Malachi
3:13 – 4:6
Introduction
Christians live between two worlds:
You live on earth but long for eternity… Or at least that is the way it’s supposed to work. Dr. Joseph Stowell, president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, writes,
"We who are marked with heaven in our hearts usually live as though it were real but irrelevant. We are consumed with the tyranny of the temporal, and both the character and power of a life with an eternal focus are traded for the ordinary." (Eternity, p. 10).
Dave Hunt, in his book Whatever Happened to Heaven?, suggests,
"The Second Coming of Christ is becoming an increasingly remote future event of negligible interest to today’s average Christian." (p. 79).
Living between earth and eternity while ignoring the Lord’s coming is nothing new. Malachi addressed it as his book closed. The Lord was coming; eternity ought to take priority over the earthly. Yet, in actual practice, most of the Jews lived as though the Lord’s coming was a remote future event of negligible interest. They lived as though His coming was real but irrelevant; they were consumed with earth and not eternity.
Most of Malachi’s audience lived this way, but not all. There was a remnant who longed for the Lord. For them, eternity put earthly things into proper perspective.
We’re going to look at these two groups and what characterized each of them. It’s an important study because the Lord is very definitely coming, and eternity needs to take priority over the earthly in our lives.
We’ll organize our thoughts around these two points: #1 Remind Yourself And Others That Riches Will Be Rubble When The Lord Returns, and #2 Remind Yourself And Others That Righteousness Will Be Remembered When The Lord Returns.
#1 Remind Yourself And Others That Riches
Will Be Rubble When The Lord Returns
(3:13-15 & 4:1)
We begin with a look at the majority of the Jews who were living as though the Lord’s return were irrelevant. They looked at the "proud" who did "wickedness" - unbelievers who were prospering - and wondered what "profit" there was in serving God. Their focus in life can accurately be summarized by the word "riches." This earth and its riches had overcome their longing for eternity.
Malachi 3:13 "Your words have been harsh against Me," says the LORD, "Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
Throughout this book we’ve seen God clearly state the true attitude of the rebellious majority of Jews, only to have them deny it. This shouldn’t strike us as unusual; it is the human condition. The Bible indicates that the heart of man is wicked and that you compound the wickedness by deceiving yourself about what is really going on in your heart. Once you are enabled to see your heart as God sees it, you can receive the help you need to overcome its tendencies.
God can and will reveal your heart to you. Then you have a choice: Confession or denial. Denial is the active part of deceiving yourself.
Part of our deception and denial is that we discount the messenger through whom God reveals our heart to us. If it’s our spouse, well, that doesn’t count; after all, look at all of their faults! If it’s our supervisor or teacher, well, that doesn’t count; after all, look at all their faults! If it’s our pastor, well, that doesn’t count… You get the idea.
The earthly attitude of the majority of the Jews is revealed in verses fourteen and fifteen.
Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the LORD of hosts?
One of the meanings of the word "useless" is desolate. In other words, serving God leaves you barren, forsaken, ruined. These are all descriptions of their earthly condition. It’s true that the Jews were not outwardly prospering. They were still in subjection to foreign governments; their rebuilt Temple was nothing to be compared to the previous Temple built by Solomon; their economy was struggling.
They thought they should instead be prospering. They used the word "profit." It means plunder, gain. They had the idea that they should be plundering the earth, gaining in material wealth.
Their argument was based on their having "kept [God’s] ordinance and… walked as mourners." That’s not entirely true though, is it? We’ve seen in this book that their obedience was only outward and ritualistic, and that their mourning was only to manipulate God.
The simple fact is that they were putting the priority on this earth and the riches it had to offer. The coming of their Lord, the promise of eternity, were irrelevant to them.
They contrasted themselves with the wicked in verse fifteen:
Malachi 3:15 So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free.’"
This is a pretty accurate description of the world in which we live. The "proud" are unbelievers – people who have not humbled themselves to submit to the Lord. They go about doing all manner of "wickedness," even tempting God, yet go free.
Someone put this into perspective this way: This earth is all the heaven unbelievers will ever experience, while this earth is the only Hell believers will experience. Again – You need to factor in eternity.
That is what Malachi does for these Jews in verse one of chapter four:
Malachi 4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
"The day" described is the Great Tribulation, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus to the earth to rule over a kingdom from Jerusalem. When Jesus comes to earth, He will judge the proud who has done wickedly. Their temporal life will be totally consumed by fire. The Bible goes on to teach that their eternal life will be forever tormented by fire. This earth, with its riches, will have been their only heaven.
Your lack and loss in this life are all too real and painful. They do not, however, alter the fact that this life is but a vapor that appears for a moment before vanishing away. Eternity is a long time! You’re almost there… And you will be blessed when you get there. Remind yourself and others that earthly riches will be rubble when the Lord returns.
#2 Remind Yourself And Others That Righteousness
Will Be Remembered When The Lord Returns
(3:16-18 & 4:2-6)
There was a minority who were focusing on eternity. They are described in precious, tender terms in verses sixteen through eighteen of chapter three.
Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.
