You are a blessing to the world

 How interesting it was to hear about Malachi in a current Sentinel Watch program with Tony Lobl and Jasmine Birtles: "Dispelling the fear of money". 

Jasmine shares that wonderful promise from Malachi 3:10-11--

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruit of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

Jasmine explains that the passage not only assures us that God is the fountain of all good for each of us, but equally, that WE ARE the blessing: God pours US out to be a blessing for the world. 

We might look at ourselves and those around us, those who've gone before us, and those we may never even meet, in a different, perhaps less critical, light when we acknowledge this declaration of Malachi's. What a new view of everyone's worth emerges.

Julie Swannell

All scrubbed up

 The book of Malachi reminds me a bit of Job which also uses a question and answer method. But of course, Malachi also has some wonderful promises.

Here's one: "I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty. (Mal. 3:1, NIV)

Then follows some doubt about the outcome of this promise: But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. (Mal. 3: 2-3)

In the April 2013 copy of The Christian Science Journal, Doug Brown wrote about the significance of this passage for him, showing that, as he says: "The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy ... are as contemporary today as when they were written."

Upon reading about refining and purifying, which he likens to both baptism and unfoldment of truth, Mr. Brown writes that "the purification of thought called "baptism" ... is ... overturning and purifying every aspect of our human experience--our hopes, our desires. And this truth is current. What seems new is the unfoldment of what always has been and always will be."

He continues: "I could see for the first time that this presence of divine Truth is active in consciousness, today, this very moment, right where we are... The moment I realized "I AM" as the power that motivates, my point of view changed from observer to participator, from being on the outside looking up to God, to looking out from God."

Just as the refiner's fire burns the dross from silver and gold, and the fuller's soap removes the impurities from wool, so "[w]hen we place God first and let Him precede us in every aspect of our lives, we begin to see dramatic changes ... We develop a sense of stability and dependability. We stop reacting. We end the war with a false sense of self. We stop judging, taking offence, insisting on having things our way." ("The Immediacy of Truth" by Doug Brown, CS Journal April 2013). 

It makes one feel all scrubbed up just thinking about this promise from Malachi doesn't it?

Julie Swannell

Some contextual background for Malachi

The little book of Malachi has set me on a path of enquiry. Here's what I've discovered so far:

Purpose: Its purpose was to "confront the people with their sins" (NIV Study Bible). (Have we some confronting to do - personally and as a nation?)

Who were the intended listeners? Malachi's message was to the Jews (in Jerusalem) who had returned from exile in Babylon (and to us today: those of us who may have unwittingly adopted practices and positions of the culture surrounding us.)

When was it written? Around the middle of the fifth century B.C. (The Continuity of the Bible: Prophetic Writings by Thomas Linton Leishman, p. 85).  

Why? "It was an age of discontent, worldliness, and skepticism.... [The book] confirms the basic law of Deuteronomy ... it upholds the principles of law, thus supporting law rather than legalism." (ibid).

What was Malachi's method? The temple had been rebuilt about one hundred years ago, but the congregation is not tuned in to God's demands and they have many excuses for why not! Malachi uses a special literary technique of questions and answers to get his message across. (Leishman explains that Haggai has a similar approach.) Here are some examples of the question and answer method used:

• I have loved you, says the Lord ... How have you loved us? (Mal. 1:2 NIV)
• It is you priests who show contempt for my name ... How have we shown contempt for your name? (Mal 1:6)
• Return to me, and I will return to you ... How are we to return? (Mal 3: 6)
• ...you rob me. ... How are we robbing you? (Mal 3: 8)

Malachi neatly provides the link between the Old and New Testaments. He references Moses while also pointing to a new messenger to come. After Malachi, there were more than 400 years of "silence" (no further prophecy*) until the appearance of John the Baptist. At this point, explains the NIV Study Bible: "The Eastern empires of the Israelites' captivity -- Babylon, Assyria, and Persia -- no longer dominate the region. Instead, a new power has risen in the West", the empire of Rome. Its boundaries extend from the Mediterranean to North Africa and even Europe".

So what happened in between? 

