Shabbat Shalom! I would like you all to turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi for this ministry meeting. Today, we are going to begin with the introduction to the prophecy of a man by the name of Malachi in Hebrew, Malachi in English. Amazing prophecy that God had given our people of all, the people of Israel, about 400 years, 450 years before Yeshua the Messiah was born. In fact, Malachi is the last prophet that had spoken to Israel before there was 400 years of silence. And God did not say a word to Israel until a man by the name of Yohanan Hamadbil, John the Baptizer, came with a proclamation, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." And he presented before Israel, Yeshua, our Messiah, Jesus the Messiah.

So, Malachi, I would like just to begin with an introduction today. And I'd like you to be patient with me because to introduce a book is very important. If we are going to understand what Malachi was speaking about and what he was seeking to convey to our people Israel. Now, let me just read, by way of introduction, the first verse. One verse, Malachi chapter one and verse one. And notice how the whole book begins. It began by a statement. We read the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi or by Malachi. Now, to remind you, brothers and sisters, we just recently finished the book of Lamentation, the book of Eicha.

Eicha is a book that was written by Yirmiyahu, Jeremiah the prophet. At about 586 BC, when the Jewish people were carried away to Bavil. If you remember, when Daniel gave his prophecy in the book of Daniel, Daniel presented before Israel and asked about the fact that there will be four kingdoms that will take over the world, you might say, before Israel, the nation will be restored back to the Lord. And you remember we have in Daniel chapter two and in Daniel chapter seven, an illustration of those four kingdoms, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grisha and Rome. The Babylonian in 586 carried the Jewish people away to Babel. And from that time on, the times of the Gentiles have began 586 BC.

Up till today, we are still living in the times of the Gentiles. The Jewish people are not yet restored. Israel as a nation has not yet been established. The Messiah hasn't been accepted by Israel, our nation. Yeshua is still actually being not acknowledged that he is truly the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. 586 BC up till today, nearly 2600 years passed by from our vintage point of time. And still, the times of the Gentiles is going on. When we arrive to the book of Malachi, I would like us to realize that this was really the time that after Israel was for a while, for a while away from the land under the Babylonian.

And then after the Babylonian period of time have ended, the Medo-Persians have began to rule over this world. And then God have allowed a remnant from among the Jewish people to be restored and to come back to the land of Israel. It was when the remnant rebuild the temple in Jerusalem during this time where Ezra and Nehemiah and others have come back to the land of Israel to rebuild the temple. Even that time passed by and it didn't take too long that even the returned remnant in the land of Israel in the temple in Jerusalem have already once again have departed from the will of the Lord.

It doesn't take too long and you find the Jewish people once again, the people of Israel departing again from the will of the Lord and Malachi was raised by God to proclaim, we might say, the final message that God had for Israel before the Messiah was going to come. And he's really saying here in this book of Malachi Israel, this is the final message for you, the Messiah is going to come, prepare yourselves for the coming of the Messiah. So it is very interesting because the man Malachi, we have very little information about this man. We have very little information. In fact, we don't find who is his father, who is his mother, where was he born, how old he was, very little bit of knowledge of even how long did he preach.

But Malachi was called to be a messenger of God, to speak the word of the Lord to our people, of all the people of Israel. I want you to notice again by way of introduction that the word Malachi or Malachi or as we said in English Malachi is mentioned more than one time in the book of Malachi. In fact, the word messenger or my messenger or Malachi is mentioned four times here in the book of Malachi. One time it's applied to the man himself, the prophet himself. Another time it is applied to the priests of Israel who were messengers of God for the people of Israel.

A third time it's mentioned, and at that time it's mentioned about the one who will announce the coming of the Messiah at his first coming, namely John, Yohanan Hamadbil, John the baptizer. And the fourth time it's mentioned here in the book of Malachi and it's applied to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, who is also the messenger, Malach Adonai, the messenger of the Lord. Look at those verses with me for a moment. In chapter one and verse one, that's where we are now by way of introduction. The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. The word Malachi again means my messenger.

