Major Messages from Minor Prophets

Preaching Truth for Today

Jeffrey A. Ingraham

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781638747338
• eBook ISBN: 9781638747345
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

During the early part of 2019, our Sunday school lessons centered on the Old Testament prophets, particularly the minor prophets. It was a great challenge to understand their messages and the messages' relevancy for our times. It seemed as if there really were no significant differences in these books of prophecy, as the minor prophets all seemed to be saying the same thing.

Of course, there are differences in the messages and ministries of the minor prophets, hence, my attempt to show so. My goal was to summarize the writings and ministries of the minor prophets and show their relevancy for today.

This I did through a series of sermons that were initially delivered in the Calvary Baptist Church during the winter of 2019. My goal was to make the teachings of the minor prophets understandable to every segment of our membership. The approach was more inspirational than overly scholarly.

Each chapter of the book is provocatively titled and begins with a story or illustration that centers on that particular subject. The intent was to reference something that the reader could relate to and see how the prophet addresses that matter. Of course, not every single detail of the prophet's message is included due to the constraints of time, etc.

My hope is that the readers of this book will come to know God better and to have a relationship with him. They will see that in spite of people's imperfections, our God is perfect and faithful toward us. The minor prophets challenge us to live faithfully for God.

To the extent I have been able to evoke this kind of response from my readers, I give all glory and honor to God.

Chapter 12

Questions That Demand Answers

Malachi 1:1–5

Asking questions is part and parcel of being human. Children begin asking questions at a young age and sometimes those questions cause the person being asked to blush. Sometimes the questions are unexpected and the nature of the blushing is that of embarrassment. Maybe the most provocative question they ask is where they came from. Even children in the church ask some challenging and probing questions that are not easily answered. It is not unusual for church leaders to be caught off-guard, and the most they can do is offer an incoherent response. If they become really frustrated by the questions, they direct the child to ask someone else the questions!

Adults are no exception as we also ask a lot of questions. Generally, questions are asked to obtain information. If the question is too personal of the one being asked, the response may be “none of your business!” That simply means that person is not obligated to respond.

Silence in response to questions is a constitutional right in a court of law. A person on trial could plead the fifth amendment to remain silent and not run the risk of incriminating themselves by responding to questions from the prosecutor.

The nature of Malachi’s writings is that of a series of questions posed by God to His people. His status as the people’s God meant that they had to respond to His line of questioning. The book of Malachi is the twelfth of the minor prophets and final book in the Old Testament. As with some of the other minor prophets, we know very little about this prophet. We are given no family names, no tribal information, no place of origin, and no date or king by which we may assign an exact historical date.

What we do know is that he faced some of the same social and religious concerns as that experienced by Haggai and Zechariah. These included a corrupt priesthood, interfaith marriage, and social injustices. These problems plagued the Jews from the time of their return from Babylonian exile. This prophet’s message to these people would be God’s last revelation to them for some four hundred years. This lengthy silence, which is called the intertestamental time, would be broken by John the Baptist with his announcement of the presence of the long-awaited Messiah. John said of Him that he was unworthy to untie His shoes.

Like all the other prophets who preceded him, Malachi was called by God to be His spokesman to the people because of God’s displeasure with them. Here are the questions God posed to them. In the first instance, He posed a question of love; secondly, a question of honor; and in the third instance, He posed a question of faithfulness. In our conclusion, we will see Him posing a question of robbery.

Consider in the first instance, a question of love. At the very outset of Malachi’s writings, God declared His love for His people (chapter 1 verse 2). Even though He would have some harsh things to say against them, at the outset, He affirmed His love for them. While we assume such a declaration would have been embraced and cherished by these people, that was not the case. The people of Jerusalem were in no mood to take God at His Word and immediately respond by questioning God, “In what way have you loved us?”

What a case of spiritual amnesia shown by these people of God. They seemed to have forgotten God’s covenant with their patriarch, Abraham, and God’s fulfillment of what He had promised. He promised them land that He would give them even though they would have to take it by subduing the people already there. In time, Joshua led them in the conquest of this land. Furthermore, God promised their descendants that He would make a great nation out of them. This was fulfilled with the establishment of the dynasty of King David from whose seed the Savior of the world was birthed. God furthermore promised them blessings and that they would be a blessing to all the nations of the world. Part of this blessing anticipated the forgiveness of sin and the promise of salvation.

What nerve now for these Jews to be questioning God’s love for them. Had they forgotten that it was God who effected their deliverance after four hundred years of captivity in Egypt? Had they forgotten that it was God who led them in their wilderness march, miraculously feeding and sustaining them? It was God who had fought their battles and protected them from their enemies. Now, through the prophet Malachi, God was telling them that He had not changed. He still loved them unconditionally despite their persistent faithlessness.

Our challenge today, as the people of God, is to never forget God’s love for us. There are dozens of verses in Scripture that affirm this truth. In fact, God’s very nature and essence is described as love. God’s love for us is evidenced by His creation of ourselves, His preservation and sustenance of ourselves, providing daily for our needs. Most of all, God’s love for us is evidenced by the sending of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Everyone is given the promise that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life.

