"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." (Ps 19:14) –That's my prayer as I go through life making LaneWaves–
This post by Craig Groeschel resonated a lot with me. He lists five transparency questions we should be answering when we teach the Bible. Man that is the truth. I find that I am really not very comfortable teaching on a text unless I have wrestled with it myself. And when I have allowed God to work with me through the text, my passion comes out. When my passion comes out, excitement comes out in my speaking.
I’m not sure I’ve thought about it in this detail but I would rather be transparent in how the text impacted me instead of telling a couple of other related stories about someone else.
It was so clear to the people of Israel. How could they miss it? How could they not know how God was going to react? The answer: They did know but didn’t care.
Malachi is one of the minor prophets and for the most part, does not foretell the future but rather decries the height of the current state of Israel’s disobedience. Scholars have difficulty placing the book in history because the book is for the most part void of any historical references. The one mention of Edom sheds a tiny bit of light and so the two prevailing theories is that Malachi was either written before Ezra/Nehemiah or during the time that Nehemiah went back to serve the king and left the newly built walls and the running of the city of Jerusalem to those he had appointed. If you remember, he went back after a time of being gone and cleaned house (literally) in the city and temple.
What we do know about the culture when Malachi was written is that there had been a period of time where the people of Israel had not obeyed the commandments of God and the priests had not taken care of the workings of the temple. We also know that at this time, Israel was a conquered nation as the Babylonians had defeated them and then the Meads and Persians. If you remember, there were three kings of an undivided Israel : Saul, David, Solomon. Solomon’s son Rehoboam took the reigns next but after he decided to continue the heavy taxes and did not heed the council of his father’s advisors, 10 tribes left and formed the northern kingdom named Israel . Rehoboam was left with two tribes and they were called Judah (southern kingdom). Both eventually fell to the foreign nations and were conquered at the time that Malachi was written. Some other things we know:
Priests had the law of Moses and knew God commands
Priests were responsible for the temple and for leading the people
God had demonstrated his love for Israel over and over
Exile and Exodus in Egypt
Wandering in the wilderness
The period of Judges and Kings
Building of the Temple
Okay, enough of the history lesson and on to some genealogy. To understand Malachi, you must also remember the descendants of Abraham. Below is a chart to remind you.
So from the above map we can see Abraham’s descendants. The nation of Israel comes down the line of Isaac and then Jacob. From Jacob we can see his 12 sons and then the names of the 12 tribes that came from each on of them. In chart form that looks like:
Children of Jacob by wife in order of birth (D = Daughter)
Some things to remember: Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for food and also Jacob along with his mother tricked Isaac into giving Jacob the firstborn blessing instead of Esau. God chose Jacob’s line to make the nation of Israel out of. The fact that God chose that line is significant in the study of Malachi.
One note: Edom (1:4) is a reference to the descendants of Esau who are not part of the nation of Israel .
This is long I know but knowing the background to Malachi is critical to understanding the full meaning behind the text. Spend the time digging into the culture and you will be astounded at the profound lessons found in Malachi.
So I’ve not done a lot of technology related posts yet so it might be hard to figure out that I am a technology nut. I am not really addicted to one thing (maybe the Internet) nor do I have a particular obsession with a gadget. But to be clear, I am a geek not a nerd.
What’s the difference you say? Well here is a list of things I am not:
I don’t love to tell you how to make a watch when you ask what time it is
I am not into mathematics, astronomy or physics
I don’t have a pocket protector
I don’t wear dark socks with shorts
And here are things about me:
I have a personality (debatable maybe)
I wear t-shirts under my dress shirts
I comb my hair
I iron my clothes
You can’t lock me in a room with a computer, feed me a pizza once in a while and expect me to be happy
Now I have told people a little too much when they have asked a question about computers. I try not to make a habit of it and try to watch for the eyes rolling into head syndrome.
Here are some more things about me being a geek:
It’s rare that I am unplugged (cell, laptop, etc)
I work on a computer all day and do go home and get on it far too much
I like to research things to death before buying
I love gadgets but don’t have many
My 5 year old knows what I mean when I say “lets Google it”
So did you catch the American Idols last night singing ‘Shout To The Lord’? My wife and I were more than a little surprised which I think was the reaction of many. At first I kinda thought it was cool but then I thought some more and the more I thought about it, the more I thought too many people would like it. Stay with me on this.
Here is the video (March 9th version) in case you missed it:
The first thing I’m left with is that they left out the name of Jesus. Some might say that they had to make the song shorter so they just cut a few lines. Maybe. The second thing that I think about is why they are singing this song. Is it to bring honor and glory to God? Is it to lift up the name of Jesus? Is it to further the kingdom of God? The question that I am left with is what was the intent of them singing that song?
I’m pretty sure they sang the song to bring up the ratings. I’m pretty sure they played the song to appeal to Christians to give to their charity. Is that evil? Debatable. I realy don’t think we Christians should be all gaga over it.
Why I am not excited about it? Well without naming the name of Jesus, their singing to God (or is it god?), while it is nice, it lacks the power that the name of Jesus brings. It also lacks the exclusivity. The exclusivity that Jesus is the only way. Will them singing this do anything to further the kingdom of God? Will it bring anyone to Jesus? Doubtful in my mind.
So in the end, it is either neutral or maybe tipping on the negative side. Am I totally against it? Nope. I just don’t get excited when non-Christians invoke the name of God with an agenda.
What say you?
**Update**
I missed it but I heard that the Idols sang it again last night (March 10th) WITH Jesus in it. That’s good. I’m still not super excited for reasons stated above but does it helps to tip the scales a bit in the right direction.
I’ve gained more than a few pounds this winter and it is time to stop thinking about it and drop the weight. Anyone else have some winter fat stored up? It might feel cozy and comfy but I know when I look in the mirror, it ain’t so comfy lookin’. If you know what I mean.
So I joined up at MapMyRun.com and am going to start training for the Reeds Lake Run in June. I used to run a lot more races than in recent years. Time to do something about that too.
Oh, and I formed a group at MapMyRun so if you want to share your runs with us, send me an email at matt@lanewaves.com
I watched this video last summer and it really messed with me. This video might not be what you expected as it is talking about wasting our lives and our money. Ever since I first saw this video, Piper’s words “be free from the American dream” and ”we have money so that we can show that God is our God and not money”. That has really messed me up. How often do I fall into the trap of using my resources for myself and not to further the kingdom of God?
Now I might not like spiders much but this solution seems a little over the top….and why do I want to practice!?!??! I have these HUGE plastic spiders in my house thanks to my kids and I ALWAYS look twice. I don’t want to practice.
To some, it’ll seem ridiculous; to others, essential. The Long-Handled Spider Catcher, a 2-foot shaft with a pistol grip at one end and a ring of soft bristle pincers at the other, grabs a spider from a safe distance and releases it unharmed. The package includes a plastic spider for practice.
40 “If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. 41 And if a man’s hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. 42 But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head. (ESV)
Now if that passage doesn’t make you laugh or at least smile, there is something wrong with your happy button. Chapter 13 is all about leprous skin diseases (many skin diseases really) with some of the descriptions (read verses 26 and 30) really making me sick to my stomach. Then amongst all of that there is this baldness passage. “If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean.” How many men are happy they are clean? That just cracks me up.
When you realize it’s never too late to right a wrong and never too late to right a wrong decision, you escape your past & set a new course. 1 week ago
Recent Comments