It can also be said my angel. The word for angel in Hebrew is Malach. It's Malach. But when you have Malachi means my messenger. Look at the second time. It's mentioned in chapter two and verse seven. There it says, notice that in verse seven, for the priest's lips, this is the Kohanim, the priest, should keep knowledge. Why? Notice it's verse seven says, they should seek the law of his mouth. Why? Because for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. See, the priest is Malach Adonai Tsevaot, the messenger of the Lord of hosts. This is the second time that the word Malach or Malachi is mentioned here in the book of Malachi.

The third and the fourth time that we have the word Malachi. And this time it's not applied to the prophet himself. It is not applied to the priest among our people of all, the people of Israel. But it's applied to the announcer. To the one that will come to announce the coming of the Messiah. And you notice in chapter three and verse one. Behold, I will send my messenger. In Hebrew again. In Hebrew, Eshlach et Malachi, my messenger. And this time, it's applied to the one that benounced the coming of the Messiah. John, Yohanan, the baptizer. If you remember, we're going to quote it in a moment in the New Testament.

In a Brit HaChadashan, you can see that it's applied to him. He is also a messenger of the Lord. A Malach Elohim, Malach Adonai. He was sent by God to pronounce to Israel the coming of the Messiah. The coming of the Messiah. And finally, the fourth time, it's applied to Yeshua, the Messiah himself. While his name is not mentioned here. But in Malachi 3 verse 1b. We can see another messenger to be distinguished from the one before. And this time, it's the Messiah himself. Let me read chapter 3 and verse 1 once again. Behold, I will send my messenger. This is Yohanan Amatbil, John the baptizer. And he shall prepare the way before me.

That me is God himself. And notice he said, And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come into his temple. Even, and here's the word, the messenger of the covenant. And notice it said, He will suddenly come to his temple. And you remember what happened? We read in the new covenant in the Brit HaChadasha. When Yeshua came suddenly into the temple. And you remember he had to cleanse the temple. And he said, You have made my father's house. Den of thieves, as he said to our forefathers years ago. He is the fourth person that the word Malach Adonai or Malachi is applied in the book of Malachi.

So what we really find out here, that this man who is the servant of the Lord here, somehow by divine design, received the name my messenger, Malachi. But the Holy Spirit of God continues on. And he speaks to the people of Israel, saying to them, Israel, you know, your priests, any priest, any servant of the Lord, he is actually a messenger of mine. Malachi, he is a servant of mine. He is speaking God's word to the people of Israel. And he continues on in chapter 3. And he says, wait a minute. It's not only my name, Malachi. Not only the priest is Malachi Elohim, the messenger of the Lord.

But even a certain man who will come in a certain time in Israel's history. And his name will be John the Baptizer, Yohanan Amadbil. He also will be a messenger. Malachi, Malachi Adonai, the messenger of the Lord. And finally, the Messiah himself, who is suddenly going to come into the temple. He will be the one who is called the messenger of the covenant. The one that will come to establish the covenant, the new covenant, and finish the work of redemption. So it is very interesting that the book of Malachi was the book that was given to Israel before as an announcing of the coming of the Messiah.

Prepare the Messiah is going to come. Now let's look at the date. When was the book of Malachi written? If you remember, once again to remind you, when our people Israel went to captivity by the Babylonians, it was 586 B.C. In other words, they were already the third group. In 605 B.C., some were already carried away to Babylon. In 596 B.C., a second group was carried to Babylon. The temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was set on fire. They stayed 70 years in Babylon. After that, at about 515 B.C., the Jewish exile, who came already at 536 B.C., they have finished to build the temple in the city of Jerusalem.

During that time, when they were building the temple in Jerusalem, a man by the name of Zerubavel, another man by the name of Ezra, and others came. About 50,000 Jews came, 536 B.C., they have built the temple. And if you remember, they have finished it at about 515 B.C. And from that time, there was a preaching of two other prophets. It was Haggai, the prophet, who preached to them, and Zechariah, the prophet. Both of these men preached to the people who were there in the city of Jerusalem at the time when Ezra came and Zerubavel came. But, you know, by the time that Nehemiah came, 445 B.C., and I'm sorry to give you all these dates, just wanted to get your mind thinking about some of these dates.

