LIFE LESSONS
MALACHI
DR. JIM DIXON
APRIL 18, 2004
MALACHI 3:6-12, MALACHI 4:1-2, MALACHI 4:5-6
Malachi was the last of the so-called 12 minor prophets. They were called minor because their writings were relatively short. And of course, Malachi wrote the last book of the Old Testament, the book that bears his name. We know almost nothing about Malachi. Of course, some people have suggested tongue in cheek that he was an Italian prophet, but we know that’s not true. Some Bible scholars have suggested that the name Malachi is pseudonymous and that the book of Malachi is pseudographical. They point out that the name Malachi is not found anywhere else in the Bible. And they point out that in ancient Jewish cultures, moms and dads never named their children Malachi. The name was unknown. And so, they suggest that Jewish scribes made up the name Malachi to create a 12th minor prophet so they wouldn’t be stuck with the uncomfortable number 11.
Of course, most Bible scholars don’t buy that. Some Bible scholars believe that the name Malachi is not a name at all. They believe it’s really a title and they point out that the Hebrew name Malachi is associated with the Hebrew word “malachim,” which means angel or messenger. And the name Malachi literally means “my angel” or “my messenger,” and they think perhaps Malachi was a title for the post-exilic prophet whose name was Ezra, and he was called “my angel” or “my messenger.” But most Bible scholars believe the name Malachi is indeed a Hebrew name and it was the name of a very real prophet who lived in the fifth century before Christ after the Jewish people had returned from exile and had returned to Jerusalem.
We know very little about this prophet Malachi. So this morning we’re just going to focus on his book. We’re going to focus on this wonderful last book of the Old Testament and we’re going to take a look at three different themes and we’re going to look at each very briefly.
First of all is the theme of tithing. Now I know I need to be careful, and I know I can get in trouble again. I probably will. Of course, it was Malachi who said, “Will men rob God?” Of course he’s quoting God. “Will men rob God? Well, you are robbing Me. But you say, how are we robbing You? With your tithes and your offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you. Therefore bring the full tithes into the storehouse that there might be food in My house. Put Me to the test, says the Lord of Hosts, and see if I will not open up the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.”
Now, tithing was part of the Jewish law. We find it in the Deuteronic code in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 27. We find it in the Levitical laws, in Leviticus chapter 26. And of course, tithing actually predates the mosaic law. The people of God have always tithed, and Abraham brought a tithe to Melchizedek, the Bible tells us in Genesis. And of course Cain and Abel brought their tithes to the Lord, one bringing of the firstlings of his flock, the other bringing of the first fruits of his produce.
Now, the word tithe simply means one 10th. But the Jewish people knew that it couldn’t just be any 10th. They had to give the first and they had to give the best. So they gave the first 10th to the Lord of everything they had. So they gave the first of their flocks and called them firstlings. They gave the first of their crops and call them first fruits. This was the tithe and it was for God and it was for His work and it was for the service of His kingdom. Now today, today many Christians say, well, must I tithe? Perhaps I don’t have to give the first and the best. Maybe I can give the last and the least. Maybe I don’t need to give my best to the Lord. Maybe I’m not under the Jewish law. Early Christians in the first few centuries we know from historical records did tithe and they knew that Christianity was rooted in Judaism and in a sense was a fulfillment of Judaism. They knew that the laws of God in the Old Testament were still binding unless Jesus or the apostles had repealed specific laws. The question is, did Jesus or the apostles repeal the tithe law? There are some people who think 2 Corinthians chapters eight and nine repeal the tithe, for the Apostle Paul tells the Christians at Corinth that they should give proportionately and not under compulsion. And so people say, well, there’s the New Testament law. We don’t have to tithe anymore.
But if you look at 2 Corinthians chapters eight and nine, it has nothing to do with tithing. Paul is talking about a specific offering for the Jerusalem church. It has nothing to do with tithing. The same is true of 1 Corinthians chapter 11. The statements there have nothing to do with tithing. Some have said, well look at Matthew 23:23, where Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You tithe mint, dill and cumin yet you ignore the weightier matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith.” And people say, well, there you have it. Jesus Himself tells us tithing is not weighty; it’s not important. But that’s not what Jesus said at all. And all you have to do is go and read the phrases that follow. Jesus said, “You tithe mint, dill and cumin and you ignore the weightier matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These you should have done without neglecting the former.” You should honor justice, mercy, and grace without neglecting to tithe.
