PRIESTLY STATE
[p. 46] PRIESTLY STATE
Malachi 1:1,2; Malachi 2:4 - 6; Malachi 4:4 - 6; Malachi 3:16
— The book of Malachi is well placed at the end of the Old Testament. The passages we have read lead us back. The object of the Spirit of God is that the light of the beginning of a dispensation may be found again at the end. Thus, the love of God for His people from the beginning, and what the priesthood was (that is to say the light of the whole dispensation) shine at the end. It is said to them to remember the law of Moses commanded from the beginning. At the same time, we have the promises which incite us to a corresponding expectancy and preparation, for the close of one economy opens the way to another economy, that close being in connection with the dispensation which is to come. That is what the position of the saints in our day answers to. The light given to govern the whole position governs our position, and then we have the promises. That is what we find in the epistle to the assembly of Philadelphia.
At the beginning of chapter 3 of Malachi, we read these words: “Behold I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me” Malachi 3:1. Then it says, “And the Lord whom ye seek will suddenly come to his temple” Malachi 3:1. The remnant would then be in expectancy and in that state of preparation. And in the last chapter it says, “Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”. These promises call forth expectancy and preparation for the coming of the Lord. The full light of the beginning is given to us now.
[p. 47] The first important feature is the love of God: “I loved Jacob”; then, a solemn warning is given to all those who occupy the position of brethren but who have not the spirit of brethren: “I hated Esau” Malachi 1:3. Chapter 2 is addressed to the priests. There cannot be anything for God if the priestly spirit is lacking with the saints. We have to take account of what the priesthood was at the outset, and it is not to be altered in any wise today. Peter in speaking to the saints says that they are “a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 2:5. That is the reason for which the priesthood was established at the outset; and it has not been modified at all. So Jehovah draws attention to Levi (Malachi 2:5 - 7): “My covenant with him was of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me, and trembled before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and at his mouth they seek the law; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts”. In the priesthood is seen all that God possessed; and what He possessed then is what He seeks now. The thought regarding the priesthood is continued in the saints. Let us then be true Levites. The law of truth was in Levi’s mouth, “he turned many from iniquity” Malachi 2:6.
— All these features should be manifested in us.
— The expression ‘priesthood’ does not belong to any system; it belongs to believers who have the Holy Spirit, as much to sisters as to brothers. Those who were waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus were true priests. Anna “did not depart from the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers” (Luke 2:37); she “gave praise to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem” Luke 2:38. Simeon also was a true priest. “The Holy Spirit was upon him. And it was divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he should see the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple” Luke 2:26,27. In the gospel of Luke we have these two characters of priesthood, and both are also in view in Malachi. There were others, but these two serve to testify to what is desired.
— This second chapter is very solemn for us; it begins with these words: “And now, ye priests, this commandment is for you” Malachi 2:1.
— Now, it is not a question only of the tribe of Levi, but, what is quite new, the whole company is a company of priests. All form part of the priestly family and draw near to God under the direction of the High Priest, the true Aaron. God looks for these things among us; for the Old Testament is of interest in that it was written for us. It is to be noticed that, in the book of Malachi, the prophet draws attention to the thought of a remnant. At the end of chapter 3 we find this remnant: “They that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another” Malachi 3:16. What characterised the rest of the people was that they were not honouring God. “If then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, priests, that despise my name” Malachi 1:6. Polluted bread was presented on the altar; a blind, lame or sick beast was offered as a sacrifice. The table of Jehovah was despised; and God said, “I have no delight in you ... . neither will I accept an oblation at your hand” Malachi 1:10. Attention is drawn to their indifference and negligence. Might not this spirit be shown even with those who break bread? Is it not the case that there is indifference as to the privileges of the assembly? Do we not sometimes forsake the assembling of ourselves together? A lack of energy is shown, and there is no fruit. God takes [p. 49] account of all these things, and the solemn word is addressed to the priests. In chapter 2, verse 9, because they had had contempt for God, God had made them contemptible. Then it says, “The Lord ... will suddenly come to his temple” Malachi 3:1. There is a great principle which must be noted: God expects that His own, in the last days, will put the truth into practice as it was at the beginning. God says, “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and ordinances”. It was for all Israel, and from the beginning. There are no modifications in these principles; they have to be learned as they were at the outset. ‘Horeb’ is the mountain spoken of in Deuteronomy and is connected with the spiritual bearing of the covenant. ‘Sinai’ is the fear of Jehovah, the law filling with fear men who cannot answer to its commandments.
— The law commanded by Moses was “the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” Deuteronomy 33:4.
— The first commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding”, is, in Matthew 22:37, a quotation from Deuteronomy in connection with Horeb. The second commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, (Matthew 22:39) is like the first. The Lord Jesus had a deep appreciation of the law of God; He held it hidden in His heart. Such an appreciation of the law of God in connection with Horeb answers to the love of God which is spoken of at the beginning of the book of Malachi.
— All is the product of the love of God. In Romans 8, the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit. “His commandments are not grievous” 1 John 5:3.
— In connection with the righteous requirement of the law, we have what is said in Deuteronomy 10:12,13:
“[p. 50] What doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good?”
— “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments the whole law and the prophets hang” Matthew 22:40.
— The apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, “If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment” 1 Corinthians 14:37. Those who love the Lord regard the epistles to the Corinthians as the “inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” Deuteronomy 33:4. In Deuteronomy 33, Moses commanded a law; if one had asked the people what they thought of it, they would have said, No other nation has a law like ours. Their heart was won.
— There is a remnant whom the Lord approves; that remnant bears the character of the priesthood. It is said of Levi that he feared Jehovah. In chapter 3 of Malachi, they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another. Fear is one of the characteristic marks of the priesthood. If God works in the heart of a believer, he is awakened to the iniquity of the system in which he is found. “And he feared me, and trembled before my name”. You remember what Josiah did, when they brought him the book of the law found in the house of Jehovah. “And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his garments” (2 Chronicles 34:19), seeing that the words of the book had not been observed. So in our days, the characteristic feature of the priesthood is the fear of God; and as a result, the [p. 51] one who fears the name of the Lord and who calls upon Him, withdraws from iniquity; he flees youthful lusts, and pursues “righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart” 2 Timothy 2:22. The thought of the priesthood is developed in the second epistle to Timothy. The spirit of a priest abhors the religious anomaly which is current today. To take a place intelligently in the priesthood, one must separate from iniquity. “They that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another” Malachi 3:16. The true priests are coming to light today; they often speak one to another; they fear the Lord.
The priest relies upon the principles of Scripture, “and at his mouth they seek the law; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts” Malachi 2:7. There are perhaps among these priests persons of small account in the world; but they have the Spirit of God. Of Levi, it is said, “He feared me, and trembled before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity”. That is a person who walks with God.
— These things are written for priests.
— To be a priest is more than being a believer; a priest has taken his place of privilege, having identified himself with the only and true Priest. And the priest turns “many from iniquity”.
— And these persons shine like stars in the middle of the night, when the moon (the church) is no longer in evidence.
— The Lord said, “Rejoice that your names are written in the heavens” Luke 10:20.
— “And they shall be unto me a peculiar treasure, saith Jehovah of hosts, in the day that I prepare” Malachi 3:17. That will be a day prepared by God and according to Him. Those who fear Jehovah will be His peculiar treasure in that day. “And I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” Malachi 3:17. Here, we might bring in the epistle to the Galatians; we enter into the privileges of the family, into the family dignity as “sons”.
Reading with J.T. at Annonay, 4th May, 1926, evening.