https://www.bible.com/events/49173827

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Minor Prophets – Malachi

Famous last words

Today we are finishing up our teaching series on the Minor Prophets studying the last recorded words of a prophet named Malachi.

The way our bibles are organized, Malachi literally gets the last word before the New Testament.

We don’t know a lot about Malachi himself. He was prophesying after the children of Israel got to return from exile in Babylon, somewhere around the 5th century.

The Book of Malachi recounts the people’s unfaithfulness through six “disputes” with God. God will call the people out for their sin and rebellion- and they repeatedly deny it.

As you read the words of Malachi, it becomes clear that the people could not discern the real condition of their hearts.

We focus on the farewell words of the Old Testament. Words that gave way to 400 years of silence from God.

In many ways these last words summarize the whole Old Testament, the law of Moses and the prophets. They call people to action through repentance and returning to the Lord. They call on them to remember the words of the prophets, words of warning, words of judgement, and words of hope. This morning we are glancing back to the minor prophets, but with an eye toward the coming advent season.

Malachi 3:1-7

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

The Lord points once again to a coming day of judgement for his people. Within this text we see consequences for sin, but we also see a promised effect of God’s coming-

That he would purify and cleanse, and that He will restore proper worship and relationship with Himself.

God takes sin seriously- the minor prophets have shown us that again and again. But we also see the heart of the Father in calling His people to repent and return to him.

God’s heart is not His people’s destruction, but their restoration in relationship with Him.

And that brings us to the famous last words of Malachi.

Malachi 4:5-6

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Following these words is 400 years of silence. There were no new prophecies, and no recorded words from the Lord- only the command to remember, to wait, and to watch. And many didn’t.

Finding our place in the story:

1. Sometimes when we should learn our lesson, we don’t. Just like the Israelites who should’ve learned after experiencing exile, and didn’t. They remained unfaithful. Sometimes we learn and, as proven by the people during the time of the Minor Prophet Malachi, sometimes we don’t.

2. You may feel like ‘silence’ is your reality right now. What would it felt like to receive these promises, delivered through the prophet Malachi, and yet receive nothing else from the Lord? Some of us feel as though God’s silence means God’s absence.

Luke 1:11-17

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Despite all that had gone before, despite a rebellious and disobedient people, by His great grace, God intervened in a moment of time.

The last words of the Old Testament became first cries….

The cries of The Savior.

The famous last words of Malachi point to the messenger and the manger.

Christmas didn’t come because we needed a holiday- it came because we needed a savior.

Updates on the new Waynesboro campus

God is inviting us to step out in faith to plant a Spanish-speaking campus in the Waynesboro community. Join us on the journey!

Check out the link below for more information and for frequent updates throughout the journey.

Waynesboro

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org Thank you for your partnership in building the Kingdom of Christ as you impact others!

Giving

https://www.bible.com/events/49173508

Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

Minor Prophets – Malachi

Famous last words

Today we are finishing up our teaching series on the Minor Prophets studying the last recorded words of a prophet named Malachi.

The way our bibles are organized, Malachi literally gets the last word before the New Testament.

We don’t know a lot about Malachi himself. He was prophesying after the children of Israel got to return from exile in Babylon, somewhere around the 5th century

The Book of Malachi recounts the people’s unfaithfulness through six “disputes” with God. God will call the people out for their sin and rebellion- and they repeatedly deny it or accuse God for it.

As you read the words of Malachi, it becomes clear that the people could not discern the real condition of their hearts.

We focus on the farewell words of the Old Testament. Words that gave way to 400 years of silence from God.

In many ways these last words summarize the whole Old Testament, the law of Moses and the prophets. They call people to action through repentance and returning to the Lord. They call on them to remember the words of the prophets, words of warning, words of judgement, and words of hope. This morning we are glancing back to the minor prophets, but with an eye toward the coming advent season.

Malachi 3:1-7

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

The Lord points once again to a coming day of judgement for his people. Within this text we see consequences for sin, but we also see a promised effect of God’s coming-

That he would purify and cleanse

He will restore proper worship and relationship with himself.

God takes sin seriously- the minor prophets have shown us that again and again. But we also see the heart of the Father in calling his people to repent and return to him.

God’s heart is not his people’s destruction, but their restoration in relationship with him.

And that brings us to the famous last words of Malachi.

Malachi 4:4-6

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

The Old Testament closes leaving the people leaning over the banister of time, looking into the future.