The Persian Period (539-336 BC)

The Hellenistic Period (336-165 BC) This period began with the "fall of Persia to Alexander the Great" (NIV). During the Hellenistic Period, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (The Greeks wanted everyone to speak Greek and most Jews would have now used Greek every day.) This was called the Septuagint. It was quoted by Jesus. 

The Maccabean Period (165-63 BC) The book of Daniel was probably* written at this time, even though it describes a period around 600 BC. Daniel wrote "in a secret code understandable only to the Jews" (The Reforming Power of the Scriptures by Mary Trammell and William Dawley, p. 29).

The Roman Period (63 BC - 135 AD)

It's great to learn this context, but it seems to me that Malachi's enduring message is not one of shame, fear or rebuke, but of  promise. We can talk more about that in another post. 

Julie Swannell

Malachi ("my messenger") in an age of scepticism

Thomas Leishman, Bible student and Christian Scientist, who commented on the whole Bible in a series in The Christian Science Journal, is very helpful about the book of Malachi. (The series was called The Continuity of the Bible, with sub-heading, A series showing the progressive unfoldment of the Christ, Truth, throughout the Scriptures. A very valuable record.)

Malachi is a book that I have not made much of really, while appreciating a couple of verses as being helpful, namely:

 “Bring your tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (3:10),  and 

 “Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us?” (2:10 to 2^nd ?). But, in the search for those verses, I find the prophesy about John the Baptist, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me...” (3:1 (to :)). (Emphases added. ed.)

Here are some excerpts from Leishman’s piece from the Journal of November 1939, 

THE PROPHETS OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

"CHAPTERS 56 to 66 of the book of Isaiah appear to date from about 460 B.C.—some sixty years after Haggai and Zechariah. ...

"From the same period comes the anonymous volume now known as the book of Malachi, that is, of "my messenger"—this being the translation of the Hebrew word "malachi" found in Malachi 3:1. 

"Like his contemporary, Third-Isaiah, Malachi lived in an age of skepticism, when men doubted the very existence of God, and felt it "vain to serve" Him (Mal. 2:17, 3:14). He reminds his apathetic countrymen of God's gracious love (1:2), pointing out that even the Gentiles honor God's name, while the Chosen People profane it (Mal. 1: 1 If, R.V.); yet the Israelites also will receive a blessing, if they will but give more freely (3:10). 

"The prophet tells the people as a whole that the gifts of light and of healing will follow the exhibition of true reverence (4:2). So while Malachi commended obedience to the law of Moses (4:4), he foresaw many of the characteristics of the gospel law of love; and he also foretold the coming of the forerunner of the Messiah (Mal. 4:5; cf. Luke 1:17; Matt. 11:14)."

Joyce Voysey

Ed. How thrilling that there was a messenger to usher in John the Baptist's arrival. What does that mean for readers today?

Malachi the messenger

As we launch into a new month of reading, the beautiful poem by Vera Goring Thomas from the archives of The Christian Science Journal at JSH-Online provides a splendid starting point for our book, Malachi. 

From the May 1951 issue of The Christian Science Journal

Malachi 

by VERA GORING THOMAS

Who was Malachi?
Shepherd? Prophet? Statesman?
Who can say?—
Voicing enduring truth, precious, vital, immanent, then
As today.
Malachi—messenger pseudonym or name?
Let it suffice, he came—
Came with a vision foreseeing the coming of John.
The cleanser, baptizer, the voice from the wilderness
Calling upon
All to repentance, to wake to the message he brought,
Physical purity, symbol of purified thought.
The link with Old Testament prophets who came to portray…
That consciousness chastened through turning from matter's display.
The forerunner of spiritual consciousness hidden until
The heart yields to God, knowing only His purpose and will.

Who was Malachi?
One who loved purity, urged all to know
That into grateful hearts, purged, reaching to God,
Would flow
The healing truth, the joy to know and prove
The Father's changeless love.
And who foresaw, though centuries apart,
One who would say. "Blessed
Are the pure in heart." 

Those with access to JSH-Online and/or the bound volumes in Reading Rooms will be interested to read the healing of granulated eyes in the January 1889 issue of the Journal. It was written by Loren Chowen who quotes this passage from Malachi:

And try Me now in this, saith Jehovah of Hosts,—
Whether I will not open to you the Windows of Heaven,

And pour out upon you a blessing.

Happy reading and discovering,

Julie Swannell