Then we find out that about that time, a few years later, this man by the name of Malachi began to speak and to preach to the people of Israel. So some said that between 433 to about 400 B.C., this man by the name of Malachi was preaching. He was speaking to the people of Israel who were wondering whether God really loved them. You know, sometimes like you and I, we wonder, we have problems at home, problems at work, problems with our health, problems in every area of our life. And we sometimes wonder whether God really loved us and cared for us. And the whole book, it is really a response from God to show them, Israel, I really, really love you, but you have departed from my will.

And so Malachi was raised to challenge Israel to be restored back to the Lord at about 400 B.C. Now, can you imagine, brothers and sisters, from the year 400 B.C., about, up till the time where Yeshua was born in the land of Israel in Bethlehem, and up to the time that John the B.C. was saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of this world," 400 years passed by. And there was no message from God. God did not give Israel a direct message by a prophet. There was no longer Isaiah. There was no longer Jeremiah. There was no longer all the Ezekiel and Daniel.

All these men of all that passed by. In fact, Haggai, Zechariah, and even Malachi, the last prophet of Israel, was speaking, but for 400 years, no direct message from the Lord. And so the Jewish people have developed what we know today, the rabbinical teachings and systems of ways of how to approach God. That where you have all the time where there was a development of the rabbinical views, how to keep the law, how to get closer to the Lord, how do we develop our time, you know, our ways in which we are to approach the living God. 400 years, no one was giving a message from God on behalf of God to the nation of Israel.

But when Malachi was preaching, he was just sharing there in the city of Jerusalem. I want you to, for a moment, to turn to chapter one, one more time. And you notice that in chapter one, in verse eight, and then verse 10, you will notice that the temple was existing. Notice chapter one in verse eight. "And if ye offer a blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?" Well, the sacrificial system was continuing on. Notice what it says a little bit later in verse 10. "Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught? And neither do ye kindle fire in mine altar." The altar was existing at that time in the city of Jerusalem.

Turn to chapter two, and notice in verse 11, here he's mentioning even the city of Jerusalem when he was preaching Malachi to our nation of old. Look at the place. It says here, "Judah has dealt treacherously." "And an abomination is committed in Israel." Notice, "And in Jerusalem, in Jerusalem." "For Judah had profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved." Now you see what happened. The city was in existence. The temple was in existence. The altar was in existence. The sacrifices were offered. But God was not pleased with that, because the spiritual condition of our people of old were very, very sad spiritual condition in the land of Israel during those days.

I'm saying this because it is also applied to the condition that the church is living in today. We read today the book of 2 Timothy, and we read of the condition that Paul warned Timothy about those sad conditions that will happen in the assembly age, in the church age. Very, very similar. The last days of Israel's history, the last days of the church history, Malachi and 2 Timothy are very much going along together as we learn from the word of God. So, talking about condition. We're speaking about condition. What kind of condition do you think existed in the days that Malachi was speaking to our forefathers? Let me give you a little list that is mentioned here in Malachi 3.

Look at a condition that existed then and there in the city of Jerusalem. He says in verse 5, Malachi 3 verse 5, "I will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against..." And notice the list here, brothers and sisters. Number one, against the sorcerers. In Hebrew, "mechashefim". Secondly, and against the adulteress. In Hebrew, "menafim". Thirdly, against the false swearers. These are in Hebrew, "nishbaim lasheker". They were swearing and making oaths and promises and they were not saying the truth. Number four, and against the oppressors. In Hebrew, "oshkim". They were oppressing one another during these days when Malachi was speaking the word of the Lord to the people, the remnant, the people of Israel.

