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Malachi 2:1-9 – Troublesome priests

Read Malachi 2:1-9

Summary

God’s people were afflicted by troublesome priests. They were supposed to lead God’s people in pure worship, but had turned religion to ritual, and the people’s lack of belief in God’s love had led to cold hearts and empty worship. The priests failed to teach God’s love, and God’s promises symbolised in the rebuilt temple. The people did not follow God’s commands, and so corruption was rife, and justice was absent.

In the third message of God to his people through Malachi, the corrupt practices of the priests are brought into focus. In verses 1 to 9 of chapter 2, God announces a curse on the prophets, because they had not lived up to their calling, and instead had corrupted their practices and worship.

Our passage explained

v1-7

In verses 1 to 3 of chapter 2, God announces a curse on the priests. “If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honour to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings” (v.2). The priests offered impure, unacceptable sacrifices to God, and announced God’s blessing despite this, so God promised that if they continued in these practices they and their blessings would be cursed.

The curse would extend to a rebuke on their offspring (who would be future priests). The priests themselves would be treated as unclean and banished from the temple (v.3). The priests, who were supposed to be holy, would be treated like the offal and dung of their sacrifices and removed from God’s presence.

The reason for the curse is that the priests had failed in their calling (vv.4-7). God called Levi’s tribe to serve as his priests and servants in the midst of Israel, which Malachi calls “my covenant with Levi” (v.4). Their duties were to teach and rebuke, bringing life and peace with God to those who listened (v.5), and awe-filled worship of God (v.6).

The priests were the teachers of God’s people. They were responsible for teaching God’s law. In verse 6, this is described idealistically as “true instruction was in [Levi’s] mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips.” The priests walked with God, and led others to turn away from their sins. This was the ideal which they were called to: as God’s messenger, “the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth” (v.7).

v8-9

Sadly the priests had not lived up to the ideal, but instead were known for their corruption (8-9). They had “turned aside from the way… caused many to stumble by [their] instruction” and “corrupted the covenant of Levi” (v.8). Instead of teaching the righteous law of God and his gracious mercy to his people, they taught “dead orthodoxy” or led the people astray like false teachers. 

Moreover, they showed partiality in their teaching (v.9), giving special treatment to the rich and powerful over the poor and powerless, a particularly disgusting thing in God’s eyes. For this, God would make them “despised and abased before all the people”, so they would get the opposite of what their special treatment was designed to get: power for themselves.

Our passage applied

For God’s Teachers

The curse handed down on these God’s troublesome priests is a reminder that God pays particular attention to the teaching of his people. The book of James tells us that not many should want to become teachers, because God will judge them more strictly (James 3:1). Teachers play a particularly important role as undershepherds, helping guide “the flock” in the way and how to honour and serve God. 

Teachers of God’s people must remember to instruct all of God’s word, as he has announced it. They should try not to sugar-coat it or deliver messages which please the wealthy and powerful, and leave the poor and oppressed weary and suffering in their sins. The preacher is God’s messenger, instructing and guiding God’s people in holiness.

For God’s People

As God’s people, we must listen to God’s messenger, and encourage him to preach and teach without fear of man or the favour of any people. As the preacher explains to us God’s words, he helps us to: walk in God’s ways, be thankful and worshipful for God’s saving acts, and helps us to turn from our sins. He helps us, as priests of the New Covenant, to go and teach others to serve and worship God.

But we can also be thankful that even though the best undershepherds God gives us are sinners and fall short of their calling; we have a true and faithful priest and teacher in Jesus. Jesus did not care if his listeners were rich or poor; he faithfully taught anyone of any position, and intercedes for all who believed. 

Jesus is God’s messenger to the highest extent, who fulfilled the priestly calling in all its duties and roles. He bore the curse meant for us, so that we may be blessed by God. As we follow Jesus and listen to his instruction, we will have life and peace with God.

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Icicles

Malachi 1:1-6 – Cold Hearts, Empty Worship

Read Malachi 1:6-14

Summary

God’s people did not believe God loved them, and it affected the way they worshipped. They had listened to God’s command to rebuilt his temple, but they could not see the covenant blessings they expected in response. Religion turned to ritual, corruption was rife, justice was absent, God’s people were still ruled by outsiders.

God sent the prophet Malachi to encourage God’s people to renewed trust, repentance of their sins, and promising the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah. After reminding of God’s unchanging covenant love for all of his chosen people, God turns his attention to the cold hearts and empty worship of his people. In verses 6 to 14 of chapter 1, God rebukes the empty worship coming from a cold heart, promises future pure worship, and announces a curse on empty worship.

