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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One 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
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.
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