Creative Come Follow Me with Maria Eckersley

WEEK 51 [MALACHI]

“I Have Loved You, Saith the Lord”

December 12 – December 18

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Maria: Hey everybody. Welcome back. This is week 51 of Creative Come Follow Me for the Old Testament. And this week we actually have the shortest block of study that we've had the entire year. You would think that means my notes would be far less and my study time would be far less, but turns out it's not because what we're studying is Malachi, and if you don't know this about Malachi, even though we only have four chapters to study, they are jam-packed with core doctrine.

In fact, two of the chapters three and four. , they're quoted almost verbatim by the savior when he comes to visit the Nephites. So that should tell you how much weight. We should give this very tail end of the Old Testament. There's a lot here, so I'm gonna help walk you through it, but let me tell you where you are time-wise.

In fact, I wonder sometimes, you know that talk we studied with Elder Echtdorf, he talked about a matter of degrees and have just a few degrees off, makes this incredible change in your ending destination. That's sort of where, I wonder if that's where we are because you can hear the prophet Malachi, trying to help the people understand how their small choices, their adjustments to the covenants or adjustments to the doctrine have led them far off course and how there isn't much time left to repair things.

Because remember, Malachi's, the last prophet we have to this group of people, they won't see another one until John the Baptist comes 400 years in the future. So you can guess how important these words are and how much we should study them, especially since the savior himself quotes them. I think there's a lot to learn here.

I would tell you though, that there's a lot of correction in these verses. So as you're listening for correction, try to keep a soft heart. At least that was the advice I gave myself cuz I heard Elder Bednar speak watching. He said basically that if the spirit hasn't corrected you lately, then you should check the quality of your prayers, which was always bit haunting to me.

You know, like I think there's always things that I can do a little bit better. There's things I can course correct to have a. , better, happier ending destination. And that's kinda what I got from the words of Malachi. So I hope you get those too. So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. Let's get started you guys.

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Set apart to uphold God's law, right? Their job is to uphold the Law of Moses and make sure things at the temple are happening as they should, that the sacrifices should be what the Lord directed, that the ceremonies and things should be as the Lord guided them, and they're not doing that. In fact, it seems like they've slackened on the law cuz what people are bringing to the sacrificial altar is no longer a clean, pure lamb without blemish and without spot. In fact, you'll see in the verses that they're bringing blind animals, animals that are broken or maimed, or the weaklings of the flock instead of what the Lord asked for.

And I think it's, it's interesting to me as a person who often teaches youth and young adults, even this is attempting thing to do at times. I've caught myself in this several times where it's tempting to soften the doctrine because I don't wanna offend or I want to seem like I'm, I get the world that they live in.

And so I have a tendency sometimes to want to. Soften the, the doctrine, and what I've learned over and over again from the spirit and from that quote from Joseph Smith, is that that kind of softening of sacrifice doesn't yield discipleship. What I'm doing is I'm actually short-changing them. Because when push comes to shove, they need the sacrifice in order to build the understanding of Jesus Christ.

So if you look at one and two, this is a burden. Malachi's gonna have to come and correct, and people aren't gonna like to be corrected. There's a great quote in the notes from Elder Christofferson that talks about the reasons that we're corrected by the Lord. And I think all of those apply here, but basically he's trying to get them back on course because the people are falling apart.

So these priests and leaders need to get back on track. and they he basically says to them, the Lord loves you. And their response is, does he prove it? You know, like they, they put the burden of proof on the Lord and they're, they show this lack of relationship the way they talk about him and the way they seem completely.

They're they're not seeing how they're offending God by not following his precepts. And so they question like in seven, where in have we polluted the, what have we done wrong? It's this. It's the same way that sometimes when you're in a relationship with someone at the beginning stages of a friendship or something, They may not know you well enough to know what would offend or what really means the most to you.

And so they're in a situation where they should have had a deep relationship with the Lord because they're his covenant people. They should know his heart intimately. They should know why these sacrifices are the way they are, and they're. Pulling away. So they're creating a bigger offense because of the light that they carry as covenant children of God.

This is supposed to be in similitude of the Savior and this isn't in Similitude, so try again. And it gives them a chance to correct and Kate doesn't take it. And that's kinda what's happening here. Malachi is giving them a chance to course correct and to, to put together a better offering. A pure offering is what it's called in 11.

They just don't quite get it. So in 13 it says that they're bringing things that are torn, that are lame, that are sick, and then he calls them deceivers. I thought this was an interesting word, uh, because it, it reminded me a little bit of elder Bednar's talk at conference where he talked about those who choose not to put on the garments of God.

