Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and The Lord listened and heard them; so, a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, “On the day that I make them My Jewels. And I will spare them as a man who spares his own son who serves him.” Then you shall again discern the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him.” Malachi 3:16
There are not many messages preached out of Malachi 3 in the modern American church these days, it began with the promise of the messenger (John the Baptist) who will prepare the way for the Lord. What a beautiful reminder that God had not forgotten the promise He made about Eve to the serpent in Genesis 3, “And I will put enmity between you and the seed of the woman, and between your seed and her Seed, He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.” Even though roughly 3500 years had passed since God promised the Messiah would come though the woman to bruise the head of the enemy, God had not forgotten His plan or His promise. In fact, God promised in Isaiah 55:1 “So shall My word that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” God is faithful to perform all He promises, the problem is that being human in an instant society, we tend to lose hope when God does not move on our timetable. No wonder Paul encouraged the church at Galatia, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Just before 400 years or so of silence from God, He reminded Malachi that there would be a forerunner to the Messiah, listen to the promise, “”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.” There are times when it seems like the path ahead is dark and I need a reminder from God that His plan will come to pass in the right time. Along with the promise of the coming Messiah, God told Malachi that The Messiah would refine the church and purify its leaders, fiercely judging those involved in sorcery, adultery, perjurers, those who exploit wage earners, widows and orphans, all because they do not fear the Lord. Then God’s focus is turned to those who rob God in the tithes and the offerings. Ing fact He said “You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in My house.” Malachi 3:9-10. To me, it would be frightening to be accused by God of stealing from Him. God did not sugar coat or whitewash the fact that He was displeased that the His people had quit paying their tithes, He went so far as to say they robbed Him. As always God has a way of redemption and He simply told the people to change their ways, “Bring all your tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in My house.” Listen to His challenge, “Try Me in this.” Have you ever had a child try you? They want to know if your word means anything, will you do what you promised whether a good reward or a bad consequence and they keep doing whatever it is until you do what you promise? God promised the tithers, “If I will open for you the windows of heaven and our such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes. So that He will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field.” Seems like there are devourers everywhere that are attempting to rob the life out of God’s people. The price of everyday necessities is on the rise. Other nations coming to the United States of America and bringing their worship of a false god and attempting to take our lands. They are getting so bold that they are setting their prayer times in front of our churches where we worship the one true God.
The rebellion against law enforcement and the lawlessness that appears to be going unpunished. More and more people I know are struggling with major illnesses. But we serve a God who is willing and more than able to rebuke the devourer for our sake! Hallelujah! We are praying for people with serious illnesses and when they go to the doctor, they are unable to find the disease they diagnosed the patient with. Our God is mighty and there is nothing impossible for Him when it comes to blessing those whose heart is pure before Him. Then He goes on to promise “And all nations will call you blessed. For you shall be a delightful land.” People from all over the world have noticed the blessing of God on our nation and they are coming here by the droves, thinking that the blessing is America when in fact the blessing comes from serving the one True God! When God confronts our sins and wrong theology, we have two choices, we can turn and back to God and repent of our sins or we can become angry that God would dare correct our sin. When God confronted Cain and told him, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door and its desire is for you. But you should have rule over it.” When God exposes our sins all of us have the same two choices, we can repent and change our ways or we get puffed up and angry resenting correction. Many of the people in Malachi 3 did the last, instead of seeing the amazing blessings that God laid out for them, they chose to get angry and complain, speaking harsh words against God. Like Cai. God saw the sin that was trying to overtake Cain and He warned him that it was there trying to have rule over him. Despite the beautiful promises many of the people complained harshly against God. The people did two things that God punished severely in the Old Testament, they took what belonged to God (Achan in Joshua 7) and complained (Numbers 11 the children of Israel complained about the bread God provided.) In the midst of a perverse and wicked generation, God looked and found people who had not fallen into the trap of sin, but who still feared God.
2 Chronicles 16:9 teaches us “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” God is always looking for the faithful and He is quick to reward them. Psalm 34:15-19 promises, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out and the Lord hears, and delivers them from out of all their troubles. The Lord is near those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” I find it comforting that God sees my heart and does not lump me in with the rebellious. He sees each of us and is concerned about each one individually. Being a faithful believer does not exempt us from trouble, but it promises we are watched and cared for by our Heavenly Father. He sees when we have been faithful and He knows when life is too heavy for us and He is near, ready to defend and reward us. Our mouth reveals the state of our heart. Jesus taught us in Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” It should be our litmus test, when we start complaining all the time, we need to examine our heart. We should find it easy to talk about the goodness and faithfulness of God. Malachi 3:16 “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them.” That aught to make us be more cautious about what we say knowing that God is listening and He heard it all. He records everything we say about Him, every time we tell someone else about God or speak of His many wonderful attributes. I wonder if this is one of the reasons Christianity has been on the decline (that has begun an upward movement in the last few years.) The church bought the lie of the enemy, we must keep church and state separate. Een the corporate world teach that talking about God with a customer or on the job is a taboo. The real truth is when we stopped talking about the goodness of God, we have forfeited the blessings that come to those who do. Our book of remembrance goes unwritten in, we fear what man says instead of God and little by little we quit meditating on Him. God promised in Malachi 3:17. When we meditate on the names of God, we think about the character of God. For example, Jehovah Nissi is our refuge, a safe place in trouble. Jehovah Jireh means God will provide; He will meet all my needs according to His riches in glory. Jehovah Shalom, The Lord is our peace and I believe we need the peace of God more than we ever have. Jehovah Raah The Lord is my shepherd, there is not a day goes by that I do not need God to lead me and defend me against the enemy that walks around like a roaring lion. Jehovah Shammah, God is ever present. I would not want to spend a minute where God is not present. Not only is He physically present, but He is emotionally present. Ever been in the car with someone, but their thoughts are miles away and it feels like you are on the journey alone? That does not happen with God, He is both physical present and engaged with us. His name reflects His character and when we meditate on Him and His character, our problems and concerns get smaller and smaller.
The words we speak about God move Him so much, that when someone talks about God, He claims them for His own. “”They shall be mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them my jewels, and I will spare them as a man who spares his own son who serves him.” Our God is a lavish God and if you study what heaven looks like in the Bible, you will see that there are precious jewels all over heaven. God says He will make us His jewels. Jewels adorn us and make a statement. I wonder what statement your life makes about God. Have you found Him to be faithful? Mighty? Generous? Righteous? Does your life reflect His character? We have been studying Revelations in our Women’s Bible Study and there is quiet a debate in the theological world as to whether there will be a rapture and if so, will it be pre-trib, mid-trib or post trib? I want to miss our on the judgement of God, the seven trumpets are called the wrath of the Lamb. Whether we will face some of the tribulation or just life, some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being martyred for their faith, I think God gives us a very beautiful promise in this passage. “They will be Mine..and I will spare them.” Just like the blood of the lamb caused the death angel in Egypt to spare those inside, how much more powerful is the blood of the Lamb of God. When troubles try to take us down, we will be spared. I want God to “catch” me telling someone else about how good, faithful and mighty He is. Cathy Nesmith