Malachi 2:17-3:6

“You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?””

‭‭ ““I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all. Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past. “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.”

‭‭-Malachi 2:17-3:6

Do you ever get tired of people? (I know, silly question). Why or how often? Ok, so obviously tired is more of a synonym for angry or annoyed.

Here’s a question: Do you ever think God thinks the same way for any reason? Does God get tired of people? Now let’s just say, if I were God, and I sent a flood of water, I don’t think I could make that rainbow promise. “I may just have to wipe you all out again if this gets too crazy. Don’t be stupid.” But really, does God look at us as a society and just get tired of handling us?

There may be a couple places in the Bible where you may be able to see something like that going on, but there’s hundreds of places where you can point to His mercy and patience offering forgiveness or waiting for people to repent before He judges them. 

Malachi 2 is one of those places where we see a balance of these ideas (keep in mind throughout this that God is talking to Israel post-exile, and the Old Covenant is still in place.) Of course, this would be figurative language, but it carries a huge lesson for us, one that we need to hear regularly. 

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

This is not saying that Israel is labeling sins and bad things as good things, or that their sense of morality is changed, although if you read the previous passage and sections of Haggai and Zechariah, you would find that to be true. The phrase, “in the sight of the Lord” lets us know that Israel is claiming that those who do evil are seen as “good” to God or “ok” or even “pleasing” to God. 

This is confirmed in the follow up question, “Where is the God of justice?” There’s all these evil people running around, and they look like they’re doing just fine. Meanwhile, we the people of God have economic problems, political problems, social problems, we have more orphans and widows and poor people among us than others. We have fewer freedoms than others. We have less money and land than others. Flip over to Chapter 3, v. 14-15 really quickly. Here’s what they’re saying. “It is a vain thing to serve God…”. We might as well turn evil, because it works out better for them in the end. 

And this line of reasoning goes even one step further if you’re Israel. Not only have you now accused your God of blessing and prospering and accepting the sinner’s lifestyle. Not only have you attacked His character by doubting His attributes of justice and righteousness. But you have looked at your current situation, as dreary as it may be (now remember I’m talking Israel, here, not us, yet), and claimed yourself to be completely innocent, placing full blame on God as breaking His promises. They thought that they deserved blessings from God, so when they received rebuke and punishment, they complained of injustice, ignoring their sin and placing blame elsewhere. 

And so, yes, it “wearied” the Lord. It made Him tired. Now, it was not in a physical sense or an emotional sense as a result of running a marathon or dealing with stress of a crazy life or tragic situation. This word obviously can mean those things, but that’s not the sense here. It implies prolonged, unpleasant activity that is about to stop. It means that God’s patience and endurance of their rebellion is about to end. Their desire for justice is about to happen. They are finally going to receive what they wanted, and they may not like it.

3 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Be careful what you wish for. You may want justice in this world, but God always begins discipline of His children, first. And in this passage, we see it even begins with the leadership, which makes sense, since early sections of Malachi 2 hammer them pretty good. There are four predictions in these first six verses, all of which can be summarized as a messenger comes to announce the arrival of the Lord. And when the Lord comes, He comes to judge and purify the priests and then the people.

Now look at v. 2 again. This is so common an idea when God shows up in these judgment theophanies. Theophany means an appearance of God. The obvious answer to who can stand before the Lord is … Uh, no one. No one who has been complaining about all the bad people having a blessed life and all the good people being punished can withstand judgment because when God shows up in perfect justice and righteousness, guess what, Israel? You are not innocent. Even in Malachi, we see that they were leaving their wives, offering cheap sacrifices. Well, look at v. 5.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 

Seems to me that whatever Israel’s complaints may have been, or whatever their situation was, and whatever judgment they receive when God does show up is warranted. This is an example of a people that throughout their entire history had a covenant with God that said obey me and I will bless you, and disobey me, and I will punish you. When they violated that covenant, God simply acted appropriately. Actually, you know what? God was unjust, in that He waited years and years to send them into exile. And here He continues to show them mercy and patience. 

