His Covenant Love

Malachi 1: 1-5

The Reformer's Fire
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Exposition by Max A Forsythe

This morning we begin a six week survey of the message of the Prophet Malachi. Now, there is some uncertainty over who exactly Malachi was. While there is some slight evidence that it may have been written by the scribe Ezra, we cannot be absolutely certain. At least the unknown prophet is called literally 'My messenger' in the Hebrew. And that Malachi certainly is, because forty-seven of the fifty-five verses in this book record God speaking in the first person to His people directly!

We can figure out that Malachi's message dates from about 450 BC. The place is Jerusalem. The situation is this: About eighty years before, the Jews had returned from captivity in Babylon. The new temple had been complete for fifty years. True, in size and architecture, it was but a shadow of the original, but it was functional, it did serve its purpose. Life went on, not overly prosperous, but not economically deprived either. Life was not upset by wars or rumors of war. The Persians were busily bashing Greeks and things were fairly quiet in the Jewish neighborhood! It was not the best of times, but neither were they the worst of times. Into this situation the Lord sends His messenger. Here is a man, who amidst this apparent calm is heartbroken and deeply disturbed. He is burdened with a message from God to God's own people Israel. He must share this message, even if the people do not want to be disturbed.

Malachi 1: 1 "An oracle: The word of the Lord to Israel through [My Messenger] Malachi."

It is our purpose here today and in the next few weeks to examine this oracle, this word of the Lord to His people. And what is the word from Malachi? This word from God is directed towards three particular spiritual problems, or three religious principles that had become obscured in Malachi's time.

  1. A misunderstanding of the distinctive love of God for His people.
  2. A misconception of what God's holiness demands from His people in the way of respect and obedience.
  3. And a deep unconscious questioning of God's righteousness.

The first of these three involves the theme of election which has not been popularly understood nor loved in most of this century! This is our challenge today!

In verses two to five, Malachi begins with God's love. He does not, as the older prophets did, sweep the whole history of Israel, and gather proofs of Jehovah's grace and unfailing guidance in all the great events from Egypt to Babylon. He confines himself to a comparison of Israel with their own brothers: the tribes of Edom. Out of all the history of Israel, Malachi could not have chosen an instance which would more strongly appeal to the heart of his contemporaries. We find evidence in the Psalms of the Exile and the book of Obadiah the hostile part that Edom had played in the day of Israel's calamity.

Ever since the beginning of the Exile, Edom had come to be regarded by Israel as their great antithesis. Never have two nations been so utterly opposed in character! Edom was a people of as unspiritual and self-sufficient a temper as ever cursed any of God's human creatures. Like their ancestor they were profane, without repentance, humility or ideals, and almost without religion. Apart from the long history of war between the two, it was a true instinct which led Israel to regard their brother as representative of all heathendom. In this sense we can better understand Paul's use of this essential difference in character between Esau and Jacob.

Now, we are quickly going on into a teaching that is extremely upsetting and unpopular in our culture today! It is this teaching that sets Reformed Congregations apart from many of our "brothers" in the Christian faith. This problem, this division of the Church has to do with our understanding of how we are accepted into the House of God. Of how we are saved and made faithful. The common approach is this: whosoever will, may come. There was an ad in our Logan County newspaper for a particular ministry entitled: ONLY BELIEVE. As if any common man might enter into the Lord's Sanctuary and claim salvation from our Sovereign and Holy God on the basis of his own choice and his own good works! Almost laughable, yet truly tragic. If this were true for each and every man and all that each and every single man and woman had to do was only believe, Then what must we think of the success of God's Word in the world today?

We realize that the world is not beating a path to faithfulness in God's Kingdom. What can we say then about the apparent lack of success of God's Kingdom? Let's turn to the words of Paul. In Romans 9: 6 "It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." When the people of Malachi's time asked God "How have you loved us?" It is not in the sense that they deserve his love because their fathers were once in the faith! It is not in the sense that God's love is so wide that any reprobate may be accepted and loved just the way they choose to live and believe.