So I just felt like it was this invitation. The more I read these verses, the more I found myself wondering if there's areas in my life where I'm giving. less than a great offering, or at least less than a pure offering. I do think it's really important to note though, that a pure offering isn't necessarily ceremony.

So if you look in the Bible, you can see lots of examples of this. Like you know, when Joseph and Mary had to give an offering at the temple and they in their poverty, couldn't have given a lamb, so they were allowed to give turtle doves, right? That's part of the law of Moses. The widows might is offered and it's fully accepted and revered.

By the Lord, even though it's a small offering, but it's their whole offering. In fact, I think it's D. Todd Christofferson. It's in the notes, but he talks about that, that we need to give a whole offering cuz what we're promising and what we're putting on the altar is us. Right? The priests at this point are letting the people.

You can be 90% pure offering and 10% here, and it simply isn't. In fact, what the Book of Mormon teaches in Second Nephi is that you need to come and offer your whole soul to him as an offering. And when you're willing to do that, that's when the sacrifice yields a change of heart. That's when you become a disciple of Christ.

So you're gonna see all of that in chapter one.

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They've left a lot of ambiguity and left people an opportunity to keep one foot in Babylon and one foot in Zion, and it's causing all kinds of troubles. So the first half of the chapter is focused on. What's gonna happen with the priests? So you can see Malachi has some strong words for the priests. He basically says, in one priest, this commandment is for you.

Like, let, let me no question who this is directed towards. This is for you. If you will not hear, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed them already because you do not lay it to.

Probably because those blessings might not surface for a generation or two. , but they will surface. I think it's a warning to all of us, right? That my choice to be off by a few degrees will create a much wider gap in my children and my grandchildren. So I've got, I've gotta stay aligned, and that's what he's warning the priests about.

Cause that's their responsibility. In fact, you'll see in the verses, especially like around four, he says, at some point you'll know, you'll remember. What you are supposed to do, because these priests are of the tribe of Levi. They were set apart to accomplish this work for the Lord. They were given this priesthood in order to fulfill his will, to serve the people, to bring them to Christ, to bring them to the covenant.

So if you look from like five and six and seven, he reminds them of what they used to be, not them personally, but their group, the Levites who initially held this calling and who honored it. He talks about them. So he says, my covenant was with him of life and peace. I gave it to him for the fear they're with.

He feared me and he was afraid before my name, meaning there was reverence there. The Levites who initially. Held this position who respected their priesthood. There was a, a reverence and an honor a weight to that mantle that they carried. They goes a little further and he says the law of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips.

He walked with me in peace and equity and interred many away from iniquity. I love that piece because that's what. Someone who upholds their priesthood does, right? They bring people to Christ. They don't just not cause stumbling. They help funnel people towards him. That's, that's the promise. And they're missing it.

They just don't yet. So he talks about in seven for the priest's lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. I love this piece because it's kind of talked about how Malachi has a burden and he has to say it. It's the same kind of thing here he's saying, you are not called to say your own words.

You're not called to give your own opinions on the law of Moses or on what sacrifices are good or not good. You are called to be a messenger for God, and his message has already been put out. It's very clear and they're just, Not giving it. I love this because of the way we see our own prophets and apostles exemplify this every, not just in conference, but in every time they speak.

Demanding revelation from God is both arrogant and unproductive. It's that same idea. He's like, these are not our words. And it, it wouldn't help me to pray to change God's words. It's arrogant and it's unproductive. , we are apostles of God. We speak his word, and they do it clearly and they do it with.

without fear. I'm sure it, I'm sure it's, they have to be cautious. In fact, I, I've just been listening to a book from Elder Holland about, it's all about his writings on the New Testament, but he spoke about this for a chapter where he talked about this is one of the weights of being an apostle, is that you're constantly seeking the gift of the spirit that will allow you to speak truth with compassion.

and I, I just love that for those of us who are teaching our own kids or teaching youth, I think there's beauty in that message, but I, I love that there's a reminder from Malachi about that's what it means to be a priest or a teacher. It means to speak God's word because it's what we've studied all year long, right?

So it's two great commandments. . If I love God first and I honor God first, he will teach me how to love my fellow men. But if I reverse those, I, I'll never be on the right track. If I try to love my fellow men first and then adapt how much I love God so that I can, I'll never end up in the right destination.

