God’s living, loving relationship with his people

Hi everyone. I'm just reading Malachi chapter 1, the whole thing, 1 to 14.

Malachi 1 · chapter mention

The Oracle of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

I have loved you, says the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us?

Is not Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord?

Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.

I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to the jackals of the desert.

If Edom says we are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins, the Lord of hosts says,

they may rebuild, but I will tear down, and they will be called the wicked country,

and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.

Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel.

A son honours his father, and a servant his master.

If then I am a father, where is my honour?

And if I am a master, where is my fear?

Says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name.

But you say, how have we despised your name?

By offering polluted food upon my altar.

But you say, how have we polluted you?

By saying that the Lord's table may be despised.

When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil?

And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil?

Present that to your governor.

Will he accept you or show favour?

Says the Lord of hosts.

And now entreat the favour of God, that he may be gracious to us.

With such a gift from your hand, will he show favour to any of you?

Says the Lord of hosts.

Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain.

I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts.

And I will not accept an offering from your hand.

For the rising of the sun to its setting, from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations.

And in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering.

For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised.

But you say, what a weariness this is, and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts.

You bring what has been taken by violence, or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering.

Shall I accept that from your hand, says the Lord?

Lord, cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.

For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

Three simple words.

I love you.

I love you.

They're probably, I think, the words we crave most to hear.

They're simple words, as I said, yet they declare a really complex relationship.

Relationship.

A relationship of personal delight.

A valuing.

Acceptance.

Long-term commitment.

Three simple words, and yet they're also very confronting words.

They are so powerfully emotional in the context of a relationship.

They're actually so outrageous in their claim.

And they're also so challenging in the responsibilities they infer.

And they're three simple words which will always bring a response.

Always.

That response might vary.

It might be a shallow response.

So we might actually, like so many people, just say love you as the way to start or end an interaction with somebody.

And it's just a sort of warm, fuzzy thing that doesn't really show any awareness of the actual state of the relationship.

Or the responsibilities involved in it.

Just love you.

Love you.

It's a very common way of speaking in our society.

Or it could be self-affirmation.

We actually could think when somebody says, I love you, well, no surprise there because I'm very lovable.

And I deserve to hear those words spoken to me.

And others, I can understand, are very keen to get into my friendship circle.

Or we can respond with suspicion.

We hear the words, but we don't feel there's any practical evidence of those words being real.

We might even suspect their motivation.

That is, we might think somebody's playing with the notion of love to get something else from us.

Or we can meet them with belief and acceptance.

That is, hearing the words in and of itself is an incentive to value the relationship even more.

It defines and describes the relationship and makes us want to long for even a greater love, a deeper relationship.

And we commit practically to growing that relationship.

But as I said, one thing is clear.

In response to the words, I love you, we will have a response in our hearts.

And that response will become obvious through our actions towards the person who expressed their love for us and to us.

And that's what connects us into God's message to his people through Malachi.

There's 55 verses in Malachi.

And 47 of those verses are God speaking directly to his people.

God speaking and uncovering the hidden thoughts and attitudes and responses in the hearts of his people.

And so God is saying, I love you to his people.

And then the balance of what's been said in here is God uncovering their response to that statement of his love and that experience of his love.

So in a sense, the whole of Malachi is about God saying what he thinks about what his people think of him.

And that's what makes it very, very confronting.

Because God shines a torch into our heart attitudes.

And it's not just confronting because of that, but it's confronting, I think, if you're going to be like me,

because the attitudes that are exposed are all too familiar, all too common.

In response to God's statement, I love you.

Well, let's jump into the text then with the first heading.

The love affirms, the Lord affirms his active commitment to his people.

When he says, the opening lines, I have loved you.

I have loved you.

Now, the final words before a period of being apart are always important.

They're always passionate.

Because those words are the words that will sustain the relationship until renewed communication.

And it's just so in this oracle through Malachi.

