Offer Your Best Gifts To God, Who Is Coming Soon
An EasyEnglish Bible version (1200 word vocabulary) on the Book of Malachi
Sarah Baldwin
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Malachi is the name of the man who wrote this book. He spoke God's message to the people. Many years ago, a powerful enemy had come. The enemy had sent the people away from their own country. After a long time, they returned home. They built the *temple again. The date this happened was about 516 BC. Malachi wrote this book in about 460 BC. God had promised the people that they would have plenty of good things. But they only had a little rain and so their *crops did not grow. They did not have enough to eat. So, the people thought that perhaps God did not love them. They began to be careless. They did not keep to the rules that God had given them. Malachi found out how the people were thinking and put this into words. He then told them what God had to say to them. He showed them how they could come back to God and love him again. If they did not do that, then it would be bad news for them.
v1 This is the message that God told Malachi. Malachi knew that he must tell the *Israelites this message.
v2 'I have loved you', says the *Lord. 'But you ask, "How have you loved us?"
'Esau was *Jacob's brother', the *Lord says. 'I have loved *Jacob and those born from him. v3 But I have not loved Esau and those born from him.
'Esau is like my enemy and I have caused him trouble. Esau's mountains are now empty. No one uses the land any more. Only jackals are there to use the things that belonged to him'.
Verses 1-2 The *Israelites were God's special people. They received God's promises. In *verse 2, God was speaking to all the *Israelites. The *Lord is the name used for God in the Bible.
Verses 2-3 Esau and *Jacob were brothers who were born at the same time. Esau came out of his mother's body first. So he should have received God's special *blessing. But Esau later sold this special *blessing to *Jacob. God loved Esau because he loves all people. But he had a special love for *Jacob. Jacob was the man that all the *Israelites came from.
Edom (or the Edomites) is the name of a group of people. They were born from Esau. They lived in the mountains. Then powerful enemies fought them. The Edomites had to leave their homes. No one lived there any more. Jackals are small wild dogs that were living near there.
v4 Edom may say, 'Our enemies have beaten us and knocked our houses down. But we will build them again'. But the *Lord Almighty says, 'They may build but I will knock everything down. People will call them the Very Bad Land. They will say that the Edomites always have trouble from God. v5 You will see it with your own eyes. You will say "Great is the *Lord, even beyond *Israel's borders".
v6 'A son *respects his father. A servant *respects his master. If I am like a father, show *respect for me as a father. If I am like a master, *respect me as a master', says the *Lord Almighty. 'You are *priests. You show that you *scorn my name. But you ask, "How have we shown that we have *scorned your name?"
v7 'You put food that is not clean on my *altar.
'But you ask, "How have we made you not clean?" By saying that the *Lord's table has little worth’.
Verses 6-7 The *Israelites gave gifts to God. They gave something when they wanted to thank God. They knew that they sometimes did wrong things. So, they also gave something to say sorry to God. They brought their gifts to the *priests. An *altar is where the *priest put the gifts to offer them to God. The *priests also offered their own gifts to God.
But the food was not clean. That is, it was not at its best. Also, the minds of those giving the food were not always clean. That is, they may not have had right thoughts about giving things to God.
The *priests prepared the food on the *Lord's table ready for giving to God. The *priests may not have said aloud, 'The *Lord's table is not important'. But they may have thought it in their minds. When an *Israelite spoke of God's name, he was speaking of God himself. So to *scorn the name of God was to show no *respect for God.
v8 'It is wrong when you bring animals for *sacrifice that cannot see. It is not right when you *sacrifice animals that cannot walk. It is wrong when you *sacrifice animals that have an illness. Offer these to your ruler and see what will happen. He will certainly not accept you. He will not be pleased with you', says the *Lord Almighty.
v9 'Now pray hard to God. Ask him to be kind to us. With *offerings that are not clean, this will not change how God feels. He will not accept you', says the *Lord Almighty.
When someone gives a gift that is not clean, praying will have no result. God will still not accept that gift or the person giving it.
v10 'It would be better if one of you shut the *temple doors! Then you would not light fires that have no use on my *altar. I am not pleased with you', says the *Lord Almighty. 'I will accept no gift from your hands. v11 My name will be great in the whole world.
