Reference: Malachi
American
The last of the minor prophets, and of all the Old Testament writers; so little known, that it is doubted by some, though without sufficient reason, whether his name be a proper name, or only a generical one, signifying the angel of the Lord that is, a messenger, a prophet, Hag 1:13; Mal 3:1. Malachi most probably prophesied about B. C. 416, in the latter part of the administration of Negemiag, and after Haggai and Zechariah, at a time of great disorder among the priests and people of Judah, whom her reproves. He inveighs against the priests; reproves the people for having taken strange wives, for inhumanity to their brethren, for divorcing their wives, and for neglect of paying tithes and first fruits. He seems to allude to the covenant that Nehemiah renewed with the lord, together with the priests and chief of the nation. In the latter part he foretells the coming of John the Baptist in the spirit and power of Elijah, Mal 3:1; 4:5-6; Mt 11:10,14; 17:10-13; Lu 1:17. He also foretells the two-fold coming of Christ, and the blessedness of those who fear and serve him. Thus the Old Testament closes with Predictions of the Messiah, and the New Testament opens with the record of their fulfillment.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with a special commission from the LORD: ""I am with you,' declares the LORD."
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Pay attention! I'm sending Elijah the prophet to you before the great and dreadful Day of the LORD comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I'll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it."
This is the man about whom it is written, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
So the disciples asked him, "Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He answered them, "Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things. read more. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, yet people did not recognize him and treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he had been speaking to them about John the Baptist.
He is the one who will go before the Lord with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and to prepare the people to be ready for the Lord."
Easton
messenger or angel, the last of the minor prophets, and the writer of the last book of the Old Testament canon (Mal 4:4-5,6). Nothing is known of him beyond what is contained in his book of prophecies. Some have supposed that the name is simply a title descriptive of his character as a messenger of Jehovah, and not a proper name. There is reason, however, to conclude that Malachi was the ordinary name of the prophet.
He was contemporary with Nehemiah (comp. Mal 2:8 with Ne 13:15; Mal 2:10-16 with Ne 13:23). No allusion is made to him by Ezra, and he does not mention the restoration of the temple, and hence it is inferred that he prophesied after Haggai and Zechariah, and when the temple services were still in existence (Mal 1:10; 3:1,10). It is probable that he delivered his prophecies about B.C. 420, after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia (Ne 13:6), or possibly before his return.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
During all of this time, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to the king in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon. After a while I obtained permission from the king
At that time I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in sacks of grain, loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads. They brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I rebuked them on the day on which they were selling food.
At that time I also noticed that Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
"Oh, that one of you would shut the Temple doors and not light useless fires on the altar! I'm not pleased with you," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I'll accept no offerings from you.
"But you priests turned aside from the way, and by your teaching you caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
Do we not have one father? Has not one God created us? Why does each of us act deceitfully, each man against his own brother, to profane the covenant of our ancestors? Judah has become unfaithful, and a detestable thing was committed in Israel and Jerusalem. Indeed, Judah profaned the Holy Place of the LORD, which he loves, and married a daughter of a foreign god. read more. May the LORD exclude from the community of Jacob any man who does this, whoever he may be, even though he brings offerings to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "This is another thing you do: you flood the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer pays attention to your offering nor takes pleasure in it from your hand. Yet you ask, "For what reason?' Because the LORD acts as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you were unfaithful to her, your partner, the wife of your covenant. Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. "Indeed, the LORD God of Israel says that he hates divorce, along with the one who conceals his violence by outward appearances," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "So guard yourselves carefully, and don't be unfaithful."
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. So put me to the test in this right now," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and see if I won't throw open the windows of heaven for you and pour out on you blessing without measure.
"Remember the Law of Moses my servant that I gave him at Horeb for all Israel both the decrees and laws. "Pay attention! I'm sending Elijah the prophet to you before the great and dreadful Day of the LORD comes, read more. and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I'll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it."
Fausets
("messenger of Jah"), or Jehovah; contracted for Malachijah, as Abi for Abijah (2Ki 18:2; compare 2Ch 29:1). The name is that of an office rather than of a person; it occurs in the sense "My (Jehovah's) messenger" (Mal 3:1, compare Hag 1:13). Malachi was Jehovah's last inspired messenger of Old Testament, announcing the advent of the great Messenger of New Testament; the transition link between the two dispensations, "the skirt and boundary of Christianity," to which is due his abrupt earnestness. Not identical with Ezra, as Chaldee paraphrase represents, for Malachi is never called a scribe, always a prophet, but Ezra always a scribe, never a prophet.
