Malachi Introduction

[0:00] Let's refresh our memory a little bit about where we've been.

[0:17] ! We're looking at, of course, Israel at the moment and at the time that it had been divided into two nations, remember. The northern ten tribes formed the northern kingdom of Israel. The remaining two tribes staying in Jerusalem as the kingdom of Judah. So the nation had been divided and God, though, was faithful to send his prophets to deal with them, in particular, with the matter of their sin, their departure from God, and the fact that he has to judge them because of that sin.

[0:57] We picked up, or we picked up, we will pick up in chart number 19, if you'll notice that. Remember, after 70 years, in chart 98, after 70 years, God begins to deliver his people out of their captivity, out of their bondage, and in chapter 19, then, the first remnant returns back to Jerusalem. That's found in the book of Ezra. God stirs the heart of Cyrus, remember, to allow the people of God, the Hebrews, to return back to their land to do the reconstruction of the temple that they long to do. So under Zerubbabel, come 50,000 people back to the land of Israel, back to Jerusalem, if you will, with the instruments of gold and silver that had been taken out of the temple.

[2:01] The altar then is set up, worship reestablished in Israel, and the temple foundations were laid. Remember what happens in chapter 3, verse 12 of Ezra, when the temple foundations are laid. There is rejoicing, but there were also cries of weeping.

[2:20] And those that rejoiced, rejoiced because the foundations of a new temple have been laid. The reason for the crying, remember, is that it wasn't like it used to be.

[2:34] Not near the size, thus speculating it's not going to be as grand and spectacular as Solomon's temple. So there is great mourning amongst many of them.

[2:49] And the noise was so loud, remember it said you could not discern the difference in the noise of the crying and the noise of the joy that was going forth from those that were so glad that it was there.

[3:03] But nonetheless, the temple construction has begun now, but it did take long before some outward opposition rises up. Recall that the Samaritans wanted to be a part of the reconstruction.

[3:17] Zerubbabel did not think that a wise thing to happen, so he told them they were not going to be allowed to be a help to assist in the rebuilding.

[3:29] As a result of that, they got quite angry, and they did everything they could to try to interrupt the work of building the temple. And so they were successful in doing that, even to the point that they were able to get the king to, the Cyrus, king of Persia, to stop the construction of the temple, even under Darius.

[3:58] All right? So, remember we said that portion of that, the force of trying to stop the building or construction of the temple would not have been successful had the heart and mind of the people of Israel been so into rebuilding that temple that their joy was to get that done and be sure nothing stopped that.

[4:25] That wasn't there. So it was not hard for outside forces to hinder and to eventually stop the work of the reconstruction of the temple.

[4:39] Lack of faithfulness in God being able to protect them, to strengthen them, to enable them to complete the work. All of those things played into that, plus the discouragement of the idea that it wasn't like it used to be.

[4:54] I think probably that's the largest aspect of the hindrance to the construction continuing that was there.

[5:06] The people were just discouraged because they had in their heart and mind, I mean, after all, some of the prophets have declared that this thing's going to be even more glorious than Solomon's.

[5:18] But there's no way it was going to happen. This thing wasn't very big in comparison to Solomon's temple. So discouragement was there. And so they, instead of doing that and continuing the construction of the temple, people then began looking into their own affairs, building their own houses, getting comfortable back in the land because they had stopped working on the things of God and that was no longer a true interest for them.

[5:53] So, we see Haggai's prophecies. He condemned the indifference of the people in stopping the work of building the temple.

[6:06] He also told them that the reason for the drought and the failure of crops and all the hindrances they're going through was because they had stopped the construction of the temple.

[6:23] And that was divine punishment for the neglect of that work. So as a result of Haggai's prophecy in that, the work then resumed and the building of the temple continued on.

[6:37] And so, the second prophecy of Haggai, he consoles those that were depressed and despondent over the new building and its size, promising that God's going to keep his covenant promises.

[6:50] The promises he made to his people when they came out of Egypt. And he'll give the new temple even greater glory than that of Solomon's. Okay? He promised that through his prophecy.

[7:02] Third and fourth prophecy of Haggai, he predicts the stop of the previous curse, the return of the blessings of the nature, of the ground, and so forth, that God promised to the nation, and the preservation of the nation and throne of Israel.