‘From the East to the West people will *respect my name. So, in every place, people will bring *incense to me. They will give clean *offerings to me', says the *Lord Almighty.
v12 'But you *scorn my name by saying that the *Lord's table is not clean. You say that the food on it has little value. v13 And you say, “The duty that we must do is like a heavy weight on us. We do not want to do this”. You think that you are too important to do this job', says the *Lord Almighty.
'Certainly, I will not accept ill animals from you as *sacrifices. I will not accept hurt animals or animals that cannot walk', says the *Lord. v14 'Someone may have a good male as one of his animals. He may make a serious promise to give it to God. If he then *sacrifices an animal that is not clean, God will *curse him. For I am a great king', says the *Lord Almighty. 'Everyone on earth will know that my name is very serious. They will *respect it'.
v1 'And now, *priests, I am talking to you. This is what will happen if you do not listen to me. So be careful. v2 If you do not decide to *respect my name', says the *Lord Almighty, 'I will *curse you. I will also *curse your *blessings. You have not yet decided to *respect my name. So I have already *cursed your *blessings’.
The *blessings here may mean the gifts that the people gave to the *priests. They may also mean the words, 'May God *bless you'. These are what the *priests said to the people when the *priests prayed. The end of *verse 2 shows that God had already started to *curse the *priests' *blessings. This is a very serious thing. It may have been too late to stop God from doing this.
v3 'I will tell the children that are born from you that they are bad. This is because you have done wrong things. I will tell them that I am not pleased. I will tell them that they must not do wrong things again. I will cover your faces with the offal from your festival *sacrifices. Someone will carry you off with it’.
Offal is the inside parts of an animal. After someone had given an animal, a *priest killed it and then cut out the offal. He then took the offal outside God's house and burnt it. Then he had to clean himself so God would accept him. He could then go into God's house again.
God is not happy with *priests who give animals that are not clean. God will send them away from him, just as the *priests took the offal outside. Everyone will see by their faces that they have done wrong things. God does not say here that the *priests may wash and come back to him. He says he will remember that they have done wrong things, even after they are dead. God will think of their children as the ones who have done wrong things. So the children will have a difficult time.
A festival is a time of being happy together with other people. And it is a time for eating plenty of good food.
v4 'I have told you to be careful.
'This is so that my promises with Levi will remain', says the *Lord Almighty.
God wanted the people to stop doing wrong things. That is why God spoke about all these bad things.
Levi was one of *Jacob's sons. From him God chose the first *priest. God promised the *priest *blessings if he agreed to obey God. Then the good life that he had with God would continue.
v5 'I promised Levi a good life and many *blessings. He received what I promised him. So, he did what I asked him to do. He *worshipped and *respected me. He knew that my name is very great. So, he was careful when he was with me. v6 He taught what was right. He told people only facts. He often talked to me and he enjoyed being with me. He did what was right and we agreed about how he should live. He stopped many people from doing wrong things.
v7 '*Priests are people the *Lord Almighty has chosen. They must speak his messages for him. The *priests should tell people what they know about God. They should tell people about what God has asked them all to do. If they did that, everyone would remember these important facts. It should be possible for someone to ask the *priests what he needs to know. v8 People who love me want to do certain things. But you have stopped doing these things. Your teaching causes many people to make mistakes. What I agreed with Levi does not happen any more', says the *Lord Almighty.
The *priests were those who loved God. So, they usually lived a good life. But now they were not living a good life. People could see that they were doing wrong things. This meant that the *priests' teaching was bad as well. When people listened to them, the *priests told the people some false things. So, the people started to do wrong things in their lives.
v9 'So people have *scorned you. They have shown other people what you have been doing. Everyone now thinks of you as if you were fools. I have caused this to happen. This is because you have not done what I have asked you to do. In your jobs as *priests you have not used the same rules for everyone'.
The *priests were not as good as they tried to show to other people. They did not do all that God wanted them to do. They only did the things that they wanted to do. They were nicer to rich people than to the poor.
v10 We all have one Father. One God made us from nothing. We do not do what we have agreed to do for each other. So we show *scorn for what God agreed with our fathers. We ought not to do this.
