MITCHELTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

weighing

Heart the

3 WEEK SERIES IN MALACHI

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WEEK 1

A LITTLE RESPECT

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WEEK 2

UNFAITHFUL PRIESTS & HUSBANDS

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WEEK 3

THE VERDICT

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A Courtroom Drama Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, and therefore comes at a critical point. Israel has returned from exile in Babylon. Their sin of worshipping idols has been paid for. But have their hearts returned to their true God? God is unhappy with how he’s being treated. Like a nonapology apology, Israel’s worship and lifestyle is leaving a bad taste in God’s mouth. God has been sending messenger after messenger, begging his people to return to him with their whole hearts. This message is their final warning. Return to your God with your whole heart or he will come—with a curse. Malachi presents God’s argument as a court case, with a series of allegations and then crossexamination by the opposing party. With the judge’s concluding remarks we find that this is actually a pre-trial hearing, with a much bigger day of future judgement still to come. Malachi points Israel forward to the day when God himself will come in the person of Jesus. What will Jesus find when he comes to the temple? Will Israel’s hearts have returned to their father? Or will he sentence the temple to destruction? And where do we fit into the story? We pray that this guide will help you turn to God with your whole heart, as it points to Jesus as not only the judge, but the one who takes God’s judgment on himself.

Peter Kutuzov, Dan Wilton and Phil Campbell NOVEMBER 2016

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WEEK 1 || MALACHI 1:1-5

A LITTLE RESPECT Much like a high-profile court case between public figures, the stand-off between God and Israel in the book of Malachi is as much about reputation and respect as it is about guilt. The honour of both parties hangs in the balance. ICE BREAKER We love watching courtroom dramas on TV, like “The Good Wife” and “Law and Order.” Have you ever sat through a real-life court case? Describe what it was like (if it wasn’t too traumatic!) The opening exchanges resemble a courtroom argument. God states the facts of the case, but at each point there’s pushback from his people. Under crossexamination, though, God’s people Israel don’t fare so well. Let’s look at God’s opening statement, then trace through the allegations against them.

WEIGHING THE HEART || WEEK ONE — A LITTLE RESPECT

OPENING STATEMENT OF THE PROSECUTION

Read Malachi 1:1-5 1. What attitude does God have towards Israel in his opening statement? 2. From the tone of their response, what does Israel think of God’s profession of love? 3. What evidence does God cite in response? 4. What statement was God making to the world by judging Edom as he did? God’s response—“Look how things would be if I didn’t love you!”—is an intense way to open the case. Why would they have been destroyed like Edom if God didn’t love them? Keep reading. There’s more of the case against Israel in God’s first allegation.

ALLEGATION 1: "YOU DISHONOUR ME"

Read Malachi 1:6-14 5. What role does God play in the relationship? 6. What is Israel’s heart towards God? 7. Does Israel feel that their actions deserve this evaluation? 8. What does the quality of the animals that the Israelites bring for sacrifice reveal about their heart attitude towards their God? (v8) 9. How far has Israel pushed God with their treatment of him? (v10) 10. What effect is Israel’s treatment of God having as the surrounding nations watch on? (v11-13) 11. What is the relationship between Israel’s conduct and God’s international reputation? page 4

WEIGHING THE HEART || WEEK ONE — A LITTLE RESPECT

God chose Israel to be a special people, so that through them he would bless the nations. As the nations watched the way Israel loved their God and each other they were supposed to be awed at how good Israel’s God is. The way Israel sacrificed their worst and least to God didn’t exactly make the nations around them think that Israel or their God was worth following.

Read Deuteronomy 4:6-8 below Observe [these laws] carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Deuteronomy 4:6-8

FOLLOW THE STORY

Read Hebrews 9:23-26 below It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:23-26 Jesus’ whole life was spent serving God and God’s people, even to the point of giving up his life. It was a better sacrifice than those of Israel in every possible way. It is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that honours God as father, master and great king.

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LOOKING FORWARD The sacrifice of Jesus satisfies God's requirements for all people who follow him. As God’s new people, saved by Jesus, we’re all the more called to live in a way that honours God as both great king and merciful saviour.

Read 1 Peter 2:9-12 12. For people who follow Jesus now, what’s our collective task?

13. How are we demonstrating to people watching our lives that our God is a great king worthy of honour and respect?

14. Israel made God angry by not honouring Him; instead they gave Him their least and worst. Would someone watching your life think that God deserves your best? Or just your leftovers?

15. What can we do to show people that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is good evidence that our God is worth honouring? How does this complement our attempts to live such good lives that people think God is worth honouring?

Pray together that we would live such good lives among our friends that they will praise God and want to get to know him. Thank Jesus for being the perfect sacrifice that makes us acceptable to God. page 6

WEEK 2 | MALACHI 2:1-16

UNFAITHFUL PRIESTS & HUSBANDS The case: God vs. Israel continues. As we make our way to chapter two, Israel’s character is once again put on trial. However, the trial takes a very personal turn – Israel’s faithfulness and family life are put under the microscope.

W E I G H I N G T H E H E A R T | | W E E K T W O — U N FA I T H F U L P R I E S T S & H U S B A N D S

ALLEGATION 2: "UNFAITHFUL PRIESTS" The second allegation God presents is directed against the priests of Israel. The priesthood were meant to be the guardians of God's promises with his people, facilitating the people’s relationship with God, ensuring they remained faithful to God. And yet we’ll see that’s far from reality.

Read Malachi 2:1-9 1. What consequences will God mete out to the priests for not honouring him? 2. What did God give to his people when the priesthood (under Levi) was functioning to preserve God’s honour? (v5)

3. What should the priests of Israel have been doing?

4. What has been happening instead?

One of the roles of the priest was to instruct Israel in how to live for God. But they’re struggling to do the very things they were supposed to teach others, and worse, causing God’s people to be unfaithful. In return for disgracing their God, God will disgrace the priests.

ALLEGATION 3: "UNFAITHFUL HUSBANDS" Unfaithfulness is rampant in Israel, not only infecting the priesthood, but every other relationship too. God’s third allegation is directed specifically against Israel’s unfaithfulness in their family life.

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W E I G H I N G T H E H E A R T | | W E E K T W O — U N FA I T H F U L P R I E S T S & H U S B A N D S

Read Malachi 2:10-16 “Judah” is Malachi’s shorthand for the remaining two tribes of Israel after the 10 northern tribes were destroyed in 720 BC.

5. List the allegations being brought against Judah?

6. Which parties are being injured by the Israelites’ unfaithfulness?

7. What evidence does God present?

8. Read Deuteronomy 7:1-6 (sidebar). Why was it ‘unfaithful’ for Judah to marry women from outside the nation of Israel?

9. From Malachi 2:15, what is one of the purposes of marriage?

10. How has Judah failed in this?

Do Not Intermarry When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you ... do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. Deuteronomy 7:1-6

It’s damning evidence. Just like their religious life, Israel’s family life is rife with unfaithfulness. The men don’t even try to appear faithful to their wives, women whom God made and loves. Worse, they’re marrying foreign women who are leading them to worship other gods—directly disobeying God—and they don’t even seem to be showing any sign of remorse. The evidence is undeniable, the nation of Israel has been unfaithful; unfaithful in their marriages and ultimately unfaithful to God. The two are undeniably linked.

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FOLLOW THE STORY Despite the warnings, the nation of Israel would continue in their unfaithfulness to God and to each other. God would soon bring his verdict of judgment on a guilty Israel (more on that next week). But in the midst of a faithless nation, God remains faithful. 400 years later, God sent his Son, Jesus, as the great High Priest who faithfully served God. He offered his own life as a perfect sacrifice, once for all, for the unfaithfulness of not only the nation of Israel, but for all people (Heb 7-10). Jesus’s faithfulness doesn't just extend to his priestly role, but also as a husband. Read A Faithful Husband to see how Jesus demonstrates this faithfulness, by offering up his life for the sake of his wife—the church.

1. Given that Jesus has shown us what faithfulness looks like, how should that affect our own marriage relationships?

2. If you’re a husband, or hope to be one day, how will your husbanding be different to that of Israel’s men?

3. If ‘not breaking faith’ is to be a characteristic of our Christian lives and our married lives, how will Christian marriages look different in our surrounding culture?

4. What will faithfulness relationships look like?

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A Faithful Husband Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. Ephesians 5:25-29

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WEEK 3 || MALACHI 2:17-4:6

THE VERDICT God’s court case against Israel continues. And the charges are mounting. This week we’ll see things build up to a climax. Are there people who seem to have the opposite definitions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ to you? How does our culture seem to define ‘good’ today?

WEIGHING THE HEART || WEEK THREE — THE VERDICT

ALLEGATION 4: "YOUR ACCUSATIONS WEARY ME"

Read Malachi 2:17-3:5 1. God’s relentless list of allegations against Israel continues. Why does God find them so tiresome? 2. Trace through the sequence of God’s promised actions in 3:1. 1. 2. 3. 3. What consequences will there be for Israel, and why will this be surprising? (Remember, this is the one they say they seeking!) 4. What will the outcome be after God finishes ‘refining’ Israel? 5. On the day God visits his temple to finally ‘put Israel on trial’ (3:5), list the specific sins he’ll be looking for… 6. Can you categorise them? These issues will be very relevant on the day Jesus comes to visit his temple!

