The Prophet Malachi

However, many of us have gone to a place like the State Fair and they would have the Mirror house as one of the side shows. In the mirror house they had all kinds of mirrors.

• Some of these mirrors would make us look short when we were tall.

• Some of these mirrors would make us look skinny when we were fat.

Mirrors do not always tell us what is in front of us. THESE WERE TRICK MIRRORS!

Illus: According to news report, a certain private school in Virginia, recently was faced with a unique problem.

A number of 12th grade girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night.

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.

Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

Mirrors are very much a part of our life each day because we trust them to tell us what we look like.

We can also trust Malachi to tell us how we look in the sight of God, but the fact is, some of us may not like what he shows us

Let’s look at-

I. THE MAN

Who was the Prophet Malachi?

The preaching prophet, Malachi ministered not long after the time of Nehemiah. The Book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. The temple and the city of Jerusalem had been rebuilt.

Nehemiah is no longer there, and the people become disappointed with God because He is not making them more prosperous and more powerful than their neighbors.

When they compare themselves to their neighbors, they realize that they are poor in many ways. However, they are serving God and doing their duty, so why are they poor while the ungodly are rich.

Malachi was the last prophet before the 400 years known as the Apocryphal period, when there was no communication between God and His chosen people.

The people during Malachi’s time felt that God did not love them because He was not prospering them. In a few minutes you will see why God was not prospering them. And it is the same reason He is not prospering some today.

We looked at THE MAN, now look at -

II. THE MESSAGE

So, why is it worth our time to look at the Book of Malachi?

The reason is because God has not changed. He is still the same God today as the God who created all that was created. What pleased God then, still pleases God today! What displeased the Lord then, still displeases Him now!

What has changed is the way God communicates with His chosen people today.

• In the days of Abraham, He communicated audibly.

• At the time of this passage, He spoke to His people through prophets, like Malachi.

• Today, when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, He abides (lives) in us. God the Holy Spirit will speak to the hearts of any Christian that sincerely seeks the Lord in prayer.

Malachi comes on the scene when the temple was completed under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Haggai, and Zechariah in 516 BC.

Almost 100 years had passed, and whatever reforms had been instituted were being ignored and spiritual apathy had set in. The people were disregarding the priests and the temple, they were not bringing their tithes and offerings and there was intermarriage with foreigners and divorce taking place.

Malachi’s name means "My Messenger." As a messenger, Malachi deals with some hot issues.

A. HE DEALS WITH GOD’S HONOR

Look at Malachi 1:6, we read, “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?”

When a nation has an HONOR and RESPECT problem, they have a major problem.

• Our schools are in the turmoil they are in because students do not honor or respect their teachers.