[7:22] Now, Haggai then served as a means of assurance to those that had returned for the purpose of building the temple and repopulating the land.

[7:38] Now, what's the significance of all of that then? Here's, I think, here's really the strength of our introduction that we need to keep in mind here.

[7:50] The significance of Haggai's message lies in the temple itself. When God made a covenant with Israel, that covenant of grace, it required something.

[8:05] They needed to have something that they could view, some place they could go to, and have fellowship with the God that made the covenant with them.

[8:19] I mean, if God says, you're going to be my people, what good is that if you can't fellowship with him? So there must be some place for the people of Israel to be able to meet and fellowship with God, and that fellowship then be sustained.

[8:41] So, he then commanded them to build, at the beginning, the tabernacle. You remember that? Under Moses, build the tabernacle. And that's the place where God would meet with his people.

[8:55] Remember, the pillar of cloud would descend upon that holy of holies, and there God would meet with his people. Now, so, as it goes on then, of course, that would include the temple, and there God would visibly be present with his people in that pillar of cloud, in that place.

[9:19] So that was a sign of the fulfillment of the divine promise that God had made under that covenant. So, Solomon builds a temple. God allows him to do that.

[9:30] Solomon builds the same temple that, you know, David, his father, wanted to build one. God said to David, you can't do that because you've got bloody hands. You're a man of war, so you can't build that permanent dwelling place for me.

[9:44] That was David's heart, remember. He could not fathom the idea of the God of heaven having a dwelling place that was temporary, that could be folded up and taken from place to place.

[9:59] He needed a permanent dwelling place, but God said, I'm not going to let you do it, but I'll let your son do it. And so Solomon then is given permission by God to build that place of meeting with God, of God with his people.

[10:16] Now, go back with me. We've been here before, but go back to 2 Chronicles, if you will. 2 Chronicles, chapter number 5.

[10:27] Solomon begins the process of building the temple, and after a bit of time, the temple is completed.

[10:38] In 2 Chronicles, chapter 5, pick up there with me, if you will, as they prepare to furnish the temple. How many of you were here when they built the auditorium that we've got now?

[11:00] You remember how anxious you were to get in? That's usually the case. You watch the progress go from time to time. each piece being put into place, and then finally, finally, we're ready.

[11:14] We're ready for the carpet to be installed. Now, I mean, that's just a monumental point of time in the building of a worship center. Get the carpet down, because you know when the carpet's down, the pews come in.

[11:30] And when the pews come in, the pulpit will come in. And then all the other furnishings, and then the only thing left is to worship God in that place.

[11:42] What an exciting time that is. Now, that happens here with Solomon and his temple. In chapter number 5, pick up in verse 1 with me.

[11:53] Let's go through it just to get a sense of what they're experiencing here. Verse 1, Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished.

[12:04] And Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated, and the silver and the gold and the instruments, all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

[12:17] Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

[12:34] Ah, the final piece here, folks. Wherefore, all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast, which was in the seventh month.

[12:45] So they've got the laver, they've got the candlestick, they've got the table of showbread, the altar of incense, all that's there. One thing remaining.

[12:57] The ark of the covenant. So now they've gone to get it. Verse 4, All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. And they brought up the ark and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle.

[13:16] These did the priests and Levites bring up. King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

[13:33] And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.

[13:45] For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves of the ark that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle, but they were not seen without.

[14:03] And there it was unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put there at Hebron, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt.

[14:19] Now keep that in mind here, folks. He mentions the tables of stone, the law that was inside the ark.

[14:32] That's important. It's significant. We'll see that in a bit. Came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, for all the priests that were present were sanctified and did not then wait by course.

[14:44] Also the Levites which were singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jedethon, with their sons and their brethren being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar and with them a hundred and twenty priests, sounding with the trumpets.

[15:07] Now catch this. I love this. Even, it even came to pass as the trumpeters and singers were as one. Uh-oh. Dan, have you ever had a choir with the organist and the pianist that's ever been that close to being perfectly in unity?