These are the last direct words the Lord says to his people for more than 400 years.

The next words are actually through John the Baptist and the arrival of Jesus.

And so it's not surprising, therefore, that for a period of separation, God closes down by saying,

I have loved you.

That's what he wants his people to take away with him.

And remind themselves of on a daily basis.

And so they're warm.

They're rich.

They're relational words.

They're expressing God's heart for and his commitment to his people.

The perfect tense, I have loved you, highlights a consistent and unwavering love,

which has begun some point in the past and continues into an undefined time in the future.

These three words describe, or actually four words,

these words describe the reality of the Lord's relationship with his people since,

go all the way back to Abraham,

when God cavernanted with his people to love them and bless them.

That's more than a thousand years earlier.

But then, as Matt and Grace brought out, verse 6,

they are also confronting words.

The context is God saying, I have loved you,

but then there's something else happening behind the scenes.

Look at verse 6.

I just feel the heartbrokenness, as it were, of God as Father.

A son honors his father and a servant his master.

If then I am a father, where is my honor?

And remember, in ancient Near Eastern language and culture,

not to honor is to bring shame upon.

If then I am a father, where is my honor?

And if I am a master or a king,

where is my fear or respect, says the Lord of hosts?

See, that says the Lord of hosts.

It's confronting in its awfulness.

God has loved his people generously and consistently,

but they have responded with careless indifference,

suspicion, and even contempt,

as some of the other verses suggest.

And if I can say this,

the Lord here presents as a broken-hearted father,

expressing something of the pain and hurt

of having children refuse to recognize or accept his love.

But the thing is, you see, for God, this isn't new.

200 years earlier, at the start of the prophet Isaiah's oracle,

it was introduced in almost the same way,

almost the same words.

This rejection of God's love is not just a flash in the pan.

This is a deep-seated attitude of God's people.

And we see it coming out in these verses.

Their immediate response,

as God sort of develops this conversation with himself,

but picking up, answering for his people,

because he can see the attitudes of their heart.

Their response,

how have you loved us?

It's a response that brings shame,

not honor, to the Lord.

God makes his people squirm,

facing the reality of horrible, sinful attitudes

that lie deep within them,

by nailing them on their actions,

which are the direct result of those hidden attitudes.

Look at verse 2.

God's people fail to believe God

and take him at his word.

Now, this is the Lord of hosts,

the Lord of the universe,

the covenant God saying to his people,

I have loved you.

By virtue of his own authority

and his own character,

God's people should just have believed that.

That was the Lord's public,

covenanted promise,

stated repeatedly to generation after generation

of his people,

that he would love and bless his covenant people, Israel.

But instead of tears of appreciation,

instead of thankfulness

and a joyful, loving embrace,

their response is really cutting and dismissive.

Hmm.

Well, that's a very interesting thought, Lord.

Can you just give me a little bit more information?

How exactly have you loved us?

Their accusation ignored the hard evidence of history

as well as the repeated public statements of the Lord.

The hard evidence of history

that the Lord then is forced to defend

and reiterate here in verses 3 onwards,

3 through 4 and 5.

Look at history, the Lord's saying.

I've demonstrated practically the nature and extent

of my love for my covenant people.

Against all normal expectations,

against all traditions,

God covenanted to love and bless Jacob's descendants,

not Esau's.

Their status and history as God's special loved people

was entirely due to this fact

that God graciously committed himself to loving them

as opposed to Edom's line or Esau's line.

And the difference is,

Jacob's line was blessed

and enjoyed the constant blessing and favor of the Lord.

Edom's line enjoyed the constant anger

and condemnation and judgment of the Lord.

The two statuses couldn't be any more different.

What explains the difference?

God's love.

And yet God's people seemed to be oblivious to it

and allowed their immediate circumstances

and feelings to dismiss all this carelessly

and thoughtlessly.

How did that happen?

Well, probably because they had particular expectations

of what God's love would look like

and mean for them practically.