Those who "fear" the Lord are believers. In Malachi’s time, they were a small remnant. They must have felt insignificant. They had the same struggles as the majority, and they had had an additional struggle with the majority.
Just when I think I can handle the fact that the wicked are prospering, it’s Christians that make my life miserable. It is a sore trial.
Still, this remnant met together for fellowship and they exalted the Lord. The Lord reveals Himself as an eavesdropper! He listened intently and heard every word they spoke. He had an angel or angels busy writing down in a Book of Remembrance all of their comments.
Do you have remembrances like this? Old cards or letters that were written to you… Things your kids made for you… Are these not precious – beyond the value that could be placed upon the materials that went into making them?
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."
God is saying that He will spare believers from eternal punishment, judging them rather according to their faithful service and rewarding them appropriately. You read something like this in the New Testament; but it is so much more poetic and romantic here in Malachi. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul describes such a judgment in First Corinthians chapter three. He says,
1 Corinthians 3:13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
1 Corinthians 3:14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
That’s good; I like that. But I’d rather think of myself being spared as the Lord’s "jewel," as Malachi put it.
Malachi 3:18 Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
"Then" is obviously a future time. In Malachi’s time the proud were prospering, while those who feared the Lord were floundering. But all of that was earthly; there was the eternal to consider. One day everyone will see the wisdom of serving God.
There is a proverb that summarizes all this:
Proverbs 11:4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
The earth is headed inevitably towards the day of God’s wrath. It is a future history that cannot be altered. In the day of His wrath, things will be revealed for their true value. Riches will be meaningless; righteousness will be precious.
The day of God’s wrath looks different to the remnant than to the rebels. It is described in verses two through six of chapter four.
Malachi 4:2 But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.
This is in contrast with verse one. For the rebels, the coming of the Lord is "burning like an oven." It is a fire that will "burn them up." The same Lord Who is a burning oven to the rebellious Jews is a healing Sun to the remnant of the Jews. This doesn’t mean that the Jews alive at His coming won’t suffer during the Great Tribulation. It means they will survive and be set-free to worship Him when it is ended. They will be the "fat calves" in that glorious day – set free from their captivity to leap for joy.
Malachi 4:3 You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this," says the LORD of hosts.
The proud, wicked people who are prospering in the earth will one day be reduced to ashes on the earth. Believers will trample on the ashes of the wicked. It ought to give you a new and heartfelt concern to share your faith. Rather than envy those who prosper in this life only, we should have empathy.
This all makes sense. Eternity obviously is more important than the earthly. The question is, "How do we maintain the proper perspective?" The closing verses help us. They tell us that the Lord gives us help and hope to maintain the proper perspective as we look beyond earth to eternity.
The help is in verse four:
Malachi 4:4 "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
It’s important to remember that Malachi would be the last word from God for over four hundred years. There would not be another prophet until John the Baptist came announcing Jesus Christ as King. The Jews were here told to look to God’s Word. It would be all the help they needed while they waited.
God’s Word is all the help you need. It comes with its own empowering. It elevates you from the earthly to eternity.
The hope you need is in the two closing verses:
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
Malachi 4:6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."
The day of wrath was inevitable… But it would include revival for the Jews! God would send Elijah back to the earth to minister to the Jews. The day of wrath would not be a final "curse" upon the Jews; it would be – it will be – their regathering, their reviving.
We take this verse literally. The Elijah of the Old Testament, who was taken up into heaven in the famous chariot of fire, will return to earth. You can read about his ministry in the Revelation of Jesus Christ – especially chapter eleven. Elijah is one of the two witnesses discussed and described there; Moses is probably the other.
The Jews alive when Jesus came the first time wondered if John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy of Elijah. Jesus told them plainly that John was not the fulfillment. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah; but Elijah would yet come.
The hope the Jews needed was the coming of the Lord. It is your hope, too. But it is your hope in a much different way. Malachi described the Second Coming of Jesus as the Sun of Righteousness. His coming begins with the day of wrath, the seven-year Great Tribulation, that culminates in His Second Coming to earth. Thus, the Jews will suffer but survive the Great Tribulation.
Jesus is not coming to you as the Sun of Righteousness. In the Revelation He is named the "Morning Star" (Revelation 22:16). The Morning Star is the star that appears before the day breaks upon the earth.
Jesus will come for you before the day of wrath breaks upon the earth. Before the day of wrath begins, Jesus will appear in the clouds in the Rapture. He will remove His Church from the earth, sparing you from the day of wrath.
Conclusion
If someone were to examine your life, would they ask of you, "Whatever happened to heaven?"
I close with this quote, again from Dr. Stowell:
"Eternity is primary. Heaven must become our first and ultimate point of reference. We are built for it, redeemed for it, and on our way to it. Success demands that we see and respond to now in the light of then. All that we have, are, and accumulate must be seen as resources by which we can influence and impact the world beyond. Even our tragedies are viewed as events that can bring eternal gain… Instead of being absorbed by the misdirected values and trends of this present world, we are redeemed to express the values and realities of [God’s] kingdom to the watching world around us." (p. 27).