Our passage explained

v1-10

Malachi’s second message to God’s people begins with a rebuke of empty worship. God’s people had questioned God’s covenant love (v.2), and this questioning had brought cold hearts. As a result, while servants may honour their masters and sons their fathers, the priests showed no respect for God by offering polluted animals as sacrifices (vv.6-7) when he is deserving of far greater honour.

Offering animals which were ceremonially unclean and unacceptable, such as “blind animals in sacrifice” or “those that are lame or sick” (v.8) was a direct violation of God’s Ceremonial Laws, and reflected unbelief in what the various sacrifices pointed forward to: Jesus’ perfect unblemished sacrifice. So like a ruler rejecting the second-best offerings of his subjects, God rejected their sacrifices and showed no favour to those who did not trust him (vv.8-9).

The polluted, heartless offerings were so offensive to God that he stunningly cries out “oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!” (v.10). It would be better if the temple was closed, the altar fires extinguished, and sacrifices ceased. The wrong sacrifices offered by those with cold hearts, even if offered in the right place, are not acceptable to God.

v11-14

In direct contrast to the cold hearts and empty worship of Malachi’s day, God promises a future pure worship pleasing to him. In verse 11 he states “from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations”; a phrase which refers to a future time of judgment and restoration of true order under God’s holy reign (eg, Psalm 50:1, Isaiah 59:19). 

In this future time of God’s victory and triumph over his enemies, “in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering” (v.11). The gentile nations who then pursued idols would turn to God and worship him in an acceptable way. This will happen because God’s “name will be great among the nations” (v.11).

Since in the future time of God’s victory and triumph pure worship will come from all the nations, God announces a curse on their empty worship. God returns to his complaint at the unacceptable offerings made by God’s people, and points out that the people make matters worse by claiming “‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it” (v.13). Worshipping God? How inconvenient. Why would God answer people who approach him like that?

To those who worship with empty hearts, who promise God their best if he comes to their aid but offer up something lesser, God says “Cursed be the cheat” (v.14). God will not accept those who try and deceive him, because he is “a great King… and my name will be feared among the nations.”

Our passage applied

This passage is an important reminder to check our motives and our attitudes in coming to worship God. If we are acting out of tradition but with cold hearts – singing the lyrics with our mouths but not our hearts, and scrolling through Facebook during the sermon – we cannot expect God to hear our prayers. God wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24) as our true Father and master, not out of routine.

It also reminds us to think about where we place our giving to God in service, time, devotion, and money. Is it done from a cheerful heart (2 Cor 9:7) or with a sense of reluctance? on the scale of “what a pain” to “what a delight” where do we place these opportunities? In truth, for all of us, we ought to pray that God helps us to see greater delight and opportunities to spend time with him in prayer, and in devotion of “our best” for his glory.

But as we acknowledge our failure we can also rejoice in the promise central to this passage, in verse 11. Right now God is gathering us, a kingdom of priests, to offer pure sacrifices to him. The weaknesses of “our best” are purified by the righteousness of Christ swapped to us for our sin. And the Holy Spirit has given us warm hearts to offer worship in spirit and truth, which God desires.

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Fields

Malachi 1:1-5 – The Covenant Love of God

Read Malachi 1:1-5

Summary

The people of God listened to God’s prophets Haggai and Zechariah; they rebuilt God’s temple. But it still seemed like God was not with them. Religion turned to ritual, corruption was rife, justice was absent, God’s people were still ruled by outsiders, and the promised blessings did not seem to eventuate.

God sent a prophet, Malachi (whose name means “My Messenger”) to encourage God’s people to renewed trust, repentance of their sins, and promising the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah. God’s first message through Malachi was a reminder of the love of God for his covenant people, his grace in electing his people, and contrasts this with the fate of those outside the covenant.

Our passage explained

v1-2

Firstly, God reminds his people of his covenant love. God sends an oracle to Israel by the prophet Malachi (v.1). He begins this oracle with the message “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD” (v.2). The God who declares his love is Yahweh (“the LORD”), the same God who spoke to Moses and the people’s ancestors (Exodus 3 & Devotional).

The reminder of God’s love brings to mind similar statements God has made. For instance, God told his people “it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:8). 

Likewise God said “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s love expressed is his love for those he has a covenant relationship with, where he promises to save, bless, and deliver.

