Well just imagine with me it's about 450 BC in the land of Judah and picture a man living there
! And he goes to his local prophet Malachi. I'm so disappointed Malachi. Coming back
! Why doesn't the Lord accept my worship and my offering? Why doesn't the Lord accept my worship?
My offerings Malachi. To be honest I'm feeling pretty dry spiritually. What's the matter Malachi?
Well any great pastor would begin to ask questions wouldn't he? How's your Bible reading? How's
your prayer life going? Good questions to ask. But did you notice the question that Malachi
asks the man how's your marriage? He wants to talk about divine stuff. Malachi wants to
talk domestic stuff. How are things with you and the wife? Malachi in this section rebukes
the Israelite man. He rebukes the religion of the man because of his relationships. Particularly
his marriage or his divorce but it could mean all of his relationships. And God says to us
in this section your relationships with one another deeply and profoundly affect your relationship
with me. That's the logic of verse 13 and 14 if you look there isn't it? I'm just over
the page. The people say why doesn't the Lord accept our offerings? Why is our relationship
with him not working? Verse 14 God says the Lord is witness between you and the wife of your
youth. God is saying here what goes on in your house, in your living room and in your bedroom
deeply affects what is going to happen when you come to my house. Things between me and
you. So the important connection to see in our passage this morning is that the guy's religious
problems were actually relational problems. His spiritual life or her spiritual life was affected
by his social life with others. Now why does that matter so much to God? Why get so worked
up about it Malachi? About human relationships? Well first of all these relationships matter he says
because we have one father creator God. We have one father creator God. As Israel read out the passage
earlier I don't know if you noticed the repeated word in these verses. The key word that is repeated
is the word faithlessly. Do you notice that? Chapter 2 verse 10, verse 11, verse 14, verse 15, verse 16.
Faithlessly. The word is a bit stronger really. It can mean more like treachery. It's a very strong word. It speaks of betrayal.
It's a bit stronger. It's a bit stronger. It's a bit stronger. It's a bit stronger. It's a bit stronger. It's a bit stronger.
It was, verse 11, an abomination. Now that is a very strong word. It's the same word that is used for how God feels about child sacrifice.
It's killing your children for a false god. Or of incest. It's a very strong word. Relational breakdown between them is an abomination to God.
Because it was God who brought them together in the first place, wasn't it? If you look back at verse 10,
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Then why are we faithless to one another?
Malachi asks a rhetorical question, doesn't he? Stupid question.
There is an inexpressible bond between them that they have forgotten and they are ignoring and they are going against.
It's that bond between siblings, isn't it?
I don't know if you have got a brother or a sister or you've grown up in a family with lots of brothers and sisters.
There is that connection, isn't there? Because of a common parent, usually in most cases.
Connection with mum and dad.
And so if siblings end up falling out, it really affects the parents.
It is really upsetting to see children seriously break up, isn't it?
Not just to fall out for a bit.
But when they are treacherous towards one another.
Because their identity, their unity, their oneness in the family is about the identity of the one parent.
To act like you are no brother or sister of mine is to say that he is no father of us.
Betraying the one who brought them together.
And so this is why an issue between two Christian people is never just an issue between two Christian people.
Social problems in the church and amongst the people of God will often lead to spiritual problems.
It's really interesting how the Bible prioritises those two things.
Because you would have thought, wouldn't you, that spiritual things are more important than kind of relational things.
But remember what Jesus says.
He says, if therefore you're presenting your offering at the altar, religious activity,
and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar.
And go your way, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
He's saying there, isn't he, that there's something more important than giving an offering.
Something more important than religious activity, or even giving financially, or serving in the church.
It is giving socially.
And getting right with other people.
Our church building debt kind of hangs over us, doesn't it?
But it's not the biggest challenge for this church, actually.
It's the challenge of our relationships.
Treachery and betrayal and ignoring that connection is an abomination to God.
Because he is our one father and one creator.
And it reflects on him.
