A call to live wholeheartedly before God (a study on Malachi chapter 2)

Given at St Swithun’s Anglican Church

Pymble (Sydney) NSW

Sunday 13 January 2019

Introduction

Shalom! Thank you to Peter Robinson, chairman of Jews for Jesus Australia, who is taking the communion part of the service, to Brian, with whom I had a good meet up on Thursday, and to Roger, your lead pastor, who trusted me enough to take the sermon part of the service, and then went on holiday. We’ve had a great relationship over the years, and I really value our friendship in Messiah. 

Thanks to each of you here in the nave as you have gathered to hear again from God’s Word, the Bible. Last week, you began a series on the Jewish prophet Malachi, as Roger spoke about God’s love and a call for each of us to respond to live in God’s love. This week, my assigned text is chapter 2, and the assigned topic is a call to live wholeheartedly before God. This is a great chapter in the Bible; full of pointed clarification, full of directed admonition. Not so great a chapter if you are living wrong, because the Lord makes clear His views on sin. 

Malachi’s call to us (And Moses too)

Let’s jump right into it, shall we? The second verse sets the pace for us. 

אִם־לֹ֣א תִשְׁמְע֡וּ וְאִם־לֹא֩ תָשִׂ֨ימוּ עַל־לֵ֜ב

The two verbs are look-alikes, and almost sound-alikes. Tishma’u and Tasimu. In English they are to hear and to place, that is, nothing alike, but their concepts set the tone for the chapter. “If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honour to My name.” The first verse sends the warning, but it also tells us how to make things right. 

Back in the Torah, in Deuteronomy, the Lord gave Moses the commandments, including the Ten Commandments, but many more, and He instructed us Jewish people to do them, so that our families would fear God and so that we might live well in the land to which we were going, the Promised Land. Not St Ives, but rather the land of Canaan, now called Israel.  God says in chapter 6 of Deuteronomy that we should be careful to listen and to be careful to do the commandments. OK, so the plan is simple. Listen to the plan of God, then execute that plan and it will be a good day for you.

But here’s the problem. Do you have children? Or are you a child? Or were you a child? Then you will know that giving instructions to someone doesn’t always bring to pass the desired results. If you are aware of your own natural tendencies, then you know that you often fail to perform what God, or your boss or your father, your mother or your wife, your government, or your own conscience has told you to make happen. And as a result, the consequences are undesirable. 

But listen again to verse two of our text. “If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honour to My name.” Don’t dismiss the 2^ndverb. “take it to heart” What does that phrase mean? It’s as if the Lord is saying through Malachi that you have to pay attention, remove distractions from you just now, like turn away from your smartphone, your doodle pad on which you are writing, like the television remote control, like the other things about which you are thinking just now… listen… listen now… this is God’s word… Now, grab it, and put it somewhere important. 

If I gave you a cashier’s cheque for $10,000, what would you do next? Would you tuck it into your back pocket next to your iPhone? Would you crumble it into a wad and put it somewhere in your briefcase? I imagine you would fold it carefully and place it in a treasured location. You would actually treasure that cheque. You would touch it a few times before you got to the bank to deposit it. You might open your wallet and put it in the hidden section. You wouldn’t be cavalier with the cheque; you would place it in a location of significance. 

In the same way, God says that we need both to listen to God’s Word and to place it in our hearts. Two actions set the tone of the remedy of failure.  And what is the purpose of these two actions? To honour His name!

Friends here at Swiz, I’m a representative of many things this morning. To some of you I’m a Jew, and there might be some of you who don’t know a Jewish person, so I’m what you have heard about, but never met. Thus, the reputation of the Jewish people is riding on our encounter today. To some of you, I’m an American. Although my wife and kids and I became Aussie citizens 7 years ago. I did grow up and remain a citizen of the USA, and perhaps the reputation of the United States is riding on our contact today as well. I’m a Sydney Swans fan, a North Shore dweller, a representative and ambassador for the sport named Pickleball; I enjoy the Kansas City Chiefs and wish them well today in their playoff game against the Colts… all these are situations or themes for which I could bring the reputation, or the name of the sport, the country, the team into disrepute.  

In the same way, God says, you, Israel, are responsible to listen to my words, put them in your heart, SO THAT you might honour my reputation. Don’t’ defame God, rather you should FAME the Lord your God. Make Him famous. Does that make sense to you?

