Sermon Notes

3 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like washers’ soap; 3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years. 5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 6 For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?” 8 Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, “How are we robbing you?” In your tithes and offerings! 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, NRSVue)
3 “Look! I’m sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you’ve been looking for will enter his Temple—yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you’ve been waiting for. Look! He’s on his way!” A Message from the mouth of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
2-4 But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance? He’ll be like white-hot fire from the smelter’s furnace. He’ll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. He’ll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He’ll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they’re fit for God, fit to present offerings of righteousness. Then, and only then, will Judah and Jerusalem be fit and pleasing to God, as they used to be in the years long ago.
5 “Yes, I’m on my way to visit you with Judgment. I’ll present compelling evidence against sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, those who are inhospitable to the homeless—anyone and everyone who doesn’t honor me.” A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies. 6-7 “I am God—yes, I Am. I haven’t changed. And because I haven’t changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven’t been destroyed. You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. “You ask, ‘But how do we return?’ 8-10 “Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day. “You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’ “The tithe and the offering—that’s how! And now you’re under a curse—the whole lot of you—because you’re robbing me. Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. (The Message, MSG)

Is God really paying attention to what is going on in the world? This is essentially the question that ancient Judahite exiles asked after Cyrus of Persia allowed them to return to their ancestral homeland—now called the province of Yehud. Although they cooperatively worked together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3-6), recommit themselves to the study of God’s word (Ezra 8:1-12; Nehemiah 9:1-38), and reconstruct the temple (Ezra 6:1-18), they yet felt that God was not truly acknowledging their lived reality. Because they didn’t think God was watching, they didn’t believe Day of the LORD was rapidly approaching, they didn’t think the wicked or the righteous would be called to account, they started slacking. They slacked in assembling for corporate worship, they slacked in properly ministering in the house of God, they slacked in doing justice towards the oppressed, they slacked in giving their tithes, and they slacked in sacrificial giving—that’s the offering they were supposed to give after they gave the tithe. The people made a conscious decision to lapse in their commitment to live out their faith in tangible, visible, practical, economic, justice-focused, God-centered ways. And in doing so, they slid into spiritual malaise.
This is the mindset and spiritual posture that the prophet addresses in the Book of Malachi. He calls the people to come out of spiritual stagnation and invites them to return to whole life stewardship with God at the center. However, like those ancient Judahites, contemporary Christians are guilty of slacking and spiritual stagnation as well. Perhaps we also think God is not watching. After all, evil seems to be unchecked, and the wicked appear to prosper. However, Malachi reminds us that God has not changed. If we do what we are called to do—live justly with our lives, our gifts and talents, and our financial resources—God will take care of everything else.

The book of Malachi is the last writing of The Book of Twelve—the writings of the twelve “minor” prophets which fit onto one scroll because of their brevity. In the Jewish TaNaK, it is the last book of the Nevi’im, or prophetic Books. In the Protestant Old Testament, it is the last prophetic book and the final book of that testament. As the last “word” of Hebrew scripture for Christians, Malachi—whose name means “my messenger” from the Hebrew word malak—functions as a bridge between the post-exilic period and second Temple Judaism period of Jesus’ day and time. While tradition asserts that a prophet named Malachi wrote the Book of Malachi, most biblical scholars believe the book is a pseudonym.
Malachi is generally dated to after the completion of the second temple in 515 BCE and before the reforms of Nehemiah, in 445 BCE. Because the Levites become the religious and political leaders within Judah/Yehud during this period, and Malachi zealously condemns the Levitical priesthood for their laxness concerning sacrificial rituals, scholars date Malachi to around 450 BCE within the Persian Period. Malachi is closely related to Haggai and Zechariah, with all three prophetic books sharing historical contexts and literary styles.
With regard to literary contexts, Malachi is comprised of six oracles (1:2–5; 1:6—2:9; 2:10–16; 2:17—3:5; 3:6–12; 3:13—4:3) plus a conclusion (4:4–6) which address the faithlessness of the people with a sustained focus on worship practices—the proper way to offer and receive sacrifices and the giving of the tithe. The lesson text (Malachi 3:1-10), comes from the fourth and fifth oracles. The book’s literary form is dialogical consisting of a series of questions and responses between God (the prophet) and the people.
A major issue that arises when interpreting Malachi 3 is the failure to include the entire oracle in the interpretation. The lesson text actually begins with Malachi 2:17: “You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?” (NRSVue). In The Message translation it reads: You make God tired with all your talk. “How do we tire him out?” you ask. By saying, “God loves sinners and sin alike. God loves all.” And also by saying, “Judgment? God’s too nice to judge.”
Essentially, the people are feeling a sense of helplessness and powerlessness as they observe evil in the world. Further, God’s actions are not aligning with their expectations for divine action, so they are mad. They think the LORD is indifferent to their plight, and their disappointment and disillusionment manifests itself in a lack of faithful worship practices. Ultimately, Malachi says the people must repent so God will return to them.