And notice finally, in verse 5. "The hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and they turn aside the stranger from his right." And listen to this. "And fear not me," says the Lord of hosts. "There was no longer the fear of the Lord." "In Hebrew we say it, Yirat Adonai, Yirat Elohim." "The fear of the Lord was no longer in them." In other words, dear brothers and sisters, like today we might say in the ecclesia in which we live today. There is very little fear of the Lord, condition, oppression. There is false swearers, adulterers, and sorcerers that we have here mentioned. There is a list of five things that Malachi is speaking to Israel by the word of the Lord.

Can you imagine to have a religion without reality? Religion, a system, but there was no heart, a form without really substance. That's why the Lord was speaking so strongly to the people of Israel by Malachi in this last messenger that was sent to Israel. Now for a moment, turn with me once again to 1 Timothy. I want to read just a verse or two to show you that we are not only to speak about Israel, the nation, but that these things were, you might say, predicted by the Apostle Paul that it will happen in these last days in which you and I live in today. We cannot always look at Israel and find out all the failure that Israel have had without to apply this to us as we read the Brit HaChadasha, the New Testament.

Notice 1 Timothy chapter 4. The first three verses. Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, doctrine of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidden to marry and commanding to abstain from food which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. Then he continued and he gave us a list of things that were going on that were predicted by the Apostle Paul that it will happen in the last days of the church age. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3, very similar to what Malachi was speaking against the condition in Israel what we can see that is existing in our days.

In our days. 2 Timothy 3 verses 1 to 5. Look at this. Look at this. Look at this. Let us know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful and unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers. That's what we just read in Malachi chapter 3 there. Incontinent, furious, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away. Now you see, brothers and sisters, to study a book like Malachi shows us the sad, sad condition that existed in Israel's history, even in the life of those who turned from Babel, were back in the land, and you will think they will renew things and things are going to be different, but shortly things change when our hearts are not there.

Like in our days, isn't it? We feel the same thing and we don't have to look at everybody else. We look at our own hearts and we see, Lord, you know how quickly I myself can depart from that which you have given us instruction in the word of God. So condition that was sad then and sad now should stir us up and we should all kind of ask the question, "Lord, how can I grow spiritually to appreciate more what Yeshua, the Messiah, have done for me?" Not to be religious but have no substance in my heart, not to have a form without reality in my heart.

And we all need to search our hearts and that is exactly what God did here when he challenged our people Israel about 400 years before Yeshua the Messiah came using this man by the name of Malachi called My Messenger. What is the link that we can see very beautifully that is found between what Malachi wrote and the coming of Yeshua, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah to this world? Because after all, Israel were waiting for the Messiah to come. They were longing for the coming of the Messiah and as they were anticipating the coming of the Messiah, they kind of, you might say, slowly but surely when the attack of Satan, the attack of their enemies, the weakness of the flesh, slowly but surely they were neglecting to anticipate the coming of Yeshua, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

But it is very interesting that during those 400 years in between, there was no messenger and God was seeking for the people of Israel to wait for the coming of the Messiah the Messiah and to search their hearts in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. So I would like you just for a moment to turn to Psalm, Psalm 43. In that 43rd Psalm, Israel was speaking, you might say, a plea for the Lord to rescue them. And God wanted them, even through this psalm and many other psalms, to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah. Look at some of these verses that we have in Psalm 43.

Look, I'm just going to read that psalm. It's very short. Five verses. Just listen, please. Judge me, O God. Plead my cause against the ungodly nation. Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust men, for thou art the God of my strength. Why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Or send out the light? Speak about the Messiah. Send out the light and thy truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles. Then I will go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.

Notice verse 5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. In other words, during these 400 years of waiting and anticipating the coming of the Messiah, where God did not speak to Israel directly. Israel was to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah. But beloved brothers and sisters, when the Messiah finally came, Israel as a nation was not ready to accept him as our Mashiach, as the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. And you remember, as the Messiah came and John the baptizer presented him before the nation of Israel.

