Malachi Chapter Three, The Day Of The Lord

 

Malachi 3:2 “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 launderers’ soap. [3] He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.

 

The first two questions address a theological topic of great import to the Jewish mind: the Day of the Lord. To commence even touching on this topic the question must be asked: what is the Day of the Lord? The prophets spoke much of it, so we begin by simply quoting them for context.

Malachi Chapter Three, Behold He Is Coming

 

Malachi 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, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.

 

Verse 17 of the previous chapter concluded with a flippant reversal of holy conduct, punctuated by the mocking inquiry, “Where is the God of justice?” The answer given in this verse is twofold, addressing both the Suffering Servant’s arrival, and the King coming to His temple to purge the dross from His people and judge the earth in equity.

The Point Of Contact, Part 2 (Of 2)

 

First we considered the Philippian jailer whose conversion was experiential. Then we looked at the Ethiopian eunuch whose conversion was from that of Judaism to Christianity. He had in embryo the truth of the gospel but needed deeper understanding to enter into truth. Now we look at the worldly intellectuals Paul confronted in Athens.

The Point of Contact, Part 1 (Of 2)

 

When the Philippian jailer came trembling into Paul and Silas’s cell, he asked the most important question in this life: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30. Contrary to the next verse, the answer isn’t always as simple as, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household,” verse 31. It is all about the point of contact with the inquirer, and where they stand as far as understanding is concerned. Paul and Silas had already been praying and singing hymns in their cell, and we are told the inmates were listening, implying that everyone else was quiet, Acts 16:25. It could be surmised that the jailer heard earlier what the prisoners were currently listening to: namely the disciples extolling God from their cell. An earthquake roused him from sleep and panic induced him to contemplate suicide when he believed the prisoners had fled. When Paul assured the man that the prisoners were accounted for, and the jailer saw for himself, he was afraid. The earthquake rousing him from sleep coupled with his near brush with death made him receptive to the supernatural nature of what had just transpired.

Malachi Chapter Two, The God Of Justice

 

The Holy Spirit, speaking through the apostle Paul, described the nature and state of the people who defraud God’s people with persuasive lies and emotional pleas meant to mislead the flock. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting…who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them,” Romans 1:28, 32. When someone professing to be God’s child abandons objective truth for subjective human opinion about what is right, we can do naught else but sink deeper into the mire of philosophic conjecture that produces nothing but myopia. The church of today has sunken into this wretchedly sorry state; we are incapable of correction because we disagree concerning Scripture. The Bible is no longer the authority on what is right. The Holy Spirit no longer leads us into all truth; human reason, pseudo-science and modern trends do, no matter how sinful or diametrically opposed to the word they are. Christ is no longer the head of His universal church; men are. Men appointed for reasons outside of sound doctrine and sober lifestyles, men void of saving faith that do not trust the Bible they are supposed to be preaching. Small wonder then that the faith of many is overturned when coming to the church (the institution) and we find that the faithless govern it.

Malachi Chapter Two, Perverting What Is Right

 

A God wearied by sinful man’s propensity for perverting what is right, He voices a complaint how Judah tired Him with their words. Words certainly have power. God spoke, and the ordered universe sprang into being. When people speak we can certainly alter people in any number of ways. Solomon writes, “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters,” Proverbs 18:4. Being praised, especially by loved ones, lifts the spirits. Being scolded can engender sorrow, shame or even anger. Words are like boxes filled with meaning, arranged by language to convey a concrete idea to another. But what are we presenting, exactly? The Jews wondered the self-same thing? “In what way have we wearied You?”

Malachi Chapter Two, Wearying God

 

Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

 

Verse 17 reverts to the question and answer format Malachi employed through chapter one, where Yahweh states a grievance, and Israel collectively replies with a question, permitting an embellished answer. The grievance in particular is how Judah has wearied God. Can God be wearied? Not in the sense that you and I can become weary. Fatigue is normal to the human condition. But God does tells us that His Spirit will not always strive with men because of their frailty. The human constitution is ephemeral; we live like grass quickly withered and gone. Scripture says of the nature of man, “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish…sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?” Psalm 146:3, Isaiah 2:22.

