Obtenez 3 mois à 0,99 $/mois

OFFRE D'UNE DURÉE LIMITÉE
Page de couverture de Malachi 1:1-5 - From Doubting God's Love to Declaring God's Love (Rev. Erik Veerman)

Malachi 1:1-5 - From Doubting God's Love to Declaring God's Love (Rev. Erik Veerman)

Malachi 1:1-5 - From Doubting God's Love to Declaring God's Love (Rev. Erik Veerman)

Écouter gratuitement

Voir les détails du balado

À propos de cet audio

 Malachi 1:1-5 - From Doubting God’s Love to Declaring God’s Love We’re beginning a new sermon series this morning. We’ll be in the Book of Malachi for the next couple of months. You can find Malachi chapter 1 on page 953 in the Pew Bibles. Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, so if you can find the book of Matthew, turn left a couple of pages. We’ll begin with verses 1-5. One note before I read. In these verses, you will hear of a reference to Edom. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau. That will be some helpful context. Reading of Malachi 1:1-5 Prayer When I was in high school and college, I spent a few summers working at a Christian camp. Well, one particular summer, one of my fellow counsellors had a very difficult camper. This kid was, I think, only in 1st grade. And he was rambunctious. He was mean to the other campers. He struggled to follow rules. He didn’t want to participate in activities. In those moments, his counsellor would get down on one knee to his level, and try gently instruct him. During dangerous activities, like archery, his counsellor would often have to hold his hand, to keep him safe. Of course, the other boys in his cabin would get angry at him. Their counsellor would always intervene and remind them all to speak kind words to one another. Well, one afternoon, things escalated. The counsellor tried to calm his camper down, but the boy lost it and started screaming. Literally, the whole camp could hear it. They were in the middle of a big group activity, so his counsellor had to gently carry him away. As this young boy was being carried away, he kept screaming over and over, “I hate you.” “I hate you.” To which his counsellor calmly responded over and over, “I love you.” “I love you.” Their back and forth slowly faded as they passed out of sight. The camper, of course, didn’t understand that his counsellor did love him. He didn’t know what love really looked like in that situation. To this boy, it didn’t appear to be love at all. Maybe some of you who are parents have experienced something similar. Well, as we get to Malachi chapter 1, God’s people, likewise, were questioning God’s love. It didn’t feel like God loved them. But he did. And in response, God mercifully reminds them of his love. Most of us here today have at one point or another cried out to God. We’ve questioned whether he was even there or if he was loving. Maybe that is what you are feeling today. My hope and prayer that you will leave here with a renewed or new sense of God’s love for you. Introduction As we get into the book of Malachi, let me first mention some background things. Malachi is one of 12 books called minor prophets. They are called “minor” not because they are less important but because they are shorter. We don’t actually know much about the prophet Malachi other than that his name means “messenger.” He was a messenger from God. As we will find out next week, he lived in Jerusalem. And based on the themes in the book and its position in the Old Testament cannon, Malachi prophesied sometime during the middle of the 400s BC. He very likely overlapped with Ezra and Nehemiah. At that time, some of the exiles had returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, and the temple had been rebuilt. The last thing to point out is the word “oracle” right there in verse 1. It’s used throughout the Old Testament when a prophets were given a particularly burdensome word from God. Oracle, in fact, means burden – you know, like a heavy load that an animal would carry on its back and the weariness or distress that it would bring. When the word “oracle” is used to describe a prophetic utterance, it is conveying the weight of that prophecy. As we work our way through Malachi, we are going to see the weight of this prophecy. Over and over, God very clearly calls for repentance from grievous sin, and God warns them if they do not return to him. However, before all of that, God begins with a reminder of his love. And that is what verses 2-5 are about. If you turn to page 4 of your bulletin, you can see where we are headed. · First, God’s Love Doubted. Verse 2. · Second, God’s Love Defended, the end of verse 2 through verse 4 · And third, God’s Love Declared, 5 So, God’s love doubted, defended, and declared. 1. God’s Love Doubted We see right there in verse 2 that the people doubted God’s love for them. “I have loved you,” says the Lord, but you say, “how have you loved us?” By the way, this is the pattern throughout Malachi. God quotes the people questioning him, and then he answers. It’s the organizing framework for the book. How have you loved us, Lord? It sure doesn’t feel like you do. This was a difficult time in Jerusalem. We don’t often think of it that way because, after all, the people were back in Jerusalem. The temple had been rebuilt. However, socially and economically, ...
Pas encore de commentaire