ALLEGATION 5: "YOU KEEP TURNING AWAY"

Read Malachi 3:6-12 7. What’s the only reason the descendants of Jacob (Israel) are still standing? 8. What’s their crime this time, and what do they need to do? (v7) 9. What will Israel’s return to God look like? (v8-10)

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WEIGHING THE HEART || WEEK THREE — THE VERDICT

ALLEGATION 6: "YOU ROB ME" 10. What allegation is God adding to the rap-sheet, and why? (v8-10)

meant to produce godly offspring, were a mess. But that’s just a sign of the deeper mess: because they’ve abandoned their God! According to verse 5, what are the two next steps?

The people of Israel were living under a long standing covenant with God that promised all kinds of physical blessings in the promised land -- if -- they served the Lord with all their hearts. As we saw in chapter 1, their honouring of God was shown for what it was by the quality of animals they brought for sacrifice. Here in chapter 3, it’s reflected in the fact that they don’t bring their required tithes and offerings to the temple storehouse. In effect, says Malachi, they’re robbing God... 11. Look back over Malachi so far, and summarise in your own words Israel’s approach to their ‘religious duties’:

They would:



They would not:

I will send ______________________ before the ____________________________. 15. Noticing the family-breakdown issues in chapter 2, what evidence will show that Israel has had a change of heart? (v6) 16. All the allegations have been laid. What will the consequence be when God comes to visit if Israel doesn’t change course and truly repent? (4v6b)

A CLIFFHANGER ENDING The ending of Malachi, and the whole of the Old Testament, is a cliff-hanger. What will Israel do? When the time comes for God to visit them, will Israel turn, or be totally destroyed?

12. What ‘covenant blessings’ is God offering? What should result from this in v12? 13. As usual, Israel seems bemused by God’s allegations against them. What’s their final crime? What do their words reveal?

We only have to turn the page to find the answers in the New Testament, almost 400 years later. All four of the gospel writers introduce us to John the Baptist, the promised fore-runner of the Lord’s visit.

Read Luke 3:3-20

17. How does Luke summarise the theme of John’s message for Israel? How does this fit with Malachi’s warning?

Do you ever feel this way?

THE VERDICT: TURN OR BURN Read the final words of the Old Testament in Malachi 4. 14. What two kinds of Israelites does Malachi describe, and what outcomes does he foresee for each group? (v1-3) Remember, Malachi has already accused Israel’s men of violating the covenant with God by breaking faith with their wives and deserting their families (2:14-15). Israel’s families, which were

18. What warning does John give to the Israelite leaders in v9? How does this compare with Malachi’s ultimatum? 19. When people ask John if he is the Messiah, what’s his answer? 20. What will John do, and what will the coming one do?

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THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE The word ‘baptise’ (Luke 3:16) simply means ‘wash.’ But what does John actually mean that Jesus will do? Some think he’s talking about the ‘tongues of fire’ that were seen when the disciples first received the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. But when you read the very next verse (Luke 3:17), it seems that Israel will face a choice of two options, just as Malachi said. One option will be baptism with the Holy Spirit. The other option will be that Israel will be ‘washed’ by being burned away like the chaff at harvest time. Which way will they choose when they meet Jesus? That’s the big question!

MARRIAGE RENEWAL 21. In Malachi’s time, unfaithfulness in marriage was one of Israel’s defining sins (see last week’s study). What does John’s conflict with Herod (Luke 3:19) reveal about the state of Israel’s leadership?

REPENTANCE, THE SPIRIT, AND YOU Jesus brings a real turning point in the history of national Israel—or more accurately, an ‘end point.’ But as repentance and the need to turn back to God for forgiveness was preached in Jesus name, it was a message that resonated not just with faithful Israelites, but with thousands of ‘gentiles’ as well. And as Peter says in his powerful speech in Acts 15, and Paul points out in Galatians, Gentile believers receive the promised Holy Spirit as well! The end for the unrepentant nation of Israel then came with their destruction by the Romans in 70AD. 22. Think back to God’s allegations against Israel. How does the Holy Spirit motivate better things from Christians today? 23. In what areas is the Holy Spirit convicting you to honour God more faithfully? 24. Share with the group some ways you could encourage one another in these things. page 14

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MITCHELTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

November 2016