John the baptizer gave warning to the leaders of Israel and he was telling them that they better repent and turn back to God because the Messiah, the kingdom of God is at hand. The Messiah is at hand. The Messiah is right at the door. The Messiah is right at the door. Accept him, Israel. He was pleading with the people of Israel. And so you can see that there is a link between Malachi, the prophet and the gospel writers and the apostles. Because at least in three books, if not more, the prophet Malachi is quoted by the New Testament Hebrew writer. And I would like you with me for a moment to turn to three passages in the New Testament.

Malachi chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 are quoted by the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9. So turn to Romans chapter 9 with me, please. Malachi chapter 1 verses 2 and 3. It says here in verse 2. I have loved you, sayeth the Lord. Yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved me? Was not Esau's Jacob's brother, sayeth the Lord? Yet I have loved Jacob and I hated Esau. Esau laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Look what Paul is quoting in Romans chapter 9 when he is speaking about Israel to the brothers and sisters in the city of Rome. In Romans chapter 9, the apostle Paul said in verse 13. It is written, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated.

Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. Where did the apostle Paul take this quotation? He took this quotation from Malachi chapter 1 verses 2 and 3. We are going to talk about it in the study of this book. When God said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. God never hates anyone. God loves the world and he gave his only begotten son that all who will believe in him will receive salvation. But it is a biblical way to express the fact that Jacob have I chosen and Esau I have not chosen. We will talk about it some more when we are going to get to the next verses of Malachi chapter 1.

So the first chapter, Malachi chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 are quoted by Shaul Paul in Romans chapter 9 and verse 13. "Behold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold he shall come sayeth the Lord of hosts." This Malachi 3 verse 1 is quoted in the Gospels. If you now turn to Mark chapter 1. Notice that, how the New Testament quoting the Tanach, the Old Testament. Mark chapter 1 and verse 2. I will read verses 1 and 2. The beginning of the Gospel of Yeshua HaMashiach. Jesus the Messiah.

The Son of God. And then notice verse 2. As it is written in the Prophets. "Behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee." See Mark was writing and quoting what Malachi was predicting about the one that will announce the coming of the Messiah. We know him as Yohanan, John Hamatbil, the baptizer. He is announcing. He is the messenger that we spoke about earlier. He will be the one that will prepare the way before the Messiah. As he will come and Israel should have accepted him. So, once again, Malachi 3:1 is quoted by Mark 1:2, by Matthew 11:10, and by Luke 1:76. Three times in three Gospels this Malachi 3:1 is quoted.

Now the third passage that is quoted by the New Testament writers is in Malachi 4:5-6 that deals with the second coming of the Messiah. I love these verses because those verses show us that one day Israel will be restored and the hearts of the fathers will be restored to the children. I am reading Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I will send unto you Elijah the prophet." Interesting because Pesach is now. And the seder just finished. And in every Jewish home they will open the door. And in every Jewish home they will open the door. And they will look left and right. The boy or the girl will go and open the door waiting for the coming of Elijah the prophet to restore the people of Israel back to the Lord.

Where do you think our own people take it from? They take it here from Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I will send unto you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." That is the last verse. The book of Malachi. Well, it is quoted brothers and sisters in Luke chapter 1 and in Mark chapter 9. But let's just read one verse. Luke chapter 1, please. And there you will find it in verse 17. Luke chapter 1 and verse 17.

In fact, I will read verses 15, 16, and 17 of Luke chapter 1. We read, "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb." This is speaking about John the baptizer. But then, the writer is now connected with Malachi chapter 4. And the last verse, it says in verse 16 and 17, "And many of the children of Israel shall return to the Lord their God, and he shall go before him in the spirit and the power of Eliyahu, Elijah, to turn the heart of the fathers to the children." And he says, "The disobedience to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." So what we really see, dear brothers and sisters, that there is a link between what Malachi was raised by God to speak to the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem, and when the Gospels had its beginning in the presentation of Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah.

