Prophet Pearls #6 – Toldot (Malachi 1:1-2:7)

In this episode of Prophet Pearls, Toldot (Malachi 1:1-2:7), if context is key, Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson have opened the door. We learn the exact historical context of Malachi’s message, a specific event at Sinai to which he referred, and the current events on the Temple Mount that prove the Prophet’s words to be as relevant as ever. Gordon tracks down a lost root to clarify the job description of a “messenger” and sets the record straight on “Levites,” “priests” and “cohanim.”  Regarding Malachi’s prophecy, “my name is great among the nations,” Gordon tells of Icelanders and Filipinos who have gathered themselves with Yehovah and encourages listeners to be ready to do likewise.

"For from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, my name is great among the nations..." (Malachi 1:11)

I look forward to reading your comments!

Download Prophet Pearls Toldot Transcript
Prophet Pearls #6 - Toldot (Malachi 1:1-2:7)

You are listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Keith: Shalom chaverim shelanu! What? That’s not going to work for this one, Nehemia, because I’m not going to do the regular greeting, and here’s why.

Nehemia: Why not?

Keith: It’s your birthday. It’s your birthday. It’s your birthday. Folks, it is Keith Johnson here. We’re looking at Prophet Pearls, finding pearls for you. But I’m with my special friend Nehemia Gordon. It is your birthday, and in fact, Nehemia your birthday falls on the same day as my oldest son Taylor’s birthday. I’d like to say happy birthday to both of you. Why don’t you give us a good old birthday greeting here?

Nehemia: Yom huledet sameach to Taylor. Can I tell you a really funny story?

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: My last birthday, I was in China and there were nine foreign teachers there and three of the foreign teachers have the same birthday, my birthday.

Keith: You’re kidding me.

Nehemia: And in fact, the Chinese person who was doing the paperwork, applying for all the visas, she was filling out all the forms, and one of the questions on the visa form is your birthday. And she said, “No, this has to be a mistake. There are eight, nine people, three have the same birthday! And they’re different ages and different years. No, it’s obviously some kind of typo, that somebody made a mistake.”

And it’s really interesting, it made me think about how scribes, the ancient scribes, would come across the text, and it would say something and they’d be like, “Well, no that’s not what it’s supposed to say. I’ve got to correct it.” And so they would, air quotes - I’m doing air quotes, people - they would air quote, “correct” it, and really what they’d end up doing is introducing an error. Now, she was able to call us up on the phone or send an email and say, “What’s really your birthday?” But the scribes are sitting there by candlelight, by the oil lamp, in the dark, in the wet, in the cold, and they say, “Oh, that can’t be what it says.” And that’s how you end up with a lot of these errors in some of the ancient manuscripts. It’s well-meaning scribes who thought they were fixing something and end up messing it up.

Keith: Folks, he thinks we’re going to get into the business without singing – Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you…

Nehemia: Oh, that’s copy-written, so we’re going to edit that out!

Keith: No, it’s over a hundred years you can do it.

Nehemia: No, actually that belongs to Disney...

Keith: We won’t do the whole song.

Nehemia: You know that every time you should do that song in a movie they have to pay $10,000 to Disney or something insane like that.

Keith: Wow, that’s amazing. Good thing we don’t have to do that.

Nehemia: We don’t have money.

Keith: Hey, the other thing I want to tell you, Nehemia, not only is it your birthday. I just celebrated an anniversary with my lovely wife Andrea. I’d like to say happy anniversary to her. Our anniversary is on the 19th. We had our first son on the 22nd - not in the same year, some years later - but we always celebrate this time of year. It’s usually around the time of Thanksgiving, it’s the time of his birthday. It’s the time of... So we’d like to add you into the celebration of birthdays.

Nehemia: I’m honored.

Keith: You’re at my house. So now my sons…

Nehemia: Yes, I was actually born the day before Thanksgiving.

Keith: Wow. Isn’t that amazing? When we had him, he was actually also born, I believe it was the day before Thanksgiving. So we’re going to get into Malachi. But before we do that, it just might be our Prophet Pearls partner’s birthday also - Sherri Rogers from Colorado is our Prophet Pearl partner. I’m so excited about this, Nehemia. We asked the partners if they have a question or a comment, and she took this serious. And so we’re going to get a chance to bring a little of that up in a couple of the verses, and I know you’re going to appreciate it. Sherri, thank you very much for your support.

Nehemia: Thank you, Sherri. Todah.

Keith: And for all of our Prophet Pearls partners who have come alongside with us, like I said about half of them have been covered, the other half, we’re still working on. But the good news is we’re on our way. So let’s get started. Can we get started?

Nehemia: Let’s do it.

Keith: We’re right in Malachi chapter 1, which is connected to Genesis, and it’s going to be really clear about why it is that this is connected. So let’s get started. Or… before we get started, what you think about the name Malachi? Can you tell us what that name means?

Nehemia: It’s a really interesting name. It’s funny. I think when I first heard a non-Jew say the name Malachi, I had no clue what they were talking about.

Keith: Really?

Nehemia: Because in Hebrew…

Keith: Because in English we say Malachi. It says it right here - I’m looking and it says, Ma-la-chi.

Nehemia: Yes, but in Hebrew it’s Mahl-ah-chi.

Keith: Oh, boy.

Nehemia: Mah-la-chi means “my mal’ach”, my angel. Whenever it says the angel of the Lord, the angel of Yehovah, the word in Hebrew is mal’ach, the angel.

Keith: That’s such a pearl.

Nehemia: And mal’achi is my angel.

Keith: Amazing.

Nehemia: And now you might say, “Well, wait a minute, He was a person; he wasn’t an angel.” But we use the word angel in English, which comes from the Greek angalos, but even in Greek, all that means is “messenger.”

Keith: That’s right.

Nehemia: So there’s a messenger who is a spirit messenger, like the one that stood before Balaam. I understand that to be some kind of non-physical entity, which is why he couldn’t see him at first until, his eyes were opened, even though his donkey saw him. And then the other kind is a flesh and blood mal’ach, a messenger. And we actually have examples where, for example, someone will send a messenger, like a human messenger to a king, and that will be called a mal’ach, a messenger, an angel.

Keith: Well it’s interesting - when we’re going to be reading this, my tradition has always been that this is the last book of the “Old Testament”. And when I began to dive back into the Hebrew, I noticed something really interesting. And I actually have a problem now finding books in the Bible, because I was trained for so many years in the English versions going the way that we do, this is the last book. But then in the Hebrew Tanakh, this actually doesn’t end up at the end of the book.

Nehemia: No. It’s at the end of the Prophets, though. Remember there are three sections, Torah, Prophets, Writings. And it is at the end of the Prophets. And in Jewish, I guess you can call it tradition, history sources, Malachi is understood to be the last of the Prophets. Just one more thing about the angel - Malachi was roughly around the same time as Chaggai and Zachariah, or Haggai and Zechariah, I don’t know how you say those names.

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: They’re really the three prophets of the Second Temple period. And in Jewish sources, they’re referred to as a trio. Even though Malachi is obviously a little later from some of the evidence. But Chaggai, Zachariah, and Malachi… The opening of Chaggai in chapter 1 verse 13 of Chaggai, Haggai, says, “Vayomer Chaggai mal’ach Yehovah,” “And Chaggai the mal’ach, the angel, the Malachi, of Yehovah”, “bemal’achut Yehovah la’am,” “in his messengership, in his angelship, of Yehovah to the people saying.” So there is this concept in the Second Temple Hebrew that a prophet is a mal’ach is a messenger, an angel.

Keith: Could we do something? I know we’re getting right into it, but can we make this the Word of the Week?

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: So that people can understand what the mal’ach. Can you explain to them how it’s spelled? I think it’s really interesting, like you said, that the other Prophets start out and two different times that word is in the first verse.

Nehemia: So we could actually do an entire three-hour teaching on the word mal’ach, but we’re not going to.

Keith: We’re not going to.

Nehemia: So mal’ach is Mem, Lamed, Alef, Chaf, and every Hebrew word, as we’ve said many times - this is the central concept of the Hebrew language, of all Semitic languages - has a three-letter root, [whispering] except the ones that don’t. But every word is a three-letter root. And what’s the three-letter root of mal’ach? Let me ask you, Keith, you studied Hebrew. So we’ve got four letters.

Keith: Mem, Lamed

Nehemia: Well, hold on. We’ve got four letters, and only three letters can be the root. So you’ve got to get rid of a letter. Which letter can we get rid of?

Keith: Let’s get rid of Alef.

Nehemia: We can’t get rid of Alef.

