He begins with (1:1) “The burden of the word of The Lord” or “Oracle” or “prophecy of the….” The same phrase comes at the beginning of the Zechariah 12:1 and several times in Isaiah. Is the word of The Lord burdensome? Is it heavy? Is it tiresome? What does burdensome mean?
In the context of the book (as in Isaiah) it would be a burden to them because these words were not very pleasant, it was likely to provoke anger and disappointment. Thus to have been given words of prophecy against your nation or friends etc. would weigh heavily, for one might not feel happy about telling it, as it is much nicer to have to say pleasant things than unpleasant.
But I want to ask you – is the word of the Lord burdensome or tiresome? It shouldn’t be because God says, “l have loved you”. He assures them (and us) of that, right from the word go. Sometimes we are like Israel, we question God’s love especially when things go wrong. The first thing we often say is “Why has God allowed this?” and the second – ‘What have I done to deserve this?”
However we must remember that if we are His, His first words to us are “l have loved you with an everlasting love” But we are often indignant that it is not our fault and we often seek to justify ourselves. The sooner we recognise our sin and failure the better, for it is only when we humble ourselves and confess our sin and failure, that God can do anything with us. It must be stressed, not all suffering is as a result of sin. Remember Job? He suffered greatly and the Bible says that he was a righteous man – we have the advantage that we can see behind the scenes, and we know the full picture, he could not. We are told that his suffering was because Satan wanted to prove that Job only trusted God because he was successful. God allowed it because He knew that Job did not only trust God on that basis. It was permitted by God, but Satan was restricted by God, he could only go so far. Job remained faithful to God despite it all; there were times when he worried but he retained his trust in God. Even his wife told him to reject God, but he did not.
God does send or allow persecution and disappointment and distress to come upon us. It is usually to increase our faith. But it often comes as a result of our disobedience. The children of Israel bear testimony to that.
Remember in King Saul’s case the Holy Spirit had left him (this was pre-Pentecost) and a distressing spirit came upon him. Little wonder, for he was bereft of the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Saul’s servants said (note that) that “God had sent an evil spirit on Saul” but that wasn’t strictly true. God couldn’t send an evil spirit because God is holy, but the words of God Himself were, that He had “sent a distressing spirit upon Saul.” It’s aim was to give him opportunity to turn back to God. Whatever our circumstances there is always hope – God’s will is that we turn to Him and if we do, He is ready to forgive and to take us back.
That is the ray of light that shines throughout God’s Word and particularly in this little book. God assured them of His love right at the beginning and promised them forgiveness if they repented.
Like many people down the years, despite the love of God, they question it – (v2) “In what way have You loved us?” and then we have those difficult verses – “Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated.” Does it mean that God chooses to love some and chooses to hate others? Does it mean that some have no chance to be saved? The questions of election and predestination arise. I have great difficulty with this. The Bible states both election and free will and somehow they are both true. Please don’t shoot me down, but study God’s Word for yourself and seek him as to what it means. I’m a simple-minded chap and I don’t fully understand it but I venture to suggest that we make it more complicated than it really is. One writer states that the word ‘hate’ is not as we would consider it, it could mean that God loved Esau less. It is a mystery and to my simple mind what God is saying is:- Jacob and Esau were brothers, they both had the same chance, and the same choices, but Jacob chose right and Esau chose wrongly. Jacob was not perfect, because before God changed him he was a deceiver, but he wanted God’s way whereas Esau wanted his own way. It is said that a lady commented to Charles Spurgeon that she couldn’t understand that God hated Esau. His reply was, ‘I can’t understand why God loved Jacob’.
Notice the words “Edom said we will build “ There is no mention of God. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau. May I remind you that Esau was typical of those who do not value or consider seriously a relationship with God. Esau was more interested in the physical than the spiritual. He was careless about spiritual things. In the end God in His grace and mercy restored Israel but His judgement upon Edom was for ever.
Hebrews 12:15-17 tells us that it is possible to ” fall short of the grace of God “ In this context the writer refers to Esau as a prime example – he was “profane” or godless. We need to “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6) – indicating that there may be a time when He is not near or when He cannot be found. And how do we come to him? The very thing that was absent in Esau, the very thing he couldn’t bring himself to “repentance”. (Hebrews 12:17) “For you know that afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears “
Repentance is absolutely essential to being saved. I cannot stress that enough. If we don’t repent, if we think we
have nothing to repent of, we cannot be saved, we cannot be a Christian however much we try, and however many
tears we shed.
When the people who had gathered in Jerusalem, Jews from every nation heard Peter on the day of Pentecost, they asked “What shall we do?” His reply was straight to the point – “Repent and let everyone of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of The Holy Spirit”. (Acts 2:38)
And Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 17:30) “….but now God commands all men everywhere to repent” and John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1,2) ” (He) came preaching….. and saying, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!” John before and after Jesus came, Peter and Paul after Jesus came, but the message was still the same.
“Repent” is often the forgotten word of evangelism. People are urged to ‘Accept Jesus as Saviour’, ‘Put your trust in Jesus’, ‘Ask Him to be your friend’ etc. All very proper, but without repentance – the dealing with the sin question – it leaves everything to be desired and is not enough, there is no changed life as many carry on in the same sins as before, and some even proclaim it as a virtue that they do, saying ‘l am still human’.
As regards Edom, God says that they may have the best desires, “They may build but I will throw down; they shall be called the Territory of Wickedness. And the people against whom The Lord will have indignation forever. “
When we look at the book of Obadiah we read a stark prophecy, they (Edom) will “become as if they never existed” (v16)
“By 100 AD the people of Edom had become lost to history” (Homer Hailey).