The analogy of the headings of the other prophets favors the view that Malachi is a proper name. He supported or followed up the governor Nehemiah in the restoration of the national polity civil and religious, as Haggai and Zechariah previously had supported Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the civil governor in building the temple, Malachi (Zec 1:10; 3) presupposes the temple already built. Like Nehemiah (Ne 13:5,15-30) he censures the secular and mercenary spirit of the priests (Mal 1:10; 2:14-16; 3:8-10); the people's marriages with foreigners; the non-payment of the tithes (Nehemiah states the cause, the high priest's alliance with Tobiah the Ammonite and Sanballat); and the rich men's want of sympathy toward the poor. Nehemiah (Ne 6:7) implies that "prophets" supported him, by his desire, in his reformation.
DATE. About 420 B.C. or later will be about the date, from the above facts. Thus kingly (Zerubbabel and Nehemiah), priestly (Joshua and Ezra), and prophetic men (Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi) headed God's people at the earlier and the later stage in the restoration of Jerusalem. The former period was that of building the temple, the later that of restoring the polity and rebuilding the city. The rebuilding of the temple was the theocratic people's first care; the political restoration was secondary. A small colony of 50,000 settled with Joshua and Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:64). These became intermingled with the pagan during the 60 years that elapsed before Ezra (Ezr 9:6-15; Ne 1:3); "the remnant ... left in the province are in great affliction and reproach, the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates burned with fire."
A second restoration was therefore needed, to mold the national life into Jewish form, by reestablishing the holy law and the city. This was the work of Ezra and Nehemiah with the aid of Malachi in about 50 years, ending with the death of Malachi and Nehemiah, at the close of the fifth century B.C. Hence, the "seven weeks" (49 or 50 years) stand by themselves at the beginning of the foretold "seventy weeks" (Da 9:25), to mark the fundamental difference between them, as the last period of Old Testament revelation, and the 62 weeks of years that follow without revelation, preceding the final week standing out by itself in unrivaled dignity as Messiah's week. The 70 weeks begin with Artaxerxes' seventh year, 457 B.C., when he allowed Ezra (Ezr 7:1,6) to go to Jerusalem in accordance with the commandment which then went forth from God.
Ezra the priest purified the nation from within of pagan elements and restored the law; Nehemiah did the outer work of rebuilding the city and restoring the national polity (Auberlen). The time following Nehemiah's second return to Jerusalem from Persia (subsequently to the 32nd year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, Ne 13:6) is the probable date of Malachi's prophecies, about 420 B.C. Socrates at Athens was at about the same time awakening that corrupt city to self examination. The Jews were now in Jerusalem (Mal 2:11); the Persian "governor" (pechah, pasha'; Mal 1:8) was there, the altar (Mal 1:7) and temple rebuilt (Mal 2:13; 3:1), the sacrifices and feasts celebrated (Mal 1:13-14; 2:3).
Nehemiah bore this very title (pechah, Ne 5:14; 12:26), and its equivalent "tirshatha" (Ne 8:9; 10:1; 7:65; Ezr 2:63), the prefect of a province less extensive than a satrapy. It is curious that Malachi is not mentioned in Nehemiah nor Nehemiah in Malachi. But the same evils are sought to be remedied by both: see above; also compare Mal 2:8, "ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts," with Ne 13:29, "they have defiled the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites." Thus the closing chapter of Old Testament history is the key of the last of Old Testament prophecy.
DIVISIONS.
I. The first two chapters are mainly expostulation;
II. the last two mainly prediction.
(1) Charge against Israel for insensibility to God's love, which so distinguished Israel above Edom (Mal 1:1-5).
(2) Against the priests for contemptible offerings, profaning instead of honoring their Master and their Father, unlike Levi of old, who walked with God in a covenant of life and peace, turning many from iniquity, whereas they departed out of the way and caused others to stumble; therefore God will send a curse upon them, making them contemptible, even as they contemned and failed to give glory to His name (Mal 1:6-2:9).