Put bluntly,

they didn't get from God what they thought

they should get from God,

what they wanted from God,

what they demanded from God,

what they thought they had a right to.

So the conclusion is,

well, if God doesn't give me what I want,

then God doesn't love me.

Now, doesn't that sound very familiar to us?

But at another point,

there might be something even more sinister happening here.

It's quite likely, I think,

that their questioning of God's love

was because they wanted to avoid the implications

of acknowledging it.

In other words,

they wanted the benefits of God's blessing,

but didn't want to feel a sense of indebtedness

to the Lord for his love.

Or they didn't want to have a sense of responsibility

to the Lord given his love

and given his ongoing relationship with them.

So in a sense,

I think God's people might be playing

a very clever victim status game here.

That is,

casting themselves as victims,

suggesting that God was at fault

in all of this interaction,

and thereby shifting the focus away

from their own heart response

to a perceived failure on God's part.

Now again,

isn't that so very familiar to us

in how we operate our own relationships

at different levels?

We play the victim

and push the responsibility onto somebody else.

And I think that fits with verse 5.

At your own eyes shall see this,

and you shall say,

great is the Lord

beyond the border of Israel.

I think what the Lord's saying there

is that their response to God's love

should have demonstrated

to the world

how great God is.

That was God's desire for his people.

It wasn't the reason why he loved them,

but it was a desired outcome

of his love.

And then God's people

have also lost their vision

of God's value and worth,

picking up from verses 6 onwards then.

And again,

the Lord cuts through

and moves beyond

all the various religious activities

of his people.

And he exposes the heart attitude

that are behind all the books

taking religious activities.

And this part of section

is addressed to the priests,

but I think the connection is

that while the priests

particularly are being pinged

by the Lord,

their attitude has sort of

trickled down

and become the attitude

of the whole people.

So we can say

in modern parlance,

from the very top down,

this attitude has just become

debased and sloppy

in response to the Lord.

They're still going through

the motions,

doing the ritual worship,

but the Lord shows

there's no vitality,

no substance in it.

It is what we call

box ticking.

Verse 6 again,

they claim to love,

they love to claim

God as their father,

but there's no concern

to honor him

as an obedient child.

There's no concern

to treat him

as an honorable,

worthy father.

They're quick to say

that God is their master,

their ruler,

or their king,

but care little

for their approach

to God

and care little

for respect

of him

in his holiness.

In short,

they've taken their

relationship with God

for granted.

Again,

in modern parlance,

their actions speak

much, much louder

than their words.

And it reveals

their heart attitude

which has trivialized

and made a mockery

of God's name,

of God's character.

And again,

God's people

try to deny this reality.

They try to protest

their innocence.

But the plain truth

was that they no longer

thought of God

as worthy to be served.

No longer thought

of God as worthy

to be honored

as a great God

or a loving father.

Look at verse 13.

This is just awful

in the extreme,

isn't it?

The Lord exposing

what's in their hearts.

They wouldn't say this out loud,

but this is what they're feeling

in their hearts.

What a weariness

this is.

That is,

the reference

to serving the Lord.

Ho-hum,

what a weariness

this is.

And you snort at it.

Snorting,

as far as I can see,

is just a sort of

a contemptuous,

ugh,

I'm stuck here.

I really don't want

to be doing this,

but I can't see

any other way out of it,

so I suppose

I have to get on with it.

It's dreadful.

Dreadful.

In their heart,

they resented

the demands

of relationship

with the Lord.

That relationship

which was one

of blessing

and goodness,

which you'd think

would automatically

would bring thankfulness,

but it doesn't.

They resent it.

Why?

Because of the implications

and responsibilities

attached to it.

serving the Lord

was tedious

and boring

and restricting.

So their worship

became formal

box ticking.

They were just

doing what they thought

in terms of sacrifices

and prayers

and going to the temple.