Basically, what's happened is similar to what we saw in Solomon's Day, where they're taking on women from other religions, they're setting aside their own wives, the mothers of their children, the wives of the covenant is what the verses teach and they are seeking after others. In fact, the Old Testament manual describes them as young women of other lands that go after strange gods and they're trying to accumulate those and I, there are some harsh words in the verses. They're harsh in the most beautiful way. He says things like, yet she is thy companion. This is in verse 14, and the wife of thy covenant that there will be the purposes for godly seed.

I think that's why everyone is promised that they'll have an opportunity to have that relationship cuz you need it in order to understand what it means to become. A divine parent, right? It's, you learn so much. So when these men, both the priests and the men who are following after them, Choose strange wives and bring other gods and idol worship into their families.

They lose all that. They lose the sacrifice, they lose the commitment. They lose what they learn from being devoted to the covenant wife of their youth. So the Lord warns, he warns in 16, he hated those who are putting away. And then in 17 you have wearied the Lord with your words. I love that phrase cuz I think, well, you laugh, but the thing that came to my mind is

He just wants their hearts and he wants their hearts committed to their wives, and he wants them to be this covenant priesthood holding people that they're intended to be. And he's just done with their.

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Maria: Malachi three and four have a bit more of a future focus, and I think it's a teaching strategy of Malachi's that he's been trying to teach them in a certain way for the first two chapters, and it's not yielding the response he's getting. So he's shifting gears a little bit and he's teaching about. The day that the Lord comes again and how that will feel.

And so in one, he gives us that great prophecy about a messenger that will come to prepare the way of the Lord, and that he will come suddenly. Now, there's lots of different applications for the messenger. Uh, in the New Testament, they'll refer to John the Baptist as a fulfillment of this prophecy. But since most of it is related to the second coming when there'll be this.

Burning and refiners fire. There's a lot of prophets who comment on it being a fulfillment that it was fulfilled with Joseph Smith and with other modern prophets, uh, even Moses and Elijah as they come. Again, they're a fulfillment of this prophecy, but I really like that coming on suddenly cuz I don't think it necessarily means he'll come.

There won't be time because he comes suddenly and then in two, he talks about, but who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appears for he is like a refiner's fire and a fuller soap. . I love that they use these terms. It's something we read in Isaiah as well, because refiners fire is what we talk about when we think about our own adversities, right?

When you think about going through something hard, it's often called a refiner's fire cuz you're supposed to come out more pure on the other side. Right? And I was thinking like, why is it they use that same phrase here and. What it reminded me of was high school volleyball, . As weird as that sounds, because the first two weeks of volleyball when I was getting back into the season were brutal because my arms were unprepared, right?

And you started to not even realize that it hurt, right? Because you just had developed this thicker skin. And that's what I wonder if. it. Maybe this is what he is talking about when he talks about a refiner's fire. That this, this heat and this intensity that will come when the savior comes again, will be hot and intense.

But if we've spent a lifetime of dealing with. Hot, intense things and we have learned to come out the other side and come through with faith and trust. We can tolerate them. In fact, they won't even sting. You know, it's the same way. Just recently I was squeezing out lemons and I had a hangnail at the time, and so what normally is a completely painless process of getting juice out of a lemon.

I don't think that means there is no comfort at this day for those who are sorrowing. It's just different and there's some pretty clear warnings about. So you'll see all that in those verses. When you go a little bit further, you're also gonna see that there's an offering that's gonna be made when he comes to the temple.

There will be a worthy offering made, and I wonder if this is part of Malachi's teaching as well, that he's trying to remind these priests who are so far off course. Why it matters so much. Why does this offering need to be pure? Why does it need to be exactly the way the Lord has described it? Um, because maybe they'll learn, right?

But there will be an offering made when the savior comes. . And then there's a promise, an invitation to return. So this is where Malachi hinges in verse seven. He says, even from the days of your father's, ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts, and you'll say, where in shall we return?

So this is the hinge, right? This is where Malachi sees their hearts hopefully turning, and they're gonna say, What do we need to do differently? And this is where you get that beautiful short sermon on tithing. So he says, will a man Rob God, yet ye have robbed me, but you say we're in, have we robbed thee, remember?

I could spend 10 minutes on just this one verse. There's so many things I love about this promise. It's so positive, it's so hopeful filled. First, he talks about them robbing because honestly, I think they probably think they're being neutral by. Changing the sacrificial laws by adapting things for the people.

They probably feel like they're more on neutral ground, and what he's saying is, you're being duplicitous. You're trying to serve two masters, you're robbing God. You can't offer a partial offering and not rob God because he gave you the whole offering to offer. So when you hold some of it back, you miss out.

Right? Which is the same thing that happens to us if we have a calling or in our parenting even, and we choose to only offer. , a partial offering. Like I'll, I'll give you a lot of my energy and a lot of my time, Lord, I just really love this one hobby, or I really love this one sin, or whatever it is. Right?

