Opening Up Malachi (Opening Up Commentary Series)
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
It was a depressing time. Priests and people, both of whom who had been enormously blessed by God, were shuffling through their religion, muttering all the while about how burdensome it was. Questioning God’s love, dishonoring his name, sighing over his service, breaking his laws and doubting his promises—these were the orders of the day. A wake-up call was needed, and God provided it through Malachi. This man was no cuddly teddy bear. Through a series of candid dialogues, he called his people to see themselves as God saw them and to return to him. His message of sin and return rises from the pages of this short prophecy to challenge and assure us as well.
Top Highlights
“ It is not the presence of sin but the toleration of sin which shuts down communication with heaven1” (Page 33)
“The love of God for his people is so great that it would seem to be beyond question, but these people did question it. And many are questioning it today. They look beyond a thousand blessings to see one difficulty, and on the basis of that they doubt the love of God.” (Page 20)
“The truth is that God has only had one plan of salvation in all of human history, and that plan is the Lord Jesus. The people of the Old Testament era were saved by looking forward in faith to his coming, and those since are saved by looking backward in faith to the Christ who has come. But all are saved by faith in Christ.” (Page 66)
“These people were called upon to live upon the bare word of God until he would again move mightily in their midst, but they were finding this to be very difficult. They longed for manifestations of God’s power and, when these were not forthcoming, they became weary of performing their duties.” (Pages 13–14)
“Sometimes our circumstances are such that we find ourselves wondering if God truly loves us, and the devil is ever eager to tell us that he does not. Our circumstances prove it! But the wise believer points the devil to the cross and says, ‘There is where God proved his love for me, and my circumstances, whatever they mean, can never mean that God does not love me.’” (Page 22)
- Title: Opening Up Malachi
- Author: Roger Ellsworth
- Publisher: Day One
- Publication Date: 2007
- Pages: 96
Roger Ellsworth is a retired pastor, active in ministry and writing. After coming to the knowledge of Christ at an early age, Roger Ellsworth began preaching at age 11 and pastoring at age 16. He has served as pastor of churches in Illinois, Kansas and Missouri. He currently lives in Jackson, Tennessee. Roger has written numerous books on the Christian faith, and has exercised a preaching ministry for over fifty years. Some of this books are Come Down, Lord!, Standing for God: The Story of Elijah, and Is There an Answer? published by the Trust. He is also a regular contributor to Evangelical Times and GraceTrax magazines. He served for two years as President of the Illinois Baptist State Association and for 10 years as trustee of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, for two of which he was the chairman of the board. He and his wife, Sylvia, have two sons, Tim and Marty, and they have three grandchildren. Roger and Sylvia love the message of the Bible, and they enjoy sharing the wonderful counsel of the Word of God in language that ordinary people can understand and appreciate.