59. HE WHO COMES BEFORE THE FATE CHANGERIf "all religions are the same" as some claim, why do they yield such different results?
|
|
There are lots of religions in the world. While many of them contain some shared principles of morality, they are not the same. They disagree with one another about who God is, what He is like, and how He deals with the problem of sin and death. They also vary in their understanding of what God expects from humans and why. With such a plethora of information to sift through and evaluate, many people are confused. What is the truth? Where can I find it? How can I be sure I don't spend my whole life headed on a path that in the end leads me nowhere? We really wish there was someone or something to show us the way.
Fortunately God has given us someone and something to show us the way. He has not left us without witness to the truth. God announces events through living messengers called prophets. Of course some prophets write down the messages given to them. Those messages of the prophets constitute the sacred writings. The sacred writings are something that shows us the way to truth. But there have also been prophets who didn't write down one word. For example, several lessons ago we read about a prophet who condemned a wicked king and announced his doom. Interestingly, his name is not known nor did he write any of the scriptures.
In this lesson, we are going to learn about a messenger, or prophet, named Malachi who was given a message from God. In the prophecy, Malachi says that another messenger will come who will prepare the way for yet another messenger. That's a lot of messengers! But why are all those messengers necessary. Let's consider a story that will help us understand the answer to that question.
Bayram was driving along the road one day and a policeman stopped him. But Bayram wasn't the only one who was stopped; all the traffic was blocked.
“What is going on?” Bayram thought.
He rolled down the window and called to the policeman.
“What is going on here, why have you stopped all the traffic?”
The policeman didn’t answer. He just cleared the cars to the side of the road. As Bayram waited on the side of the road, he noticed that along the roadway lots of policemen were stationed at certain intervals. Then suddenly several police cars drove by with several black automobiles following closely behind. Each car had a 06 license plate.
After the black cars passed the policeman let the traffic continue. But Bayram’s curiosity was piqued, so he asked the policeman:
“Who was that?”
“The prime minister is here for a meeting.” The policeman responded.
When important people come to town there is usually a big announcement that they are coming. Often signs are hung from the lampposts and posters are plastered on the walls of the highway bridges. Even if the VIP isn’t coming for public meetings, at the very least the roads are guarded, security checks are made at every point, and the cars are cleared away.
Since we first started studying the Bible, we have seen a series of prophecies and events that have predicted the coming of a very
unique person. Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, we read God’s promise that someone special would come to bruise the head
of the serpent. We later learned that the serpent was Satan.14 Suffice it to say, whoever bruises Satan's head is an incredibly powerful person! We also read the promise to Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through his offspring.15 The chain of promises continued when Moses predicted that a prophet would rise up like himself from among the Jews and that the people must listen to him.16 Moses talked with God at the burning bush and was even permitted to partially see God from behind. Could there really be a prophet greater than Moses? It has to be because the Bible predicted that such a prophet would arise.
We learned in the Psalms that a priest would arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not of Aaron. Do you remember when Abraham paid a tithe of 10% to Melchizedek? God said He would put all the enemies of that priest under the priest’s feet and would sit him at God’s own right hand.17 Later we learned that God would seat someone on David’s throne and that his kingdom would last forever because it was established with judgment and justice.18
But if that wasn’t enough God said that the one who would come would have a miraculous birth and his name would be Immanuel, which means, “God with us”.19 In Isaiah 52:13-15 we read about a “Servant” who would come, be exalted and yet suffer great harm. Furthermore in Isaiah chapter 53 we saw that this servant would suffer for the sins of the people and actually justify them through his suffering. He would change the fate of all humanity! Who could that be?
In the book of Daniel, we studied a prophecy that declared the Messiah would appear on the world stage in 27 A.D. and be murdered within 7 years.20 Could all these predictions possibly be about one person: a crusher, blessing, prophet, priest, king, servant, and suf- ferer? If so, wouldn’t God announce to the world in unmistakable terms who that person is and when he would appear?
If all the prophecies that we read about were for one person who would crush Satan’s head, be a prophet like Moses, sit on David’s throne in an eternal kingdom, have a miraculous birth, justify the people by suffering for their sins and actually be called, “God with us”, then we could rightly expect an announcement about his com- ing wouldn’t we? And that brings us to the verses we want to look at now. Let's go to a small book called Malachi.
Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament and at the end of a group of books called the Minor Prophets. In the book of Malachi, the author gives no personal information about himself or the time he wrote the book. He is not mentioned in any other book of the Bible. We understand that Malachi was written while the Persians were ruling over Israel sometime between 538 and 331 B.C. when governors were the highest of cials over Israel. This would have taken place after the Babylonian captivity. Let’s read what God says to His people through the prophet Malachi in chapter 3 verse 1:
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.
Someone is coming and that person is very important! The prophet Malachi said that the Lord, who is the Messenger of the covenant, is coming to His temple. The Lord Himself is coming! This is the same person in Daniel 9 who will confirm the covenant.21 Will he come without warning? No, the Lord says He will send a messenger to prepare the way for Him. That is certainly logical. If they send someone to prepare the way for the prime minister what should be done for the Lord, the Messenger of the covenant?
The messenger sent before the Lord and the Messenger of the covenant are two different people. Who is the messenger sent before the Lord? We don’t have the answer here. But be patient. What will happen then when the Lord comes? Let’s find out in Malachi
chapter 3 verses 2-7:
2 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a re ner's re And like launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a re ner and a puri er 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. 4 "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the LORD, As in the days of old, As in former years. 5 And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien -- Because they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts. 6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," Says the LORD of hosts. "But you said, 'In what way shall we return?'
The Lord is coming and His purpose is not an election meeting! He is the Lord and no votes will be cast for another! When He comes He will come to judge. He will judge against things we expect Him to judge against: adultery, sorcery, perjurers and those who exploit widows and orphans. He will judge against those who turn a foreigner away. Sadly, Malachi says that God’s people have done all these things. It is only because of God’s great mercy and righteous- ness that He has not consumed the sinners; the same righteousness He declared to Moses in Exodus chapter 34 verses 6-7:
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 "keeping mercy for thou- sands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."
The very fact that God sends messengers to warn of the coming judgment shows His righteousness and mercy. He is calling men to return to Him in repentance. He is calling them from death to life.
The Lord said specifically that He would come to the Levites to cleanse and purify them so that they would make an offering in righ- teousness. Just as gold becomes purer and purer in the fire, God said that He would purify the sons of Levi. It was only after this
purification that their offerings could be pleasing to the Lord.
Do you remember that the Levites were the priests, the religious leaders of the people? They were the ones who served in the temple of God during the worship services. They were continually giving offerings to the Lord, but the Lord was not pleased with their offer- ings. Why not? Let’s look for some answers in Malachi chapter 1 verses 6-8:
6 " A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, 'In what way have we despised Your name?' 7 "You offer de led food on My altar. But say, 'In what way have we de led You?' By saying, 'The table of the LORD is contemptible.' 8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts.
The priests were doing their job begrudgingly. They actually had contempt for the Lord’s service. It was drudgery to them. They were giving food offerings that were unclean and contrary to God’s instructions. The Lord had specifically told the Israelites that all the animals that were sacrificed should be without spot or blemish. The Levites were offering animals that were lame, sick and even blind!
God rebuked them for their disrespect and irreverence. He says in essence,
"Would you give such an animal to the governor? No! It would be a shame. So how are you offering them to the Creator of the Universe?"
Before we are quick to condemn those Levites, we should ask ourselves a question. Do we really love to worship God or do we do it because it is a duty? Do we view worship as a job that we have to do; a task that we need to hurry up and nish so can move on to something more interesting? Do you really think God accepts that kind of worship? Are we giving our best to God? We can read more about the priests and what they were doing in Malachi chapter 2 verses 7-8:
7 "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8 But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi," Says the LORD of hosts.
Earlier we said that the prophets were living messengers of the Lord. Prophets relay a message directly from the Lord. Religious teachers can also be messengers of the Lord but in a different way. They are to teach God's word and exemplify it in their lives. In verse 7 we read that the priest was a messenger of the Lord. But the Levites were causing people to fall away from the true faith by their disobedience and indifference. They were betraying the people’s trust! God said He would change all this by coming to His temple.
