1 Corinthians 4-7

 

1 Corinthians 4

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Paul now turns to explaining his personal position on how he deals with petty politics and worship of human leaders. Paul focuses entirely on how he is judged by the Lord. Even if his conscience is clear, that doesn’t mean he is innocent. That determination will be made by Jesus on judgment day. He will expose the motives of the heart. Paul wants to be judged as faithful in stewarding what the Lord has given him. 

This is a corollary risk for teachers, besides the issues discussed in earlier chapters about believers worshipping human teachers. The risk is that they will receive the worship and spoken praise of the people and allow their ego to be puffed up. Every person, regardless of how devoted to the Lord they are, is still potentially vulnerable to temptation to sin. For many it is sexual sin, but pride, avarice, wrath, envy, gluttony, sloth are all out there as well, just not as dramatic. 

1 Corinthians 4:6-8 Paul makes an obscure reference to a saying ‘do not go beyond what is written’. This does not appear to be a direct quote, either from the Old Testament or from Jesus, but reflects a conservative principle regarding exegesis. Many things are spoken by various teachers in expounding on Scripture, but the teachers’ words do not have the authority of the written word. Paul’s point seems to be that God blesses different people in different ways as He deems best. Of Paul’s readers, those who are blessed in certain ways (financially, relationally, spiritual gifts) are still the recipient of these blessings by God’s grace. The should not lord it over others, but in humility receive what God has given.

1 Corinthians 4:9-13 In a rebuke to prosperity teachers, Paul describes the life of an apostle. They are viewed as  garbage, the scum of the earth by the world, because of weakness, dishonor, poverty, homelessness, hard labor, and exhibiting a gentle and forgiving spirit. 

1 Corinthians 4:14-17 Paul does not intend to shame them for their worldly political issues, but does want to warn them that the purpose of church leaders, be they any of the roles (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc.), is to encourage followers of Christ to live like and become like Jesus. In Paul’s case, he encourages them to live humbly, just as he does, and to respects him as a spiritual father. Paul’s life is based on trust in God, not boasting of his own achievements. In another letter he details some of his life experiences. (2 Corinthians 11:22-33) When he says to imitate him, he is encouraging humility.

1 Corinthians 4:18-21 Paul says he will be coming to see them soon in person. Should they fear him? Yes and no. They need not fear his personality because he is humble, not domineering. But they do need to fear God because His kingdom has spiritual power. Paul could bring human discipline, but he is here warning them that the true power of God’s kingdom is found in love and a gentle spirit. If they reject these attributes, they will not have the power of God working in their lives. 

1 Corinthians 5

1 Corinthians 5:1 Even pagans have a sense of right and wrong, so Paul is amazed that the Corinthian Christians think that the grace of God would tolerate this type of gross sin. It does not say the man is having sex with his mother, so we can infer it must be his stepmother. It is still incest. (Leviticus 18:8)

1 Corinthians 5:2-5 Paul now deals with the issue of judging others versus God’s grace. The point is that Jesus did not come to shed His blood so that we could live in sin and He will forgive us. He came to deliver us from sin. Paul’s judgment is that this man is not receiving God’s grace, but using “cheap grace” as license to continue to sin brazenly. And the body of believers apparently are allowing this. They should be mourning the lost state of his soul, as being spiritually dead. Paul has already made a judgment that this cannot continue, for the sake of the man in question. So this man is to be handed over to Satan, to experience consequences of his actions, so that he will repent and be saved from ultimate judgment. This should be a warning to all believers about the practice of license. Jesus also addressed dealing with sin in the church, with an additional proviso about how the issue is to be handled. (Matthew 18:15-17)