Secondly, we see in this passage a reminder of God’s grace in electing his people. The people question how God has loved them, in spite of their situation (v.2). God responds with an example of how he has chosen them, saying “‘Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the LORD. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated’” (vv.2-3). 

God chose Jacob over Esau, the older brother, to show his blessings and bring forth a people from whom the Messiah would come. This was not based on anything special about Jacob or his deeds, but an act of God’s mercy based in his sovereign choice (see Romans 9). The same applied to those of his covenant people who responded to Malachi’s message in faith, and also us.

v3-5

Having reminded of his love and his grace, God contrasts this with the fate of those who are not part of his covenant community. In verses 3 through 5, God contrasts Israel (Gen 32:28) with Edom, Esau’s descendants. Where God has brought his people back from exile and enabled them to rebuild his temple, “I have laid waste his [Edom’s] hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert” (v.3). 

The Edomites “may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country’” (v.4). The Edomites do not know God’s covenant love, but only his righteous judgment and anger, as “the people with whom the LORD is angry forever” (v.4) because of their sins.

God promises they will see God’s contrasting anger with those outside his covenant, represented by Edom. “Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, ‘Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!’” (v.5). As they see Edom’s destruction unfold, they will see God is sovereign over all things and all people, and brings both judgment (on Edom) and mercy (on his people).

Our passage applied

We also can wonder if God truly loves us when we go through trials and troubles in life. We are too easily sold on the lie that if you become a Christian, everything will be fine. But the Bible does not teach that. Even though we have not yet arrived at that blessed day when God will finally banish sin from this world, God still is faithful to his promise to bless, save, and deliver us because of his goodness and covenant love.

We are also reminded that God’s love is not because of us, but because of God’s mercy and choice. Once we were far off, aliens to the covenant of promise, destined for destruction like the Edomites. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). We no longer fear God’s final judgment because we have been freed from the guilt and power of sin by Jesus Christ.

These words are an encouragement to us to persevere in trusting God, even through the hard times. God’s love for us, his covenant people, is unchanging. He will save and deliver us, those whom he has chosen, and we will see with our very eyes the final defeat of all those who oppose God and remain aliens to his covenant.

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water droplets

Haggai 2:10-19 – Cleansed and blessed

Read Haggai 2:10-19

Summary

After many years of exile in Babylon, God brought a remnant home to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s temple, the dwelling-place of God (at that point in history) with his people. But opposition brought that rebuilding to a halt, and years passed. God sent Haggai to call God’s people to resume building his temple, reflecting their devotion to him. He promised them future blessing and glory despite their current situation.

While God’s people laboured again in the land, their labours went unblessed. The reason was their sinfulness, which had resulted in the exile and continued in agricultural curse; a type of the judgment in which their rejection of God would ultimately result. In Haggai 2:10-19, we see God address the sinfulness of his people. He reminds them of their sinfulness through an analogy, applies that analogy with an assessment of their status, and promises their faith will result in blessing.

Our passage explained

v10-13

Haggai’s third message to God’s people begins with an analogy (vv.10-13). About two months after his previous message from God, Haggai is instructed to ask the priests to provide an interpretation of the Law (vv.10-11). As many people could not read, the priests played an important role in teaching God’s Law and the Scriptures to the people.

Firstly, he asks the priests whether sacrificial food could spread its ritual holiness to normal, unconsecrated food. The holy meat was probably from a freewill offering, which was considered ritually holy (only holy things may be sacrificed) but had to be eaten within two days (see Leviticus 7:16-18). The answer to this is, no (v.12).

Secondly, he asks the priests what would happen if someone considered ritually unclean due to touching a dead body (because death is the result of sin) touched the same normal, unconsecrated food? In this case, the priests answered, the food becomes unclean (v.13, see Leviticus 22:1-9).

v14-19

The reason for the analogy given by asking about the ritual status of food was to make an assessment of God’s people (vv.14-17). “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean” (v.14). 

Like the unclean person, the sinfulness of God’s people made them unclean, and so unfit for God’s presence and blessing. It also spoiled their deeds, which God cannot accept because they are unclean.

The sinfulness of God’s people was then the cause of their continuing struggle. “Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, how did you fare?” (vv.15-16). Rather poorly: due to blight and hail sent by God, their agricultural crops yielded far less than they would expect to have occurred, a half of the normal yield of grain, and forty percent of a normal yield of wine (vv.16-17). Despite these punishments and warnings, “you did not turn to me, declares the LORD” (v.17).