(3) Reproof of the wrong done to Jewish wives by the foreign marriages. Jehovah being the one common Father of all Israel, putting away an Israelite wife for a foreigner is a wrong done to a sister of the same family (Mal 2:10-16). Explain Mal 2:15; "did not He (God) make us Israelites one? Yet He had the residue of the Spirit (namely, an inexhaustible fullness of the Spirit for the rest of the world, but that was to be given them by God's first choosing out, one godly seed). And wherefore did He make us the one people? That He might seek a seed of God," to be the repository of the covenant, the stock for Messiah, the witness for God against surrounding polytheism. Repudiation of Jewish wives for foreigners set aside this, God's, design.
II.
(4) In answer to their cavil, "where is the God of judgment?" Messiah's forerunner, followed by the sudden coming of Jehovah Himself the Angel of the covenant (which they had despised) to His temple, is foretold (Mal 2:17-4:6). He shall on the one hand refine the sons of Levi, so that Judah's offering shall be pleasant unto Jehovah; on the other hand He shall be a swift witness against wrong doers, wherefore "return unto Me," instead of "robbing Me of tithes," "prove Me now herewith and I will pour you out a blessing," etc. But still they cavil at God's service bringing no "profit," while God's people commune together; so "the day of the Lord" cometh, consuming to the proud scorners, but with healing beams of the Sun of righteousness to fearers of God's name; ushered in by the forerunner Elijah, preaching a return to the law of Moses, and to the piety of Israel's forefathers, lest Jehovah come and smite the earth with a curse.
CANONICITY. Established by New Testament quotations (Mt 11:10; 17:12; Mr 1:2; 9:11-12; Lu 1:17; Ro 9:13). The "incense and pure offering from the rising to the setting of the sun" points on to the spiritual sacrifices of self devotion, prayer, and praise under the gospel, based on the once for all completed sacrifice of Messiah (Ps 141:2; Re 8:3; Heb 13:10,15-16; Ro 12:1; 1Pe 2:5,12); in every place (Joh 4:21-24; 1Ti 2:8). Style. Bold and abrupt, yet with the smoothness of a reasoner rather than a poet, at the same time modeled after the old prophets.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Zechariah's daughter Abi.
Hezekiah began his reign at the age of 25. He reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah, Zechariah's daughter.
Governor Zerubbabel also ruled that they shouldn't eat anything holy until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim. The entire assembly numbered 42,360,
After all of this, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Seraiah's son Ezra (who was the grandson of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,
left Babylon. He was a skillful scribe of the Law of Moses that the LORD God of Israel had given. And the king granted him everything he had requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
and said, "My God, I am too ashamed and hurt to turn to you, because we're in our iniquities over our heads. Furthermore, my God, our sins have grown as high as the heavens. We have lived in great sin from the days of our ancestors even until today, and because of those iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered over to foreign kings, for execution, for captivity, for plunder, and for humiliation, as is the case today. read more. Though now, for a moment, grace has been shown from the LORD our God, leaving a few survivors to escape, and providing us a secure hold in his Holy Place, so that our God might enlighten us and give us relief from our servitude. Even though we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. Instead, he has extended gracious love to us in the presence of the kings of Persia, to grant us revival, to set up the Temple of our God, to repair its damage, and to give us a protective wall for Judah and Jerusalem. Now, our God, what can we say besides this? Because we have abandoned your commandments that you gave in the writings of your servants, the prophets: "The land you are entering to possess is a morally unclean land due to the moral uncleanness of the nations of the lands along with their abominations that has filled it from one end to the other with their impurities. So, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor marry their daughters to your sons, and under no circumstances are you to seek their well-being or their wealth, so that you may remain strong, enjoying the best things the land has to give, and so that you may establish an inheritance for your children forever.' "After all that has happened to us because of our evil behavior, and because of our great sin considering that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us this deliverance should we violate your commandments by intermarrying with the nations who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us, with not even a remnant surviving to escape? LORD God of Israel, you are just: As a result, we remain here today delivered. Look at us! Because of our sin, we cannot stand in your presence as a result of everything that has happened."
They told me, "The survivors of the captivity there in the province are living in great distress and shame. Furthermore, the Jerusalem wall remains broken down and its gates have been burned by fire."
In addition, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah (that is, during the twelve years from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes), neither I nor my relatives relied on the provisions allotted to the governor.
