Scripture Reading: Malachi 3:6

The prophet Malachi, as all prophets did, confronted the people of Israel with their sins.  God speaks in Malachi 3, warning the Israelites of a great coming judgment.  In mercy, however, God reminds them of why He had not destroyed them completely.  In a surprising statement, God reminds the Jews of His unchanging nature. 

"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed" (Mal 3:6).  The LORD stayed true to His merciful covenant with Abraham.  His mercy had not changed.

The fact that God is unchanging (the word theologians use is the 'immutability' of God) answers to the longing of the human heart for something permanent. 

God's life and character do not change.  In terms of existence, God has always been and He always will be.  There was never a time when He did not exist.  He is the eternal 'I AM', who is and who was and who is to come. 

God's truth does not change.  What God says is always true.  His promises are always true, His warnings are always true, His predictions are always true, His commands are always true. 

God's purposes do not change.  What God does in time, He has planned from eternity, and all He has planned in eternity, He carries out in time.  He has an eternal plan and it does not change from day to day.  

The application of this great truth in our lives is that it produces a profound security.  To know that God's purposes are fixed, and that as His children we are part of His grand plan, make our lives secure.

Scripture Reading: Malachi 2:17-3:5

In this passage, Malachi goes far beyond his day, to both the first and second advents of Christ.  The people seem to be wondering why the surrounding, idolatrous nations had prospered while the reconstituted Israel had not flourished.

They looked for justice to be meted out on the wicked and for Messiah to restore glory to Israel.  Malachi prophesies that Messiah would, indeed, come … but it would be to bring a cleansing judgment to the people of Israel.  Messiah would be like a refiner's fire to purify the sons of Levi (Mal 3:2,3).

This is a prophecy regarding the second coming of Christ to restore Israel to glory, yes, but also to purify its people.  What is in view here is the time of great tribulation and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom.

God reveals the second coming of Christ for at least the following three reasons.  First, the doctrine of the return of Christ produces comfort and hope.  After writing about Christ's second coming Paul says, "Encourage one another with these words" (1 Thes 4:13-18). 

Second, the doctrine of the return of Christ produces purity.  ". . . we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure" (1 Jn 3:2,3). 

Third, the doctrine of the return of Christ increases our longing for the completion of our redemption.  ". . . we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom 8:23).

Malachi 1:1-5

The book of Malachi is called an 'oracle' in the first verse.  An oracle (some translations use the word 'burden') is a message which has an ominous, threatening tone.  Malachi lived one hundred years after people returned from the Babylonian captivity.  At this time there was (again) widespread spiritual corruption.  The evidence of this was polluted offerings, a corrupt priesthood, rampant divorce, and withheld tithes.

Tenderly, God begins His message by reminding the people of His love for them.  They had gotten to the place where they concluded that God had forgotten them.  God recalls to the Israelites that He had chosen Jacob, setting His special favor on him.  In doing this, God had passed over Esau, Jacob's older brother. 

We are confronted in these verses by the notion of God's love and His hatred.  God, Himself, declares that He loved Jacob and hated Esau.  To understand divine love and divine hatred we must not think only in terms of the emotional aspects of love and hatred.  When God loves someone, He grants His blessing and favor.  When God hates someone, He brings judgment.  And whereas God's favor is never deserved, His judgments on sinful people are always deserved.

Let the people of God bow down in wonder and thanksgiving that God has granted them (us) His undeserved, saving love.  Let those who do not hope in God shudder to think that they are in danger of experiencing God's everlasting rejection … so that they might turn to Him for His mercy.   

Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20

Nestled away in the small, little-known book of Zephaniah is a marvelous declaration of the steadfast love of God.  Zephaniah begins with one of the most chilling statements of God's wrath in all of Scripture and closes with one of the most moving descriptions of God's love for His people in all of Scripture.

The wording of Zephaniah 1:2,3 is reminiscent of the story of the flood.  "'I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. . . . I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,' declares the LORD."  A coming, widespread devastation is in view here, having a near fulfillment (in the destruction of Jerusalem) and a distant fulfillment (in the great tribulation). 

The people of God, however, are commanded to 'sing' … 'shout' … 'rejoice' … 'exult' (Zeph 3:14) because the LORD has taken away His judgments (Zeph 3:15).

Zephaniah 3:17 offer us a rare insight into God's own delight.  Because of His work in salvation, God rejoices over His people with gladness … He is quiet over them is His love … He exults over them with singing. 

That the Almighty should derive delight from His physical creation is stunning enough because God has no deficiency.  But that God should rejoice in a sinner is utterly staggering.  The answer as to how this is even possible is that God the Father rejoices in His Son … and Christians are in Christ.  Therefore, God sings over the reality that, in terms of righteousness, He has made us like His Son.

For us, there is no gladness like this gladness because this salvation in Christ is of infinite value.  Let us "rejoice and exult with all our heart!"

Scripture Reading: Lamentations 3:31-39

In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah pulls back the curtain of divine mystery slightly so we can see, at least a little, into the mind of God.  The context of this passage is Jeremiah's description of the judgment of God on Jerusalem, with all the horror that was associated with that great destruction in 586 B.C. 

It is clear, from Lamentations 3, that the invasion of Judah by the Babylonians was the result of a divine plan.  Representing the people of Jerusalem, Jeremiah describes the anguish of soul at the fall of Judah.  But in almost every verse of the first section of chapter 3, God is presented as having brought the devastation and misery.

Lamentations 3:32,33 poses an interesting and profound contrast.  Though God does "cause grief" (Lam 3:32), He does not "afflict from his heart" (Lam 3:33).  To reconcile these two statements, we must conclude that the will of God is layered.  God does, on one level, what He does not desire to do, on another level. 