Yet despite this assessment of sinfulness, God still offers hope of blessing (vv.18-19). The people responded in faith to God’s command to rebuild his temple, and were told to “Consider from this day onward…since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid” (v.18). They have sown their seeds and planted their vines, and in the past their yield was poor. Yet God promises “from this day on I will bless you” (v.19).

Our passage applied

The punishments of exile and agricultural blight were physical demonstrations of God’s anger at his people’s sin, pointing to the greater eternal punishment which awaits those who reject God. So too renewed agricultural blessing pointed to a restored relationship with God, as he blessed them not only physically but with the spiritual blessings of life and a cleansed conscience. Why? Because they trusted in God and responded positively to his command to rebuild the temple.

Bare ritual was not enough to earn God’s favour in that day. Rather, God sought lives which expressed trust and dependence on God. The people could not clean themselves, only God could take away sin. The same is true today. Bare attendance at a church service or Bible study does not earn God’s favour. God desires hearts and lives (and church attendance) motivated by faith in God and his promises.

God has shown us favour through Jesus Christ our Lord, saving us from our sins, and showering us with every blessing in the heavenly places. He removes the uncleanness from us which stops us from being able to fellowship with him, and announces us as holy. While we do not experience in the same way as the Jews of Haggai’s day the material blessings of the covenant relationship, we still experience the blessing of fellowship with God and the promise of eternal life.

God has dealt decisively with our sin through Jesus, and blesses us through him too. As we respond in faith to God’s call in our lives, we too can know “from this day on I will bless you” as we look forward to experiencing God’s blessings in their fullness.

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Winter trees at dawn

Haggai 2:1-9 – The Promise of Better Things

Read Haggai 2:1-9

Summary

After many years of exile in Babylon, God brought a remnant home to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s temple, the dwelling-place of God (at that point in history) with his people. But opposition brought that rebuilding to a halt, and years passed. God sent Haggai to call God’s people to reshape their priorities and resume building his temple, reflecting their devotion to him.

Looking at progress, the temple rebuild appeared slow and the end-result destined to look inferior to the first temple. Like slogging through a thick bog, the lack of progress could be discouraging. So again God spoke to his people through Haggai (2:1-9), encouraging them to remain devoted to their God. God acknowledges their present situation, announces his presence with them, and promises future glory.

Our passage explained

v1-5

Approximately one month after God’s people begin rebuilding the temple, God once again speaks to the people through Haggai (vv.1-2). God acknowledges their present situation, saying “‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?” (v.3). God acknowledges that some of his people remember seeing Solomon’s temple, the house in its former glory. They are upset when they see the new temple, because it cannot possibly match the former (cf. Ezra 3:12-13).

Not only did the new temple seem inferior in looks, it seemed inferior in presence. God came and dwelt with his people in the tabernacle at Sinai when he covenanted with them (Exodus 40:34-35), and the Glory Cloud moved to Solomon’s temple when it replaced the tabernacle (1 Kings 8:10). Yet the glory of God departed the temple due to the people’s rejection of God (Ezekiel 10). Would not the new temple also be inferior, because God’s glory was no longer present there?

If this was the thinking of a great many of God’s people, then Haggai’s words offered encouragement. God announces that he will be present with them. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people are all in turn encouraged to “be strong” and continue to “work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt” (vv.4-5).

While God’s people had departed from God’s covenant, God’s faithfulness endured. And God was still working through his people to bring about his salvation plan. The outward inferiority was only outward, because “my Spirit remains in your midst”: God still dwelt with his people. Therefore, they should “fear not” (v.5).

v6-9

God’s salvation plan was still in effect, and the future glory will exceed that of the past! God promises that “In a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land” (v.6), bringing judgment and destruction on everything wicked (see Hebrews 12:25-29). In this judgment, all the ill-gotten riches of the nations would come to God’s presence, to glorify him, since they truly belong to God (vv.7-8).

Though the temple may appear inferior, and God’s people a small and insignificant part of a foreign empire, God would still achieve his salvation aims. “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts” (v.9). 

Our passage applied

The temple they built would be more glorified than Solomon’s temple, because it was that temple which Jesus, the true dwelling-place of God with man (John 1:14, 2:13-22), came to in the latter days, bringing peace (Luke 2:32). The true peace of God’s covenant blessing would be found in Jesus, and will be fully experienced when he returns to earth to shake the heavens and earth in judgment once more.

