Wednesday Bible Study: the line and the door

So the next 3:16 is in the last book of the Old Testament- Malachi.  And I want to get to the point of our verse a little differently- by looking at the WHOLE book- albeit in a shortened form.

Malachi is one of my favorite places to be, for a few reasons.  One of them, and the crux of our story today, is the interplay between God and who He is directing the prophecy to- namely (from 1:6) "the priests who despise my name".  He gives them a statement, and they defend themselves with self-righteous "in what way?" statement- which, to their shame, God answers.  And every so often, He lets them know the consequence of the crime they have committed.

First, He starts out with "I love you."  To which they amazingly and absurdly give their first, "in what way?".  He explains to them on no uncertain terms- at the formation of this people, He had a choice of the twin sons of Isaac, and He chose their father Jacob, rejecting Esau.  That alone was evidence of the Love He would show them.  But they basically have rejected God and His love, and He delivers the consequence:  "You can build up, but I will tear down."  This will end up being a future prophecy, as the story leads us to believe that this was written in Nehemiah's day, and the sacrifice was being held at the Second Temple, before Nehemiah had to return from Persia to weed out the corruption in the priesthood that Malachi is addressing.

The second involves a pair of accusations from God.  First is, "If I am a High God, where is My Honor? Where is My reverence?"  This is where he names the priests who despise Him, and they ask their "in what way have we despised You?".  He points out that their offerings are defiled.  In a great way, the quality of the offering represents the Quality of God, which is why it needs to be unspoiled first fruits.  How do you feel about your tithe now?  More on that later, but in the meantime, THEY get the message and reply, "in what way have we defiled YOU?"  Not that they made God defiled, but by their worthless sacrifices, they have shown their low esteem of God.

God then explains what they are truly saying in their actions:  That the Table (altar) of the Lord is "contemptible", that it doesn't matter what they bring (aka what they think of God), and that the entire thing is "a weariness to them" (1:13).  And here, God returns with the greatest insult to them He could give:  That if they were going to treat Him thusly, He was going to give His Word to the GENTILES- and they would worship Him far more diligently!  Which, of course, is the same conclusion that both Jesus and Paul made.


The third accusation He doesn't allow them a response- He merely tells them, "If you won't glorify My Name, I will (and this is my literal from the Hebrew used) rebuke your offspring and cover your faces with the excrement from your sacrificial animals."  Wow.

The next wave begins with what God calls His second accusation- that despite their sins, and their lack of respect, love, or even effort, they "cover the altar with tears" every time things go bad.  But not only is God refusing to hear them, He is going to refuse the sacrifice as well.  Okay, people, here's where it gets real.  They ask Him, "for what reason are you refusing?" and His reply is, Because you divorce the wife of your youth, and I HATE DIVORCE."

Ironic, then that one of the reforms Nehemiah will institute is that the people have to put away their foreign wives...


Then He returns one of their sins against them- They have wearied Him.  When they ask why, He gives a response that He could give again today:


Mal 2:17  You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?" 




At this point He lists the fourth and final consequence- The terrible judgment that will come upon them when Messiah comes.


Mal 3:2  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 
Mal 3:3  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. 

His next accusation:  He has over and over commanded them to return to Him, and they have refused.  Their reply, typically, is, "in what way should we return?" Meaning in their self-righteousness, they don't think they have left- that just being a Jew is righteousness enough.  God accuses them of robbing Him.  Not only had they put up worthless sacrifice, they had neglected the tithe.  And God, rather than judging them here, explains on the benefits they are missing out on by NOT tithing- which I can attest to.  "Try me on it," God asks them.


Finally, God accuses them of being not only neglectful, but disrespectful- "You say harsh words to me".  Of course, they say, "What harsh things?", to which God replies,

Mal 3:14  You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 
Mal 3:15  And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'" 

Wow, money again- there is no profit to us.  And that is where God has had enough of them, and turns to the true believers, in OUR verse at last- and what a beautiful way to send us into the New Testament:

Mal 3:16  Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 

Piece by piece:  The people who love God separated from all this, came together, and prayed.

The Lord heard them, and in the next verse promises to protect them from the coming judgment of the self-righteous.

AND THEIR NAMES WERE WRITTEN IN GOD'S BOOK.

I listened the morning I typed this to a teaching by Ann Graham Lotz.  She pointed out how the original High Priest- a symbol of the coming Christ- wore the Ephod before God.  The ephod contained 12 different gemstones- one for each tribe- worn over his heart.  "How wonderful to know," she said, "That Jesus sits on the throne, and wears OUR names over His Heart."

I can see why this book got the assignment of coming last.  It is God's line in the sand to Israel- and the opening door to the Gentiles.  Which side of the line will you choose?