DAY 269 Read Malachi
Today's reading: One would suppose that God's people had finally learned to obey and trust the Lord, but the Old Testament's last message calls for repentance. It closes, however, with a prophecy of final victory over evil.
Memory gem: "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:1).
Thought for today:
What does God say about those who are unfaithful in tithes and offering? Listen to these strong words of Malachi 3:8: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings."
Could it be that many of the physical curses that have come upon the natural world have been due to unfaithfulness on the part of the inhabitants of the world? Why not try Him? Those who have, have found His blessing always with them. They have found that He lives up to His word. They have found that He fulfills His word; and what He promises, He does.
There was A.A. Hyde, the Mentholatum king, who was bankrupt and owed $100,000. Then he pledged God a faithful tithe. Someone brought him a formula and said, "Manufacture it." He did, and you know the rest.
A boy named William was sixteen years old and poor, just starting out to make his way in life. He knelt on a towpath with the captain of a canal boat and listened to the captain's prayer. Then the captain said: "Someday someone will be the leading soapmaker in New York. It might as well be you. You know soap and candlemaking. Make an honest soap and give a full pound. Be a good man, and give the Lord what belongs to Him."
That boy was William Colgate. And he did pay his tithe--first one tenth, then two tenths, later three, four and five tenths. Finally he gave it all.
If all professed believers were faithful in tithes and offerings, churches would be adequately supported everywhere; there would be no temptation to employ unscriptural means to secure money for church expense; and the gospel message would be sent quickly to all the world.
NOTE: Most Bible scholars date Malachi's prophecy as about 425 B.C.--either shortly before or during Nehemiah's second term as governor. Certain features favor the period before Nehemiah returned; for example, the call for reform in paying tithe (see Nehemiah 13:10-12). Some scholars, however, give a date as late as 415 B.C. In any event more than 400 years elapsed before the birth of Jesus and the opening of the New Testament.
Since the Bible contains no record for events during this long silent period, we must depend on secular history to tell us what happened.
It was a turbulent period for troubled Judah. Waves of conquest swept back and forth over the land, bringing distress and desolation. When Alexander's Grecian Empire split up among rival rulers, Palestine became a battleground between the Seleucid monarchs of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt--both Grecian dynasties. One of the Syrians, Antiocus Epiphanes, desecrated the temple by offering swine on the altar in 168 B.C. Smoldering Jewish resentment broke into open revolt, and three years later Judas Maccabaeus restored the temple services. Judas was killed in battle in 161 B.C., and his brother Jonathan carried on the struggle. External attacks and internal factional violence continued until 151, when Jonathan was made governor general in Palestine under Syrian control. Unrest and disorder continued almost constantly.
Finally the Romans, who had been dominating affairs in Egypt and the Near East for a hundred years, stepped in to stabilize conditions. Pompey entered Jerusalem in 63 B.C., and from that time onward Judea (the Roman name for Judah) was controlled by rulers loyal to Rome. Herod, a "converted" Idumean (Edomite) who ruled when Jesus was born, gained his throne with the aid of Roman arms and by the slaughter of thousands of Jews.
Into this uneasy peace imposed by Roman power (Pax Romana) the Prince of Peace came to proclaim a kingdom of love.
Today's reading: One would suppose that God's people had finally learned to obey and trust the Lord, but the Old Testament's last message calls for repentance. It closes, however, with a prophecy of final victory over evil.
Memory gem: "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:1).
Thought for today:
What does God say about those who are unfaithful in tithes and offering? Listen to these strong words of Malachi 3:8: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings."
Could it be that many of the physical curses that have come upon the natural world have been due to unfaithfulness on the part of the inhabitants of the world? Why not try Him? Those who have, have found His blessing always with them. They have found that He lives up to His word. They have found that He fulfills His word; and what He promises, He does.
There was A.A. Hyde, the Mentholatum king, who was bankrupt and owed $100,000. Then he pledged God a faithful tithe. Someone brought him a formula and said, "Manufacture it." He did, and you know the rest.
A boy named William was sixteen years old and poor, just starting out to make his way in life. He knelt on a towpath with the captain of a canal boat and listened to the captain's prayer. Then the captain said: "Someday someone will be the leading soapmaker in New York. It might as well be you. You know soap and candlemaking. Make an honest soap and give a full pound. Be a good man, and give the Lord what belongs to Him."
That boy was William Colgate. And he did pay his tithe--first one tenth, then two tenths, later three, four and five tenths. Finally he gave it all.
If all professed believers were faithful in tithes and offerings, churches would be adequately supported everywhere; there would be no temptation to employ unscriptural means to secure money for church expense; and the gospel message would be sent quickly to all the world.
NOTE: Most Bible scholars date Malachi's prophecy as about 425 B.C.--either shortly before or during Nehemiah's second term as governor. Certain features favor the period before Nehemiah returned; for example, the call for reform in paying tithe (see Nehemiah 13:10-12). Some scholars, however, give a date as late as 415 B.C. In any event more than 400 years elapsed before the birth of Jesus and the opening of the New Testament.
Since the Bible contains no record for events during this long silent period, we must depend on secular history to tell us what happened.
It was a turbulent period for troubled Judah. Waves of conquest swept back and forth over the land, bringing distress and desolation. When Alexander's Grecian Empire split up among rival rulers, Palestine became a battleground between the Seleucid monarchs of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt--both Grecian dynasties. One of the Syrians, Antiocus Epiphanes, desecrated the temple by offering swine on the altar in 168 B.C. Smoldering Jewish resentment broke into open revolt, and three years later Judas Maccabaeus restored the temple services. Judas was killed in battle in 161 B.C., and his brother Jonathan carried on the struggle. External attacks and internal factional violence continued until 151, when Jonathan was made governor general in Palestine under Syrian control. Unrest and disorder continued almost constantly.
Finally the Romans, who had been dominating affairs in Egypt and the Near East for a hundred years, stepped in to stabilize conditions. Pompey entered Jerusalem in 63 B.C., and from that time onward Judea (the Roman name for Judah) was controlled by rulers loyal to Rome. Herod, a "converted" Idumean (Edomite) who ruled when Jesus was born, gained his throne with the aid of Roman arms and by the slaughter of thousands of Jews.
Into this uneasy peace imposed by Roman power (Pax Romana) the Prince of Peace came to proclaim a kingdom of love.
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