Malachi was the last of the minor prophets from the Old Testament. He spoke to the Israelites after they came back into the Promised Land from their exile in Babylon. His words came approximately 400ish years before Jesus arrived on the scene.
One big reminder as we study these verses: remember to look at the Old Testament through a New Covenant lens. We have the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the lenses of Jesus are the only way we are to look at Scripture in our day and time. (See Hebrews 1:1-2.)
If you haven’t read Part 1, “The Priesthood of the Believer,” I highly recommend you read it first. It lays some important groundwork, showing that you, dear Christian, are a New Testament priest!
Malachi Wasn’t Politically Correct
I imagine Malachi didn’t really worry about what the priests thought when he delivered God’s prophetic word.
Disgusting warning! God’s words through the prophet Malachi are a bit graphic in this passage.
1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts.
5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.” (Malachi 2:1-9 ESV)
I’ll break up Malachi’s message into “The Good” and “The Bad,” and I’ll go over the “bad news” first.
The Bad
Do the words in Malachi 2:2-4 & 8-9 sound harsh to you? It kinda does to me too. But you know, if anyone has room to provide correction, don’t you think God does? If His representatives represent Him in a way that is not representative of His ways, He has the right to make some corrections. (See also 2 Timothy 3:16.)
Now let’s talk about God’s use of curses. In the Old Testament, pretty much anything spiritual was attributed to God. We see this very well in the book of Job, when Job’s three friends incorrectly counseled Job, saying to him that God was punishing him for his sins. In reality, we know that it was Satan and his minions that were causing Job problems, and they had to receive permission from God. This is a very important principle for us to learn: the enemy requires permission.
Why Would God Do That?
Sometimes, as we read through the Old Testament, there are really interesting and strange verses, like in Judges 9:23, where it says, “God sent an evil spirit…” and in 1 Kings 22:23, “the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all [the false prophets].” What’s going on here?
God is not evil. He did not create evil. Evil exists apart from God, or to say it in another way, anything that doesn’t agree with God’s original intention and plan is evil. When the devil decided to go his own way, as described in Ezekiel 28, it says that unrighteousness was found in the devil, that he had made unholy trades, he was filled with violence, and he sinned. So God cast him out as a profane thing. He was proud, arrogant, and corrupted God’s wisdom, being filled with iniquity.
God’s Judgment
When God declares judgment over a particular thing with results and consequences, most of the time it is the kingdom of darkness that uses those judgments as justification to cause harm.
Think about it like this: God holds an umbrella over you that shields you from enemy attacks. When we follow His ways, we stay under His umbrella. When we choose to follow other ways, it’s like we are walking out from under His umbrella. We get hit by evil forces. Some see this as God’s judgment, but God has just told us what will happen to us if we remove ourselves from His protection.
What About Grace?
Grace is still in existence for us as New Testament believers. We are still saved by grace. We are declared innocent by God. But this fact of grace doesn’t negate the very real consequences we experience when turning away from God.
If I choose to disobey God and do something horrible, like cheat on my wife, then I will reap the consequences of my sin. It will destroy my marriage. Did God cause that to happen to me? Did His judgment of “Do not commit adultery” bring in the pain and suffering to my situation? No. I did. It was my choice. And I just gave the devil a foothold in my life.
Thankfully, my marriage to Cherise is amazing, and we have made a lifetime commitment in marriage to each other. We choose to love each other every day, and it’s been almost 20 wonderful years! This is available to you, too.
Jesus’ Example
I’ll give you another example from Jesus. Let’s read the parable of Jesus where he talks about the Kingdom of Heaven and how forgiveness works, in Matthew 18.
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents [modern day: millions of US dollars]. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii [modern day: several thousands of US dollars], and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers [or tormentors], until he should pay all his debt.
So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:23-35 ESV, [words in brackets mine])
The Tormentors
This last declaration, that God will deliver an unforgiving servant to the tormentors, gives the devil and his minions legal authority to cause harm in a believer’s life. It’s not God doing the tormenting. God just communicates what happens when we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts. And it makes sense logically as well: when we partner with an anti-God, anti-Christ spirit by not forgiving, those same evil spirits are given a wide open door to do what they do best, torment us.
However, when we partner with God’s Spirit of forgiveness, then we give no place for this harm and torment to come in.
So yes, God declares a curse, but it’s really showing us that curses will fall upon us if we choose to do life apart from His design and purpose.
Back to Malachi’s Priest Rebuke
When the priests from Malachi 2 decide to forsake God’s ways and agree with the devil, then they will have the consequences of serving the devil.
How do we know that they stopped following God’s instructions and started listening to the devil? Well, God says through Malachi that they have “turned aside from the way.” What ‘Way’? God’s ‘Way’!
God even likens the turning aside from His ways and causing many people to stumble by false instructions like having dung on their faces. Pretty gross, huh? Turning from God’s ways and embracing the devil’s ways is a lot like that. Why do you think the Lord calls evil filth? It’s dirty and stinky and gross.