Keith: We can’t get rid of Alef. Let’s get rid of Kaf.

Nehemia: We can’t get rid of the Kaf.

Keith: Can’t get rid of Mem?

Nehemia: You can get rid of Mem, alach. So it’s lamed, Alef, Kaf. And that’s actually extremely important about what this word mal’ach means. What’s another word in Hebrew that has to do with mal’ach? The mel’acha, which means ‘work’ or ‘labor.’ And that’s where it gets real interesting, and that’s where we’d talk probably for about two hours and 45 minutes of the three hours, because mel’acha is the word for ‘work’ or ‘labor,’ and when it says on Shabbat to rest, it says, “Do no mel’acha.” And what the definition of mel’acha is - there’s thousands, literally, of pages in Jewish literature about the definition of this word, mel’acha. But if you look at the root, that’s a really important clue. The root of the word Lamed, Alef, Chaf, what does that mean in Hebrew? We don’t know. But we can look at other Semitic languages, because Hebrew is part of a family of languages, and the point is the meaning of this word, of this root, has been lost in Hebrew, but we remember in other Semitic languages it means “to send”.

Keith: Wow.

Nehemia:La’aka,” in, for example, Arabic means “to send.” And so think about it - mal’ach is a messenger, and it’s from the root meaning “to send”. Now think about the word for labor, work. It comes from the word to send. And now, that gives a whole new dimension in the Ten Commandments when it says, “Let your servant work and your female servant, and your son, and your daughter. If you’re sending them to do work, that is labor.” Isn’t that powerful? From just that little root?

Keith: You’re going to pitch to me about the Ten Commandments? No. We’re in about week - let’s see - it must be about week six in the Scripture Bytes Ten Commandments, the “Ten Matters” series, people can go to bfainternational.com. Watch it for free. Give your comments. But if you want the actual PDF where you can check to see if what Nehemia said is true, you’ve got to be a free member. It’s free, though.

Nehemia: What you can really check is to see if his PDF is correct.

Keith: That’s right.

Nehemia: What I’m saying is definitely true.

Keith: Excellent. Can I start reading in the NIV here?

Nehemia: Sure. Go ahead in your Nearly Inspired Version.

Keith: “An oracle: The word of the Yehovah, the word of the LORD,” I’m reading in the NIV, “The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.”

Nehemia: Mah-la-chi.

Keith: Mah-la-chi. And here, as it starts out, Nehemia, and obviously, this is the connection to the Torah portion, everybody that’s listening right now can obviously listen to the Torah portion. We actually recorded, for those that don’t know, about three years ago, it’s in its fourth cycle, we recorded the Torah portions, which takes the entire Torah, the first five books, and separates them into 54 different sections. So what we’re doing right now is we’re taking the Prophet sections - if you haven’t heard the history to this, Nehemia did a great job of explaining the context for why we’re doing the Prophets connected to the Torah sections. But the Torah portion section actually is in Genesis 24:25, regarding Jacob and Esau. So right away, why did they pick this passage? Here it is, right away, it says this, “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. ‘But you ask, how have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ the LORD says. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.’”

Nehemia: We’ve got to stop there.

Keith: Of course, we’re going to stop.

Nehemia: Wow. So the first thing that jumps out at me is that of course there’s the connection of God loves Yaakov, Jacob, and he hates Esau, who spawned the nation of Edom - the Edomites. We’re actually going to talk about that I believe next week, or in two weeks, in the episode where we deal with the book of Obadiah. The entire book of Obadiah - well, there’s only like 20 verses. The entire book is about Edom and the curse of Edom and the Edomites of Esav. But one of the things jumps out at me in verse 3 is God says, “saneti,” “I hate.” Wait a minute - God is the God of love. He doesn’t hate.

Keith: So are you saying this is wrong? Nehemia, it’s right there. It says, “and I hated.”

Nehemia: I’m saying it’s the word of God and He’s saying it.

Keith: Yeah.

Nehemia: And you have this testimony, Keith…

Keith: Yes, it changed my life. I mean this whole idea of saying, “Teach me to love the things you love and hate the things you hate.” The reason that it shocked me is that I didn’t know anything about that when I prayed the prayer. But when I prayed it, I then have to ask myself the question, “Keith, when you prayed that prayer, do you know what those things are that God hates?” And of course, we read through Scripture and we find that there actually are things. Now, of course, we’re right here in this verse where He’s talking about Esau. Listen, if you haven’t gotten a chance, like I mentioned, to listen to Torah Pearls, at least open your Bible as we’re going through this and read the passage in Genesis, it gives you context about what’s happening.

Nehemia: And where can people listen to the original Torah Pearls?

Keith: You can listen to it at nehemiaswall.com. You can listen to it at bfainternational.com, where we’re doing Prophet Pearls, we have a connection there right to the link.

Nehemia: That’s right.

Keith: So both of them. So it says this, “Edom may say, ‘Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.’” Can I just bring one thing from our Prophet Pearls partner, Sherri? She actually said this. She said she listened to Torah Pearls on the Torah portion, and she said, “I was intrigued by the current Jewish understanding of Edomite that Nehemia had shared.” This must be a real student here. It says that he said, “When this term is used, it is a euphemism for Christians.” Taken with it what else is known, it seems that this is not so much a specific nationality as it is the mindset toward Yud Hey Vav Hey,” is what she says, “one that despises him or disregards him. I was particularly struck by verse 4, ‘Though Edom says, we have been beaten down but we will return to build up the ruins.’ This is also quoted in Isaiah 9:9-11.” Is she right about that, Nehemia?

Nehemia: Yeah, let’s look at it.

Keith: Take a look at that. That’s pretty amazing. But she’s talking about it, as you’re looking for it, she says, “Immediately after and during the years following 9/11…” and I wanted to give a pitch to you about this because it’s pretty amazing.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: “…American politicians arrogantly spoke these words, not realizing these words were the cause of judgment because they were rising up against what God was doing to curb the rebellion and disobedience of the people.” When she brought up that verse, I thought, “Let’s take a look at Isaiah 9:9-11 and see what the connection is.” Can you read that? Do you see it?

Nehemia: It must be…

Keith: No, “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones.” It’s verse 10 in English.

Nehemia: So what does that have to do with this passage?

Keith: No, I’m saying this is the connection with 9/11. The point is that they would quote the verse, bring the verse up and quote it in as a positive rather than putting in context and understanding that it actually was…

Nehemia: But this isn’t what it says Malachi.

Keith: No, of course not. She’s talking about what is quoted in 9:9 through 11, talking about returning and building up the ruins.

Nehemia: Oh, I see.

Keith: That’s what verse 4 is. She’s saying, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” She’s making the connection.

Nehemia: Oh, it’s the same sort of message.

Keith: Exactly, the same sort of message.

Nehemia: But here’s the interesting thing about Edom, and that whole issue of Edom, how it’s understood in Jewish sources, I do want to talk about that when we speak about Obadiah. There’s much to talk about in this section, and Obadiah is mostly about Edom, so let’s...

Keith: What I appreciate, though, about what she was doing is, this is… it’s a great example. I mean, here’s a person who’s studying Scripture and sees this verse, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” And in her mind, she hears that… which was really, you may have never heard that.

Nehemia: Yes, that’s a great association.

Keith: Very great association, we thank you for that, Sherri. And again, the idea is when we’re reading Scripture, there are a lot of times where there’ll be a portion or a section that’s being used or cross parallel back and forth, and so it’s confusing.

Nehemia: So what’s the significance of this in verse 4? I think what He’s trying to say is “Look, Jacob, you might be crushed and you might be torn down and destroyed, but you will be rebuilt. But Edom will never be rebuilt.” And then He says, “Ve’ha’am asher za’am Yehovah ad olam.” Now, in my JPS it says, “The people damned forever of the LORD.” That’s not what it says in Hebrew. Is that what you have in your NIV?

Keith: Well, let’s see here.

Nehemia: Is it something like cursed or damned, is that what you have?

Keith: It says here, “But this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. You will see it with your own eyes and say, Great is the LORD—even beyond the borders of Israel!’”

Nehemia: So there it translates it as “wrath”, the word that in the JPS is “damned”. In this case, I think your translation is correct; za’am means anger - Yehovah is angry at... And I understand where they’re getting it from, but I think that’s an incorrect translation. That Yehovah is angry at forever, yes, I think it’s a much better translation.

Keith: Well, I want to know because we’re getting...

Nehemia: Yes, and actually NRSV, for example, “The people with whom the LORD is angry forever.” There it is. All right.