1 God’s “Look! I’m sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you’ve been looking for will enter his Temple—yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you’ve been waiting for. Look! He’s on his way!” A Message from the mouth of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. 2-4 But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance? He’ll be like white-hot fire from the smelter’s furnace. He’ll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. He’ll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He’ll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they’re fit for God, fit to present offerings of righteousness. Then, and only then, will Judah and Jerusalem be fit and pleasing to God, as they used to be in the years long ago. 5 “Yes, I’m on my way to visit you with Judgment. I’ll present compelling evidence against sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, those who are inhospitable to the homeless—anyone and everyone who doesn’t honor me.” A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
As previously stated in the introduction and background context(s) to the lesson, Malachi 2:17 is the beginning of this pericope. Essentially, the people are asking, “Is God really fair?” The immediate answer seems to refer to the prophet who is writing—Malachi means, “My Messenger.” He is declaring that he has been sent to the people to prepare them for God’s appearance in the temple. His purpose is to be the precursor to the person who is going to judge the priests and then against those who commit unjust practices. The Lord is coming to judge the evildoers and corrupt priests. Therefore justice will prevail and the answer to their question, “Is God really fair?,” will be evidenced in God’s time. They we see the answer—God’s work and activity in their own lives.
If the people have been feeling hopeless, because the priests have been corrupt, this message will strongly affirm that there will be a cleansing and a new order will be established, which will please the Lord. Further, the lax morals of some people in the community will be exposed, and they will be punished. The strong message is one of judgment by God on religious and ethical wrongdoers which ought to give new hope for those who feel that the community has sunk to such depravity and therefore it is not worth bothering about. God will establish justice in spite of the people’s accusation in Malachi 2:17.
Although the people make general indications about “sinners and the like,” the prophet specifically indicts two groups of individuals who have acted without justice: “the Levites” and “sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, those who are inhospitable to the homeless—anyone and everyone who doesn’t honor me.” Justice (mishpat in Hebrew) will be restored for these people when God’s judgement (mishpat) will be restored on The Day of the LORD. Both of these words, “justice” and “judgement,” come from the same root word in Hebrew. Once the people see this impending cleansing, they will return fully to the covenant relationship with God and cooperate in efforts to reverse the downward spiral of their community’s religious and ethical wrongdoing—a lack of justice. Thus, fairness is coming. However, the question is whether the people will be able to stand up to God’s standards of justice.
Please be mindful of the Jewish/Hebraic context(s) of these passages. Malachi is not talking about Jesus of Nazareth. He is talking about the future where a Jewish/Hebraic messiah figure would come to make all things right. This imagined “messiah” was likely a Davidic king figure who would refine and purify God’s people until they were fully fit for service and God’s glory in the future. These verses likely announce the coming of a great royal figure from the Davidic line of succession who needed a messenger to announce his arrival. This reminds us that the interpretation of scripture always builds upon the previous history of biblical interpretation. As contemporary Christians interpret scripture, they do so through the stream of biblical interpretation that started during the time of the original prophetic messages.
As Christians, we must always remember that we have a backward-glancing perspective of scripture. We interpret Jesus as the Messiah who was to come because we have the benefit of the relationship with Jesus. However, that is not what Malachi meant when he shared his prophetic oracles during the 5th century BCE Persian period.