It is reported among the nations and Gashmu confirms this that you and the Jews are planning a revolt, and that you're rebuilding the wall in order to declare yourself king. According to these reports, you also have appointed prophets to proclaim about you in Jerusalem, "There is a king in Judah!" Since these words are being reported to the king, come and let's meet together.
The governor ordered them not to eat anything holy until a priest would be installed with Urim and Thummim.
Because all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Law, Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the descendants of Levi who taught the people told everyone, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep."
Here is a list of those who signed: Hacaliah's son Nehemiah the governor, Zedekiah,
These were at the time of Jeshua's son Joiakim, the grandson of Jozadak, and in the time of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.
had prepared a great chamber for him, in the place where they used to place the grain offerings, incense, and vessels, along with the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil that was mandated for the descendants of Levi, the singers, the gate keepers, and the priests' offerings. During all of this time, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to the king in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon. After a while I obtained permission from the king
At that time I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in sacks of grain, loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads. They brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I rebuked them on the day on which they were selling food. Furthermore, Tyrians were living there who were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise, selling them to the people of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem. read more. I rebuked the officials of Judah, saying to them, "What's this evil thing that you're doing by profaning the Sabbath day? Didn't your ancestors do the same? And didn't our God bring on us and on this city all of this trouble? Now you're adding to the wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!" As the Sabbath approached and it began to get dark at the gates of Jerusalem, I gave word to shut the gates, charging that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I stationed some of my men at the gates to ensure that no loads would be brought in on the Sabbath day. As a result, the merchants and sellers of all sorts of goods remained outside Jerusalem a couple of times. I argued with them, "Why are you staying outside the wall? If you do this again, I'll arrest you." From that time on, they didn't come anymore on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the descendants of Levi to purify themselves and to come as gate keepers to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, my God, and show mercy to me according to the greatness of your gracious love. At that time I also noticed that Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Furthermore, their children spoke half of the time in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak in the language of Judah. Instead, they spoke in the languages of various nations. So I rebuked them, cursed them, struck some of their men, tore out their hair, and made them take this oath in the name of God: "You are not to give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Didn't Solomon, king of Israel, sin by doing these things, even though among many nations there was no king like him who was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel? Even so, foreign women caused him to sin. Should we listen to you and do all of this terrible evil by transgressing against our God to marry foreign wives?" One of the sons of Eliashib the high priest's son Joiada was a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me. Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the descendants of Levi.
Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the descendants of Levi. I purified them from everything foreign, arranged duties for the priests and the descendants of Levi, each to his task,
Let my prayer be like incense offered before you, and my uplifted hands like the evening sacrifice.
So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed Commander. The plaza and moat will be rebuilt, though in troubled times.
Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with a special commission from the LORD: ""I am with you,' declares the LORD."
The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, "These are the ones whom the LORD sent out to wander throughout the earth."
A declaration: a message from the LORD to Israel by Malachi. "I've loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, "How have you loved us?' read more. "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD, "yet I loved Jacob, hated Esau, turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to desert jackals. Even though Edom may claim, "We were crushed, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,' this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "They may rebuild, but I'll demolish. People will call them, "The Wicked Land,' and, "The People With Whom the LORD is Forever Angry.' Your own eyes will see this, and you will say, "Great is the LORD even beyond the borders of Israel!'"
By presenting defiled food on my altar. And you ask, "How have we defiled you?' By saying, "The Table of the LORD is contemptible.' When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Offer that to your governor would he be pleased with you or receive you favorably?" asks the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Oh, that one of you would shut the Temple doors and not light useless fires on the altar! I'm not pleased with you," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I'll accept no offerings from you.
"And you say, "What a burden!' and sniff contemptuously at it," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "when you present maimed, crippled, and diseased animals, and when you bring the offering. Should I accept this from your hand?" asks the LORD. "Cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock, and vows to give it, but sacrifices a mutilated one to the LORD. Indeed, I am a great king," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and my name is feared among the Gentiles."
Look! I'm rebuking your descendants because of you, and I'll spread waste on your faces, the waste of your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
"But you priests turned aside from the way, and by your teaching you caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
Do we not have one father? Has not one God created us? Why does each of us act deceitfully, each man against his own brother, to profane the covenant of our ancestors? Judah has become unfaithful, and a detestable thing was committed in Israel and Jerusalem. Indeed, Judah profaned the Holy Place of the LORD, which he loves, and married a daughter of a foreign god.
