Sunday, February 17, 2008
Dear friends,
This Sunday we will take a closer look at Malachi 2:17-3:5.
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and 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, and they will bring offerings in righteousness 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 hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. (ESV)
The questions and wearisome words of the people were centered in doubting that God cared about right and wrong and God was slow about judgment and fairness. Look at how the Psalmist struggled with the prosperity of the wicked.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children. (ESV)
We all know of people who care nothing about the Lord. much less fear His Name, yet they seem to go through life without troubles as we may experience. The solution to this “problem” is found in verses 16-17:
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end. (ESV)
Meditate – chew on and think over – the answer to the complaint against God. Remember the Lord is in heaven and we are on the earth. God is a fearful God of judgment who will punish the wicked and make all injustice right. We do not serve the Lord in vain, but he keeps careful account of all our experiences.
Yet thankfully God is a God of mercy and grace and postpones His judgment as Peter notes :
3:1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! (ESV)
God will judge evil and right will prevail. In one sense He judges/purifies us by allowing us to go through trials so that the dross of sin and selfishness can be brought to the surface and skimmed off. Much like heating gold in a furnace until all the dirt and trash is boiled away.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)
Finally, note how the Lord takes careful account of our behavior morally, ethically, economically, and religiously. How do we treat people who have no power and are weaker than us? Do we tend to disregard or take advantage of them? Surely God will bring swift judgment on us to do such a thing as found in verse 5
It is a joy to remember that Christ is our only righteousness. He only can make us acceptable to the Father. Jesus suffered greatly so that we can be dressed in His righteousness alone. This Good News is to be shared with those in our “mission field” – school, neighborhood, family, where ever we can have a conversation of consequence. I encourage you to ask the Lord to give you Gospel opportunities this week.
See you Sunday,
Lee