They were doing

what they thought

would keep God on side,

maintain respectability

before others

of their countrymen,

secure the practical benefits

they wanted

from the Lord

and thought they deserved

and perhaps even expected.

Giving them to the Lord

in reward

for their efforts

of doing the sacrifices

and praying.

So it becomes

a circular argument.

It's just so empty

and formal

and offensive.

So put simply,

we can say

that God's people

didn't even begin

to love him

in the way

that he had loved them.

Jordan Peterson

defines love

as ascribing

the highest value

to something.

Well,

God intended

his love

for his people

to lead them

to ascribe

to him

the highest value

imaginable,

the greatest

obedience

possible,

the most

extravagant

praise

expressible.

In other words,

God expected

a response

to his love

from his people

that would

quite literally

idolize him

because that's what it is

to idolize somebody.

It is to ascribe

the highest value

to them

and make them

the center

of your attention

and worship.

But far

from idolizing

the Lord,

they treated

him with shame

as they idolized

themselves

because that's really

what they're doing

here.

They're idolizing

themselves

before God

because

they looked

at God

and then they

looked at what

they were doing

in the religious

activities

and they

added them

all up

and thought

well actually

God should

sort of be

quite

happy

and content

and even

grateful

that we would

do this for him

and be like

this to him.

That God

would be very

happy just

with whatever

they chose

to give him.

And that

then extends

into

they developed

a forgiveness

is easy

attitude

to sin.

There's a lot

in here

about sacrifices

and there

will be

in the subsequent

chapters.

At the heart

of the sacrificial

system

was the reality

and Matt

and Grace

brought that

out again

this morning

was the reality

that it was

actually very

very difficult

for the holy

or clean

God

to maintain

fellowship

or have any

fellowship

with dirty

or sinful

people.

The holy

and clean

don't mix

with the dirty

and sinful.

In God's

loving provision

for his people

the proper

offering of a

sacrifice

ensured

that sin

wasn't a

barrier

to ongoing

relationship

ongoing

fellowship

ongoing

communion

between God

and his people

even as his

people continued

to be sinful.

The sacrifice

averted God's

wrath

God's judgment.

Now

the seriousness

of sin

is reflected

in the demand

for the quality

of the

substitute

sacrifice.

Only the best

was acceptable

as an offering

or substitute.

The choicest

portion of food

the best

of the flock

were

but what

were these

people

presenting

to the

Lord

as a

symbol

of how

serious

they thought

their sins

were

and how

much

they thought

their relationship

with the

Lord

was under

threat.

Well

vegetables

had pretty

well gone

off in

the fridge.

They're a bit

too far

gone to have

for tea.

We'll take

them to the

temple for

sacrifice.

They won't

be wasted.

We're being

very modern

and economical

and environmental.

Or

they would

come across

an animal

in their

field that

had been

taken by

violence.

In other

words it

was already

dead.

Killed

by some

reason or

other.

Oh

beauty

a sacrifice.

Or

they'd

look

around

for

an

animal

who

was

about

to

die.

It was

sick,

diseased,

deformed.

That would

be good

enough.

We don't

really want

it anyway.

It's not

going to

cost us

too much.

That will

work out

fine for

a

sacrifice.

That was

the attitude.

As I

express it

without

hopefully

hearing

just how

abhorrent

that is.

And they

took them

all to

the

temple

and guess

what?

The

priests

didn't

question

any of

it.

The

priests

said the

same

attitude.

Yeah,

that'll

be fine.

You're

here,

taking

all the

bucks.

And each

time that

happened,

God's

people were

heaping

shame on

the

Lord.

Even

worse,

verse 14.

Cursed

be the

cheat

who

is a

maleness

flock

and

vows

it

and yet

sacrifices

to the

Lord

what

is

blemished.

So here's

the duplicity

of God's

people.

Knowing that

God can

see the

attitudes

of their

heart.

What are

they doing?

With

their lips

they're

saying,

look,

I'm

deadly

serious

about

worshipping

the

Lord.