Malachi Chapter Two, Dealing Treacherously

 

Conversely, Paul lists the works of the flesh in contrast to the spiritual fruit yielded by following the Lord. These are evident, Paul tells us, or easily discerned. Anyone can take note of them because their manifestation is not subtle. Interestingly the first four works of the flesh listed involve sexual perversion of various kinds, foremost being adultery: or a married partner having sex with someone besides their spouse. The next three items are fornication, uncleanness and lewdness, Galatians 5:19. The HCSB groups these items a little differently, and names them, “sexual immorality (adultery and fornication), moral impurity (uncleanness), promiscuity (lewdness),” to help clarify the terms a little. Sexual deviance is an assault upon marriage because it separates marriage’s consummation as something tawdry that can (and should) be shared freely, without regret, and often without restraint. The moral ruin the collapse of traditional marriage has heaped upon modern society is immense. Divorce is merely one symptom. Abortion is another. Our modern times deal with child sacrifice of a new type. If children are meant to be the result of a God-ordained marriage, then it makes sense that the crown jewel of modern sexual license is abortion. We now aim to freely and legally murder the next generation that was supposed to be raised up by us. Instead children are once more passed through the fire to Molech, so to speak, courtesy of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood. Yet in Exodus we read, “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child…if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,” Exodus 21:22, 23. The unborn are children made in God’s image; they are the offspring we are meant to fill the earth with, born of the institution that our Lord loves. Do not act treacherously.

Malachi Chapter Two, Biblically Defined Marriage

 

I believe the remnant (residue, KJV) of the Spirit simply implies that though God could have created our first parents differently, this was His chosen path. He did not lack power. The remnant of the Spirit remained, like the heaping baskets of fragments leftover when He fed the thousands. When He acts it is right, for our benefit, and designed to teach.

Malachi Chapter Two, God's Hatred Of Divorce

 

Malachi 2:15 But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. [16] For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

 

Malachi now takes Israel (and us) on a history lesson. The NIV translates the opening of the verse as, “Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit.” The HCSB renders it, “Didn’t the one God make us with a remnant of His life-breath?” The NKJV (derived from the KJV and the Received Text) elaborates on a point otherwise overlooked. The word “them” in the verse is italicized, which means the translators added it for the purpose of clarity. The KJV renders the verse, “And did he not make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit.” So it becomes an “us” verses “them” issue. I believe the passage is illuminating a progressing point that began with verse 11, crowning now in verse 15. The holy institution God loves, the covenant between husband and wife examined in the last two verses, culminates in its antecedent: Adam and Eve. The verse, if taken from this perspective would read as a historical lesson, a reminder that God could have made our original parents differently, but He did not. Creating Eve, He immediately presented her to Adam, who also immediately accepted her as wife, and they wed under the auspices of God.

Malachi Chapter Two, Divorce: Marriage's Remedy?

 

God reminds Israel that He is a witness of the covenant made between husband and wife. God officiated the first marriage after creating Eve for the sake of Adam, so that he would not be uniquely alone and without a suitable partner. One might say in the most literal sense they were a match made in Heaven. God is a witness “between them.” Between’s definition can involve “amongst” or “concerning,” depending on the context of the passage. Though God certainly is amongst His people, the idea of “in regard to,” or “concerning,” seems more apt. God is a witness, like someone who takes the stand, in regard to the wife’s grief at the hands of her husband. God testifies to his infidelity and disregard for her person. Above that, being an expert in the Law, He also reminds such men that they are still married to the wife of their youth despite taking daughters of foreign gods.

Malachi Chapter Two, Why Marriage Matters

 

Malachi 2:13 And this is the second thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and crying; so He does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. [14] Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

 

Judah profaned the Lord’s holy institution by marrying pagan women; that was his first sinful act that the Holy Spirit describes as treacherous and abominable. The second thing the men of Israel had done is to divorce their original wives. The altar of the Lord is covered in tears. Divorce creates hardship, duress and emotional fluctuations galore, speaking from experience. The Jewish women God recognized as the original and only legitimate marriage partners wept bitterly over what had been done to them. Because of their perpetual lamentation God no longer accepted the offering. Hosea wrote that God is more interested in mercy than He is in sacrifice, Hosea 6:6. Why? Mercy, in its action, requires sacrifice. If you are merciful you are sacrificing yourself for the sake of others. With such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Malachi Chapter Two, Defiling God's Institution

 

Malachi 2:11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the LORD’s holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god. [12] May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, being awake and aware, yet who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!

