Malachi 1:6-8: In the book of Malachi the people of Malachi’s day are living through a difficult season.  Their morale is low, their souls are depleted, they have lost optimism in the Lord, and their worship in the Lord is waning, and it bothers the Lord, so that in chapter 1 we see a rebuke that is primarily targeting the spiritual leaders, “⁶ “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ ⁷ You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’ ⁸ But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts.”

Up to this point the people of Israel have grown up hearing great things about the Lord through leaders like Abraham, Moses, David, Sampson, but lately the stories haven’t been that great.  Lately they have heard about the Assyrians, a wicked people take the 10 tribes to the north into captivity.  Then, Babylon, another wicked people take the 2 tribes to the south into captivity.  Then, Persians, another wicked people take out the Babylonians and issue a decree allowing Israel to return home, which is great, but Israel is having to start all over. They are having to rebuild their homes, restart their economy, re-establish their community, and they are still living under the oppression of the Persian government, so that their awe and worship of God is waning and it is trickling down into their relationships with one another.  But, there is HOPE.  

In Malachi 3 the Lord reminds them of His unending love, therefore, we are called to give our lives completely to Him, and when we give our lives to the Lord we will become DANGEROUS leaders, so let’s talk about what that looks like practically.  Dangerous leaders…