Dr Paul Allen

The Jews had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. They’d obeyed the messages of God from the prophets Haggai and Zechariah . They’d rebuilt the temple of God. And nothing happened. No Messiah, no great divine war against Israel’s enemies, no worldwide kingdom of God—none of the good things those prophets said would come about. So the people grew indifferent. They offered faulty sacrifices ( Mal 1:8 , 13 ), married pagan women ( Mal 2:11 ), were unfaithful to their wives ( Mal 2:14 ), and withheld tithes and offerings ( Mal 3:8 ). Furthermore, the priests of God were misleading the people and disrespecting the God who had called them to ministry ( Mal 2:8 ). God has made sacred covenants with His people. He’s their Father and Master, the one who loves them and disciplines them. This sort of behavior just won’t do, so a prophet named Malachi (which means “my messenger”) points out the great disconnect between God and His people: He cares for them, but they don’t care for Him. The p

English: A painting created by Leonardo Da Vinci depicting St John the baptist (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah . We might expect to see this important advance work unfolding in the capital city of Jerusalem. Instead, just as was prophesied, John preached, taught, and made disciples in the remote landscape of the Judean Wilderness (Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1; Matt.3:1–3). And he did so for a reason. John’s father, Zechariah, was serving as a priest in the Temple when an angel of the Lord told him what to name his son, that his son would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth, and what his son’s assignment would be ( Luke 1:8–22). Though unable to speak because of his disbelief, Zechariah later rejoiced when his tongue was loosed after the birth of John. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and said, “And you, my child, … will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,” which confirmed specifically what

English: Old World Map Near Jerusalem City Council, made by Arman Darian from 180 tiles. Based on a 1585 map by Heinrich Bunting - see http://bigthink.com/ideas/2113 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner ’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” Malachi 3:2 His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth.  Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for him, showed the fallacy of their professions by rejecting him when he came. His life on earth was a winnowing fan, which tried the great heap of religious profession , and few enough could abide the process. But what will his second advent be? What sinner can endure to think of it? “ And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the

English: "The collector of tithes" oil on Canvas. Česky: Výběrčí desátků. Malba Gerarda Thomase (1663-1720) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Malachi 3:8–12 “Bring the full tithes…. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts , if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing (v. 10). Stewardship , the wise use of our resources to glorify God , is the final means of grace of five basic practices of  Christian piety . The way we allocate our time, effort, and money speaks volumes about our heart’s priorities, giving us a clear window into our own spiritual maturity. Our Creator instituted the principle of stewardship in creation when He gave humanity the task of exercising dominion over the earth He created (Gen. 1:27–28). Ever since then, all people have been tasked with managing their natural resources for the purpose of advancing God’s kingdom. This is a principle that is easy to forget because we like to think of our paychecks,

The Prophet Malachi, painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, c. 1310 (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena Cathedral). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure." ( 2 Timothy  2:19 )   The preceding verses of this section of 2 Timothy are replete with warnings about the damage that could be done through "babblings" and cancerous words. But God is unshaken by whatever man might do. "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" ( Deuteronomy 32:4 ).   "I am the LORD , and there is none else," Isaiah joyfully quotes ( Isaiah 45:6 ). "I am the LORD, I change not," the prophet Malachi is told ( Malachi 3:6 ), and there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning" ( James 1:17 ) in the God of creation. God's sovereign will is absolute: "The word of our God shall stand for ever" ( Isaiah 40:8

English: Peresopnytsia Gospels. 1556-1561. Miniature of Saint Matthew. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts , if I will not open you the windows of heaven , and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." ( Malachi 3:10 )   Today there is much talk of financial security . The biblical formula in today’s verse, given to Israel , but applied to all, begins with a scathing indictment. "Will a man rob God ? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings" ( v. 8 ). What a terrible thing, to rob God. The result of their thievery, in God’s eyes: "Ye are cursed with a curse" ( v. 9 ), such that their financial state was much worse than it would have been had they been obedient. This teaching and promise has not been rescinded ( Luke 6:38 ;  1 Corinthians 16:2

