Behold, He is Coming
.
Malachi 3
1. "Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? "For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; 3. he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord. 4. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. 5. "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 6. "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 7. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, `How shall we return?' 8. Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, `How are we robbing thee?' In your tithes and offerings. 9. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you. 10. Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 11. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. 13. "Your words have been stout against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, `How have we spoken against thee?' 14. You have said, `It is vain to serve God. What is the good of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15. Henceforth we deem the arrogant blessed; evildoers not only prosper but when they put God to the test they escape.'" 16. Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another; the Lord heeded and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and thought on his name. 17. "They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18. Then once more you shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
My bible notes indicate that about 2000 years had passed from Adam to the time when Malachi lived. The people were really, really weary of waiting for the promised savior. They were just worn out from hoping that “today will be the day.” Or that “in my lifetime God will fulfill His promise to His chosen ones.” We are not patient creatures . . . and 2000 years is a long, long time.
God questions why He should even bother sending a Messiah, when the people have, yet again, lost faith. They offer Him less than perfect sacrifices—reverting to mere ritual and rote recitation of prayers. They don’t live rightly – partly because they have come to believe that God is never going to come in judgment of them – after all, it’s been a couple thousand years! Or they’re just plain worn out – tired of being called fools and exhausted from standing up to rulers who persecute them for their faith. Even though God is ever faithful, man is not. So God wants to know why He should even bother!
Things were pretty hopeless. The people were pretty hopeless. The times were hard and man is fickle. God is nowhere to be seen . . . and then He comes to Malachi with a message! Don’t lose hope, my beloved. I am coming to you. I will send the promised one. Hang on just a little bit longer. It will be worth it! You will be satisfied beyond your wildest dreams! I will show you wonders you cannot even imagine! I will be your God and you will be my people. Just hang on a little longer . . .
God is ever faithful. He is with us even when we don’t feel Him. He opens His arms to comfort us even when we feel inconsolable. He saves us even when we are full of sin. He kept His promise to us – by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross. We have the benefit of history. Malachi and his contemporaries had only the promise of what was to come. Even their faltering faith seems stronger than ours when viewed from that perspective, doesn’t it?! They only had a future promise – we live after the promise was fulfilled! What is our excuse?
I hope you spend your day living without excuse, rejoicing in the fulfilled promise of the Risen Christ, and witnessing to the world what God offers to each of us in heaven.
Mary