I will

only give

the

Lord

the

best

because

the

Lord's

only

worth

the

best.

Or

worth

only

the

best,

whichever

the

right

way

to

say

that

is.

And

then

they

turn

around

all

the

while

intending

to

just

give

them

a

rubbish

sacrifice.

And

the

offense

of that

to the

Lord

is

mentioned

here.

Brazen

dishonesty

and

deceit

as

if

somehow

or

other

they

could

pull

one

over

on

the

Lord.

giving

him

the

rubbish

and

keeping

the

best

for

themselves.

What's

behind

that

attitude?

Well,

behind

that

attitude

is the

thought

that

sin

isn't

a

big

deal.

And

forgiveness

is

something

that

God

is

expected

to

do.

And

it's

not

a

big

deal

for

him

either.

And

even

worse

is

the

offense

that

this

caused

the

Lord.

If

you

look

in

verse

7,

the

altar

is

referred

to

the

table.

And

there's

only

two

places

that

happens

in

the

Old

Testament

as

far

as

I

can

understand

and

they're

both

here

in

Malachi.

And

I

think

what

it's

doing

here

is

talking

about

the

altar

as

a

sacrifice

but

then

the

table

is

a

picture

of

fellowship

and

the

two

things

come

together

in

a

sacrifice.

So

the

sacrifice

is

to

deal

with

sin

that

then

allows

for

ongoing

fellowship.

So

it's

very much

like a

family

meal

in a

sense.

A

little bit

like

Lord's

supper

but

there

are

obviously

very

significant

differences.

But

there's

that

idea

of

fellowship.

And

so

it's

as if

God's

people

were

coming

to

his

table

waltzing

in

without

any

regard

for

the

holiness

of

the

Lord.

Careless

near

enough

is

good

enough

attitude

trivialized

the

basis

of

fellowship

with

God

as if

it

was

very

easily

achieved

very

easily

maintained

and

very

hard

to

break.

And

then look

at

Lord's

summary

in

verse

10

and

11.

Oh

that there

was one

among you

who would

shut

the

doors.

He's

talking about

the temple

there.

Let me

paraphrase

that.

I wish

to

goodness

somebody

would

just

close

the

doors

and

close

the

temple

down

that

you

wouldn't

be

bothered

kindling

fire

on my

altar

because

it's a

serious

waste

of your

time

and

mine.

