Audio Download

Mal 1:1-5  The burden of the Word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi

[Study Aired December 14, 2023]

A true prophet, as Malachi was, does not shun to declare the whole counsel of God’s word (Act 20:27), and if it is a true message being brought, it should be seen as “The burden of the word of the LORD” to the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), meaning this story we will read in the pages of Malachi. It typifies for God’s elect the burden the elect are to bear in this age if we have been called and chosen and are blessed to remain faithful to the end of this life bearing His word and each other’s burdens, which are understood and supported through the power of God’s holy spirit that quickens us in our service to one another through Christ (Rev 1:3, Joh 6:68-69, Pro 7:1, Joh 14:23, Joh 6:63, Joh 8:31-32).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Joh 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Pro 7:1  My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, [Rom 5:5] he will keep my words: [1Jn 5:2-3] and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

God’s word is a burden to our first old man in Adam but a joyful and light burden to the second Adam, Christ, our hope of glory within (Mat 11:30, Col 1:27) who gives us the ability to endure through this life (Php 4:13, Php 4:19). As we bear that necessary burden by the spirit of Christ (Gal 6:5) we can, as one body, grow together in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, bearing each other’s burden along the way through Him (Gal 6:2 , Php 2:12-13). 

Gal 6:5  For every man shall bear his own burden.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

As we will read in this section of the gospel of Peter (2Pe 3:1-18), it would be catastrophic for us to not do our part in bearing the burdens of others, and our own burdens (Gal 6:10), as a fitly framed building of God of which we are told we should “beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”

(That error is to stop being zealous toward God and being more concerned with zealously building bigger barns for our  own purposes, to lay up carnal store instead of laying up treasure in heaven as  one of the many joints that supplies, to the building up of the body of Christ in love Mat 25:25-27, Luk 12:18, Eph 4:16).

This section of Peter’s writings (2Pe 3:1-18) parallels very well with the opening chapter of the book of Malachi and the message that was written for God’s elect today to whom He has made known “what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” also called “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (Col 1:26-29, Joh 10:16).

So to reiterate, we’re reading this section of Peter that reminds us what the body of Christ has to look out for as we learn to bear “The burden of the Word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi”.

2Pe 3:1  This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2Pe 3:2  That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, [Jas 5:10] and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation [Gen 1:1].

[Humanity has been worshiping the creation from the beginning and not the Creator (Rom 1:25) being under the sway of Satan whose spirit has been deceiving humanity from the foundation of the world into not believing what God has promised.] 

2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God [Gen 1:1] the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished [“Where is the promise of his coming?” (Luk 17:26)]: 
2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

[Still talking about that judgment which will commence with a rod-of-iron-ruling body of Christ who will flood the world with the knowledge of Christ to see that word or seed come to fruition in the lake of fire (Isa 26:9)] 

2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [still talking about judgment]
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness [“Where is the promise of his coming?” (Luk 17:26)]; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance [each man in his own order (Rom2:4, 1Co 15:22, 1Jnn2:2, 1Ti 4:10)]. 
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up [that day is described with these verses (2Th2:5-8)]. 
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness [according to His promise (2Th 2:13-14)]. 
2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation (Rom 2:4); even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

[We fall seven times in the wilderness in order to learn that we are completely powerless over sin without Christ making war against the beast (Pro 24:16, Rev 13:4), and God will multiply us every time above our fathers of Deuteronomy 30:5 who represent our old man which we thought was blessed in the earth but ‘had even that which he had thought he had’ taken away (Mat 13:12). It seems counter-intuitive, but when our old man is decreasing through judgment, God also makes a way for us to bear that judgment and forget what is behind us as we press “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” which brings about the increase of the Lord within us (Php 3:14, Joh 3:30)]

2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

As we learn of His faithfulness to hold us up through each other, we grow in our confidence in regard to the exceedingly great and precious promises (2Pe 1:4) that tell us all our suffering in this life has been and will be accompanied by His saving grace through faith, so that at the end of the day we will truly learn that His burden is light (“the burden of the word of the Lord” Col 1:24). When we wholly dedicate ourselves to the Lord in His service, He will be faithful to fulfill (Mal 3:10) that which He tells us He will do if we are granted to “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.“

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

Gal 6:5  For every man shall bear his own burden.

The book of Malachi is a book that has been written to reveal the day of the Lord in those who have been called out of spiritual exile, the captivity that all flesh must go into and come out of by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). Conversely, it also reveals how the true gospel message is rejected in this age, and warns the elect specifically to not be high minded by losing sight of who it is that he delivers first in this life, by becoming proud because of what we know (1Co 8:1), instead of being crushed and humbled by our circumstances (Rom 8:21-25, Mat 21:31-32).