As we struggle with our sins, or perhaps look at the church and wonder where progress is, this passage reminds us better things are coming. It seems like we do not grow in personal holiness, or the church does not advance. We can get discouraged, and weep like those older Jews at the sight of the temple.

But in the midst of discouragement, God is still present with us, our God who is faithful to his promises. He encourages us to persevere in putting sin to death, to keep sowing the seeds of his kingdom even though we are weeping (Psalm 127).

Not only is God present, but through Jesus we have true peace with God (Ephesians 2:11-16). And one day, when God shakes the heavens once more, we will be found with him and receive the riches of the earth as an inheritance.

This passage reminds us that God is not done yet. In the midst of discouragement, we can still be strong and carry on, knowing God is with us and will bring peace with the glory of his presence displayed for all the world to see.

Resources

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Hammer and nails

Haggai 1 – Reshaping our Priorities

Read Haggai 1

Summary

After many years of exile in Babylon, God brought a remnant home to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s temple, the dwelling-place of God (at that point in history) with his people. But opposition brought that rebuilding to a halt, and years passed. Homes were rebuilt, while a shell sat on the Temple Mount. God’s people focused on their own desires, not on serving God.

Into this scene, God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage his people to trust him and focus on him. The book of Haggai opens with a call to God’s people to reshape their priorities. They should reflect on their present barrenness, return their devotion to God, and resume building his temple.

Our passage exlpained

v1-6

In verses 1 to 6 of chapter 1, God tells his people to reflect on their present barrenness. Haggai speaks to the people through Zerubabbel the governor and the High Priest Joshua, representing the civil and spiritual leadership of God’s people (v.1). He points out that the ‘conventional wisdom’ of the time was not to rebuild the temple, because of the opposition and hardship felt by the people (v.2).

Responding to this, God asks “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (v.4). In other words, while God’s temple remains unfinished, the people as a whole have rebuilt their homes and even lavishly decorated them with wood panels. 

Instead, they should “consider their ways” (v.5) and reflect on their overall situation. “You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes” (v.6). What they have is not enough, and what they earn does not go far enough. It is as if their wallet has a hole in it, and the coins keep falling out. They are barren in their wealth, even as they live in nice houses.

v7-11

Having reflected on their present barrenness, Haggai instructs them to return their devotion to God (vv.7-11). For many years they sought after their own material worth. Instead, God tells them to “consider their ways” and go to the hills to bring wood down: not for their own walls, but for God’s temple (vv.7-8). They should do this so “I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified” (v.8).

Looking after themselves and not focusing on God had brought them nothing (v.9). God himself had withheld his covenantal blessings on their labours, refusing them the blessings of fruitful crops (vv.10-11). They did not trust in God to protect them from their enemies, and continue building the house where he dwelt with them. They needed to return their devotion to God.

v12-15

Convicted by God’s condemnation of their living, the people heard God’s call to resume building the temple. The people heard the message, and “feared the LORD” (v.12). God declared in response “I am with you” (v.13) promising his covenantal help. Reflecting the message of God delivered through Haggai, they resumed building the temple within a month (vv.14-15).

Our passage applied

This passage looks like a free hit for a moralistic message about giving more in the expectation of blessing, but that is not the issue here. Instead, this passage is a reminder that our hearts and lives should be devoted first of all towards God, not ourselves.

God’s people abandoned the place half-built that in that age was meant to represent the glory and dwelling-place of God, and focused on their own material gain. Like them, we can get hooked on our own material gain: be that possessions, careers, the kids. We put God on the back-burner, skipping prayer, and missing church services where we are fed from his word and the sacraments.

Like God’s people in Haggai’s day, we need to reshape our priorities. God calls us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Our hearts and lives should seek to worship God and bring Him glory, despite the opposition we may face in our own day, or the sacrifice of time and resources for our own advancement.

Because we are sinners, we must admit we cannot do this with our whole hearts. But just as God’s people repented and heard God’s promise that “I am with you” as they turned their lives back to God, so too God is with us. Jesus’ zeal for God’s house was perfect and complete (John 2:12-17), and it is Jesus’ righteousness exchanged for our sin on the Cross (2 Cor. 5:21).

This passage exhorts us to reshape our priorities to focus our hearts and our lives on serving and glorifying God. As we look to honour and worship God by seeking his kingdom, we can be sure that God is with us, blessing us with the riches of his love and mercy, and the promise of eternal life.

