GRACE BIBLE FELLOWSHIP | 恩道堂

Scripture Reading  : Malachi 3-4

Theme                  : The Coming Messiah

Messenger Before The Messiah (3:1-5). This passage is about the coming Messiah, but does not make any distinction of His first and second coming, but views the two comings as one unit and describes two aspects regarding His comings. The first aspect is the messenger whom God will send to prepare the way of the Messiah, just as forerunners are sent before a king to prepare his path. This is fulfilled during Jesus’ first coming when John the Baptist was sent by God (Matt.3:3; Is. 40:3). The second aspect is in vv. 2-4 which is about His terrifying second coming when He will come to judge with righteousness (Rev. 6-19). In light of such terrifying judgment against sin, the Jews of Malachi’s time, and people everywhere, need to repent of their sins and commit themselves to God for salvation.

Unchangeable Faithfulness of the Messiah (3:6-18). The reason God will not completely wipe out the Jews for their gross and stubborn sins is because of God’s unchangeable faithfulness to fulfill His promises to the nation. The Jews sin greatly by robbing God of His tithe, wearying God with their sinful attitude by thinking there is no profit for being faithful to God. Those who rebel against God will be destroyed but those who are faithful to God will be remembered by Him in a book forever (Rev. 20:12). They will graciously receive mercy from God and enter His kingdom/heaven.

Future and Complete Victory of Messiah (4:1-6) When the Messiah returns again, there will be final victory of righteousness over idolatry and sin. Those who do not worship God and do evil will be condemned by Him, but those who worship God and serve Him will shine like the sun. This glorious future will be preceded by the coming of Elijah, which will be fulfilled during His second coming, most likely as described in Revelation 11:3.

Praying the Scripture

1. The Jews of Malachi’s time serve God heartlessly without love for God. If you serve God without pure love and thankfulness to Him, He is not pleased by such evil, empty service. Pray that God will revive your heart by convicting you of your ugly sins and drive you to the glory of the cross. Apart from Jesus, you deserve to be punished for your ugly and shameful sins in hell. Be thankful for your salvation and be thankful for your future glory in a restored world when Christ comes back.

2. Praise God He is not fickle like us. He is unchangeably faithful. His glorious character never changes. It is on this solid ground that we can stand firm. We can never stand firm if we rely on our own strength. God is an unbendable steel rod, we are flimsy wires that can only find stability and strength when we wrap ourselves around the steel rod of God. We wrap ourselves around God when we trust in His unchangeable truth, love and faithfulness.

3. God does not need your money, but your offering is a form of worship. For Jesus says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt. 6:21). Money means time and effort, when you offer money to God, you are offering your time and effort. This is worship. Such worship should be done with a pure and willing heart to honour God, never try to get rich through giving of offering like prosperity gospel, which is a false gospel. God hates this idolatry. If you think giving offering is burdensome, you dishonour God and despise His love and glory. Repent and ask for forgiveness. May God give us a joyful and thankful heart when we give our offering.

Scripture Reading  : Malachi 2

Theme                  : Dishonouring God

Corrupted Priesthood (1-9). God’s covenant with the priesthood was His gracious way to bless them with true life and peace. They did not fear God and did not marvel at His great character, but blasphemed God by corrupting His commandments. The priests were being partial, being a stumbling block to people instead of being a guide; therefore, God will treat them like dung and take them away.

Marrying People Outside of Faith (10-12). The people and the leaders dishonour God by marrying foreigners. Then they naturally are influenced by foreign gods. Ezra and Nehemiah dealt with the same sin in Nehemiah 13:23–28. Such sin is a serious violation and idolatry in God’s eyes. God threatens to cut them off for such serious sin because it denies faith in God.

Divorces and Unfaithfulness (14-16) When people heard that God will not accept their offerings and will withhold blessings from them, they flooded God with tears. But instead of being sorrowful over their sin of unfaithfulness, they were only sorrowful over the withholding of blessings. God commands them to repent of their adultery. God hates the shameful sin of unfaithfulness and divorce because He is a faithful God and He desires His people to be faithful to their spouse and produce faithful children.

