{"id":1064,"date":"2023-09-06T03:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T03:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deadmannotwalking.org\/?p=1064"},"modified":"2023-09-06T03:00:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T03:00:37","slug":"malachi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deadmannotwalking.org\/?p=1064","title":{"rendered":"Malachi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cAnd now this commandment is for you, O priests.\u00a0If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,\u201d says the Lord\u00a0of hosts, \u201cthen I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them\u00a0already,\u00a0because you are not taking\u00a0it\u00a0to heart.\u00a0Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.\u00a0Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,\u201d says the Lord\u00a0of hosts.\u00a0\u201cMy\u00a0\u00a0covenant with him was\u00a0one of\u00a0life and peace, and I gave them to him\u00a0as an object of\u00a0reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.\u00a0True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity.\u00a0For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord\u00a0of hosts.\u00a0But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,\u201d says the Lord\u00a0of hosts.\u00a0\u201cSo I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.”\u00a0 (Malachi 2:1-9, NASB)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malachi was a Prophet of God Most High.  In the passage above, Malachi reports on God’s rebuke of the priests.  This has implications for today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God rebukes the priests for not following His commandments, and for not honoring Him.\u00a0 God promises to curse them for their transgressions.\u00a0 Further, He promises to curse their children, the boys of them who would be priests themselves.\u00a0 They are the descendants of Levi, the priestly order established by God when His people were in the wilderness after escaping from Egypt.\u00a0 Aaron was the first High Priest of God.\u00a0 God reminds them that they are sons of Levi, and He states that they have fallen significantly since the days of Aaron.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Prophet Malachi, by Duccio di Buoninsegna.\u00a0 Found at Wikipedia,
\u00a0https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Malachi<\/a>.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

God states the duties of the priests:  “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”  But God says that the priests have “turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has implications for today. Instead of the priests, the sons of Levi and the sons of Aaron, followers of Jesus have pastors and teachers.\u00a0 These have higher accountability before God, because they should know better than to corrupt God’s word.\u00a0 They’re supposed to lead people to Jesus.\u00a0 That’s their job.\u00a0 There’s a real lack of pastors and teachers doing this work today, and this has eternal consequences.\u00a0 This is life or death!\u00a0 Life is spending eternity in heaven with Him!\u00a0 Death is eternal separation from Him in hell!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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