I bounced around on this one trying to decide what verse to go with (typical) especially with the covenant with Levi and its rewards and also with the verses on sanctity of marriage, but finally decided on this one:
You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord , and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?" (Malachi 2:17 ESV)
I think this one is especially convicting as it talks of how he is "wearied" by our spreading a false understanding of him, and the double standards that we use when sometimes we beg for him to be merciful and others we want him to bring justice to other sinners. And how we cannot just rest in him and be in awe of his plan, but rather try to tell him how things should be like we know better than him. I think that a greater knowledge and understanding of God would help us through these times rather than get angry at him because there will be suffering and struggle, but he will bring justice, not as we see fit, but as he sees fit in the end.
You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
ReplyDelete(Malachi 2:17 ESV)
This particular passage refers to people who have turned to other God's and forsaken God's commandments. They essentially deny what is good by turning from Him. How often do we misrepresent God and what he stands for? How often do we condone what is not good? God commands us to "be excellent at what is good" (Romans 6:19). What in our lives do we condone that is not good? What do we focus our time on that is not good?
How about some TV shows? Does the humor of a show make it acceptable if it outright promotes sin, is crude, and/or talks contrary to God's message? We should focus on what is good. Not on garbage like VH1's Rock of Love Tour with Brett Michaels where all the women are hilariously crazy and are trying to win his heart (even though it is fun to laugh at them). Maybe we should cut back on some of these things. I know I need to avoid some shows because they encourage the sin in my life.
-to other gods*
DeleteToday's passage is from Matthew 7: 12-14
ReplyDelete["So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."]
The Golden Rule. Probably one of the most overly-quoted verses in the bible but it's true meaning can often be misconstrued by human errors. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you does not mean let someone do whatever they want whenever they want because that's what you'd like them to let you do. In an age with a do-it-if-it-feels-good mind set (as long as it doesn't hurt anyone) I think that people misconstrue treating someone with love by just letting them be and not judging them. We today are so afraid about being judgmental (and therefore "evil people who are close-minded and bigoted") that we stop ourselves and let that person damage themselves even more. I'm not advocating for going into a fury and elevating ourselves pridefully above sinful people. But we must treat others with love by letting them know that their sinful ways are getting in the way of coming closer to the greatest love in the universe.
The other 2/3s of the passage are a warning. The gates to life are narrow but the gates to destruction are wide. It is easy to go down the path of destruction but going up the path to life is an uphill battle because of the pull and attractive-nature from the life of destruction. By following the golden rule the correct way, we can help each other through the narrow gate, just as Jesus helped each one of us. And maybe then, we can keep God from getting wearied.
"My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
ReplyDelete“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.
Malachi 2: 5-8
I think that Levi's covenant can be seen as analogous to the gospel we know today. God made a covenant with Levi. In it he promised Levi life and peace. It says that this covenant called for reverence from Levi. In the same way, God has promised us Salvation. Covenants are essentially one way. They are a promise to fulfill a certain action. Likewise, we know that, because our salvation is granted in the new covenant from God, we did not earn it. It was a grace freely given. But like Levi, who was called to reverence by his Covenant with God, we too show revere and love God.
Malachi says that Levi walked in peace and uprightness and turned others away from sin. This great gift that God gave him caused him to live in peace and uprightness, and to help others do the same.
Does our knowledge of God's grace cause us to do the same? Or are we like the crowd that Malachi was addressing, who allowed people to stumble, supported bad teaching, showed partiality, and acted unjustly and cried out asking where was the God of Justice?
"My covenant with him was the life and peace which I gave him, and the fear he had for me, standing in awe of my name. 6c Reliable instruction was in his mouth, no perversity was found upon his lips; He walked with me in integrity and uprightness, and turned many away from evil. 7d For a priest’s lips preserve knowledge, and instruction is to be sought from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts."
ReplyDeleteMalachi 2: 5-7
There is a lot to think about and pray about in this passage, but I think it is important to focus on what God finds good and it can surely be said that he found his covenant with levi good.
One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is fear of The Lord. This is not irrational or unjust fear, but instead filial fear like we might have of our earthly parents; a reverence. All of the descriptive words used for Levi are words I want used for me. God will always return our love for him 1000 fold, but we are still weary of giving God our all...
When have any of us spent time with God or been filled with the Holy Spirit and regretted it? Yet we still doubt God's plan for us...
I pray that our reverence and awe for The Lord may grow every day and that we may seek the life and peace that God promises in return.
I really like what Marcus has posted. We always think we are better, holier than non-believes because we go to church and believe in Christ. This is really convicting to me because I certainly had time when I thought "why isn't God doing anything? Why isn't God showing justice?" But the fact is we don't understand how God works and what His justice is. We complain that sinners are not punished but the fact is God loves everyone and He works in a mysterious way to bring everyone back to him and mend the relationship that was broken. Its HIs love and mercy that saved us who were the same as non-believes before Christ paid for our sin. We cannot define what justice is in our own terms but should define it in God's eyes and terms. I thought this verse is really great because I just came back from joint bible study tonight where we talked about what we as physicians base our decisions and justice in terms of medicine (how should we provide medical care to patients or what should we base our decision on, etc..) This applies to that discussion very well because, nowadays, they teach us individualism and base our decisions on our knowledge and conscience. But, as followers of Christ, we are taught to base our decisions, life, and actions on God's words, the only real Truth. I thought this was very appropriate for me and really liked it.
