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Malachi Overview: God's Last Sermon for 400 Years

About This Episode

Malachi is the last book of many of our Bibles. And it's the last words God's people have from God until Jesus arrives. Seth and David talk about the good news of God's love and the good news that God is willing to argue with his people.

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God's Last Sermon Before 400 Years of Silence

Show Notes

In this episode, David and Seth from Spoken Gospel explore the book of Malachi, the final book of prophetic revelation before God goes silent for 400 years until Jesus arrives. This often-overlooked book isn't just about divorce and tithing—it's a powerful summary of God's entire message to his people, structured around six arguments God has with Israel. This first part of the series covers the first three arguments, which summarize the Torah and reveal a surprising truth: at the heart of God's complaints with his people is their failure to receive his love.

Why Malachi Matters: The Last Word Before Divine Silence

Malachi holds a unique place in Scripture as the final prophetic word before centuries of silence. The book sits at the end of our Protestant Bibles not because of the Hebrew ordering—where Chronicles comes last—but because it marks the end of God's revelatory history until Jesus arrives. For 400 years after Malachi, no prophet speaks, no Scripture is written, and God's people are left with this book as his final message.

The name "Malachi" simply means "my messenger," and interestingly, the prophet is given no genealogy and no specific time period for his ministry. This creates an intentional timeless quality to the book. We know from context that the temple had been rebuilt after the exile, placing Malachi after the events of Ezra and Nehemiah. Yet the temple had fallen into disrepair once again, and the priests were failing their duties. Malachi functions both as a call to repentance for his generation and, by its placement in history, as preparation for the silence that would follow.

The book is structured around six arguments between God and his people. In each argument, God makes a statement, the people question or challenge it, and God responds with evidence. The first three arguments summarize the Torah with this message: God has chosen you as his people, so obey his laws. The last three arguments, which will be covered in the next episode, summarize the prophets with a promise: there is a messenger coming who will remove all evil from among God's people.

The First Argument: "I Have Loved You"

The opening argument of Malachi is startling in its simplicity. God begins not with accusations but with an affirmation: "I have loved you" (Malachi 1:2). The people's response reveals their skepticism: "How have you loved us?" This question exposes the root issue—Israel had become unconvinced of God's love because their circumstances didn't match what they expected.

God's proof of his love reaches back to the very beginning of Israel's story. He points to his choice of Jacob over Esau, reminding them that he selected the younger brother as his covenant people. Throughout history, whenever the descendants of Esau (the nation of Edom) threatened Israel, God protected them. This is the entire story of the Torah summarized: God chose a people and has been faithful to them despite every obstacle.

This argument reveals something profound about the human heart. When life doesn't go as expected—when the land isn't flourishing, when circumstances feel difficult—the natural response is to conclude that God doesn't love us. And if God doesn't love us, why should we follow his laws? Why should we bring our best offerings? This skepticism of God's love becomes the justification for disobedience. Yet God doesn't respond to this doubt with anger alone. He argues with his people, takes time to remind them of his faithfulness, and invites them back into relationship. The God of the universe is willing to have an argument because he wants his people to know they are loved.

The Second Argument: Honor and Dishonor at the Altar

The second argument is the longest in the book and concerns the honor due to God as Father and Master of his people (Malachi 1:6--2:9). God asks a simple question: Don't fathers deserve honor from their children? Don't masters deserve respect from their servants? If so, where is God's honor? The priests respond with the same pattern of skepticism: "How have we dishonored you?"

God's answer is devastating. The priests had been offering polluted sacrifices—blind, sick, and lame animals—on his altar. They were bringing offerings they would never dare present to a human governor, yet they expected God to accept them. Even worse, they found the whole sacrificial system wearisome. They "snorted" at God's requirements, treating sacred worship as a burden rather than a privilege. Some were even bringing roadkill—animals killed by wild beasts—rather than the unblemished offerings the Torah required.

The dishonor runs deeper than poor quality animals. By offering blemished sacrifices, the priests were teaching the people that God doesn't notice, doesn't care, and doesn't deserve their best. They were communicating that worship is merely a transaction to be completed as cheaply as possible. God's response is severe: he would rather someone shut the temple doors entirely than continue this vain, half-hearted worship (Malachi 1:10).

The Covenant with Levi: Honoring God's Honor

To explain why this dishonor matters so deeply, God points back to his covenant with Levi—the tribe set apart for priestly service. The Levites' calling was rooted in their zeal for God's honor throughout Israel's history. In Genesis 34, Levi defended his sister Dinah's honor when she was violated by the prince of Shechem. When the Shechemites offered intermarriage and shared land as a political solution, Levi refused to let his sister's dishonor be covered over with diplomacy and instead purged those responsible.

This same zeal appears at Mount Sinai in Exodus 32. When the Israelites worshiped the golden calf while Moses was receiving the law, it was the tribe of Levi that stood up to protect God's honor and purify the camp. Then in Numbers 25, when Israelite men were intermarrying with Moabite women and worshiping their gods, Phinehas the priest acted decisively to stop the rebellion. God responded by establishing a perpetual covenant of peace with Levi—the formal beginning of their priestly role.

The Levites were meant to be the guardians of God's honor among his people. Yet in Malachi's day, they had become the very source of dishonor. God's warning is pointed: he will preserve his covenant with Levi, but he will remove the unfaithful priests. Those who dishonor him will be cast out with the refuse of the sacrifices—the dung they daily removed from the temple. The purgers themselves needed to be purged so that faithful worship could continue.

The Third Argument: Faithlessness Through Intermarriage

The third argument expands beyond the priesthood to address the men of Israel more broadly (Malachi 2:10-16). God asks, "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?" If so, why are God's people being faithless to one another and profaning the covenant by marrying "the daughters of a foreign god"?

This accusation of intermarriage is not about ethnicity but about allegiance. Throughout Israel's history, marrying someone who worshiped other gods was a declaration that Yahweh alone was not sufficient to provide for one's needs. It was hedging spiritual bets, hoping to gain the protection and prosperity promised by another deity. This is why Levi's response to Shechem's offer of intermarriage and shared land was so significant—he refused to let Israel's identity be diluted through political convenience.

The situation had become even worse. Israelite men were not only marrying foreign women but also divorcing the wives of their youth to do so. God declares that he stands as a witness against this faithlessness. The men were bringing offerings to God while simultaneously breaking covenant with their spouses, and then wondering why God didn't accept their worship. The marriage covenant between husband and wife is a picture of God's covenant with his people. To break faith with a spouse is to break faith with the One who joined them together.

Jesus as the Faithful Groom

The Gospel shines through these three arguments when we see how Jesus fulfills everything Israel failed to do. By the time Jesus arrives, 400 years after Malachi, not much had changed. People still doubted God's love, priests still used the temple for their own gain, and faithlessness remained common—which is why Jesus addresses divorce multiple times in his ministry.

Jesus identifies himself as a bridegroom who has come to marry his people. His first miracle at a wedding demonstrated his desire to be the greatest host, providing wine in abundance. The final book of Scripture ends with a wedding feast where the church, as his bride, celebrates union with her groom forever (Revelation 19:7-9). In Jesus, we see a husband who loves perfectly, who gave himself completely, and who remains faithful even when his people doubt him.

Just as God argued with skeptical Israel, Jesus draws near to his own. He doesn't abandon us when we doubt his love but points us back to the cross—the ultimate proof that God is for us. And like Phinehas and the Levites before him, Jesus cleansed the temple with zeal for his Father's honor, driving out those who had turned worship into a marketplace. He fulfills the covenant with Levi by being the perfect priest who purifies God's house and makes true worship possible again.

The message of Malachi to us today is the same message God gave to his ancient people: receive my love, honor me with your best, and trust me alone. When we are tempted to doubt God's love because our circumstances don't match our expectations, we are invited to look backward—not at our present troubles, but at the God who sacrificed himself so we could be his people forever.

Transcript

David: [upbeat music] The temple's fallen in disrepair. The people aren't obeying the covenant. How does the book start?

Seth: God doesn't-

David: I wouldn't have said, "I love you."

Seth: Right.

David: Right?

Seth: That's right.

David: But that's what God does-

Seth: That's right

David: ... when we are disobedient, far from Him, breaking the covenant, disrespectful, honoring other gods.

Seth: Right. And why? Because we think God doesn't love us.

David: Right. And it's like-

Seth: I don't think God's love us, so I'm gonna do whatever I want.

David: Right. It's in those moments that Jesus comes and professes His love for us-

Seth: Right

David: ... in those dramatic ways.

Intro: [upbeat music] Welcome to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Spoken Gospel is a ministry that's dedicated to speaking the gospel out of every corner of Scripture. In Luke 24, Jesus told His disciples that every part of the Bible was about Him. So each week, hosts David and Seth work through a passage of Scripture to see how it's all about Jesus and His good news. Let's jump in.

David: [upbeat music]

David: Well, welcome everyone to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. We are in the Book of Malachi today.

Seth: Yep. Everybody's favorite book.

David: Everyone's favorite book because that means the next book in your Protestant Bible is the, the New Testament.

Seth: Is the New Testament, that's right.

David: Yeah. Is that why it's everyone's favorite book [laughs]?

Seth: I don't know. I was more of a sarcastic, "Everybody's favorite book."

David: Because-

Seth: It's just nobody reads it.

David: Yeah.

Seth: I mean, some people might read it.

David: I'm sure.

Seth: Uh, you read it-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... or you hear it read when your pastor wants to talk about divorce or tithes.

David: Oh, yes.

Seth: These are the two reasons why [laughs]

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... you might've heard of the Book of Malachi.

David: So, okay, so what you're saying is the Book of Malachi is about divorce and ti- and tithes.

Seth: Not at all.

David: Not at all. [laughs]

Seth: Not at all. [laughs] Not at all.

David: What, what, yeah, what is it, why should we be excited about the, about the Book of Malachi?

Seth: Well, Malachi is the final book of the Bible from God's last prophet before God doesn't speak for 400 years.