Keith: So in verse 6 it says, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the…” I don’t know what it is about these next two verses. But “A son honors his father, and a servant his master.”

Nehemia: Whoa. How’d you skip over verse 5?

Keith: I’m saying I just read verse 5.

Nehemia: No, we’ve got to talk about verse 5.

Keith: Oh. Go ahead, talk about verse 5.

Nehemia: “Your eyes shall behold it, and you shall declare, ‘Great is Yehovah beyond the borders of Israel!’” So what does that mean? In the context, what it’s talking about is you’re going to see the destruction, the eternal desolation of Edom, of the Edomites, of Esav, and based on that, you’re going to realize, “Wait a minute, this isn’t just the God of Israel; He’s the God of the whole world.”

Keith: Amen. You know it’s funny about that, when we were reading in Isaiah and he says, “The God of Israel, the God of the whole earth.” In other words, sometimes people have this - I don’t know if I should say sometimes people have this - but sometimes it can get confusing to say “the God of Israel,” as if He’s only able to do what He can do for or in Israel, and what the Scriptures keep reminding us is, yes, He’s the God of Israel; He’s the God of the whole earth. And here he says, “Great is the LORD—even beyond the borders of Israel!” In other words, He’s much bigger.

Nehemia: I’ve got to share the story that happened to me in Nepal. I got these henna tattoos, which made some people angry, but I’m okay with that.

Keith: I was one of them. I didn’t understand what you were doing getting the tattoos. But it was amazing what was on there. You scared me. I thought it was permanent.

Nehemia: No, it’s not permanent! No, you could look at my hands - they’re not there. But it’s like this dye that you put on your hands and it lasts for about three weeks. They say three weeks. It doesn’t last for three weeks. Less than two weeks. And in America, it usually lasts less. Anyway, it cost like four dollars in the street in Nepal, and there’s no cutting - it’s just a superficial thing, but it’s a dye that stains your skin. And I said, “Can you write the name you have Yehovah?” They don’t know what that is. So they wrote it based on - I showed them on my iPad the name, and they were able to write it, it was so cool. And then I got stopped constantly by people on the street in Katmandu, the capital in Nepal. And I remember one particular incident where they asked me, “What is on your hand?” And I said, “that’s the name of my God, the God of Israel, the name Yehovah.” And these people are Hindus, don’t know anything about Jews, about Israel. And I said, “He’s the Father in heaven. We believe He’s the creator of the entire universe.” And they got excited and they were shouting, “Halleluyah!” In Nepal, in Katmandu, these Hindus, it was amazing.

Keith: Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so bad that you got.

Nehemia: It was a great testimony, yeah.

Keith: Well, we’re actually going to do something further on this.

Nehemia: By the way, I have a great study on my website, nehemiaswall.com, about this whole issue of specifically, shaving beards and tattoos. There’s a huge misconception out there by people who have been following certain traditions and not understanding it in its historical, cultural, and linguistic context.

Keith: Now, Nehemia, you just brought that up. I mean, a great example, you brought that up. Basically, that’s what you’ve been about, for as long as I’ve known you, you have been about trying to give people a chance to see it for themselves in its original language, history, and context.

Nehemia: Amen.

Keith: And that’s what the ministry is about.

Nehemia: Yeah.

Keith: I know you’re probably not ready for it, but it would be a great segue.

Nehemia: Ministry Minute!

Keith: Let’s do a Ministry Minute. Tell us about it real quick.

Nehemia: Yes, so I’ve got a bunch of studies there on my website nehemiaswall.com. My ministry is called Makor Hebrew Foundation, and the website is nehemiaswall.com. And I want to give a shout-out to the people, I call them the trumpeters, who are standing with me on the wall. You know, Nehemiah’s the guy who built the wall, and there are people that are standing with me, empowering other people to build the wall of faith and defend the Word of Yehovah with knowledge.

And one of the things we’ve been doing lately in the ministry is, there’s a bunch of teachings I’ve done over the last… I just listened to one today that was from… I couldn’t believe it was me, it was like from over 10 years ago, and I’m speaking specifically in that one about the Masoretic Text and the history of the Masoretic Text and how it was canonized, meaning where did it come from? And there are so many misconceptions out there, and I’m listening to this recording and realizing, “Oh, yeah I guess everybody doesn’t know this.”

Keith: That’s why when you say “obviously” sometimes, I think, “Obvious to who, Nehemia?”

Nehemia: Right. So one of the things I’m trying to do is get that information out there, and as I’ve learned from you and some of the really high-quality work that you’ve done in your ministry, is that it costs money to do that stuff.

Keith: Absolutely. So basically, for the information that you do have, is nehemiaswall.com now carrying all that information? Has it been transferred?

Nehemia: I’m working on that. Meaning that the website I had going back to around 1998 was karaite-korner.org. And that website was dated and aged, and I’m now transitioning. For example, the study on shaving and tattoos, that’s been there since probably since the late 90s, and that’s now been migrated to nehemiaswall.com.

Keith: Can I bring something up? Can I take a little bit of your minute?

Nehemia: Sure. Go ahead.

Keith: Well, I think one of the things that’s important about that, I just found out some information, is that when people who have a website, they say, “Oh, the web is free. Just go in and you can do whatever.” Except for the people who own the website. So one of the things that’s interesting, the more people that come to your site, the more people that come to our site, actually the costs go up.

Nehemia: Incredibly.

Keith: We just had some information about that. But again, in terms of the process that you’re in right now, it would help to have some people that were blowing that trumpet to stand with you as you bring that information onto the site, is that fair?

Nehemia: Absolutely, yes.

Keith: So folks, if you’re listening and you want that information; it certainly changed my life, having access to it. Now, let me just bring up my little Ministry Minute. If all goes well, I’m actually recording this episode right now, and I am presently, if all goes according to plan, I am in the Philippines right now during this weekend, sharing with a group of pastors, a church. I got the e-mail that talks about all the logistics. I’m going to be speaking three different times, including to a number of pastors in the area of the Philippines. So one of the things that I really am committed to do is to get to the people when the invitation comes for an open door for effective ministry.

And again, to my lovely wife Andrea, we celebrate our anniversary on the 19th, and then come to find out that my flight to the Philippines was at 12:30 a.m. on the 20th. So the 19th is our anniversary, the 20th I’m flying all night to get to the Philippines so that I can then be available for that weekend. So Andrea, thank you so much for blessing me. She agreed on it before I said yes. I just didn’t look at the details.

And so I just want to say for us with bfainternational.com, if you go to our website, three different levels. One is a person who just wants to see what we’re doing. Two, our free members, who get access to PDFs and all sorts of things. And three, our Premium Content folks, who I have to say I’m really humbled by. Those are people that spend a minimum of $9.99 a month, and they’re helping us prepare for other things, the other things that are coming. But then we give them access to everything, including all of the highest level of information, inspiration, and revelation. So please consider becoming a part of the Premium Content Library. And for all of you that are on the website, I’m overwhelmed at the stats, Nehemia. Talking to our web guy, and he’s like, “Keith, this is amazing. It’s actually working. We’re reaching people around the world, inspiring them to build the biblical foundation for their faith.”

So that’s the Ministry Minute. Let’s move on. Can we do that?

Nehemia: Let’s do it.

Keith: Absolutely. Thank you, folks. “A son honors his father,” here’s the verse I like, “and a servant his master. But if I am a father…” and we know that he is…

Nehemia: Amen.

Keith: “‘…where is the honor due Me? If I am a master, where is the respect due Me?’ says…” And then, Nehemia, He does this over and over again in this part that we’re talking about. He says, “‘respect due Me?’ says the LORD Almighty.” That’s what it says in mine.

Nehemia: That’s what it says?

Keith: Yes, that’s what it says. What does it say in Hebrew?

Nehemia: It says in Hebrew, Yehovah Tzeva’ot, Yehovah of Hosts.

Keith: And we talked a little bit about that a few weeks ago, and we’re going to see this title again. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt,” and then these three words. Now, does He really mean this? “For My name,” meaning, practically, it’s just a generalization, right? He doesn’t mean also for His name, really His name, it’s just the idea of His name, right? Do you think He also means His name in practicality, or is it just kind of a…?”

Nehemia: Well, I think in this context, they ask, “So how have we despised Your name?” And He tells them. Meaning, through their actions they’ve shown that we despise - and I say despise, that’s what says in Hebrew. He explains to them, “This is how you’ve despised My name by the way that you treat My altar.”