Many years ago, before I became a believer in the Lord Jesus, in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, I was handed out by my future-to-be mother-in-law a complete Bible in Hebrew. And when she gave me the Bible in Hebrew, I thought it would be only the Tanakh, the Old Testament. But to my surprise, I noticed that after the Old Testament, the Tanakh is finished, there is another book, the second half, you might say, of that book, of that Bible. And when I opened that, in the beginning, I didn't want to open it at all, because I knew they were trying to get me to believe in this man called Jesus.

But somehow, I dared, by the Spirit of God, to open. And you know, the first verse that I read in the New Testament, in the Brit HaChadasha, the book of the generation, of Yeshua, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Immediately, I could see the link between the Tanakh, that is the old, what we call today the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scripture, and the Brit HaChadasha, the New Covenant, the New Testament. And I could see the link. The link is that the same people to whom God spoke, our own forefathers, the people of Israel in the days of Malachi, Malachi, are the same people, or the generation, a few generations later on, of the same nation, who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob.

And that this man, by the name of Yeshua, the Messiah, was the son of David, Ben David, the son of Abraham, Ben Avraham. There is a link between Malachi and Matthew, the Old Testament and the New Testament, the prophets of all, and the apostles who gave us the Scripture in those days when Yeshua called them to serve him in the land of Israel. So, there is a link, but there is also a quotation three times or three verses from the book of Malachi are quoted in the New Testament, in the Brit HaChadasha, the New Covenant. Now, a few more points, brothers and sisters, just bear with me.

What is the theme? Any time when you study any book in the Bible, you have to ask yourself, what does God seek to communicate with the readers? Every time when the apostles wrote a letter, what is the reason why the apostles, the shlichim, wrote a letter? For example, in Galatia, there was a problem, legalism. So, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Galatians. In Colossians, there was another problem. They were not holding up the head. The Messiah was not acknowledged as the head of the body of Christ. The book of Colossians was written. The book, for example, the Philippians was written. It's because there was joylessness and there was friction among some of the believers.

So, the apostles wrote them, "The joy of the Lord is our strength." He said to them, "Rejoice evermore." There was a lack of joy, and he wrote the book of Philippians. In the book of Corinthians, for example, there was a problem. There was a problem in a local assembly at Corinth. So, the apostle Paul took the whole letter, 1 Corinthians, and he wrote them and described the problem that existed in the city of Corinth. And he wrote them that letter. Well, it's the same thing when they come to the book of Malachi and any other prophet that spoke to our people Israel. The theme was that he gave them a message to prepare themselves before the Messiah was going to come.

And Israel, who were suffering for so many generations, he showed them that the reason that they were suffering is not because of anything that God has done, but they suffered because of their very own disobedience to the Lord. So, Israel was wondering if God loved them at all. And God responded through Malachi and he showed them point by point. I love you. I care for you. I have chosen you, but you departed from the will of the Lord. That's why he is writing to them this book of Malachi to prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah and not to assume that God didn't love them.

God surely loved his own people. Actually, in Scripture, there are four verses that I really, really love to read about the love of God. First of all, in relationship to the world. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Secondly, in relationship to Israel. Jeremiah chapter 31 I have loved you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3 Thirdly, in relationship to the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. Where we read in Ephesians chapter 5, that Christ, the Messiah died for the assembly, for the ecclesia, for the church. And then finally, in the book of Galatians, where the Apostle Paul said, The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20 God's love to Israel, to the assembly, to the world, and for each and every one individually is sure the problem is not with God. The problem is with us, with men who fail to submit to the word of God. Now go back to Malachi chapter 1, couple more notes, couple more points, part of the introduction, before we're going to conclude with the introduction. Look at verse 1. Once again. Look at verse 1. And I want you to notice that in verse 1 it says, begin with the word, the burden. The burden. The Hebrew word is Massah, as I mentioned earlier. You know, Massah is something that you carry.

And it's very heavy. And God had a load to say, to speak to Israel about. Israel departed from the Lord, and God raised Malachi, the servant, to give them something that was burdening the heart of God. It was heavy, you might say. And Malachi, he had to carry this load, you might say, and to dish it to Israel, and to bring it to Israel, and to expose the condition that existed in our own nation's history. So that load that he was carrying is a load of, you might say, sharing with the people how sad things were in those days, even though they are already back to the land.

