In this last part of Lesson 1 from our study of the Old Testament book of Malachi, we’ll connect God’s statements to Israel and their priests to our modern day Christianity. Allow me to briefly explain why the Old Testament relates to us today.
First, notice what is said by the apostle Paul to his protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJVS—“[16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The scripture to which Paul refers here is the Old Testament scripture. He did not have the New Testament to use as a reference for living.
Secondly, take note of this passage from 1 Corinthians 10:11 NLT—“[11] These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.” The things referred to that serve as examples for people came from the choices and consequences of those choices that affected the lives of those who had lived before the Corinthian church had been established. The examples came from the lives of people recorded in what we call the Old Testament.
That being said, let’s connect the beginning of the Old Testament book of Malachi to our lives as followers of Jesus today. We’ll look at Malachi 1:2-5 and Malachi 1:6-2:9 separately.
The first section of Malachi states plainly that God has a chosen people and that people is the nation descended from the man Abraham. But His chosen nation does not include every son of Abraham. It includes only those descended from the “Son of Promise,” who was Isaac. After Isaac came Jacob, not his brother Esau. Jacob was the one whose name was changed to Israel.
The idea that God chooses and calls people to be His appears throughout the New Testament, too. We see examples of this in the lives of Mary, John the Baptist and Paul. More importantly, God calls people to become part of the church Jesus is building. He chooses people to be adopted into His family. The Holy Spirit draws and woos people to place their faith in Jesus. Those who accept Jesus as Savior do so because of that drawing by the Holy Spirit.
The second section of Malachi deals with the messengers of God, how He warned them for offering defiled sacrifices and improperly leading the people spiritually, and the standard by which God expected His messengers, the priests, to live. We no longer have priests who kill animals and pour out their blood on an altar, but we do have spiritual leaders who are God’s messengers. These messengers, or people gifts, to the body of believers in Christ, commonly called “the church,” are found listed in Ephesians 4:11 and include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
The New Testament spiritual leaders have the responsibilities of instructing people in the knowledge of God and living as good examples before the people, just like their predecessors the priests. They are to properly lead in worship and correct any erroneous actions they encounter in the body of believers. They are to help fellow followers of Jesus to be built up in their faith and help them learn how to live like God wants them to live.
A final note about our modern day spiritual leaders—as they lead in worship, they are to make sure the people bring the right kinds of spiritual sacrifices to present to God. We don’t bring animals, but we do bring attitudes, mindsets and behaviors into our places of worship. The spiritual leaders have the responsibility of making sure we bring to God what we should bring, not what is simply convenient, preferred or commonly referred to as tradition. God will reject arrogance, self-centeredness, self-righteousness and an “I want” demand just like he rejected blind lambs and diseased bullocks.
Pray earnestly for our spiritual leaders that they would be able to heed his warning to the priests and lead us in worship and lifestyle like God intended them to lead. And pray that they would have spiritual discernment to know what should be done during worship and what should not be done. Their guidance and instructions are as important today as those of the priests long ago.
We will continue our study of the messages from God found in Malachi in the next lesson as we look at Malachi 2:10-12.