Malachi Chapter Three, Biblical Faith

 

Malachi 3:17 “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels.” And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” [18] Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

 

Verse 17 is a direct lead in from the prior verse, indicating that those Jews who spoke to one another and feared God would be His. He claimed them for Himself, this faithful remnant that actually desired to obey and to reverence God’s word. However, the verse becomes more specific as to the nature of God’s timing. “On the day that I make them My jewels,” Malachi informs us. There is a specific time, the Lord declares, that He will act to make this righteous remnant His own. To discern proper context we look ahead to Malachi 4:1. Verses 17 and 18 talk about the jewels God will take from Israel, those faithful who serve Him, as opposed to the professors that do not. More, His taking of them will be clearly discernable (verse 18) because the coming day (4:1) will bring destruction to the proud and salvation to the remnant (4:3). God’s answer to the proud, and to those who envy the proud and are led astray by the error of the wicked is this: “Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you,” Revelation 3:9.

This promise, given specifically to the church of Philadelphia is not necessarily exclusive to it, but universal in its extent toward all of the saints for all of time who have contended with false professors. The remnant of Malachi’s time certainly fits this mold. Though not part of the church they are still saved the same as we are and will be vindicated by their God.

 

God clarifies that faith—that is, genuine faith—is the precursor to action. God will spare the faithful that serve Him. Service is a generic term here, but we can summarize what it means to serve God by simply saying, “doing as we are told.” Once saved, we begin a walk with God that is defined by our obedience. The Holy Spirit, at work in the lives of the saints will conform us to Christ-likeness, as we submit to the will of God in our lives. How do we do that? First, by understanding God’s will. This can only happen by patient continuance in Scripture. Then, by virtue of God’s Spirit, we seek to perform that which we understand. Human effort alone will do nothing to make us better. We don’t need to be better. We need to be renewed in knowledge of the image of Him who created us, Colossians 3:10. The object we cast our faith upon will be reflected in our conduct as Christians. For the Jews, their faith (or absence of it) was demonstrated by their diligence and zeal for the Law. They obeyed the Law not because they hoped by their diligence they would be saved by it, but because they trusted in the God who gave it to them. Refer back to verse 16, and how the faithful Jews feared God, and meditated, or thought upon His name. The Law led them to the Law Giver, and their thoughts were filled with Him. Scripture is meant to lead us to the living God. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” Hebrews 4:12.

 

The writer of Hebrews links the living and powerful word of God to the God whose living word it is. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account,” Hebrews 4:13. Scripture divides the worldly from the divine. The soul, being the seat of human reason, cannot mingle so to speak with the spirit, that part of us that is connected (or renewed) to God. Why? Human reason is at best tainted by sin, limited, biased and easily influenced. God’s word discerns our thoughts and their intentions. In other words the Holy Spirit uses the Bible as a vehicle to convict us of sin, and relates the necessity to cast ourselves upon God for escape from its penalty. Nothing is hidden from God. We are naked and open, or vulnerable, exposed, transparent to the eyes of our Judge. And to Him and Him alone we will, every individual, give account, 2 Corinthians 5:9, 10, see Revelation 20:11-15 for the judgment of the unsaved.

 

Returning to Malachi, we see that God makes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous serves Him. Verse 17’s illustration was that of a son serving his father, or following his father’s instruction. The wicked, plainly explained, do not serve Him. “You shall not do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes—for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you,” Deuteronomy 12:8, 9. The wicked have rejected God’s will for their own, and their actions demonstrate the thoughts and intents of their hearts. There are, in truth, only two paths on earth: God’s narrow path or the broad road leading to destruction. Whatever you prefer to name the broad road does not alter its destination. Religion, philosophy, agnosticism, atheism, etc. are all alternate routes leading to one place. Here one may apply the “all roads lead to heaven or God” but in reverse. All such roads do lead to the god of this world and the many lies he’s told us to separate us from the love of God found in Jesus Christ. The parable Jesus tells us about the seed scattered elegantly relates this point. In three instances the seed produces nothing. Hard hearts, tribulation, or worldly interests keep us from accepting the word and bearing the fruit that comes naturally with new life, Matthew 13:19-23, Isaiah 6:9, 10.

 

What did God expect of His people? Conformity to His word and will. Malachi lived in a time when the former prophets had delivered their messages, including the manifold Messianic promises. The Torah, the books of Moses, was available and meant to be imbibed by the priests to instruct and inform worshipers. The wicked (synonymous with the proud, Malachi 4:1) rebelled while the righteous served as sons. Why do sons serve their fathers? There are many reasons, but the noblest is out of love. They recognize in their fathers a pattern of works and character that they covet, and they follow their father’s footsteps because they love the man he is, and all that he has done for his family. No better inspiration, no purer or stronger motivation can be found than love. A son serves not out of duty, but out of desire. Fathers, of course, ought to be training and teaching out of a like desire. We as human parents want our children to model that which is best in us, while striving to teach them to learn from our failings. God, who is perfect, only has the best in mind for those who are His. No better teacher may be found. If this is true, then let us all, like the faithful Jews in Malachi’s era, serve God with a reverence born of love.