The Lord Himself would come and send a messenger before He arrives. Let’s learn some more about the messenger that will come before the Lord in Malachi chapter 4 verses 5–6:
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 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."
How can the Lord's coming be both great and dreadful? To the ones who are ready for His coming it will be a great day. But for the rejecters of God's mercy it will be a dreadful day. Will there be a warning? Before the Lord will come in great judgment, He will send Elijah the prophet. That is interesting. Do you remember who Elijah was?
He was a great prophet of reform during the reign of King Ahab in Northern Israel. The people had turned their backs on God and were worshiping Baal, the national god of the Canaanites. Elijah told the people to repent. Elijah was also the one who had a contest with the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel. After some taunting by Elijah, dancing, chanting, and even cutting themselves the priests of Baal weren’t able to call re down from heaven to consume their sacrifice. The reason is that Baal wasn't a real god. But Elijah called re down from heaven and his sacrifice was consumed by re from the Lord. Later, Elijah was translated to heaven without seeing death. Is the prophet Malachi saying that this same Elijah would be the mes- senger to prepare the way of the Lord for His coming? Would he return to earth? Would his message be the same?
This is the last prophecy written before the New Testament. So we will have to wait for the answer. Of course, you may not like wait- ing. But imagine the Israelites who waited 400 years between the time of Malachi and the time of the New Testament! Don’t worry, you won't have to wait that long to learn who the messenger is. For now, just remember that whoever this messenger is, he will do a
work of spiritual reform turning the “sons,” as the Hebrew says, to the fathers. That is, the messenger would turn the Israelites’ hearts
to the true faith of their forefathers.
When you think of examination and inspection perhaps you remem- ber the days of your military service or one of your relatives talk- ing about the coming of the commander (Tugay Komutanı). Perhaps the announcement came a week before the commander (Tugay Komutanı) came. Maybe it came a month beforehand. What would happen? First, the announcement would come from the lieutenant:
“All right men, next week the commander is coming to our divi- sion and everything will be perfect. Get ready for inspection!”
Everyone knew what that inspection meant. Everything from your hair to your ngernails had to be perfectly cleaned and in good shape. Your locker and everything in it had to be perfect, right down to your socks. Of course the weapons would be inspected to see that everything was cleaned and in perfect working order.
Then the corporal (astsubay) came in and said:
“What is this soldier? Do you call this clean? Redo this!”
Finally the commander came and addressed the company. But instead of inspecting all the things they had prepared, he didn’t even look!
The above illustration is one of both comparison and contrast. Be- fore the military inspection there was an announcement of the commander's coming. Likewise, before the Lord comes there will be a messenger announcing His coming. Like the military inspection, there is a preparation necessary for the Lord's coming. But the Lord is not like the company commander. He will not just appear and then go without inspection. No, He will purify and judge as He said He would. The Lord isn’t only looking for personal cleanliness but rather righteousness.
The priests washed their hands and feet before they went into the temple and did the Lord’s service. In spite of this, the Lord still was not pleased. It was not enough. Some people think that they can continue being a thief and a liar and so long as they do their ritual washings and prayers, the Lord will accept them. We see here in the Bible that this is not true. Yes, the Lord desires physical cleanliness when we come into His presence. But physical cleanliness and an offering is no substitute for righteousness. The Lord addresses the liar and thief by asking,
“Do you call this clean?"
But when the Lord corrects us, He does not begin a harsh scolding. He pleads with us in mercy. He desires our ultimate goodness, not just simply outward adherence to a set of rules. Malachi’s prophecy stands. A messenger will come and then the Lord Himself will come. Get ready! The New Testament will tell us who they are!
Discussion Questions
1. If you were living in Malachi's time, do you think the behavior of the priests would have in uenced your attitude about religion? Why
or why not?
2. The Lord is called the “Messenger of the covenant” in the prophecy. Why do you think He carries that name? What does the
covenant have to do with the judgment that will take place?
3. If you were living at the time that Malachi wrote this prophecy about the coming of the Lord, and you were not Jewish, what would
you do? Would the message to prepare for the Lord’s coming be valid for you too? Why do you think so?