Now, we can apply it generally to relationships in the church.
But I think Malachi here, and we can see that he's on to something more specific.
Because this treachery, in particular, happens in two ways in this passage.
Treachery, first of all, happens when we establish wrong relationships.
It happens when we establish wrong relationships.
And this is to do primarily in this passage here, with the relationship of marriage.
Just drop your eye down to verse 11.
You profane the sanctuary of the Lord.
You've married the daughter of a foreign God.
God says here, doesn't he, that damage is done to my worship and my sanctuary
when you get close to the wrong kinds of people.
When you build relationships with those people, our relationship breaks down.
Because marriage is a very, very powerful thing.
Later in verse 14, he speaks about marriage being like a partnership.
And the same word is used to describe the cement that sticks bricks together in a building.
Once you put them together, it's very difficult to pull them apart.
It is a covenant relationship.
A legally binding relationship.
And that pervasive bond, that legal bond between a man and a woman,
is important particularly because of its spiritual significance to the people of God.
Malachi talks about marrying the daughter of a foreign God here, doesn't he?
Now, some theologians think that that is just picture language.
It's just a parable of their kind of idolatry, of them turning away from God.
It's picture language.
But that is to miss the point.
It wasn't just that marrying foreign daughters was a picture of idolatry.
It was actually the cause of it.
God had said through Moses, hadn't he, in Deuteronomy,
You shall not intermarry with foreign women or men,
giving your sons to their daughters or taking their daughters for your sons.
For they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods.
We've got to be careful there.
We see in Deuteronomy that racial intermarriage was forbidden.
For the Old Testament people of God, but not for racial reasons.
But for religious reasons.
It was because then each nation had their own particular god that they would worship.
And so marriages to men or women outside of Israel
was the catalyst for spiritual problems, for idolatry.
So the warning was, if you marry that person who is not of me,
not of the Lord, then that will have an impact on your worship.
And that's because marriage was not just seen as a romantic commitment then.
It was a way of making alliances,
getting security, of making political moves.
Marriage was the way that you got what you wanted and what you needed in life.
You see what they were doing here was
trying to get the things that they thought actually God was no longer going to give them
by compromising on this.
Emma's been watching Pride and Prejudice,
the BBC version, of course.
It's all about pairing the Bennett sisters up with the right men, isn't it?
That is such a crude way of describing it.
But that's as far as I can see what it's about.
The right men should bring security
and peace
and prosperity,
Mr. Darcy.
They are the things that God had already promised to his people.
They think,
God isn't giving me these things,
so I'll go elsewhere.
I'll go outside of Israel.
I'll look for a better suitor.
I'll marry into another family,
into another nation
with another God.
So what they were doing
maritally was an indication of how they were
spiritually.
Malachi is showing us here, isn't he,
that marriage
is a very religious activity.
Whether you're religious or not,
who you decide to make partnership with
will shape the God that you worship
and how you worship.
It's one of the big problems
in the land of Israel
with the kings, wasn't it?
Even the good kings
that managed to get rid of the
false gods out of the land of Egypt
couldn't quite get rid of the
high places
where the false gods were worshipped.
Who brought those high places in?
Well, mostly Solomon,
the king's foreign wives.
He couldn't quite bring himself
to put them away.
And the signs are perhaps there
if you look at verse 13.
You see the way that they worship.
God rebukes them for
this crying and weeping and groaning.
It's kind of hypocritical
show of religion.
But what is damning about that
is it looks a lot like
pagan religion,
pagan worship.
I don't know if you remember
in two kings
the whole Elijah
and the prophets of Baal
you know when God
sends his fire down
and burns up
the offering
when it's covered in water.
And the way that the prophets of Baal
try and do that
is by crying out
and calling out
and going into hysterics
but he did not answer.
And they were marrying
these women
and in turn
marrying the spirit
of the age of the world
around them
and adopting their values
and adopting
their way of worshipping
their way of reaching salvation
and it's so subtle actually
isn't it?
