning and He has a plan. “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day —-which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.
Fulfilled prophecy is the hallmark of a God who is firmly in control of the future. Who else can predict with accuracy the fates of seven empires and their end with 10 kings?
7. Lawgiver. “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. “
Our series on the Law will be an eye opener for those who think it is no longer valid in todays day and age. You can find it from the ( pinned ) first post on this Page.
The Law is STILL a benchmark for us, and we priests should be intimately familiar with it if we are to serve Him with excellence!
Hallelujah!