I want to go back to the previous verses, though. The end of 2-4. Because God is tired of their false accusations. Their audacity of thinking He’s unjust and their guiltless. Because His patience is running out, justice is going to come. He is going to come and punish them, but to what end? Just purge them? Wipe them out like a miniature flood and start over? No, it’s going to be painful, but he’s going to be like a goldsmith, melting the gold and scraping the dross off. Then remelting it and scraping some more off. Then fuller’s soap—what’s that? It’s basically doing your laundry. Scrubbing with soap to get all their dirt off. Again, to what end? So that they can bring their offerings to the Lord again. And the offerings will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old. That’s what it’s all about, glorifying and honoring the one true God. He’s a very jealous God, but He’s not unjust or unrighteous or the cosmic bully we want to make Him out to be. V. 6 says so.

6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

It’s true, Israel. I’m coming in judgment. And it’s going to stink. Starting from the top down, leaders and priests to the people, no one can stand when I come. No one can rightfully accuse me of being unjust. No one is innocent, and all must repent and turn toward righteousness. There will be punishment and judgment to endure. 

BUT!!! Unlike you who looks at a covenant made either a couple days ago and starts worshipping a golden calf or a couple thousand years ago and still can’t worship me properly, and unlike you who forgets the promises you make either to your spouse or your God or your neighbor, I am Yahweh, and I do not forget my promises. That’s the meaning of “I do not change.” 

I know what I said. I meant it. And I keep it. Therefore, you, are not consumed. You will not perish. This judgment will be intense. It will not be pleasant. You may even doubt me more, but you will not die, even though you probably deserve it. I will not wipe you out and start over. I will harness my anger, because I am faithful to my promises. I am faithful to my people. 

Did you notice how He defines the people, though? Children or sons of Jacob. Where have we seen Jacob before in Malachi? All the way at the beginning. Where God said, I loved Jacob and hated Esau. And what was the point of that lesson or the point of God saying that to Israel so early in the book?

The reason Israel was so flippant or negligent in their worship was that they doubted God’s love for them. But God uses their history of being one of two twins, with no merit of their own, to show His immense love and devotion to their nation. 

And that has been an incredible theme throughout the entire book so far. Until you realize how much God truly does love you, you will not be able to offer Him your best worship. Until you realize how much God loves you, you will not be able to serve the Lord in ministry. Until you understand that God loves you even during the difficulties you face, you will always question His faithfulness and whether those who do evil really have a better life. 

God loves you. The Almighty Holy Just, Faithful God loves you. Period. Do you believe me?

Most of you probably do. Others may have some thoughts a lot like Israel. I know He does, but He must love those drug dealers, or con men, or scheming lawyers (not the good ones haha), or the real jerks and bullies of the world a lot more. I mean, I have a lot more problems than they do.

Maybe so. But there are enough examples in the Bible to show me that asking God a question is ok. But making Him angry to where He shows up is terrifying. And making Him weary with questioning His faithfulness and justice is not something I want to do. 

And I have learned that not every situation is a direct result of sin in my life. I am not always being punished, but I am not completely innocent, either. 

Here’s what I know. This world is a horrible place of suffering, pain, evil, and I’m strictly talking because of the decisions of people, not natural disasters or diseases (that’s a separate post). I am also capable of making some very stupid mistakes. Therefore, the situation I find myself in is a result of all these daily decisions of people working together. In the middle of it all, God loves me and is orchestrating His plan for me. Somehow that includes making me holy and equipping me to lead others toward Jesus. By the way, that’s His plan for all of you, too. And He is going to be faithful to protect me from the evil one, be with me, help me, strengthen me, discipline me when I get side-tracked, forgive me, all the way from point A to point B (Christlikeness and glorification on new earth).

So do wealthy and prosperous pagans upset me? Yea. I get jealous. Does it confuse my theology? No, because God loves me, and perhaps just as important God is faithful—to what He said He would do. 

If I ever start getting too jealous or too upset with God, if I think I deserve more than my friends or even family members because they make worse decisions than I do, if I can’t get over the fact of how much God has forced me to endure—I have to go back and reflect on His love.