Malachi was called to preach to the people of Israel around 425 BC after Ezra and Nehemiah had led spiritual reforms. The people had since grown spiritually idle. Malachi's message called the people to renew their faithfulness to God. He rebuked the priests for disrespecting God in their temple duties and sacrificing blemished animals. Malachi also condemned the people for unfaithfulness in their marriages and lack of care for one another. Though the people deserved destruction, God promised to bless their faithfulness if they honored Him with their tithes and offerings. Malachi prophesied that God would send Elijah before the great day of the Lord to turn people's hearts to God in preparation for

1. Lesson 13

2. KEY TEXT
“ „My name will be great
among the nations, from the
rising to the setting of the sun.
In every place incense and
pure offerings will be brought
to my name, because my
name will be great among the
nations,‟ says the Lord
Almighty” Malachi 1:11

3. The Temple had been rebuilt many years ago in the Persian King Darius time. His
successor Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem as its governor.
Ezra and Nehemiah led a movement of spiritual reformation among the people in
that time (between 444 and 432 BC)
But when those two men were gone, the people yielded to spiritual
idleness. Malachi was called to the prophetic ministry around 425
BC. His mission was to make the people think over their
unfaithfulness to their Creator, to renew the old calling: “Return to
Me, and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7)
1. God deserves our faithfulness (Mal. 1)
2. God wants us to be happy with others (Mal. 2)
3. God promises to bless our faithfulness
(Mal. 3:1-12)
4. God remembers our faithfulness (Mal. 3:13-18)
5. God gives His faithful people a mission (Mal. 4)

4. ““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”
(Malachi 1:13)
The priests scorned the rites in the
sanctuary. They even accepted lame and
ill animals for the sacrifice and considered
the sacred rites and ceremonies to be
tedious.
They were being unfaithful to God with
that attitude. They were also rejecting
Salvation, since they didn’t see “the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the
world” (John 1:29) in those sacrifices.
“In that ancient ritual which was the gospel in symbol, no blemished offering could be brought
to God’s altar. The sacrifice that was to represent Christ must be spotless. The word of God
points to this as an illustration of what His children are to be—“a living sacrifice,” “holy and
without blemish,” “well-pleasing to God.” Romans 12:1; Ephesians 5:27”
E.G.W. (The Ministry of Healing, cp. 8, “Training for Life’s Conflict”, p. 130)

5. “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the
Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?
Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say,
„In what way have we despised Your name?‟” (Malachi 1:6)
God demands faithfulness because
Hi is the Father, Lord and Great King
of Israel (Mal. 1:6, 14)
1. The son must honor his Father.
2. The servant must honor his
Lord.
3. The subject must honor his
Great King.
We must triply honor our God as
sons, servants and subjects.

6. The people of God was accused of mutual unfaithfulness and of being disloyal to their
spouses.
“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal
treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?”
(Malachi 2:10)
“Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness
between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt
treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant”
(Malachi 2:14)
Malachi takes marriage as an example to
illustrate the people’s lack of faithfulness
and commitment to one another.
According to the Bible, marriage is a
sacred institution established by God. The
people of Israel were warned against
marrying outside the faith because by
doing so they would compromise their
commitments with the Lord and fall into
idolatry (see Josh. 23:12, 13)

7. “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore
you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob” (Malachi 3:6)
The people of Israel deserved destruction
because of their unfaithfulness. But God’s
love and faithfulness never change, so they
were not destroyed.
Now God requested proof of their (and our)
faithfulness: “Bring all the tithes into the
storehouse, that there may be food in My
house” (Mal. 3:10 f.p.)
And He also added this
promise and blessing:
““And try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will
not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you
such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive
it.”” (Mal. 3:10 l.p.)

8. “Whenever God’s people, in any period of the
world, have cheerfully and willingly carried out
His plan in systematic benevolence and in gifts
and offerings, they have realized the standing
promise that prosperity should attend all their
labors just in proportion as they obeyed His
requirements. When they acknowledged the
claims of God and complied with His
requirements, honoring Him with their substance,
their barns were filled with plenty. But when
they robbed God in tithes and in offerings they
were made to realize that they were not only
robbing Him but themselves, for He limited
His blessings to them just in proportion as they
limited their offerings to Him”
E.G.W. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, cp. 33, pg. 395)

9. Since God was delaying His
judgment over the sinners,
the Israelites came to the
wrong conclusion: “It is
useless to serve God; what
profit is it that we have kept
His ordinance, and that we
have walked as mourners
before the Lord of hosts?”
(Mal. 3:14)
But God listens
and writes down
all the words and
acts of those
who cry out for
justice; those
who cling to
Christ’s merit
and joyfully
serve Him
living on His
grace.
“Then those who feared
the Lord spoke to one
another, and the Lord
listened and heard them;
so a book of
remembrance was written
before Him for those who
fear the Lord, and who
meditate on His name.
“They shall be Mine,” says
the Lord of hosts, “on the
day that I make them My
jewels. And I will spare
them as a man spares his
own son who serves him.”
Then you shall again
discern between the
righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves
God and one who does not
serve Him” (Malachi 3:16-18)

10. “Yet now, if You will
forgive their sin—but if
not, I pray, blot me out of
Your book which You
have written”
(Exodus 32:32)
“Your eyes saw my
substance, being yet
unformed. And in Your
book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me,
when as yet there were
none of them”
(Psalm 139:16)
“And anyone not found
written in the Book of Life
was cast into the lake of
fire” (Revelation 20:15)
“And it shall come to pass
that he who is left in Zion
and remains in Jerusalem
will be called holy—
everyone who is recorded
among the living in
Jerusalem” (Isaiah 4:3)

11. “But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness
shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out
and grow fat like stall-fed calves” (Malachi 4:2)
God has set a double
work for the faithful
people living in the end
time of the history of
this world:
1. Remembering the Law given
to Moses (Mal. 4:4)
2. Turning the hearts of the
fathers to the children, and
the hearts of the children to
their fathers, and the hearts of
everyone to God (Mal. 4:6)

12. “In this age, just prior to the second coming of Christ in the
clouds of heaven, such a work as that of John the Baptist is to
be done. God calls for men who will prepare a people to stand
in the great day of the Lord. The message preceding the public
ministry of Christ was “Repent, publicans and sinners; repent,
Pharisees and Sadducees; repent ye: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand” (see Matthew 3:2). As a people who believe
in Christ’s soon appearing, we have a message to bear,
“Prepare to meet thy God.” Our message is to be as direct as
was the message of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity.
Notwithstanding that his life was imperiled, he did not
hesitate to declare God’s Word; and our work in this age must
be done as faithfully”
E.G.W. (The Upward Look, October 21)

13. THIS SERVICE IS FREE AND YOU CAN USE IT
Seek the
Lord
and Live!
We invite you to download and study
each one of the 13 lessons about this
serie
Slideshare.net/chucho1943