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 The sacrament of the Lord’s supper is discussed later. (1 Corinthians 11:27-30) In this passage, the feast of unleavened bread and the Passover lamb are used to instruct the church. The feast of unleavened bread symbolizes living life free of sin. (Deuteronomy 16:3-4) It takes a very small amount of yeast to cause the entire lump of dough to rise. (Matthew 16:6) To remain an unleavened loaf of bread, they must eliminate malice and wickedness, and live out sincerity and truth. They will mourn the disfellowshipping (excommunication) of this brother, but cannot allow him to continue in wickedness unchecked. To sincerely care for him, they must keep with the truth and confront sin.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 Paul here lays out the standards of behavior for believers. It sounds a lot like the legalism of the Pharisees - that they must expel from the church anyone who is  sexually immoral, an idolator, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a swindler. To clarify this further, that is the way of the world, but the church members are to be a light and an example to the world of how God intends human society. They can show grace to unbelievers because those outside of Christ don’t know any better, but that grace includes demonstrating a life lived apart from worldly ways. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explicitly warned against passing judgment on others. (Matthew 7:1-2) Paul asked the Romans who they were to pass judgment on each other. (Romans 14:10) So what is the difference here? The issue is perhaps one of degree - brazen wickedness vs. small lapses, e.g., the difference between a capital offense and a misdemeanor in modern parlance. But probably the real problem is the attitude of using the doctrine of grace as a cover for what is really rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We hear the words of Jesus - but do we hearken to them? That is the difference. Will Jesus say to us “I never knew you” on judgment day? (Matthew 7:23) The practice of lawlessness must be confronted with a warning of Truth and eternal outcomes.

1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6:1-6 Paul now turns to the question of resolving disputes between believers in court. In a spirit of “The Peoples’ Court”, he says that people with in the church have the good sense to judge these kinds of cases, far more so than the world’s courts, because God has chosen them to one day judge angels. Why do they ask for a decision by people who don’t know God and His ways, who are not in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, and are unsaved?

1 Corinthians 6:7-11 Two points are intermingled here. The first is that if they have lawsuits against each other, they have already failed. Their love for the Lord, and for each other, should lead them to be considerate and generous, thoughtful in concern for others. If they cheat another believer, they have transgressed, and if one is cheated, he should prefer being wronged to going to unbelievers for redress. They should mourn the loss of the soul of the person who cheated them. The second is that although people attend church and talk the good talk, if they sin grossly, as discussed in the previous chapter, they will not inherit (attain entry to) God’s kingdom. This list (6:9-10) is not complete, nor the same as the previous list (5:11), but the principle is the same. The believers were formerly these kinds of people, but by turning their lives over to Jesus and being saved, they were washed and set apart unto the Lord.

1 Corinthians 6:12-17 The right to do anything seems embedded in our culture. But this phrase is deceitful - it depends on whose viewpoint this right is being seen from. Even the bill of rights in our constitution does not give people the right to murder or steal or assault another person or lie in court. Whose eyes are we talking about? As believers, we have given Jesus the position of running our lives, and He tells us many things to not do, to avoid ruining our lives or others’. And we aren’t free from cause and effect - we can’t run out in heavy traffic with a right to safety if we jump in front of a car. Ah, but when it comes to sexuality, our society claims an unlimited right to do anything, at least between consenting adults. 

Paul explains the basis for God’s specific set of rules. God created male and female and said it was very good. He said that Adam and Eve would be joined together and become one flesh. (Genesis 2:23-24) Therefore, the body was created for the Lord. But this is only a partial fulfillment of the purpose of the body. It is a type, a picture, of the relationship of Christ to the church.  (Ruth;  Psalm 45; Song of Songs; Isaiah 61:10; Jeremiah 3; Hosea 1:2-11; Matthew 22:1-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; Revelation 21:2,9-10) Hence, defiling ourselves with sexual immorality  (as with a prostitute) is defiling the body that God gave us to be part of Christ. If we are one with Christ, we cannot also be one with an immoral sexual partner. 

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Flee sexual immorality! Sexual sins are internalized and we damage ourselves with them. Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. We damage ourselves by forcing Him to leave, if we do not respond to His prompting; we deaden our spirit so that we no longer hear Him. So we must discipline our bodies in this arena.