Malachi was talking to the *Israelites. By ‘fathers’, he means the men of long ago. The *Israelites were all born from them. He was talking about Abraham, Isaac and *Jacob. Abraham was *Jacob's grandfather. Isaac was *Jacob's father.
v11 Judah has stopped doing the things that God teaches. A very bad thing has happened in *Israel and Jerusalem. God certainly does not like it. Judah has dirtied the people as they meet with their loving God. He has married the daughter of a foreign god. v12 May the *Lordsendaway from the *Israelites anyone who does this. May the *Lordstop him from coming back into this group of people. Even send away someone who is bringing gifts to the *Lord Almighty.
People were making another mistake. Men were marrying wives from families that *worshipped other gods. This would lead to a problem. Sometimes the man or wife would not be free to do what he or she wanted. Maybe they would both *worship a false god together. Then they would come to *worship God. So, the place where people came to find God would not be clean. That is, it would be no better than any other place. This is because these two people had done something wrong.
*Israel is the country where the *Israelites lived. Judah was one of *Jacob's sons. Judah was also a part of the country of *Israel. Jerusalem was the capital city. Malachi wanted the people to remember the promises of long ago. That is why he used these places and names.
v13 Another thing you do is to cry. You cry so much that the water covers the *Lord's *altar! The *Lord no longer looks at your gifts. He does not accept them with pleasure from your hands. So, you weep and shout out in pain. v14 You ask 'Why?’ The *Lord was there when as a young man you agreed to marry your wife. He saw you make the promise to be with her for the rest of your life. He sees that you no longer live together as man and wife. That is why the *Lord no longer accepts your gifts.
God will not change his mind just because someone cries out like this. If someone is doing wrong still, God will not listen. He will listen only if they are sorry for what they have done. He will listen only if they want to do right again.
v15 The *Lord has made a man and his wife to be as one person. Because the *Lord has made them, they have in them a part of his *Spirit. Why are a man and his wife to be as one person? Because the *Lord wants their children to be good and to *respect him. So, look after your spirit. Do not forget the promise made to your wife. Do not leave her.
Men and women have both a body and a spirit. The spirit is the part that we cannot see. The spirit makes the person different from anyone else. God has made men and women to be like him in some ways. When a man marries, the man's spirit and his wife's spirit come together. God thinks of them as one person. He wants them always to stay together. If they do stay together, their children will feel safe. The children will know that their parents love them. They will be strong and happy. The children will then be good and love God.
v16 'Sometimes a man and his wife separate from each other.I hateit when they decide never to live together again', says the *Lord God of *Israel. 'A man covers himself with his coat. When a man leaves his wife, he covers himself with this cruel fact as well. I hate this', says the *Lord Almighty. So look after your spirit and do not forget your promise.
It is very easy for a man to do a wrong thing and leave his wife. It is as easy as putting on a coat. This picture also shows that the man now only cares for himself. He no longer cares for his wife. He will no longer help her.
v17 You have tired the *Lord with your words. 'How have we tired him?' you ask. By saying, 'The *Lord sees all who do very bad things. He thinks that they are good. He is pleased with them'. Or by saying, 'Where is the God who decides in a fair way?'
Some people showed that they thought that God was not there or was dead. God is always pleased when we talk to him. He is even happy when we ask questions. He is not happy when we are not sure about him.
v1 'See, I will send someone with my message. He will prepare the way before me. Then the *Lord that you are looking for will return to his *temple. He will come quickly and you do not know when he will come. He is the one that you want so much. The one who brings the message of the promise will come', says the *Lord Almighty.
v2 On the day that he comes there will be pain. Everyone will want it to end quickly. It will be impossible for any one to stand when he appears. For he will be like a refiner's fire or like the soap used to make cloths white.
No one will be able to live through this day.
A refiner is a man who heats metal until it is very, very hot. He does this so that any dirty bits and parts that are not metal will burn away. Yet, the purpose of the refiner is not to destroy but to make the metal clean. So on this difficult day the *Lord will remove from people all that is not good. He will make the rest clean.
v3 He will sit as a refiner of *silver. The refiner works until the *silver shines. He will make the *priests clean just as a refiner works with gold and *silver. Then the *Lord will have men who will bring proper *offerings. v4 The *Lord will accept all the gifts of Judah and Jerusalem that people give in a right way. It will be as it used to be. It will be as it was in the past.