Notice that they're still
trying to worship
the Lord
at his temple
but the way
they are doing that
has shifted.
They come with
outward sorrow
showing great
external demonstrations
but that is not
how the Lord
has asked them
to worship him.
Not with emotional
blackmail
not by bending
his arm
that was
pagan
worship
to kind of
speed the response
of the gods.
The way
they worship
has subtly
been changed
by the world
around them
and by the connections
they've made
with it.
they've forgotten
grace
which the world
knows so little
about.
They'd adopted
the we need to
impress God
mentality of worship
and it was so subtle
wasn't it?
We realise here
that marriage
is a religious
act
and who you
marry
bears on
who you
worship
and how you
worship
and how you
begin to
think
and how you
believe.
Don't
underestimate
the influence
that these
connections
can make
that a spouse
can have
on you.
Let me say
that if you're
considering marriage
here this morning
at some point
and you are
on a trajectory
of falling
in love
with somebody
who is not
a Christian
you are on
a trajectory
of disobeying
God
and of having
your worship
of him
hampered
and of
being changed
or of even
leaving him
altogether.
Somebody once
said
don't marry
the spirit
of the age
or you'll be
a widower
in the next.
If that
person's
supreme
God
is something
other than
the Lord
then you'll
be heading
into a union
that betrays
him
that is
treacherous
towards him.
Think about
your brothers
and sisters
as well.
It is
treacherous
when a
Christian person
says I'm
living for
the Lord
and then
unite with
someone who
does not
support or
live in that
covenant that
you have with
the Lord.
It betrays
the church
of God
doesn't it?
It deals
treacherously
with your
brothers and
sisters saying
one thing and
doing another
saying I'm
committed to
you.
We are one
body and
one family
united in
mind and
spirit yet I'm
going to marry
this person and
I'm going to
go out with
them.
It's treacherous
isn't it?
I know that
Malachi is being
pretty tough
here.
maybe some
of you at
the end of
this service
are going to
think well
this area of
relationships has
been an area
that I've
really messed
up in and
it's a real
difficulty for
me and there
are lots of
regrets in my
life and I
feel awful
about them
and I long
for grace and
I long for
forgiveness.
Let me say
to you that
actually you
are not if
you feel like
that in the
crosshairs this
morning.
Actually it's
the people who
sit rather
comfortably looking
at this behaviour
and thinking I'm
so glad I'm not
like that.
Because as well
as making wrong
relationships the
big problem and
actually I think
the bigger problem
for them is
betraying and
letting right
relationships fester
and neglecting
them and even
breaking them.
Second reason
why treachery
happens making
wrong relationships
but secondly
when we break
right relationships
when we break
right relationships
look at verse
14 again
you say why
does he not
because the
Lord was
witness between
you and the
wife of your
youth to whom
you have been
faithless.
though she is
your companion
and your wife
by covenant.
And he speaks
of the same
issue doesn't
he in verse
16 for the
man who does
not love his
wife but
divorces her
says the
Lord the God
of Israel
covers his
garment with
violence and
so guard
yourselves in
your spirit
do not be
faithless.
I think most
of us in this
room have
probably been
touched in
some way
by marriage
breakdown.
The ripples
of it go
far and
they last
a long
time don't
they?
The Bible
teaches that
in some
cases divorce
may be the
best thing.
There are
legitimate cases
for that.
It's a really
sticky issue
isn't it?
I want to
say that this
passage is
not all
that the
Bible teaches
on the
subject of
marriage or
on divorce.
We've got to
judge each
case by
reasoned
application of
the whole
counsel of
God.
And there
are always
there's always
restoration
and forgiveness
when we
mess up and
we do mess
up.
But having
said that I
don't want to
soften what
Malachi brings
to the table
because the
reasons for
divorce for
them in
this case
were just
plain wrong.