“If you travel today in the region of Edom, you will find nothing but the starkest wilderness and the most isolated
emptiness …. it is one of the most formidable, forsaken spots on earth” (Stuart Briscoe).
Without repentance, without coming God’s way, all have no chance, however many good works we try. “For by
grace you are saved, it is the gift of God, through faith, not of works lest any should boast “ (Ephesians 2)
In Acts 10 we have the account of Cornelius, probably one of the first Gentiles to be converted (although in Acts 8
we have the Ethiopian Eunuch). He was a good man and was famed for his good works. He gave alms (charitable gifts) generously (v2). He was visited by an angel of God (In a vision) who said, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God; now send for Simon (Peter) He will tell you what you must do.”
Even God knew about Cornelius’ good deeds yet there was something missing. We read on and after much
persuading by God to overcome his prejudice, Peter went to Cornelius and preached Jesus and Cornelius was
converted. Peter, when explaining his actions to the believers (Jews), said “Then God has also granted to the
Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18)
It is interesting to note (v5) that “The Lord is magnified beyond the borders of Israel”. The people of Israel, in their
circumstances would not be able to understand or accept that, but whether they did or not, it came true and even
we in our day, have come to know Him and His name is exalted.
After assuring them of God’s love (v6), Malachi then informs them that God is not pleased with what Israel is doing. It is clear from the law that children should honour their parents, it is the 5th Commandment. Also that servants should honour their masters. Israelites would have been taught this from birth as soon as they could listen. No doubt they would nod their heads and say “Yes, so what, we do that!” But “If I am a father where is my honour? If I am a master where is my reverence, says the Lord of hosts.” “The priests were indignant saying “In what way have we despised your name?”
They would soon be sorry they asked, for God displays His all-knowingness. He knew what kind of offerings were being made to Him – the blind, the lame, the sick as sacrifices (v 8). They were supposed to offer the best to God, the first of the flock, without blemish or spot, but they were giving of the leftovers, the ones which were no good for anything else.
Are we are offering the best to God? Our love and service, our commitment to The Lord, our commitment to The Church (His visible body on earth). Do we give Him first place and best place or are we offering the leftovers after we’ve done what we want? Is the table of The Lord contemptible? Often we are blatant and hard-faced in our offering in that we pretend we are giving the best when really we are not, but remember – God knows!
The advice is simple and very practical – “Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favourably? Says the Lord of hosts” The word “accept” can also be translated “lift up your face” Would your governor lift up your face? Or would you be so ashamed with the offering and service that you would have to hang your head, and would be afraid to look him in the eye.
If you worked for and sacrificed that to your boss would he be pleased and accept it? Think about that. Would your employer be happy paying you wages if you behaved like that at work? Only you can answer that (as only I can).
You would be better shutting the doors (v10) – is there anyone with the courage, love and commitment to do that, for it would be better than continuing with vain offerings.
This message would have been heard elsewhere – in Amos 5:21-23 “l hate, I despise your feast days, and do not savour your sacred assemblies I will not accept (your offerings)….. Take away the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.”
I don’t know about you, and maybe it is an age thing, and I’m sure we all have different tastes, but some of the ‘worship’ music I hear today would, thirty years ago, never have been classed as even Christian music.
Isaiah 1:11 has a similar lament. These prophets, Isaiah, Amos and Malachi, were contemporaries, the people were hearing this message from God over and over again. It was obvious that God was not pleased. They could, perhaps, have ignored one prophet as an eccentric or with “a bee in his bonnet” but not three of them.
These people were ‘going through the motions’ (in the words of scripture -they were saying and appearing to do what was expected, but their hearts were far from right (my paraphrase)). God says, “I would rather you closed the doors than be dishonest and hypocritical” “l have no pleasure in you, nor will I accept an offering from your hands.”
So we are wasting our time, deceiving ourselves and others, but not deceiving God for He knows the truth. How careful we must be in our worship. I am saddened that so often we Christians refer to ‘a chorus and hymn session’ as “worship”. It can be, but from what I’ve seen and heard I very much doubt it. There’s far more to worship than that, The ‘worship-leader’ (a title in common usage today) is the one who directs the music – how misguided to suggest that that person, only, leads the worship. Singing is only part of it. The Bible makes it clear that everything we do should be our worship to God. “Worship” is the most misinterpreted and overworked word of the decade, just as the word “fellowship” was before it; Note what the Lord says in v10 “l have no pleasure in you, nor will I accept an offering from your hands.”
It is clear that both us and our offerings are in focus here. We cannot live to ourselves and hope that God will accept our offering when we come to worship. Our offering must be in sync with our daily lives. To bring an animal for the sacrifice did not simply mean taking one, perhaps the nearest to hand, out of the flock as we dash to worship. It required careful scrutiny and watching and care during the days, weeks and months that had gone before. Just any old thing would not do. That’s what they were doing, in fact they were taking the worst. They were considering it a chore and even bringing stolen ones (v13). When we get to the New Testament they were even buying them in the temple. No preparation at all, merely convenience. Jesus was angry with that and drove them out.
Do you find it wearisome to meet God’s favour? That’s what The Lord said of these Israelites – “You also say, “O what weariness! And you sneer at it” “. May we search our hearts and live our lives to the Glory of God so that we will not find it a chore but a delight to be the people of God. We will not get away with trying to deceive, in fact we only deceive ourselves, for “My name shall be great among the nations says the Lord of hosts” (v 11) ” For I am a great King, and My Name is to be feared among the nations” says the Lord of hosts” (v 14).