The past means a long time ago. Perhaps Malachi was talking about when God first asked people to make gifts to him.
v5 'So I will come near to you to decide who has done wrong things and who has done right. I will decide what must happen to them. I will immediately speak against *magicians, *adulterers and *perjurers. I will speak against those who do not pay their workers.
‘Some husbands and fathers have died. Sometimes people do not think that their wives and children are important. I will have bad things to say about anyone who thinks this. I will speak against anyone who does cruel things to the wives and children. Some of you are deciding things about foreign people in ways that are not fair.
All these people are doing wrong things. They do not think that I am being serious. They do not *respect me', says the *Lord Almighty.
The refiner's fire destroys everything that is not wanted. So, God will destroy those in the group of people who have no goodness in them.
v6 'I am the *Lord and I do not change. So I have not destroyed you who are born from *Jacob. v7 I have told you what I want you to do but you have stopped listening to me. You have not obeyed me. All *Israelites since *Jacob was alive have done the same. Return to me and I will return to you', says the *Lord Almighty. 'But you ask, "How are we to return?" ’
God has always loved the *Israelites. They have not always obeyed him. Even so, he has not killed them. So, they continue living even today.
v8 'Certainly a man should not rob God. Yet you rob me. But you ask, "How do we rob you?" In tithes and *offerings. v9 You, and everyone who is an *Israelite, are robbing me. So you are all receiving the results of a *curse. v10 Give me all that is mine. Store it and there will be food in my house.
'Do this and find out what I will do', says the *Lord Almighty. 'You will receive so much *blessing that you will not have enough room for it. It will be like rain pouring out of the sky, covering the earth with much water. v11 I will not let insects eat your *crops. The *grapes will not fall from the *vines before they are ready to eat. v12 You will enjoy your land', says the *Lord Almighty. 'So all the people on earth will say that God has *blessed you’.
The house that the writer is talking about here is the *temple where the *Israelites *worshipped. The *Israelites had to give something to keep it beautiful. They also had to give something to the *priests, because the *priests worked there. They gave a tenth (tithe) of what a person paid them for their work. They could give more if they wanted to. These gifts were the *offerings.
The people had not given all that they should have given. If someone does not give what he should, he robs God as well. Those who give will find that God will *bless them. And they will receive a lot more back from God.
v13 'You have said cruel words against me', says the *Lord. 'But you ask, "What have we said about you?" v14 You have said, "We follow God but nothing good happens because of this. We do what he asks us to do. We show him that we are sorry when we do wrong things. There are no good results from this.
v15 "Some people think that they are better than other people. We now think that these people have *blessings from God. Certainly, those who do wrong things enjoy a good life. Even those who fight against God do not have trouble because they do this." '
Sometimes the people had a bad time. Many things went wrong. Then they decided that it was of no use to follow God. The enemies of God seemed to have a better life than they did.
v16 Then those people who *worshipped the *Lord talked to each other. The *Lord listened and heard. Someone, who was with God, wrote a scroll. God watched while this person wrote about all these people who *respected and *worshipped God.
A scroll is a special book. This scroll had everyone's name in it. Someone wrote it so that everyone would remember these people.
v17 'These people will be mine', says the *Lord Almighty. 'One day I will bring together all my own people. They are of great worth to me and I really want them. A man that has much love is *merciful to his son who works for him. I will be *merciful to my people like that. v18 Then you will again see the difference between the good and the very bad people. You will see the difference between those who are God's servants and those who are not’.
v1 'This day in the future is a fact. It will burn like a great fire. It will be like a fire that is used to burn *stubble. When this happens, there remains no branch or any part of a plant. The people who have done very bad things are like that *stubble that is set on fire. No bad person will remain. Those who think that they are better than other people will burn in the heat', says the *Lord Almighty.