Keith: So it’s interesting, with our book A Prayer to Our Father: Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer, which is actually available on both sites, the second phrase where Yeshua teaches Your Name Be Sanctified, and this call to action, and then you think about that word, meaning His name being sanctified. I would say that, again, that goes beyond how in just speaking His name and knowing it…

Nehemia: Of course. Absolutely.

Keith: But that His name, who He is, everything about Him, must be set apart and…

Nehemia: And I think most people would agree with that. Where it gets complicated is people will say, “Oh, no, it doesn’t actually mean His name. It only means the indirect things that reflect upon His name.”

Keith: Exactly

Nehemia: And like, what? No, of course, it has the basic meaning, and then everything that expands from that.

Keith: Thank you. So He says, “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for Your name?’” And now, practical, you don’t ask the question because if you ask the question He might answer.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: Can I go through the answers real quick?

Nehemia: Let’s do it, yes.

Keith: It says here, “You placed defiled food on My altar. But we ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that,” Yehovah, “the LORD’s table is contemptible.” Now, I have to tell you, Nehemia, when I got there and stopped there, I thought, “Are we doing the word…” like, what do you see is happening when you’re reading those couple verses? Is it clear to you what He’s saying?

Nehemia: Oh, this is crystal clear. Absolutely. It gives more elaboration in verse 8. So let’s read that, and then can we go back?

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: I want to go back to those words at the end of verse 7.

Keith: Let me do it in English and then you go back. It says, “When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor!” That’s interesting. “Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.

Nehemia: Can I stop for a minute about this word “governor”?

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: So this is the time of Malachi, who is during the Persian rule, sometime probably in the 4th century. Under Persian rule, there wasn’t a king of Israel. There was a governor. One of the governors was Nehemiah. But later there were other governors of all kinds of different qualities and characters. And His point is, “You’re going to bring this offering to Me - you wouldn’t bring this to your governor, who isn’t even the king. He’s not even the emperor. He’s just some Persian official. But you’re going to bring it to Me?” Yeah, wow.

But that’s actually really interesting. That’s a tell of exactly what period of history this is. You couldn’t have had Isaiah speak about the governor. He would’ve spoken about the king.

Keith: Exactly. And that’s another important issue for context. If we understand the history and the context, it helps you understand the word of God. And then He says again, He comes up with this phrase again, Nehemia, it says, “‘Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?’ says Yehovah Tzeva’ot,” the LORD Almighty in my English.

Now, it says in verse 9, “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will He accept you? Sayeth again, the third time,” Nehemia, “Yehovah Tzeva’ot.” Verse 10, “‘Oh, that one of you would shut the Temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on My altar! I am not pleased with you,’ sayeth Yehovah Tzeva’ot, ‘and I will accept no offering from your hands.’”

Nehemia: Now can we go back to verse 7?

Keith: Yes we must.

Nehemia: To me, this is wow. Part of me, when I read this thinks, “Okay, this is talking about sacrifices. We don’t have sacrifices today. There is no Temple. What’s the application of this today?” This is what we’ve talked about - biblical prophecy for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In the future, I believe it says in Ezekiel, so I believe it’s true, that the Temple will be rebuilt and there will be sacrifices. People, read it. It’s Ezekiel chapters 43-48. It describes the sacrifices. It describes the building of this Temple, the structure, the size, and dimensions. But what about for today? What’s the application today? And one of the things that comes to mind is something that… we’re pre-recording this, you said it’s my birthday, but we’re actually not even in November yet.

Keith: And can I just explain something to the folks?

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: One of the reasons that we’re doing this is that we had an opportunity to be physically together, in chevruta, it helps. The other reason is that both of us have schedules where sometimes… like right now, this weekend, I don’t even know if I’ll have Internet access. So we couldn’t necessarily record it.

Nehemia: Right. And you won’t, trust me.

Keith: And then you, being where you’re at, the Wandering Jew, I mean, who knows where you’re going to be.

Nehemia: I don’t even know what country I’ll be in. So what’s the application today? And literally, today one of the things that’s happening is there’s this… well, let me back up before that. So what it literally says is, “How have we despised You?” is what it says, or defiled, despised. “When you say the table of Yehovah is despised.” Is that what you have? Or do you have “the altar”? It literally says, “the table.”

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: Okay, and what is the table? The table is the altar, or there was actually a table in the Temple. But in any event, saying that the whole Temple is something we despise. And here’s something I’ve heard rabbis say. I’ve heard Orthodox-Jewish rabbis stand up and publicly say that we have these prayers and we pray for the Temple to be rebuilt, but we don’t really mean it. And the last thing we really want is for the Temple to be rebuilt. Because if the Temple is rebuilt then our synagogue won’t be all that important anymore, will it? Our synagogues are… and in some Jewish circles, they’ll actually call the synagogue a Temple.

The way I see it, many of these rabbis are committing this exact sin of Malachi 1:7. And then they’ll actually go into saying how they despise the sacrifices. They’ll say, “Sacrifices with blood and burning fat, that’s disgusting, we’re too civilized for that. We don’t want that.” And I read this and I say, “Wow. This is as relevant today as it was - maybe even more so than it was 2,500 years ago.” Because back then the issue was, “Okay, we want to skate by and do the minimal. We’re going to bring the sheep who has a broken leg because we can’t use it anyway, even though we owe You a proper sacrifice.” Now they’re saying, “We don’t even want to bring sacrifices. Sacrifices are primitive, they’re barbaric, we want nothing to do with them.”

And then another application today, and here’s the exception to this rule - so the attitude of most Jews today is, “The Temple Mount has nothing to do with us. That was important back then and, yes, it has some symbolic importance, but we don’t really want it. Let the Muslims have it. It’s too much trouble. We don’t really want it.” So much so that in 1967, this is a very famous thing, that when they captured the Temple Mount they announced over the radio, “har habait beyadenu,” “the Temple Mount is in our hand.”

Keith: Yes, “the Temple Mount is in our hand.”

Nehemia: And this was one of the most dramatic events in modern Jewish history. But then they immediately moved on and went to the Western Wall. And I liken this to… imagine going to the White House and you go through the Oval Office and you go straight through the Oval Office to the guard shack at the front of the White House. That’s what that is. So this is here like, “I don’t want to be in the Oval Office. I’ve got to get my photo op in front of the outside gate where everybody gets their photo.” So this is a modern day version of what they said, “The table of Yehovah is despised.” “We don’t want that Temple Mount.”

An exception to that - you know, I said rabbis say this and they do this and they discourage people from going to the Temple Mount, but one of the great exceptions that I want to honor today is this friend of yours, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who right now, as we’re speaking, is laying in a hospital bed in Jerusalem on a ventilator because he defied this attitude of the Jews even today, that the table of Yehovah is scorned, the table of Yehovah is despised. He said, “No, this is the holiest spot in the universe. We must pray here. We as Jews and other people should have the right to pray here. Jews and Christians should have the right to come up to this place and pray.” Which is forbidden by the Muslim authorities who have taken over the spot.

Keith: It’s interesting - here we’re two days after his attempted assassination, as we mentioned, we’re recording this early. And the great news is that people around the world have been praying. And two days… and we heard it from the doctor today, that his vital organs were not hit. Four bullets went into his body, Nehemia, didn’t get the spine, didn’t hit the other vital areas, but he’s had two surgeries, he has another one. It’s our prayer that by the time you hear this recording he will be up and about and on his way back to the Temple Mount. Rabbi Glick, I believe, he, in fact, I don’t know if I forgot to tell you this - when we announced that we were doing Prophet Pearls, he sent me a personal note and said congratulations, that he was excited for us to be doing that.

Nehemia: Really? Wow.

Keith: So, we’re sending a special blessing to you, Rabbi Glick, and look forward to seeing you panim al panim, face to face, as he does what he does, so…

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: But Nehemia, also about this, can I bring another present-day situation?

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: Do you remember when we had - I always bring you back to these bible studies. Do you remember when we were having a Bible study talking about the sacrifices? Now, let me go on the positive side of the sacrifices, though I can’t bring a sacrifice physically, what other sacrifice can I bring? Do you remember the Bible study we had? You pay for the cows with your...?

Nehemia: Can we hold that until we get to the section Hosea?

Keith: No! Okay. We’ll have to hold...

Nehemia: We have a Prophet Pearls on that. It’s actually next week.

Keith: Oh, okay!

Nehemia: You’re going to bring it now? You can’t bring it now, you’re jumping the gun.

Keith: Okay, sorry about that, folks. Hey, next week we’ll talk about that. But again, the issue that we actually can address the issue of what it means when we’re reading this. The fact that you brought that to present day is sort of the beauty of this whole issue of when these images come up, we can answer. You’ve got to keep listening to Prophet Pearls, folks. It gets better and better week by week by week. Can I keep reading?