[15:24] I don't know. boy can you imagine that you can't hear one single individual musician singer anything they all as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the lord and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praise jehovah saying for he is good for his mercy endureth forever notice then the house was filled with a cloud even the house of jehovah so that the priest could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud for the glory of jehovah had filled the house what a tremendous picture amen joyous celebration singing music playing all as one and god honors that honors the place by filling the place with his presence to the point that the priest could not stand to minister because of the glory of god wow what a tremendous tremendous picture that we have here you can go on to chapter six and read what solomon preaches there as his message now the glory of god filled the sanctuary and that was the place then that it was built where he said he would place his name find that in first king chapter nine verse three so realize the continuance of the covenant relationship between god and israel was all bound up in the temple that was the place that was the place that was the place where he said he would put his name forever and his name of course is conducive to his attributes and characteristics his very nature that would be displayed and and and and manifest to the people of israel but what happened after a period of time the temple was destroyed isn't it ezekiel i haven't been there for so long isn't ezekiel the prophet that gave us the picture of really god's departure from the temple oh what a devastating picture and then the temple was destroyed when that was destroyed the covenant with israel was as you will set aside suspended the continuance of the kingdom among israel was suspended as well wow talk about devastation i'm in the process of going through the book of jeremiah for january bible studies in a couple places and the picture that we see there of god's judgment upon his people because they had turned away from him is tremendous and you get that picture here now if that covenant then was to be rekindled and the kingdom of god reestablished with israel as a nation in its old testament form then the prerequisite for that was for that temple to be rebuilt and so here they are the 50 000 remnant back in jerusalem to rebuild that now they've been discouraged now they've been they've been uh had outside opposition and so they've stopped went to build their own houses now

[19:30] so it has to be now that rebuilding of that temple has to be their focus they were bound then by that covenant to redo rebuild that temple get back to the work with all possible zeal in order for them to restore that covenant fellowship with god now so they finally finished the temple after they do that they could expect from their faithful covenant god the restoration that comes in connection with that fellowship with god and all its completeness for god to fulfill all the covenant promises so the temple was completed four and a half years earlier go to ezra chapter 6 ezra chapter 6 verse 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month adar which was in the sixth sixth year of the reign of darius the king i'm trying to remember was it 40 years after the destruction of solomon's temple that this was rebuilt anyway the children of israel so the temple's rebuilt verse 16 the children of israel the priests and the levites and the rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of this house of god the children of the holy god with joy notice no no tears here at this point that's not interesting i mean it's built it's constructed just as they wanted it to be needed it to be for that covenant fellowship with god for 17 and offered at the dedication of this house of god and hundred bullocks 200 rams 400 lambs and for a sin offering for all israel 12 he goats according to the number of the tribes of israel and they set the priests in their divisions and the levites in their course for the service of god which is at jerusalem as it is written in the book of moses and then they go on and and begin once again the feast of the passover now notice something there's something missing something missing in that new temple what is it the glory of god's not there so the ark is not there the temple's built but can't find the ark what's the importance of the ark not being there something else though yeah the law the law the tablets and the law that was the basis if you remember and recall the basis of that covenant relationship was that tablet that's the glory of god could not fill that new temple it's quite a con quandary i can't even talk quite a con whatever that word is quite a conundrum yeah yeah that's another hebrew word yeah yeah yeah the glory of god didn't fill it because the covenant and the ark of god was missing

[23:37] that's the most central and essential that's the most central and essential thick feature of that covenant that he made with him at mount sinai now remember the testimony of the law the first set written by the finger of god cannot be replaced the basis of the covenant relationship was gone so the old covenant was not to be restored in this old testament form could not be but it would be restored according to the promise made through jeremiah in jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 through 33 god says behold the days come sayeth the lord that i will make a new covenant with the house of israel and with the house of judah not according to the covenant that i made with their fathers in the day i took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of egypt which my covenant they break although i was a husband unto them saith the lord but this shall be the covenant that i will make with the house of israel after those days saith the lord i will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their god and they shall be my people wow you know the more i got to looking at that and studying that i came up with this thought you know the presence of god with israel under that old covenant was upon the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant in the ark of the covenant was the law the basis of the covenant now god says i'm going to make a new covenant with them i'll write that my law in their inward parts write it in their hearts i'll be their god and they will be my people the heart of the people was the new dwelling place of god not upon the ark of the covenant anymore but in the heart of the the people of god the people of god then if you will a new ark a new ark it's a dwelling place of god but the idea is it's not him dwelling on top of that ark but now within what a tremendous difference amen what a tremendous change there's going to be or there was but in jeremiah's time there will be to come yet so the people of israel were not ready yet for that new covenant they weren't ready because of the condition of their heart so that return remnant had to continue under the rule of heathen powers until the time arrived for the conclusion of the new covenant and that's the time you recall when when something different is going to happen look at malachi or i'll just read it to you malachi chapter 3 verse 1 we'll get to that later on behold i will send my messenger god says he shall prepare the way before me and the lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in behold he shall come saith the lord of hosts now that's good news to that point but that second verse kind of throws a wrench in the works