1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 7:1-7 In the spirit of Revelation 21:2, Paul lays out guidelines for the sexual relationship within marriage. This parallels his instructions to the Ephesians, focusing here on the core element of sexuality. (Ephesians 5:21-33) This is an exposition of the antidote to the sexual immorality that he warned against in the previous chapter. It is to be a mutually joyful giving of pleasure to one another, that goes beyond the mere physical realm. This is the basis of married love, because the consummation is not to be just physical, but mental and spiritual. It is knowing that we are known and loved by another, whose love leads them to vulnerability in ultimate giving. This is the picture of Christ’s love for the church. Paul gives an additional caveat to balance the practice of temporary abstention for the purpose of prayer with the physical need. Since we live in physical bodies, this need for physical pleasure and affirmation must not be cancelled but fulfilled in a holy way, at least as long as we are in this body. We do not have that ultimate spiritual consummation of which married sexual love is a picture - the fullness of God’s intense love for us - which we will receive on judgment day.

1 Corinthians 7:8-9 Instructions to the unmarried seem almost contrary to the previous section, in saying that it is good to remain unmarried. How is that consistent with the picture of the love Christ has for the church? But in context, it seems like Paul is saying that the unmarried who do not sin sexually are loved by God; but if their fleshly desires are too strong to control, they should marry. 

1 Corinthians 7:10-16 Divorce is a legal matter, related to sexuality, but under different principles. A believer married to an unbeliever is still married. And there is hope that the unbelieving spouse will turn to Christ through seeing His love lived out in front of them. If there are children, they are better influenced to accept Christ by seeing an example of His life and love daily in their presence. Jesus went further in the Sermon on the Mount, in saying that a man who divorces his wife forces her to commit adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32) 

1 Corinthians 7:17-24 Paul here makes a rather odd turn, in talking about continuing vs. changing the status of our earthly life when we turn to Christ. He contrasts circumcision and slavery with nuanced instructions. 

• Circumcision is nothing. (Romans 12:25-29) Elsewhere, he didn’t say this, but that it represents a cutting away of the old life. (Colossians 2:11) The important point, which he repeated in several of his letters, is that gentiles don’t need to be circumcised to be saved, because Jesus has saved them with a power far greater than this symbol of the old covenant. 
• Slavery is a more contentious topic. The important point is that Paul is not saying that human slavery is good or even acceptable, but that to be a slave to Christ means to be responsible to Him for what we do. It took hundreds of years and a painful and costly civil war to set right the misinterpretation of scripture that justified chattel slavery in this country. (Approximately 2 1/2% of the population died. If that happened today, it would be roughly 8.5 million deaths.) What is the eternal cost of us not doing what Jesus tells us to?

1 Corinthians 7:25-35 Returning to the topic of getting married, Paul now offers more perspective on the practical implications of being married. Getting married and consummating marriage is not a sin, but there are challenges that come with this. A married person must balance concern about pleasing their spouse with concern about pleasing the Lord. An unmarried person does not have this particular challenge, so Paul believes that is better. Ultimately, this world will pass away, and only what is eternal, i.e., what is done for the Lord, will endure. He recommends undivided devotion to the Lord, but recognizes that few are called and empowered to live the cloistered life. Marriage brings the practical challenges of living together within a shared life in the daily matters of life. Either path will bring challenges that will need to be faced in God-honoring responses and behaviors.

1 Corinthians 7:36-38 The choice is between two things that are good, but one is better. Honorably marrying a virgin to whom one is engaged is good. Remaining single before the Lord is better. But if one cannot live the single life honorably, it is better to marry than to live dishonorably. This final piece of advice offers practical implementation for those who struggle with Jesus’ warning in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:27-30) Lusting after a woman is committing adultery (Exodus 20:14) in one’s heart. But one cannot commit adultery with one’s wife, by definition. This does not mean that there are not many other issues about how one is to treat one’s wife, which is what Paul spent a lot of words describing, here and elsewhere. (Ephesians 5:25-33) 

1 Corinthians 7:39-40 A brief recommendation for widows. They are free to remarry but, in the same theme as above, if they are able, remaining single before the Lord is better. 