ReplyDelete*on the side note, please pray for my family. My uncle's father passed away this morning. My uncle, aunt, and cousin are flying to Chicago tomorrow for his funeral and such. So please pray that everything goes smoothly and that God would provide strength, encouragement, and healing to my uncle's family and relatives. Thanks!
Hmmmmm.....
ReplyDeleteI'm at a loss on what to talk about in this chapter, as most have already talked a great deal about the covenant and I really don't need to be saying anything on marriage/divorce. I do have one observation and it stemmed from a comment Bryan made. He mentioned how whenever we spend time with the God, we never regret it, then how come we are so reluctant to do so. In a related topic, it's pretty evident we all know what our flaws, faults, and sins are, moreover, we know what we should do to change them and better ourselves. We have knowledge of the gospel, we know of Gods love and grace that was so freely given to us. We know all these things yet find ourselves not changing much. I can't speak for everyone but at least for myself, I see it as being scared of what you might find out. We know spending time with God is great but I personally, don't want to realize that my calling is to be a veterinarian, or a priest, or go to Africa to help the third world kids. I like the ideas of my life that I have set for myself, it's comfortable, and God is known to be able to put you outside your comfort zone. Likewise with sins and flaws, some of us are known based on those flaws, it has become part of our identity as others see us, and we are comfortable with that. Without them we lose the part of ourselves that was tied to that characteristic, and are left with a void. Naturally this void will be filled with whatever God prescribed for us to make use better, but its that initial discomfort that keeps us form going over the barrier. We know Gods plan is best, but its that initial fear that keeps us where we are, and have been for a while. ... I haven't completely though about everything that the above statements imply but that is my working theory for now; might need some polishing though....
That had very little to do with the chapter but its what the chapter eventually led me to think so it counts in my opinion. Just been thinking a lot lately.
-Sent from my iPad
Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it
ReplyDeleteMalachi 2:3
I think it's fair to say that God isn't very happy; the priests have failed to uphold their end of the covenant by offering low quality sacrifices, acting as if they could get away with not giving their best to God. Unfortunately for the priests, God notices this and dishes out a very graphic (but fitting) punishment: He promises to take all the crappy offerings He's been given and rain down a really big crap storm on the future of Israel. After reading this, it occurred to me that the whole situation didn't seem very fair. The priests should certainly be held responsible for their actions, but why should their unborn descendants pay the price as well? As I pondered that, another thought occurred to me: the actions of my parents certainly had a huge impact on my becoming a Christian. Had I been raised in a Godless house I may never have come to know Christ. But what right do I even have to know Christ? The fact that He came and died for my sins seems a lot less just than the situation I read about in chapter 2. Whether or not it seems fair by my worldly standards, the fact is that our actions can have extremely important implications on the lives (and afterlives) of our descendants. Had my parents not shared and fostered a love for Jesus in my heart, my entire life may well have been a giant crap storm. I hope that I conduct my life in such a way with God that I don't bring rebuke to my offspring or dung on my face.
...Well I had something written out but when I tried to post it it got deleted because I was logged into the wrong gmail or something...
ReplyDeleteAnyway this is the really condensed version, but Malachi 2: 8-9 caused my thoughts to make a couple of jumps and I ended up writing about how "turning aside from the way" is not only a struggle that we deal with on a day to day basis, but you can also cause "many to stumble" by turning aside, and you need to be careful to remain a light of the Lord so as not to lead others astray.
Again, sorry for the short version, but I promise I'll have something better tomorrow.
I'll admit that I was also rather convicted by this chapter. Contrasting Levi with the priests of Malachi's time, I am most struck by the purity of the relationship between Levi and God. Levi was human, and therefore bound to have his flaws, but he pursued God in such a way that made him a true example for the ages.
ReplyDeleteI see one big reason why Levi was so different than the corrupt priests: he never forgot that he was serving the "Lord of hosts." In keeping his focus on God, he lived out 1 Cor 10:31. "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." The reminder of God's power and majesty should keep us always in our place, and eager to serve Him. Levi got this, which is why God honored him.
The priests, I would argue, were not really interested in serving God. They were in it for themselves. They were looking to pinch pennies and cut corners that would make their lives easier. Everything about this passage leads me to believe that the priests had forgotten who it was that they served, and why God deserves our praise. They had lost their fear of the Lord.
So here comes the humbling part. I was convicted because this reminded me of how great God is and how He deserves all of my attention. Life is a busy place, and the devil thrives on little things that cause me to divert my attention from where it should be. It is easy to go the way of the corrupt priests, which makes my actions profane before a perfect God. Fortunately, salvation is about the grace we have received, and not getting what we truly deserve.