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Hebrews 13:22-25 – Blessings and Greetings

For thirteen chapters, the author of Hebrews has encouraged, warned, and exhorted us to persevere in the Christian faith. Jesus fulfils all God’s promises to save us from our sin, and is the substance of the ordinances and administrations of the Old Testament. We should willingly bear the same rejection and reproach of the world which Jesus bore, because it is in Jesus that we find peace with God.

As the author of Hebrews concludes his letter, he pronounces a blessing and offers greetings to his readers and hearers. In these last words in Hebrews 13:20-25, he prays that God would equip us, work in us, and shower his grace upon us.

Verses 20 to 22 are described as a benediction, which means “good word”. The words found here are a blessing and encouragement, often found at the end of New Testament letters and often pronounced at the end of a church service.

Firstly, the author prays that God would equip us. He prays “now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good” (vv.20-21). He describes God as the God of peace, the God who by his own will and act has brought peace between us and him (Romans 5:6-8), and grants us peace even in the midst of troubles and trials in the world.

The God of peace is the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. This is the only time that the author speaks explicitly of the resurrection (he has referred elsewhere to Jesus’ ascension). But he makes clear that the peace we have with God comes through Jesus, who is not dead but alive and ascended on high. Therefore he is an active great shepherd of the sheep, the one who watches over his people.
Jesus the great shepherd is the one who blesses and equips us by the blood of the eternal covenant. As the author has explained over the course of his letter, that is Jesus’ own blood shed as part of the eternal covenant of grace. Through Jesus, our great high priest, the great shepherd, whose own blood saves us and brings us peace with God, we are equipped with everything good.

Secondly, the author prays God would work in us. God equips us with every good thing through Jesus Christ so “that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (vv.21-22). God equips us through Jesus to work in us to sanctify us and help us to live the lives of thankful obedience and perseverance which we have been encouraged and exhorted to live over the previous chapters.

He prays that God would work in us so that Jesus, God in flesh, may be glorified. He asks God to equip us through Christ that we may do good deeds through Christ so that we may bring glory to Christ.

Thirdly, he wishes us to be showered in grace. After offering greetings from himself and from others with him (vv.23-24), he ends his letter with a blessing: “grace be with all of you” (v.25). The author has written because he wants his readers and hearers to live in God’s grace, to receive God’s grace, and to persevere in God’s grace. This grace is not just for a select few, but for everyone.

As we read these words, we should be reminded that it is God who has sought to bless us and greet us back into his loving presence, through Jesus Christ. God is a God of peace, who provides us with stability in the turbulence of life in a sinful world and the struggles of faith.

It is God who demonstrates his power to give eternal life because he has raised Jesus from the dead, and raised Jesus to his side. It is through Jesus’ blood that the promises of God in the covenant of grace are ratified and our sins set aside. It is through Jesus, our great shepherd, that we are watched over, kept and preserved, from the lures and snares of this world.

All this is done so that we may be equipped through the Holy Spirit to do God’s will and offer sacrifices of praise which please God, to the praise and glory of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ forever.

So, “may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!



Hebrews 13:15-19 – Sacrificing the Fruit of our Lips

Last week we read of how the author of Hebrews encouraged us to bear Christ’s reproach and go to him “outside the camp,” focusing on Jesus’ unchanging person and unchanging teaching. This is part of a series of applications of the teaching of the previous chapters, encouraging us to persevere in Christ, because he has fulfilled all the types and shadows present in the figures and sacrifices of the Old Testament.

As we join Jesus outside the camp of worldly acceptance and living, seeking the city to come, how ought we to live? According to verses 15 to 19 of Hebrews 13, we should offer praise to God, share our lives and possessions with each other, and obey the leaders God has given us.

Firstly, we are encouraged to offer up praise to God. In verse 15, we are encouraged to “through him … continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Instead of offering up rams as sacrifices to God, we are instead to offer up a sacrifice of praise. This sacrifice is offered up through Jesus, empowered by him and not by our own strength. Our lifestyle ought to be one of praise continually offered up to God, in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

The sacrifice of praise to God is described as “the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name”. The author has in mind Hosea 14:2 which encourages Israel to return to God, asking him to forgive their iniquity and they will then “pay with bulls the vows of our lips”. The Greek translation of Hosea 14:2 says “pay the fruits of our lips”. The idea here is that what we speak and say ought to offer up praise to God, both in what we say and how we say it. Our words should be like bulls cast upon the altar of our lips, sacrificed to God.