David: Mm. Okay.

Seth: So the reason why it's at the end of our Protestant Bibles-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... is because it marks the end of revelatory history-

David: Mm

Seth: ... or God's revelation to His people until Jesus arrives.

David: I see. So even though in the Hebrew Bible-

Seth: Mm

David: ... Chronicles comes at the end.

Seth: Right, because it chronicles the end of Israel's history.

David: Right. Uh, chronologically though-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... you're saying that Malachi comes after the end of Chronicles.

Seth: Yes.

David: And that's why it's at the end of our Protestant Bibles because in between, in a sense, Malachi and Matthew, you have this gap of recorded revelation from God.

Seth: Yeah. No, God does not speak. No books of the Bible are written-

David: Right

Seth: ... for 400 years.

David: Okay, so-

Seth: So Malachi is the last word before 400 years of divine silence.

David: That's interesting.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Is it a good question then to ask like, so what does God say before He doesn't say anything for a while?

Seth: The answer may not surprise you. It's to summarize everything He's already said [laughs].

David: Oh, no, that kind of does surprise me-

Seth: Okay

David: ... actually.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yeah, it's, the name-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... Malachi just means my messenger.

David: Okay. Yep.

Seth: Some people debate whether e- even Malachi was a real person.

David: Mm.

Seth: He's given no genealogy like a lot of other prophets.

David: Oh, sure.

Seth: He's not even given a time period within which he is prophesying-

David: I see

Seth: ... like a lot of other prophets.

David: Yeah.

Seth: So there seems to be like this timeless quality to, this intentional timeless quality to the Book of Malachi.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: It's the message. And at the very end of the Book of Malachi in chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, uh, Malachi actually summarizes the entire first five books of the Bible, the Torah-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and all the prophetic literature in two verses.

David: Mm.

Seth: And-

David: What, why is he doing that?

Seth: Well, because I think he understands his book as a summary of God's revelation with His people-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... to a final generation before 400 years of silence.

David: So do you think the, the Book of Malachi is meant to prepare Israel for that time of silence? Is that its function?

Seth: I think, in a sense, yes. Maybe, I don't know to what extent Malachi would've been aware-

David: Sure

Seth: ... of the divine silence that's coming.

David: Right.

Seth: But I do think Malachi understands that God's people have failed to live up to the calling of the Torah-

David: Mm

Seth: ... the first five books of the Bible, and they have ceased to listen to the prophets. And by its placement at the end of our Protestant Bibles and at the last revelation we have until Jesus-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... it invites us to consider the Book of Malachi as

Seth: the final word to God's people-

David: Okay

Seth: ... before Jesus comes.

David: So we don't know when this was written.

Seth: We don't.

David: Okay.

Seth: There's good guesses to when it was written, like roundabout times. It seems as if the temple had been rebuilt for the second time.

David: Okay.

Seth: So after Ezra, after Nehemiah, after, um, after Nehemiah's reign.

David: I see. So I'm guessing there's like references in there about like g- bring these gifts to the-

Seth: Yeah. There's no names mentioned.

David: Yeah.

Seth: But the temple seems to be standing.

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: And the temple has gone into disrepair once again.

David: Oh, okay.

Seth: The priests are failing to do what they're supposed to do. So it's an invitation like, "Go back to what you were doing before, what God said of the Torah-

David: Mm

Seth: ... what the prophets warned you against." And then-

David: I see.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So, so Malachi is trying to get people to repent.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Hel- help me there-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... where it's like he's, it's a, it's a call to return to how things were, but it's also, in a sense, preparing us for silence.

Seth: Yeah.

David: How do those two things talk to each other?

Seth: Well, I think maybe me saying it prepares us for silence is because of its placement in history.

David: I see.

Seth: So like just observing it as a person-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... hundreds of years after it was written-

David: We can read it that way

Seth: ... we can read it as, oh, this was God's last word to His people-

David: I see

Seth: ... before He showed up in Jesus.

David: Right.

Seth: So we can approach like, okay, what was God's last words to His people before He chose not to speak again until Jesus?

David: I see.

Seth: And then the other part, so what does Malachi say to his generation?

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And it's a summary of what God expected of His people and His priests, and how they failed those expectations, and a call to return to those things.

David: Okay, so without like a firmly grounded history, 'cause those would be my first questions, like-

Seth: Right

David: ... what was going on in Israel that-... made this book-

Seth: Right

David: ... be written, you know, I guess what do we have to go off of then to structure the conversation rather than-

Seth: Mm

David: ... oh, here's the historical context, here's why he wrote the book, here's the audience.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Instead, are we just going off of really all we have to work on is the literature itself, right?

Seth: Yeah, we ... Again, we do know that the temple was functioning.

David: Okay, yeah.

Seth: So it was after the rebuilding of the temple, but that's kind of all we know. So we know later in Israel's history-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... life, but like at the very, very tail end of it. The book itself is structured into six arguments with God.

David: Okay. [laughs]

Seth: God gets in an ar- six different arguments with His people.

David: Okay, so is, is Malachi the, the mouthpiece of God's side of the argument?

Seth: Yes, that's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: And sometimes God will speak directly, and sometimes Malachi speaks on behalf of God.

David: Okay.

Seth: But that's kind of the way the pr- all prophetic literature works. It's like when is the prophet speaking-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... as God?

David: Right, right, right.

Seth: And when is the prophet speaking on behalf of God is kind of a confusing-

David: This might be a nerdy question.

Seth: Okay.

David: But is there like a literary style to that? Like, 'cause I know some ki- sometimes there's courtroom debates.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: There can be public agora debates, oration speeches. Is there a type of debate that's being used-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... in Malachi? Do we know?

Seth: I don't know.

David: Okay. I'm curious.

Seth: I do know that every one starts kind of the same way.

David: Yeah.

Seth: God will make a statement.

David: Okay.

Seth: His people say, "That doesn't sound right."

David: [laughs]

Seth: And then God will say, "Well, here's why I'm right."

David: Oh, okay. [laughs]

Seth: And that's kind of like there's like God says something, the people have a question about it, and then God responds to it six different times.

David: Okay.

Seth: And I think roughly the first three and the last three have similar messages, as in the first three has a, a unified message and the last three has a unified message. The first three really focuses on the summary of the Torah-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and the first five books of the Bible, which means the summary of the Torah in Malachi's mind is God has chosen you as His people, so obey His laws.

David: Mm.

Seth: It's the summary of the Torah.

David: Yeah.

Seth: God has chosen you as His people.

David: Right.

Seth: So obey His laws.

David: Yep.

Seth: And the last three arguments focus around a summary of the prophets, which is there is a messenger, a future priest coming, who will remove all the evil from among God's people.

David: Mm.

Seth: Those are the two main points of the two different sets of three arguments.

David: I see. Okay. The first three is, uh, repeat of the Torah. You are God's chosen people, therefore obey.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And the second three are there's a coming-

Seth: Messenger

David: ... messenger.

Seth: A Malachi.

David: An- another Malachi is coming.

Seth: Another Malachi is coming-

David: Okay

Seth: ... who will come to remove evil from among God's people.

David: Okay, so does he go out of summary mode and into prediction mode, or is he still doing summary work there?

Seth: The summary is the prophecy in a sense. It's like you should not repeat the sins of your past. I'm gonna repeat the Torah to you.

David: Right.

Seth: Don't do that.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And if you don't, this is what will happen. And it's, he's repeating everything God promised in the Torah.

David: Right.

Seth: If you obey my commands, these good things will happen, he's saying.

David: And that's like in the first three arguments.

Seth: Uh-huh. In the second three arguments, he's saying when the messenger comes-

David: Mm

Seth: ... God will come, too.

David: Oh, okay. Yeah.

Seth: And I want you to respond to that moment appropriately.

David: Okay.

Seth: Yeah. So it's, it's a prep- it's preparatory. It's, it's like encouraging. It's exhortative. Like he wants-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... something to happen to these people. He's doing it for the purpose of encouraging them to obey the law and expect the messenger, but he's also doing it in such a way that summarizes the entire Old Testament.

David: Okay. I, I get that. So then when we're looking at Malachi, do we need to start in the first of the arguments? Is that the best way to start, or is there somewhere else we need to start?

Seth: That's where we should start.

David: Okay.

Seth: Argument number one, "I have loved you," says the Lord. But the people say, "How have you loved us exactly?" [laughs]

David: They, they, they do that thing.

Seth: The-

David: God makes a statement, and they're like, "What? How's that true?"

Seth: It's like, "How have you loved us exactly?" And then God responds. He says, "Well, isn't Esau Jacob's brother?"

David: [laughs] What?

Seth: [laughs]

David: That's such a weird response. Isn't Esau Jacob's brother?

Seth: So-

David: Oh, so is he saying, "I chose Jacob and not Esau. That's why I loved you"?

Seth: That's right. So he's-

David: So you're chosen

Seth: ... he's like, "So you're my chosen people."

David: Oh, I get it.

Seth: "I love you."

David: Okay.

Seth: "You're the children of Jacob. I love you. And is not Esau Jacob's brother?"

David: Right.

Seth: "Yet I have loved Jacob and not Esau."

David: Oh, okay.

Seth: "I have laid waste his hill country and left the, his heritage to jackals of the desert. If the descendants of Esau say, 'We are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins,' the Lord of Hosts says, 'You may build your castles, but I will tear them down.' "

David: [laughs]

Seth: "You will be a wicked country forever."

David: And that's Edom he's talking about.

Seth: That's about, yeah, the descendants of Esau.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And then he says, "Your eyes, Jacob, will see this, and you will say, 'Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel.'"

David: Okay, so he says, "Hey, Israel, I love you." And they're like, "Yeah, right. Prove it."

Seth: Yeah. [laughs]

David: And he says, "I have when I chose you-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... as my people over every nation and over and over even your brother Esau, and then now look even at your futures. I will establish your nation if you return to me. But no matter what happens, I'm not gonna reestablish Edom."