It’s not only external service: Wholeheartedness

Back in Deuteronomy, in the Tochacha section, the warnings of chapter 28, God says in more detail what will happen to the Jewish people, if they listen (verses 2-14), or if they do not listen (verses 15-68). They are labeled blessings or curses. Simple I know, but real.  In the description of the failure/ curses section listen to this explanation from God in verse 47

“Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things”

The root cause of the failure and thus the commensurate curse is right here in Deuteronomy 28:47. Even our service to God, at church, or in the land of Israel, in Sydney or Melbourne, wherever we travel or live… if we serve but not with joy and a full, whole, good heart, because God has given us all things… then curses will come. That’s just what Malachi says. We must listen; we put God’s Word in a special place in our heart, and we honour Him. We successfully keep God’s reputation high and strong. That’s how this is supposed to work. 

Treachery and curses

But as you heard in the reading of the Bible (for those online, the full text is at the bottom of this sermon’s manuscript), Malachi says that even the priestly blessings will be turned to curses. I believe it hearkens back to Moses and his command to serve God with gladness and joy and a glad, good, and full heart for the abundance of all things. So, in our text today, the priests, the leaders of the Jewish community are failing in their service. They are ruining the reputation of God. And they are dealing treacherously. 

By the way, our text says in verse 3, “I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.” During an offering (not like we bring here in a gilded platter, but a sacrifice of an animal brought to the Tabernacle in the wilderness often the animal’s insides and feces would come out. Malachi is saying that what you, Levitical priests are trying to accomplish, by bringing offerings, which should draw you closer to God is actually going to prevent your being in God’s presence at all. With refuse on your faces, you will be sent outside the camp for cleansing for a time until you are cleansed again. 

The word ‘treacherously’ is used in the Tenach (The Scriptures) 24 times, and most of them in the section of the Prophets. And 5 of those times used by Malachi alone and all in this chapter. (verses 10, .11, .14, 15, 16) He’s harping on something here and neither he, nor the Almighty, nor I want you to miss it. Treachery is deception. The word comes from the Hebrew word for clothing. BEGED.  And it implies a vesture, to cover (with a garment); figuratively, to act covertly; by implication, to pillage, a wardrobe, a coverup. Much like Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden who covered themselves with fig leaves as a substitute for the garments of praise and the robe of righteousness that God had made for them. 

Treachery or the coverup is disdainful. The ABC reported last year about the Royal Commission, and the AMP and the Commonwealth Bank and their siphoning millions and reporting only a bit of their income. The ABC headline read, “AMP scandal shows the cover-up is often worse than the crime”

Malachi is saying that the priests are very good at coverup, at living one way in public and another way at home. Their lives do not match their profession. They are ‘two clothed;’ they are two-faced. They are liars and bring God’s name into dishonour. And as Roger said last week, the normal view of the church by most media-inspired secularists in today’s Sydney is one of dishonour. Most non-Christians think that the church is full of hypocrites and paedophilic priests who ruin children’s lives, well into their adulthood. And we cannot dismiss those in the media who allege and often prove these allegations. Malachi’s words should pierce us; they should alarm us; they should warn us. We should demand changes. We should change as well. Personally. Individually. And then corporately.

Words Malachi used like profane the covenant, detestable, and desecration. Ouch.

Spoiler alert: Another One is coming

I don’t want to give away the ending of the prophecy, ok, spoiler alert, I will give away the ending, especially helpful to those of you who are only here this morning or reading this as a blog on our website without the benefit of the next two weeks’ worth of sermons here at St Swithun's. 

The ending is really the anticipation of another priest, one who will point the way for the Jewish people. Not a priest who might fail, but rather one who will be “the sun of righteousness who will rise with healing in his wings.” (4.2) The “Lord will suddenly come to His Temple” as Handel recorded and composed into his oratorio “Messiah.” (3.2) God will send another and to that One we will look. If you are local, stay tuned, the next two weeks’ sermons will be fantastic. 

Why is Malachi at the end of the Older Testament?

I just told you I like the US gridiron team the Kansas City Chiefs. Let me tell you something about Malachi and about US football. I borrow this imagery from my friend Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She’s a Jewish academic who doesn’t share my faith in Jesus, but who understands much about this Bible of ours. You might know that in the Jewish Bible, there is no Newer Testament. The book begins with Genesis and ends with 2^ndChronicles. The 39 books of the Older Testament are all included but in a different order. Your Older Testament ends with Malachi and the Jewish rendering ends with 2^ndChronicles. 

Why?

Listen to the last line of 2^ndChronicles. Chapter 36. “Thus, says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!’” (verse 23)

Amy-Jill points out that the ending of the Jewish Older Testament, which we title “The Scriptures” of course, is a return to Jerusalem.  What does that have to do with gridiron?

