Before the Silence, #10 Do we revere his name? Do we treat with respect and honor as with holiness? Read Malachi 4:1-6. “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles…

Before the Silence, #9 God remembers. When we think about all the times that we choose to be obedient rather than disobedient, God remembers. Read Malachi 3:13-18. “You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord . “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ” Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord…

Before the Silence, #8 Will the nations call us blessed? See the criteria in Malachi 3:5-12. “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to…

Before the Silence, #7 Judgment is coming. There will be a point when all will be held accountable. Read Malachi 3:1-4. “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the…

Before the Silence, #6 The people were upset. The Lord wasn’t accepting their offerings, but they weren’t willing to change anything. Read Malachi 2:10-17. Do we not all have one Father ? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another? Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob —even though he brings an…

Before the Silence, #5 What are we teaching? Now God starts the explain the concerns with those who are teaching. Read Malachi 2:7-9. “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”Malachi 2:7‭-‬9 NIVhttps://bible.com/bible/111/mal.2.7-9.NIV Have we…

Before the Silence, #4 As God explains the importance of the covenant, he also shares just how terribly the people have broken the covenant. Read Malachi 2:1-6. “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me. “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants ; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with…

Before the Silence, #3 What do we offer to God? Read Malachi 1:11-14. My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord…

Before the Silence, #2 Commit and don’t be halfhearted. As the book of Malachi continues, we see the concerns that God mentions. Read Malachi 1:6-10. “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord ’s table is contemptible. When you offer blind…

Before the silence, #1 Malachi, the final prophecy before 400 years of silence. How can we learn from these words? Read Malachi 1:1-5. A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the Lord . “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord . “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may…