14 Genesis 3:15
15 Genesis 22:18
16 Deuteronomy 18:15
17 Psalm 110:1-4
18 Isaiah 9:6, 7
19 Isaiah 7:11-14
20 Daniel 9:24-27
21 Damiel 9:27
Fortunately God has given us someone and something to show us the way. He has not left us without witness to the truth. God announces events through living messengers called prophets. Of course some prophets write down the messages given to them. Those messages of the prophets constitute the sacred writings. The sacred writings are something that shows us the way to truth. But there have also been prophets who didn't write down one word. For example, several lessons ago we read about a prophet who condemned a wicked king and announced his doom. Interestingly, his name is not known nor did he write any of the scriptures.
In this lesson, we are going to learn about a messenger, or prophet, named Malachi who was given a message from God. In the prophecy, Malachi says that another messenger will come who will prepare the way for yet another messenger. That's a lot of messengers! But why are all those messengers necessary. Let's consider a story that will help us understand the answer to that question.
Bayram was driving along the road one day and a policeman stopped him. But Bayram wasn't the only one who was stopped; all the traffic was blocked.
“What is going on?” Bayram thought.
He rolled down the window and called to the policeman.
“What is going on here, why have you stopped all the traffic?”
The policeman didn’t answer. He just cleared the cars to the side of the road. As Bayram waited on the side of the road, he noticed that along the roadway lots of policemen were stationed at certain intervals. Then suddenly several police cars drove by with several black automobiles following closely behind. Each car had a 06 license plate.
After the black cars passed the policeman let the traffic continue. But Bayram’s curiosity was piqued, so he asked the policeman:
“Who was that?”
“The prime minister is here for a meeting.” The policeman responded.
When important people come to town there is usually a big announcement that they are coming. Often signs are hung from the lampposts and posters are plastered on the walls of the highway bridges. Even if the VIP isn’t coming for public meetings, at the very least the roads are guarded, security checks are made at every point, and the cars are cleared away.
Since we first started studying the Bible, we have seen a series of prophecies and events that have predicted the coming of a very
unique person. Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, we read God’s promise that someone special would come to bruise the head
of the serpent. We later learned that the serpent was Satan.14 Suffice it to say, whoever bruises Satan's head is an incredibly powerful person! We also read the promise to Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through his offspring.15 The chain of promises continued when Moses predicted that a prophet would rise up like himself from among the Jews and that the people must listen to him.16 Moses talked with God at the burning bush and was even permitted to partially see God from behind. Could there really be a prophet greater than Moses? It has to be because the Bible predicted that such a prophet would arise.
We learned in the Psalms that a priest would arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not of Aaron. Do you remember when Abraham paid a tithe of 10% to Melchizedek? God said He would put all the enemies of that priest under the priest’s feet and would sit him at God’s own right hand.17 Later we learned that God would seat someone on David’s throne and that his kingdom would last forever because it was established with judgment and justice.18
But if that wasn’t enough God said that the one who would come would have a miraculous birth and his name would be Immanuel, which means, “God with us”.19 In Isaiah 52:13-15 we read about a “Servant” who would come, be exalted and yet suffer great harm. Furthermore in Isaiah chapter 53 we saw that this servant would suffer for the sins of the people and actually justify them through his suffering. He would change the fate of all humanity! Who could that be?
In the book of Daniel, we studied a prophecy that declared the Messiah would appear on the world stage in 27 A.D. and be murdered within 7 years.20 Could all these predictions possibly be about one person: a crusher, blessing, prophet, priest, king, servant, and suf- ferer? If so, wouldn’t God announce to the world in unmistakable terms who that person is and when he would appear?
If all the prophecies that we read about were for one person who would crush Satan’s head, be a prophet like Moses, sit on David’s throne in an eternal kingdom, have a miraculous birth, justify the people by suffering for their sins and actually be called, “God with us”, then we could rightly expect an announcement about his com- ing wouldn’t we? And that brings us to the verses we want to look at now. Let's go to a small book called Malachi.
Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament and at the end of a group of books called the Minor Prophets. In the book of Malachi, the author gives no personal information about himself or the time he wrote the book. He is not mentioned in any other book of the Bible. We understand that Malachi was written while the Persians were ruling over Israel sometime between 538 and 331 B.C. when governors were the highest of cials over Israel. This would have taken place after the Babylonian captivity. Let’s read what God says to His people through the prophet Malachi in chapter 3 verse 1:
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.
Someone is coming and that person is very important! The prophet Malachi said that the Lord, who is the Messenger of the covenant, is coming to His temple. The Lord Himself is coming! This is the same person in Daniel 9 who will confirm the covenant.21 Will he come without warning? No, the Lord says He will send a messenger to prepare the way for Him. That is certainly logical. If they send someone to prepare the way for the prime minister what should be done for the Lord, the Messenger of the covenant?
The messenger sent before the Lord and the Messenger of the covenant are two different people. Who is the messenger sent before the Lord? We don’t have the answer here. But be patient. What will happen then when the Lord comes? Let’s find out in Malachi
chapter 3 verses 2-7:
2 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a re ner's re And like launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a re ner and a puri er 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. 4 "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the LORD, As in the days of old, As in former years. 5 And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien -- Because they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts. 6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," Says the LORD of hosts. "But you said, 'In what way shall we return?'
The Lord is coming and His purpose is not an election meeting! He is the Lord and no votes will be cast for another! When He comes He will come to judge. He will judge against things we expect Him to judge against: adultery, sorcery, perjurers and those who exploit widows and orphans. He will judge against those who turn a foreigner away. Sadly, Malachi says that God’s people have done all these things. It is only because of God’s great mercy and righteous- ness that He has not consumed the sinners; the same righteousness He declared to Moses in Exodus chapter 34 verses 6-7:
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 "keeping mercy for thou- sands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."
The very fact that God sends messengers to warn of the coming judgment shows His righteousness and mercy. He is calling men to return to Him in repentance. He is calling them from death to life.
The Lord said specifically that He would come to the Levites to cleanse and purify them so that they would make an offering in righ- teousness. Just as gold becomes purer and purer in the fire, God said that He would purify the sons of Levi. It was only after this
purification that their offerings could be pleasing to the Lord.
Do you remember that the Levites were the priests, the religious leaders of the people? They were the ones who served in the temple of God during the worship services. They were continually giving offerings to the Lord, but the Lord was not pleased with their offer- ings. Why not? Let’s look for some answers in Malachi chapter 1 verses 6-8:
6 " A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, 'In what way have we despised Your name?' 7 "You offer de led food on My altar. But say, 'In what way have we de led You?' By saying, 'The table of the LORD is contemptible.' 8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts.
The priests were doing their job begrudgingly. They actually had contempt for the Lord’s service. It was drudgery to them. They were giving food offerings that were unclean and contrary to God’s instructions. The Lord had specifically told the Israelites that all the animals that were sacrificed should be without spot or blemish. The Levites were offering animals that were lame, sick and even blind!
God rebuked them for their disrespect and irreverence. He says in essence,
"Would you give such an animal to the governor? No! It would be a shame. So how are you offering them to the Creator of the Universe?"
Before we are quick to condemn those Levites, we should ask ourselves a question. Do we really love to worship God or do we do it because it is a duty? Do we view worship as a job that we have to do; a task that we need to hurry up and nish so can move on to something more interesting? Do you really think God accepts that kind of worship? Are we giving our best to God? We can read more about the priests and what they were doing in Malachi chapter 2 verses 7-8:
7 "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8 But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi," Says the LORD of hosts.
Earlier we said that the prophets were living messengers of the Lord. Prophets relay a message directly from the Lord. Religious teachers can also be messengers of the Lord but in a different way. They are to teach God's word and exemplify it in their lives. In verse 7 we read that the priest was a messenger of the Lord. But the Levites were causing people to fall away from the true faith by their disobedience and indifference. They were betraying the people’s trust! God said He would change all this by coming to His temple.
The Lord Himself would come and send a messenger before He arrives. Let’s learn some more about the messenger that will come before the Lord in Malachi chapter 4 verses 5–6:
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 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."