Seth: Right.

David: Okay.

Seth: He's ba- well, he's actually ... It's a past argument. He's saying, "Edom-

David: Oh, this is what I've done

Seth: ... this is what I've done."

David: Yeah.

Seth: Edom-

David: Right

Seth: ... is not flourishing.

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: He's not my chosen people. Every time he seems to be a threat, what have I done on your behalf?

David: Mm.

Seth: I've torn him down.

David: Yep.

Seth: Haven't I proven over and over and over again my love? Are you so forgetful of that? And again, what's the story of the Torah? God chooses Jacob-

David: Right

Seth: ... over Esau, and over and over and over again through the books of Genesis all the way through Deuteronomy, it's God's inter- loving interactions with the people of Jacob-

David: Mm

Seth: ... even when the descendants of Esau are attacking them-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... which is a constant threat throughout the first five books of the Bible. How ... Doesn't my whole history with you prove that I love you?

David: Yeah. Let me ask a question.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Why is Malachi starting with God affirming His love for His people, and why is Israel so quick to-Argue with that love.

Seth: I don't know why he starts with-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... God's love except to say that God is love.

David: Sure.

Seth: And like what motivated him to make a world in which he wanted humans to live in it? Love, right?

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, there's like, there's a sense that that is why he chose Israel, not because they were great, not because they were-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... mighty-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... not because they were strong, not because they were oppressive, but because they were the least-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and he chose them out of love.

David: Yeah.

Seth: That is God's motivation in choosing a people.

David: Is it too much to say that I ... 'Cause I'm like this is throwing me for a loop. 'Cause I'm like, is it too much to say that the reason the temple has fallen into disrepair, the reason the people aren't obeying the covenant the right way is because at bottom they've just forgotten the fundamental principle that God actually loves them.

Seth: I think that's exactly right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: I think, like what ... It's kind of crazy because whenever I think about the Old Testament-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... you know what the first thing I don't think of is?

David: What?

Seth: God loves his people.

David: Mm.

Seth: I think about this complex history, I think about genealogies, I think about the, the creation story.

David: [laughs]

Seth: I think about all the wilderness wandering.

David: Right.

Seth: I think about going into the borders of Canaan. You know what gets lost in all those details?

David: [laughs]

Seth: Don't you that I love you.

David: Right. And-

Seth: Wait, wait

David: ... it's like the most constantly affirmed thing throughout all those stories.

Seth: Right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And we for- and we forget it as-

David: We forget it

Seth: ... and, and you even ask like, "So, is that what he's saying?" Like, yeah, that is-

David: Yeah. That's what you're saying

Seth: ... the story of the whole-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... the whole Bible and you forgot it because you got lost in all the historical details.

David: Right.

Seth: I love you.

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: And then I do think the second question you asked was, like, is that the reason why they're failing to obey the covenant?

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, and I think that's right. People are unconvinced of God's love-

David: Mm

Seth: ... because they look around them, they see that their life doesn't look like what the covenant God promised was. Like, you promised me-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... us life and flourishing and our own nation, but we are here and not really flourishing like-

David: Ah

Seth: ... you said you would.

David: So that might be why they're saying, "Do you really love us? Look, look-

Seth: Right

David: ... the land's not flourishing like you said."

Seth: That's right.

David: "You must, you must not love us."

Seth: Right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And-

David: My life is not going the way I thought it would-

Seth: Mm

David: ... so therefore, God must not love me.

Seth: And if you look back through the Old Testament, that forgetfulness of God's loving and choosing-

David: Mm

Seth: ... is exactly the reason why people rebelled over and over and over again.

David: Right. Right.

Seth: I saved you out of Egypt. No, no, no. The gods of Egypt saved us out of Egypt-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and we would rather go back there. Like, the, the story of God's people has always been that God loves them, they forget that he loves them, and then they choose other gods, other nations, other covenants to provide what God has already promised he'd to provide them.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: That's the story of the Torah, and that's, that's the pattern that Malachi's gonna continue to show. You're convinced that God doesn't love you, so you started being faithless. You started not obeying God's laws because you're not convinced God's laws are gonna do anything for you.

David: Mm.

Seth: You're not doing the things the temple you sh- should do, so you're not offering the sacrifices you should because you're not convinced God pays attention.

David: Yeah.

Seth: But he does. He loves you.

David: Right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Man, I think if you asked me before this podcast, so here's the situation, the temple's in disrepair, he's gonna remind them of the Torah, and then tell them there's a coming messenger. And then it's like, okay, David, how do you think Malachi starts his book?

Seth: [laughs] God is love.

David: Yeah.

Seth: [laughs]

David: I like, I don't think I would've gotten there, to my own shame, but that's just so beautiful that it's true, that if you wanna know what is God looking for in you, and like w- who is God to you, and if any of that has fallen into disrepair, the answer is remember God loves you-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and that what he requires from you, which Deuteronomy says, is to love him in return.

Seth: Yeah.

David: That is the central message of-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... the Old Testament.

Seth: Right. And it's the central message of the New Testament, the Christian message too.

David: Right.

Seth: It's like we can look at our current situation, our suffering, our hardship, the life that seems like we should be deserved and it's not here.

David: Mm.

Seth: And the call of the Christian message is to remember God's love to us in a past event.

David: Yeah.

Seth: God showed his love to Israel through the covenant he made with them and his constant faithfulness. God has shown his love to us in Jesus, in the covenant of love that he's given us there. And so when our current life circumstance doesn't match what we think should, we should be owed, how do we remember God's love? We don't look at our circumstances.

David: Mm.

Seth: We look backwards to the God that sacrificed himself so that we could be his people.

David: Yeah.

Seth: That's the message of God's people through all time, is looking backwards to a God, how God has made us his own-

David: Mm

Seth: ... to remember his love for us.

David: Yeah. [Instrumental music]

David: Okay, so the first thing that Malachi has to say to God's people is, "Hey, God loves you." [laughs]

Seth: [laughs]

David: And he summarizes the Torah first and foremost by saying, "You know what the Old Testament and all of my message to God's people has been through all of time? It's, 'I have loved you.'"

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And, uh, the people have not been receiving that love, and he's calling them to remember that he's chosen them and provided for them, and that should be enough, is like his love for them.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So that's the first argument that God has with his people, is-

Seth: It's like, you, you're skeptical of my love for you.

David: Yeah. Is-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... you don't believe that I love you.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: I resonate with that-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... on a daily basis, that I always have to wake up and be like, "I don't think God loves me today." [laughs]

Seth: Yeah.

David: I don't think I'm good enough for his love today. And then he says, "Haven't I loved you-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... from the beginning?" And-

Seth: Right

David: ... look at Jesus and-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... do- haven't I loved you? And I'm like, no, you haven't. And he's like, "Look at everything I've done."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Yeah. Okay.

Seth: There is a more sinister edge-

David: Mm

Seth: ... to this skepticism. It's like, I have loved you. It's more, the tone is important.

David: Mm.

Seth: Well, how have you loved us?

David: Right. Yeah.

Seth: And what has that skepticism of God's love led them to do?

David: Mm.

Seth: It's caused them to say, "It's not worth following his laws anymore. If God loved us, he would provide for us."

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: "And if he provides for us, then we'll obey his laws."

David: Ah.

Seth: "But if we're, our lives don't look like the way they should, there's no reason to follow God anymore-"

David: Right

Seth: ... "because he's not doing what we expect him to do."

David: I see.

Seth: God doesn't love us because he doesn't conform to my expectations of what he should be providing for me in this given moment.

David: Yes.

Seth: So therefore, I am justified-In not worshiping God the way that he wants to be worshiped, obeying God with the degree of scrupulosity that he wants me to obey him.

David: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Seth: I don't need to obey him because he's not being faithful to me.

David: Mm.

Seth: That's the logic.

David: Yeah. And yeah, and then Jesus flips that logic, right? He's like, "If you love me, then you'll obey my commands."

Seth: Yep.

David: And then also like, "Seek first my kingdom and my righteousness, then all these things will be added unto you." And it's like-

Seth: Mm

David: ... I'm waiting for all this stuff to get added to me, and then I'll love you, then I'll obey, you know? [laughs]

Seth: Yeah, yeah.

David: Yeah.

Seth: That skepticism of God's love based on my current act-

David: Yeah, yeah

Seth: ... or based on my current circumstance leading me to say it's not worth following God-

David: Mm

Seth: ... is the trajectory of all humans-

David: Oh my gosh, yes

Seth: ... in relationship with God throughout a whole time.

David: Right.

Seth: And Jesus says like, "That's just backwards. One, I've loved you this whole time."

David: Right. Mm-hmm.

Seth: "And secondly, I promise you if you come to me, everything you want will be added to you."

David: Right.

Seth: But the second argument.

David: The second argument.

Seth: Here's what God says. "A son honors his father." Yes, obviously.

David: Yes, or at least he should.

Seth: "And a servant honors his master."

David: Yes.

Seth: Yes, that should be right. "If then I am a father to you, Israel, where is my honor?"

David: Mm.

Seth: "If I am your master, where is my respect?" says the Lord of Hosts to you. "Oh, priests, you despise my name. You hate me." And then the priests say, "How have we hated you?"

David: [laughs]

Seth: They don't see it, so God says, "You've dishonored me."

David: Yeah.

Seth: "You're not giving me what, the honor I'm owed as your God and your king." And they say, "I don't see that."

David: Right.

Seth: "How have we dishonored you?"

David: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's interest- so the pattern is like God makes a statement, and then they say, "Prove it." [laughs]

Seth: Right. Prove it.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Prove what you're saying is accurate.

David: Okay. So he's like, "You guys understand that fathers get honor. I'm your father, and I have no honor. You've not been honoring me." And they're like, "What are you talking about?" They don't understand what, what he's talking about.

Seth: Right.

David: So what is... First off, what is he talking about?

Seth: Uh, he's about to explain.

