Malachi

Malachi 1: The great King loves His people

Begin in prayer

Before we read about the great King who loves His people, please stop and come to Him together. Ask Him to quiet our hearts, and to show us why His name deserves honor from every nation.

For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods.

Psalm 95:3

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You are the great King who loves Your people, and help us to see Christ. Make us more like Jesus, and teach us to honor Your name. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The LORD tells Israel, “I have loved you,” and the people ask how. He points to Jacob and Esau, and to Edom's ruined land. Then He speaks to the priests, who despise His name by offering blind, lame and sick animals. He has no pleasure in them, and He will take no offering from their hand. From sunrise to sunset His name is great among the nations. He is a great King, and the man who vows a male animal and gives a defective one is cursed.

As you read Malachi 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The great King loves His people, and His name deserves honor from every nation.

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, written to people who were back in their own land. They doubted that God cared for them, so the LORD began with love before He gave one word of rebuke. His proof was two brothers, Jacob and Esau. Jacob's family lived in the land again, while Esau's land of Edom lay in ruins (verses 2 to 4). Yet the people who were loved gave Him the least. Priests at His altar brought blind, lame and sick animals that they would not give a governor (verses 7 and 8). Three times the people ask how, as if they have done nothing wrong. His greatness reaches past Israel, for from sunrise to sunset His name is great among the nations (verse 11). God's love for sinners is shown most fully at the cross, where Christ gave Himself for His people.

How does Malachi 1 show us that the great King loves His people, and that His name deserves honor from every nation?

The LORD told Israel, “I have loved you.”

When Israel asked, “How have you loved us?” He pointed to two brothers, Jacob and Esau (verse 2). He loved Jacob, but Esau He hated, and Esau's mountains in Edom were left a desolation (verse 3). Edom planned to build again, but the LORD said, “They shall build, but I will throw down” (verse 4). Israel would see this with their own eyes and say that the LORD is great, even beyond their border (verse 5).

The priests gave God sick and lame animals, and did not honor Him.

A son honors his father and a servant his master, yet the priests despised the name of the LORD (verse 6). They put blind, lame and sick animals on His altar and called His table contemptible, which means worthless (verses 7 and 8). The LORD tells them to give the same gift to their governor and see if he is pleased (verse 8). He finds no pleasure in them and will take no offering from their hand (verse 10). Christ is the offering they could not bring, for He offered Himself to God without defect (Hebrews 9 verse 14).

The LORD says His name is great among all the nations.

From sunrise to sunset, the LORD says, His name is great among the nations (verse 11). Incense, which is sweet smoke burned in worship, and a pure offering will be given to His name in every place. A man who promises a male animal from his flock and then gives a defective one is a cursed deceiver (verse 14). God ends with who He is. He says, “I am a great King,” and His name is awesome among the nations (verse 14).

Memorise

I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.

Malachi 1:14

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, when have I given God less than my best, and how do I need Jesus?

“I have loved you,” says the LORD, and He says it to priests who gave Him blind and lame animals. Jesus is the proof of that love. The Son of the great King came for sinners who had dishonored His Father.

We have dishonored this King too, and nothing we bring can pay for it. So Jesus gave His perfect life on the cross and took the punishment for His people's sin, paying the price in full. Then God raised Him from the dead.

So come to the King who loves sinners. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone who trusts Him is forgiven, whatever nation they come from.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Jesus gave Himself to God for His people, and that He calls every sinner to come. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please explain God's judgment on Edom in verses 3 and 4 soberly, without teaching contempt for any people.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that the great King loves His people, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:19

Lord God, thank You that You are a great King and that Your name is great among the nations. Thank You for sending Jesus for sinners. Forgive us for giving You less than our best, and help each of us to turn from sin and trust Him. Amen.