Reverse the Curse

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.

Why? Because it’s one thing to come to church; but it’s another thing to BE the church.
Its one thing to go to worship; but it’s another thing to have worship go through you.
Its one thing to boast and brag about how long the Lord has been working ON you; but it’s another thing to reach a point where the Lord is working IN you and THROUGH to work on somebody else. Its one thing to come to church, sit, look sleep and then make your exit; but it’s another thing when your mind has been renewed, your soul has been redeemed, your commitment has been reaffirmed—where every day of your life—the Spirit of God is using the Word of God to make you look like the Son of God. Where there is a changing and re-arranging or your priorities IN God and a re-charging of your commitment BEFORE God.

I. The Danger of Disobedience (vs. 6 – 9)
a. Rebellion ‘…you have gone away…’

Gone away (cuwr): to neglect, hide, removal or restraint.
Ordinance (khoke): that which is limited, set apart, or boundary

• Your actions have abandoned your identity
• Your calling has departed from what I have called you to and destined your for
• Your carnal and fleshly desire to please self have neglected the worship that I desire from you to be set apart for Me in your heart.

b. Robbery ‘…you have robbed me.’
There is a difference between a thief and a robber. A thief waits until you walk away and not looking and then steals what you have by stealth. But a robber takes a gun or a knife or a weapon and stands in your face and takes what you have by force. God didn’t say we are thieves, He said that we are robbers…this is not embezzlement but a carjacking.

There is tension between God and Israel. And Israel is so hard-hearted and stiffnecked that they can’t even recognize that it is their sin that is causing separation with God. They think that the reason there is tension is because of some inconsistency and unfaitfhfulness on God’s part.

And so God clears that up in verse 6 when he says, ‘I am the Lord…I do not change’. In other words He does not change…He does not change like the shifting shadows. (Hebrews 11) God is eternally consistent. He does not change. What that means is that if God DOES seem distant and far away…guess who moved? But God says in the text, let me tell you what the real issue is, you need to return to me. Watch the hard-hearted Israelites in verse 7, ‘return, in what way?’ I