Readings for today: Malachi 1-4, Psalm 50
I have four kids. They are all strong-willed. All independent thinkers. I love them fiercely. I’m proud of them in so many ways. But they are also just getting started in life. They want to be on their own, make decisions, and be responsible adults. But like most twenty-somethings, they also have a lot to learn. A lot of life to live. A lot of growth in front of them. My job is to be their number one cheerleader. To be the one person in their life who seeks to encourage and bless. Of course, if they want advice, I am happy to give it. Happy to share what I’ve learned from my own experience. Happy to tell them about my own successes and failures when I was their age and just getting started myself. I remember those days well. I had to learn some hard lessons. My attitude and effort was often subpar. I struggled to complete my work in a timely manner. I left far too many things undone. I was too focused on myself. I made excuses. I rationalized away my sin. I presumed upon God’s grace. Honestly, though I’ve grown in maturity, I often still feel that way.
When I read Malachi, it feels to me like God is dealing with a bunch of adolescents. Believers whose attitude and effort is subpar. Yes, they bring their sacrifices to the Lord but they are blemished. Yes, they meet their obligations in worship but it’s not their firstfruits. They say and do all the right things but their hearts are not in it. They are distracted. They have other priorities. They are just going through the motions. And God knows all this! He sees the sacrifices they have to offer. “For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, is that not wrong as well?” (Malachi 1:8 NET) He sees right through them. “I am about to discipline your children and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it.” (Malachi 2:3 NET) He knows their tears are simply for show. “You also do this: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. Yet you ask, “Why?” The LORD is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.” (Malachi 2:13-14 NET) He can count. He knows they aren’t giving in accordance with His commands. “Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions!” (Malachi 3:8 NET) And yet, when confronted with their sin, what do the people do? They protest. Throw up their hands. Stomp their feet. Raise their voices. Shift the blame. It’s typical adolescent behavior.
What is God’s desire? He wants His people to grow. He wants them to be strong. He wants them to be wholly devoted to His great name. “For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD who rules over all.” (Malachi 1:11 NET) He wants His people to be pure of heart and true in faith. “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. He taught what was true; sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the LORD who rules over all.” (Malachi 2:5-7 NET) His desire is to bless and not curse. To give and not withhold. To pour out abundance upon them so that they nations will see all God has done. “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the LORD who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the LORD who rules over all. “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land,” says the LORD who rules over all.” (Malachi 3:10-12 NET)
But God also knows our hearts. He knows what He expects is impossible for us to achieve. He knows the corruption that exists at the core of our being. The sin that so easily entangles. We brought this on ourselves and God has been trying to teach us how helpless and hopeless we are without Him. So He will send His Messenger to accomplish all that we could not. He will be the Faithful One. He will be the True Israelite. He will be the Messiah and Savior of all who believe. “I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the LORD who rules over all. Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the LORD a proper offering.” (Malachi 3:1-3 NET) He will purify our offerings. He will sanctify our hearts. He will make us righteous before the Lord.
Readings for tomorrow: Ezra 7-10