God's Plan For Man Final

Priests/Ministers Experience Justice—Malachi

The writings of Malachi are a collection of prophetic utterances presented as a unique teaching or i ns t ruc t i ona l f o rm t o d i s t i ngu i sh t he c o r r e c t name o f God and the misuse thereof. The first prophecy reaffirms God’s love for his chosen people Israel and His everlasting enmity toward Edom. The term Edom [ ’e ḏ ôm ] denotes the name of Esau, and it was given in memory of the red pottage for which he exchanged his birthright. There is no excuse for the exchange, except that the temporal greed was more important; thus, the birthright passed to the second son. It is a profound understanding throughout the scriptural history of mankind. In the second prophecy, the priests and the people are rebuked for defiling God’s name by sacrificing unfit animals, a metaphor pertaining to humans not animal sacrifice in this time. If they persist in ignoring their obligations, the priests fall short and are strongly urged to recant. The third prophecy is concerned with divorce and the intermarriage of Jews and Gentiles. Divorce is hateful to God, and through mixed marriages heathen customs and beliefs are introduced and accepted, thereby violating the Covenant. The fourth prophecy warns that the Lord will come, heralded by his messenger, and judge the evildoers who no longer fear him as “the God of justice,” especially when given the authority to judge. The fifth prophecy explains that the crops have failed because the people are robbing God by not rendering “the full tithes”. We can see that Edom or evil influences within human flesh are a weakness used to defile, even though all seems well on the surface. In the face of the rebuke before or after, those who claim to be priests, using the pretense of serving God, are always caught up in the rituals or processes. God’s name is used in an inappropriate manner; thus, the essence of the meaning is defiled without anyone realizing it. The supposed teachers, the Pharisees and Sadducees, rejected the very person who came to fulfill the covenant, even to the extent of killing Him as a final test. As it is, most people in the world today will continue to defile His name, using an epithet to supposedly honor His name. Not much has changed, but much time has elapsed as we draw nearer to the day of fulfillment. Perhaps what is clear is that God always uses a messenger, because nothing that is imperfect may stand before God. It must be perfected or be destroyed. The analogy is similar to the sterilization of surgical instruments or even to fire: it purifies gold while destroying the

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