THE GREAT KING
Today’s Reading: Malachi 1-2
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
This is St. Lazarus Church built at the location where Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. The depiction behind the altar is of Jesus, the resurrection and life. The village in which the church is located on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives is called to this day by the local people, El Lazaria. After 400 years of prophetic silence, the people recognized that in Jesus a mighty prophet, and more than a prophet, Immanuel (“God with us”) had come to them (John 11).
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Malachi 1:14b, 2:10b
“For I am a GREAT KING,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the nations.”
…Why do we deal treacherously with one another
By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
Almost 100 years had passed since the Temple was rebuilt and since the people had heard the powerful preaching of Haggai and Zechariah. Malachi tells us that the priests had grown tired of the daily routine and that corruption was evident. This was manifested in the failure to pay their tithes and give their offerings (reading for tomorrow), as well as their marriages to wives who were not followers of the true God. Some had divorced their Jewish wives and married foreign women.The leaders in the Temple were going through the motions of worship, even showing strong emotions (Malachi 2:13). Covering “the altar of the Lord with tears” was not acceptable to God when at the same time they were living in sin as shown by their unfaithfulness in their marriages. The last four verses in today’s reading point this out. As shown in our key verses, the people no longer feared God as they once did. They were profaning, showing disrespect and irreverence for the Covenant (the most solemn and binding commitment possible between two parties), which their fathers had made with God. The evidence of this was in their disobedience to God, going through the motions of worship, even showing strong emotions, but living in sin continually.
The “love” and “hate” spoken of in Malachi 1:2 refers to Jacob (Israel) and the neighbouring nation of Edomites, descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob. We know from many Scriptures that God loves the individual person but hates the sin represented by the persistent evil practised by nations in their culture and deeds. Yes, Israel sinned too, but the difference was that Israel repented of their sins on a regular basis and reversed corrupt practises, lining up with God’s Word every three or four generations. May God grant us another wave of repentance and obedience to His unchanging Word!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I confess You as my “Great King!” I recognize Your absolute authority over my life. My tears do not prove repentance; obedience does! I pray that the grace to repent, to turn away from living in sin, will be manifested 24/7 in my life. I ask this in the Name of the One who never sinned and, therefore, had no need of repentance, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
The “wife of my youth” (Malachi 2:14-15) was 19 and I was 22 when we entered what I regard as an unbreakable covenant, our marriage. She is sleeping as I write this in the early morning. We’ll be married 58 years this coming September 19th. She spends much time in prayer before she sleeps. I’m too sleepy then, so I have my prayer time when I awake refreshed most mornings (at my age, 79, an afternoon sleep is essential!). Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth, summed it up in a humorous way when she was asked if she ever considered divorce from Billy. She said, “Murder sometimes, but divorce never!” When Norma-Jean and I gave our word (our most sacred possession) “until death do us part,” it meant just that. Obedience to our covenant with God means working through the problems and never giving up!
The other evidence of withdrawing from obedience to God is in the area of tithing…that 10% off the top of our entire income. Malachi points out that failure to PAY our tithes is actually stealing from God, as it is His, not ours. I’m jumping ahead here to Malachi 3 because of its extremely important message. These are almost the final words of the Bible which Jesus and His Apostles read and believed. We begin to GIVE back to God only when we give offerings over and above the tithe (alms for needy people, as well as for soul-winning ministries such as Crossroads, etc.). Obedience to God is a must, both in our marriages and in our tithes and offerings. Jesus and His disciples would have read Malachi and put into practice the teaching on tithes and offerings. I make no apologies for believing that these two areas of human behaviour represent the minimum level of commitment to God so that, as my father prayed in my hearing every day when I was a child, “O God, may the smile of Your approval be on my life this day.”
Yours for a revival of faith and obedience in every generation, not just every 100 years,
David
P.S. Ezra Levant, named after the ancient prophet who led in the rebuilding of the Temple, is a Canadian who is Jewish and who takes on many Christian causes. I think we should support this modern Ezra. Click here for information. Someone has said that when good people do nothing, evil flourishes. TRUE!!! Ezra is doing his part with a passion. Let’s do our part.
