Read all of Malachi. What is the condition of the Jewish people as he writes? What are the particular problems he addresses? How is the situation different from that addressed by earlier prophets, e.g., Isaiah and Jeremiah? What keys to Jewish survival do you see here?
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
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It seems that this is another time that the Jewish people have turned away from God. That they are following false gods and breaking the commandments of God. A couple problems seem to be that the priests are not doing what they are supposed to and that people are going away from the teachings of God. It is different in that the people are not in trouble from destruction that is caused because of a group of people coming. Destruction is coming because of their own stupidity. He talks about how he is sending a messenger and that people need to follow him. That messenger, whom it seems may be Christ, needs to be listened to.
ReplyDeleteIt is God done with punishing the people then help save them when they return to him. Then to just fall back into the same life style. It is like he has given up the people are worshiping other Gods, priest are not always good may have their own plans. The people have just broken their promise one too many times. This time they will be saved by the coming of Jesus and he will save anyone who just believes in him.
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish people at this time seem lax and corrupt. God's people are cheating him yet again. They are unfaithful to God. They bring him lame animals to sacrifice. They have broken their promise to God. They do not bring God the tithes he deserves. They have said terrible things about God.
ReplyDeleteThe key to their survival is that the start doing the right thing. The Lord is coming and at that time those whose names are written in the book will be his people again. They must remember the teaching of Moses.
The Jewish people are wandering from God, and Malachi is there to remind them of this. As stated in Malachi 1:6, "'A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?' says the Lord Almighty." Through this passage, it is clear that the people still show respect to their fathers and masters, but often forget that God is both. Malachi finishes by saying that the day will come of great destruction, and that they need to return to the laws of Moses.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see a whole lot of difference between Malachi and the prophets before him. The people are moving away from God again. Their taking non Jewish wives again as well. They are also making sacrafices with items of no real value and cheating on their wives. This all shows that the people are just going throught the motions and they don't really think it matters if they give God good sacrafices. As usual Malachi is there to convince them of the wickedness of their ways, and tell them to go back to the laws of Moses.
ReplyDeleteOne difference between Malachi and the prophets before him is that not only is he pretty specific about what's going wrong, he addresses the priests more than the people in general. From what I've read, I'd say most prophets lament the state of the people and blame them for being sinful in their hearts, but in Malachi we see that he believes a lot of the peoples poor choices arise from bad teaching. He also reminds the people to know the scripture well enough to guide themselves, while following the rules of the priests, so that when the priests deviate from what is true the people can still keep themselves righteous. This could be helpful for Jewish survival after the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the people
ReplyDeleteI think one of the main differences with the end of Malachi as compared to the rest of the prophets is found at the very end of the scripture. There is definite sense of despair at the end of Malachi's writings. He ends saying, "he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. I think this is very interesting simply for the fact there is not a single utterance of any sort of prophecy for over 400 years after this. It just gives you this picture of people in dire need of a hope.
ReplyDeleteMalachi at first condemned non-Jewish people, but then turned to Jews and condemned them for having second rate sacrifices. He condemned the priests, saying he would curse their blessings unless they got their act together. It is pretty grim. It almost seems like a last chance versus the other prophets who seemed a little more optimistic.
ReplyDeleteMalachi 3:14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? This is a good passage to start with, because the list is LONG that Malachi describes as problems. As I read it I really get the tone that these are God’s words, not Malachi’s. God is mad for the priest messing up ALL the temple rituals, disgracing the alter, and making the wrong sacrifices. Part of the slippery slope they are traveling down is marrying outside the faith, to wives that worship other Gods. The tithing is not going to the right places, and there are other injustices on the poor or widowed. These may not be “new” issues that other prophets haven’t address, but again I say the tone is more accusing, more forcefull.
ReplyDeleteA couple of ways that the Jewish people are having problems is with their sacrifices and priesthood. In verse 8 of chapter 1 it says that you wouldn't give poor sacrifices to your governor so why would you give them to the Lord. Along with the sacrifices, the priest were letting the people get away with bad sacrifices and the people weren't giving their tithes and offerings. Some hope that i find in here is that God tells his people that he doesn't change and that if they turn around and obey him they will be saved and future generations will flourish.
ReplyDeleteMalachi identifies all of the sins of the Jews including the priests. They are having problems with the scarifies, meaning they are not making the proper ones to glorified God. Malachi is bringing the word of the Lord and the day of Judgement because the people are falling behind.
ReplyDeleteLiz