Nehemia: Yes, and verse 11 is our next verse. We read that.

Keith: Oh, this is it. No, I mean I’ll let you talk… No, I’m not going to talk about this. “‘My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to My name because My name will be great among the nations,’ says Yehovah Tzeva’ot.” And before you bring your example, I just think it’s so interesting: this weekend, what am I talking about in the Philippines? One of three things: God’s time, God’s Torah, God’s Tetragrammaton, His name. And the people in the Philippines are saying, “Tell us about His name. His name will be great amongst nations.” Now, you have even a better example. In fact, the picture that we’re using for this week is important. Tell us about that.

Nehemia: Yes. Well, before I get to that. I actually spoke at the same church in the Philippines. It’s a wonderful church in Davao city, Faith Revival Center, it’s called, with Pastor Vestin, an amazing man. You’ll meet him, and you’re meeting him now as this is being broadcast. I was so honored, because I get there to speak and at the front of the church they have this huge banner, which has the name Yehovah with full vowels and full accents. It was really cool. And this is like the Philippines. I mean think about it, it’s the other side of the world from America, where we’re sitting right now. How much further away you could you get?

So, I want to share this one story. Because I read this verse, “‘From the rising of the sun until it’s setting, My name is great among the nations in every place. Incense is burnt to My name and pure offerings, for My name is great among the nations,’ says Yehovah of Hosts.” This isn’t about Israel. This is about the non-Israelites who look to the God of Israel and realize He’s amazing, He’s great, and they honor His name. And I had a great encounter with that from this woman in Iceland, this woman named Sigrún. I’m probably mispronouncing her name - but who can pronounce Icelandic except for the 250,000 natives of Iceland? I’m pretty sure it’s one of the countries with the smallest populations in the world.

Keith: Definitely.

Nehemia: And Iceland is like some island in the middle of the Atlantic. I mean really from our perspective, it’s even more remote than the Philippines. The Philippines has something like 100 million people. Iceland is a country with 250,000 people. How many people are in Charlotte?

Keith: I think 350,000.

Nehemia: So there are fewer people in the whole country of Iceland than in this city where we are right now, in Charlotte. So she writes me this email about an experience she had. Let me read it. She says, and this is a Torah keeper in Iceland. She says, “Shalom, Nehemia. When I first read your book, Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence, it really stirred something in me, and I started to pray about the name, which I had been taught to pronounce as Yahweh. I think it was the next day that the Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my door, and to their surprise, I pulled them in and offered them a drink of water. They did not want coffee. They sat down. I sat down with them and bombarded them with many questions.” So imagine she’s not shutting the door, she’s actually talking. “I guess they were a little flabbergasted by this, stuttered to try to answer my questions about why they use the name Jehovah and not Yahweh. The Jehovah’s Witnesses said they knew that Yahweh was probably more correct.” So the Jehovah’s Witnesses are telling her that Yahweh’s the true name.

Keith: Wow.

Nehemia: But, “And I said, ‘No, I’m not trying to convert you. I just want information about why you pronounce it this way.’ Time flew by and after a while, one of them said, ‘My husband must be out looking for me, we have to go now.’ Ha ha ha, they had enough of me and my questions.” So that wasn’t the end of the story. That’s what’s really powerful about this. Sigrún comes to find out that in the National Museum of Iceland there are these three altarpieces, which are these decorations that used to be at the front of churches, now they’re in the museum. And all three of them have the name Yud Hey Vav Hey in Hebrew on them. And I said to her, “Look, I can’t just take your word for it or see some photo on the Internet. Can you please contact the National Museum of Iceland and ask them for a high-resolution photograph of these altarpieces? I need to see it with my own eyes.” And so I get this email a few weeks later of these high-resolution photographs. One of them is just so beautiful because it has the name Yehovah with the full vowels, with that missing, what you call the “cholam from heaven” in your book, His Hallowed Name Revealed Again. It has real rays of light coming out of it, which, again, reminds me of this verse, “From the rising of the sun until it’s setting, My name is great among the nations,” and here it is at the center of the world with the light coming out of it in the clouds on the front of an altar piece in a church.

And let me just quickly tell you about this, somewhere here I have the information, it’s a church from the 1600s or something like that. What was interesting… here’s the really interesting part to me. So Sigrún tells me that the National Museum of Holland - not Holland, Iceland. The National Museum of Iceland has a condition. They say you can use our high-resolution photograph that’s never been published on one condition. And what’s the condition? They say, “We want to know what’s written in Hebrew on the top of this altarpiece.” I’m like, I’ll tell you exactly what’s written.

Keith: Amen.

Nehemia: Isn’t that amazing?

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: So I write back to them, and apparently, they’re going to incorporate that into their information. So now people will come to this and they’ll know what it actually says, because the people in Holland (Iceland) don’t know exactly. They know it’s God’s name, but they don’t actually remember.

Keith: So did you already sent it to them, Nehemia?

Nehemia: Yes, I sent it to them.

Keith: Did you tell them something about why that’s inside the triangle, though?

Nehemia: Absolutely. Can I read you what I wrote?

Keith: Absolutely. That’s what I wanted you to do.

Nehemia: I said, “The Tetragrammaton, the name of God, Yehovah, written with the full Hebrew consonants and vowels. God’s name is set inside a triangle representing the three Hebrew verbs that together form his name. Hayah, He that was; Hoveh, He that is; and Ihiyeh, He that will be, or He that is to come. The rays of light coming from the name represent the divine glory. This glorification of God’s holy name comes from a church in Iceland and serves an illustration of the verse and then I quoted this verse Malachai 1:11, “For from the rising of the sun rises to the place that it’s setting, My name is great among the nations.”

Keith: Now you think, folks… I mean this is great. This is amazing. So here you’ve got a chance to see the picture right there in a high-resolution picture that’s on the website. Be able to listen to this, but then to know the story behind it. I just think that’s amazing. And again, not to give you more than one Ministry Minute, but I think that’s the strength, Nehemia. Basically, that they could say, “We don’t know. We want to know. Could you help us know?” And that’s what you were able to do. So that’s a blessing.

Nehemia: To me this is such an amazing thing because – and by the way, the church is in a place called Ketilsvellir, Iceland from 1768. And like I said, there are two others in the museum there. You can go to the National Museum of Iceland website. It’s amazing to me. It’s amazing to me that I read this verse and I’m a little skeptical. I’ll be honest with you, that’s what blew me away here. I read this verse and I say, “Really? In the time of Malachi, there are non-Israelites who are burning incense to Yehovah’s name?” But they’re doing it in Iceland. They’re honoring His name in Iceland, which like I said, it’s a bunch of snow and volcanoes and sheep.

Keith: I have to be honest with you, Nehemia. We’ve been in different places together in South Africa, we’ve been in South Africa.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: And in different places, and one of the things that is amazing is how many times we’ll find people, present day, who have no reason to “be connected” to the name, and yet they’re having this revelation of the name.

Nehemia: It’s amazing.

Keith: And it’s around the world. I’ve got to go, back way back in 2010, I sent out my little study, it’s called a little study, it’s got its own life. I sent it 500 people in different parts of the world, and the responses were amazing, when people would write. And now, again, here, I mean, obviously, this has been there for a long, long time. But that witness of His name is literally around the world.

Nehemia: Isn’t it amazing? So the words of the prophets are true yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Keith: Here we go. Can I go? Oh, no, hold on. I’m just reading verse 11 and then 12. It says this, “But you profane it by saying of the LORD’s table, ‘It is defiled, its food is contemptible.’ And you say, ‘What a burden, and you sniff at it contemptuously,’ says the LORD Almighty.” And again, two more times where He uses his name. “‘When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?’ says the LORD. ‘Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the LORD. For I am a great king,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘And my name is to be feared.’”

Nehemia: Amen.

Keith: I’ll tell you what happened when I read that. I immediately go back to the beginning of Malachi. I go immediately back to the whole issue of Jacob and Esau, and about the fact that here he is talking about “what offering are you bringing?” Oftentimes people say, “Jacob’s offering was legitimate and Esau’s offering wasn’t legitimate.” But that’s actually not the issue. The issue is, what is behind the offering? And in effect, when we read this, we’re talking about what’s behind the offering. Why do you bring the blemished sheep? Why do you bring them? Because this is what you’re bringing to Me. Do I not deserve more? Do I not deserve your best? We’re talking about here not only the offering. We’re talking about what’s behind the offering.