400 years of silence, no new prophecies, no recorded words from the Lord- only the command to remember, to wait, and to watch. And many didn’t.

If our journey with the Minor Prophets has taught us anything, it is that God takes sin very seriously. God’s anger was displayed, but his heart was always inviting his people to return to him. But they refused.

And here we are with Malachi, a nation of rebellious people, refusing to acknowledge God in their lives. And in these famous last words of the Old Testament, it can seem like it’s all over. Like nothing will ever change

But then…despite all that had gone before…despite a rebellious and disobedient people. By His great grace, God intervened in a moment of time.

The last words of the Old Testament gave way became first cries….

The cries of The Savior

The famous last words of Malachi point to the messenger and the manger.

Christmas didn’t come because we needed a holiday- it came because we needed a savior.

He changed everything for his people, and he can change everything for you.

Updates on the new Waynesboro campus

God is inviting us to step out in faith to plant a Spanish-speaking campus in the Waynesboro community. Join us on the journey!

Check out the link below for more information and for frequent updates throughout the journey.

Waynesboro

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org Thank you for your partnership in building the Kingdom of Christ as you impact others!

Giving

https://www.bible.com/events/49169508

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Minor Prophets – Zephaniah

What is God like?

Today we continue our series entitled ‘Minor Prophets’. We are taking a deep dive into 4 of the minor prophets from the Old Testament scriptures.

They are full of redemptive themes that should convict us, equip us, challenge us, and encourage us.

The purpose of this series is our desire to gain a new appreciation for the “minor” prophets but also see that God has important things to say to us in 2023 through them, affirming the relevance of every part of the Bible. We want to have a greater understanding of these four minor prophets and what God wants to teach us through them.

Today we are looking at Zephaniah

Zephaniah was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah during the time of King Josiah.

We don’t know a lot about the Prophet himself. The 3 chapters we have of his work are poetic, prophetic and in many ways, apocalyptic.

In short- Zephaniah can be really challenging to work through. But we don’t want the challenge to discourage our pursuit of God through his word.

One of the things Zephaniah helps us to see is what God is like- both in how he deals with sin and how he relates to his people.

Zephaniah 1:4-6

“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests— those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.”

In a very real sense Zephaniah begins painting a familiar picture of a wayward people, with the message that God is about to bring judgement upon them for their actions.

The consequences of their sin and rebellion were close at hand. As the prophecies unfold, Chapter 3 completes the picture of just how rebellious God’s people had become.

Zephaniah 3:1-2

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God.

The people of God, to be a signpost to the nations, had become a city of oppressing rebels, marked by sin.

They would not obey, they would not receive the Lord’s teaching, they would not trust him, they would not draw near to him.

Despite all God had done, hundreds of years trying to persuade his people to follow the way of righteousness- they refused.

Finally, God says “enough is enough”

Zephaniah 3:8

Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.

If the minor prophets teach us anything about who God is, it is that he takes sin VERY seriously.

God would not be good; he would not be Holy if he simply allowed sin to go on forever un-checked. A loving God would not ignore sin and its terrible effects.

What we often fail to recognize is that God’s anger is motivated by his love and compassion for his people.

God knows full well what sin does, how it destroys our lives, how it breaks relationships not least our relationship with Himself. He knows how sin ruins his good creation.

So, when God moves to deal with sin yes, we will see consequences to those actions. Those consequences can be really difficult, painful even.

But if that’s all we see, and angry old principal dishing out discipline, we don’t have the full picture.

The Lord’s anger, his judgement, his discipline in dealing with sin is motivated by his desire to see his people restored and brought near in relationship.

Zephaniah 3:14-17

Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Rejoice people of God! God’s anger is not focused on your destruction, but on your restoration.

What we see in the prophet of Zephaniah is a Compassionate God, who is angered by sin, but relentless in pursuit of his people. That’s who He is.

Will you see God as he really is this Christmas season? He is THE GIFT- and your name is on the palm of his hands- will you receive him?

Will you see him as a God who is right there with you in the midst of your story?

Will you know him as the mighty warrior who can save you from sin and darkness?

Will you believe that no matter how bad you have messed up, God can restore you?

Will you imagine God singing over you in pure delight?

Updates on the new Waynesboro campus

God is inviting us to step out in faith to plant a Spanish-speaking campus in the Waynesboro community. Join us on the journey!

Check out the link below for more information and for frequent updates throughout the journey.

Waynesboro

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org Thank you for your partnership in building the Kingdom of Christ as you impact others!

Giving