Jews praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur. (1878 painting by Maurycy Gottlieb) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Malachi 3:1 is quoted several times in the New Testament (see Matthew 11:10 ; Mark 1:2 ; Luke 7:27 ) with reference to John the Baptist , the one sent to prepare the way for Christ. So, if the Old Testament prophecies are so obvious and point so unquestionably toward Jesus , why don’t more people of the Jewish faith accept him as their Messiah? That’s a question Louis Lapides has asked himself many times during the three decades since a Christian challenged him to investigate the Jewish Scriptures. Though he grew up in a Jewish family, Lapides now ministers within the Christian faith . “In my case, I took the time to read them,” he says of the prophecies. “Oddly enough, even though the Jewish people are known for having high intellects, in this area there’s a lot of ignorance. “It doesn’t help that counter-missionary organizations hold seminars in synagogues to try

We all know that the dark ages are upon us again here in Africa. It is almost like a dark blanket that is slowly surrounding the land. People who know absolutely nothing of the core values of evangelical Christianity —the new birth, repentance and saving faith, justification and holiness, etc.—have hijacked evangelical Christianity in Africa. Even the term "born again" is being peddled without an iota of the meaning that Jesus had in mind when he used the phrase in his talk with Nicodemus. These are dark days indeed. Once upon a time in Zambia , in the 1970s and early 1980s, you could go to very much any English-speaking evangelical church on Sunday and expect to attend a Bible study and hear faithful preaching of God 's word. You may have been a little uncomfortable with some aspects of their worship. You may have also disagreed with some doctrinal assumptions during the preaching. However, you could not miss the fact that here was a sincere effort at arriving at the m

Winged sphinx from Darius' palace at Susa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Cyrus's tomb lies in Pasargadae, Iran, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2006). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Cyrus' cylinder (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The exile was a major turning point in the history of Israel. Judah and Jerusalem had fallen to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Many of the people of the land had been taken captive to Babylon , while others had fled to Egypt and parts unknown. A small number of the poor had remained behind in Judah. The ultimate curse of the covenant had been realized. After centuries of prophetic warnings, the death penalty had been carried out on Israel.  The land was in ruins, and the people were in exile. In 539 B.C., however, Babylon fell to the Persians, and in 538, Cyrus issued a decree permitting the exiled Jews to return to Judah and rebuild the temple. Were the prophecies of restoration now to be fulfilled? Would the messianic kingdom of God now be established? These

Image via Wikipedia The first is derived from God 's instructions regarding holiness. The core idea of holiness in both the Old and New Testaments is "set-apartness." Whether it be food, days, vestments, utensils, places, offerings, or God's people themselves, to be holy is to be peculiar, dedicated to the Lord . To sanctify something is to set it apart as special for God. The "unholy" is thus not only what is profane but also what is ordinary or "common." God is holy and he desires his people to be holy. Everything we offer him is to be marked by its holiness. He expects us to demonstrate in every aspect of our relationship to him the special regard he deserves. A second consideration is the biblical idea of "the firstfruits." This does not refer to any specific type of thing placed on the altar; rather it is a description of the quality of the offering: the choicest of the fruits, the firstborn. God demands that we give him our best.

Image via Wikipedia "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God , which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory." ( Revelation 16:9 )   There is much being discussed these days, in both the scientific literature and the popular press, on the issue of global warming . An increasing number of scientists and other intellectuals are insisting that the growing emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels is producing a significant warming of the whole planet, causing melting of the polar glaciers and probably an alarming increase in catastrophic events such as hurricanes and perhaps even earthquakes and tsunamis . Image via Wikipedia   On the other hand, many more conservative scientists keep insisting that this is a cyclic phenomenon, reminding us that it was not long ago that we were being warned of an imminent ice age. Who can say for sure?   We do know, however, that a terrible time of global warmin