End Times (7): The Beautiful Judgment of God

July 12, 2023 End Times: The Beautiful Judgment of God

Wednesday

Open: Do you see judgment as a positive or negative function?

Describe an experience of judgment in your family upbringing. What was hopeful in that experience, or what left you feeling hopeless?

Purpose: To discover how the future judgment of God brings meaning to the present through repentance, faith and hope.

Judgment. Hardly what most people look forward to, whether from a parent, a church leader, an employer or a court of law.

Hardly anyone, if given the opportunity, would choose to face the judgment of God at the end of time.

But contrary to our normal way of envisioning the future, many Old Testament saints longed for the judgment of God because they lived in a society in which justice was often denied to the ordinary person.

Malachi, a relatively unknown prophet, was convicted that God would hold his covenant people accountable for what they knew and how they lived.

Malachi’s perspective makes an important contribution to understanding how to live in the end times.

He paints a picture of a judgment that also offers hope.

Thanks, Brother Jay!

Before we get deep into this week’s lesson, I want to say thanks to Brother Jay so that Sandra and I could go visit family.

None us know how much longer we have left, but my 86 year-old mother is probably closer to the end than the beginning.

I appreciate Brother Jay teaching last week about The Future of the Human Person.

I hope that we all understand that we are not leaving this world alive in this body.

And all the old people shouted Hallelujah!

We are not real thrilled with declining strength, declining cognitive abilities, the aches and pains OR (if you knew a lot of people, the many funerals and/or memorial services.

Instead we will be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:50–58 (LSB) Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the corruptible inherit the incorruptible. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on the incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this corruptible puts on the incorruptible, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the word that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” 56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

The Great Tribulation

We will use this lesson to lead into a much deeper/difficult lesson that will include the Tribulation or, if you prefer, the GREAT Tribulation.

In preparation for that lesson please read Daniel 9 (the whole chapter for context).

Take some extra time to re-read and study verses 24-27 (just 4 verses , but they are l-o-o-n-g verses that contain complex information.

To tie into what Daniel writes, please look at what Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-28

What Is Going On?

Read Malachi 2:17–3:5.

1. What response does the prophet make to those who say things like “God appears to favor the wicked” and “life is not fair”?

Justice and fair dealing is coming — and it will be tough.

Questions 1 and 3. Malachi was writing in the period after the temple was rebuilt.

In spite of Ezekiel’s prophesies from exile in Babylon that the glory would return to the temple (Ezek 43:1–5), there was no miraculous event to mark the Lord’s return to the temple and little outward encouragement to believe in God.

They were looking for: Ezekiel 43:1–5 (LSB) Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; 2 and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3 And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came to bring the city to ruin. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of Yahweh came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. 5 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house.

2. Have you said or thought this?

In the day in which we live many us are concerned about the trajectory of our nation (down the toilet).

As a Bible-believing Christian, it’s hard to feel optimistic about the direction this country is headed.

Why doesn’t God turn things around in response to the prayers of the saints [the remnant??? - is there too few of us? ]

AND YET …

Joe Scarborough: (The Atlantic, Monday July 10, 2023) America is doing just fine

… News items over the course of the holiday weekend reported that Americans were feeling more skeptical of their country’s future and less patriotic. Seventy-four percent believe America is headed in the wrong direction, and a great majority dread the presidential rematch America seems doomed to face.

[Criticizes the criticism of liberals and conservatives.]

(ends with) … So yes, it’s true that a fulsome defense of Uncle Sam often requires dialectical thinking. But remember this: Even with all of its failings, America has fed and freed more human beings than any other country in history. And despite the blather that cable-news hosts spit at you daily, your country is doing pretty d*** well.

How do you react to Malachi’s response?

Vs.2 - who will be able to endure justice and fairness when it comes?

Are we all corrupt?

3. The identity of the “messenger of the covenant” is shrouded in mystery. What effect will the coming of this person have on the people of God waiting for the Lord’s coming (3:2–3)?

To those who “wearied” God with their complaint that sin seemed to be successful, Malachi prophesies of the coming of a messenger (or angel) and of the Lord himself to the temple.

Jewish commentators interpreted the “messenger of the covenant” as Elijah;

The lesson writer says:

Some Christian interpreters have … combined the messenger and the Lord into a single personage and view this as fulfilled in the coming of Christ to cleanse the temple.

I’m not sure how they do this because it seems pretty clear “The Messenger” as John the Baptist.

Thoughts?

Matthew 11:7–15 (LSB) Now as these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! 9 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. 10 “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’ 11 “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. 13 “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 “And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

While the people of Malachi’s day claimed to be “seeking the Lord” (3:1), they would find the day of the Lord less comforting than they expected (see Amos 5:18).

Amos 5:18–20 (LSB) Woe, you who are longing for the day of Yahweh, For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you? It will be darkness and not light; 19 As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him; Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him. 20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light, Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?

Those persisting in sin, as we shall soon see, will get their due, but even the righteous will be purified.

Images of Judgment

4. Find the images Malachi uses to describe the judgment of God (3:2–3). From these images what do we learn about the Lord’s purpose in judging his own covenant people?

Question 4. The concept of covenant (God’s unconditional agreement to belong to his people) is fundamental to Malachi’s teaching.

Because of the covenant God views himself as Israel’s Father (1:6; 2:10)

Malachi 1:6 “‘A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’ says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’”

Mal 2:10 “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?”

and wants to bless his children (3:10–12).

Mal 3:10-12 “10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and empty out for you a blessing until it is beyond enough. 11 “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not corrupt the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field fail to bear,” says Yahweh of hosts. 12 “So all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of hosts.”

Thus the essence of Israel’s sin was a breach of relationship with God.

