Sermon Tone Analysis

MALACHI THE MARRIAGE COUNSELOR

This morning will be the second part in a four-part series entitled “God’s Message Through Malachi.”

Do you ever wonder what’s in a name?

I’ve always found it interesting how parents decide on the names of their children.

Some parents name children after themselves or an extended family member.

Some parents read through baby name books until something sounds just right.

Some parents, like the Dugger family on TV, name all of their children with the same first letter.

In the days of Malachi, your name often defined who you were.

When you read through the book of Genesis, very often a baby’s name reflects how the mother or family felt at the time of birth.

For instance, Leah was so happy at the birth of her firstborn son that she named him Reuben, which means “See, a son!”

When her fourth son was born, she praised God, and named her son the Hebrew word for praise, which is “Judah.”

There is a famous missionary from the 1800s whose name was Jonathan Goforth.

I cannot think of a cooler name for a missionary than “Goforth.”

Perhaps the only person who has a more suiting name than Jonathan Goforth is Malachi himself.

Malachi literally means “my messenger.”

This morning we are going to look at a part of Malachi chapter two where Malachi, who is God’s messenger, has an extremely important message for God’s people.

So please open your Bibles to Malachi 2:11-16.

“Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth and offering unto the LORD of hosts.

And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

Yet ye say, “Wherefore?”

Because the LORD has been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

And did not He make one?

Yet had He the residue of the Spirit.

And wherefore one?

That He might seek a godly seed.

Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.”

Let us pray.

The title of my sermon this morning is, “Malachi the Marriage Counselor.”

Malachi chapter two isn’t a typical passage for preaching on the importance of marriage, but there are several key pieces of advice here that every person needs to hear, whether you’ve been married for sixty years or whether they still think that girls are icky.

In these six short verses Malachi crams in seven distinct principles on how to build a successful marriage.

So this morning we are going to explore these seven principles, and learn how we can apply them to our own marriages.

Principle #1: Do not marry a person who is not a Christian.

Let’s read verses eleven and twelve again together.

“Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth and offering unto the LORD of hosts.

Malachi in these verses told the children of Israel what not to do, and then told them what would happen if they disregarded the command.

He said that the children of Israel had profaned the holiness of the LORD by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

And what is the consequence of someone that marries a daughter of a foreign god?

Malachi says that he will be cut off from the tabernacle of Jacob, whether he be a master or a scholar.

The phrase “master or a scholar” is a Hebrew idiom that most closely means “the teacher or the pupil.”

The teacher is referring to the priests of the temple, and the pupil is referring to the people of the land.

So Malachi is saying that whether you are a priest or a peasant, God will not tolerate you marrying someone who does not worship Him.

Now, we know that God can forgive us of any sin, and so if you are here today and your spouse does not know Jesus Christ as their Savior, do not give up!

God can use you as a witness to your spouse, but I’m sure that you can testify that it isn’t easy.

But why is it that God commanded the Israelites to not marry someone who did not serve Him? I’m sure that you’ve heard of the mighty King Solomon.

King Solomon was the richest, most powerful ruler than Israel ever had.

The kingdom of Israel was larger during Solomon’s reign than at any other point in history.

Solomon was so rich that neighboring rulers would offer him their daughters for marriage as an assurance that Solomon would not attack them.

Over the course of his forty year reign, Solomon accumulated more than 1,000 wives and concubines!

But do you remember what happened near the end of King Solomon’s reign?

The Bible says that the wives of Solomon began to turn his heart away from God, and Solomon began worshipping idols.

This is the exact reason why God does not want us marrying non-Christians.

You’ve probably heard horror stories of a person who was drowning, and a second person who heroically swims out to save them.

But in the drowning person’s desperation, they cling so tightly to the rescuer that they can no longer swim, and in the end they both drown.

That is what it is like marrying a non-Christian.

So many times people will say something to the effect of, “Well I’m going to date them to save them.”

They have it all backwards.

The Bible tells us that the saving must come before the dating.

Maybe you’re here and you’re saying, “Bro.

Josh, I’ve already married someone who isn’t a Christian, so what do I do now?”

Pray, pray, pray!

Not only that, but your spouse has to be able to see, hear, and feel how Jesus Christ has transformed your life.

Your situation is not easy, but with the help of God and this congregation, your spouse can come to Christ.

But for those of you who are not married, Malachi strongly recommends that you not marry a person who is not a believer.

Principle #2: Do Not Be Faithless to Your Wife

Let’s read verses thirteen and the first half of verse fourteen.

“And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

Yet ye say, “Wherefore?”

Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously:” Let’s stop right there.

Malachi starts off this principle by saying that the people, specifically the men, are going into the temple and offering their sacrifices, but God is not hearing their prayers.

He even says that the people are weeping at the altar, begging God for help.

But is God answering their prayers?

No.

And why not?

Because the people, again specifically the men, have betrayed their spouses and married someone else.

Now this single principle of being faithful to your spouse is the foundation for the next five principles, so make sure you get this one down pat.

We must be faithful to our spouses!

In a little bit we are going to talk about the rewards of being faithful, and the consequences of not being faithful, but just for a moment let’s decide exactly what it means to be faithful.

If we were on Family Feud, and the topic was “top ways to be unfaithful to a spouse,” the big obvious number one answer would be “Adultery.”

And this is exactly what the primary sin was in Malachi’s day.

After the children of Israel were freed from slavery and returned to the Promised Land, they began to take wives from their pagan neighbors.

That was the primary reason that Malachi gave them principle number one and told them not to take foreign wives.

But the fact is, many of these men were already married, and they were divorcing their Jewish wives so that they could marry their pagan wives.

And so when Malachi shares this principle with us, we have to know that he is telling us to not commit adultery.

But what exactly falls under the umbrella of adultery?

Do you remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount?

He said that whoever even looks at a woman with lust commits adultery with her in his heart.

According to Jesus, it is sinful to even look at another woman with lust!

Now that Malachi has given us this general rule of thumb, he is going to give us five pieces of advice that revolve around this principle.

Principle #3: Our Spouse is Supposed to be our Companion

Listen closely as I read the second half of verse fourteen.

Yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

So if principle number two so what not to do, then principle three is what to do.

Within the American family today, it is all too common for a husband and wife, even if they are faithful to each other, to neglect spending quality time with one another.

Did you know that your spouse is supposed to be our best friend?

You guys that aren’t married yet, remember that fact.

The word “companion” in the Hebrew is a very interesting word.

When the Jews used the Hebrew word for “companion,” they were often referring to two people who had been connected through the use of magic.