[27:40] but who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appears for he is like a refiner's fire and a fuller's soap wow oh good how'd we do that how'd we get so much time left it's good finish no no i was afraid i was gonna run off time in in the ministry of jesus when did that take place malachi 3 1 and 2 i think there's a two-fold fulfillment here when's the first the temple yeah yeah when he came and turned over the tables of the money changers and do all that he suddenly came didn't knock on the door and beg entrance he just came in yeah and cleanse that place that pro that prophecy there is a sign of judgment and uh and uh and so that's going to happen with that new covenant is ushered in that's what malachi says that he will come the messenger of that new covenant if you will that will take place and then eventually the messiah will fill it with his glory now the design of god in in the coming of christ bodily form in his incarnation was to manifest the hidden glories of his nature all right as god then to reconcile each man and to each other and to himself you know the angels declared that his incarnation shall manifest and promote the glory of god puts a new perspective on luke chapter 2 verse 13 isn't it they were also in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and lo what happens an angel appears unto them remember an angel of the lord came upon them the glory of the lord shone round about them they were sore afraid and the angel said unto them fear not for behold i bring you good tidings of great joy oh oh put it together i bring you good tidings of great joy of great joy joy like you had at the completion of solomon's temple when the glory of god filled that place joy that was there in a smaller degree when the rebuilt temple was completed so what's it mean i bring you tidings of great joy for unto you is born this day in the city of david oh the place where god said i'll put my name a savior who is the christos the lord now this shall be a sign unto you you'll find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host paraphrase lions paraphrase giving these shepherds indication that the glory is now here to fill the house amen saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace goodwill toward men that's king james rendering came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven the shepherds said to one another let us now

[31:42] go even unto bethlehem and see the thing which has come to pass that the lord's made known unto us wow yeah now that divine nature will be revealed and manifest by the person of god in the flesh to reveal god's glory in the highest to the most exalted degree and among the highest order of beings nations now it'll give the angels something new to look at too hey man yeah remember peter said talking about our salvation how grand it is they stooped down to want to look at that and the literal idea is it's the same it's the same idea as when john and james and all of them ran to the empty tomb remember one of them ran inside but the other one stooped down like this to look and see what was in there and what wasn't see i deal with the angels here too according to what peter was saying that they just get their nose right into it because they can't experience it themselves but they have such a grand interest interest in that that they stoop down and gaze with a the penetrating gaze into the salvation that god has provided for lost mankind through this one who will fill god's place with his glory yeah now now well remember galatians 4 when the fullness of the time was come god sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might be called the sons of god now the work of ezra when he returned to jerusalem he found the sin of mixed marriages within the nation so you see the heart and mind of the people of god in essence what happens is then his cry before the lord outside the temple stirred the hearts of the people to repent of their sin to put away the pagan wives and their children but though repentance was demonstrated by them we begin to see there the attitudes the beginning beginning that resulted in their captivity in babylon all right it was there and that continues then through the day of malachi's prophecy when nehemiah returned to rebuild the city walls to give the the nation the security that it needs from the hostile nations surrounding them they built that with zeal nehemiah 4 6 says so we built the wall and all the wall was joined together under half thereof for the people had a mind to work remember they had opposition they had a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other putting that wall together they were just so eager to get that done now it wasn't long though before israel and here's the problem israel began to develop a spirit of tolerance all right tolerating the sin of its people believing that god had overlooked that sin yeah exactly not thinking that god would would deal with that now examples of that elisha prepared a chamber in the courts of the temple