David: Okay.

Seth: 'Cause they don't know.

David: Right.

Seth: They're like-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... they like, like you. You'd, like what-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... like they don't know.

David: How have they not been honoring you?

Seth: Right.

David: Okay.

Seth: And here's God's response. "Well, you have offered polluted food upon my altar, and you have taught that the Lord's table may be despised. You allow blind animals to be t- offered as sacrifices."

David: Mm.

Seth: "And is that not evil? And then you offer sick animals and lame animals. Isn't that evil? If you were to present a gift like that to your governor-

David: Right

Seth: ... would he grant your requests?" says the Lord. [laughs] "And now you're asking me for favors, and you expect me to be gracious to you with gifts like this from your hand?" And then He says, "Oh, I wish that there would just be one of you who would just close the temple down because that would be better than this vain and half-hearted worship."

David: Whoa.

Seth: [laughs]

David: Okay.

Seth: So that's the, that's the second argument, the, the, the beginning of the second argument. This one's the longest one in the whole book.

David: Okay.

Seth: So this is the beginning of it.

David: So He's again going back to the Torah.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And He's walking through some of the laws for what types of animals to offer as sacrifices at the temple.

Seth: That's right.

David: And you're only supposed to offer unblemished animals. If they're blind or lame, don't bring them. And the reason is, I, at least when I studied it, twofold. One was the purity of the sacrifice is supposed to be a representative of the purity you can't achieve.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: That this thing is, is pure. I'm the one who's mangled and maimed, therefore, I want to come into God's presence pure.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So take this animal. The other is because why would you offer God something you wouldn't even give to some local state official when you're trying to honor them?

Seth: Right.

David: God deserves the best of the best of the best.

Seth: Yes.

David: And so actually make a sacrifice and-

Seth: That's right

David: ... not just like a, "I didn't want this animal anyway."

Seth: That's right.

David: So bring your best to God, and they're not-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... bringing their best.

Seth: And that idea of honor-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... is the, probably the main focus of Malachi.

David: Oh.

Seth: You honor-

David: Okay

Seth: ... your state officials-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... but you're refusing to honor me.

David: Huh.

Seth: Um, you do not give me the respect I am owed as a higher official than-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... the governor of your land. That's the, the major note that He's-

David: Okay

Seth: ... gonna harp on here for a second.

David: And when it comes to honor, I think that can be a difficult thing-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... for some of us to wrestle with because on one hand, it's like, is God being petty? Is he, like, offended? Say, "Oh, why, why don't you guys give me honor?" Is he jealous, like, in a bad way? Uh, like w- can you help explain the idea of, like, honor?

Seth: Well, it might be helpful to skip down a couple verses-

David: Okay

Seth: ... to verse 13.

David: Of chapter...

Seth: Of chapter one

David: ... one. Okay, so.

Seth: And it says this. It says, "What a weariness this is."

David: Mm.

Seth: So this is the priest speaking. "What a weariness all this

Seth: blemishless sacrifices is."

David: Mm.

Seth: "You snort at it," says the Lord of Hosts. "You sneer at the level of sacrifice I'm demanding of you, and you bring to me what's been taken by violence." It's like there's a sheep that got, is roadkill. A wolf mangled it.

David: Oh.

Seth: And they're bringing that to the, to offer to God.

David: Bringing God roadkill.

Seth: Y- yeah. [laughs] Yeah, yeah.

David: It's like you wouldn't serve this at your, like, enemy's house. Why would you bring this to God's altar?

Seth: Yes. And then he says this, "Cursed be the cheat who is, has a male in his flock, and he promises it to me, but then sacrifices it to the Lord even the, what is blemished." He's saying, "Part of the dishonor here is just the very visceral dishonor of offering me roadkill."

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: "Part of the dishonor that's happening here is the fact that you've promised me the first of your flock-

David: Right

Seth: ... in some sort of public vow perhaps-

David: Mm

Seth: ... but bringing me blemished animals instead when nobody can prove you've o- vowed something else."

David: Right.

Seth: And he says this, "I'm a great king," says the Lord of Hosts, "and my name will be feared among all the nations of the earth." Like, "I'm the global king. I'm the king-

David: Right

Seth: ... of the universe, the king of the world, and you're treating me worse than you would treat anybody else-On Earth.

David: Right.

Seth: This is just blatant dishonor.

David: Dishonor.

Seth: Like, so I mean, does that fill out the picture of what... I feel like dishonor in that sense almost feels self-evident. Like, oh, I would be dishonored if somebody brought to my house... If I told, "Hey, look, come over for dinner, bring whatever you, bring some meat for the table."

David: Yeah.

Seth: And they just brought something they th- they found on the side of the road. Like [laughs]

David: I would probably just feel like they're crazy or something. Like [laughs] I don't know-

Seth: Right, right

David: ... I would personally feel-

Seth: Dishonored

David: ... dishonored. Like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... oh, I deserved-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... you to bring good food, and you-

Seth: Right

David: ... brought bad food. I don't think I would feel personally-

Seth: That's right

David: ... affronted.

Seth: Right.

David: I would be like, "This person is crazy."

Seth: Right.

David: If somebody is like, "Oh, hey, you're gonna bring the wine tonight for the meal" -

Seth: Uh-huh

David: ... and they stop off at Trader Joe's and get a Two Buck Chuck.

Seth: Right. [laughs]

David: And I'm like, "Oh, okay, they don't know-"

Seth: They don't know about-

David: "... they don't know wine."

Seth: Yeah, yeah.

David: Like, I wo- I would think of it more about them than about me.

Seth: Right.

David: And so but there's that honor-shame culture of-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... this day, something more is going on there.

Seth: Something more is probably going on there. I think the idea of authority figure helps.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, it's the king.

David: Right.

Seth: The governor deserves respect. You pledge fealty to him or you-

David: Right

Seth: ... you bow in his presence. You speak to, you s- you address him as Your Governorship, Your, Your Majesty, sir, Mr. President.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Like, there's certain honorifics-

David: Right

Seth: ... you offer a, a ruling deity or a ruling leader.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And so they're failing on one level just the basic courtesies due to a sovereign.

David: Mm.

Seth: That's one level of the dishonor, right?

David: Okay, I think I can get that.

Seth: Yeah.

David: If we take me away as the host-

Seth: Yes

David: ... I think it starts making more sense.

Seth: Okay.

David: So let's say I get invited by a great king to a feast.

Seth: Yes.

David: Maybe this is just the Western individualism-

Seth: Yeah. [laughs]

David: ... where, uh, it's easier to see myself in that position.

Seth: Okay.

David: And it's like I get invited-

Seth: Of course, David would be invited [laughs] to the feast.

David: Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah. And I get invited to this feast, and I'm told that, that a feast is being held in my honor, and I'm gonna go. And I'm like, oh, this is gonna be amazing, and I mean, this king has so much provision, and so if he's gonna throw a big feast, it's gonna be, like, nice.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Like, five-course meal. It's gonna be steak. It's gonna be awesome. And I get there, and it's, like, a three-day-old McDonald's cheeseburger that he found in a dumpster, and he's like, "Here you go." He doesn't love me. He's not giving me any honor. He's-

Seth: Right.

David: He has no respect for me whatsoever.

Seth: Right.

David: And then I know it's about me and not about him.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: 'Cause then it's like he had the means.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He knew what this moment was for, and he is choosing-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... to dishonor me-

Seth: That's right

David: ... in that moment.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And it's like... And I think that helps me kinda set up the-

Seth: So-

David: ... categories more

Seth: ... what the people of Israel were supposed to do is in this moment of sacrifice, it was a moment to honor God.

David: Right.

Seth: To recognize how high he was above them-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and ask for forgiveness, ask for purity, a- like, or thank him-

David: Love him

Seth: ... to show their-

David: Right

Seth: ... love for him. So to offer something like this in a, in a moment that's supposed to be a high and holy and, and sacred moment is to totally dishonor God.

David: Yeah.

Seth: So that's why God's offended-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and why his people should not be doing this.

David: Is there a way that this connects... I mean, obviously it connects to the, to the first argument where they don't love God. They're not receiving-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... his love, therefore they don't honor him, which is just an interesting chain of logic.

Seth: Yeah.

David: That God's not asking us to honor him before we love him.

Seth: Right.

David: Right? He's ask- he's like, "Know that I love you."

Seth: Or yeah, or to, for us to honor him before we know he loves-

David: Right. Yeah

Seth: ... uh, he loves us.

David: To honor him-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... before we know he loves us. It's like, "First receive my love."

Seth: Yeah.

David: "Know that I have loved you and do love you."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And it's like, oh, the King of the universe loves me? Man, how can I not honor that?

Seth: Yeah.

David: Uh, it's like a father in-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... you know, in his, in his situation.

Seth: Yep, yep.

David: It's like, uh, don't, don't fathers get the honor of their children? Well, yeah, because they're the father figure authority, okay.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: But also they love their children.

Seth: That's right.

David: A father who hates and despises his children does not get the honor of his children, and so I think those two ideas being tied together is also helpful-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... that God wants us to know he loves us-

Seth: That's right

David: ... and then expects us to return with love and honor.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's right. And then there's something else added here. So we're saying there's a, a sense that we're replaying some of the history of Israel.

David: Oh, okay. Yeah.

Seth: So one of the first sins once the tabernacle was set up, once there was a sacrificial system in place-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... Aaron's sons, so the sons of the father, offer strange fire.

David: Right.

Seth: They offer unauthorized-

David: Unauthorized

Seth: ... uh, sacrifice, and it's this big deal for Israel. In verse 10, "Do not kindle a fire on my altar in vain." Like-

David: Oh

Seth: ... th- th- I think he's probably hyperlinking us to this story. Hey, remember what happened in the, the very first moments of our-

David: Right

Seth: ... people's history when-

David: That, that strange fire came out and-

Seth: When a-

David: ... consumed them

Seth: ... when a polluted offering was happening. Like, what happened?