They build the temple, they go through the motion, they have the sacrificial system, but the heart was not with them. Not with all, of course. The priests were away from the Lord. The people themselves were away from the Lord. There were things that have happened during those days, brothers and sisters, as we mentioned, sorcery, adultery, false swearing, oppression, not fearing the Lord. That was a burden on the heart of Malachi as he was speaking to his own nation that he loved so much. So it's become a load, a heavy, heavy load that he carried as he's preaching the word of God. Now, finally, I want you to notice that in this book of Malachi, there's really not actually four chapters.

In the Hebrew text there are only three chapters, while in the English text there are four chapters. Chapter 4 is actually verse 1 is verse 19 of chapter 3 in the Hebrew. Verse 2 is verse 20. Verse 3 is verse 21. Verse 4 is verse 22. Verse 5 is verse 23. And verse 6 is verse 24. There are actually only three chapters in the Hebrew text for one reason or another. In the English text we have four chapters. But the manner whereby this book was presented or given is that God made a declaration and Israel responded with a question. So let me just give you this and then we're going to stop with the introduction. Notice in chapter 1 and verse 2.

God declared, "I have loved you, says the Lord." God's statement. Israel responded, "Yet ye say, wherein you have loved us." Look at verse 6. God declared once again. In verse 6 he says, "The Lord of hosts say unto you, O priests that despise my name." Israel responded, "Ye say, wherein have we despised thy name." Notice again in verse 7. God declared something. "Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar." And look at Israel respond, "Yet ye say, wherein have we polluted thee." Notice now chapter 2 and verse 13 and 14. "God declared," verse 13, "And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with goodwill at your hand." Notice that?

Look at chapter 2 and verse 17. Again, he said, "Ye have wearied the Lord with your words." God is speaking through Malachi. And then Israel said, "Yet we have said, wherein have we wearied him." Israel respond, "We haven't done such a thing." Look at then, chapter 3 and verse 7. Again, God declares something. "Even from the day of your fathers are ye gone away for mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you," sayeth the Lord of hosts. And then notice what Israel said, "But ye said, wherein shall we return?" We have already, we are here. We have done, we are already, we are okay.

Notice in chapter 3 and verse 8, God said, "Will a man rob God?" "Yet ye have robbed me," God said to Israel. And look at Israel responding, "But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee?" And finally in verse 13, "Your words have been stout against me," says the Lord. And then Israel, "Yet ye say, what have we spoken so much against thee?" In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, we have here a conversation, you might say. God exposes his people Israel, and Israel trying to respond with, "We haven't done that. We are not that bad. We haven't done that or haven't done that. We are going through the motion.

You see, we have the temple. We have the sacrificial system. We have everything. We have gone through the motion. Why? Why? Why do you say this about us?" Seven or eight times, God declared a statement, and Israel responds, "We haven't done so." It's like, if we might say that in closing, it's really exactly what is going on today in a professing church, a professing assembly of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. There is a form, there is a religion, there is a system of men, but many times our hearts are not in. We are many times, you might say, saying one thing and doing another thing.

We have a religion, but many times we have to admit, and again, I'm not speaking about anybody, speaking for myself, every one of us have to speak for himself. We fail the Lord in so many ways. And in order for us to be victorious believers, we need to humble ourselves before the Lord. We need to realize, we had this in our Bible class yesterday, we have to realize that God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time. God wants His people, He wants us, like He wanted Israel, our people of all, have a healthy relationship with Him.

And when we fail, we fail. We fail. We have to be honest enough to go before the Lord on our knees and say, Lord, I fail. And I thank you that you know that ahead of time, that you are willing to restore me, that the Lord will restore us and bless us. So by way of introduction, Malachi 1:1, the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi, by my messenger, by the one that He raised to share with Israel the concern that God had for His people, Israel, and to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. Well, may the Lord bless His word.

May the Lord help us to grow and to appreciate His word today.