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope [Col 1:27, Rom 8:9, 1Ti 1:17, Joh 14:20]: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it [Col 1:27, Rom 8:9, 1Ti 1:17, Joh 14:20, Luk 21:19]

Malachi is the messenger of God, which is what his name means, and his message is no different than any of the other prophets who tell the people to repent and turn from sin. “The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi” is expressed in these verses of Ezekiel (Eze 33:1-29)  and parallel the seriousness of Malachi’s message to a backslidden nation whose bondage and deception is even greater than what it was when they were in physical captivity (“seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there”  Mat 12:45). That is the message for the body of Christ today, that we are not to build the temple and then rest in those works and defile the temple by not continuing on in our service to God which requires our one hundred percent devotion to Him, the bringing in of all of our life (Mar 12:30-31) represented by the tithe that goes into the temple to His glory and for His service (Mal 3:8-10). 

Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

At the end of the book we are encouraged to see that God has made the bride of Christ ready, spoken of in Revelation 19:7, and typified by that remnant who came together often and spoke to one another about God and Christ, and a book of remembrance was laid up for them who were granted to do this (Mal 3:16-17). That book represents the books of the elect which God purposed to be written that way in ‘this age’ for the saving of the nations (Rev 20:12-15).

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. 

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

Being freed from the spiritual and physical bondage of sin is typified by the exodus by Judah from Babylonian captivity, but now years later the prophet Malachi comes on the scene to warn the nation of Judah, who typifies God’s people, that they have defiled this newly built temple of God which temple represents our bodies (1Co 3:16) and have taken for granted the deliverance God has brought them as a nation (2Pe 1:9). This is all typical language that reveals to us today how God alone can start and finish the work of faith within us through Christ (Heb 12:1-2, Luk 21:19) Who takes us from the bondage of sin, and even after we are freed and seven spirits more wicked enter (Luk 11:26), then the Lord, if we are His in this age, pours out the seven last plagues upon the body of Christ so we can ‘come out of her my people’ and escape the judgment that is going to come upon the rest of the world (Rev 15:8, Rev 3:1, Rev 18:4). In other words, the book of Malachi is a book that reveals God’s judgment in ‘the day of the Lord’ to those who are granted to have their whole life offered to God as a living sacrifice that is bound to the altar today (Mal 3:9-11, Rom 12:1-3, Psa 118:27).

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Mal 3:11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 
Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 

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Mal 1:1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 
Mal 1:2  I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,  

These opening verses set the stage for the entire book of Malachi that is about two men, the old man of sin [Esau] and the new man in Christ, represented by [Jacob]. The burden of the LORD is speaking of the destructive fiery word of God that burns up Esau who represents our sinful nature that God destroys by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives so that in time we overcome the hypocrisy of our flesh and become comfortable in that fire (Isa 33:14-15). None of this could be possible unless God set his love upon us, “Jacob have I loved“, by way of shedding it abroad in our hearts so that we can be more than conquerors through Christ’s love that abounds in His body, the church (Rom 5:5-6, Rom 8:37-39, Col 1:24).

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Mal 1:3  And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. 

God goes on to show us that His hatred toward Esau, by laying “his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness”, is a demonstration of His love toward us as we are received through His chastening and scourging grace that puts off our former conversation, typified by Esau (Heb 12:6).

This laying waste of Esau’s heritage also represents that time in Babylon where the “dragons of the wilderness” that represent the forked tongue of the devil, abounded (Rev 13:11), leaving us without any stay of bread and water to the point of perishing, had God not delivered us from that bondage of deception when we were “deceiving and being deceived” (Luk 15:17-18, 2Ti 3:13, 2Pe 2:17-19).

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water [Isa 3:1], clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

Mal 1:4  Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever. 
Mal 1:5  And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.

God’s word progressively shows us how we journey out of Babylon and how our old man does not die with a ten-second sinner’s prayer, not even nearly. What happens after we are chastened of the Lord and we are brought to that point of seeing ourselves as prodigal sons, is that we want to build again and go back to the captivity of sin, much like the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt after they began to realize what an arduous and tribulation-laden walk this was (Act 14:22) in the wilderness of sin [sinful flesh] they were called to endure. We must endure “until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”, a purchased possession being represented by the promised land, which typifies our then newly resurrected bodies in Christ. So we read this hope-filled statement, “Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.” This statement is reminding us that, despite ourselves, if we are sealed of God He will “throw down” our wickedness, and we will call our actions what they were, “The border of wickedness“, acknowledging our sins (Jer 3:13) that God will always be against, “The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever” (Psa 7:11, Psa 32:2).

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 

Psa 7:11  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. 

Psa 32:2  Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

We are encouraged with scripture to realize that all of this process God is putting the body of Christ through will succeed in bringing us to a point where “…your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.” This same sentiment is described at the end of the book of Malachi in this verse (Mal 3:18), and is a good point to conclude this opening study on the book of Malachi with.

Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. [within ourselves first as God’s kind of first fruits (Jas 1:18)]

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