Malachi .... God will be Honoured!

It may just be 'the age' I live in, but probably more likely 'my age', but I find that I now react to everything with a comment, and frequently a judgment - usually negative or cynical. I find 'Grumpy Old Men' strangely compelling - and I nod a lot when it is on. Malachi is a 'minor' prophet - so I don't have to take him seriously, and have not read the book with any interest, if at all. But who said he was 'minor'? Is this a judgment on Malachi, or on what he wrote? So I thought I should read it again, and confirm my prejudice.

God didn't seem to think he was minor. Unlike the other prophets Malachi didn't take God's attitudes and preach them in a powerful sermon, Malachi was God's scribe! Out of a total of 55 verses, 47 of them are in the first person - God speaking. This is an encounter of God with people, second to none in any other part of the Bible.

Have I labeled God's message as 'minor' before even hearing it?

God declares His love for His people, and His desire is to bless them with everything that is good. He wants them to find true satisfaction and accept daily His gifts of life and peace, and naturally He expects them to respond with awe to the privilege of belonging to Him and in turn pass on to others the good things they enjoy. It is a living relationship to be utterly enjoyed.

Amazingly, instead of responding with warmth and spontaneity, people responded with apathy, they were bored with worship and mean in their giving. They despised God, cheated Him of vows and robbed Him of dues. This broken relationship with God led inevitably to broken relationships with one another, in society, in marriage, and in family.

God is the Almighty God, He is a loving God but he is also a God of Justice - and He will be honoured!

The remarkable ethical thrust of this book has lost none of its cutting edge through time, and it still strikes at the heart of nominal easy going Christianity, as it did at that of Judaism.

Do we dismiss Malachi as 'minor' because we are inclined to judge before we are judged?

Obviously I would never have that sort of prejudiced attitude …… perhaps I should read it again.

Mike Whitley

You can listen online, download or get a web link to the audio file by clicking on the blue arrow to the right of each sermon.