DAY FIFTY: 

The Day of Judgment 

Malachi 2:10-4:6

Today we look at Malachi, the last of the Prophets of Israel, whose book is also the last in the Old Testament. After Malachi there were no more prophets until John the Baptist, a period of more than 400 years. Last words are very important, so let's look at God's last words to His people for ten generations.

Let's get some background. The book begins, "The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi." Malachi's name means "my messenger." He ministered to the returned exiles of Judah sometime toward the end of the 5th century BC. Some suggest that he spoke during the period when Nehemiah had been recalled to Susa to serve the King of Persia until he returned, from 432 to 424 BC. Others argue that he spoke after Nehemiah retired, around 400 BC. Regardless of the date, the Jews had been back home for over a century. Under Zerubbabel they rebuilt the Temple, and Nehemiah led them to rebuild Jerusalem's wall. They were safe and secure from their enemies and free to serve the Lord. All was well, right? No, not really. We've seen over and over again that God's people have this talent for wandering away from Him. The days of Malachi are no exception.

In the first chapter the Lord rebukes His people for trying to serve Him on the cheap. "When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts." (1:8) Then in the first nine verses of chapter 2 He chides the priests: "For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of theLord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says theLord of hosts." (2:7-8)

As we begin reading our text today, we see that the Lord is not done with His rebuke. He now turns to the men who have divorced their wives so that they could marry younger women (sound familiar?). "...the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless." The Lord established marriage, as the traditional marriage service says, for the blessing of mankind. He told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The family is God's design for raising children to love and serve Him. A society will only be as strong as its families. The men of Malachi's time were in effect chopping at the support beams with their unfaithfulness.

Chapter three begins with a promise that God will send His messenger. The people think they're ready for His coming, but Malachi warns them that they are not. "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. 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." God's messenger will restore the nation to righteousness by burning off the dross and purifying their precious metal. The Lord does not intend to destroy His people, even though they try His patience and scorn Him. "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 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?'" (3:6-7) How many times has Israel proved faithless, and how many times did the Lord woo them back? He's not done with Abraham's children!

Then we come to a favorite passage for Stewardship Sunday. The Lord challenged the people to be faithful in the matter of their tithes. You'll remember that the priests and Levites were to get their living from the tithes so that they could devote themselves to full-time service, both in the Tabernacle and out among the other tribes teaching the Law. In the time of the Judges the people stopped paying their tithes and the Levites had to get day jobs. Soon everything began to fall apart. The same was happening in Malachi's time. It's easy to understand and we can sympathize. In addition to providing for their families, they must also pay burdensome taxes to the Persians. And now God wants them to give a tenth to Him on top of all this? They can't imagine starving their children, and it's too frightening to even think of stiffing the Persians. But God doesn't send agents out for audits and liens and seizures. If they just cut back on what they gave God they could make their budgets balance. But God said that they were robbing Him when they didn't pay their tithes, and that as a result they were under a curse! They thought they were getting ahead by not paying their tithes, but instead they were falling further behind. The Lord gave His people a challenge:  "Bring the full tithe 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 a blessing until there is no more need. 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. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts." (3:10-12) You just can't outgive God!

A negative attitude had crept over the nation. "You have said, "It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'" What's the point of serving the Lord, many of them thought. It doesn't get us anywhere. But there were some who had resolved to serve the Lord no matter what. "Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name." (3:16) God pays attention and takes notes! The faithful gathered to encourage one another to keep on serving Him, and He delighted in them. Even though at present it seems that the evil prosper while the righteous suffer, God will someday settle the accounts and those who love Him will not come up short!

As we come to the fourth chapter we see a shift from the present to the future. The Day of Judgment is coming, and the evil will be burned up like chaff after the harvest. God will right all injustices and vindicate His people. The very last words of the Old Testament are powerful: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." Elijah, you'll remember, was the prophet who challenged Ahab and the 450 priests of Baal to a showdown before the whole nation at Mt. Carmel. Elijah challenged the people to make up their minds. "How long will you limp between two opinions? If Baal is God, then serve him, but if the Lord is God, serve Him!" After God showed up with power the people fell on their faces and said, "The Lord He is God! The Lord He is God!" The Lord said that one day He would send Elijah back to His people to turn the hearts of the people back to one another and to Him. This prophecy was fulfilled in John the Baptist. The Angel Gabriel told his father Zechariah, "And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." And that's what John did. Scholars estimate that he baptized as many as a million and a half people, preparing the nation for the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and Messiah of Israel.

Before we leave this passage I feel the need to talk a little more about the tithe. The New Testament never uses the word tithe. The most direct command we have comes from 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, "Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come." Our offerings are to be proportionate to our means and given regularly. Sunday, when the church gathered for worship, was a convenient time to bring the offerings to God. Even though the word tithe isn't mentioned, the figure of 10% is a good benchmark, a guideline. But it's not set in stone. The main point is that our giving is a part of our worship and service. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." God challenged Israel to give and then see what He would do for them. The same applies to us.

We've looked at fifty of the 100 Essential Bible Passages. We're halfway! Next week we'll start the New Testament. Let's take some time to review what God has done. Adam and Eve sinned against God and their descendants made the earth a living hell. God destroyed the world in the days of Noah and started over. He began a long and slowly unfolding plan to redeem the world through one man, Abraham. We saw his faith that believed God's promise of many descendants when there were none. We saw how Abraham's family grew into a great nation. We saw how God delivered them from slavery and gave them their own land. And we saw over and over again how a cycle of faithfulness followed by a time of falling away, followed by another time of drawing near to God. This is a picture of our human nature. As the hymn says, "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love." But God is about to bring forth a dramatic new chapter in the story of how He will fix what we have broken. Stay tuned!

Malachi spoke of the refiner's fire. God refines each of us through the trials and afflictions He allows in our lives. We can complain about them or we can seek God in them. Only in the latter will we see God turn our troubles into pure gold. Enjoy this beautiful song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y8zP34AhuU