Nehemia: Yes. And that’s a message throughout the Prophets that we see that they talk about, “We don’t want these rivers of oil and blood and countless sacrifices.” If you’re going to be doing this while you’re sinning, there has to be a repentant heart and you have to come to Yehovah in truth and with humility. Their point was, “Well, no, I just bring the sacrifice and I fulfill the duty, and that’s all I have to worry about.”

Keith: And there are people that are listening right now that sometimes people get into this mode where they say, “I don’t want anything to do with all the rules and regulations and sacrifices and all that.” But what was behind it? What’s the heart of it? And the heart of it is to be able to come and to honor Him, giving a sacrifice of praise, we talk about in my tradition, being a sacrifice of praise. It’s our heart, it’s bringing everything we are to Him. So these things that are the animals that are represented, those aren’t the everything. It should be the manifestation, the overflow, of our relationship with Him.

Nehemia: Now you’re going to force me to jump ahead, but we’re going to talk about more next week and bring Psalm 51...

Keith: Now you are going to jump ahead.

Nehemia: How can I not bring that now? I’ll just read it real quick, and then we’ll talk about it more next week, where he says, Psalm 51, in the Hebrew it’s verse 18; in the English it’s verse 16. It says, “For you desire not sacrifice, else would I give it; You delight not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Meaning, don’t reject our sacrifice - we’ll talk about that more next week.

Keith: Okay. Awesome. “And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor My name,” says Yehovah Tzeva’ot,” the LORD of Hosts, in my Bible it says, the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor Me.” That’s just a verse not only of accountability, you just have to look at that and say that’s sobering.

Nehemia: Yes.

Keith: I mean it’s sobering to say that… and again, one of the things that’s serving he says, “I will be the one that will send the curse upon you.” In other words, a curse will just come upon you? No. He says I’ll send it. It’s almost like God has this ability to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, and however He wants.

Nehemia: Not almost - He does.

Keith: It almost seems that way. So here’s verse 3. It says this, “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival sacrifice…” Oh, offal?

Nehemia: It doesn’t say offal.

Keith: Well, that’s what it says in the NIV.

Nehemia: Can you tell people what offal means?

Keith: Well, offal it seems to me like it must be some kind of…

Nehemia: No, offal is actually like innards that people don’t eat, unless they’re on a ketogenic diet, like liver and things that. But in Hebrew, it says, “dung,” “I’ll spread dung on your face.”

Keith: Okay, I’m glad it says it that way. I think you guys get the idea.

Nehemia: Like in the King James, it actually has “dung.”

Keith: Yes.

Nehemia: The JPS has “dung.” So why does it say offal in your NIV?

Keith: Well, maybe they’re just using a nicer…

Nehemia: But offal isn’t dung.

Keith: Maybe the reason they’re saying offal is that it’s coming from the inside.

Nehemia: But there is a word for offal. Offal is actually the best part of the animal to eat, which is why it’s burnt for sacrifices, according to the ketogenic diet.

Keith: “‘And you then will know that I have sent you this admonition so that My covenant with Levi may continue,’ sayeth Yehovah Tzva’ot, Yehovah of Hosts, the LORD Almighty.” Now verse 5.

Nehemia: Whoa. We’ve got to talk about the covenant of Levi. But let’s get to the end of the section because 4 through 7 is a unit.

Keith: Yes. And I’ll read the rest of it so we can continue. “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness and turned many from sin. For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction, because he is the…” what?

Nehemia: The angel, mal’ach, the messenger.

Keith: And you learned the word earlier. So we started out with the name of the prophet. You do the Word of the Week. And then the verse ends with that particular word.

Nehemia: “For he is the mal’ach, the angel, the messenger, of Yehovah of Hosts. And you have instruction they will seek from his mouth.” It says in Hebrew, obviously, “Torah”. That was something we had talked about, that we saw in Jeremiah and in Ezekiel, that you seek vision from the prophet, word from the prophet, and you seek Torah from the Kohen. That’s this concept in ancient Israel. And we have this contrast - think about, how are verses 4 through 7 connected to verses 1 through 3, where he’s being rebuked and warned? And the point is that the Kohen, the Levitical priest, has this extremely heavy burden on him, this heavy burden of representing Yehovah and being His messenger. The angel, the messenger, represents the person that sends him.

You have these great verses in the Tanakh, for example, where Balak - and I think we talked about this in Torah Pearls - Balak is the king of Midian, and he sends a messenger, and the messenger doesn’t say, “Thus says Jim in the name of Balak.” No, he says, “Thus says Balak,” and then everything that comes after that is Balak speaking in first person, “I this,” “I that,” “me.” And it’s as if Balak is speaking himself. And so the role of the priest is that when he speaks, he should be speaking the words of Yehovah, and he should be speaking the Torah, and not his own words. And this is why he’s being rebuked - because he’s not doing that. And I’ll let you talk. But then we have to talk about this covenant of Levi and what that means.

Keith: You know it’s funny, whenever I read this kind of stuff, I actually end up going to my favorite New Testament book. It’s my favorite New Testament book because a long time ago I used to do these memory verses, Nehemia. Then I would memorize a paragraph, and eventually, I memorized a book. And the book I memorized was the book of James. What I loved about memorizing that book - it just seemed so practical.

For example, it says teachers will be judged more strictly. One of the other things that it talks about is taming the tongue. It says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers,” this is chapter 3 of James, if it’s okay. And it’s speaking of teachers as those who are teaching the things of God. This is not like you in China teaching English, Nehemia. This is a spiritual thing here. It says, “My brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all struggle in many ways. If anyone who is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body. But when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example: although they are so large,” and this is connected, “and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider when a great forest is set on fire. The tongue is also a fire.” So he’s basically saying that what they’re saying… in other words, how they’re speaking is some indication of what’s going on behind them.

Another great verse I love Luke 6:45, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” So when I’m reading in Malachi, at least when I’m looking at Malachi, and he’s talking about these teachers, it just seems to me like it’s saying… let me read it again in my version here. He says, “True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips.” Then he says, “For the lips of a priest, those that are the ones that are supposed to be bringing the knowledge, ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction because he’s the messenger.” So what is he talking about, bringing forth the message? This is like the indicator. So I’m going to listen to what you say, and that’s going to let me know that you’re the one that’s representing him.

Nehemia: All right. And the point is that the priests weren’t doing this in this period, the Kohanim. So I just have to really… and I think we talked about this in Torah Pearls. I’ve spoken about it before. I find a lot of people confuse the difference between a Levi and a priest.

Keith: Yes. We actually talked, yes, in the Torah Pearls. It was a really good conversation.

Nehemia: Levi was a tribe, one of the Twelve Tribes, one of the twelve sons of Israel. And within that, there was a subgroup called Kohen, priests, and those were Aaron and his descendants. Sometimes those are referred to as Levitical priests, Kohanim Levi’im, because they were priests from the tribe of Levi. There are other types of priests. We have Melchizedek that was a priest, Malki Tzedek. We have the sons of David were called priests. But in the Levitical sense, the priests are a subgroup within the Levites, and the job of the Levites is to help their brothers the priests, the Kohanim, who are also Levites.

So let’s just look really quickly at a few verses that talk about this. Deuteronomy 17:9 is one of the famous verses, listen to Torah Pearls for more about it. Let’s start in 17:8. It says, “If a case is too difficult for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly repair to the place that Yehovah your God will have chosen,” meaning the Temple, “and appear before the Levitical priests.” And it says in Hebrew, “HaKohanim haLevi’im,” meaning the priests who are from the tribe of Levi. It’s not all Levites, but it’s the Levitical priests. “Or the magistrate in charge at the time, and present your problem,” et cetera et cetera. So you go and you bring these difficult cases to the Levite who is the Levitical priest.

Then Deuteronomy 24:8 is a really interesting example which I think connects directly to Malachi. It says, “In cases of a skin affection,” that’s tza’arat, leprosy, “be most careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. Take care to do as I have commanded them.” And why is that? Because if you read Leviticus, you’ll have no idea what it’s talking about. It requires someone to spend a great deal of time studying Leviticus, those sections on leprosy and whatever all that’s about, and then looking at actual cases and learning it. So it’s saying, “Look, you’ve got these experts who know how to do that, the Levitical priests. Listen to what they say about that.” So we have this idea of we have to go and hear what the Levitical priests have to say and learn from them.