And people say, well, okay, but at least He’s saying tithing isn’t as important. But in Matthew 23:23, Jesus is not comparing justice, mercy, and faith with tithing. He is comparing justice, mercy, and faith with the tithing of minutiae, which characterized the Pharisees because they tithed their kitchen spices mint, dill and cumin because they were legalistic. That’s the comparison Jesus is making. And therefore, the early church and indeed the church of Jesus Christ through the centuries has tithed and generally speaking has viewed the tithe as binding and a minimal example of what the people of God should give to serve the kingdom of Christ in this world. And of course the real issue isn’t tithing. The real issue is, do you want to serve God? I mean, do you have a desire to serve the work of Jesus Christ on this earth? Do you want your money to be used to serve the things of Christ and the cause of Christ? Who do you want to serve?
Now I got into some trouble and there was a lot of controversy regarding the words I said about two and a half months ago because I suggested that many people are going to go to hell. And I do believe that I’m not wanting people to go to hell, but I do believe, on the basis of the Bible, many people are going to go to hell. And of course I also said that I believe many people in churches all across America are heading for hell because they give nothing to the work of Christ and the cause of Christ in this world and God doesn’t have their soul.
There was a very interesting thing in Newsweek magazine that said that more than 60% of the people in America believe in hell. More than 60% of Americans believe in hell, but only 3% of Americans believe they’re going there. This doesn’t really fit what Jesus says in the Bible. What Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount is, “Wide is the gate and easy is the path that leads to destruction. And many there are who find it, but narrow is the gate and hard is the path that leads to eternal life. Few there are who find it.” The words are clear. And in that same sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Do not lay up treasures on earth, where rust and moths consume and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moths consume, and no thief breaks in and steals. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” And Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and mammon. You cannot serve both God and money.”
People have to make a choice. What do you want to live for? And what are you living for? Are we living for God? Are we living seeking to serve God? Are we really seeking to serve ourselves? That’s the choice we have to make. Are we seeking to serve Christ? Are we seeking to serve ourselves? There are millions of people in this world who are seeking to serve themselves and they’re bound for hell. You see, heaven is a place made for those who want to serve God. It’s made for those who want to serve Christ. The Bible’s absolutely clear that heaven is for those who have a heart for Christ and the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of Christ.
And hell is for those who want to serve themselves. And it was Satan who in the beginning decided to serve himself in rebellion against God. He decided to serve himself and God has prepared a place for him and all who think like him, all who want to serve themselves. Of course in the Bible, hell is often portrayed in terms of torment. I think this is misunderstood. I mean I think this is misunderstood because hell is not a place where God is there torturing people and He’s just eternally torturing people. Because he cannot exact His vengeance. That’s not how the Bible portrays hell. Hell is portrayed with imagery of misery because when you live for yourself, it’s vacuous. It’s vacuous at the core when you live for yourself. In God’s presence is fullness of joy. At His right hand, our pleasure is forevermore.
And the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter one that hell is exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. God won’t be there. Hell is simply a place where God is utterly absent and people live for themselves. If you want to live for yourself, God will give you that eternal opportunity. That’s what it’s about. But heaven is for those who want to serve the Lord. That’s what it’s for. If you don’t want to serve the Lord now, you wouldn’t like heaven.
You know, at the third service last week on Easter Sunday I mentioned that there are a lot of people in the world who seem to think heaven is a place where you can just continue to live for yourself, but with better toys. See, that’s not what the Bible says. Heaven is where we serve Christ. So this is really the issue. It’s not tithing. The issue is, what are you living for? And it’s going to be reflected in how you use your time and your treasure and your talent. And if you’re living to serve yourself, that’s going to be reflected in your time, your treasure, and your talent. If you’re living to serve Him, it’s going to be reflected in your time and your treasure and your talent.