This fire, that will destroy everything, is a picture to show what will happen. One day God will destroy all the very bad people.
v2 'But for you who *respect and *worship my name it will be different. The 'Sun of Righteousness' will rise to make you well. You will go out and jump like baby cows do when they are let out of their *stalls. v3 Then you will put your feet down hard and walk over the bad people. They will be like ashes under your feet. All this will happen on the day that I do these things’, says the *Lord Almighty.
Just as the sun will rise on that day, so the Son of God (Jesus) will appear. He is righteous, that is, right with God. The sun can burn with a strong heat and cause a fire (see verse 1). But the sun can also make people's bodies well. So, Jesus will come to do this. Those people that *worship the *Lord will be made completely well. Both their spirits and bodies will be well. They will be free from everyone and everything that is bad. They will be very, very happy. Right things, not wrong things, will win.
v4 'Remember everything my servant Moses told you to do. Do not forget the rules that I gave to him at Sinai. They were for all the *Israelites and you must still obey them’.
Moses was a man that God spoke to many years ago. Moses was on a mountain called Sinai. God told him about all the things that the *Israelites must do. This was the first time that God had said these things.
v5 'See, I will send you a man called Elijah who speaks God's message. He will come before that great and frightening day of the *Lord. v6 He will cause fathers and their children to be friendly again. If not, I will come in a hurry and *curse the land'.
Many years after Moses there lived a man called Elijah. Elijah spoke God's message to the people. God promises that another 'Elijah' will come before the day of the *Lord. Just before Jesus came to the earth the first time, there was a man called John the *Baptist. People thought that he was like Elijah in some ways.
adulterer ~ someone who has sex with a person who is not their husband or wife.
altar ~ table of stone or metal on which they burnt gifts to God (sacrifices).
baptise ~ to put a person into water to show that he or she wants to obey God.
Baptist ~ a man who baptises people [see baptise].
bless ~ to give good things to someone.
blessing ~ the good things that God gives to people or does for people.
crops ~ plants that are for food.
curse ~ when someone says bad words against another person or thing. Because of this, something bad might happen to that person or thing.
grapes ~ small soft fruit that people use for making drinks of alcohol.
incense ~ something to burn to give a nice smell.
Israel ~ a small country where the *Israelites lived.
Israelites ~ people living in Israel, sons of Jacob.
Jacob ~ one of the first 'fathers' of the *Israelites. A man who loved God.
Lord ~ one who rules or is a master. God is the Lord who rules everyone.
Lord Almighty ~ the *Lord of everything, more powerful than everything.
magician ~ someone who makes strange things happen to surprise people. These things are not usual. He has to use agift that is not from his own body to do them. This gift is verybad and is not from God.
merciful ~ being kind to bad people.
offerings ~ gifts to please God.
perjurer ~ someone who does not say what is true. This is after he has made a promise to speak only what is true. Usually this happens when he is standing up in front of people who want to know if he has done right things or wrong things.
priests ~ men that God chose to do a special work for him. They worked in the *temple.
respect ~ when someone wants to do right things and to please another person because that person is important to him or her. This is because that person is special (for example, a father) or that person has authority (for example, a king).
righteous ~ when God makes a person right with him; people God sees as clean and not his enemies.
righteousness ~ what you have when you are *righteous.
sacrifice ~ an animal that someone kills and gives to God; to kill an animal and giving it to God.
scorn ~ when a person decides someone or something is not important. In fact, he may decide it has no value at all.
silver ~ metal that is valuable and shines like white.
stalls ~ where animals are kept.
stubble ~ the part of a plant that remains when someone cuts down *crops.
temple ~ a special building where the *Israelites went to *worship God.
verse ~ one part of a chapter in the Bible.
vine ~ a tree that has *grapes on it.
worship ~ to thank God and tell him that we know that he is very great.
Irving L. Jensen ~ Jensen's Survey of the Old Testament ~ Moody Press
D. Guthrie, J. A. Motyer, A. M. Stibbs, D. J. Wiseman, eds. ~ The New Bible Commentary Revised ~ IVP
The Lion Concise Bible Handbook ~ Lion Publishing plc
Joyce G. Baldwin ~ Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi ~ Intervarsity Press
John B. Taylor ~ The Minor Prophets ~ Scripture Union Bible Study Books
© 2001-2002, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)
April 2002