You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
3 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. 5 “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” saysthe Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi asks: “Who can endure the day of his coming?” The day of the Lord in the prophets is sometimes presented as a time of the deliverance of God’s people, and sometimes as a time of judgment ON God’s people…it just depends.
Are God’s people living in faithfulness to the Lord or not. For those who have kept the covenant the day of the Lord will be a welcomed day…but for those who have broken it, it will be judgment and curse…even on God’s people.
Malachi speaks of faithfulness in terms of correct worship and giving to the Lord what is his but also with regard to correct living. Those questions always go together, worship and life. Verse 5 rounds out the Lord’s rebuke by cataloging some of the sins that had caused the people to say that “the Lord likes evil-doers.”
These are clearly sins that were commonplace in Malachi’s time, but wow do they sound modern! Seven violations of the covenant law…all of which will bring the covenant curses down upon Israel if she does not repent and return to the Lord in faithfulness.
Seven sins, the number of fullness…indicates well enough that the covenant was being broken.
Sorcery…and before you think this is not applicable, remember sorcery is simply the practice by which people sought to manipulate God into giving them the news of the future before it came. To know the will of God, that is, what He is going to do, before He does it. Christian people today are always trying to know what they call the will of God, meaning, what tomorrow will bring, and this, God forbids.He doesn’t want His people searching for the events of tomorrow, He wants His people searching to be faithful REGARDLESS of what He brings tomorrow.
Second, Adultery. I don’t even need to comment on that one.
Third, Perjury overturns justice in court, and violates what is true for your own good…formally and willingly lying for advantage. Wow.
Fourth, defrauding laborers of their wages was done by paying less than the agreed amount to those who couldn’t seek redress, or paying them later than agreed upon, or taking undue advantage of a buyer’s market for labor. Again, this too is everywhere in our culture, and in the practice of many Christian business men.
Fifth, widows and the fatherless were particularly vulnerable members of the society and easily exploited. But, in Deuteronomy, we are reminded that the Lord “defends the cause of the orphan and widow” [10:18] and expects his people to do the same. This amounts to a failure to care for the poor.
Sixth, mistreating aliens, another instance of taking advantage of the vulnerable in society or for refusing to love, “the other”, those who are different…this is not just racism, the bible never says racism…this is hatred.
Seventh, they did not fear God”. This is probably a summary of all of the above.
In all these ways, and, no doubt, many others, the people are showing contempt for God and for the covenant he made with them. They don’t fear God and they don’t really believe or trust Him…not really.
Folks such as this, do not deserve God’s blessing, but rather, God’s judgment and “the day of the Lord” would bring that two-edged sword into play.
And then, verses 6-12.
Some people think that the folks listening to Malachi really don’t know what they have done wrong…they really don’t know why the Lord says, “return to me…” or accuses them of robbing Him. They are baffled by such accusations and their question, “How have we done this” is sincere.
Others will argue that they are playing dumb…they know, but they, in their foolishness, think they can do some damage control and God will be none the wiser. Still others will say that the people do not know, but only because they don’t want to know…If they would be honest with themselves, they would know…but being honest with oneself is not as easy as it sounds.
It is of note that the issue of tithing, of giving to God what He has called us, commanded us to give…the first 10%, is tied so directly to the coming of the Covenant’s messenger, and the refining work that He intends to do.
Or, I could say, that THE passage used the most to speak to the obedience of our giving to the Lord, a giving which begins with a tithe, 10%, that is not what we are to work up to…it is rather, the beginning point…
…So, THE passage that speaks to this most clearly, just so happens to be a passage about Advent…in the context it is about the coming of the messenger of the Covenant. So, in the Bible, tithing and Christmas come to us in the same context. Hmm.
I can tell you as I look out over the congregation that I am blessed to serve. I do not know if a given individual tithes or not. I don’t care to know who gives how much, but it is important for me to say, if you are not faithful in this…what do you expect is going to happen?
To be continued…
Prayer: Gracious Father, I implore you to work in me, that I might be conformed more and more to the image of Jesus my Savior by living in the awareness of Your presence. Forgive me for fighting against your Spirit and for pursuing my own desires and wants above your commands and pleasure. Restore to me, the joy of my salvation that I might love You and Your ways above all that the world, the flesh and the evil one might offer up to me, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen
Hymn Wake Awake the Night is Flying