You know, throughout the history of Russia, there have been many rulers named Ivan. And the most infamous was Ivan IV, who is of course called Ivan the Terrible. And there was also (and we’ve mentioned him in the past) the most beloved Ivan in the history of Russia, Ivan III. And he was called Ivan the Great. And why was he deemed great? He was deemed great because he was brilliant in his leadership and courageous in battle. He was deemed great because he freed the Russian people from 240 years of oppression by the Tartars. He was deemed great because he ushered in an era of peace, uniting the warring tribes of Northern Asia and Eastern Europe and establishing a vast empire that set the stage for the development of what would later be the Soviet Union. Ivan the III was Ivan the Great. Now, he was married twice, and his second wife was the niece of the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, who was Constantine the 11th.
His first wife was the daughter of the King of Greece, and the king of Greece would not allow this Russian prince to marry his daughter unless he was baptized in the Greek Orthodox church. So Ivan III came to Athens with 500 members of his royal guard. He came to be baptized and the 500 members of his royal guard said, “Hey, baptize us too. We’ll be baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church because we’re your royal guard and whatever you do, we’ll do.” So the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens appointed 500 Greek Orthodox priests to train these 500 members of the Royal Guard in their catechism and then he himself worked with Ivan III. When the time came for them all to be baptized, they were led to the water. And it must have been an amazing site, these 500 tutoring priests and the 500 members of the royal guard and the King of Greece and then Ivan the Great as they approached the water to receive baptism.
And then, a problem arose, because the 500 members of the royal guard all had their swords, sheathed. They were all wearing their swords. And the archbishop said, you can’t be baptized with your sword. You must set your sword aside in order to receive Christian baptism. And they said, well, you don’t understand. We’re soldiers; we’re members of the Royal Guard of Ivan the Great, we will not set our swords aside. So they reached a compromise. These 500 soldiers were allowed to be baptized as long as they held their swords out of the water. They didn’t subject their swords to Jesus Christ. How crazy.
Of course, it has to remind you of other stories I’ve told you about emperors of the Holy Roman empire such as Charlemagne in the ninth century and Frederick Barbarossa in the 12th century, and how they conquered foreign armies and drove them into water and forced them to receive Christian baptism. And many of those opposing armies refused to surrender their battle axes and take them under the water, refusing to surrender their weapons to Christ.
And you see, God wants you to understand today that you can’t hold anything back. You can’t hold anything back. You can’t hold anything out of the water. You’ve got to submit everything to Him, from your sex life to your financial life. It’s all surrendered to Him. You can’t hold anything back, can’t hold anything out of the water. It’s all surrendered to Him. I know Christianity involves a process of sanctification. I know that there is growth in discipleship. But you see, if we’re really Christians, the moment we see and the moment we recognize that we’re holding back—the moment we recognize we have something out of the water‚ we surrender it. We’re called to surrender it. He wants us to surrender it today. And this really is what tithing is about.
There’s a second subject in Malachi, and the second subject concerns healing. Malachi says, “Behold, the day comes burning like an oven when all the arrogant and all evil doers will be stubble, for the day that comes will burn them up, says the Lord of hosts. They will be left when neither rooting nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in its wings.”
Now, we live in a solar system at the center of which there is a star we call the sun. And the sun is an amazing source of power. It is an amazing source of energy. And scientists tell us that the core of the sun has a temperature of 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. That’s fairly hot. And scientists tell us that if you were to take a speck from the core of the sun the size of a pin, just a speck, it would kill a human being a million miles away.
I don’t know how they determine that. But it doesn’t really matter, because you’re never going to come within a million miles of the core of the sun. And the temperature of the sun’s surface is only 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not much compared to 27 million degrees. And the earth is 93 million miles from the sun. And of course, we receive all the blessing of the sun’s energy sent to us. And the energy and the power from the sun just radiate outward. And we receive 1/2,000,000,000 of that radiating energy going outward. Only 1/2,000,000,000 reaches the surface of the earth. And yet it’s so great, it’s so powerful, that all the coal, all the wood, all the oil and gas—all the sources of energy on earth—are not equal to the energy that the sun sends to earth in one week.