O JESUS, I HAVE PROMISED
“O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou forever near me, my master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my guide.
O let me feel Thee near me! The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear Thee speaking in accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self will.
O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen, Thou guardian of my soul.
O Jesus, Thou hast promised to all who follow Thee
That where Thou art in glory there shall Thy servant be.
And Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my master and my friend.
O let me see Thy footprints, and in them plant mine own;
My hope to follow duly is in Thy strength alone.
O guide me, call me, draw me, uphold me to the end;
And then in Heaven receive me, my Savior and my friend.”
John E. Bode (1816-1874). In 1868, Bode wrote these words for his daughter’s and two sons’ confirmation service. At the time, Bode was a pastor in Castle Camps parish, Cambridgeshire, England. It was published in the appendix of Psalms and Hymns of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, 1869.
“I have promised to obey Your words.” Psalm 119:57
Holy Spirit, Jesus Culture, Kim Walker-Smith (awesome)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFByOX8Fb0M
Thanks Beverlee and Nan for your Birthday wishes for my dear Ted. Today is his 80th we celebrated at our son!s yesterday. Lovely to see family and friends. When we came home we watched a Gaither video, from the Billy Graham library what a lovely finish to the special day.
Hope we will all meet one day in heaven. wouldn’t that be wonderful. God bless you Pastor David and all you saints. Ekeanor M.
Thank you for posting the song. I printed it out so that a can read it again later.
You’re very welcome, Martin. The start of the hymn was the opening May page in Echoes of Eternity, so I looked it up. This morning at church, we sang one of my favourite songs, Jesus You’re More Than a Friend. It is a comforting thought when we think of being with Jesus in that sense.
Thank you Beverlee..the poem and song
Bless you, sister Irene!
Amen, Pastor David. God bless all today as we obey and worship in our churches today!
Thank you Beverlee for posting that poem by a man who lived in Cambrige area where my grandfather Coston also grew up. I am proud of him athough I never knew him as he was a good Christian man.
That is awesome, Ger! Bless you on this precious day, dear sister-in-Christ!
Amen to your message and prayer, this morning, David. God’s blessings to all–such a beautiful morning, to walk, and contemplate God’s gifts to us. Amen!
Bless you Pastor David for your words of wisdom and prayer!!
A blessed morning as we worship this morning and Glorify THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!!
To those celebrating the resurrection of OUR LORD this day, “HE IS RISEN!! HE IS RISEN INDEED!!! BLESS HIS HOLY NAME!!! AND HE LIVES FOREVER MORE!!!
Thank you, Pastor David, for honoring Ezra Levant! And thank you Abba, heavenly father, for blessing us with a fearless voice.
Thank you Beverlee and Happy Birthday to your husband Ted, Eleanor!
Thanks Ger.
Please pray for my nephew BOB STEFURE…he is in emergency..he has had a life threatening heart attached…early this morning…blocked artery…
Thank you …God Bless you
Dear Father in Heaven I pray that you would be in that hospital with Irene”s nephew Bob. Guide the Doctors so that they would know exactly how to treat him. Dear Father please be with his family give them strength and help them to put their trust in you for his complete healing. I ask this in the precious Name of Jesus, a name that is above all names. Amen and amen.
Amen, amen, and amen!
Lord God, we come into agreement with Eleanor for our sister Irene’s nephew. We rebuke the enemy that has attacked him and claim his healing in the Mighty Name of Jesus, our Healer, Redeemer, Saviour and Rock to which we cling. We pray that Your mighty Hands touch down upon Bob, dear Lord, as a lightning bolt of healing and revival. We pray that Your precious Blood covers and strengthens him and brings his heart to full restoration. We pray for strength and unity and comfort for his entire family and that the faith from Irene shines as a halo around them to give them strength. In You we believe, Father. In You we see the power. In You we claim the glory, forever and ever! In Jesus’ precious Name, we pray–amen, amen, and amen.
Thank you Eleanor and Beverlee for your prayers for Bob…and I come in agreement with your prayers in Jesus Name!! Amen!!