Praying the Scripture

1. God is a God of faithfulness. This is His greatness. He desires His children to reflect this greatness. Unfaithfulness is ugly and shameful in God’s eyes. May we take this truth to heart and be sorrowful over any unfaithfulness. Comparing your spouse to others is unfaithfulness. Love hopes for all things that are good (1 Cor. 13:7) and labors humbly to make your spouse better for God’s glory. May God bless us with patience and joy as we seek to love our spouse.

2. God forbids His people to marry outside of the faith. This is true for OT believers and for Christians (1 Cor. 7:39). It is a serious sin to marry outside of the faith, but many pastors, especially in Chinese churches, compromise on this because there are far more females then males. Please pray that God will raise up more godly and responsible men for our godly women. Pray for extra grace for godly Christian women to wait on the Lord, instead of chasing unbelievers, which is idolatry. Pray for Christian men to be men, especially in a culture where males are prized more than girls and are spoiled. This is a rampant problem in China.

Scripture Reading   : Malachi 1

Theme                   : Love and Honour

Along with Haggai and Zechariah, Malachi wrote during the period after the Jews returned from exile. He most likely prophesized in the 5^th century B.C., about one century after Haggai and Zechariah. The whole society again started to rebel against God; therefore, God sent Malachi to correct them. After Malachi, Israel did not have any prophets for almost 400 years until John the Baptist arrived around 27 A.D.

Repudiating God’s Love (1-5). The Jews doubted God’s love for them. But God demonstrates His love by reminding them that He elected them, but not Esau, which is tantamount to “hating” Esau. Paul uses this in Romans 9:13 to prove God’s sovereignty in election. God freely elects us because He freely loves us, not because there is something special about us compared to others. If God were to elect someone based on something inherent in a person, then He would never elect anyone because we all fall short of His glory. We all belong to the same fallen “lump” (Rom. 9:21), unwilling to commit to God until God enables us. So God demonstrates His love for the Jews by graciously electing them. God graciously redeems one beggar, but not another. He did not have to redeem anyone, especially in light of the high cost of redemption: the sacrifice of His son. This is highest love and mercy. A right view of God’s love is critical to our relationship with God; therefore, God addresses this problem first with the Jews.

Refusing God’s Honour (6-14). God loves Israel. He is like a master and a father to Israel. But Israel dishonours God by not treating God with the proper respect He deserves. The Jews disrespect God by offering blemished animals for sacrifice. They would never do this to their governor, how can they do this to God, the King of the world? The Jews complain these sacrifices are too burdensome. Such complain profanes the honour of God before the world because His honour is as good as the blemished animals; therefore, God has no pleasure in their outward rituals that is empty of inward love for Him.

Praying the Scripture

1. If you have heard the gospel and believed then you are elected by God and loved by Him intimately. Never doubt God’s faithful love for you. This doubt is from Satan and it is a common method by which Satan will lead you astray from God, just as he caused Eve to doubt God’s love for her by suggesting God is withholding the fruit because God does not love her and does not want the best for her. God’s love has been conclusively and decisively demonstrated through the sacrifice of His most precious Son: Jesus (Rom. 8:32). No matter what situation or trial you are in, never doubt God’s love for you. But always go before the throne of grace, trust Him and plead with Him who loves you beyond measure (Matt. 7:11). Pray that God will strengthen your faith in His love.

2. God is humble and reasonable. God only demands reasonable service and honour to Him. He told David that He never demanded the Israelites in the wilderness to build Him a temple because it would be burdensome to the people, even though He had the right to do it (2 Sam. 7:6-7). This is humility. All the commandments that God has given to us in the Bible are our reasonable worship of Him. God does not need our services as if He is lacking something, just as He does not need animal sacrifices and a temple. But our loving and sacrificial service demonstrate our honour for Him, which is a proper response to His love for us through Jesus. Our loving and sacrificial service also reflect the greatness and beauty of the image of God.