Let me explain. 

There are two major American sports for Amy-Jill. Of course, there are many others, but she describes these verses and the layout in terms of baseball and football. In baseball, a man hits a ball and he runs around the bases returning to home plate. In football, a team receives the ball on one end of the field and runs to the opposite end to complete the touchdown. 

Watch Nunez run all the bases here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fABOq_ngNDk

Watch Henry run for a touchdown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blbeW0Y08vY

Amy-Jill Levine says that the Jewish rendering of the Scriptures is more like baseball, and the Christian version is more like football. I like this imagery, not only because I like both sports, but because I see her point. For the Jewish people, we start with God in the Garden, and imagine Adam and Eve are in Jerusalem, certainly by the time of Abraham, there is a motion towards the Land of Israel, and then we go home at the end of the book. God wants us Home. 

For the Christian, she says, we start at one end of the world, and fall, thus having to clamber back to God and it takes someone else to help us get there. For the Christian Malachi is the end of the Scriptures because he points us to John the Baptist, and Matthew in the Gospels is first since He starts with John the Baptist who points us to Jesus who gets us to heaven. Baseball for Jews; Football for Christians. And Malachi’s placement is a key role player in that sports motif. Isn’t that a good one?

Yeshua is the Messiah

What am I saying by this? That Yeshua, the Messiah, the One who will be coming in 400 years after Malachi, the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings, the One who will suddenly come to His Temple, is good news. Why? He will bring us to the goal, to heaven. He will actually fulfill both sports images, because He will bring us to Him Home, to share with Him forever. Heaven is where Yeshua began, and He will bring us to be with Him, Home Plate if you will, which is the goal of our lives. 

How does He do that? By forgiving us our sins, treacherous sins, covenant-breaking sins, the sins Malachi lists and the ones he doesn’t even begin to mention. He mentions marrying outside our religion; he mentions divorce. He catalogs the sins of the priests, calling them profanity and abomination. Turning aside from God’s word and causing others to follow in their footsteps. It’s one thing to sin; it’s quite another to lead others to sin. Shame and degradation are abundant in the Jewish community. And we long for and desperately need God’s forgiveness. 

How do we receive forgiveness? By the One who is coming. Yeshua, our Messiah, will come and that is good news. For us in 21^stCentury Sydney, He came not only to be born as the Christmas carols remind us away in a manger on that o, holy night, and the wise magi from the east found Him as we noted in Epiphany last week. He came to heal and to teach and to predict His own endings, but those endings are really beginnings. He died on a Roman cross, painfully aware of our sins which He took onto Himself. He was buried in a cave in Jerusalem and on the 3^rdday, the Day of First Fruits (Leviticus 23:10-17, 1 Cor. 15.23), Jesus rose from the dead. We are saved by faith in the blood He shed in Jerusalem on the cross. We are saved by faith in His resurrection life. And He will bring us together with all the saints in glory, and His Kingdom will have no end. 

Malachi saw it all. The sin of the people. The sins of the priests. The treachery of deceit and the dismissal of the covenant relationship we are to have with the Almighty. And the One who would come to set it all straight again. 

Do you see it? Do you understand your condition? You are lost without the Lord’s saving. You have no hope, and your cover-ups are well known to Him. Receive Jesus as Lord of your life just now. Repent of your sins. Give your life to Yeshua and join us. Online, you can contact me at bob@jewsforjesus.org.auand for those listening online or here in the congregation, please ask someone near you or one of the singers or ushers, and we will help you in this journey. It’s both baseball and football. You will get to the goal. That’s His promise to you. Malachi saw it. Do you see it?

---For a different style of studying this chapter, a verse-by-verse study of Malachi 2:1-16 by Bob Mendelsohn given in Sydney some years ago, please click here: http://www.jewsforjesus.org.au/sermons/Malachi2.mp3 That teaching includes what the phrase ‘covenant with Levi’ means and more about the hating of divorce.

The full text of Malachi chapter 2 follows

Mal. 2:1“And now this commandment is for you, O priests. ²“If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.³“Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it. ⁴“Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the LORD of hosts. ⁵“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so, he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. ⁶“ True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. ⁷“ For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. ⁸“ But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts. ⁹“So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.

Mal. 2:10  “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹“Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹²“As for the man who does this, may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the LORD of hosts.

Mal. 2:13  “This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ¹⁴“Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ¹⁵“But no one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. ¹⁶“For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So, take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

Mal. 2:17  You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”