Scientists tell us that the sun sends more energy to this planet in one second than mankind has used in the history of the world. That’s pretty incredible. Now Malachi says, In the last days there will arise the Sun of Righteousness.” And it’s not S-O-N, it’s S-U-N. “In the last days there shall arise the Sun of Righteousness with healing in its wings.” And of course, the early church identified the Sun of Righteousness as a messianic title and they applied it to Christ. And generally speaking, in Christian history, Christian theologians have applied this title to Christ, even Reformation theologians, from Martin Luther to John Calvin. But some scholars are not so sure because in the New Testament this title is not applied to Christ. We just don’t know. But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because what Malachi is saying is that as we approach the consummation and as we come to the final day, those of us who long for righteousness will be healed. I mean, that’s what’s being said. If you long for righteousness, you’ll be healed. The Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in its wings. And of course, Jesus surely is the healer. And in that sense, surely He is the Sun of Righteousness. And it was Jesus who said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” And how about you? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you long to be healed?
If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you long to be healed because you know you’re not as righteous as you’d like to be. You long to be healed. And there are some scary passages in the Bible—a couple of scary passages. In fact, there are a lot of scary passages in the Bible. One is in Hebrews 10, where the Bible says, “If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a fearsome prospect of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” That’s a scary passage. I don’t know about you, but I have sinned deliberately even after I’ve knowledge of the truth.
There is a scary passage in 1 John chapter five, where the Bible says, “No one who is born of God sins, wherefore He who is born of God keeps him and the evil one cannot touch him.” No one who is born of God sins. What are these passages about? And what do they mean, since the Bible clearly says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and since the Bible clearly says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves? We really only understand when we look at it in the Greek. And when you look at it in the Greek and you look at the tenses of the Greek words, you see that these passages like Hebrews 10 and 1 John five involve the concept of willfulness and chronic-ness. No one who is born of God willfully and chronically sins.
Now you have to understand what that means. Greek scholars agree to sin willfully and chronically means you embrace sin—you just embrace it, you cease to struggle against it. If you’re a Christian, you struggle with sin. I mean, even if you’re addicted to some sin, you struggle with it. If Jesus is in you, you struggle. But if Christ is not in you, you may just embrace that sin—willfully, chronically embrace it. But you see, if you’re a Christian, there’s some part of your soul longing for righteousness, hungering, thirsting for righteousness. And you know, today, if there’s a sin in your life and it’s got a foothold and you haven’t repented, you need to repent. And God wants you to know that His healing power is available even today. But He also wants you to know that if you are struggling with a sin and, and you fall, get back up and struggle some more. Don’t ever give up. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. It’s the mark of a Christian.
So we have this incredible promise of healing, precious to those of us who are longing for holiness. Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, radiates righteousness like the sun radiates energy and He will bring healing in His wings.
Well, thirdly and finally there’s a lesson from Malachi about the family. Malachi says, “Behold, I will send to you Elijah, the prophet, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.”
Now obviously in the last days the Bible prophesies a problem with the family, a breakdown in the family. Children will rise up against parents and parents will not have a heart for children. And there will arise this concept of Elijah Redivivus. And we’ve seen it before. This whole theology of Elijah Redivivus was precious to the Jew and it influenced both Old and New Testament theology. The belief was that before the Messiah could come, there would arise a messenger who would herald the coming of the Messiah and who would come in the spirit of Elijah. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that as Messiah He was proceeded by John the Baptist and He says, if you’re willing to believe it, John the Baptist was Elijah Redivivus. He came in the spirit of Elijah and in fulfillment of prophecy.
Now the prophet Malachi is saying that before Christ comes a second time before the end of the age, again, they’ll rise up an individual who will come in the spirit of Elijah, Elijah Redivivus. This individual will turn the hearts of Christian parents to their children and children to their parents.
It’ll be somebody kind of like a James Dobson who would rise up prophetically and call fathers to their children and children to their fathers. And you know, please don’t leave here saying, Jim Dixon said James Dobson is Elijah Redivivus. I’m just saying that’s an illustration.