And two more really quick verses that have to do specifically with the Levites, because he does say the covenant of Levi. So Numbers 3, and again, this is in Torah Pearls, he actually chooses there the Levites. And so, for example, in verse 12, it says, “I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the first-born,” and then earlier in the chapter, it talks about how their job will be to help the priests, in verse 9, “You shall assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons.” So the job of the Levi’im, of the Levites, is to help the Kohanim, the descendants of Aaron. “They are formally assigned to him from among the Israelites.” Numbers 3:9.

And then one more verse to talk about here in this context is Exodus 32. And why is that important? Because here is the reason they were chosen. And this directly explains what we just read in Malachi. And let’s reread that in Malachi. Let’s read this verse. So what takes place here is the sin of the golden calf. And it says in verse 26, “Moses stood up in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for Yehovah, come here! And all the Levites rallied to him.” So the Levites were the ones who immediately responded. Okay, who’s going to be on the side of Yehovah? It’s going to be the Levites. And that’s what he’s talking about in Malachi, let’s find that verse that we just read.

Keith: Verse 4.

Nehemia: Verse 4, “‘And you shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi,’ sayeth Yehovah of Hosts. ‘My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, for the fear for with he feared Me.’” Where did that take place? Back in Exodus 32 verse 26, when all the people were looking at the golden calf and this guy Moses comes and he breaks the tablets. And Moses says, “Okay, who’s on the side of Yehovah?” And they run to him.

Keith: Amen. I’m going to tell you this - we’re going to do a little accountability here. Can we do this? Can I add just a little accountability?

Nehemia: Sure. What’s that?

Keith: So we already gave a hint about next week. Can I add something to Prophet Pearls?

Nehemia: Sure.

Keith: Folks that are listening right now, I want to challenge you to do something. If you haven’t listened to everything up to this point this week, go back and catch up. But the other thing I want you to do is I want you to read ahead. This will challenge Nehemia and I, because we’ve got to also read ahead as we’re doing what we’re doing. The next time we’re going to be meeting, we’re going to be talking about Hosea 12:12 to 14:9.

Nehemia: Which in the Hebrew is 12:13 to 14:10.

Keith: So for those that are reading in Hebrew it’s 12:13 to 14:10. Those that are reading in the NIV, it’s 12:12 to 14:9. And for all the rest of us, we’re just going to read the whole Bible till next week so we make sure that we got everything we’re possibly going to talk about. Is there anything else, Nehemia, you want to say? I can’t believe it. We’re almost there folks. I can’t believe it. We’re going to make it. We’re going to make it under an hour.

Nehemia: Under an hour.

Keith: I shouldn’t ask him if there’s anything else.

Nehemia: There’s one more thing. I want to invite people to… I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails and messages from people saying, “Oh, I love this so much. It’s wonderful! This has changed my life.” And here’s something you can do to change other people’s lives and be part of what we’re doing here. In addition to listening to it, you can go and take that link and you can share it on your Facebook page. And that’s not a small thing, that’s a really important thing to get this message out. Share it on Facebook, share it on Google+, send it out to your friends, send it out to your family.

Keith: Twitter.

Nehemia: Tweet it. Get this message out. If you’re in China, you can put it out on QQ and those other things they have there, and WAVO.

Keith: We have people all over the world listening.

Nehemia: Yes, and we do have those people. So really, please get this message out so that other people can hear it as well. And the best way to do that is to just send it out there. Another thing you can do is go to iTunes and download this episode, and then when you do that, you can then write a review. I don’t know if you know this Keith, but the more reviews you have - and hopefully positive reviews - the higher up iTunes will put you in the rankings. So that’s actually really important as a way of communicating this message to people.

Keith: Awesome. And the other thing we want you to do is some of you have great statements. Sherri, I want to challenge you. You wrote so much amazing stuff. I want to challenge you to go to the comments section and go ahead and put some of those comments in. I think it’s really going to bless people, one of our Prophet Pearls partners. Those of you that are listening, please feel free to comment. We want you to comment. We want you to share your thoughts about it. Go to nehemiaswall.com. Go to bfainternational.com. And in the meantime, what we’re going to do is we’re going to try to get ahead of you guys, because it seems to me there are some folks out there who are probably going to take our challenge seriously. So let’s bring a close. Anything you want to say? I want to say to you, again, happy birthday. Are you 35 yet?

Nehemia: I’m a little older than that.

Keith: Are you 36?

Nehemia: No.

Keith: Okay. Are you still looking for someone that might…?

Nehemia: Amen.

Keith: Okay, Amen. So anyone out there that wants a big birthday boy. He’s a lot smaller right now. I want to say congratulations to you.

Nehemia: Thank you.

Keith: I left town and I came back, and Nehemia, you looked different. You had a shine on your face. Your face was thinned out. I want to say you’ve been doing really amazing with the discipline with the diet.

Nehemia: I have.

Keith: And I want to say something. From my tradition, we talk about making our bodies a living sacrifice, that our bodies become a sacrifice to Him. And so how you’re treating your body is a blessing to those that are watching, and again, we’re standing with you as you do that. Anything you want to say?

Nehemia: Yes. I’ve got some Keto clarity.

Keith: Keto clarity, folks. We appreciate you listening. We appreciate you studying. We appreciate you reading. And we appreciate you watching. And certainly, we appreciate you praying. So until next time just keep doing all those things. Amen?

Nehemia: And be ready. When you hear the Angel of Yehovah say, “mi la’Yehovah elai,” “Who is for Yehovah? Come to me,” be ready to go, just like the Levites.

Keith: Amen.

You have been listening to Prophet Pearls with Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon’s Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

We hope the above transcript has proven to be a helpful resource in your study. While much effort has been taken to provide you with this transcript, it should be noted that the text has not been reviewed by the speakers and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. If you would like to support our efforts to transcribe the teachings on NehemiasWall.com, please visit our support page. All donations are tax-deductible (501c3) and help us empower people around the world with the Hebrew sources of their faith!

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SHOW NOTES

The image above comes from an altarpiece in a church in Ketilsvellir, Iceland from 1768. The altarpiece serves as a living illustration of the verse: "For from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, my name is great among the nations..." Malachi 1:11. The altarpiece depicts the Tetragrammaton, the name of God יְהוָֹה "Yehovah," written with full Hebrew consonants and vowels. God's name is set inside a triangle representing the three Hebrew verbs that together form His name: Hayah ("He that was"), Hoveh ("He that is"), and Yihyeh ("He that will be" or "He that is to come"). The rays of light coming from the name represent the divine "glory." Image used by permission of the National Museum of Iceland.

  • Dawn Marie McAlister says:

    Ironic story.

    I’m listening to this episode on my Microsoft computer and the screen had gone to sleep. When I “woke it up,” there was a beautiful image of a river in a canyon that is covered in green. This all happened while you guys were talking about where the image for this episode came from.

    Here’s the irony. I love the picture so hovered over the question about liking the image in order to “Like” it. I had to smile about where the image is from; Fjadrargljufur Canyon, Iceland.

    Yehovah is fun.

    Nehemia, I’m thankful that you and your lovely bride made it home. Our God said that the world would know His Name and He has used you in a mighty way to make that happen. I believe with all my heart that He will continue to use you for this purpose as Israel once again defends herself against those who would destroy her.

    Yehovah placed His Name there, and His Word (and Name) will go forth from Zion!

  • shell says:

    I **LOVE** that their condition for the picture was that you proclaim to them the name! Its perfect!

  • Gregory Irby says:

    I love this photo from the 1768 altar.
    Interesting that I checked with McBaker Google to have discovered that the Cinnamon rolls were invented in the 1700’s. Mmm! Slrrp! The ladies feast on eyes with the golden cinnamon rolls! 💡

  • Louis says:

    As I begin this haftara it’s all about birthdays and Taylor, I look up and there’s a billboard that advertises a tailor for your birthday suit ha!

  • Fran Brashear says:

    Happy (probably belated) birthday Nehemia! Thank you for all you do. I hope you continue to be blessed with wisdom, compassion (you already are one of the most humble people of whom I’m aware), health, and truth. I thank Yehovah for you!

  • The Isaiah connection that your partner drew I had heard before in the book by Jonathan Cahn.

  • Mindy Keegan says:

    I’m doing Keto too!! It’s the best way of eating I have ever tried. 5 weeks in, I feel like a superhero on it. Not hungry and sometimes I only eat once a day, what???? Fat is amazing. Trying to get my husband on board but he likes his sugar haha. He eats my Keto meals and then has ice cream after. lol

    • Burke says:

      Nutritional ketosis also kills cancer cells! They can’t use ketone bodies for fuel so they just starve

  • Michael Millett says:

    My comment is a question: Could Malachi possibly be an abbreviation of Malachiah?

