Malachi 3:1-6, 4:1-6
Main Idea: When God feels silent, we must remember his character, his word, and his coming, as we await his return.
I. Waiting & God’s Silence
Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, delivered the messages in this book in the mid-5th century BC. The people of Israel have been home for around 100 years after the Edict of Cyrus allowed them to return, but things are not the same. There is a spiritual stagnancy and emptiness in Israel, and the Lord wants to prepare them for the silence that is coming.
When we are confronted with the silence, absence, or “hiddenness” of God, we can respond in two different ways. The first is to respond as the Israelites in Malachi:
They began to doubt God’s love & justice (1:2-5, 2:17-3:5)
They began to simply “go through the motions” of worship, in a half-hearted, disingenuous way (1:6-2:9)
They began to view obedience as optional (2:10-16, 3:7-12)
They began to view serving and loving God as being “in vain” (3:13-15)
The other way to respond in the face of God’s silence is to exercise faith. Part of this faith is crying out in honesty to God when we feel his silence or absence. The Biblical authors themselves wrestled with God in this way, asking him direct questions in the midst of their pain or confusion and we are invited to do the same thing (Job 30:20, Ps. 28:1-2).
This is the kind of faith described in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” How is it possible to have assurance and conviction in this way?
II. Waiting & God’s Witness (3:1, 6, 4:4-6)
Though God may seem silent, this does not mean he is absent. In this passage, God bears witness in 4 ways to why we can have this kind of assurance & conviction in faith:
1. God’s Character & Nature (3:6): God “does not change” (“immutable”) unlike everyone and everything else around us.
Numbers 23:19: God is not man, that he should lie, Or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
2. God’s Word (4:4): Even when God feels silent, we must remember that he has already spoken to us in his Word.
“You do not need another special revelation from God outside the Bible. You can listen to the voice of God every day. Christ still speaks, because the Spirit has already spoken. If you want to hear from God, go to the book that records only what he has said. Immerse yourself in the word of God. You will not find anything more sure.” ~ Kevin DeYoung
3. God’s Coming (3:1, 4:5): God promises to send a messenger in the spirit of Elijah to “prepare the way” for the Lord’s coming. This is precisely what happens when John the Baptist comes on the scene in the New Testament, as he clears the way for Jesus with his message of the Kingdom & repentance (cf. Matt. 3:1-3)
For those of us living this side of Christmas, we must remember that God has already come when we feel his silence. We can’t say that God does not care about us or that he is uninvolved, because he cared enough to enter into our mess in the incarnation, and he cared enough that he shed his own blood on the cross on our behalf.
4. God’s People (4:6): The result of God’s coming is captured in this promise that “hearts will be turned.” This happens first and foremost toward God and then to one another. Reconciliation within the church is meant to remind us of God’s presence, as his people are the “new temple” of God.
“In spite of God’s apparent hiddenness, the memory of what God has done in the past continues to activate hope for what he will do in the future. This is the movement of the Advent season. The God who hides himself is still the God of the covenant. He is absent and present at the same time… He may hide himself, but it can never be forgotten that he was once present in power and that he will be again. That is Advent- the time between.” ~ Fleming Rutledge
III. Waiting & God’s Return (3:2-5, 4:1-3)
When the “Lord of hosts” comes, no one can simply “stand” before the commander of the heavenly army. He is coming as “fire,” and this fire will separate the pure from the impure, and the true from the false.
For evildoers and the wicked, this is a day of judgment (3:5, 4:1), where God will put an end once and for all to all that has gone wrong in this world. John the Baptist warns: “bear fruit in keeping with repentance… even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (cf. Matt. 3:1-12)
For God’s people, this is a day of hope and healing. God will act as a “refiner” of his people, burning away all impurities from our lives. He will “purify” his people like the “fuller’s soap” that removes stains from clothing. This is the only way we can stand before the Lord of hosts who has promised to return.
At his return, Jesus will bring:
Light where there is darkness (the “sun of righteousness shall rise”)
Healing where there is sickness (with “healing” in his wings)
Freedom where there is bondage (“you shall go out leaping like calves from the stall”)
Victory where there is defeat (the wicked will be “ashes under the soles of your feet.”)
