Bro. David's Weekly Word
Weekly Word from Bro. David
August 11, 2016
From The Pastor's Heart:
This is our fifth section in the series as we study through the Old Testament prophecy of Malachi. Malachi is the last book in the OT and the last of the prophets. Last, but not least, of course! There are all sorts of truths we need to learn. Here, we see God's people going through the motions. And as we've seen, we have a tendency to do the same thing!
We're in Malachi 2:10-17 and we want to think about this subject: Evidence of an Unfaithful Heart.
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers? 11 Judah has dealt treacherously, And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned The Lord's holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts! 13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. 14 Yet you say, "For what reason?" Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. 15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 16 "For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence," Says the Lord of hosts. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously." 17 You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, "In what way have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them," Or, "Where is the God of justice?"
From London comes this report: Two women were talking at a fashionable London restaurant about their husbands. They showed each other photographs and realized they were married to the same man. Today the man, hotel night porter John Jones, 47, is in prison for five years. He was married before he met either of the two women.
How in the world could this guy keep up with more than one wife? I can't keep up with the one I have! Not to mention more than one mother-in-law. How do you survive that? And what one word would you use to describe someone like that? Unfaithful! That's right! How could you even call this man a husband? He is completely and totally unfaithful.
Unfaithfulness or faithlessness is the main theme of this passage; Why then are we faithless to one another is the searching question that begins the passage. However, this section also makes it clear that being faithless to others entails being faithless to God.
But here we see God's people consistently being unfaithful. It's one of the things we seem to do well. We are faithful at being unfaithful. You can count on the fact that we just can't be counted on. You can trust that we're really just not trustworthy.
God is faithful to His people and calls His people to be faithful to Him. But people are not only called to be faithful to God, but also faithful to each other, within the covenant community of God's people as we will see here in Malachi.
In our passage, we will see in the coming days that God's people are continually unfaithful. Malachi will show us that:
An unfaithful heart is shown by a lack of commitment
An unfaithful heart is shown by A lack of conviction about the way of God
An unfaithful heart is shown by A lack of concern for the Word of God
You will not want to miss one section of this study. Even better if you can be here at 6:30 on Wednesday evening; we not only have this same Bible Study, but we have a chance to interact with one another and ask questions. Be here and I know you will not only add to this study, you will learn from it as well.