David: Yeah.

Seth: That, that was a dishonorable moment-

David: Right

Seth: ... and God judged it as such.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And then the next verses are really interesting because what is the purpose of Israel? Abraham told Israel, God's people, that they would bless the world.

David: Right.

Seth: Jacob's descendants would bless the world.

David: Yep.

Seth: The whole world would become a nation of priests, right?

David: Yeah.

Seth: That would all worship God

Seth: honorably.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, the whole world would h- honor God in this way. So look at this, verse, uh, 11. "I have no pleasure in you, priests," says the Lord of Hosts, "and I will not accept an offering from your hand because from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations."

David: Mm.

Seth: Have you ever heard the phrase, uh, the sun will never set on the British Empire?

David: Yes.

Seth: So, like, that's what he's saying here.

David: Yeah.

Seth: I am, I have a plan for the sun to never set-

David: Right

Seth: ... on those who worship my name.

David: Mm.

Seth: And in every place, incense will be offered to my name, and it will be a pure offering. "My name will be great among the nations," says the Lord of Hosts. So one of the things that's on the line here, he's saying because you're failingTo offer correct sacrifices

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: You are excluding yourself from my plans to make worshipers and priests of the entire world. My love towards Israel was meant to go out into the entire world and make priests of the entire world

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: But because you're offering polluted sacrifices, you are being robbed of your opportunity to be a part of the blessed world that I am making through you, Judah, my chosen people.

David: Okay. Are you saying that Israel offering wrong sacrifices is excluding them from the kingdom that God is building, or that offering blemished sacrifices is hindering the kingdom God wants to build?

Seth: I think it's the first one.

David: Okay.

Seth: These priests will be excluded.

David: So God's gonna build the kingdom anyway.

Seth: And if they refuse to offer the right sacrifices, they will not be a part of it.

David: Crazy.

Seth: Right, which is what happened to Nadab and Abihu. They offered-

David: Oh, right [laughs] yeah

Seth: ... the wrong thing. Right. They, they, they're not a part of it. [laughs]

David: [laughs] They never saw the sun again.

Seth: They [laughs] they never saw the sun again. Right. So, like, that's... He's, like, he's saying the consequences are dire for failing to be true to the covenant you wanna be a part of. I'm creating a whole world of worshipers.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Don't you wanna be a part of it?

David: Right. Yeah. So yeah, something more is on the line there than just, uh, "Hey, I deserve honor. Give me honor."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: God's like, "I'm trying to include you in a-

Seth: Yes

David: ... global kingdom under the king of the universe."

Seth: Yes.

David: "And you are not participating in that kingdom. Don't you want to be a part of this worldwide empire I'm building?"

Seth: Yeah

David: You know?

Seth: Then honor the king.

David: Then honor the king.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It, it's not crazy.

Seth: Right.

David: Just honor the king and you'll be a part of the kingdom.

Seth: That's right.

David: And by the way, that king loves you. [laughs]

Seth: Yeah.

David: Okay? Makes sense.

Seth: And so then to prove my point earlier about how God will just take these priests out [laughs] and not include them in his kingdom, verse... chapter two is helpful. "If you don't listen, if you, you won't take it to heart to give honor to my name," says God, "then I will send the curse upon you-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I'll have already cursed them because you do not lay this to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring-

David: Mm

Seth: ... your children, and I will spread dung on your faces-

David: Oh

Seth: ... and the dung of your offering, and you'll be taken away with it." What might help there is priests would gut the animals before they were sacrificed.

David: Mm. Right.

Seth: They would remove the intestines, which is where all the dung is-

David: The poop was. Yeah

Seth: ... all the poop was, and they would take it away out of the temple.

David: Out of the temple, yeah.

Seth: Out of the presence of God.

David: Right.

Seth: And so he's saying, "Just like you do every day when you offer these polluted sacrifices-

David: Oh

Seth: ... you actually take the worst part away, I'm gonna take the part away that you won't even bring in here, smear it on your faces, and that's actually your destiny. Your destiny is to be-

David: Is outside the camp

Seth: ... is outside the camp-

David: I see

Seth: ... outside the presence of God. I... You will not be a part of it."

David: Thank you. That's helpful. [laughs]

Seth: Yeah. [laughs]

David: That's a very visceral image.

Seth: Yeah. It's like you... nobody eats the poop sack. [laughs]

David: [laughs] Oh, no.

Seth: But that's what you'll be to me.

David: Yes.

Seth: Um-

David: I actually... Yeah. Some, some people do.

Seth: That's true.

David: [laughs]

Seth: I've watched a lot of food shows where they clean out the in- I mean, I've eaten intestine before.

David: Yeah.

Seth: If you think-

David: Well, well, I mean, one time I was in the Philippines and we were out in the sticks, 'cause everything else, like the food's amazing there.

Seth: Yeah.

David: But the... we were with this one tribe, and yeah, they, they cooked the intestines. Their specialty was cooking the intestines with the poop still in it.

Seth: Yeah. Ugh.

David: And my... like our g- like cultural liaison, she was like, "You don't eat that."

Seth: [laughs]

David: 'Cause normally, yeah, the intestines-

Seth: Right

David: ... they're gonna clean it out.

Seth: Right

David: But not, but not this one.

Seth: But they-

David: It's like they cook it with it in there. Like, she like, "You will get sick from that."

Seth: That is crazy.

David: Yeah. So-

Seth: Well-

David: Visceral image

Seth: ... visceral image.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yeah, that's... So he's like, "I'm gonna-

David: Okay

Seth: ... kick you out."

David: So yeah, so the priests are gonna get kicked out of the temple, of this kingdom, if they don't start honoring God with the right sacrifices.

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: But then God says, "Here's the reason why I'm giving you this warning-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and here's why I might kick some of you out." Verse four. "So that my covenant with Levi may stand-

David: Hmm

Seth: ... says the Lord of Hosts."

David: Okay. Yep. He's like-

Seth: My co- Yep

David: ... "You're ruining the priesthood. I'm trying to keep the priesthood intact."

Seth: That's right.

David: 'Cause Levi was the first, was like-

Seth: That's right

David: ... the priesthood tribe.

Seth: Yes. And he says, "My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave it to him. It was a covenant of fear or of honor."

David: Oh, he was... He honored me.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Yeah.

Seth: "And he stood in awe of my name."

David: Okay. Yep.

Seth: "True instruction was in his mouth." We were, we were told in the previous chapter that by offering polluted offerings, they were teaching the people dishonor.

David: Right.

Seth: But that's not what Levi did.

David: No, he taught the right sacrifices.

Seth: He taught the-

David: He taught honor.

Seth: Yes. "And he walked with me in peace and uprightness-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and he turned many away from sin." So, so I want to create a people, I want to preserve Levi.

David: Mm.

Seth: And in order to do that, I need to take out the malcontents and the bad actors-

David: Right

Seth: ... the people who are skeptical of my love and refuse to o- give me the honor that I'm due.

David: I'm getting rid of the priests, but not the priesthood.

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's right.

David: Yep.

Seth: And then he says this, "For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge. The people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of the Host." He's the Malachi-

David: The Malachi

Seth: ... of the Lord of Hosts, but you have turned away from this. You've caused many to stumble by your instructions. So-

David: Okay. Couple questions.

Seth: Yes.

David: One, you said... Are we to the point yet where you teased it earlier, where you're like, "You might as well just tear down the temple if you're gonna do this kinda thing."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Have we gotten to that point yet?

Seth: He says earlier in verse, chapter one verse 10, he's like, "I'd rather you close the doors of the temple-

David: Okay

Seth: ... than offer any more of these-

David: Okay

Seth: ... vain, polluted sacrifices."

David: So I mean, I'm just curious as we're kinda coming to the end of that section, like

David: w- what, what's he saying there? He's like-

Seth: Uh-huh

David: ... "It'd be better if you'd offer no sacrifices at all than to offer polluted sacrifices."

Seth: Yes.

David: That's the message.

Seth: That's the message.

David: Okay. When Jesus comes and clears the temple-

Seth: Uh-huh

David: ... is there any kind of connection there of what he's doing? He's like, "Let's just shut this down."

Seth: Yeah. He is ridding the priesthood of its bad actors.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's right.

David: So he's doing Malachi-

Seth: He's doing Malachi

David: ... whenever he clears the temple.

Seth: Yes. And-

David: Because I guess maybe in a sense they were offering-I don't know if we know they were, if they were offering blemish sa- sacrifices in the first century.

Seth: Knowing the Pharisees from what w- I-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... it's like they probably wouldn't be doing that, but they were not worshiping God truly.

David: Mm.

Seth: They were using the temple to line their own pockets. They were oppressing and hurting the people of God.

David: Right.

Seth: They-

David: The honor wasn't in the right place

Seth: ... the honor was not in the right place.

David: Okay.

Seth: So even if it was a different expression of dishonor-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... they were still dishonoring God's temple, which is why, you know-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... Jesus gets mad about it.

David: Okay. So that, that was my first question. That's cool that Jesus is doing that. Well, my next question is about Levi. Why talk about Levi here [laughs] I guess is the question?

Seth: Right.

David: It's, like, we haven't seen the name Levi-

Seth: Nope

David: ... up to this point.

Seth: But we are talking about priests.

David: Right.

Seth: And the priesthood are all descended from Levi.

David: Okay. We might wanna go back to-

Seth: Let's go-

David: ... when Levi was established as the priestly tribe, 'cause I, even my memory's a little fuzzy.

Seth: Let's go all the way back to Genesis 34.

David: Great.

Seth: Which is before Levi ever becomes a priest.

David: Oh, gosh.

Seth: So-

David: Okay, we're going all the way back

Seth: ... Jacob, the chosen son of God-

David: Yep

Seth: ... the chosen person of God.

David: Isaac's son who became-

Seth: Mm

David: ... Israel.

Seth: Yes. His daughter is raped.

David: Dinah.

Seth: Dinah is raped.