I

have

no

pleasure

in

you

says

the

Lord

of

hosts

and

I

will

not

accept

an

offering

from

your

hand

but

then he

goes on

to say

something

seems to

be quite

contradictory

from the

rising of

the sun

to its

setting

my name

will be

great

among

the

nations

and

in

every

place

incense

will be

offered

to

my

name

and

a

pure

offering

for

my

name

will

be

great

among

the

nations

says

the

Lord

of

hosts

the

Lord

is

deeply

deeply

offended

by the

treatment

of his

people

they are

in

serious

serious

danger

he's

not

surprised

by it

however

this is

nothing

new

in

verse

15

as

well

as

verse

11

as

the

great

king

he

is

he

will

continue

to

display

himself

to

all

the

nations

as

a

great

king

so

I

move

then

to

just

draw

some

application

and

conclusion

out of

this

passage

because

verse

10

and

11

put a

huge

amount

of

tension

and

threat

and

at

the

same

time

anticipation

into

God's

last

challenge

of his

people

before

his

silence

of

400

plus

years

and

then

the

arrival

of

Jesus

and

here's

the

threat

he

will

not

accept

an

offering

from

their

hand

which

leaves

them

under

the

guilt

of

their

sin

and

under

the

imminent

threat

of

God's

wrath

God's

judgment

and

yet

the

Lord

says

there

will

be

sacrifice

to

my

name

and

my

name

will

be

great

and

there

will

be

a

pure

sacrifice

so

the

tension

then

is

how

will

Lord

do

both

how

will

he

continue

to

his

promise

to

love

and

bless

his

people

while

at

the

same

time

refusing

to

accept

a

sacrifice

from

their

hand

a

people

who

refuse

to

idolize

them

and

treat

sin

with

impunity

and

yet

he

wants

to

relate

to

them

as

the

holy

God

how

will

he

do

that

how

will

he

find

pleasure

in

people

verse

10

that

he

says

he

has

no

pleasure

in

and

against

all that

God's

promise

his

name

will

be

great

there

will

be

acceptable

relationship

there

will

be

intimate

fellowship

at

his

table

in

the

future

friends

these

things

are

totally

incompatible

until

we

hear

what

I

love

to

say

is

the

whisper

of

Jesus

in

the

words

of

Malachi

listen

now

turn

with

me

to

Romans

Romans 5 · chapter mention

chapter

5

we're

just

going to

touch

down

there

just

fairly

quickly

and

I'm

done

then

Romans

Romans 5:6

chapter

5

verse

6

7

and

8

for

while

we

were

still

weak

at

the

right

time

Christ

died

for

the

ungodly

for

one

will

scarcely

die

for

a

righteous

person

though

perhaps

for

a

good

person

one

would

dare

even

to

die

but

God

shows

his

love

for

us

in

that

while

we

were

still

sinners

Christ

died

for

us

since

therefore

we

have

now

been

justified

by

his

blood

how

much

more

shall

we

be

saved

by

him

from

the

how

do

we

move

away

from

incompatible

statements

well

it's

simply

this

God

has

always

been

working

towards

Jesus

throughout

the

Old

Testament

because

Jesus

is the

greatest

demonstration

of his

love

which

would

do

two

things

both

it

would

deal

with

the

sin

of his

people

and

renew

them

from

the

inside

out

so

they

have

new

attitudes

new

desires

new

ability

to

idolize

him

and so

when

God

says here

to

Malachi

I will

not

accept

an

offering

from

your

hand

I will

not

accept

a sin

or

fellowship

offering

from

your

hand

opening

the

way

to

enjoy

a

place

at

my

table

when

he

said

that

all

the

while

he

was

thinking

and

that's

because

I

intend

to

present

an

offering

from

my

own

hand

that

will

do

for

you

that

which

you

cannot

do

for

yourself

God's

people

couldn't

offer

that

which

was

necessary

to

deal

with

sin

and

renew

fellowship

God

took

that

on

board

and

his

intention

all

along

was

to

do

that

for

his

people

knowing

that

the

only

way

he

would

have

a

great

nation

without

number

that

would

idolize

him

is

if

he

dealt

with

their

sin

and

renewed

their

hearts

and

we

see

in

Jesus

then

the

nature

and

extent

of

God's

love

God

really

did

give

the

best

of

the

flock

as it

were

so to

speak

his only

son

he

really

did

give

the

best

for

the

sake

of

the

worst

immeasurable

cost

to

himself

God

gave

his

best

to

die

so

the

worst

might

live

and

that

my

friends

is

what

we

call

the

gospel

more

than

that

we

see

Jesus

in

the

New

Testament

contrasted

with

these

priests

Jesus

is

the

true

priest

when

the

priests

in

Malachi's

day

got it

wrong

all

God's

people

got it

wrong

in

line

with

them

but

when

Jesus

the

great

high

priest

gets

it

right

then

all

God's

people

get it

right

in

line

with

them

the

great

high

priest

who

properly

understood

the

seriousness

of

sin

who

properly

mediated

between

God

and

his

people

who

properly

brought

them

both

to

the

altar

which

was

himself

and

the

sacrifice

which

was

himself

so

that

there

might

be

a

dealing

with

sin

and

a

renewal

of

fellowship

that

the

Lord's

people

might

come

to

his

table

forever

in

enjoyment

Jesus

is the

great

high

priest

God's

people

have

always

needed

but

never

had

until

Jesus

turns

up

and

all

of us

all of

that