  • Vyomi says:

    Hi Nehemia
    Just finished listening to the prophet pearls on Malachi. Thank you for the wonderful teaching, it truly does renew the mind.
    Was wondering, could these gentiles refered to in 1:11 be also those of the lost tribes of Isreal esp if you apply it to today. Those who have completely lost their identity through centuries of assimilation into these nations? Yehovah always knows where His people eventhough His people have lost their identity. Bcos He knows when to stir the spririt within them to awaken them up from their slumber.

  • jen says:

    Shalom, I’m a Filipino listener of your program since Torah pearls, and I’m glad you’re visiting our country. Our congregation is in Metro Manila though. But still thank you for feeling blessed and inspired by Yehovah’s word by visiting our country.

  • How could Ezekiel be describing a 3rd Temple? Doesn’t YHVH say that the lion will lay down with the lamb and nothing will harm on all my holy mountain? How then could we slaughter that lamb?
    Ezekiel is prophesying during the Babylonian captivity, 25years into it with presumably 45 years to go. Had Ezekiel been shown a new pattern or blueprint for a new temple to build, why wouldn’t they have built it 45 years later? Where in all of Ezekiel is the instruction to build what is shown? I see the instructions to SHOW the vision of the temple to the people so they will repent. Even the last part of the instruction is to “keep the form.” If that form was to be built, then in their minds, how would they know NOT to build it when they went back to Jerusalem, and instead build the blueprint according to the 2nd temple?

    Eek 43:10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.

    11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

  • Owen Murphy says:

    Informative – Mal. 2:7-8 -9 God’s Law is the constitution of the Kingdom of God. The priests of Orthodox Christianity have treated the Law of God as a thing to be adapted to human conditions and perceived ‘needs’. This partiality in the Law hides behind the smokescreen of ‘mercy’ – the rest of the chapter deals with the sin of adultery and divorce which is rampant in our nations and is not dealt with the way Yeshua dealt with it in Mark 101-12.

  • Owen Murphy says:

    Nehemia – friend Ken Westby of the ‘One God Seminars’ has been very ill for sometime – Noel Rude has filled in for him but it does not look good for Ken at this time -prayers and thank you.

  • Patrick Petty says:

    Praise Jehovah! The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!

  • Reyes Nava says:

    Nehemiah would you consider Numbers 25:1-13 as a second witness to Malachi 2:5 regarding the Covenant of Peace with Levi?

    “And Yehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my Covenant of Peace: and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.

  • shaun says:

    Nehemia it is far worse then that, because for 1 they are saying they want no part in the sacrifices for sin, and thus want no part in the covenant.

  • Margie Loubser says:

    PRAISE YAHSHUA ALL,

    May you be BLESSED on your birthday Nehemia which must have passed by now, mine is today according to pope gregory, 18 Kislev according to Hallel not too sure when it will be according to the calendar with moon sightings.
    Anyway YAHWEH ALONE KNOWS. May you and Kieth and his son and his family be BLESSED IN YAHSHUA. Our prayers go with you Kieth for travelling mercy and by this time you are probably on your way back, but may you be truly BLESSED.
    Kieth you have done a Hebrew course and i have been wanting to do one, but find the cost of the ones that are offered in Israel a bit too high for me. Where did you do yours, if i may ask?
    Just one last question to both and more specifically to Nehemiah what would be the best to study the SCRIPTURAL or the modern Hebrew? There is concern that should the SCRIPTURAL Hebrew be learnt speaking the modern Hebrew would be a problem, or will it not matter much. Should you have any suggestions please could you send it to this e-mail address.
    By the way just in case you are not aware of it the sister that mentioned the reading in Isaiah 9 and related it to the comments made by the government concerning we will return and we will rebuild with reference to the twin towers is found in a series of teachings that YAHSHUA LAID ON THE HEART of a BLESSED BROTHER by the name of Jonathan Khan. He has referred to them/ these events as being Harbengers, the spelling is more than likely incorrect but the attempt at the word or the brothers name should get you close to the search should you be interested, or anyone else for that matter, the teaching is TRULY BLESSED. This current year of Shemitah/seventh year of release has also been mentioned more recently with reference to the twin towers too and once again TRULY BLESSED.
    Anyway as always may you and your families be TRULY BLESSED IN YAHSHUA, SHALOM.

    LOVE IN YAHSHUA.

  • Witam

    Piękna historia Imienia Bożego z Islandii. Warto pochylić się nad mnogością formy Tetragramu
    http://www.jehowa-biblioteka.com/galeria/index.php?i=Slajd_582.png

    Pozdrawiam, Stanisław

  • anna says:

    Hope to hear from you and Keith on Malachi 4. Any Christian will tell you it’s a messianic prophecy. I read it 100 times and I don’t see how it can be treated as such. Sun of righteousness… I would love to hear feedback from both of you on it.

  • David Espenlaub says:

    Nehemia, could you please share a word study with all of us about v1:5 The LORD be magnified beyond the border of Israel. Not being Hebrew literate, it seems very close to the “honor” of v6 and applying to Edom/Gentiles in v4. In fact does it not say that when the tearing down in v4 is seen by Israel that HE will be magnified?

    Bless you for what you share.

    David

  • David Despotovski says:

    Something that I’ve noticed is that Esav and the priests, both despised something. Esav despised being first born, and the priest despised the Name YHVH.
    So, the point is that the priest in the time of Malakhi were more like Esav, who was hunter, than like Yaakov, being ‘ish tam yoshev ochalim’.

    YHVH immakhem! p.s. Happy Birtday 🙂

  • irah says:

    hi.. nehemia ,if possible can you tell us what this Hebrew isralite ,African American claiming that they are the true jews ,and not those over there in Israel,also because of dueteronomy 28:68,please can you shed some light on this shalom IRAH IN FLORIDA

  • Michelle says:

    Happy Birthday, Nehemia. I hope that it’s a very Blessed day for you. I’m writing this 22 Nov. how is Rabbi Glick?

  • virginia says:

    ” HAPPY HAPPY BDAY ” hep hep holey …

  • Hello Nehemia! I’m struggling with the celebration of birthdays. Is the custom pagan like Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween etc. Baking cakes to the queen of heaven Jer 7:18. The B-day pointy hat also witches’ hat. Making a wish and blowing out candles and the smoke rises mimics the sacrifices, incenses smoke…prayers rising to Yehovah? Dt. 2 we are not to learn the way of the heathen. I have lots of grandchildren and host and attend their birthdays, but if this is a stench in His nostrils I do not want to do that. Another thought I have is, we are not to keep man’s calendar but Yehovah’s, so how does that work? Please give your thoughts. Wedding anniversaries I don’t have a problem with especially since Reggie and I married the day before the 1st day of Sukkot and that’s is when we remember it each year–we just did # 4. We are still newlyweds 🙂

    • For what it’s worth I don’t see what’s wrong with celebrating the day Y’hovah launched you onto your earthly journey, nor do I think it’s wrong to have a cake and a special meal. Not all pointy hats are necessarily witches hats, but if you’re not comfortable with it, fine. We are to keep Y’hovah’s calendar to keep our appointments with Him though and this is where a lot of Christian teachers come up with weird ideas about the end of the world because they don’t even know Y’hovah’s calendar exists. I don’t personally believe the solar calendar, the solstices or equinoxes are evil because they are scientific facts of existence and Y’hovah created all these things in the first place! I’m perfectly fine with the solar calendar to plan business meetings, book hotels or schedule rehearsals because in our modern world we have to plan things months, or even years in advance and the solar calendar makes this possible. Y’hovah’s calendar is far less “user friendly” to the marketplace, but the marketplace is not what it’s for. It’s purpose is to allow Y’hovah to speak to His people intimately and to provide the information that is for them and not for the world at large, such as His appointed times and things of prophetic significance. We do have to be on guard against syncretism in our practice, but neither must we fall prey to fanatical religious spirits which are, I believe, the root of spiritual chaos.

  • Kris says:

    Memorial Presbyterian Church in St Augustine, FL (Built by Henry Flagler) – Tetragrammaton in Hebrew, inside triangle and with rays – located on the interior of the church’s dome. Link to photo (on the church’s website) follows:

    http://www.memorialpcusa.org/gallery-items/dome-detail

  • Kirksey Todd says:

    In verse 5, is Yehovah saying He will be mad at them (Edom) forever or just that people will say this about them?

  • Greetings from the Icelander.

    I know that now you only go where you are called so I pray and hope that Yehovah calls you to Iceland one day 🙂

  • Sarah says:

    *** Happy Birthday ***