Dear Hope family,
Thought for the Week
Message of Malachi – I Love You, so Remain Faithful
Malachi 1v2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have you loved us?”
Prophet 12 out of 12… Malachi is generally considered to be the last prophet in the Old Testament, writing around 430BC. Many of the Jews were now back in their own land around Jerusalem. The temple had been rebuilt under Zerubbabel a century before, and the city walls had been rebuilt under Nehemiah just a decade ago. But things now seemed flat. God didn’t seem to be doing the great things he had promised, and the Jews themselves were losing their zeal for the LORD. Malachi encourages the people to remain faithful. He does this by pointing to God’s faithfulness and love in the above verse, and then continues with both rebuke and reassurance as follows:
- God rebukes the people for their worship being a sham. Their sacrifices are second best, the priests were not teaching God’s truth, the people were not following God’s marriage commands, they are treating people unjustly, and they are not bringing God their full tithe and offering.
- Malachi records the people’s complaint, “It is futile to serve God,” (3v14) as there seems no immediate reward for doing so.
- God replies that they will see God come in justice and judgment, “You will see again the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (3v18)
- God reassures the people that the future Messiah will come, including: “See I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come.” (3v1) And again, words taken by Charles Wesley in the carol, “Hark the herald angels sing”: “The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” (4v2). Malachi concludes with words quoted by Luke over 400 years later as he recounts the life of John the Baptist, “I will send you the prophet Elijah … He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.” (4v5-6, Luke 1v17)
After Malachi, the Bible goes silent for four centuries until an angel appears first to Zechariah and then to Mary. That’s a long time.
So, for us, as God’s people today, God sometimes seems to move slowly. But as Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises as some understand slowness.” (2 Peter 3v9). God calls us to trust Him and to keep following the Christ-like way; and this is not futile because we are looking forward to “an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor 4v17)
With love and blessing,
Roland
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