1 Corinthians 1-3

 

1 Corinthians 1

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Sanctified is past tense, but called to be a holy people implies an ongoing activity.  Or perhaps (since this is the same Greek root word, hagios, with the “to be” inferred) this is simply say that they were sanctified therefore they are called holy people. Regardless of this linguistic nit, Paul calls for both grace and peace from the Father and from Jesus for them. Is this merely a polite greeting, or an invocation of divine blessing? Can we infer that a holy life leads to peace with God, that they are indivisibly the same thing?

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 Paul thanks God with Eucharistic (Strong’s g2168) worship because of His grace through Christ in blessing the Corinthians.  They are focused on spiritual gifts, which is the primary topic of this letter, but God is faithful to keep them in fellowship, constant companionship, with Jesus to keep them until they meet Him face to face. That is God’s grace  - that even if we get focused on some specific aspect of the faith, He keeps our priorities straight.

1 Corinthians 1:10-17 The primary focus of Paul in this letter is that the Corinthians focus on Jesus and not on different aspects of the faith. As long as they prioritize the phase of faith they are in, they are spiritual infants. It is not that Paul is saying these things are not to be part of the faith, only to recognize that they are part, not the whole. Jesus is the whole center. Ecumenism is based on Christ alone, hence one of Satan’s strategies is to put the aspects of the faith ahead of Jesus Himself as the focus. Focusing on individuals led them, or on theological points, or on religious practices, or on the exercise of spiritual gifts to learn and grow is not to be allowed to give these things priority over Jesus. One aspect of this challenge is that if our individual faith is based on the revelation we receive from Christ, and every person’s revelation is unique to him or her, how do we reconcile differences between us? 

This challenge is similar to the question of how we reconcile personal experience or personal revelation of God with the canon of Scripture and the logical understanding of it (theology). The answer Paul will give is synergy - each works with the other to create an outcome that is greater than the sum of the parts. The proclaiming of the good news about Jesus works together with the ritual of water baptism to bring spiritual rebirth and life to us. An adult human is more than the ova and sperm joined together - he or she is the result of decades of growth and development.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Paul now elaborates on this last question from a slightly different perspective. How do we reconcile earthly wisdom with divine revelation? In quoting Isaiah 29:14, he invokes the history of God speaking to Ariel, David’s city, and its people, the woes that will come on them because they are neglecting God’s revealed truth to follow human reasoning to dark and evil outcomes. The crucifixion of Jesus for sins demonstrates the transcendence of supernatural, eternal power over human and earthly wisdom. Human science is no more able to save people from sin and its consequences than human wisdom (psychology, philosophy) because the eternal continuum of which our space-time universe is a tiny subset has dimensions and laws that are incomprehensible to us. 

It might be like trying to explain how GPS works for navigation to a first century Greek who is only acquainted with maps drawn on parchment. The important point is that when GPS gets us to our destination, it is logical to use it, even though we don’t understand how satellites tens of thousands of kilometers away can help us know which road to turn on. The gospel saves us from our sins when we receive Jesus and rely on Him, even though the how of that salvation is incomprehensible to us. 

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Paul closes this chapter with a “therefore”. God sovereignly chose the foolish, weak, and lowly of the world to shame the wise, strong, and high-ranking of this world. He did this through Christ, who is to be our all-in-all. Therefore we should boast in the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:24) The world will reap the fruit of the sin they have sowed, and we and they can lament those outcomes, but it is the Lord we should respect, honor, and worship.

1 Corinthians 2

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 God’s power is in Jesus, not in His gifts. They are manifestations of the Presence of Jesus. Jesus came and died because it was the only way to heed and receive God’s transcendent wisdom. Even so, do we receive Him?

1 Corinthians 2:6-10 Paul’s focus is on the wisdom in God’s transcendent mystery - the incarnation and the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Isaiah’s plea was for God to come down, even though His people still sin. (Isaiah 64:4) This was fulfilled in Jesus. The incomprehensible love of God was revealed as fulfilled in Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:11-16 The Holy Spirit freely reveals God’s truth, not human theology. Not that theology is bad, but humans make mistakes. The Holy Spirit explains it to us. Isaiah’s plea for the Messiah to come was thus fulfilled. (Isaiah 40:13) The Holy Spirit reveals the mind of Christ to us. 