David: By the g- by the prince of Shechem?

Seth: By the prince of Shechem.

David: Yep.

Seth: And it's Levi, Dinah's brother-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... who comes to her rescue. He wants to protect her honor.

David: Yep.

Seth: And so he makes this plan where he, um-

David: It's a very funny plan [laughs]

Seth: ... it's a really funny plan. He said... It's important for what's about to happen, but he makes this plan, and as he's making this plan, the king of Shechem, knowing that his son has just raped one of-

David: Mm

Seth: ... Jacob's daughters, wants to make a deal between these two kingdoms.

David: Right.

Seth: And he says, "Hey."

David: "Let's make an honest woman out of her-

Seth: Let's-

David: ... and all Israelite."

Seth: "And all Isr- you guys can come into our land. You can share our land. You can share our wealth. You can share our crops."

David: Yep.

Seth: "You can have more than what you have now-

David: Yep

Seth: ... if you just intermarry with us-

David: Right

Seth: ... and we become simpatico."

David: "Your people will be our people."

Seth: Yes. We can become sim- pa- simpatico with each other.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Um-

David: That's the technical term for intermarriage.

Seth: Uh [laughs]

David: Simpatico.

Seth: Simpatico. [laughs] And then Levi says, "Okay, great, we'll do so-

David: Uh

Seth: ... if all your men become circumcised."

David: Right.

Seth: And they was like, "Sure, no problem," which sounds like big problem.

David: Big problem. Hold on.

Seth: [laughs] This is a really big problem.

David: [laughs] The king does not speak for me.

Seth: But what's interesting is that Shechem goes to his officials-

David: Yep

Seth: ... and he says, "Guys, this is a win-win for us.

David: Mm.

Seth: My son gets off the hook, and soon everything the people Israel have will be ours."

David: Be ours, yep.

Seth: "Let's just cut off-

David: Yep

Seth: ... a little section of our bodies that we're not using, and let's gain a kingdom."

David: Right.

Seth: And so-

David: They do it

Seth: ... so they do it, and they get circumcised. But a couple days later, and the quote from the Bible is, "While they were still in pain"- [laughs]

David: Yes. They're still, uh, nursing their wounds

Seth: ... nursing their ... Levi comes in and kills all the men-

David: Right

Seth: ... who are responsible for defiling his sister's honor-

David: Mm. Mm

Seth: ... and, or the ones that were trying to protect those that, or to make a, make a political gain out of their sister's dishonor.

David: Right, yeah.

Seth: This is... So Levi is known as this very honorable person willing to protect the dignity and honor of people who belong in God's house.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: That's the first story we're told about, uh, Levi.

David: Such a crazy story.

Seth: Such a crazy story, but it gives you all these character qualities-

David: Right

Seth: ... of the tribe of Levi. When the tribe of Levi is actually instituted is in the Book of Numbers-

David: Oh

Seth: ... chapter 25.

David: Okay.

Seth: This is when the covenant with Levi-

David: Oh, okay

Seth: ... comes about.

David: 'Cause in, at Mount Sinai, isn't it the, the Levites who, uh-

Seth: Oh, yeah

David: ... are, like, called upon on, by Moses-

Seth: Yes

David: ... to enact vengeance against those who dishonored God-

Seth: That's right

David: ... in building the golden calf?

Seth: That's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's in Exodus 32. I forgot about this story.

David: Okay.

Seth: This is exactly right. In Exodus 32, there's the whole golden calf-

David: Debacle

Seth: ... incident, so people are dishonoring God.

David: Yeah, yeah, I would say so.

Seth: Uh, uh, like-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... doing whatever they're doing around the golden cl- c- calf. They're-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... quote, "playing."

David: Yeah, there's sexual overtones there.

Seth: There's sexual overtones. There's, there's something sexual going on around the golden calf, and God is displeased with this.

David: Yes.

Seth: The tribe of Levi stands up and says, "We will stand with God and protect His honor."

David: Ah.

Seth: And then they go out and purge the people of Israel-

David: Right

Seth: ... of those who are worshiping falsely.

David: That's interesting. I've never put together, though, the defiling of Dinah story-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... with what Levi did to the people of Shechem-

Seth: That's right

David: ... with the golden calf and what-

Seth: Mm

David: ... the Levites did-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... with the people at the golden calf.

Seth: That's right.

David: But it's the same story.

Seth: It's the same story. And-

David: Dishonoring God or God's people, and then the Levites purging it.

Seth: Yes.

David: Interesting.

Seth: Particularly with sexual overtones.

David: Right, yes.

Seth: And then when we get to the Numbers 25-

David: Oh, okay, right

Seth: ... when God actually makes a covenant with-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... the tribe of Levi, all the Levites as a whole, and makes them the priestly line-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... the Levites the priestly line, it's because of a man named Phinehas.

David: Oh, yes, right.

Seth: Uh, he's the son of-

David: Or as N. T. Wright says it, Phinehas.

Seth: Phinehas.

David: [laughs]

Seth: Phinehas. A- he's the son of Aaron, the high priest.

David: Yes.

Seth: And the people of Israel had been intermarrying with the daughters of Moab under the influence of Baal.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Phinehas does not like this.

David: No.

Seth: Jealous for God's honor-

David: Yep

Seth: ... he purifies the [laughs] all the, he, he kills every-

David: He gets a spear.

Seth: He gets a spear and, like, r- r-

David: Kills the intermarriers

Seth: ... kills the intermarriers. And we'll talk about why that's not racist in a second.

David: [laughs]

Seth: But, like, um, um, but he kills those... Because it's not, it's not about race. It's about worshiping false gods.

David: Right.

Seth: He's, they're intermarrying with people who worship other gods in hopes of gaining the protection of those other gods.

David: Right.

Seth: In the same way Shechem offered all the land if they just intermarry here-

David: Mm

Seth: ... you will have the protection of our gods and all of our land, here the same thing. Well, if we intermarry with these other women, we'll get the protection of their gods, too.

David: Mm.

Seth: Phinehas, jealous to preserve God's honor among his people and God's role as protector of his people alone, kills those who-

David: Right

Seth: ... refuse to do so. So again, and then this is the moment where this is said, "Therefore, behold, I give to you my covenant of peace," to Levi.

David: Ah.

Seth: "And it shall be to him and his descendants after him."That this cut him, like perpetual priesthood is given-

David: Mm

Seth: ... because he was jealous for God and has made atonement for the people of Israel. And that language-

David: Ah

Seth: ... of my covenant with him was one of life and peace-

David: Yes

Seth: ... is repeated here in Malachi.

David: Malachi. And so whenever he says in verse eight of chapter two, "You've defiled my covenant with Levi," he's saying, "Levi have been the people who protected the honor of the Lord."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And-

Seth: Yes

David: ... you Levite priests are not doing that. You're defiling-

Seth: Right

David: ... your very purpose.

Seth: That's right.

David: And the perpetual covenant I made with you is meant to preserve my honor, and you are dishonoring it.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Okay.

Seth: Yeah, and interestingly, not only is a covenant made with Levi on the heels of him showing this intense desire to honor God's name, but the first time that Jacob is called Israel-

David: Mm

Seth: ... is right after Levi leads the charge against Shechem.

David: Ah.

Seth: So right after Levi shows this desire to honor God's n- to honor his sister in God's house, Jacob is called-

David: Mm

Seth: ... Israel, the beginning of God's people.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Again, proving the point that Malachi is replaying the Torah-

David: Yep

Seth: ... for this new generation, saying, "Return to the faithfulness of your forefathers. Return to the faithfulness of Levi."

David: Wow. Okay. So if all the Levites are gonna have dung smeared on their faces-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and kicked out of Israel, and yet the priesthood will continue.

Seth: Not all Levites.

David: Okay.

Seth: The bad Levites.

David: The bad Levites. Okay.

Seth: The Levites that are not faithful, the Levites that are offering-

David: Oh

Seth: ... polluted s- sacrifices.

David: So the purgers need to be purged.

Seth: Yes. Those-

David: Yeah. [laughs]

Seth: The priesthood itself needs to be purged.

David: Okay.

Seth: God will remain faithful to his covenant with Levi. Levi's covenant will continue-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... but it needs to be purified of its bad actors, its skeptics, its malcontents. They need to be removed because they're failing the, the job that they were entrusted with.

David: Okay. That makes sense.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Anything else there?

Seth: No, but we've given all the information we need to go into the third argument with God.

David: Okay. Third argument. [gentle music] Okay, so the two arguments so far, there has been the, "Don't you know I've loved you?"

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And they're like, "No, you haven't." He's like, "Yes, I have. I chose you-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and I'm for you and your land."

Seth: I protected you against any enemy-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... that's come against you.

David: Right.

Seth: Parti- even when it was your own brother.

David: Right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And then the second argument was, "Don't fathers deserve honor? But you've not honored me."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: They're like, "What are you talking about? How have we dishonored you?" He's like, "You're putting roadkill on the altar."

Seth: Yep.

David: "And if you don't... And I'm gonna have to purge the Levitical priests of all the dishonoring priests in order to unprofane-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... this whole priesthood system."

Seth: Yes, "And so that I can restore my covenant with Levi-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... and get us to get back to where it should be."

David: So the people of God aren't receiving the love of God, and the people of God are dishonoring God.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And-

Seth: And potentially, those are connected.

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: "God doesn't love me, so why does he deserve my sacrifices?"

David: Right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Okay. So third argument.

Seth: Third argument is connected to everything we've said before. So we should have in our mind the idea of intermarriage, the idea of honoring God, the idea of covenants, just-

David: Mm

Seth: ... everything swirling. Here's how the third argument begins. "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenants of our Father? Judah has been faithless. An abomination has been committed in Israel in Jerusalem, because Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves-

David: Hmm

Seth: ... and has married the daughters of a foreign god."

David: Ah.

