A message the Lord God
revealed to Malachi the prophet
And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye 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 ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 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 did turn many away from iniquity. 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. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.-Malachi 2:1-9***Jacob (Israel) was the youngest fraternal twin son born to Isaac and Rebekah. In Padan Aram, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Levi was the 3rd son born to Jacob and Leah, and Judah was Jacob and Leah's 4th born son. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel. Over 300 years after Benjamin was born in Canaan, in an area near Bethlehem, to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died, Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born in Egypt into the tribe of Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egyptian slavery, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai 40 days and nights with the Lord God, the Lord God described to Moses and showed him the likeness of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the tabernacle and sacred items that the Israelites were to make, and told Moses that only Aaron and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. Meanwhile, the Israelites told Aaron to make gods to lead them, and Aaron told the Israelites to bring him their gold earrings, and Aaron made a golden calf. After the Lord God sent Moses down from Mount Sinai, and Moses saw the golden calf and the Israelites, Moses burned and ground the golden calf and proclaimed a command that resulted in the Levites, the Israelites in the tribe of Levi, killing approximately 3,000 Israelites. Before the Israelites journeyed away from the Sinai region, the Lord God told Moses that the Levites were to assist the priests at the tabernacle, and the Lord God gave Moses commands about the duties of the Levites. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died, and Aaron's son Eleazar became the high priest. In Shittim, in the plains of Moab, Eleazar's son Phinehas revealed his zeal for the Lord God when he killed Zimri, an Israelite who was being blatantly intimate with Cozbi, an idol worshiping Midianite woman. The Lord God told Moses he has given Phinehas a covenant of peace, a covenant of an everlasting priesthood for Phinehas and Phinehas' descendants. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died, and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' aide and successor, was from the tribe of Ephraim, descended from Joseph and his wife Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim, whom Jacob proclaimed to be his own son. After the Lord God spoke to him, Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Jacob, and Isaac, and to Isaac's father Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and to their descendants. Approximately 400 years after 110-year-old Joshua died, and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Solomon, a son born to King David and Bathsheba, became the 3rd king to rule over all of the Israelites. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's 20-year reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria, began taking Israelites captive. During the 9th year of the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern nation, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Less than 125 years after Samaria was conquered, Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Jehoiakim (Eliakim) became the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. During the 11th year of the reign of Jehoiakim's brother Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Approximately 70 years after Jerusalem was conquered, Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem. Several decades thereafter, Malachi the prophet was proclaiming the words of the Lord God to the Israelites. The priesthood was corrupt and neglectful, and the priests neither fully knew, nor were fully teaching, implementing or obeying the commandments, judgments, statutes, and laws of the Lord God. Over 400 years after Malachi revealed the last divine message he received, John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, were born. John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). Jesus the Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of David and his descendants, all of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites. Less than 3 1/2 years after Jesus was baptized, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot the disciple and apostle, and Jesus was arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven. The divinely inspired, although not definitively identified, writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Holy Bible revealed Jesus to be a great high priest.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26