The Great Day of the Lord - Malachi 4

Malachi 1...

Things were not going well in Judah (Jerusalem and surrounding areas). It was hard work, living among rubble, enemies inside and out. 

"Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated." Esau had no covenant with God, and he was gone. Jacob did have a covenant with God. When God makes a covenant, he carries it to completion!

When we get discouraged, we start giving back to God halfheartedly. But we must purpose in our hearts to love him completely! He has not failed us. The anger of man doesn't bring about the righteousness of God! 

God builds a foundation of love with us. How he works in our lives is based on how we respond to him. 

Malachi 2... 

Give honor to his name! Circumcise your heart! Levi had a covenant with God. A good teacher wants desperately to give you the truth of God's Word. He wrestles with it to makes sure he gets it right.

Teachers today wrestle with the Word because we are at the threshold of the terrible day of the Lord. It's a heavy calling.

The center of the main Malachi chiasm is Malachi 2:10-16. 

Malachi is calling Judah out for profaning the sanctuary of God. He's a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah. They're divorcing their wives, bringing young Moabite women into the temple, favoring foreign gods. And they're blaming God! 

The center of the chiasm is: when we said I do to our Lord and Savior, we entered into a covenant sealed with his blood. We must greatly consider our walk with him, and our interactions with the world!

In the early 20th century, we began compromising, promoting "progressive" values, little by little. Now we are dealing with the consequences of these compromises.

The people are asking, "Where is God's justice?" We get mad that God isn't nuking the evildoers. It's just like Jonah wanting Nineveh destroyed, or people today wanting Iran nuked. But God is patient! He is saving people in the midst of the evil (the fastest growing movement in Christianity right now is actually in Iran!)

Malachi 3...

The Jews needed to be ready for the coming of the Messiah.

Malachi 4...

We have to be ready for the Messiah's second coming!

We're going to dance on the ashes of God's enemies. We have light trouble now. We're going to be dancing in front of our Master in heaven! 

The Torah would condemn us, but Jesus has fulfilled the Torah!

God sent Elijah to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming Messiah.

We have the totality of God living in us. We need to be ready for whatever comes. Fathers, prepare your children!