Malachi

Malachi is a book that begins by speaking of how the Lord chose Jacob(Israel) to be his people.  Malachi then talks about how the people are not making sacrifices acording to the priesthood established by God.  Malachi speaks words of admonition for priests telling them that if they do not set their heart apart to honor the name of the Lord then the Lord will send a curse upon them.  The Lord would do this so that his covenant of the Levitical priesthood would be esablished.  The book deals with Judah's unfaithfulness and how the people of Judah have desecrated the sanctuary God loves.  The Lord speaks of how the people lack faith when they cry out to him and tells them that they should not break faith.  Malachi tells the Israelites that they have broken faith with the one whom  they married, the Lord.  Malachi thejn proceeds to talk about the day of judgment in which the messenger is sent to prepare the way before the Lord.  He then says after the messenger comes, the Lord himself will come. He speaks of the Lord as a refiners fire and a launderer's soap who woould refine and purify silver and purify the priests like gold and silver.  The Lord also speaks out to the people of the land who are not paying their tithes and offerings. Because tithing was just an Old Testament principle, this passage only applies in the sense of how you are giving yourself to the Lord.  The principle of tithing is not necessary in the New Testament for we are all priests in the work of the tenple.  The Lord promises that those who trust him in their giving will see his blessing and will know the difference of how God deals with the righteous and the wicked.  The book concludes by talking about the day of the Lord.  It proceeds to talk about the servanmt of the Lord Elijah whom  God would send to prepare the way before the Lord.  Each year at Passover, the Jews now have Elijah's cup at the table and they have a session in which they send the youngest child outside to see if Elijah has come yet.  The prophecy does not literally refer to Elijah.  Rather, it refers to someone who operates in the spirit and power of Elijah who will turn the hearts of the children to their fathers.  The book contains several Messianic Prophecies.  This book can be appl,ied to us as Christians in the sense that we are all priests of the invisible church of the Lord.  Thus, we need to ask ourselves whether or not we are defiling the temple of God which is the corporal invisible body of the church worldwide.  Sin that infiltrates our life often does defile the temple of the Lord.  We as priests need to take care of the temple as a whole and to be good to all of God's people.  We need to make acceptable sacrifices in this temple which can only be done through consulting our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  So ask yourself whether or not you are defiling the tmple of the Lord.  If you are, then ask for God to forgive you and then turn from your sin.