Malachi's Structure

"Malachi is comprised of a super scription and six prophetic disputation speeches, the last of which may also contain a summary challenge related to the message of the book as a whole."  (p. 1247)

The disputation (more fully, rhetorical disputation speech form has four elements: assertion, questioning, response, and implication.  (p. 1248)

It becomes evident when one studies the structure of Malachi that its disputations are arranged chiastically: the first disputation is comparable to the sixth disputation, the second to the fifth, and the third to the fourth.  The chiastic arrangement of the book represents a careful, intentional pairing of the various disputations.  (p. 1250)

Superscription:  "The burden of the Word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi."

1st Disputation: God distinguishes between the good and wicked.
1.2a Assertion by Yahweh:  "I have loved you."
1.2b Questioning by Israel:  "How have you loved us?"
1.2c-4 Response: (1) Yahweh's alliance with Israel and enmity with Edom
                                (2) the desolation of Edom
                                (3) futility curse on Edom's desire to rebuild
1.5 Implication: Israel will learn that Yahweh is not a limited territorial deity.

          2nd Disputation:  God will not bless your disrespect.
          1.6a-b Assertion by Yahweh:  "Where is the honor/respect due me?
          1.6c/7b Questioning by Israel:  "How have we despised your name?" / "How have we polluted the altar?"
          1.7a/1.c-8 Response: "By polluting my offering" / "By despising the LORD's table and offering defective animals."
          1.8b-2.9  Implication:  "The priests will be punished for their disobedience."   

                    3rd Disputation:  The Lord is the witness to Judah's unfaithfulness.
                    2.10-13  Assertion by Yahweh: "Covenant is profaned by being faithless to one another."
                   2.14a  Questioning by Israel:  "Why"
                    2.14b  Response:  "Yahweh is the covenant witness."
                    2.15-16  Implication:  "Take heed to your spirit."
                    
                    4th Disputation:  The Lord is the witness to Judah's unfaithfulness.
                    2.17a  Assertion by Yahweh: "You have wearied the LORD."
                   2.17b  Questioning by Israel: "How?"
                    2.17c  Response: With two sayings: "All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD." and "Were is the God of justice?"
                    3.1-5  Implication:  "Yahweh will judge and justice will be restored."

          5th Disputation:  God will not bless your disrespect.  
          3.6-7  Assertion by Yahweh: "People must return to Yahweh."
          3.7a  Questioning by Israel: "How can we return?"
          3.8a  Response:  "Should a person rob God?"
          3.8b  Questioning by Israel: "How have we robbed you?"
          3.9-12  Response and Implication:  "By shorting the tithes you miss God's blessing."

6th Disputation:  God distinguishes between the good and wicked.
3.13a  Assertion by Yahweh: "Your words have been harsh with me."
3.13b  Questioning by Israel: "What did we say?"
3.14-15  Response: "Serving God is useless.  Evildoers prosper."
3.16-4.6  Implication:  "There will be a renewal and the Day of Yahweh reward the wicked and righteous."

This post is largely the observations of Douglas Stuart in The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary

The Poor

1. ani: people oppressed by tyrants, warfare or political unrest.  "Lives from day to day and is socially defenseless.
           Proverbs 22.22
           Do not rob the poor because he is poor, 
           Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;  

1) poor, afflicted, humble, wretched

a) poor, needy

b) poor and weak

c) poor, weak, afflicted, wretched

d) humble, lowly

2. dal: people who are in the lower class of society.
           Proverbs 10.15
          The rich man's wealth is his strong city; 
          The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
1) low, poor, weak, thin, one who is low
 
3. ebyon: those with great needs. 
          Proverbs 30.14
         There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, 
         to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

1) in want, needy, chiefly poor, needy person

2) subject to oppression and abuse

3) needing help, deliverance from trouble, especially as delivered by God

4) general reference to lowest class

4. resh:  These are the destitute!  In the ancient near-East, these are the beggars, lepers, outcasts, widows, orphans, homeless. 
           Proverbs 17.5
          He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; 
          He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. 

1) to be poor, be in want, lack

a) (Qal)

1) to be poor

2) to be in want or hunger

3) poor man (subst)

b) (Hithpolel) one impoverishing himself (participle)

http://skipmoen.com/tag/poor/

1.     Who are the poor?  (versus the slothful v. 23-24)Not the same as a sluggard even though sluggard becomeProverbs 6
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, 8 Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. 9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep-- 11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man. 2.     Do you ever see the poor?  Who is your “neighbor?”
Proverbs 14:21
He who despises his neighbor sins; 
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
Job 31.


2. Do you ever see the poor?

3.  How do you help the poor?

4.     How do you teach your children to care for “the least of these” without having an arrogant or superior attitude?
Job 31. 13-15
 Proverbs 14:31 NKJV
He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, 
But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.
Proverbs 17:5 NKJV
He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; 
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 19:7 NKJV
All the brothers of the poor hate him; How much more do his friends go far from him! He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.
He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.

Proverbs 19:7 NKJV  (Do the opposite of these verses.)
All the brothers of the poor hate him; 
How much more do his friends go far from him! 
He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.
He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, 
And He will pay back what he has given.
James 2      Not respector of persons
(Leviticus 19:15 'You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.) 

5.     Why did God give you control of so much?
Deuteronomy 15:11 For the poor will never cease from the land; 
therefore I command you, saying, 
'You shall open your hand wide to your brother,
 to your poor and your needy, in your land.'

Proverbs 22:9 NKJV
He who has a generous eye will be blessed, 
For he gives of his bread to the poor.
Eph 4   Let him that stole...


------------------------------------------------
Proverbs 10:4 NKJV
He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Proverbs 10:15 NKJV
The rich man's wealth is his strong city; 
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

Proverbs 13:7 NKJV
There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;
And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.

Proverbs 13:8 NKJV
The ransom of a man's life is his riches,
But the poor does not hear rebuke.

Proverbs 13:23 NKJV
Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor,
And for lack of justice there is waste.

Proverbs 14:20 NKJV
The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor,
But the rich has many friends.

Proverbs 14:21 NKJV
He who despises his neighbor sins;
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.

Proverbs 14:31 NKJV
He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker,
But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.

Proverbs 17:5 NKJV
He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker;
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 18:23 NKJV
The poor man uses entreaties,
But the rich answers roughly.

    Proverbs 19:1 NKJV
    Better is the poor who walks in his integrity 
Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

    Proverbs 19:4 NKJV
    Wealth makes many friends, 
But the poor is separated from his friend.

    Proverbs 19:7 NKJV
    All the brothers of the poor hate him; 
How much more do his friends go far from him! 
He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.

    Proverbs 19:17 NKJV
    He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, 
And He will pay back what he has given.
 
    Proverbs 19:22 NKJV
    What is desired in a man is kindness, 
And a poor man is better than a liar.

    Proverbs 21:13 NKJV
    Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor 
Will also cry himself and not be heard.

    Proverbs 21:17 NKJV
    He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; 
He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

    Proverbs 22:2 NKJV
    The rich and the poor have this in common, 
The Lord is the maker of them all.

    Proverbs 22:7 NKJV
    The rich rules over the poor, 
And the borrower is servant to the lender.

    Proverbs 22:9 NKJV
    He who has a generous eye will be blessed, 
For he gives of his bread to the poor.
    Proverbs 22:16 NKJV
    He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, 
And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

    Proverbs 22:22 NKJV
    Do not rob the poor because he is poor, 
Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate;

    Proverbs 28:3 NKJV
    A poor man who oppresses the poor 
Is like a driving rain which leaves no food.

    Proverbs 28:6 NKJV
    Better is the poor who walks in his integrity 
Than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.

    Proverbs 28:8 NKJV
    One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion 
Gathers it for him who will pity the poor.

    Proverbs 28:11 NKJV
    The rich man is wise in his own eyes,
But the poor who has understanding searches him out.

    Proverbs 29:14 NKJV
    The king who judges the poor with truth,
His throne will be established forever.

    Proverbs 30:9 NKJV
    Lest I be full and deny You, And say, "Who is the Lord?"
Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.

    Proverbs 30:14 NKJV
    There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
And whose fangs are like knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.

    Proverbs 31:9 NKJV
    Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.
 
    Proverbs 31:20 NKJV
    She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

    Proverbs 28:15 NKJV
Like a roaring lion and a charging bear
Is a wicked ruler over poor people.

    Proverbs 28:27 NKJV
    He who gives to the poor will not lack,
But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.

    Proverbs 29:7 NKJV
    The righteous considers the cause of the poor,
But the wicked does not understand such knowledge.

    Proverbs 29:13 NKJV
    The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.






2.  


 

Micah 6-7

Micah 6
6.8  He has shown you...  I think Jesus alluded to this verse in Matt. 23.23
6.14  but not be satisfied...  This pretty much describes where we are today.
6.16  Ironically Omri was one of the most successful and powerful kings in the history of Israel.
7.5  Guard the doors of your mouth...  This shows just how tragic it is when a husband and wife do not feel the freedom to communicate openly.  Or just can't for some reason.
7.19  He will again...  What a great passage to encourage us when we are being chastened by the Lord.  I suspect that there is an application to the marriage relationship and for parents in relation to their kids.     -----

Hebrews 5.1-10

"The structure of the author's exposition may be depicted as follows: ^*

A  The old office of high priest  (v.1)
          B  The sacrifice offered by the high priest (v.1)
                    C  The weakness of the high priest (vv. 2-3)
                              D  The appointment of the high priest (v.4)
                              D' The appointment of Christ, the new priest (vv.5-6)
                    C' The suffering of the new priest (vv.7-8)
         B' The sacrificial provision on the new priest (v.9)
A' The new office of high priest (v.10)

This type of structure is called a chiamus and was used by the ancients for both rhetorical effect and mnemonic purposes."

* The following is based roughly on Lane, Hebrews 1-8, p. 111 

Guthrie, George H. Hebrews: From Biblical Text... to Contemporary Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. Print. p. 192

Piper on Jesus, temptation, and my besetting sins

This is part of John Piper's excellent sermon on Hebrews 4:14-5:3,  "Draw Near to the Throne of Grace with Confidence", that features a thought provoking quote by C.S. Lewis.

Verse 15: Jesus, Though Tempted, Never Gave In, and so Is Sympathetic

     Then in verse 15 we learn that, in spite of how lofty our High Priest is (alive forever, in the presence of God, as the Son of God), nevertheless three other truths about him still stand:
    --he was tempted in all the kinds of ways we are;
    --he never gave in and sinned; and
    --he is therefore sympathetic with us in our weaknesses.     For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.     Fifty years ago C.S. Lewis imagined someone objecting here: "If Jesus never sinned, then he doesn't know what temptation is like. He lived a sheltered life and is out of touch with how strong temptation can be." Here is what Lewis wrote in response to that objection:

    "A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is . . . A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in . . . Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means—the only complete realist."
     Jesus can sympathize with us in our pain and our dying, because he experienced excruciating pain and entered all the way into death. And he can sympathize with us in our allurements to sin, because he was tempted—
    --to lie (to save his life)
    --and to steal (to help his poor mother when his father died)
    --and to covet (all the nice things that Zacchaeus owned)
   -- and to dishonor his parents (when they were more strict than others)
   -- and to take revenge (when he was wrongly accused)
    --and to lust (when Mary wiped his feet with her hair)
    --and to pout with self-pity (when his disciples fell asleep in his last hour of trial)
   -- and to murmur at God (when John the Baptist died at the whim of a dancing girl)
    --and to gloat over his accusers (when they couldn't answer his questions)     Jesus knows the battle. He fought it all the way to the end. And he defeated the monster every time. So he was tested like we are and the Bible says he is a sympathetic High Priest. He does not roll his eyes at your pain or cluck his tongue at your struggle with sin.

By John Piper. ©2012 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org

------------------------------------------------------------------
This segment has prompted me to think about my own besetting sins and where the Gospels record an event in Christ's life where He was likely to have faced a similar temptation.  I don't think there is a guarantee that every type of temptation was recorded in the Gospel's, but it is interesting to try and think of where mine show up, and how Christ probably experienced something similar.

Numbers 14

Numbers 
14.2  complained...
14.2  If only we had died in the wilderness!...  Be careful what you wish for (c.f. 14.28)
 14.9  rebel...
14.9  fear...  Not do we fear, but who do we fear.
14.11  reject...
14.22  test...
14.33  infidelity...
(14.44  presumed...)

Isaiah 40:27-31 - Have You Not Heard - 120930PM@TBC

Introduction

A. Segway

Encourage Bible reading.

B.  Background

· The BlueLetterBible identifies over 150 NT quotes and allusions from Isaiah.

· Handel’s Messiah makes over 15 references to Isaiah

· His master piece begins with the words from 40.1, “Comfort my people.”

· This verse turns a corner
from the first part of the book’s focus on the need for salvation
to the second part of the Isaiah’s focus on the provision of salvation.

· If this is chronological, this part was written after Hezekiah's reign during the spiritual decline of Manasseh.  Parts of the chapter are considered prophetic in the NT.

· It also seems to anticipate when the Jews would return back to the Land.

· This chapter was written to consul Israel in and prepare Israel for tough times.  It can do the same for us.

C.   Big Idea

Patient focus on God’s

essence can sustain us

when we are weary.

“patient” - challenges us to abide, to wait on God

“focus” - conscious awareness and apprehension

“essence” - not just facts about God, but knowing who He is.

“sustain” - Not always to remove, but to see us thru (like He saw Christ

“weary” - God uses our weakness and weariness to show Himself strong / an opportunity for God to work.

D.   Read Text and Pray

 

I. The Conundrum

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,

    And speak, O Israel:

    My way is hidden from the Lord,

    And my just claim is passed over by my God?

Note: how the name Jacob connected Israel with the promises God made long ago.

A. Does God Even Know I am here?

My way is hidden from the Lord,

B. Does God Care about what happens to me?

And my just claim is passed over by my God?

· The Judahites kept saying, "How can God do this to us? He has forgotten us and no longer cares about us." They questioned God's nature (He could not see them) and His dealings with them (He would not defend them).  —Thomas Constables Exp. Notes.

TE: When we are feeling alone and don’t think we see God or understand what is happening, we need to remember who God is.

II. The Creator

²⁸ Have you not known?

    Have you not heard?

    The everlasting God, the Lord,

    The Creator of the ends of the earth,

    Neither faints nor is weary.

    His understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹ He gives power to the weak,

    And to those who have no might

    He increases strength.

· In response to the conundrum Isaiah repeats and re-answers the question.

· These questions are here earlier in this chapter.

²¹ Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

²² It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

²³ He brings the princes to nothing;

He makes the judges of the earth useless.

²⁴ Scarcely shall they be planted,

Scarcely shall they be sown,

Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,

When He will also blow on them,

And they will wither,

And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

²⁵ "To whom then will you liken Me,

Or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One.

A.  Eternal  … everlasting God

Time doesn’t get in God’s way.

John 8.58

⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." ⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." ⁵⁹ Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Revelation 1.8

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

 

B. Omnipresent … ends of the earth

God is everywhere at one.

Psalm 139:

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens,

you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths,

you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

Jeremiah 23.23-24

²³ "Am I a God near at hand," says the Lord, "And not a God afar off? ²⁴ Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the Lord; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord.

C.  Faithful:  … neither faints

God is never off duty.

Deuteronomy 7:9

Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

1 Thessalonians 5:24

²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2⁴ He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

 

D. Wise: … understanding is

God’s plan is sometimes inscrutable.

Romans 11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Daniel 2.20-21

²⁰ Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. ²¹ And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. ²² He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.

E.  Omnipotent  … power

Strength without end.

Jeremiah 32:17-18              

 ¹⁷ 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. ¹⁸ You show lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them--the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

Job 42:2  "I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

F. Compassion … gives to the weak

God is moved by our sit

Psalm 145.8-9

⁸ The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. ⁹ The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.

Exodus 34.6-7a

⁶ And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,

III.  The Confidence

³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

    And the young men shall utterly fall,

³¹ But those who wait on the Lord

    Shall renew their strength;

    They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

    They shall run and not be weary,

    They shall walk and not faint.

A.  Human strength isn’t enough sometimes

“young men shall utterly fall,”

· Circumstances may overcome even the strongest young people I their prime either through lack of inner resources or because of the hardness of life.  —Thomas Constables Exp. Notes.

B. Wait on the Lord

“those who wait … will renew their strength”

Strong's H6960 - qavah

Gesenius's Lexicon

(1) prop. to twist, bind; whence a rope

(2) to be strong, robust (for the notion of binding fast.

(3)  to expect anything

“This root means to wait or to look for with eager expectation. It is used for the wicked who make an attempt to destroy the life of the righteous (Ps 56:6 [H 7]; 119:95). Waiting with steadfast endurance is a great expression of faith. It means enduring patiently in confident hope that God will decisively act for the salvation of his people (Gen 49:18).”   —-TWOT

Application:

When life makes you weary,

keep your eyes on Christ!

28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." Matthew 14:28-33

Application:  When life is great, keep your eyes of Christ!

BENEDICTION: Isaiah 41.10-13