December 9, 2020 (Wednesday)
Day 11 of the 26 days of Advent.
Malachi litigates the case against Judah, the southern
kingdom of Israel. In chapter two, Malachi accuses the people of being
faithless. “Judah cheated— a detestable thing was done in Israel
and Jerusalem. Judah made the Lord’s holy place impure, which God loved, and
married the daughter of a foreign god.” [Malachi 2:11 CEB] We may wonder who the
daughter of a foreign god may be, so let’s take a look.
In the “Law” the Israelites were forbidden to marry
non-believers. This command is repeated in the New Testament (see 2 Corinthians
6:14). The trouble with a mixed marriage is it tends to result in mixed loyalties.
For us to experience the full measure of God’s blessing, we can’t have mixed
loyalties. This is accurate for marriage, business, and influential friendships.
The second charge against the people is related to the
first. Not only where they loving and marring non-believers, they were
divorcing the wives of their youth (see verse 16). The result was to put them
in a spiritual wilderness, “And this second thing you do. You
cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no
longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.” [Malachi 2:13 ESV] Tears
will never overcome stubbornness. God does not want offerings or tears. God
wants purity, holiness, and change in behavior.
This leads to a miserable reality, “You have wearied
the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied
him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is
pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of
justice?” [Malachi
2:17 NLT] Can you imagine God being “wearied” with our words.
The word translated “wearied” has its roots in the idea “to
gasp.” This image is one of total exhaustion. There are two extremes in this
verse. One is to flip good and evil. The other is wondering if God will deal
justice or not. We give sinners a pass or we judge them, forgetting we are also
guilty. Both turn our backs on God. We deny the need for repentance or dislike
the possibility of grace.
Cue dramatic music. Just like a well written story, Malachi
adds a twist. This twist is a bit of hope in despair of looming judgement,
confusion over good and evil, and hard-hearted faithlessness. Malachi writes, “Look!
I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord
you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the
covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of
Heaven’s Armies.”
The New Testament applies this John the Baptist. The angel
Gabriel, who appeared to Zechariah stated, “He will go forth before the Lord,
equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of fathers
back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns
of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” [Luke 1:17 CEB]
In the midst of mixed loyalties, faithless marriages, and
unanswered prayer… God extends a ray of hope. Someday there will be a messenger
who will “turn the disobedient to righteous patters of thinking” (in Greek culture,
thinking = doing) in preparation for the coming/return of the LORD.
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