Malachi

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Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

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            This morning we come to the third oracle given in the book of Malachi.  The first oracle was that the LORD loved Israel and this statement was shown to be true in that the LORD had sovereignly and freely chosen Israel to be His covenant people and to enjoy the covenant blessings, and in contrast to Esau God promised that Israel would be restored to their land, while Edom would never be restored to theirs.

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            Last Sunday we began looking at the LORD’S charge against the priests.  The charge was that they were despising the name of the LORD.  They were doing this by bringing polluted animals to the LORD’S altar, in fact we learned that it went farther than that, they held the altar and the whole sacrificial system in contempt.  Instead of regarding the temple service as an undeserved honor, they regarded it as a distasteful, miserable job.

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            Last Sunday we began looking at the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.  We learned that the LORD loves Israel and this is seen in that He sovereignly and freely chose Israel to be the recipient of the covenant relationship with Him, to receive the covenant blessings.  This love was also seen in the fact that after God judged Israel for her rebellion against Him by sending her into exile, He, then promised restoration and blessing and He brought her back from her exile and restored her to her land.

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            Last Sunday we finished up the book of Revelation.  I gave you some homework to complete this week in anticipation of the book we will start this morning.  I told you that you were to read through the book of Malachi, the book that we will be in for the next several weeks.