Greetings,
The book of Malachi is an amazing book. It is the last thing prophetically spoken in the Old Testimony, before God became the Word manifest in the flesh of Jesus Christ. The subject of Malachi is God as a Father, we as His children, and God’s plan to repair that relationship and testimony in the earth. The name Malachi means the messenger of Jehovah or my messenger. I believe that Malachi is a witness to the Holy Spirit being sent to humanity to cause us to be made known as the children of God. It is about God’s plan to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers in the hope of healing the curse of human failure in the earth.
The secret to honoring and father and mother in the earth is only revealed and given through the testimony of the Holy Spirit. As I have written, God wants His family name to be an increasing inheritance in the earth. God loves us as a Father loves his children, but our failure to see Him for who He really is left us short of being a true testimony of His family in the earth. Malachi chapter one begins with God testifying of His love for those who see Him as the source of making them His blessing in the earth. He testifies that it was Jacob that He loved, while Esau He hated.
Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved”…
Jacob represents a generation of humanity that seeks the blessing of God. They don’t just seek the blessing of God to be blessed. They seek the blessings of God because they know they represent God in this earth. A Jacob generation seeks God so they can be God’s blessing in the earth for the sake of God’s covenant and the generational testimony of His name. It is only through knowing who God is, that we can become who we are meant to be in the earth. God’s issue with humanity is that they would know Him as their Father, not merely a God to serve for their our own advantage. When we don’t know who He is, we can never know who we are.
The prophet Malachi deals with a fatherless generation of people. He addresses a self-seeking generation who do not know who God is.
Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father, if then I am the Father, where is My honor?”
The self-seeking generation of Malachi’s day thought that life was about them, not God. A self-seeking generation sees themselves as the center of everything, not God. They want God to meet their needs, but they have little concern with serving Him. They fail to understand that He is their Father and thus they fail to see serving Him as a testimony of love.
Malachi 1:7 “You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, “In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’ ”
When we exalt our needs above the will of God we fail to see the need to see God for who He really is. We expect God to receive us as we are, but we don’t expect to become like Him. I believe that this is very prevalent in the present generation. Many people want the grace of God, but they define God’s grace, as an excuse to hold on to their old ways while proclaiming God loves them as they are. This was the case with the people of God in the day of Malachi. They wanted to offer God the blind, the lame, and the sick while making excuses for their flaws.
Malachi 1:8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the LORD of hosts.
When we expect God to love us as we are without expecting that we must be transformed to His ways, isn’t it offering God the blind, the lame, and the sick as a sacrifice? We want God to come and be the God of the people, but we don’t want to be changed to become the people of God. We expect God to receive us with our flaws, but we don’t want to embrace any changes God may desire in our lives. We want to justify our weaknesses, while demanding that God lowers the standards of His expectations in our lives. Iniquity is not sin, it is an internal weakness of the heart that leads to transgression in our hearts and manifests as sin before God. It is the internal weakness that makes us vulnerable to look for life in things other than God. When we do this, we expect God’s favor calling mercy a testimony of grace. We believe that grace is an excuse for us to remain as we have been and we fail to see that only mercy can receive us as we are, but grace transforms us to become what we have never been before. Grace transforms us to become as God desires us to be.
Malachi 1:9 “But now entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will He accept you favorably?” Says the LORD of hosts.
The real problem is a lack of understanding who God really is. Self-seeking people fail to recognize that He is their heavenly Father and He is worthy of their testimony becoming a reflection of Him.
Malachi 1:10 “Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,” Says the LORD of hosts, “Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.”
When we seek our needs above the will of God in our lives we fail to see that His kingdom will is to make His name great among the nations. We were born for His calling, His inheritance, and His power in this world. God’s children are a testimony of His name.
Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the LORD of hosts.
A self-seeking generation considers the testimony of their own lives as more important than God and what He wants in their lives. They see serving God as an unfair demand. Any change that God would require in their life is an insult to their hearts.
Malachi 1:12 “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is defiled; and its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ ”
A self-seeking generation wants to justify their iniquity, transgression and sin and they demand that God accepts them as they are. They see God as one who serves their needs and they have little regard for God’s ways in their lives.
Malachi 1:13 You also say, “Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the LORD of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the LORD.
A self-seeking generation gives their best to their own agenda, and less to God. They invite the consequence of curse into their lives for their failure of seeing God as their Father.
Malachi 1:14 “But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male, and takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished— For I am a great King,” Says the LORD of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations.”
A self-seeking generation doesn’t want to recognize who God really is. They want their own name to be great, not His. The way of the world is more important to them than His way. Their culture is more valuable to them than the culture of the kingdom of heaven. God’s doesn’t curse them; they simply embrace the way of the curse in their failure to see God for who He really is. This is the foundational flaw of a self-seeking generation. They are fatherless in their mentality and they fail to honor God as the Father He truly is.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