 

For the second time in as many verses Malachi accuses Judah of treachery. The practice of treachery, or deceit, or sedition is in reference to what the prophet calls the Lord’s holy institution. Above being treacherous, the Israelites committed abomination, once more in direct reference to this institution “which He loves.” The word “abomination” is the Hebrew word, “towebah” or “toebah.” Toebah defines “someone or something as especially unique in the sense of being dangerous, sinister, and repulsive to another individual.” The same term is used in Genesis 43:32 where we read, “the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.” Malachi accuses the Jews responsible for profaning this institution of being dangerous seditionists. Why? For one, there have been covenants made for the preservation of this divinely ordained institute. Secondly, such people that rebel against the ordinance are not contesting man’s rule, but God’s immutable word. They are rebels in the King’s country, inciting others to lapse and to forget their God’s commandments.

Malachi Chapter Two, Marriage

 

Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?

 

After addressing the corrupt priesthood expressly and the covenant of Levi they endangered, Malachi turns his attention to another covenant, one far more ancient. The prophet begins by asking if all of Israel does not have one Father, see Malachi 1:6. God said of Israel that he was the firstborn son amongst the nations. Also, He already inquired of the people that if He was a Father, why He did not receive the reverence due His name. Some argue that here, at the beginning of verse 10, Abraham is being considered, not Yahweh. Abraham is perhaps the most important historical figure in Israel. In Christ’s day the rich man in Hades addressed him as “Father Abraham,” Luke 16:24. The Jews likewise claimed Abraham as their father in John 8:39 when they were defending their lineage and its supposed privileges to Jesus. Yet they were not timid in also claiming that God—Yahweh, their covenant God—was their Father, John 8:41.

Onward Christian Soldiers!

 

Happy March 4^th, everyone! This day is a special day for me, and one that I’ve observed as a personal holiday for about 15 years or so. I was simply smitten with the idea that March 4^th is the only day of the year to issue a command: to march forth. In the interest of it being March 4^th, I thought I would take a moment to reflect a little on the march of John the Baptist.

Malachi Chapter Two, Wolves In Sheep's Clothing

 

Since this sickness began with the priesthood (Malachi 1:6) and spread to the people, the entire covenant had become corrupted, like the imperfect offerings they brought. Because of this God made the priesthood (represented then by the apostate priests) contemptible (loathsome, disgraceful) and base (disreputable, dishonorable). Verse 9 hinges with the conjunctive adverb “therefore.” I was taught once that when you see the word “therefore” in Scripture, figure out what it’s there for! Corny, I know, but it does make you stop and think about it. God determined to humiliate the priesthood since they were determined to reproach God and His altar, and that before all the people. The corrupt priests did all that they did publicly. Likewise, their punishment would not be hidden from public view. If such a judgment was visited upon them it would doubtless make the worshipers coming consider what had transpired and why.

Malachi Chapter Two, Covenant Corrosion

 

Many stumble because trust was placed in the title and position of the men appointed to lead God’s flock. It begins as an innocent error of judgment, but being beguiled does not make us guiltless. In my youth I once believed in what is called the Gap Theory, taught to me by Donald Barnhouse. While interesting, its implications undermine and confuse much of Scripture, especially origins, Satan’s person and angels in general. God be praised my wife and I learned from a clearer stream in regards to origins and gained a God-given confidence in Genesis and what it relates concerning our beginnings. I do not believe Mr. Barnhouse was an apostate Christian; he seemed a very devoted man, sincerely confused doctrinally about the issue of origins due to Charles Lyell’s theories pertaining to geology. A godless man infected a godly man, and that godly man carried the germ into the church. What happens then, when a godless man infiltrates God’s institution with the intention of destruction from within?