Malachi Chapter Three, Hephzibah

 

Malachi 3:11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the LORD of hosts; [12] “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.

 

The blessing God promised upon obedience appears to be in light of an epidemic occurring presently. The verse is in the future tense in anticipation of Israel’s response and call to repentance. God will rebuke the devourer of the fruit of their ground. It sounds very much like the prophecy of Haggai, when the Jews were reticent to build the temple, instead attending to their own needs. “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away.  Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while everyone of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land,” Haggai 1:9-11.

The curse God has cursed them with may have taken hold in the land. The priesthood’s malediction seems to have been premature death for their rebellion, but the populace’s is one of dearth. “I will make the heavens like iron and your earth like bronze…for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees in their land yield their fruit,” Leviticus 26:19, 20. A contrary walk compels our God, who is holy, to walk as an adversary against us. Further, the notion of a devourer suggests a locust swarm, like the kind that Joel witnessed and prophesied about, using the insects as a symbol of a coming military invasion, Joel 1:4.

 

Famine or drought was clearly a perilous venture for a pastoral people. Raising flocks was a profitable and venerable livelihood. Harm to the livestock would have been catastrophic. Not only would that harm their revenue but its long-term ramifications would involve famine and attendant sickness. If there was drought then the grain and new wine would certainly fail, and the fruit of the ground would not produce, again harming the country’s livelihood in the short term, and their overall stability in the long term.

 

If we couple verses 10 and 11, we can make a few simple inferences. The mention of the windows of heaven does seem to suggest a dearth of rain, especially in light of the comment about the vine bearing fruit. The iron skies create a bronze earth that yields nothing but dust, implying that God might have sealed the windows of heaven, as it were, as part of the curse upon Israel’s disobedient spirit. The word “devourer” is the Hebrew “akal” and can mean to consume either literally or figuratively. If the former is the case, then the notion of something akin to a locust infestation seems apropos. If in a figurative sense, then the devourer may in fact be a foreign power that takes what Israel sows, so that their effort comes to naught. We do read as part of Israel’s chastening for disobedience: “And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it,” Leviticus 26:16. Whatever the case, God encourages His people to submit and obey; for obedience is rewarded and the prosperity they crave will pour down in abundance.

 

The outcome of their hypothetical restoration to a right walk is a visible manifestation of the divine blessing. Like the nations came from afar because they heard of the wisdom of Solomon, so now would the Gentile powers see the beautification of Israel and concede the blessing. This is now the fourth time in such a small prophetic book the nations have been mentioned or intimated, Malachi 1:5, 11, 14. Historically speaking there have been times, such as the days of Solomon or Hezekiah when the vassals from Babylon came to visit him that Gentile nations thought of Israel as blessed. But the complete fulfillment of that blessing will have its time when Messiah is enthroned in Jerusalem. “And I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts,” Haggai 2:7. Israel walking in agreement with her God will transform her into a delightful land. The Hebrew rendered “delightful” here is “chepets,” taken from “chapets.” Chapets seems to indicate less intense emotion and more of a favorable disposition. The word also can mean a valuable thing, but can also involve taking pleasure in, receiving pleasure from or one’s wish or desire for (something).

 

The land is delightful in the stricter sense that God delights in it. And that may be said because His people in turn delight in obedience, resulting in abundant blessing. The visible result of Israel’s submission to Yahweh’s rule creates in their borders a nation serving God by genuinely caring for their kinsmen and the resident alien from the heart. In turn the skies give rain, the earth yields crops, and the invading forces are scattered in disarray. The imagery here may invoke the most famous delightful land in the Jewish mind: Eden. The Garden of Eden was a delightful land because fellowship between God and humanity was perfect. God spoke, man listened, and through obedience had harmless and undefiled fellowship between one another. The Holy Spirit had no restraint because doubt and unbelief, fostered by sin’s presence, had not been born yet. Eden was fruitful, peaceful, and productive in every good way. Adam bent the knee to God and the windows of heaven poured out abundant blessing. But here we see perfect worship. Adam surely enjoyed and delighted in the blessing, but ultimately he sought God’s company; truly the highest blessing any believer can have. “Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours…and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s,” 1 Corinthians 3:21, 23.

 

In like manner Paul greatly desired to see the church come to a unity, a cohesive and effectual zeal that was Spirit-filled but grounded in the doctrine that gives life. He writes, “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you,” 1 Corinthians 14:24, 25. A harmonious corporate witness is a far more powerful thing than the witness of one’s personal integrity. When believers are in one accord and have all things in common the Holy Spirit is free to work among us without hindrance and what follows is, in every sense of the word, delightful. Israel could have (and still will) experienced that blessedness had they obeyed from the heart. The church throughout the ages was only a truly powerful vehicle for conveying spiritual truth and converting the lost when we were of one mind in Christ. When obedience falters and doctrine is shut up carnality, license and heresy fills the church and the Holy Spirit is stifled. Israel had God’s word that blessing would result if they, from the heart, listened. God vouchsafed their livelihood and guaranteed the admiration of the nations, if only they would heed Him. The choice then, is between God’s word and human conjecture. Who do we place our trust in? Who will Israel believe?