Judah has become unfaithful, and a detestable thing was committed in Israel and Jerusalem. Indeed, Judah profaned the Holy Place of the LORD, which he loves, and married a daughter of a foreign god. May the LORD exclude from the community of Jacob any man who does this, whoever he may be, even though he brings offerings to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. read more. "This is another thing you do: you flood the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer pays attention to your offering nor takes pleasure in it from your hand.
"This is another thing you do: you flood the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer pays attention to your offering nor takes pleasure in it from your hand. Yet you ask, "For what reason?' Because the LORD acts as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you were unfaithful to her, your partner, the wife of your covenant.
Yet you ask, "For what reason?' Because the LORD acts as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you were unfaithful to her, your partner, the wife of your covenant. Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. "Indeed, the LORD God of Israel says that he hates divorce, along with the one who conceals his violence by outward appearances," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "So guard yourselves carefully, and don't be unfaithful."
"Indeed, the LORD God of Israel says that he hates divorce, along with the one who conceals his violence by outward appearances," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "So guard yourselves carefully, and don't be unfaithful."
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Will a person rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you ask, "How are we robbing you?' "By the tithe and the offering. You are cursed under the curse the entire nation because you are robbing me! read more. "Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. So put me to the test in this right now," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and see if I won't throw open the windows of heaven for you and pour out on you blessing without measure.
This is the man about whom it is written, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
But I tell you that Elijah has already come, yet people did not recognize him and treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See! I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way.
So they asked him, "Don't the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He told them, "Elijah is indeed coming first and will restore all things. Why, then, is it written that the Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be treated shamefully?
He is the one who will go before the Lord with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and to prepare the people to be ready for the Lord."
Jesus told her, "Believe me, dear lady, the hour is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You don't know what you're worshiping. We Jews know what we're worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. read more. Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
So it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.
Use wholesome speech that cannot be condemned. Then any opponent will be ashamed because he cannot say anything bad about us.
We have an altar, and those who serve in the tent have no right to eat at it.
Therefore, through him let us always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to be generous, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Another angel came with a gold censer and stood at the altar. He was given a large quantity of incense to offer on the gold altar before the throne, along with the prayers of all the saints.
Hastings
MALACHI
1. Author.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Any tithes of the land from grain grown on the land or from fruit grown on the trees belong to the LORD. They are sacred to the LORD. But if a person wishes to redeem his tithe, he is to add a fifth to it. read more. All the tithes from cattle and flocks that pass under the measuring rod are sacred to the LORD. He is not to examine it to see if it's good or bad or even exchange it. If he does exchange it, what has been exchanged as well as its substitute is sacred. It is not to be redeemed."
As to the descendants of Levi, certainly I've given all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for their services that they perform at the Tent of Meeting. Therefore, the Israelis need no longer come to the Tent of Meeting, so they won't suffer the consequences of their sin and die. read more. The descendants of Levi are to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting and they are to bear their iniquity. This is to be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that they are not to receive an inheritance among the Israelis, because I've given to the descendants of Levi the tithes that the Israelis bring to the LORD as raised offering. Therefore I told them that, unlike the Israelis, they won't receive an inheritance." Then the LORD instructed Moses, "Tell the descendants of Levi that when they receive tithes from the Israelis (the tithes that I've given you from them as an inheritance), you are to offer a tenth of it as a raised offering for the LORD. Your raised offerings are to be accounted for you as though it were grain from threshing floors and full produce from wine vats. You are to offer a raised offering to the LORD from all your tithes that you receive from the Israelis. Give Aaron the priest the raised offering of the LORD out of all the most consecrated offerings that you receive, that is, all the raised offerings of the LORD, with all its best and the most holy parts of it. Tell them that when they bring the best from it, as far as the descendants of Levi are concerned, it is to be considered like produce from the threshing floors and wine vats. You and your household may eat it anywhere, because it's a reward to you in return for your services at the Tent of Meeting. You won't sin by offering the best of it, and you are not to profane the sacred things of the Israelis, so that you won't die."
The LORD told Moses, "Eleazar's son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from Israel. Because his zealousness reflected my own zeal for them, I didn't consume Israel in my jealousy. read more. Therefore, I'm certainly going to be giving him my covenant of peace, for him and for his descendants after him, too, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelis."