The problem
here for
these Israelite
men is what
ruled the
marriage was
purely the
whims of
these men.
what had
happened was
that the
covenantal
relationship,
that legally
binding
relationship,
had become
a consumer
relationship.
And when
you're a
consumer,
the customer
is always
right.
Right?
Our society
says that
love is a
spontaneous
desire,
not a
legal oath
or promise.
So when
the flame
flickers out,
move on.
And in
the same
way for
them,
covenants
don't mean
much now.
An
obligation
to love
someone means
less than
an impulse
to love
someone.
And they
were divorcing
their wives
as far as
we can see
for no good
reason at
all.
Good
women of
the Lord,
wives of
their youth,
verse 14.
Maybe their
first love,
first wives.
And again
here, the
social issues
lead to
spiritual
issues.
Look at
verse 15.
Did he
not make
them one
with a
portion of
the spirit
in their
union?
And what
was the
one God
seeking?
Godly
offspring.
Now these
verses are
not easy
to understand.
Verse 15
is not easy
to understand,
not even
if you can
get the
English
right of
the original
Hebrew.
It's one
of the rare
places where
it's quite
difficult to
know the
precise sense
of the
Hebrew.
But I
think we
can work
out from
the context
what he's
trying to
say here.
He's saying
here that
divorce of
this kind
is an
attack on
the identity
of God
as one,
as the
only God,
mainly
because of
the function
of marriage
in producing
and raising
children.
part of
the one
God's
plan to
fill the
world with
glory is
uniting a
husband and
a wife to
be one,
to fill the
world with
the seed of
his people.
Do you see
that?
Godly
offspring.
That was the
plan for Adam
and Eve,
wasn't it?
And it
means that
even in
Malachi's
day,
God uses
natural means
of families
and of
having
babies
and to
be a
part,
to be a
means of
the increase
of his
kingdom.
To bring
people into
the world
who keep
covenant with
him,
godly
offspring.
It doesn't
mean that a
child born to
Christian parents
is guaranteed
to keep
covenant with
the Lord,
it doesn't
mean that,
but that's
the expectation.
And so
breaking right
relationships
in marriage
and making
wrong ones
is a barrier
to this.
It is a
barrier to
the child.
It's a
really serious
problem.
When parents
are no longer
able to
raise a
child in
the Lord's
way because
there's a
conflict of
interest,
the man
has thrown
his Christian
wife out
and married
a non-Christian
and however
sympathetic she
might be
to his
religion,
it will
be a
barrier to
the child's
godliness.
And it
might even
contribute to
future covenant
breaking by
the child.
This kind
of consumer
way of
looking at
relationships
puts a
stop to
God's
kingdom.
It would
be as bad
as standing
at the
door at
5 to
11 on a
Sunday morning
and just
pushing people
out of
the door.
children may
walk away
from the
faith of
their parents
for different
reasons,
but it
doesn't mean
that this
reason still
is not
true,
of breaking
down good
relationships
and letting
them fester
and neglecting
them.
Someone in
the Times
newspaper has
written recently
that if you
allow yourself
to believe
that marriage
is the union
of two
persons for
life,
in my
opinion we
need to
begin the
long process
of reconditioning
ourselves to
let go of
the culturally
imposed obsession
with monogamy.
That's staying
with one
spouse.
In other
words,
they're saying
aren't they,
marriage is a
consumer
relationship,
not a
covenantal
relationship.
The whole
why bother
with a piece
of paper
thing,
you hear
that a lot
don't you,
if we're
together as
a couple,
why bother
signing a
piece of
paper?
Why make
it legal?
Actually some
people say
if we make
it legal it
will make
it worse.
Bertrand
Russell the
atheist said
relationships
are killed
by the
thought that
they are
a duty.
But don't
we know
actually deep
down
that true
love expresses
itself in
those kind
of promises.
When you
want to say
to a person
not just
I love
you but to
quote Whitney
Houston,
I will
always love
you.
There will
never be a
day when I
will not
love you
even if my
feelings change
from time
to time.
