This is our final lesson on how to have a fresh, renewed faith for the new year. The Lord has been announcing important truths to the people about their spiritual condition. However, the people have questioned those declarations, not seeing their own sinful condition. The Lord has then given remedies for the people so that they can return to the Lord with a renewed faith. We are presented with one more declaration from the Lord and one more questioning of the Lord from the people. Open your copies of God’s word to Malachi 3 and we will look at God’s final faith message in this prophecy.
The Problem (Malachi 3:13-15)
In verse 13 God begins by stating another problem with the hearts of the people. God says the people’s words have been harsh against him. Like we have repeatedly seen throughout this book, the people then question what God says. They disagree saying, “How have we spoken against you?” Verses 14-15 record the problem the people have. They are saying that it is useless to serve God. They are saying that there is no benefit and no reason to serve the Lord. They do not see the point in serving God. They do not think it is worth it. They are saying that the wicked are blessed while we live our lives like mourners. The wicked prosper. Not only do they prosper, but they are getting away with challenging God. Now before we can go forward, we need to ask ourselves if we have felt this way. Do you feel like it is pointless to serve the Lord? Does it seem like God is not going to do anything to the wicked and we are living like mourners for no reason? Does it seem like we obey the Lord for nothing and nothing good happens? Now I want us to notice that God says that these are harsh words. This kind of thinking is not right. So what will be God’s answer to this way of thinking? God’s answers are really important because there are so many who say this and think this. There are so many who think serving God is pointless. There are so many who think that we withhold from ourselves for no reason and that the arrogant and wicked are the ones who are enjoying life and prospering. So how will God answer these harsh words?
God’s Answers to Our Harsh Words (Malachi 3:16-4:3)
There is a book (Malachi 3:16).
The first answer God gives is to show the people that there is a book of remembrance. Notice that we are told something interesting in verse 16. There are those who feared the Lord and the Lord took note. The picture seems to be that when God revealed that they were speaking harsh words against him, then those who feared the Lord talked with each other and responded appropriately to him. When they responded to what God said, then God took notice of those who paid attention and their names were written in the book of remembrance.
The scriptures show that God has a book and that picture goes all the way back to Moses. When the people sinned with the golden calf, Moses pleaded with the Lord to forgive the people. Then Moses puts himself on the line as an intercessor. He tells the Lord that if he will not forgive the people, then erase his name from the book (Exodus 32:32-33). In Daniel 12:1 we read that those who are written in the book will escape the coming judgment. The book of Revelation gives us a very important picture about this book.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. (Revelation 20:12 ESV)
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15 ESV)
The point is that God has a book in which names and actions are written. So God is telling us that our righteousness is not wasted. It is not pointless to serve the Lord. There is a book and those whose names are not written in the book will experience eternal destruction, thrown in the lake of fire.
There is a day (Malachi 3:17; 4:1).
Second, God says that there is a day prepared when God is going to act. You will notice that there are two things that are going to happen. In Malachi 3:17 God says he will make the people his own treasured possession and spare them. We might wonder what they are being spared from. This is explained two verses later. In Malachi 4:1 God says that the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. To say that serving the Lord is pointless forgets that God has a prepared a day for judgment of the world. The apostle Paul reminds us:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV)
There is a day when the books are opened and those who are not written in the book of life will be eternal judged. Malachi 4:1 shows that there will not be another opportunity or a second chance. There is no root or branch that will be left once this judgment falls. But the gospel is that those who fear the Lord will belong as God’s treasured possession. God says in Malachi 3:17 that he will spare his people like a person spares his obedient son. So there is a book and there is a day.
There is a distinction (Malachi 3:18-4:3).
Then God says that there is a distinction that God is making. Look at Malachi 3:18. The people are complaining that there is no difference between the righteous and the wicked. They are even saying that there is no point in serving the Lord. But God says that there will be a distinction and you will see that distinction between the righteous and the wicked. You will see the distinction between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him. This is an important point that Jesus made in one of the parables he told.
