Reverse The Curse Series

The curse can be broken in your life forever

• God desires that you move Him from being your last resort to your first priority

• It is the will of God that you move the Word of God from being your spare tire and make it your steering wheel

And that is where we are in the story—At the time of the text about a hundred years had passed since God had set the Israelites free from their Babylonian Captivity. It has been approximately a century since God used a pagan king, Cyrus of Persia, to overthrow the Babylonian Empire, set the Jewish people free and even order them to go home to rebuild God’s holy city of Jerusalem. Those first days back home were marked by spiritual renewal and a breathing afresh. The holy temple was restored by Ezra, the city walls were rebuilt by Nehemiah, and the people’s hearts were revived. However, not long after being home, not long after the revival had broken out, not long after God had done so much for them, the Israelites fail once more into cold, callous, and carnal religiosity. And the fires of revival began to phase out and cool off. And once again the Israelites began to turn their hearts away from the God of Yahweh and began to do it their own way.

Now the Bible is clear in Psalm 103:8 that God is slow to anger. But if you are slow to do right, His anger will eventually catch up with you.

And when God sees that the people have yet once more, for yet another generation, proven themselves to diss God and do it their own way, God’s patience is worn and He decides to give Israel ONE MORE CHANCE. And this one more chance is extended to them through the prophet and the prophecy of Malachi.

But take note here that the prophecy of Malachi is not just the last call for Israel spiritually but also historically. Chronologically, the book of Malachi is last in the Old Testament and that is not accidental. When you finish the book of Malachi and you flip over you will find yourself in the New Testament book of Matthew. For consequently, from the end of Malachi to the beginning of Matthew there is a gap that we call the intertestamental period. And it was a period that lasted over 400 years. And for over 400 years there was not a voice heard from a prophet. That is as if after Malachi speaks then through their disobedience God just shuts up and has nothing else to say to Israel. God just stops talking to Israel over 400 years. And the next time a prophet is heard, it is 400 years later when God raises up John the Baptist as a forerunner for the Messiah. And the coming of the Messiah reveals that God is no longer counting on Israel to do what is right. When the Messiah comes he shuts the door on calling Israel the chosen and promised people of God. And when the Messiah comes he opens the door and the floodgates for a strange group of people that the Bible calls “whosoever will….”.

And before the Messiah comes and before He shuts His mouth, God, through His grace, gives Israel just one more chance. In fact there is just a bottom line to the book of Malachi and here it is: STOP PLAYING CHURCH BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.