6-7 “I am God—yes, I Am. I haven’t changed. And because I haven’t changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven’t been destroyed. You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. “You ask, ‘But how do we return?’
In verses 6-7, Malachi makes the point that God does not change; God continues to reach out and seek us in love. The problem, however, is always our desire or ability to receive God’s love. If God did change, if God’s love was limited by our shortcomings, then surely these unfaithful people would not have survived. But unless we turn toward God, unless we realize the precious nature of the relationship we have with God, we will not experience HIs marvelous kindness and mercy. So, when God says, “Return to me so I can return to you,” that’s not a conditional arrangement, where God’s grace depends on human response. Rather, this is the recognition that unless we turn to God, we will not experience the love and mercy God is extending.
8-10 “Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day. “You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’ “The tithe and the offering—that’s how! And now you’re under a curse—the whole lot of you—because you’re robbing me. Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams.
In the final verses of the lesson, the prophet specifically mentions the giving of tithes—one tenth of the agricultural production in produce and livestock. When the people protest in response to the indictment of disobedience, God specifies their financial stewardship. Giving is one of the most fail-proof litmus tests of our relationship to God. Where people put their money is an indicator of their priorities. Verse 8 is a specific term drawn from the law code in Numbers 18:25-32. The Deuteronomic and Priestly law codes (Deuteronomy 14:22-29; 26:12-15, and Leviticus 27:30-33), governed how the people were to give in order to provide for the Levitical priests who did not receive land when entering into the Promised Land because their covenantal responsibilities were to attend to the sanctuary/temple and minister to the people.
Although Nehemiah characterizes the failure to pay tithes as neglect of the Temple (Neh 10:40 13:11), Malachi personalizes the charge as a direct offense against God: “You are robbing me!” However, the prophet also adds that God will not only issue curses to the Judahites. The LORD will also provide salvation and blessings when the people resume giving their covenantal responsibilities and offer the full tithe. God will, “open up heaven itself.” Therefore, the answer to the questions, “Is God watching, “Is God fair?, “Is god concerned with justice,” are answered when people have enough to eat, a place to sleep, clothes on their backs, and are able to hear the word of God proclaimed. The goodness of God—manifested as justice for the exploited—is the answer to those questions. Opening up the “windows of heaven,” occurs when the people of God faithfully offer the tithe.
To rob God is to hurt ourselves and all of God’s people. By withholding their tithes and offerings, the people forced the priests and Levites to work for their own support. That meant that they had to neglect the temple, causing worship to suffer. The inadequate worship adversely affected the Jewish families that came there to worship and the entire community that did not have the social safety net.

In the introduction to Malachi in the SBL Study Bible, Associate Editor Dr. Stacey Davis—an African American female Hebrew Bible scholar—says, “Traditionally, Malachi is viewed as closing the prophetic canon. The book’s final piece of advice is as follows: “Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.” Besides accepting sacrifices, a priest’s job was to teach the people the commandments. By reminding the audience of God’s law, the priest/prophet in Malachi suggests that at this point people have all the information they need to do what is right. The book concludes that whether they do so is up to them.” Her words provide a fitting conclusion to this lesson. Ancient Judahites and contemporary Christians already have all the tools we need to live justly. Malachi, as God’s Messenger, has prepared the way for God’s people to do right, we just have to decide to repent and make a change. i

i) SBL Study Bible (Society of Biblical Literature: Kindle Edition.)