Secondly, we are encouraged to share our lives and possessions with each other. “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (v.16). Rather than viewing our time and possessions as existing solely for our benefit, we should view them as possessions which we can use to help each other and do good deeds.

Instead of offering animals as sacrifices to please God, we offer up good deeds and our possessions to help each other out, seeing these as sacrifices offered up to God. In place of putting the ram on the altar, we might put the ram on a spit roast for us all to enjoy as a meal, so to speak. Serving one another with what we have, and doing good is a sacrifice which is pleasing to God, and acceptable to him.

Thirdly, we are called to obey our leaders. Verse 17 says “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” This sounds hard and scary in our day of caution about authority, especially when it has been abused. But God places the eldership over us to care for us, guarding over our souls as under-shepherds. When we submit to them, we make the job easier, which helps them do so with joy instead of groaning!

Since they are called to watch over our souls, prayer is an important way we can obey and submit to our leaders. The author himself, as a leader, asks them to “pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things” (v.18). This is even more important as he is currently away from them (v.19) and hopes to return soon.
All of these encouragements are outward focused. They focus us upward to God, and outward to each other. They encourage us to think of everything which we do, and everything which we say, as sacrifices offered up to God. How would it change the way we speak, the way we act, and what we do with our time and our possessions if we thought about them as thank offerings to God for saving us?

We also have a timely reminder to keep the leadership of the church in prayer. We should pray that we might be faithfully taught and led in the green pastures of God’s word, and encouraged to live our lives as sacrifices pleasing to God. The leadership of the church desires our prayers for them, that they may grow in grace and godliness, and in turn help us to do the same. Pray for your pastor! Pray for the elders and deacons, of this and every faithful congregation.

As we go outside the camp, we can devote our lives to God and each other as a thank offering. Best of all, we can be sure that God will find our feeblest offerings pleasing and acceptable, because Jesus’ sacrifice has brought us peace with God.

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!


Outside the Camp

Hebrews 13:9-18 – Outside the Camp

Life in this world is shifty, changing, and uncertain. Society’s views can change in a generation, leaders in an instant, lives upturn in a moment. In this uncertain world we can trust in the unchanging nature, will and purpose of Jesus (Hebrews 13:8), who has secured our salvation and fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Old Testament.
Because Jesus is unchanging, his message is also unchanging. So the author of Hebrews can encourage us to focus on Jesus’ teaching (Hebrews 13:9-14). To do this, we ought to avoid false teaching, embrace the gospel of grace, and follow Jesus outside the camp.
Jesus is unchanging, and the truth is too, so the message which we receive and pass on should not change either. In verse 9, the author exhorts us to “not be led away by diverse and strange teachings”. The Greek word for diverse can also mean “many coloured”, which helps us understand what is meant.
The teachings described here are false, because they are in some shape “colourful” or “strange”. A teaching which is dazzling to see, beautiful to the eyes yet complex and unclear, leading to destruction. Or, a radical “insight” or a new and different teaching received, which is completely foreign (and often contradictory involving mental gymnastics) to the teaching of Scripture. We must stay away from false teaching.
Instead, we should embrace the gospel of grace. The author continues in verse 9 to say “for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” For his original hearers, the context was the Old Covenant system of food sacrifices, fulfilled and replaced by Christ.
Our hearts should find strength in God’s grace, fed to us through his Word and the administration of the sacraments. This is made clear in verses 10 through 12, where we are reminded that we “have an altar from which those who serve the tent [Jews] have no right to eat” (v.10). The altar is in heaven, not earth, and is that on which Jesus offered himself, not the earthly copy (see Hebrews 9).
Jesus fulfils the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, when “the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (vv.11-12). Placing hope in any old Jewish sacrifices is pointless, because they pointed forward to Jesus. And now that Jesus has come, we find forgiveness only in Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice, not by any other way of salvation.
Avoiding false teaching and embracing the gospel of grace will not find adoring fans in this life. So he exhorts us to “go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (vv.13-14).
The atoning sacrifice was removed from the camp to symbolise the removal of sin, and Jesus likewise was crucified outside Jerusalem, despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53:3). We should go to Jesus where he is found, outside the camp, despised and rejected. If that means the same for us, so be it. Our home is not here on this earth, in this present evil age, but in the heavenly city which Abraham looked to (Hebrews 11:10), capital of the kingdom which cannot be shaken (12:18-29).
This passage encourages us to learn more of the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and avoid false teaching. The best way to discern a counterfeit is to study the original, and so we should devote ourselves to learning more of God’s grace, gaining strength from it.
We should also expect to see plenty of false teaching, which looks slick and enticing with smooth talking and with great entertainment values. There is plenty of that in our city, on television, and the internet; together with the worldly radical insights which preach a message foreign to Scripture, sometimes bending and twisting God’s Word to try and make it fit. As appealing as it may be, the end is destruction. Jesus is unchanging, and his truths never change, so we must stick with the message which does not change.
Nor should we expect our desire for the gospel to make us “Mr. Popularity”, but instead accept that at best we will be tolerated, but some will certainly despise us and reject us for our faith in Christ. We trust in him whom the world rejected, but has become the cornerstone. We cannot expect to be loved by this world for our stand.
Yet as we avoid false teaching and embrace the unpopular message of Jesus, we can take encouragement that Jesus is unchanging, and his promise to bring us to his side in the city not made with hands endures. Because there is where our true home is.