In addition, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah (that is, during the twelve years from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes), neither I nor my relatives relied on the provisions allotted to the governor.
to return to Jerusalem. I learned of the evil thing that Eliashib had done for Tobiah in furnishing him with a room in the courts of the Temple of God.
On the first day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of King Darius, this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Jehozadak's son Joshua, the high priest:
Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with a special commission from the LORD: ""I am with you,' declares the LORD." Then the LORD revitalized the spirit of Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, the spirit of Jehozadak's son Joshua the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so they came and began to work on the house of their God, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
A declaration: a message from the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
A declaration: a message from the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
A declaration: a message from the LORD to Israel by Malachi. "I've loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, "How have you loved us?'
"I've loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, "How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD, "yet I loved Jacob, hated Esau, turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to desert jackals. read more. Even though Edom may claim, "We were crushed, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,' this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "They may rebuild, but I'll demolish. People will call them, "The Wicked Land,' and, "The People With Whom the LORD is Forever Angry.' Your own eyes will see this, and you will say, "Great is the LORD even beyond the borders of Israel!'" "A son honors his father and a servant his master. So if I'm a father, where is my honor? And if I'm a master, where is my respect?" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies to you priests who are despising my name. "But you ask, "How have we despised your name?'
Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"If you don't listen, and if you don't choose to give honor to my name," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "then I'll curse both you and your blessings. I've even cursed them already, because none of you are taking it to heart.
"You will know that I sent this commandment to you in order to continue my covenant with Levi," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"You will know that I sent this commandment to you in order to continue my covenant with Levi," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "My covenant with him was for life and peace, and I gave the commandments to him so he would fear me. He did fear me as he stood in my presence.
"My covenant with him was for life and peace, and I gave the commandments to him so he would fear me. He did fear me as he stood in my presence.
"So I also made you despised, humiliating you before all of the people, because you aren't following my ways and are showing partiality when you teach." Do we not have one father? Has not one God created us? Why does each of us act deceitfully, each man against his own brother, to profane the covenant of our ancestors? read more. Judah has become unfaithful, and a detestable thing was committed in Israel and Jerusalem. Indeed, Judah profaned the Holy Place of the LORD, which he loves, and married a daughter of a foreign god. May the LORD exclude from the community of Jacob any man who does this, whoever he may be, even though he brings offerings to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "This is another thing you do: you flood the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer pays attention to your offering nor takes pleasure in it from your hand. Yet you ask, "For what reason?' Because the LORD acts as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you were unfaithful to her, your partner, the wife of your covenant. Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
"You have wearied the LORD with your words. You ask, "How have we wearied you?' By your saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD and he's pleased with them,' or "Where is the God of justice?'"
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"I'll come near to you for judgment. I'll be a witness, quick to speak against sorcerers, against adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who defraud the laborer of his wage, against those who defraud the widow and the orphan, against those who deprive the alien of justice, and against those who don't fear me," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "Because I the LORD don't change; therefore you children of Jacob aren't destroyed." read more. "Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and haven't kept them. Return to me and I'll return to you," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "But you ask, "How will we return?' "Will a person rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you ask, "How are we robbing you?' "By the tithe and the offering. You are cursed under the curse the entire nation because you are robbing me! "Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. So put me to the test in this right now," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and see if I won't throw open the windows of heaven for you and pour out on you blessing without measure.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. So put me to the test in this right now," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and see if I won't throw open the windows of heaven for you and pour out on you blessing without measure.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. So put me to the test in this right now," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and see if I won't throw open the windows of heaven for you and pour out on you blessing without measure.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. So put me to the test in this right now," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and see if I won't throw open the windows of heaven for you and pour out on you blessing without measure. And I'll prevent the devourer from harming you, so that he does not destroy the crops of your land. Nor will the vines in your fields drop their fruit," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. read more. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "You have spoken arrogant words against me," says the LORD. "Yet you ask, "What did we say against you?'
"You have spoken arrogant words against me," says the LORD. "Yet you ask, "What did we say against you?' You said, "It is futile to serve God,' and, "What did we get out of it when we carried out his requirements and went about like mourners in the presence of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies?' read more. and, "Now we call the arrogant one blessed. Those who do evil prosper and those who challenge God escape the consequences.'" Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other. The LORD listened and took note, and a scroll of remembrance was written in his presence about those who fear the LORD and honor His name.
Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other. The LORD listened and took note, and a scroll of remembrance was written in his presence about those who fear the LORD and honor His name. "They'll be mine," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "in the day when I prepare my treasured possession. I'll spare them, just as a man spares his own son who serves him. read more. When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between the one who serves God and the one who does not."
When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between the one who serves God and the one who does not."
When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between the one who serves God and the one who does not."
When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between the one who serves God and the one who does not."
"The coming day is certainly going to burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and all who practice evil will be stubble the coming day will set them on fire," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
"Remember the Law of Moses my servant that I gave him at Horeb for all Israel both the decrees and laws.
"Remember the Law of Moses my servant that I gave him at Horeb for all Israel both the decrees and laws.
and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I'll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it."
Morish
Mal'achi
The last of the minor prophets. Nothing is recorded of the prophet's personal history, he is named once only. He was prophet near the time of Nehemiah's return to the land, and the prophecy reveals the moral condition of the people. The first chapter, while it shows their insensibility, shows also the sovereign love of Jehovah to them, a love on which His purpose depended. When charged with their sins, they asked wherein had they sinned. The answer is that they brought to the Lord that which was torn, the lame, and the sick, and had offered polluted bread upon Jehovah's altar: in effect saying, "The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible." This brought judgement upon those who were insensible to what was due to the Lord. Yet Jehovah should be magnified beyond the border of Israel, and His name be great among the Gentiles.
Mal. 2. The priests who ought to have been guides to the people, are called to account. Judah had intimate fellowship with idolatry; had symbolically married the daughter of a strange god; and had associated this with the worship of Jehovah. Israel had also dealt treacherously with the wife of their youth: this was but the discovery of a treacherous principle in them. God hated putting away: notwithstanding all this, they were apathetic, and asked wherein had they wearied God.
Mal. 3 opens with the announcement of the Lord's messenger, which was fulfilled in John the Baptist. But the first coming of the Lord is here connected with His second coming, when He will sit as a refiner, and will purge away the dross, and then shall the sons of Levi offer an offering in righteousness.
God challenged the returned Jews to be faithful to Him, and they should have such a blessing that they would not have room enough to contain it. When called upon to return to Jehovah they are still unconscious of their condition, and ask, "Wherein shall we return?" and "Wherein have we robbed thee?" "What have we spoken so much against thee?" They had said it was in vain to serve the Lord; they had called the proud happy; the wicked were built up, and they that tempted God were delivered.
Yet God's purpose should stand: their land should be a delightsome land, and all nations should call them blessed. In the meantime the remnant are spoken of as those that feared the Lord and thought upon His name: they communed often one with another. God had a book of remembrance of such: they shall be remembered when the Lord of hosts makes up His jewels, and shall be spared when He comes in judgement.
Mal. 4. A day of great judgement is coming when the wicked shall be consumed. But to them that fear His name the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings (not the morning star here, as for the church). There will be judgement for the disobedient, as was indeed fully shown in the law at the beginning of the covenant with them.
But Elijah will come as Christ's forerunner, to call them to repentance before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. John the Baptist would have fulfilled this mission had they received him; but, except a few, they did not, and therefore when asked if he was Elias, he said, No. He fulfilled the prophecy in the first clause of Mal 3:1; but not that of Mal 4:5-6; the people did not repent. Elijah will still come. There will be judgement first, but great blessing in the end to those that are spared.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Pay attention! I'm sending Elijah the prophet to you before the great and dreadful Day of the LORD comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I'll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it."
Watsons
MALACHI, the last of the twelve minor prophets. Malachi prophesied about B.C. 400; and some traditionary accounts state that he was a native of Sapha, and of the tribe of Zebulun. He reproves the people for their wickedness, and the priests for their negligence in the discharge of their office; he threatens the disobedient with the judgments of God, and promises great rewards to the penitent and pious; he predicts the coming of Christ, and the preaching of John the Baptist; and with a solemnity becoming the last of the prophets, he closes the sacred canon with enjoining the strict observance of the Mosaic law, till the forerunner, already promised, should appear in the spirit of Elias, to introduce the Messiah, who was to establish a new and everlasting covenant.