1 Corinthians 3

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 The metaphor of milk vs. solid food was also used in the epistle to the Hebrews, the context  there being having senses trained to discern good and evil. In describing solid food, the text that follows refers to Abraham’s offering of Isaac, and Abraham’s interaction with Melchizedek, both specifically pointing to Jesus’ roles.  He was the offering for our sin, and He is the great high priest of a new covenant. (Hebrews 5:12-14) Here, Paul continues/repeats his concern about following human leaders. This is the way the world works, but in God’s kingdom, we follow Him, not His workers. In the modern day we might replace the names of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas (Peter) with the Pope, Martin Luther, Greg Laurie, or Robert Barron. All faithfully serving God, but they are men, not God. The church of God is not like the political governance of human nations, because each believer has direct connection to Jesus. Our over-arching loyalty is to Him. The fact that we need teachers to help us understand what He is saying and doing does not mean that we are devoted to these teachers, only that we listen to and learn from them.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 The work of God in our lives is built like a building (as a metaphor). The foundation that is laid is Jesus. Nothing else. What He has done in our lives, and our reception of it. Just as a physical building must have a firm foundation, Jesus has through both His atoning sacrifice, and His direct intervention in our lives, built a firm foundation for our eternal life. And then the building above the foundation, the part people see, is either built of enduring materials, or of perishable materials. By the light of day we can see what a building looks like - well-built or flimsy, expensive or cheap, but the real unveiling of the building’s quality will be on the Day of Judgment. Fire destroys wood, hay, and straw. The foundation remains, because it was laid by Jesus, but the structure survives and the builder is rewarded, only if built of enduring materials. These materials are not allegiance to a human leader, but the work of Christ in our life.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Paul goes further, in explaining that this building he is talking about is God’s temple, that the Holy Spirit dwells in. (See also 6:19) The church, the fellowship of those who have received Jesus into their lives, is God’s holy and sacred temple. Treat it with respect! There are consequences for damaging or destroying God’s temple. 

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 The “wisdom” of the world leads people to political factions, and following individuals amounts to idolatry. This is foolishness in God’s eyes, and in His kingdom. One of Job’s comforters correctly pointed out that God catches the wise in their own craftiness. (Job 5:13) As the psalmist waxes eloquent about God’s judgment on the nations, he simply says that the Lord knows the futility of the thoughts of the “wise”. (Psalm 94:11) The problem is ultimately not the leaders (Paul, Apollos, Peter), but people’s view of the leaders’ position and role. Ultimately, everything good that is ours is from Jesus as a gift, not something we receive by human endeavor or wisdom.

Malachi - God’s Messenger

 

Malachi 1

Malachi 1:1 The word of the Lord through His messenger. God has lots of messengers. Our challenge is to discern true from fake messengers, to get His message for us, not for someone else, unless He calls us to give a specific message to someone. But we are always called to share the good news about Jesus.

Malachi 1:2-5 Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau? Going back to their young adulthood, Esau despised his birthright as the firstborn son of Isaac, and sold it for a bowl of stew. (Genesis 25:32-34) This was long before Isaac deceived Jacob to receive the blessing Jacob intended for Esau. (Genesis 27) This blessing was not just a material inheritance. Jacob recognized and wanted the blessing of God on his life. He later became rich through his own labor, not inheritance of wealth. But it was wanting God’s spiritual blessing that caused the Lord to love him. Paul later quoted these verses (Malachi 1:2-3) in the context of talking about God’s sovereign choices, not based on human considerations (such as birth order) but on loving those who seek Him and His will.  (Romans 9:13)