[35:43] that's in nehemiah or azareth chapter 13 versus or nehemiah rather chapter 4 13 verses 4 through 9 the levites were forced to work because their portion of the sacrifice had not been given them so the house of god was forsaken as in verses 10 through 14 of that same chapter violation of the sabbath rest some treading the wine press on the sabbath men selling their goods on the sabbath levites charged to clean themselves and keep the temple and sabbath in order so the practice of mixed marriage then began once more and the priesthood was defiled by that so you see what happens when we begin to practice tolerance and think god will overlook it and that requires to be stewards of his word and live thereby so that's what brings us to the book of malachi and remember remember the passage that we said or the verse that we said really was was the uh uh i guess theme for the book of malachi and that was in malachi chapter 3 in verse 6 god telling the people of the covenant for i am jehovah i change not therefore your sons of jacob are not consumed judgment couple with mercy and the binding factor of all of that together is god's love god's love for his people and the promises made to those he made the covenant with so we'll begin looking next week lord willing in malachi chapter 1 all right you ready for the exam we've got 10 minutes we can have our exam on the introduction any thought do what truth fall do you want to make it easy yeah okay all right any thoughts questions all right i have a question yes ma'am when you talk about that is written and so written the new covenant that is in the heart of the people that refers to after jesus christ yes that's the covenant that jesus brings in and establishes yeah yeah yes ma'am it is in particular marriages of of hebrews to people of pagan countries okay yeah now there may have been may have been some different things that i don't think you're looking at same-sex marriages there no mostly it's the idea years ago they were thinking about when you're married you know well like jolanda and i would be you know are you illegal yolanda i'm trying to you know because they said when you shouldn't marry outside of your race yeah yeah and realize i don't find anything in the instructions that uh support that realize that uh uh the nation of israel the covenant people of god were a peculiar people unto him yeah and the reason being is they're the ones through which messiah would come and that's the whole import there

[39:46] um so for them to to uh marry canaanites if you will uh would would uh make that an impure line and so you know that's why that's why when jacob uh told i mean when isaac told jacob to run you know go to his mom's family's place and take a wife of them you know don't marry the canaanites you know that thing had to be uh maintained in that line for the covenant relationship and the covenant be fulfilled that promise that's why if you look look at all the genealogies how god how god brought messiah jesus in that physical birth is a tremendous picture yeah of god's preservation of that yeah aren't you glad god knew what he was doing amen didn't miss a lick i remember dad dad was an aircraft mechanic in the air in the in the navy during uh world war ii period and uh he would tell me he said you know and if the new guy came in you know into their squadron they would uh had an engine over there they'd have him tear down and put back together and as he was putting it together invariably someone would slip up there and throw a couple of bolts and nuts down there from someplace else and he would get that engine all put back together and still had bolts and nuts left over and he would rack his mind trying to figure out what did he forget what did he leave out so inevitably he if if they weren't kind to him they'd let him tear it all the way back down and try to figure it out until he find out there's nothing i missed and they realize what he did it's kind of an initiation into the squadron if you will but god leaves nothing undone he leaves nothing undone and uh it's a beautiful picture of what he's done that way we can be assured that whatever he's got in store for us in eternity is going to be perfect nothing left undone and the only the only insight we have to what that is is what he's been pleased to reveal to us in the scriptures but that probably just holds barely a candle to what all is in store there you realize in the revelation there are some places where god says don't write this down don't write this down uh don't want it yet to be revealed some things when we get to heaven you're talking about shouting time it's going to be a shouting time us sophisticated baptists in these days aren't going to feel very comfortable when we have to get there and shout amen all right i'm finished rambling any other thoughts all right let's pray father again thank you for your love and grace thank you for your goodness and kindness to us and father we are so thankful we praise you not just for your goodness but the for the intricacies of what you've done on our behalf to make our salvation so perfect and so complete with nothing left undone so we can have and do have the confidence that that that is settled for us and that by our faith and trust in christ we know that's assured for us so thank you father we look forward to that day and that time when you usher us up to be with you so in the meantime let us glorify you magnify you through the way we live and the things that we do and the people we talk to the

[43:50] things that we say that might draw them to you we'll thank you and praise you for it all now in jesus name amen