Malachi 3:1-16-4:6 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Malachi 3:16-4:6. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Malachi 3:16 (NIV)
16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.
On verse 16: Here Malachi describes how those who feared God – that is, worshiped, revered, and honoured God – talked to each other, and God not only heard them but also took notes about them. What can we learn from this? God not only listens to how we talk to Him. He also listens to how we talk to each other. When we talk to each other in ways that honour His name – when we encourage one another in the Lord – God takes notice. Just as it pleases a parent to see his or her children getting along and encouraging one another, so it pleases and honours God when we speak in ways that encourage one another and lift up His name.
Malachi 3:17 (NLT)
17 “They will be my people,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.”
On verse 17: God has a special place in His heart for His people. He calls them “my own special treasure” and spares them from the wrath He would otherwise show toward those who disobey Him.
What can we learn from this? You are God’s own special treasure. 2,000 years ago God proved how special you are to Him when He sacrificed His Son Jesus on the cross for you. Ironically, Jesus was the obedient child, but God punished him like a disobedient child. We were the disobedient children, and God spared us as if we were obedient. What an incredible thing God did when He punished His Son and spared us.
Malachi 3:18-4:3 (NIV)
18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty.
On 3:18 to 4:1-3: In Malachi’s time people questioned why they should serve God and put Him first since they didn’t see how those who served God prospered any more than those who did not serve God. They even considered those who didn’t trust and serve God “blessed” (see 3:15). Such was the spiritual climate of Malachi’s day.
But in these verses God makes it clear that the outcomes will be very different for those who trust and serve God compared to those who do not. On one hand, those who do not trust God will perish in the fire of God’s wrath, such that “not a root or branch will be left to them.” (v1) Meanwhile, those who do trust God and who revere God’s name will be blessed with “the sun of righteousness” (v2).
What is this “sun of righteousness”? The sun of righteousness is God Himself. Elsewhere in Scripture, God is described as “a sun and shield” (e.g. Psalm 84:11), one so majestic that He wraps Himself in light (Psalm 104:1-3). So when the Lord says in verse 2 that “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings”, He’s saying that those who trust God will personally experience God and His healing. And with that healing come great joy and freedom (“you will…leap like calves released from the stall” – v2) and victory over your enemies (“you will…trample down the wicked…under the soles of your feet” – v3). Praise God! When we encounter Jesus, the Son of Righteousness, and the healing He brings, we experience joy, freedom and a new level of victory in our lives.
Malachi 4:4 (NIV)
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
On verse 4: Why is it good to remember the law of Moses? It’s because, as Paul says, the law of Moses points us to Jesus Christ. As Galatians 3:24 says, “the law was put in charge to lead us to faith in Christ that we might be justified by faith”. So don’t assume that the law of Moses is bad, evil or useless. No, the law of Moses has a purpose: to show us how high God’s standards are and how far we fall short of them, and ultimately to lead us to the Saviour Jesus.
Malachi 4:5-6 (NIV)
5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.
6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…
On verses 5-6a: Elijah had already left the earth many centuries before Malachi wrote this verse. So when would God once again send Elijah as Malachi predicted? The New Testament depicts John the Baptist as the fulfillment of verses 5-6. For example, Jesus says that the second coming of Elijah was fulfilled by the ministry of John the Baptist (Matthew 11:14 and Matthew 17:10-13). It’s as if John the Baptist served in the same power and spirit as Elijah and fulfilled the same purpose as Elijah: to prepare people for their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Also, when an angel announces to Zechariah and Elizabeth that they would give birth to John the Baptist, the angel says, “And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous–to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17).
It would be another five centuries before John the Baptist would be born, but here we see that God already had a plan for John the Baptist’s life. In the same way, long before you were born, God had a plan for your life. You are not an accident or a mistake. God planned to use your life for His glory.
Malachi 4:6b (NIV)
6 …or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
On verse 6b: This is the last verse in the Old Testament. Notice that the Old Testament ends talking about a curse. In contrast, the last verse of the New Testament ends talking about grace (“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen” (see Revelation 22:21). The overall story of the Bible is how God’s grace in our lives overcame the curse on our lives.
That ends our look at the book of Malachi. This last book of the Old Testament points to our failures. The New Testament will point to our hope.
Father, thank You that because of Jesus my life is no longer defined by a curse, but by Your grace. Thank You that Your healing brings joy, freedom and victory to my life. How awesome it is to be called Your treasure. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