When we see the turbulence in our lives, it is hard to figure out how to reconcile God’s sovereignty with our free will amid all the chaos. There is a metaphor in fluid mechanics that I think helps us grasp this. Laminar fluid flow is predictable based on initial conditions and boundary conditions. The equations that apply for low Reynolds numbers have deterministic solutions. Turbulent flow, which occurs for high Reynolds’s numbers, is not predictable in this sense. The solutions are not stable, so that a microscopic difference in the initial conditions can grow into a downstream result that is totally different on a macro scale. This produces, among other things, tornados and hurricanes.  But there is a caveat! The boundary conditions of a turbulent fluid flow still constrain it in total. It cannot generate energy beyond what is there. Even a nuclear weapon, whose energy release grows exponentially, eventually reaches a limit which ultimately sets its yield. Hurricanes and tornados cannot exceed magnitude 5, which has a defined upper bound on wind speed. And they pass, leaving destruction in their wake, but not to return until another storm system comes through. 

So in God’s economy, everyone has free will, to choose good or bad, obedience or disobedience. Each child is born tabula rasa, but his or her life is at first formed by their caregivers. When they reach childhood they are taught, and when they reach adolescence they question everything. As adults they choose how they will live. An evil person like Hitler or the antichrist can attempt to control the world, but in the end they will fail, although bringing great suffering to humanity. Even in eternity, it appears this dynamic plays out. The watchers, the fallen angels assigned by God to protect humanity, rebelled. But in the end, God is supreme.

Malachi 1:6-9 The priests showed contempt for God by offering the damaged animals to Him, keeping the valuable ones for themselves, in direct violation of Mosaic law. (Leviticus 1:3)  Where did they get the lame or diseased animals? From the Israelites who brought them. The priests were entitled to keep certain of the offerings brought by the people, but they were still responsible before God. The point being that we face a similar choice. Do we give God our goods grudgingly, go through religious rituals, but our hearts are elsewhere? Do we go to church to seek His blessing or His face?  

Malachi 1:10-11 God’s name is great and will be praised from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. (Psalm 113:3) 

Malachi 1:12-14 The Lord’s table has a different meaning in our day, based on the Last Supper. (Luke 22:14-20) The sacraments of the church are seen by the world as just rituals to remind us of past events, but we must be careful to respect the spiritual realities that are present.  (1 Corinthians 11:27-32) The Lord’s name is feared among the nations. (Psalms 47:2, 76:12, 96:4) We should even more respect the recognition of the reality of His shed blood, represented by and present in the communion elements, in our worship.

The pagan nations fear God because of His power, and keep their distance because of His holiness. Believers draw close to God because of His love, but we must still respect His holiness. God reconciled His holiness and His love with us through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. That is the reason we must respect His table.

Malachi 2

Malachi 2:1-9 The responsibility that comes with being a priest. This passage contrasts an example of a good priest, Levi - Jacob’s son, with the priests of Malachi’s day. The Lord blessed Levi with a covenant of peace because he reverenced Him. But the Lord put a generational curse on the priests who do not honor Him, by (spiritually speaking) spreading manure on their faces. What is the standard of behavior? The priest is the messenger (Malachi) of the Lord and should speak knowledge of Him, and live out an example of His ways - the covenant of peace with Him.

Jesus, our high priest, did this perfectly, as He was tempted as we are, but did not sin, (Hebrews 4:14-15) We should therefore draw near to Him, to break the generational curse for ourselves and our descendants.

Malachi 2:10-16 Marriage is used repeatedly in both the Old and New Testament as a parable for the relationship between The Lord and His people. In this context, Malachi identifies two specific issues where the peoples’ lives fall so far short of His standard that His name and reputation are sullied. Some of the major themes throughout the Bible that paint the picture:

• In Joshua, the Israelites rescue Rahab the harlot from a degrading pagan life, and Salmon marries her, bringing her into the ancestry of Jesus.  In Ruth, Ruth goes to Israel with her mother-in-law where Boaz marries her and rescues her from poverty and brings her into the lineage of Jesus. (Matthew 1:5)
• Psalm 45 celebrates the king’s marriage, explicitly calling out the King whose throne endures forever.
• The Song of Songs which is Solomon’s graphically portrays the love between a king and his bride. 
• Isaiah 61:10 likens God’s clothing of His people with righteousness to wedding garments.
• Jeremiah 3 likens Israel’s idolatry to adultery, as God pleads with Israel to return  to Him.
• In Hosea 1:2-11, the prophet marries a prostitute as a picture of God’s redemption of an unfaithful  people, still He does not desert them.
• Matthew 22:1-14 is a parable about the king throwing a wedding banquet for His Son, to emphasize how God views the responses of people to His invitation.
• In 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, Paul exhorts believers to flee sexual immorality because their bodies are in dwelt by the Holy Spirit.
• Ephesians 5:25-30 explicitly calls out marriage as a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church.
• Revelation 21:2 & 9-10 The New Jerusalem comes from heaven as a bride, the wife of the Lamb.

Based on God’s view of marriage as a picture of His relationship to His people, He is very unhappy with two behaviors of the people in Malachi’s time who were dishonoring their wives. Our lives should exemplify His life  in us.

Malachi 2:10-12 One example of breaking God’s covenant - marrying unbelievers. But these weren’t just women who lacked faith, these were women who worshipped false gods. (Ezra 9:1-2)  Paul concludes his instructions on marriage with the exhortation to marry another believer. (1 Corinthians 7:39-40) 

Malachi 2:13-16 Another transgression is divorce. The Lord does not mince words. He will not respond to prayers that come from a person who breaks the marriage covenant. That man who divorces the wife he married when young does violence to her spirit. This high standard is repeated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and again later. (Matthew 5:31-32, 19:1-9) Solomon had offered the joy and blessing that is available in faithfulness to the wife of one’s youth. (Proverbs 5:18) Question to contemplate - when our relationship with God is destroyed by divorce, is it because He treats us as we treated our ex-wife, or is it because we turn from Him in doing so? 

Malachi 2:17 Malachi now turns to a message that strikes directly at the doctrine of cheap grace; relying on a theology of being saved without growing in faith and obedience wearies the Lord. (Galatians 2:16; Philippians 2:12) Faith without works is dead.  (James 2:14-26)  

Malachi 3

Malachi 3:1 Since Malachi means “my messenger”, one might think this refers to a time coming soon, but subsequently it becomes clear that the messenger God is talking about is not the author of this epistle. The Lord is the messenger of the covenant, who will come to His temple. This was fulfilled by Jesus during the incarnation. (Luke 2:21-24;  Matthew 21:12-17) What will His second coming look like?

Malachi 3:2-4 Who can stand when He appears? He will refine and purify His people. He will baptize His people with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16) The refining process is described in multiple places. (See, for example, the notes on Zechariah 13:7-9.) God is going to glorify Himself by making us what He wants us to be. But we have a role - we have to respond to His work.

Malachi 3:5 The judgment to come will include the Lord testifying about seven categories of sin. (Matthew 25:31; James 1:27)

• Sorcery (Deuteronomy 18:10-24)
• Adultery (Exodus 20:14)
• Perjury  (Exodus 20:16)
• Defrauding laborers  (Leviticus 19:13)
• Oppressing widows  (Exodus 22:22; Psalm 68:5)
• Oppressing the fatherless (Exodus 22:22; Psalm 68:5) 
• Depriving immigrants of justice  (Exodus 22:21-24; Hebrews 13:2)

The root cause of sin is lack of reverence for God. It is challenging that different political groups focus on different sins and divine commands. Some focus  on personal sins of commission. Others focus on social behaviors. This plays out in politics in which some focus on things like adultery and homosexuality and such, which are personal sins that contaminate society. Others focus on treatment of the downtrodden of society - the poor, day laborers, widows and orphans, migrants. What is the role of the individual vs. government vs. NGO’s in dealing with assisting the downtrodden? It appears that God has a holistic view. However we do it or don’t do it, we are responsible.

Malachi 3:6-7 The Lord does not change because He is outside of time - He created time. He has not turned from Israel, they had turned from Him. He calls them to turn back to Him.

