Malachi 2:6
The Lord is speaking and
He says about Levi in Malachi 2:6-7, The law of
truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me
in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. For the priest's
lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he
is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. I think we can safely say that
these things that are said about Levi can be said about anyone who serves the
Lord in spirit and in truth. Notice that it says in verse 6 that Levi did turn many away from iniquity. Of course, we
know that it is the work of the Lord to turn people away from iniquity. No one
turns from iniquity unless the Spirit of God touches their heart and turns them
to Jesus. But God uses people. God uses His believers to spread His Word and to
do His work. There is no more important work than a lost soul coming to know
Jesus as Savior. To emphasize this truth Jesus told three parables in Luke
15:4-32, What man of you, having an hundred sheep,
if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness,
and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it,
he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbours, saying unto
them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto
you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons,
which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if
she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek
diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours
together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found
the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the
younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not
many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey
into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And
when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began
to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and
he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his
belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when
he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread
enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my
father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son:
make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But
when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and
ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I
have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be
called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe,
and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring
hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my
son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to
be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to
the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called
one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him,
Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he
hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in:
therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And
he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither
transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with
harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son,
thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It
was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead,
and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
God will reward those who
are involved in the harvest of souls. It says in Daniel 12:2-3, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as
the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as
the stars for ever and ever. If God is working through you for the
work of turning many to righteousness, it does not mean necessarily that you
will be present when another person receives Christ as Savior. You might be
planting seeds that take fruit later, or you might be preparing the ground for
some other believer who God will use in combination to how He used you. The
Apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians 3:6, I
have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Jesus made it clear also that God uses different believers in different ways in
order to get the final harvest of souls. Jesus said in John 4:35-38, Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh
harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes,
and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may
rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I
sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour:
other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
There is a tremendous
amount of information from Malachi 2:7 about those who are called to preach the
gospel. In the Old Testament that was largely the priests, and that is why
priests are mentioned in this verse. In the New Testament instead of priests,
we have pastors who perform similar responsibilities at least in regards to the
preaching of the Word of God. God equips and He calls certain individuals to
preach the Word. Concerning the priests, it says in Malachi 2:7, For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they
should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
There are some things about this verse that are the same in this New Testament
age in which we live, and there are some things that
are different. We already mentioned that today we have pastors instead of
priests. Notice the emphasis is on what the pastor has to say. Both his lips
and his mouth are mentioned, and the fact that he is a messenger of the Lord of hosts. In order to be a messenger,
you must have two things: you must be sent by the Lord and you must have a
message. In order to have a message, you must learn something. That is why it
says, his lips should keep knowledge. Paul wrote to
Timothy in Second Timothy 2:15, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth. Lack of knowledge is one of the reason that a novice should not
become a pastor just as the Holy Spirit said in First Timothy 3:6, Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil. After a person is saved by faith in
Jesus Christ it often takes time to learn how to walk by faith in Jesus day
after day, and it takes time to learn Gods Word. That is one reason that
pastors are also called presbyters in the
New Testament, which means literally elders. An elder is a senior. Older
means wiser, or at least it should, both in regards to life and in regards to
the Book of God. For a man who has walked faithfully with the Lord Jesus for
forty or fifty years, reading and studying the Word of God all that time, it
should be a rather simple process to take a passage and scripture and teach a
group of people exactly what that passage means. After a work of a lifetime, a
man of God is prepared to do just that. God blesses His Word, so as long as
someone is preaching the Word, God will bless it. The big question will always
be: does this person have enough knowledge that they have gained over the years
in order to be qualified? Speaking of pastors, it says in First Timothy 5:17, Let the elders
that rule well be counted worthy of double honour,
especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
It also says in Titus 1:5, For this cause left I
thee in
Some men prepare hours and
hours and hours for every sermon that they preach. That is all well and good,
but maybe in some cases so much time-consuming preparation is required because
the person does not really know the Word of God that well yet. If they knew the
Word of God better, they would not have to spend so much time researching and
preparing for each sermon. How about opening up
a passage and teaching what you have already
learned over the years? Of course, this implies that many years have already passed in which such a person has been growing in
the Lord and in the knowledge of His Word. This implies that such a person is
an elder, and therefore has an advantage of being an elder. An elder who has
learned the Word of God over the course of a long life will never get burned
out from preparing a new sermon each week. His life-long study of the Word of
God prepared him already.
Notice what is
said about the
priests who lived during the time of Malachi who were not
teaching the Word of God as they ought to have been doing. It says in
Malachi 2:8, But ye are departed out of the way;
ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of
Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. Instead of
teaching others and building them up and helping them to become better
believers, they caused many to stumble at the law. They caused others to stumble for two reasons: by
what they did themselves and by what they taught. Concerning their own actions,
it says about the priests, ye are departed out of
the way. The Apostle Paul realized that he had to be very careful or
else after he had reached to others, he would fall away from the faith and not
live according to the precepts that he taught. Paul wrote in First Corinthians
9:24-27, Know ye not that they which run in a race
run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye
may obtain. And every man that striveth for the
mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so
fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep
under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I
have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
The priests did not do what
they ought to have done in their own lives. They did not walk with the Lord.
They did not live a believers life. And the things that they taught were not
the right things. The Lord said to them in Malachi 2:8, ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi. The word that is translated corrupted means to ruin, to decay, or to
destroy. Just because someone is using the Bible does not mean that they are
teaching the right things. They might be corrupting and ruining the Word of
God. They might be misrepresenting the covenant that God has revealed in the
Word. Remember that the Bible is divided into two great covenants: the old
covenant of the Old Testament: the covenant of the law and the new covenant of
the New Testament, what Jesus called in First Corinthians 11:25, the new testament in my blood. Jesus also said in
Matthew 26:28, For this is my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. The words
covenant and testament are interchangeable. These priests during the time of
Malachi were not properly teaching the covenant under which they lived: the
covenant of the law. The question to be asked about everyone who claims to be
teaching the Bible in the day in which we live is this: are they properly
teaching the new covenant that is based upon the blood of Christ. In other
words, are they teaching grace instead of law? Be careful: law and grace must
not be mixed. There is a difference between the covenant of the law and the
covenant of the New Testament.
Notice what Paul said in Ephesians 3:1-7 in
describing the new message and the new emphasis of the covenant of grace. Paul
wrote, For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye
read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other
ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his
holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his
promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to
the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his
power.
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Copyright; 2011 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved