Journal Through the Bible: Week 102 Thursday

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Malachi chapter 2

Does God issue any commands?

• God commanded the priests to hear His words, lay the offering of sacrifice to heart, and give glory to His name.
• God commanded them to stop putting away the wives they had taken in their youth. (The Morris study Bible notes say that the priests who married foreign wives - as in the book of Ezra - may have divorced their Jewish wives, the ones they married as young men, and taken the Canaanite women as their wives. Their sin would then be two-fold.)

Does God make any promises?

• God said that if the priests would not listen He would curse them. They would be corrupted through the excrement of the animals for sacrifice. (Most likely the phrases "spread dung upon your faces" and "one shall take you away with it" mean that their dead bodies would lie in the filth of the slain animals.) Those that witnessed this curse would know that God had made a covenant with Levi of life and peace that his descendants had broken.
• God promised to cut off the man that profaned the holiness of the LORD and married the daughter of a strange god. (verses 11-12)

Does this chapter teach anything about Jesus?

• 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. (verse 7) The Levitical priests had not done this but Jesus is our High Priest and He fulfilled these requirements.

Does this chapter teach anything about yet-future events?

• The last verse implies that judgment is coming to those who do evil but say it is good in the sight of the LORD or who do whatever is right in their own eyes because they do not think there really is a God of judgment. This was true in the days of Malachi and it is true today. One day the LORD will appear and will judge us all.

Journal Through the Bible: Week 102 Wednesday

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Malachi chapter 1

"Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD." (verse 13)

Things do not change very much over time. Many consider it "weariness" to take the time to worship God properly. It's just like us to look for shortcuts so that we can follow our own pursuits.

I like the following verse, though.

"For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts." (verse 11)

What a contrast there is between  these 2 verses!


Does God issue any commands?

• Malachi received a "burden" from the LORD to Israel. It is implied in this that God told Malachi to deliver the message to Israel.
• Malachi delivered a message from the LORD to the wicked priests who offered defiled food and animals for the sacrifices.

Does God make any promises?

• After Edom was wasted they promised to return and rebuild. God promised that He would throw down anything they put together. He called them "the people against whom the LORD hath indignation forever." Israel would be witness to this.
• God promised that He would not accept an offering at the hand of the wicked priests who offered sickly and defiled animals as sacrifices.
• God promised that His name would be great among the Gentiles.

Does this chapter teach anything about Jesus?

• The offerings and sacrifices were to be pure and holy because they represented the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. This is also why the elements we use for the Lord's Supper are to be unleavened since leaven is a symbol of sin. We must keep the Lord's table above contempt.
• Jesus is "the great King" of verse 14.

Does this chapter teach anything about yet-future events?

• God promised to do a great work among the Gentiles "from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same." The sun has not yet set on this work.

Journal Through the Bible: Week 102 Tuesday

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Ezra chapter 10

The people had sinned greatly by taking wives from the Canaanites that lived around them. Ezra was so distraught that he wept openly with his face upon the ground. Can you blame him? This very same sin is what caused them to go into captivity in the first place and when they returned to the land they returned to their sin!

The priests, Levites, and all Israel made a covenant with God to put away all of their idolatrous wives and children. What a horrific chain of events! Sin and its consequences are always messy.


Does God issue any commands?

• God did not speak.

Does God make any promises?

• God did not speak.

Does this chapter teach anything about Jesus?

• This passage shows just how quickly men return to their sins even after a time of great punishment and repentance. On the other hand, Jesus, who had no sin, never returned again to sin once the punishment was past. He bore our sins on the cross, actually became sin for us, but now He is without sin! (II Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 9:26)

Does this chapter teach anything about yet-future events?

• The call goes out today for all to "Come!" Those who will not heed the message will forfeit everything.

High School Homeschool Curriculum For Sale

After 27 years of homeschooling our children from Kindergarten through their senior year we have several books and resources on hand. I am currently selling some of our high school curriculum.

Contact me at Karabeth6 @ gmail (dot) com if you are interested in purchasing any of these science, math, economics, or foreign language sets. The prices quoted do not include shipping. Real cost for media mail will be added. Once we have agreed upon the total price I will direct the buyer to my Paypal account.

Thank you! And happy homeschooling!

This older BJU Press French 1 set includes cassettes (I told you we homeschooled for 27 years!), hardbound text, a slightly used softbound workbook, and spiral-bound teacher's editions: $5 for the set "as is!"

Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry 2nd Edition, hardbound text and softbound Solutions and Tests manual: $10 for the set.

Apologia Exploring Creation with Physics 2nd Edition, 3 piece set containing hardbound text, softbound Solutions and Tests, and multimedia CD: $30 for the set.

Apologia Advanced Physics hardbound textbook and softbound Solutions/Tests manual: $30 for the set. 
Update 9/14/15 - I recently discovered my copy of "Daily Lesson Plans for Advanced Physics in Creation" by Lynn Ericson, ©2006 Schola Press (not shown). This will be included at no extra charge. 

Saxon Math Algebra 2 Second Edition: $10 for the set.

BJU Press Economics for Christian Schools (1st edition), spiral-bound teachers edition and hardbound student text: $10 for the set.