Now Malachi patiently defends God and His love for His people. He points out the favor God showed the descendants of Jacob compared to the descendants of Esau. While God declared love for Jacob’s side of family, Esau’s side, the Edomites, eventually faced destruction. If the people would only open their eyes, it would be obvious to them that they were truly loved by God.

In the second instance, consider now a question of honor. In verse 6, God asked His people where His honor was if indeed He was their God. He particularly took issue with the priests who were despising His name. Of course, they played the fool in asking the question how because they very well knew what they had done to offend Him. They dared to offer, as sacrifice in the worship, animals that had blemishes in defiance of the Mosaic Law. While it was the worshipers who brought these flawed animals to sacrifice, it was the priests who lowered the standards in accepting them.

The priests had dishonored God by failing to give glory to His name. Their continuing to persist in such neglect promised to bring curses upon them. As priests, it was their responsibility to make sure that the people were led in giving worship to God that was acceptable and pleasing to Him. Failing to do so they dishonored God.

Our challenge now is to not make the same mistake. Our challenge is not to do anything, especially in worship, that brings dishonor to God. Conversely, we are to do all that we can to honor Him, to tangibly demonstrate how much we love and value Him.

Scripture gives different ways in which God is honored. He is honored when we engage in stewardship using our time and talents in His service. He is honored when we strive for sexual purity, remembering that our physical bodies are His temple. He is honored when we give financially for the furtherance of His kingdom on this earth. Solomon commanded the people of his day to honor God with their wealth and with the first fruits of all their produce (Proverbs 3:9). God is honored when we live lives devoted to Him, living for Him and even dying for Him if necessary.

God is honored when our hearts are bent toward Him, when we delight in Him, seek Him in everything we do. He is honored when we make choices that reflect Him occupying the throne of our hearts. May we be convicted to honor Him by obeying Him, loving Him, trusting Him, and walking in His ways. Scripture commands that we give honor to whom honor is due. Is anyone else more fitting to be honored than God? Is there any other who is the creator of the heavens and the earth? Who else is the preserver and sustainer of our lives? Who else gives good and perfect gifts? Why not then give Him the honor He rightfully deserves?

In the third instance, let us consider the question of faithfulness. In chapter 2 verse 10, Malachi raised the question: “Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?” Here he was standing shoulder to shoulder with the husbands of Judah and pleads with them to act faithfully to their spouses.

Marriage has been instituted by God all the way back to the days of creation and the Garden of Eden. God performed the first wedding ceremony in presenting to Adam the woman who He had formed from Adam’s rib. Then married, they were instructed to be fruitful and to multiply.

God loves this institution—marriage. He seeks to protect it at all times as a holy institution. Sadly, the people of Malachi’s day were introducing unholy elements into this sacred institution. His people were intermarrying women who worshiped other deities. Additionally, this sacred institution was being treated with casual contempt as divorce rates skyrocketed. The husbands were faithless to their wives. Couples were betraying the spiritual union God created and intended for marriage.

As a result of these unfaithful marital bonds, God rejected the people’s offering of sacrifices, even the animals that were not unblemished in any way. While the people wept and cried over this rejection, they failed to understand that they were the cause behind this rejection.

In this day where marriage is made fun of by late night comedians and where over half of marriages end in divorce, our challenge is to exercise fidelity in our marriages. Our challenge is to honor our vow to be faithful unto death. Yes, we live in a fallen world, and Satan is running amok in it. Scripture says that he is the prince of the air. One of his weapons he uses against us is temptation. He entices us to covet someone other than our legal spouse. We need to honestly and sincerely seek the intervention of the Holy Spirit. We need Him to convict us that God is holding us accountable with what we do in and with our marriages.

The people then were being judged by God through the messages of Malachi. For them, the marital vows were no longer a big deal; they trivialized them. They put their own selfish desires above what God required of them. Hence, they were questioned about their actions.

Scripture admonishes us to be careful how we stand, lest we fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). This means that even in our marriages, we need to do all that we can to nurture it, to avoid taking each other for granted. We need to cultivate an attitude of gratefulness for the spouse we do have, see them as God’s gift to us. If by chance there develops a breach in our marital covenant, where there is sincere remorse and repentance, God’s grace is able to make that union seem new again.

In conclusion, we consider the fourth and final question, a question of robbery. In response to the Jews’ rebellion against God and their lawlessness, God offers them the invitation to return to Him with the promise that He will return t...

Table of contents

• An Unholy Matrimony
• Living after Loss
• Do the Right Thing
• Thank God He Always Remembers
• The Reluctant Prophet
• A Case of Bad Government
• When God Has Had Enough
• The Triumph of Faith
• Reaping What You Sow
• Finish What You Start
• Living Faithfully in Bleak Times
• Questions That Demand Answers