Like this is not something that's gonna take generations for them to see the effectiveness of their obedience. It will happen now, I love that when it comes to tithing, cuz oftentimes we'll speak about tithing and the blessings that come from tithing. And so many of those great stories are immediate. I heard like 10 just this week as I was studying and learning from prophets and apostles about this, where the blessings are so immediate, they're just not always financial and that I think is really instructive.

In fact, elder Bednar, it's in the notes. He talked about that phrase, windows of heaven, that that doesn't necessarily mean when those windows open. A financial blessing dumps out , because that's what he promises, that not only will the windows open, but it will pour out. That's how many blessings the Lord has in store for you.

That we would've missed out on had we not honored that covenant, that we didn't, if we didn't pair tithing, we would've missed out on. So I read other Bednar's talk. I thought he did such a good job of talking about the windows of heaven. Basically what he says is, if you think about a window, what a window offers is illumination.

So even what, as you open a window, what it does is it lets light flood in and warm, you know, like warm anyone on the other side. And that's what the blessings of tithing are. It's a promise. Spiritual illumination to see your adversities more clearly. To see your blessings more abundantly and to feel the warmth of God as it hits you.

You know, where droughts are lifted and things grow that shouldn't have grown. So you can see these promises fulfilled in small ways and in great big ways when you go and study the words of the prophets. He also says you'll be blessed to be a delight. Some land that this promised land that they love so much, and that's part of their heritage.

Flourish as they pay their tithing. Uh, it's a big weighty promise that he doesn't want them to miss. When you flip the page, you can see there's more to that promise. This is when you start to realize that this gateway of tithing leads right into where we go next, which is talking about the ceiling ordinances.

So there's this unifying nature of the commandment of tithing that I just hadn't caught before, and you'll see it as you go a little bit deeper into Malachi. What's interesting is how it shakes out. So at the end of Malachi three, he basically describes two groups of people. The first group turns to him and says, well, what prophet is to us?

And he warns about that. In fact, you can see in 15 he says those people they call the proud, happy, and they set up the wicked. They put them on pillars basically, and assume that those who are not keeping the covenants are happier than they are. And then the second group of people he describes in the next two verses in 16 and 17, he said, but they that feared the Lord spoke often to one another and the Lord harkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was kept.

This is that same idea of a book of remembrance that we've seen since Adam, that there are your deeds and your diligence and your obedience to the Lord. are written down, all those things are written down and are kept. And I, as a mom, , this just brings all kinds of comfort to me cuz there's all kinds of things that are invisible to the world or to my family or to my kids.

They are all written down. In fact, I love the way he describes it. He says, those who are of the Lord speak often to one another and they fear the Lord and they thought on his name. Those are not big qualifications, , it just means you're trying, you're diligently trying to be a disciple of Christ. You're talking to each other, you're trying to build each other up.

You're remembering the Lord and you're thinking on him. Uh, that's the promise. And, and if they do that, they have these incredible blessings offered. So it says he will make them up as his jewels that at the last day, that's how we'll be able to understand who is who, right? That the Lord will know who needs to be made up as his jewels.

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Maria: Chapter four is an extension of chapter three, but it teaches some key doctrines. One verse one. I have sagebrush written next to it, and I'll explain why this is a warning about the great and dreadful day of the Lord. like we've been talking about in three this day. When the Lord comes, that will be a joy and a delight to those who are righteous and a day of fear and trembling for those who are wicked.

And here's why. It reminds me of sage brush. If you look at the end, it talks about how they will burn as stubble and they will have neither root nor branch. Traditionally, we teach that as a family history verse because that's also the promise that if you don't participate in the covenants, you are not sealed.

And that process gives me roots and it gives me fruitful branches. I learned this when I was studying in the Book of Mormon. So if you look in second knee, 5, 15, 20. It warns about how there will be roots that have rottenness and unfruitful branches. So when I think of something like that, I think of sage brush.

This is why I grew up in Eastern Idaho, and there's some serious wind that happens there. And what will happen in a big windstorm is you'll see these massive sage brush brushes that just get yanked out of the soil like that. And they tumble for days and days and they. Role, and it's fascinating to me cuz they're so big that you would think they must have a root structure.

In place. He wants to give me roots that sink deep into the soil and draw water and nutrients up so I can sustain myself. What you have if you don't make those covenants with him is sage brush. You have a, a big structure that simply cannot withstand this kind of wind. And so when this great and dreadful day of the Lord comes, it burns just like sage.