Malachi 3:8-12 A specific offense in an oft-quoted passage. Jesus never spoke about tithing. Modern churches seem to lack the ability to not speak about it. But, focusing on the heart, Jesus commended the poor widow who put two cents in the offering box. (Mark 12:41-44) The promise is there in Malachi, and God is as good as His word. It is, to my knowledge, the only place that God invites us to test Him. (Numbers 14:22; Psalm 95:8- 9; Matthew 22:18; Hebrews 3:9) The  true blessing is not financial but spiritual. Having peace with God, fellowship with Him, experiencing His love and enjoying His presence. These are not for sale based on paying a 10% income tax. These require a deeper commitment - it’s just that we can’t express that deep commitment if we refuse the simple, shallow steps.

Malachi 3:13-15 As a corollary, if they tithe and God doesn’t provide exactly the material blessing they expect, they whine. This is not well-received by the Lord. It is a test of faith that every believer faces, when bad things happen to good people and prayers aren’t answered. What if we tithe and aren’t financially blessed? Will we speak arrogantly against God? The challenge that God faces is to get us to have a deeper level of faith and knowledge of Him. Will we recognize God’s hand on our earthly circumstances? Jesus never sinned and He died on the cross as a criminal. Will we follow Him where He leads us?

Malachi 3:16-18 Those who feared the Lord wrote a list of those who feared and honored Him. Perhaps not the first church membership roster, but this one focused on genuine faith. 

Malachi 4

Malachi 4:1 The coming day of judgment is a common theme in Scripture. In 3:2 it was referred to as a refiner’s fire, but here it is a consuming fire, not like silver is refined, but like wastewood that is consumed. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not consumed in the fiery furnace because they were loyal to God unto death. (Daniel 3:19-27) In the parables of the weeds and of the net, Jesus warned of a day when everyone who is wicked or causes sin will be thrown into a blazing furnace. (Matthew 13:42,50) 

Malachi 4:2-3 By contrast, the sun of righteousness will rise to bring healing to those who who revere His name, and they will trample under their feet the wicked. The will frolic like calves freed from a stall. Jesus said that the righteous will shine like the sun in His Father’s kingdom. (Matthew 13:43)

Malachi 4:4 The Lord admonishes us to remember and be very careful about the law that He gave Moses on Mount Sinai. (Part of Mount Horeb - Deuteronomy 4:15, 5:2) We must remember that although the gospel transcends the law of Moses, it does not repeal it. The gospel, and the working of the Holy Spirit, enable us to live out a holy and loving life, which will ultimately bring blessing. The blessing does not come through legalistic Phariseeism, it comes through receiving Jesus and His blessing of forgiveness of and freedom from sin.

Malachi 4:5-6 Elijah was carried into heaven in a chariot of fire and wind (2 Kings 2:11-12), did not die, and the implication here is that he will return. John the Baptist is identified with Elijah, by the angel who spoke to Elizabeth (Luke 1:17). His ministry fulfills this description. (Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:2-8; Luke 3:3-18) Speaking of reconciling children and parents raises the question of why this was, is, and will be necessary. Moses commanded children to respect and honor their parents. (Exodus 20:12) Paul told children to obey their parents, and parents to nurture their children. (Ephesians 4:1-4) Moses laid out the alternative of a blessing or a curse, if people heeded God’s law or not. (Deuteronomy 11:26-29). Peter warned about accursed children. (2 Peter 2:14) In our day, adolescent questioning often leads to rebellion and rejection of basic values of righteousness, whether denying they are right, or simply rejecting them. John the Baptist did not say they needed to be convinced, he told them to experience God through a baptism of repentance. Adolescent questioning can lead to genuine encounters with God.

And this is where the Old Testament ends. Then there were centuries of silence until the Incarnation. While young people need to understand God and His ways, ultimately they need to experience His presence and respond to Him. Jesus had to come, in person, not just to teach, but to show through example and through personal interaction, and ultimately through sacrificial death, the nature and character of God, that we are invited to partake of.