There once was a popular phrase: "Smile, God loves you." Yet the world wonders. How has God loved us? Paul continues to explain the process in Romans 9: 8 "In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring."

Also in Galatians 3: 16 & 29 we see that: "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person, who is Christ. ... If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

We see in these two passages that it is God who is at work through the Holy Spirit calling people into His Kingdom! Can we responsibly teach any other Gospel? We return to our example of the two brothers Jacob and Esau and Paul's observation on Jacob's election in Romans 9: 11-13: "Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad -in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls - she [Rebekah] was told, 'The older will serve the younger.' Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'" The Lord explains the same idea in our passage from Malachi. How much does He love you? Look, He says: how much I have loved you. Others just as good as you I passed by! When the twins Jacob and Esau were born there was nothing to choose between them. In fact Jacob was the worst in some ways.

Yet, God chose Jacob and passed by Esau. You, who are here today. Are you really any better people then your neighbors? No, of course not. Yet, God in His gracious wisdom has called you and passed others by. God has chosen you to be saved before the foundation of the world. God has always loved you. You are a privileged person if you are in Christ. This is how much God loves you, in that He sent His only Son to die on the cross for your sins. It may seem incredible that God would choose to die for some and not for others. But, let us again turn to Paul in Romans 9: 14-15 "What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'"

When we accept the idea that Christ's death atones only for the sins of God's chosen people, that death on the cross means so much more! When I was in the Army, we had one young man in our company who was a complete jerk. One day at the grenade range, he fumbled and dropped his live grenade. Our favorite drill sergeant risked his life to save our miserable jerk! No one else would have done that! But Christ has done more than that for us!

Smile, God loves you, the worldly proclaim, and then they go on to ignore the God of Love. How much does God love us? Enough to allow His own Son to suffer and die on the cross for you! What must we teach then about coming to Jesus Christ? Again we read from Paul in Romans 9: 16: "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." This is what we must teach. There is none other Gospel! We come now to stating the unpopular doctrine of our own time. This is what we teach in light of God's Holy Word. This is where we part company with the general christian community. Especially from Jimmy Swaggart and his kind. The idea that we teach has been called by brother Swaggart "The first lie of hell!"

What is man's real problem? Simply this which our Westminster Confession states in chapter 11.3 "Man fell into a state of sin by his disobedience and so completely lost his ability to will any spiritual good involving salvation." Let us be careful in our teaching. We do not teach that man has lost his liberty or freedom of will. Man is free to do either good or ill. However, we will teach that man has lost his ability to do that which is beneficial for his own salvation. There is a difference! Esau was able to treat his brother kindly when Jacob returned home years later. He was able to forgive his brother Jacob for his unkindness. Yet, the writer to the Hebrews makes this observation in Chapter 12: 16-17 "See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears."

Man is helpless in this regard. In light of this our Westminster Confession teaches in chapter 11.3 "Consequently fallen man is by nature completely opposed to spiritual good, is dead in sin, and is unable by his own strength either to convert himself or to prepare himself for conversion."

The writer to the Hebrews reminds his readers in the following verses that you have not come by the Old Covenant based upon the experience of God's word at a burning mountain that could be touched. The people in the Sinai desert saw and heard and yet many failed to believe. Instead, you have come in according to the New Covenant written in the blood of Jesus Christ. Have you accepted Jesus Christ under His terms? Will you confess his name and blood alone as the cause of your salvation? How much has God loved you?

I will turn to the favorite passage of those who teach that whosoever will may come. Pay particular attention to the last verse! John 3: 16-21: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Did you catch the implication of that last verse? Yes, we teach that God sovereignly calls. We do teach the doctrine of Divine Election as part of His sovereignty. But, we should realize that it is based upon the record of biblical historical experience. There are very many people who appear gracious like Esau in treating fallen creatures like Jacob. There are many who live lives worthy of God's own people. And yet, what good does it do them if they are not called into God's Kingdom? The trend of Esau's character is plainly visible in the nature of his later children. The character of a man's life is plainly visible over time! God can see this. Many times we cannot.

Let us close with the last verses in Hebrews Twelve, verses 25-29: "See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken -that is, created things- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"

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