Malachi Part One Dive

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The stage is set. The prophesies have been made. Over 4,000 years of history is about to come to a climax. Over 3,000 prophesies are holding their breath, waiting for their moment. What was promised back in Genesis 3:15 is almost here. It is nearly time, and the Earth is being prepared for a very special visitor.

We have one book to go for the Old Testament and as you read it, you can get a little frustrated. Am I experiencing déjà vu? God has said this all before, so why does He have to keep repeating Himself? Guys, how many times does God have to tell you to change your ways? He gave you a second chance, returned the remnant from exile, rebuilt the Temple, but there still hasn’t been any change in behaviour. The message of Malachi is so similar to all the other prophets: don’t offer blemished sacrifices (Deut 15:21, Lev 22:20-25, Deut 17:1), warnings for priests (Jeremiah 5:31, Ezekiel 22:26, Hosea 5:1, Micah 3:11, Zephaniah 3:4), withholding tithes (Lev 27:30, Deut 12:5-6), warning against corruption and injustice (Micah), speaking against God! Not even a time out (exile) changed the people. Something else is needed, they are never going to have a relationship with God without some serious help.

Now Malachi ushers in 400 years of silence. No other prophet speaks until a crazy man walks from the desert, snacking on a cockroach and clothed in camel’s hair. John the Baptist breaks the prophetic silence and like the opening act he introduces the main event–Jesus Christ is coming to Earth! Jewish tradition tells us that once Malachi died the Holy Spirit left the earth. But there is something big that everything is getting ready for.

Yahweh is about to send His Son. The presence of God is no longer going to be contained in a temple, He is no longer spoken for by His prophets, He is about to speak on His own behalf, encounter His people without an mediator like a High priest or Moses. The God of the Old Testament is about to come down to earth in human form… and the people are not ready for what they are about to see!

Malachi’s warnings are about to be fulfilled in one Man. The perfect Lamb compared to the blemished one they are offering in Malachi. The ultimate High Priest compared to the corrupt ones being rebuked in Malachi. The perfect covenant is about to be introduced, the offering of God’s only Son is about to show generosity beyond our understanding and the faithful remnant are about to be rewarded.

As you read the Old Testament, you’ll get to know Yahweh, the LORD, God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. The One who parted the Red Sea, who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, who filled the Temple, who spoke through the prophets, who sent the people into exile, who then restored them to Jerusalem. The One who holds the stars and their future. But God is contained in a box, in a Temple, in one place, and He wants out! So He sends His Son to blast open the door. Imagine the thoughts of the Jewish people, if they could comprehend what was about to happen. The God of their temple is about to walk among them! What is God like? Get ready humans, you are about to find out!

M 3:1 Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come.

It's one short page turn from the Old to New Testament, but it covers 400 years of history, where the world was getting ready. It looks bleak, they needed something big to change the situation. But like a theatre getting ready for the final performance, the characters were being introduced, the culture was being established, the people were unknowingly getting ready for a Man that will literally change the course of history, change time itself, answer all their questions, fulfill all their laws and reconcile them to the One who has loved them from the beginning of time itself. Don’t be discouraged as you read Malachi, it’s just to remind us that humans can’t do anything without Jesus! Find the hidden messages for what is about to happen, because God gives some clues. He even tells us when the concert will begin:

M 3:1 I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.

And again,

M 4:5 See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.

In the New Testament, the angel himself declares the beginning of the concert, the start of the Opening Act. After 400 years of waiting, it is all about to begin…

L 1:12-17 Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
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They hold their breath. Here He comes, are you ready?

Malachi Part One Dive

GET READY, THIS IS IT

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