There’s a problem in families today, I’ll tell you a little story before we close about a man named DeForest. DeForest was born in New York City to a very wealthy family. The year was 1899. And he was famous right off the bat because he was the poster baby for the Melon Baby Food Company, which was the largest producer of baby food in the world at the turn of the century. So DeForest had his picture as a one-year-old baby on billboards, posters, and boxes. His picture was everywhere. Everyone had seen the face of this little baby. Well, DeForest grew up in New York City. His father wanted him to go to Yale University, but DeForest was a bad student and got horrible grades and he was also very, very rebellious. And so DeForest was kicked out of high school. He was expelled for misconduct and he joined the Navy.
But in the Navy he went AWOL and he found himself constantly in solitary confinement. When he was finally released, he took various odd jobs including a tugboat inspector. He took just kind of strange—and most people would’ve said insignificant—jobs. But then DeForest finally got his opportunity to act in a small film. He had wanted to be an actor. And his first film a film called Dr. X. It was a sci-fi movie about a vampire and it was really bad, but that was his first movie. And I think some of you who are movie buffs and know something of the history of Hollywood already know who Deforest is because he went on to become the biggest name in Hollywood and he starred in African Queen and in Casablanca and in The Petrified Forest and in Maltese Falcon and many movies. And of course his name was Humphrey Bogart, Humphrey DeForest Bogart.
Now, Humphrey was married four times and his last wife was Lauren Bacall. He only had two children, one son and one daughter. And by both his testimony and theirs, he was not much of a father. He didn’t really have a heart for his kids. It’s not that he was just an evil bad person. He was capable of acts of kindness. He just didn’t care much about his kids; just didn’t care much about his family. He gave public testimony to this fact. Humphrey Bogart said his primary focus in life was career building. That’s what he was primarily concerned with, building his career. And maybe we’ve got some Humphrey Bogarts here. Maybe that’s true of some of you. Maybe your primary focus and your primary concern and your primary passion, if you’re honest, is just furthering your career. And if that’s true, you need to repent.
You need to repent. Your primary focus should be the kingdom of heaven. And within the kingdom of heaven, if you have children, your passion for them should be far greater than your passion for your career. We need to turn our hearts towards home. And you know, we need to understand this. As the Jewish people understood this prophecy in Malachi because they knew that it had to do with the Shema. The Shema is found in Deuteronomy chapter six. Deuteronomy chapter six begins with, “Hear, O Israel.” The Hebrew word Shema means “Hear.” So the Shema in Deuteronomy six says “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your might. And the words which I tell you this day shall be upon your hearts and you shall teach them diligently to your children when you rise up and when you lay down. As you walk along the way, you shall teach them diligently to your children.”
The Jewish people quoted the Shema two times a day. Twice a day, they quoted these words, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your might. And the words which I tell you this day shall be upon your hearts and you shall teach them diligently to your children.” And of course, when you think about what God means when He says to turn our hearts to our children, it’s not just providing for our kids. Most parents provide. It’s not just going to soccer games. I mean, that’s fine. It’s great to take an interest in our kids, but it’s really ultimately about spiritual nurture. Are we nurturing our children? That’s what the Shema is about. You shall teach diligently to your children the Word of God. You shall teach it diligently to your children. This is what it means to have your heart turn to your child: that you would instruct your child in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
Do you do that, or have you kind of relegated that responsibility to the church? I mean, I hope you understand that as a church, as a core value we care about your children and we love them and we’re seeking everything we can to nurture your children in the Lord. But it’s your primary responsibility where we’re just kind of there to back you up. You’re the primary nurturer of your children and you are called to rear them in the nurture and the instruction of the Lord. No Sunday school teacher, great as a Sunday school teacher is, can take your place. No vacation Bible school teacher can take your place.
Nobody can take your place. You’re called as a parent to nurture your children in the Lord and in the Word and to model what it means to follow Jesus. And God is seeking this amongst His people as the day is drawing near. So we have these three teachings from Malachi, and the first teaching concerns tithing. And it’s really all about what are you living for and do you live to serve the kingdom of Christ and His church in this world? And the second teaching concerns healing, healing and righteousness, and do we hunger and thirst after righteousness? IS that reflected in a struggle against sin and a longing for that healing? And the final teaching is about the family. God wants us to turn our hearts towards home. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.