It's not
love if it
doesn't say
that, is
it?
I love
you enough
but actually
not enough
to cut
off all
of my
other
options.
Not
enough to
say I
never want
the
relationship
to end.
Lewis
Meade,
who's a
Christian
ethicist,
says,
my wife
has lived
with five
different men
since we
got married.
Each of
them has
been me.
And that
is the
challenge,
isn't it,
of these
relationships,
these good
relationships.
And it's
the warning
here of
maintaining
them, to
guard yourself
in your
spirit and
not to be
faithless,
as Malachi
says.
Husbands
are commanded,
love your
wives.
Don't
kind of
soften that.
It doesn't
say, do it
when you
feel love.
love.
It is a
command for
all of the
time.
Wives are
commanded as
well to
love their
husbands.
Malachi
says, don't
hate your
wife.
Don't
divorce her.
That goes
for the
wife too.
Marry
someone you
like, yes,
of course.
But it's
realising that
on some
days you
won't like
them, and
it might get
a little bit
rocky.
But when
it's a
covenantal
relationship built
on legal
promises and
not on
consumer
choice,
actually,
you've
got to
love them.
You've
got to
love them.
C.S.
Lewis was
on the
radio a
lot during
World War
II, and
he spoke,
one of his
main messages
was about
loving your
enemies, which
was a really
big question,
wasn't it,
during World
War II for
many people.
He asked
the question,
how do you
manufacture
feelings that
aren't there
for someone
you know
you need
to love?
How do
you love
someone you
don't love?
He shows
that actions
often control
feelings, not
the other way
around.
He said,
don't bother
wasting time
wondering whether
you love your
neighbour, act
as if you
did.
When you
behave as if
you love
someone, you
will presently
come to love
him.
He says
it works
the other
way round
as well,
with hate,
bearing in
mind the
history of
when this
was.
He said,
the Germans
perhaps at
first ill-treated
the Jews
because they
hated them,
but afterwards
they hated
them much
more because
they had
ill-treated
them.
The more
cruel you
are, he
said, the
more you
will hate,
and the
more you
hate, the
more cruel
you will
become.
So true,
isn't it?
Actions lead
to feelings.
Feelings don't
lead to action
all the time.
Love is both
a spontaneous
thing, and
it's actually a
duty of
care.
So you
may not
feel tender
to those
people that
you are
joined to
in the
church and
in marriage.
You may
not feel
loving towards
them, you
may not feel
eager to
please them,
you may
not feel
affectionate,
but you
must be
those things.
Because
marriage is
covenantal,
not consumer
relationship.
We
understand this,
don't we,
with children,
if you've
got children.
We would
frown more
on a parent
who gives
their child
up because
they don't
like them
anymore,
than on a
husband or
wife who
does that.
even when
a child
gives nothing
in return,
even when
we don't
like them
on occasion,
when they
really wind
us up,
when all
the effort
is poured
in for
no return,
you still
love them
actually because
you've got to
love them.
Later in
life they may
go off the
rails,
they may
require even
more investment
in their
twenties,
giving you
nothing in
return,
but you
still love
them because
you've got to
love them.
you have a
duty of
care,
you have a
responsibility.
We understand
that with
children and
it's the
same with
these
covenantal
relationships.
So what
God has
joined together,
let not
man separate.
The man
leaves
Malachi's
office.
He's got
some thinking
to do,
hasn't he?
With the
huge realisation
that it is
impossible to
leave your
private life
at home
when you
come to
God's
house.
His
religious
problems
were his
relational
problems
and his
spiritual
life was
affected by
his social
life.
Wives
and husbands
in the
Lord,
if you're
not married,
your brothers
and your
sisters,
you are
joined
together with
them in
a covenantal
relationship
under one
father and
creator who
has brought
you together
by covenant.
And so
folks,
you've got to
love them.
You've got to
love them.
And as you
do that in
action,
you will find
that you will
begin to do it
in feeling.
Let's pray.