Sermon Tone Analysis

*Malachi 5.*

Can we turn to Malachi chapter two please *[P]*.

We have been looking through the book of Malachi – let’s have a look at what we’ve done and where we have got to.

*[P]* This outline was done by someone else – so it’s not quite the way I would do it.

It says verse 1 is introduction *[P]* – and the first message I gave was an introduction to the book of Malachi.

Then we looked at verses 2-5 – it says that it was a prophecy against Edom *[P]*, but in fact it was a message for Judah, not Edom; a message of יהוה’s love for His people, demonstrated by His differential treatment of the nation come from their twin brother.

Then there is a second oracle: one directed against the priests.

*[P]* We have looked at the first half of that in the last two sessions.

So let’s look at the second half of that second oracle: *[P]* [*Malachi 2:1-9*/ //“And now this* commandment* is for you, O priests.

/(the message is still for the priests)/“*If* you do not listen, and* if* you do not take it to heart to give honour to My name,” says /יהוה/ of armies, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

“Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.

“Then you will know that I have sent this* commandment* to you, that My *covenant* may continue with Levi,” says /יהוה/ of armies.

“My *covenant* with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

“True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity.

“For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of /יהוה/ of armies//.

“But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the *covenant** *of Levi,” says /יהוה/ of armies.

“So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction./]

It is a message to priests, the Levites are also mentioned; and I need to tell you a couple of stories about the priests and Levites *[P]* so that we have the background to how these came to be in the position that they were in.

*1~/* The first is found in: *Exodus 32:1-29* *[P]* You recall יהוה bringing His people Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

He brought them to Mount Sinai where He came down to them.

Moses went up the mountain to speak with יהוה.

What happened?

The people go impatient, thought he wasn’t coming back; and so they made an idol a golden calf and had a huge party, revelling before this idol.

יהוה was furious and sent Moses down.

Moses was angry and smashed the stone tablets on which the law was written.

The people were out of control and something had to be done!

[*Exodus 32:26-29*/ //then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for /יהוה/, come to me//!”

And *all the sons of Levi* gathered together to him.

He said to them, “Thus says /יהוה/, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbour.’

” *So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed,* and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

Then Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of /יהוה/, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that He might bestow a* blessing* upon you this day.”/]

That day the tribe of Levi was set apart to יהוה, “/ordained to His service/”.

*[P]* That was the blessing that they received from יהוה.

What they did brought a blessing from יהוה *[P]* - He responded to their zeal by blessing them.

They had no inheritance in the land, instead יהוה became their portion!

That was their blessing.

We are the same, our inheritance isn’t in this world, our citizenship is in heaven; our inheritance is reserved for us in heaven: [*1 Peter 1:4*/ //to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,/].

From among the Levites came a much smaller group consecrated more particularly for the service of יהוה: the priests.

The second story has to do with one of them.

*2~/* It also took place during the journey to the Promised Land.

It is found in: *Numbers 25:1-18*.

*[P]* Again the Israelites had fallen into idolatry.

Advised by Balaam, the women of Moab had seduced the men of Israel.

Having been enticed sexually, the Israelites joined in the worship of their gods.

Again Moses stepped in to restore order, telling the judges to kill those who had become linked to Baal of Peor.

But even while the people were weeping in repentance, there was still a man, Zimri, who took a Midianite woman.

Then Phinehas, who was a priest, a son of the high priest; took a spear and drove it through the two of them while they were in the very act.

The zeal of Phinehas became proverbial.

We might regard him as a bit extreme; but his action halted the plague that יהוה* *had brought upon them.*

*This is what יהוה said:* [Numbers 25:11-13*/ //“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy.

“Therefore say, ‘Behold, *I give him My covenant of peace*; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, *a covenant of a perpetual priesthood*, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’

”/] You notice that יהוה made a covenant with him *[P]* – a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, and *[P]* a covenant of peace.

In both of these stories the outcome was a job to do and a blessing bestowd.

Two things stand out in common in the Levites in these two stories: one they had a fervent zeal for the honour of יהוה’s Name *[P]*; and the second is that they were willing to take drastic action against those closest to them – they feared יהוה more than they did man and in His opinion *[P]*.