We must look at the will of God in more than simply one sense.  New Testament scholar I. Howard Marshall said, "We must certainly distinguish between what God would like to see happen and what he actually does will to happen, and both of these can be spoken of as God's will."

In a narrow sense, God has no pleasure in the suffering and death of human beings (Ezek 18:32; 33:11) … but in a broader sense, God decrees suffering and death (Exod 4:11; Deut 32:39; Lam 3:37,38).  Let us learn to trust God in His wisdom and righteousness for, after all, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" (Gen 18:25).

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:21-32

Like other prophets, the little book of Joel has a prophecy of a coming judgment on Israel and a prophecy of a coming restoration of Israel.  With reference to this judgment, repeatedly Joel uses a phrase familiar to Old Testament prophets … namely, "the day of the LORD" (Joel 1:15; 2:1,11,31; 3:14) or simply the "day" (Joel 1:15; 2:2; 3:18).

The day of the LORD is a time of darkness and destruction.  "For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?" (Joel 2:11).  The fulfillment of this prophecy has both a near time frame and a distant time frame.  The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. was a precursor to a massive and gloomy judgment of Israel in the great tribulation to come.

Likewise, the restoration of Israel from Babylon foreshadows a grand restoration of Israel in the millennial kingdom.  This restoration will be the result of God pouring out His Spirit in fuller ways than He has in human history.

The inauguration of this fuller manifestation of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, where Peter quoted Joel 2, pointing to the beginning of the "last days."

What a privilege and blessing we have to be living during the time when the Holy Spirit has been given to the human race in greater measure than He was in Old Testament times.  And what comfort is afforded to us to know, more fully than Old Testament saints, the unfolding of God's plan in the exaltation of His Son through the coming of the Holy Spirit in a greater manifestation of His presence and power.

Scripture Reading: Micah 6:1-8

This passage follows Micah's denunciation of the sins of Judah and Israel.  The Israelites were a people who "devised wickedness" (Mic 2:1), "covet fields" (Mic 2:2), "oppress a man and his house" (Mic 2:2), "walk haughtily" (Mic 2:3), "hate the good and love the evil" (Mic 3:2), "eat the flesh of my people" (Mic 3:2), "detest justice" (Mic 3:9).

In Micah 6, in a courtroom setting, the LORD declares His indictment against the people.  Micah puts this rhetorical question into the mouths of the people … "With what shall I come before the LORD?" (Mic 6:6).  Will multiplied sacrifice appease His anger?

Micah 6:8 is God's answer as to what He requires from His creatures.  The verse highlights qualities of heart and life that these Israelites particularly lacked … justice, mercy, and humility before God.  "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic 6:8).

We are called on here to treat others fairly and with respect … to show them kindness and goodness and mercy … and to bow down before God with humility, which is altogether appropriate, given who God is and who we are.  We do not earn a right standing with God by pursuing these three qualities, but because God is the fountain of justice and mercy … and because humility comes from truly grasping the majesty of God … genuinely exhibiting justice and mercy and humility shows that we have been changed by God's grace.  God requires such a change for someone to stand in His holy presence. 

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1,2

The resurrection of Christ from the grave is the culmination of what Jesus came to earth to do, namely make a way for us to be at peace with God.  Nothing is more important than whether or not we are at peace with God.  When we lie dying, the only thing that will matter is whether or not we are at peace with God, the eternal Judge.  The resurrection of Jesus declares to us that it is possible for a sinful rebel to be reconciled to God.

Every major translation of Romans 5:1 begins with the word 'therefore'.  Because we have been declared righteous by God, on the basis of faith in Jesus, certain things are true and follow wonderfully.

First, we have peace with God (Rom 5:1). 

This is not the subjective feeling of peace, which God gives ("Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you" - Jn 14:27), but the objective standing of being reconciled to God.  What is described in this verse is not peace from God, but peace with God.  We are no longer enemies of God because the enmity has been removed through Christ. 

Second, knowing that we have obtained the standing of being accepted by God, we "rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom 5:2).  This is the confident expectation of eternal life and the thought of it produces exultation, joy, delight, pleasure.  You cannot consider the everlasting ramifications of being with God and enjoying Him forever, and not feel something of a profound joy deep in your soul.

Surely it is true that we do not experience deeper joy because we have not plumbed the depths of what it means that we have been reconciled to God. Surely the "hope of the glory of God" could burn more brightly within us.      

Scripture Reading: Hosea 6:1-6

A good portion of the book of Hosea is a catalogue of and denunciation of the sins of the nation of Israel. The primary, and foundational, sin that is highlighted in this book is idolatry. But when God is rejected, the manifestation of spiritual darkness is manifold. Hosea 4:2 cites lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and bloodshed. Life in Israel had degraded to a heartbreaking level of corruption.

Perhaps, surprisingly, although Israel was wholeheartedly given to its sins, the people continued to offer sacrifices to God and perform other religious rituals. God directly confronts this hypocrisy in Hosea 6:6. “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.”

The problem with the Israelites was not that they were not religious. On the contrary, they were very religious. No, the problem was that they were not righteous. Their multiplied ceremonies did not grow out of a love for God nor out of a heartfelt pursuit to know Him and obey his commands.

This is very instructive for us. There is a kind of empty shell of worship forms that does not result in a pursuit of righteousness in someone’s life. Such forms are not worship at all, but a mockery of God Himself. Let us plead with God to give us purer hearts in our worship, and a deeper pursuit of righteousness in our living.