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!


Hebrews Life

Hebrews 13:1-8 – Life in the Christian Community

The author of Hebrews has written of how Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament types and prophecies. The author has warned us multiple times to persevere in trusting Christ for our salvation. Now, in chapter 13 the book of Hebrews moves on to some points of application for the Christian life. Firstly, in verses 1 to 8 the author covers how we are to live as members of the Christian community.

We can group these encouragements around three commands: to show love for each other, to love doing good, and to love imitating our leaders.   Firstly, we are to show love for each other. In verse 1, the author exhorts us to “Let brotherly love continue.” He suggests two ways in which we can share “brotherly love” with each other.  

One way we can show brotherly love is by offering hospitality to each other, and to strangers: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (v.2). In the author’s day, hospitality was an important social custom because inns could be dangerous places (cf. Genesis 18:1-15, 19:1-3). In our day of social isolation, opening our homes to each other and to strangers is one way in which we can encourage each other and open a door to the gospel.  

A second way we can show brotherly love is to actively care for those imprisoned “as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (v.3). While likely referring to Christians imprisoned for their faith, we can show the same love today by caring not only for those imprisoned, but also Christians undergoing difficult trials of life. We can also pray and care for the persecuted Church in other parts of the world.  

Secondly, we are to love doing good. Two examples are given of holy living: faithfulness in marriage, and contentment. In verse 4, the author tells us to hold marriage in honour, and not defile the marriage bed, because God will judge those who do not. We live in a society whose ethics and morals are much like those of the author’s day. Just as maintaining sexual purity before and during marriage was important then, so too it is today. We must all honour marriage in our lives before we marry, and in our marriages. We must not follow the worldly way.  

A second way to love doing good is to show contentment. This is described in verse 5 as avoiding a “love of money” and to “be content with what you have”. Everything we have is a gift from God, and showing contentment is a way of honouring God, because he knows what we truly need and “will never leave you nor forsake you” (v.5; Josh 1:5). Likewise, avoiding a love of money means we avoid making an idol of self-sufficiency, and instead view money as an opportunity to do Kingdom good, knowing that God is our helper (v.6; Ps. 118:6).  

Thirdly, we are to love imitating our leaders. The author exhorts us to remember “your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (v.7). The God-appointed leaders of the Church – the Elders (teaching and ruling) and the Deacons are those to whom we should look as examples of living. Like us all, they sin and fall short of perfection, but they are called to live lives of maturity and example to us (see 1 Tim. 3). We are not called to follow their personality, but consider the way they live and imitate their faith in God accordingly. Just as our leaders should strive to follow God and mature in faith so too we should look to these men as examples and do likewise.  

In reading these commands we could be tempted to dismiss these words as out of date or not speaking to us today. After all, we live in a rich and vibrant society where we have so much wealth and enjoy so much pleasure. Why deny our heart’s desire for contentment and holiness? Why care for others, and why on earth would we imitate men who have failings just like us? The answer comes in verse 8, where the author states that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  

Because Jesus is unchanging, the commands and the promises of God are unchanging. Living a life of Christian community where we love each other, love good, and love imitating our leaders is just as valid for us today, because the redemption we have received from God through Jesus is the same for us today as it was in the author’s day. When we do these things, we are demonstrating our faith in Jesus, and our trust that God will draw us to his side.  

We join the saints of old (v.6, Ps 118:6) in saying “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” As we start a New Year together, instead of picking a few resolutions to abandon, let’s adopt loving community together as a pattern for our lives.

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!