Seth: And there it is. So now this is a critique that expands out from just the priesthood, but to particularly the men of Israel.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And saying, "Just like you were tempted the very first time, a moment of honor needed to be shown among the people of Levi, and Shechem offered you more land and intermarriage. Levi did the right thing back then by tricking them-

David: Right

Seth: ... saying no to that plan-

David: Right

Seth: ... and killing them instead."

David: I'm not gonna intermarry.

Seth: "Instead, you guys have done exactly that. You have chosen to intermarry in hopes of gaining a strategic or material advantage by doing so."

David: Yeah.

Seth: "And that is a dishonoring of the covenant that God has with you because why? God loves you, and he's prom- promised to provide everything you need. You don't need to sleep with adherents of other gods in order to curry their favor."

David: Right.

Seth: "You don't need other gods on your side. You have God alone."

David: Right. So maybe talk about why there was no intermarriage for the people of Israel, like-

Seth: Okay

David: ... ever since Abraham-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... this has been in play, ever since Abraham.

Seth: Yes.

David: 'Cause, like, when Sarah was under threat of getting married to Pharaoh, it was like, uh-oh, is the line of Abraham in trouble?

Seth: Yeah.

David: There's been a, there's been a problem from day one.

Seth: Right.

David: So what's on the line with intermarriage?

Seth: Right. I think o- on a very, like, boots on the ground level, it is a... Intermarriage with people who worship other gods is a failure on the behalf of the men of Israel-

David: Mm

Seth: ... to believe their God will provide for their needs alone. It's admitting that there's power in the gods of other nations, and if we intermarry with the women of, who follow that god, we'll get some of the benefits of those other gods.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: This is why when Solomon, like, collects 1,000 wives, it's a big deal.

David: Right.

Seth: Because these are political alliances that are tied to local deities-

David: Right

Seth: ... of other surrounding nations.

David: And he was consolidating that power by marrying all these women.

Seth: Right. And to some extent, he believed that by trusting these political alliances, he was also admitting that he was trusting the power of other gods, um, and trusting the power of politics and sex to provide for his kingdom rather than letting God provide for his kingdom.

David: Yeah.

Seth: So when the men of Israel are doing the same thing in their own lives, they're admitting-That God isn't enough-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... to provide for them, so they need to go elsewhere to get that provision.

David: That makes sense. It also seems to be like there is a genealogical aspect to this, right? Where it's like you had the-

Seth: Mm

David: ... the purity of the Levites, has-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... was one tribe within Israel that God's been tracing and protecting and wanting to keep pure and now He's saying like, "Hey, we all have one Father."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Right? Which is like God.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: But also Abraham.

Seth: Yep.

David: Is not Abraham our father? [laughs] Right? Like they all have Father Abraham and they were meant to stay in that family-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... um, so that God could be the one to get all the credit for growing-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... that nation.

Seth: Yeah.

David: For making them multiply, that they didn't, like you said, didn't need to trust other gods-

Seth: Right. That's right

David: ... or intermarriage in order to do it.

Seth: That's right.

David: So yeah, I think that, that makes, that makes sense.

Seth: And then God says he has one more thing to say against His people, and He says, "You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because God no longer regards your offerings or accepts them with favor."

David: Hmm.

Seth: And the people respond, "Why doesn't He?"

David: Yeah.

Seth: "Why doesn't He accept our offerings anymore?"

David: Right.

Seth: And He says, "Because," He stand as a witness, "You aren't married to the wife of your youth."

David: Mm.

Seth: God stands as a witness, He's seen that you're no longer married to the wife of your youth. You have l- either left her, divorced her, married a foreign wife and become basically the inheritance of another god. Or you're having adulterous affairs with other women-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... adding to your small little harem. This is faithlessness to God's covenant-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and that's why He no longer accepts your offerings. You in your most basic relationship, your marriage to your spouse, have negated my covenant, your covenant with me, your God.

David: Yeah. I think that makes sense. And, and is it possible that God is also saying that when they've neglected the wife of their youth, that God was the wife of their youth too? I think he's, He's kind of-

Seth: Well, yes

David: ... referring to Himself that way in other prophets.

Seth: The idea with marriage-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... is that the marriage between actual men and actual women is symbolic of God's choice in marriage to His people, Israel.

David: Right.

Seth: So to break that commitment between an actual man and an actual woman is to break faith with the covenant God has made with you as an individual.

David: Right. And-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and since in, like the world you've been building for me is like if you marry a Babylonian woman-

Seth: Yep

David: ... you're probably doing it because you have some kind of faith in her Babylonian god.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And to marry her is to have access to that god.

Seth: That god, that god's land-

David: Right

Seth: ... that god's provisions.

David: Because-

Seth: Yes

David: ... gods back then were more territorial-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... and it was like, "Oh, if I want... I've got Yahweh here in Israel-

Seth: Yep

David: ... but imagine if I had Yahweh and-

Seth: Yep

David: ... the Babylonian god, I'd be extra strong."

Seth: That's right.

David: And so what God's saying is, the wife of your youth, marrying an Israelite woman-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... is saying, "I only want to be married to Yahweh alone."

Seth: Yes. That's a good way-

David: Because I, I want-

Seth: That's a good way to put it

David: ... God alone.

Seth: Yes.

David: And I need no other god.

Seth: That's right.

David: God is one and I am His.

Seth: That's right.

David: And I prove that by marrying an Israelite woman.

Seth: Yes.

David: Okay.

Seth: That's right.

David: That makes sense.

Seth: And maybe I should clarify that Israelite woman-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... is not the sole qualification.

David: Oh, okay.

Seth: A true Israelite woman, which is an Israelite by faith.

David: Ah, yeah.

Seth: Because Ruth was not-

David: Oh, right. Yes

Seth: ... uh-

David: This isn't, this isn't ethnic

Seth: ... an ethnic Israelite.

David: Right.

Seth: Rahab was not an ethnic Israelite.

David: That's right.

Seth: Yet both of these women were considered Israelites-

David: Yes

Seth: ... because they trusted God.

David: Yes.

Seth: So the idea here isn't f- like don't intermarry with other nationalities.

David: Yes.

Seth: The idea here is only marry those who trust in Yahweh alone.

David: Right.

Seth: And you by marrying foreign women are marrying people who don't trust Yahweh alone-

David: Mm

Seth: ... and therefore are dividing your house's allegiances.

David: Okay.

Seth: Your house no longer honors Yahweh alone, and that's why I don't accept your sacrifices anymore.

David: Okay, so God's not accepting their sacrifices anymore and they ask why.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And h- His answer is because you're trusting other gods.

Seth: Yes, that's right.

David: Okay.

Seth: You, you're bringing me offerings, but you don't actually trust me alone to provide for your needs.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And we talked about this back in our, believe it was our Zechariah podcast-

David: Mm

Seth: ... about just the magic of the temple.

David: Oh, yes.

Seth: And the magic of God's presence.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And how when you're, when God's presence is in the land, everything else flourishes.

David: Oh, yes.

Seth: Trees grow up.

David: Right.

Seth: Your crops produce.

David: Your children are healthy.

Seth: Your children are healthy.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Rain falls more frequently. And so again, we keep going back to this idea, well, God doesn't love us. Look at our situation, it sucks. Therefore, God doesn't deserve our honor. We don't need, we shouldn't have to marry only people who believe in Yahweh, 'cause Yahweh's been proven to be a pretty pathetic god in our eyes.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: So let's go marry the, some Babylonian women.

David: See if our land gets better.

Seth: See if our land gets better.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And He's saying, "No, no, no. The magic's still there."

David: [laughs]

Seth: Like, "If you remain faithful to me, your life-

David: Ah

Seth: ... will be fruitful."

David: I, 'cause I was gonna ask, how do they know that God's not been accepting their offerings and why have they been covering the altar with tears-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... if they're like, "Wait, what? What's going on?" They had no idea.

Seth: Right. Well, they're God's tears.

David: Oh.

Seth: God is weeping over the... He, they're offering things.

David: Oh, in God.

Seth: They think they're being fa- giving God His due because, uh, at least God needs some meat. God wants a sacrifice, I'll give Him whatever He wants.

David: Yeah.

Seth: I'll marry these women so that I can c- curry the favor of the Babylonian gods-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and get their land.

David: Yeah.

Seth: But-

David: But the r-

Seth: My relationship-

David: But one of the reasons why, one of the manifestations of them, God not accepting their sacrifice might have been the devastation of the land, famine.

Seth: That's right.

David: Like-

Seth: Yes

David: ... okay, I, I understand. Okay, is there anything else inside this argument?

Seth: No, this is the end of the first three arguments-

David: Okay

Seth: ... where God says, "These are my arguments against you."

David: Yep.

Seth: And in the next three he'll begin to offer a solution of this coming messenger, and we'll talk about that next week.

David: Okay, so the, the three arguments, you, you don't know that I love you.You're dishonoring me and you are trusting other gods through intermarriage.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Okay.

Seth: Yeah.

David: How do we see Jesus in all that? [laughs]

Seth: [laughs] I thought you might ask this.

David: What do you know?

Seth: [laughs]

David: It's like the whole point of the podcast or something.

Seth: Uh, well, I mean, maybe let's just start, let's ... Catch us up through 400 years of divine silence.

David: Okay. [laughs]

Seth: Uh, not much changed.

David: Oh, yeah.

Seth: Malachi gives this, and not much changes.

David: Mm.

Seth: Uh, by the time Rome comes on the scene, the people of Israel still felt forgotten by God on some level. Were they all convinced that God loved them? The priest dishonored God in a different way-

David: Mm

Seth: ... by using the temple to line their own pockets and curry favor with Roman power.

David: Mm.

Seth: And the men of Israel were just as prone to faithlessness and divorce, which is why Jesus multiple times has to talk about divorce in the Sermon- like, in the Sermon on the Mount or with the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: There, he's arguing about divorce. Why? 'Cause that was still common in their day. Like-

David: Right

Seth: ... not much has changed by the time we get to Jesus.

David: I see.