Brush burns fast, and it becomes as stubble, it becomes, there's nothing to hold it steady. So although you can read first one as a family history verse, I think you can also read it as an invitation to fully convert because the promise is you'll have vows that are full of fruit and roots that sink deep into the.

My dad's a doctor and I just, I don't know. I've always really admired and respected anyone who can repair wounds and heal things. I think there's beauty in that, but in particular, I love it because of what you learn from Isaiah. This idea of the atonement being a covering, you know, we've seen that.

Throughout the Old Testament that that Hebrew word atonement is often translated as a, covering something to keep you safe. It's that robe of righteousness that's extended over you. It's a, it's a covering or an arching over. But I also love covering, when you think of it like a bandage, that it is something that the savior offers us this covering.

And I love that Malachi chose to put those in that. . When you go to the end of chapter four, you're gonna see two prophets that we've studied extensively in our Old Testament study pop back up to the surface. In fact, these two prophets are mentioned in every book of scripture, . In all the parts of your quad, you're gonna see these verses about the hearts of the fathers turning to their children and the children to the fathers.

It's what the savior taught when he came among the Nephites. It's what Joseph Smith was taught by Moroni. It's a powerful message because it is the whole purpose of this earth. In fact, when you go on the doctrine covenants, it says that the. Utterly wasted if it wasn't for these ceiling keys being restored.

restore, right? I love that. Moses is the restorer of the gathering, right? He brings, opens up the keys of the gathering. So for all who are living and on the earth, what Moses offers is an opportunity to come and to make covenants with the Lord. What Elijah offers is to everybody else. So he offers the ceiling keys to all those who are dead so that families who have already passed on, family members who.

You know that the reality of hearts turning when you just step into those parts of your covenants, when you lean to that promise of sealing miracles happen. I, I wish I could give you, I wish I could articulate one for you here that would help you understand, but they're so nuanced and small for me that when they pile all together, that's where my testimony comes from.

Um, that these things are real, these promises are true, and there's a reason they're in every book of scripture cuz everything pivots around them. If you wanna learn more from the prophets about what they have to say about these promises, go in the notes. I promise there's incredible things to learn from all of them, but I really do love that at the very end of this gigantic book of scripture, we have this simple, solid promise that all things will be made whole.

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Maria: Welcome to the Creative side of Week 51 you guys. I'm gonna help you find ways to teach Malachi. And tuck it into the things you're already doing because you guys, I have six kids, I know how stressful this time of year is and I know how you just can't take on one more extra thing, . So my goal here is to find ways to help you teach these verses in memorable ways without adding any extra stress.

And I've got three simple ones for you to choose from. I'll walk you through the basics first, and then I'll take you into each and every one. Um, so you know how to pull. The first one is a Christmas movie night. So chances are you're already gonna take some time at some point in the next week or two to watch a Christmas movie with your kids, and my hope is that you can find a way to teach Malachi at the same time.

And his invitation is, prove me now here with, that's what the Lord says. He says, put me to the test. And what that always reminds me of when I hear those words prove me now is yeast. Maybe cuz I make a lot of bread, but what you do in every recipe that makes bread is they tell you to proof your yeast.

which means give it the right temperature, give it the right setting, and it will bubble up and foam. So you can teach it with just yeast or you can take it to the next level, which is what I would recommend and make a Christmas star. Ours is half eaten so it makes a star shape in the middle, and it has kind of a snowflake vibe all around.

The last one is simply a Christmas memory capture. It's phone week on the chart. So my hope as you see that little phone icon on under the sticker is that you'll use your phone to teach the gospel. One of the simple ways to do that is to talk about how hearts turn from the fathers to the children when we honor Christmas.

So this is a simple one, you guys. My hope is that you will just capture a Christmas memory, either from your own immediate family, like mine is from my parents' tradition of having Christmas Eve by candlelight. So my intent is simply to capture that memory. I'll record it and I'll post it on the family search count so that that memory is.

Captured. Cause I really think that's what ties our hearts together. It's not just that we know each other's names and dates, it's that we have traditions that carry through. So I'm gonna walk you through how to go, how to accomplish that when we get into the details of the object lesson, but that's the goal for these three.

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You can also always listen to things in podcast form, so on the public podcast you can find all the insights audio. So that you can listen to it. You can also find on the public podcast the video content. So if you wanna share that with friends or family and help the course grow, that would be fantastic.

So enjoy your week, you guys, and I'll be back next week with a short but sweet Christmas lesson for creative. Come Follow me and then we'll head into the New Testament. All right, you guys enjoy your week.