24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30 ESV)
Notice why it looks like God is doing nothing. God is waiting so that he does not uproot the wheat with the weeds. So here in Malachi God says that there will be a distinction between the righteous and wicked because there is a day when God will act in judgment. All who fear and honor God are written in the book of life. In fact, you will notice in Malachi 4:2-3 that those who fear God will have a time of great rejoicing, rising when Christ comes. Those who fear the Lord will be vindicated and be given victory over the wicked on the day the Lord is preparing. So there is a book of remembrance, there is a distinction, and there is a day when that distinction will be revealed, separating the righteous and the wicked. What are God’s final instructions as we wait for that day? Look at the final three verses.
God’s Final Instructions (Malachi 4:4-6)
First, God says to keep his word (4:4). When God says to remember his laws it means to have them in your hearts and minds and do them. For these people in Malachi’s day, they needed to return to the Lord and be faithful to the Law of Moses. For us, we need to turn to the Lord and be faithful to the Law of Jesus Christ. It is not pointless to serve the Lord. So listen to his word. As we have begun this new year, dedicate yourself to knowing God’s word and keeping his instructions. It is the most obvious thing we need to be doing this year yet we so easily neglect God’s word. There is a day coming where the distinction of the righteous and the wicked will be made clear. But we cannot be the righteous if we do not even know what this book says.
Second, God says to look for his coming (4:5). Back in Malachi 3:1 the Lord declared that he would send his messenger to prepare the way before his coming. Here is Malachi 4:5 the Lord explains who this messenger will be. The prophet Elijah will come before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. The New Testament reveals that the one who came in the spirit of the prophet Elijah was John the Baptizer (Matthew 3:1-3; 11:10-14; 17:10-12; Mark 9:11-13; Luke 7:27). The people were told to keep God’s word and wait for the Lord’s arrival. We are told to do the same, though we are looking for the Lord’s second arrival.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14 ESV)
Finally, the Lord says that when Elijah comes, his purpose will be to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. The turning of hearts is a picture of repentance. The goal of the messenger who prepares the way for the Lord is to get people to turn back to God. Therefore, we are not surprised when John the Baptizer appears that he goes around the region preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1). He was calling for people to get right with God before it is too late.
But the picture of repentance must not be lost on us. The prophecy does not end by merely saying that the people will need to repent. God uses a picture of what that repentance will look like. It is a call for a complete repentance of all people, both older and younger. But there is a picture of healing of the family relationships. The hearts of the parents will turn to their children, to do what is best for them, to love them and care for them, and to lead them in the way of righteousness. The heart of the child will turn to their parents, to listen and obey them, to honor and respect them, and love and follow them as they go in the path of godliness. Friends, there is a reason that the qualifications for elders and deacons tell us to carefully look into the home and particular to the relationship between the father and the children. The home should be a place of peace and love because there are not selfish hearts, but giving hearts for the others in the family.
Notice the result in verse 6. If the hearts of the parents are not turned to the children and the hearts of the children are not turned to the parents, then God will come and strike the land with destruction. The destruction of the family shows the need for a nation’s judgment because it shows the family is not listening to what God has instructed them to do. When John preached the need for repentance, he did not merely mean that we need to repent toward God alone. If you have the heart to repent to the Lord, then you will have the heart to repent in all of your relationships where repentance is needed. You are not merely telling God that you are sorry. You are telling God you are going to change. You are not merely telling people in your life that you are sorry. You are telling people in your life that you are going to change.
The people were saying harsh words about God. They were saying that there is no point in serving God and there is no benefit. They said that the evil prosper and get away with what they are doing. But God says that there is a book of remembrance where names are written, a distinction that will be made between the righteous and wicked, and a day prepared for judgment. So the three things we are told to do as we wait for this day: know God’s word, be ready for his coming, and turn your heart to God which will be seen in your godly heart in your family relationships.