Seth: So just historically, Jesus is addressing a very similar audience-

David: Yeah, it makes sense

Seth: ... to Malachi.

David: Okay. So the historical kind of map on-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... is similar. What about the message of-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... you don't receive my love, you don't honor me, and, I mean, the intermarriage one is still kind of interesting-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... there with seeing how that's fulfilled in Jesus.

Seth: I think the best way to think about intermarriage is just simply, like, not trusting God alone to provide for your needs.

David: Right.

Seth: Right? And if the priests of Jesus's day were setting up stalls in the temple to make money taxing, and even Israelites like Matthew-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... being tax collectors for the Roman army [laughs]

David: Yeah

Seth: ... you know, they are dividing their allegiances in that moment.

David: Right.

Seth: Not trusting God alone to provide for them, but instead trusting the industrial Roman complex-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... to provide for their needs. Like, that, that, that same thing is happening. Intermarriage can just easily read as, like, divided faithfulness to God.

David: Right.

Seth: Dividing faithfulness be- between God and politics, God and other gods.

David: Yeah, I mean, it's also interesting how often Jesus refers to himself as the groom, the bridegroom.

Seth: Yeah. Yes.

David: Like, he's come to marry us-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and yet some of the virgins don't get their lamps ready for him.

Seth: Yep, that's right.

David: Like, they're not, they're not-

Seth: That's right

David: ... ready for the groom.

Seth: Yeah.

David: They're too busy with other things.

Seth: Yeah, so maybe let's just keep going here.

David: Okay.

Seth: Like, one of the ways that Jesus imagines himself towards his people is as a loving husband.

David: Right.

Seth: That's, like, a consistent way scripture talks about Jesus.

David: Which is helpful, 'cause, like, that get- kinda gets a lot of the categories. You've got marriage-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... love, honor-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... covenant keeping.

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: Marriage is a helpful category for all these arguments inside-

Seth: Yep

David: ... these first three.

Seth: Yep.

David: In, in Malachi, it's like, God's like, "I'm your husband. Don't you know that?"

Seth: Yeah.

David: "You're not treating me like one, though."

Seth: Right.

David: "I've always loved you."

Seth: "I've always loved you."

David: "I've protected you."

Seth: "I've protected you."

David: "I've provided for you."

Seth: Yeah.

David: "And yet there's no honor here, and you're marrying other people."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: It's like, uh, he's a, he's a husband, and-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... his wife is not receiving his love.

Seth: Yeah.

David: That's just helpful.

Seth: That's super helpful.

David: So Jesus comes.

Seth: And he identifies himself as a groom. His first miracle is to-

David: Yep

Seth: ... become the host, the best host a wedding has ever seen-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and provides all this amazing wine. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, ends-

David: Yes

Seth: ... in a wedding feast-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... where the church, all of God's covenant people, come to him, the groom-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and feast with him at a big wedding. That's ... The end of the world ends at a, in a wedding.

David: Yeah.

Seth: God is our husband, and we are his bride, and we're called to respond to him as such.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Yes.

David: Yeah. So Go- so in, in Jesus as our ultimate groom, he's saying some of the same things to us today.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: He's saying, "Haven't I loved you?" Right?

Seth: Yep.

David: "I died for you."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: [laughs] "Can you not receive my love? Do you not look back at that event and know that I have loved you so deeply?" And then he can look at us and say, "So why aren't you honoring me with the way you live your life? If you, if you love me," Jesus says, "keep my commands."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Right?

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Like, they weren't keeping their g- God's commands from the Torah on which kind of animals to bring in for sacrifice. Jesus is the same way. He's like, "Love and honor go hand in hand. If you love me, you'll honor me by keeping my commands."

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So Jesus says that same thing to us, and then he ... Then he's basically like, "Now, don't cheat on me." [laughs]

Seth: Right.

David: "I'm all you need."

Seth: Yeah.

David: Jesus plus nothing equals everything.

Seth: Yes.

David: Uh, you don't need another god. You don't need other solution.

Seth: I will provide your daily bread.

David: That's right.

Seth: I, I've got you covered if you trust me alone.

David: Right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So yeah, Jesus fulfills all of the statements-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that God brings up in Malachi.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He loves us. He wants us to honor him.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And he wants to be our only husband.

Seth: Yeah. I think there's another ... It's like God's actions towards his people happened. Like, God's gracious, merciful, saving, loving actions happened to, on behalf of his people while they were still skeptical, suspicious, and ungrateful. Like, in the middle of their skepticism, their suspicion of God's motives, their ungratefulness and their dishonor of God, God's still drawing near to them in the prophet Malachi, still encouraging them to return to him, and Jesus's life demonstrates that same kind of desire to draw near to his people and correct his wife-

David: Mm

Seth: ... lovingly bring them back into a relationship with him. Like, he's always had this desire to be connected with his own, even when they've been disobedient-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and skeptical and suspicious and ungrateful.

David: You said at the book, at the beginning of the episode, the temple's fallen into disrepair. The people aren't obeying the covenant. How does the book start, David?

Seth: God loves-

David: I wouldn't have said, "I love you."

Seth: Right.

David: Right?

Seth: That's right.

David: But that's what God does-

Seth: That's right

David: ... when we are disobedient, far from him, breaking the covenant, disrespectful, honoring other gods.

Seth: Right, and why? Because we think God doesn't love us.

David: Right. And it's like-

Seth: I don't think God's loves us, so I'm gonna do whatever I want.

David: Right. It's in those moments that Jesus comes and professes his love for us-

Seth: Right

David: ... in those dramatic ways.

Seth: Yeah. Also, think about the willingness of God to have an argument with you.

David: Oh, yeah. That's interesting.

Seth: "I love you." "No, you don't."

David: And he's like, "Let me get down to your level and prove to you that I do."

Seth: "Let me show you."

David: Oh, that's kind.

Seth: Yeah. [laughs]

David: Yeah. [laughs] He's like ... Yeah, he doesn't go like, "Fine."

Seth: Fine

David: You're right, I guess I don't.

Seth: [laughs] Right. Yeah.

David: [laughs]

Seth: He actually argues with his people.

David: Yeah, in really kind ways.

Seth: Yes.

David: Wow.

Seth: He exposes their disobedience, but reminds them of his love-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... offers them hope of the future-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... gives them chances to return over and over again.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, "Let me, let me show you the self-defeating nature of what you're choosing for yourself. I'm still available to you. I still love you."

David: Mm.

Seth: "And I'm-

David: That's so good

Seth: ... I'm willing to have the argument." [laughs]

David: "I'm willing to have the argument." Yeah.

Seth: I can think... I just thought of that scene in, uh, The Office.

David: I was gonna say, I was-

Seth: [laughs]

David: ... totally gonna bring it up, where Pam's like, "I think we should fight."

Seth: Yes.

David: Yep.

Seth: Um-

David: And it's like, Jim, her husband, had given up. He just didn't wanna argue anymore.

Seth: Mm-hmm. It was over, like, an affair too, right?

David: No.

Seth: Wasn't that, uh, no-

David: He, no, he was cheating on her with his work, basically.

Seth: Okay.

David: He was an athlete.

Seth: Yeah, that's right.

David: Yep.

Seth: That's right. And so, you know what I mean.

David: Yep. And, but yeah-

Seth: The Bible and The Office

David: ... the Bible and The Office

Seth: ... same, same, same. [laughs]

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yeah. [laughs]

David: Uh, yeah. Okay, last question.

Seth: Uh-

David: This might not be the-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... place to talk about it, I don't know, is, okay, what about all this Levi stuff?

Seth: Okay.

David: 'Cause there, there's a priesthood that needs to be purified-

Seth: Mm

David: ... and Jesus is a priest.

Seth: This, this will all get talked about a lot more in the back half.

David: Okay.

Seth: The idea of the covenant with Levi being fulfilled-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... mostly in the second half.

David: Okay.

Seth: But for now, think about Jesus as zeal for God's house consumed him. We've already mentioned this.

David: Like Phinehas.

Seth: Like Phinehas. He comes to the temple and cleanses it, its dishonorable actors.

David: He purges the purgers.

Seth: Yes. Those who are taking advantage of a God's people, he cleans them out.

David: Right.

Seth: Jesus has no patience for people who use religion to abuse others.

David: I see. So even though-

Seth: Right

David: ... he's not descended from the tribe of Levi-

Seth: Yes

David: ... he fulfills their calling, just like the original Levi did-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... with the defiling of Dinah-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... just like the Levites at Mount Sinai-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... just like Phinehas, Jesus is coming in and cleaning out-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... all that which dishonors God at his temple.

Seth: Yes. We'll talk about this next week, but the Bible talks about how Jesus isn't a Levite.

David: Right.

Seth: He's from the order of Melchizedek.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: But this, his priest- Jesus' priestly order is not different in kind. It still has that same desire to honor God.

David: Yeah.

Seth: It's still doing what Levites does, but just on a grander scale.

David: Mm.

Seth: And what, that's what we'll really talk about next week.

David: All right. Well, that's a good teaser for next week then.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Okay. Well, thank you guys for joining us, and we'll see you on the next episode. [outro music]

Outro: Thank you for listening to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Spoken Gospel creates short films, devotionals, and podcasts like this one. Everything we make is free because of generous supporters like you. To see our resources, visit spokengospel.com or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for listening. See you next week. [outro music]

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God's Last Sermon Before 400 Years of Silence

Show Notes

Why Malachi Matters: The Last Word Before Divine Silence

The First Argument: "I Have Loved You"

The Second Argument: Honor and Dishonor at the Altar

The Covenant with Levi: Honoring God's Honor

The Third Argument: Faithlessness Through Intermarriage

Jesus as the Faithful Groom

Related Resources

Introduction to Malachi

View our devotional on Malachi 1:1-2:16

Ready to study a different book?

Listen to the Malachi Overview: God's Last Sermon for 400 Years podcast

Listen to the Malachi Overview: What's the Deal with John the Baptist? podcast