How can the Lord's coming be both great and dreadful? To the ones who are ready for His coming it will be a great day. But for the rejecters of God's mercy it will be a dreadful day. Will there be a warning? Before the Lord will come in great judgment, He will send Elijah the prophet. That is interesting. Do you remember who Elijah was?
He was a great prophet of reform during the reign of King Ahab in Northern Israel. The people had turned their backs on God and were worshiping Baal, the national god of the Canaanites. Elijah told the people to repent. Elijah was also the one who had a contest with the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel. After some taunting by Elijah, dancing, chanting, and even cutting themselves the priests of Baal weren’t able to call re down from heaven to consume their sacrifice. The reason is that Baal wasn't a real god. But Elijah called re down from heaven and his sacrifice was consumed by re from the Lord. Later, Elijah was translated to heaven without seeing death. Is the prophet Malachi saying that this same Elijah would be the mes- senger to prepare the way of the Lord for His coming? Would he return to earth? Would his message be the same?
This is the last prophecy written before the New Testament. So we will have to wait for the answer. Of course, you may not like wait- ing. But imagine the Israelites who waited 400 years between the time of Malachi and the time of the New Testament! Don’t worry, you won't have to wait that long to learn who the messenger is. For now, just remember that whoever this messenger is, he will do a
work of spiritual reform turning the “sons,” as the Hebrew says, to the fathers. That is, the messenger would turn the Israelites’ hearts
to the true faith of their forefathers.
When you think of examination and inspection perhaps you remem- ber the days of your military service or one of your relatives talk- ing about the coming of the commander (Tugay Komutanı). Perhaps the announcement came a week before the commander (Tugay Komutanı) came. Maybe it came a month beforehand. What would happen? First, the announcement would come from the lieutenant:
“All right men, next week the commander is coming to our divi- sion and everything will be perfect. Get ready for inspection!”
Everyone knew what that inspection meant. Everything from your hair to your ngernails had to be perfectly cleaned and in good shape. Your locker and everything in it had to be perfect, right down to your socks. Of course the weapons would be inspected to see that everything was cleaned and in perfect working order.
Then the corporal (astsubay) came in and said:
“What is this soldier? Do you call this clean? Redo this!”
Finally the commander came and addressed the company. But instead of inspecting all the things they had prepared, he didn’t even look!
The above illustration is one of both comparison and contrast. Be- fore the military inspection there was an announcement of the commander's coming. Likewise, before the Lord comes there will be a messenger announcing His coming. Like the military inspection, there is a preparation necessary for the Lord's coming. But the Lord is not like the company commander. He will not just appear and then go without inspection. No, He will purify and judge as He said He would. The Lord isn’t only looking for personal cleanliness but rather righteousness.
The priests washed their hands and feet before they went into the temple and did the Lord’s service. In spite of this, the Lord still was not pleased. It was not enough. Some people think that they can continue being a thief and a liar and so long as they do their ritual washings and prayers, the Lord will accept them. We see here in the Bible that this is not true. Yes, the Lord desires physical cleanliness when we come into His presence. But physical cleanliness and an offering is no substitute for righteousness. The Lord addresses the liar and thief by asking,
“Do you call this clean?"
But when the Lord corrects us, He does not begin a harsh scolding. He pleads with us in mercy. He desires our ultimate goodness, not just simply outward adherence to a set of rules. Malachi’s prophecy stands. A messenger will come and then the Lord Himself will come. Get ready! The New Testament will tell us who they are!
Discussion Questions
1. If you were living in Malachi's time, do you think the behavior of the priests would have in uenced your attitude about religion? Why
or why not?
2. The Lord is called the “Messenger of the covenant” in the prophecy. Why do you think He carries that name? What does the
covenant have to do with the judgment that will take place?
3. If you were living at the time that Malachi wrote this prophecy about the coming of the Lord, and you were not Jewish, what would
you do? Would the message to prepare for the Lord’s coming be valid for you too? Why do you think so?
14 Genesis 3:15
15 Genesis 22:18
16 Deuteronomy 18:15
17 Psalm 110:1-4
18 Isaiah 9:6, 7
19 Isaiah 7:11-14
20 Daniel 9:24-27
21 Damiel 9:27