And in both cases יהוה rewarded this zeal for His Name.

What was the issue in Malachi’s message that we looked at last time?

The greatness of the Name of יהוה! *[P]* Honouring the Name of יהוה!

We looked at: *[P]* [*Malachi 1:11*/ /*/From the rising of the sun to its setting, My Name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is being presented to My Name, and a pure offering.

For My Name is great among the nations,” says /**יהוה**/ of armies/*/./]

Then again in: *[P]* [*Malachi 1:14*/ *F*/*/or I am a great King,” says /**יהוה**/ or armies, “and My Name is feared among the nations/*/.”/]

Particularly for the priests, the issue was upholding the honour of the great Name of יהוה!

So יהוה gave *a commandment* *[P]* in verse 1 and again it is referred to in verse 4. What was the commandment?

Verse 2: [/“If you do not listen, /(listen to what?

To יהוה’s commandment)/ and if you do not take it to heart to give honour to My Name,” says the /יהוה/ of armies/.]

There is *the commandment*: * [P]* “*To give honour My Name*!”

That is the order of יהוה to His priests.

Now we are priests of God – that is what our role is: to give honour to יהוה’s Name, to make His Name great, exalt His Name, among the nations.

יהוה has called us to honour His Name.

Hannah is learning a bit of Latin at school – she told me, that “/vocat/” means “call” – your vocation is your calling.

God has called me to honour His Name – my job may be a medical laboratory scientist but my vocation is honouring יהוה’s Name!

Now I may be fairly proficient at counting blood cells, but how effective am I in honouring יהוה’s Name! Look you are not a house wife, mother, car mechanic, doctor, even missionary – your vocation is exalting the Name of יהוה!

This vocation, this high calling, needs to be laid on our heart – twice in verse 2 יהוה speaks of “/laying to heart/”.

Three times in Isaiah and once in Jeremiah it speaks of those who “/do not lay it to heart/” or “/do not take it to heart/” [*Jeremiah 12:11*/ //“It has been made a desolation; desolate, it mourns before Me; the whole land has been made desolate, because no man lays it to heart./]

– some of the most tragic verses in the Bible, when we don’t take it to heart.

This is to be in our heart, central to the core of our being: to honour the Great Name of יהוה, to make it great.

יהוה speaks and the spiritual leaders that He has appointed do not take any notice!

This is endemic today!

They do not obey or take to heart His instruction, His principles; they carry on their own way in human strength, with their own plans and schemes.

We must *hear* and *place on our hearts* the word of יהוה.

The issue is giving *honour to **יהוה**'s Name*! but spiritual leaders are more concerned with honour going to their own name.

The church is taken up with human needs and projects, not with giving honour and glory to Jesus.

When will we lay it to heart - to honour the Name of יהוה?

As we saw earlier, these priests were not doing this – they were doing precisely the opposite: they “/despised the Name/” (1:6) they “/profaned/” it (1:12).

They were not obeying the commandment and so there would be *a consequence* *[P]* – It is very logical, do you see the “if, then” statement in verse 2? */If/* they failed to listen to יהוה and take His commandment to heart */then/* there would be a curse!

That would be the consequence – their blessings turned into a curse.

When Israel was on the verge of entering the Promised Land, remember that the king of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel.

But יהוה turned Balaam’s curses into blessings – this is the other way around!

The blessing is going to be turned into a curse!

What is the blessing that was to be cursed?

We read about it in: [*Exodus 32:29*/ //And Moses said, “You are ordained today for /יהוה/, because each has been against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing.”/

] The blessing upon them as Levites, specially set apart to His service, with יהוה Himself as their portion.

Instead of being a blessing, it would be a curse.

And what a curse!

Do you know that the Bible speaks in such strong language that the translators are loath to translate it?

They know what the word means, they just are wary of causing offense.

/“I will spread shit on your faces, the shit of your feasts/” He was going to rub their faces in it!

– excuse the language, but that is what the Word of God says!

This is a rebuke!

God is angry and it comes through in the words used.

יהוה says that their fine religious ceremonies were sewerage!