When It Hits the Fan
What was God’s intention for the handling of the poop of animal sacrifices? I mean, didn’t He create our body systems and those of animals to work that way? We learn about what He intended in Exodus.
“But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.” (Exodus 29:14 ESV)
The flesh and the filth of evil is to be taken outside the camp of the holy people. We are to separate from the life of the flesh and the filth of the devil’s ways, which I’m calling dung.
If the priests from Malachi 2 didn’t turn from their evil ways, then they would reap the consequences of their decisions. The Lord’s blessing would be off of them, not because the Lord removed His blessing from over them. No! They are the ones that moved outside of the Lord’s blessing! They turned aside from The Way!
How It Applies
Do you see how this applies to us, the New Covenant Priests? By turning aside from God’s ways, we open ourselves up to spiritual attack from the enemy. When we refuse to forgive, we are literally inviting demons into our lives to create harm and pain and havoc. By using the world’s ways of handling things, we open ourselves up to a world of harm.
Let’s use God’s ways. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to renew our thinking. Why don’t we repent for powerless theology, for hopelessness, for religiosity, for leading people astray to live a mediocre life?
The Ugh Existence
For too long the Church has preached something like this, “You just have to learn to live with anxiety. Learn to manage it. Learn to live with it. Invite it in to sit in your living room and eat all your food. Just let it come and throw its filth around your house. Then feel guilty and shameful about it.”
Believe it or not, this has actually happened. Cherise once wrote a blog post for a church for the women to use to learn how to conquer anxiety. Her words were literally changed to make it sound like a person needs to live with it instead of overcome it.
You Can Kick It Out
Guess what? Anxiety is an evil spirit that can be conquered and kicked out of your soul and your life.
Guess what else? By telling you this truth, I am operating in the priesthood of the believer. This is one of the roles of a New Covenant Priest.
The Good
“4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 2:4-7 ESV)
How were the priests supposed to live and respond to God? He gives us an incredible list. Let’s review it.
- The priests were meant to live in covenant with God, having life and peace
- The covenant included fear, the appropriate fear of the Lord. It’s an awe, a respect, a reverence for God, His ways and commands, and His people.
- Priests stand in awe of God’s name. God’s name is His identity. The priests were supposed to impart the identity of God over the people. I’ll go into that in just a sec.
- Priests spoke with true instruction
- Priests walked with God in peace and uprightness, helping turn many people away from their iniquity
- Priests guarded knowledge with their words. People sought out the wisdom of the priests to explain God’s words.
- Priests were messengers of God. God spoke to them, and then they delivered the message to others.
Inheritance
Let me tell you Church, this is our inheritance as New Testament Priests. In Christ, all of these are fulfilled in us, His Saints.
We can live the abundant life, enjoying the peace of Jesus Christ Himself. We can honor the Lord in fear and trembling, welcoming in the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. Standing in awe of God, praising His holy name, imparting His identity over those around us. We can speak with God’s true instruction, found in his Holy Word.
We can actually walk with God, overflowing with peace and uprightness, and turning people away from sin, transgression, and iniquity. Guarding the knowledge of God with our words, and people will seek out the godly wisdom inside of us, especially as we welcome the Spirit of Wisdom into our hearts. We get to be God’s messengers, speaking God’s words to people around us. He will drop prophetic words into our heads, and those words can pierce through the hearts of people around us, and they will know that God is truly God.
Priests Bless People
One last thing worth mentioning. Priests provide and declare God’s blessing over the people.
There’s an amazing prayer of blessing that God invented, telling Moses and Aaron to pray it over the people. It’s found in Numbers 6.
“22 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”” (Numbers 6:22-27 ESV)
This blessing is not something man invented. God gave this prophetic word to Moses, who wrote it down and also told Aaron and his sons, the priests, these words. God wanted His priests to pray and bless the people around them with the words “The Lord bless you and keep you!”
And did you notice the last verse, “so shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them”? Remember, God’s name is His identity. So when blessing them with God’s prayer, they put God’s identity over them, making them a target for Heaven’s blessings.
Bless People
We do the same thing. We can bless people, declaring the identity of Jesus and the blood of Jesus over them, so that they become targets of Heaven’s blessings.
So let’s be a Church that blesses people, that speaks God’s words and enjoys life and peace.
Let’s embrace our Heavenly Priesthood and learn how to pray and declare the government of Heaven around us.
Let’s stay under God’s umbrella of protection, His shield around us, and let’s kick out enemy forces from our lives and from the lives of our family and friends.
Prayer
O God, we want to embrace our New Covenant, New Testament Priesthood. In all of the ways
And now, Lord, I want to repeat the amazing prayer from Numbers 6 for these precious people reading this:
May the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, which means to smile upon you, and may He give you peace to overflowing. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
Recent Comments