Both priests and people failed to love God (1:6, 13; 3:8)

Demonstrated in: Despised Him, defective sacrifices (stolen, etc.), cheating God

Words are cheap (I love You, Lord!)

Obedience is the true test of our love of God.

and as a consequence promoted broken relationships in society, including divorce (2:14, 16).

Mal 2:14 “14 “But you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because Yahweh has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”

Mal 2:16 “For I hate divorce,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says Yahweh of hosts. “Be careful then to keep your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.””

How does our society and how does the church feel about divorce today? How should we feel? How do divorced people handle this scripture?

Start with those who have gone through divorce.

It is because of this fundamental covenantal relationship that God is determined in his judgment not to obliterate his people but to cleanse them.

To do this the Lord must first cleanse the priesthood and then the immorality of the people.

The order is significant.

So are the metaphors chosen to describe the judgment of God.

The refiner does not intend destruction but purification.

So does the fuller’s soap (really alkali), the latter being used to whiten cloth.

Many of the prophets use the refiner’s image, and with good reason, as J. Neil suggests:

“The beauty of this picture is that the refiner looks into the open furnace, or pot, and knows that the process of purification is complete, and the dross all burnt away, when he can see his image plainly reflected in the molten metal” (Everyday Life in the Holy Land [Church’s Ministry Among the Jews, 1913], p. 163).

The Process of Judgment

5. In the light of this, why do you think judgment begins at the sanctuary and with the priestly tribe of Levites (see 1 Peter 4:17)?

1 Peter 4:14–19 (LSB) If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be put to shame, but is to glorify God in this name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? 19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God must entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing good.

6. In contrast to the refining process in 3:2–4, what will God’s judgment mean to those in the community who persist in disobedient living (3:5)?

Review: Mal 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the sojourner and do not fear Me,” says Yahweh of hosts.”

Question 6. Fundamental to the biblical idea of judgment is that it is not merely a collection of individuals that will be judged but the community that is purified by removing the base elements.

The people concerned are not merely sinners but those who will not repent.

So the Lord has no alternative but to grant them their unspoken request—to live away from him in the deprivation of all that is good.

Judgment is based on facts already known and choices already made.

The entire Bible, and especially the New Testament, shows that human beings sentence themselves to hell in advance by loving darkness rather than light (Jn 3:19–21).

John 3:19–21 (LSB) “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”

That seems to especially be the case of

sorcerers, adulterers and liars

Employers who cheat employees

Those who oppress widows and orphans

Those deny justice to refugees (?)

7. Why do you think the Bible connects true holiness with concern for social righteousness?

Question 7. The basis of judgment throughout the Bible, and certainly here, is our works as an evidence of true heart condition (Mt 12:36; 25:35–40; Rom 2:16; 1 Cor 4:5; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:12).

Works do not save us, BUT works will come after salvation or true salvation hasn’t occurred. (Agree/Disagree)

1 Corinthians 4:5 (LSB) Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s praise will come to him from God.

2 Corinthians 5:10 (LSB) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

James 1:22–27 (LSB) But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Except for sorcery, the sins mentioned all have a social bearing: breaking the marriage covenant, perjuring oneself (2:10–16) and so becoming untrustworthy, underpaying employees, and oppressing powerless widows and orphans (people who are the special concern of God in the covenant obligations—Ex 22:22–24; Lev 19:10).

Biblical faith is never merely personal but always involves public discipleship and social justice. In these matters, as Joyce Baldwin says,

“Malachi is the faithful pastor who faces his people with the possibility of ultimate rejection but hopes all the time to win them” (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary [Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1972], p. 244).

8. In what ways has Malachi answered those who ask, “Where is the God of justice” (2:17)?

Will you be punished an evildoer who complains about evildoers and are one? (Oh, may God help us to be very careful!)

Are you even ready for justice?

Read Malachi 3:13–4:3.

9. What assurance does Malachi give to those who feel that living righteously “does not pay” (3:17–18)?

10. Assuming that the people mentioned in 3:14 are the same as those “who feared the Lord” (3:16), what do we learn about living in the light of God’s judgment?

11. How is the judgment here different from that which is applied to God’s own people (4:1–3)?

12. God’s people, while exempt from final condemnation, are not free from evaluation. What difference will this make to the way you live?

Prayer: Thank God that you are not left to invent the meaning of your own life. Ask that in the end you may be found in him and all that you have done in this life be refined in fire and, purged of sin, find its place in the new heaven and new earth.

Now or Later

The final passage of the book—not included in this study—takes up again the messenger of 3:1 as the precursor of “that great and dreadful day of the Lord” (4:5).

Read Malachi 3:1–4:6.

This time, however, Elijah is named as the messenger who will prepare the way. Jesus considered John the Baptist as both the messenger (Malachi 3:1; Matthew 11:10) and Elijah (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 11:14), though John rejected the notion that he fulfilled the Elijah prophecy (John 1:21). John the Baptist was profoundly influenced by the prophecy of Malachi, to the extent that his hope for a fiery judgment was undoubtedly not fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus (Matthew 3:11–12; Luke 3:16–17)

Joyce Baldwin brilliantly explains how this Old Testament prophecy of final judgment was ultimately fulfilled in the New Testament: “An interval separated the first and second comings and the day of grace was extended to delay final judgment. This does not mean, however, that judgment has been averted. The warning that ends the Old Testament is not absent at the end of the New (Revelation 22:10–15), but the difference is that there grace has the last word (verse 21)” (Joyce C. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malach: An Introduction and Commentary [Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1972), p. 253).

Question 9. Malachi once again takes up the theme that the “arrogant” (3:15) appear to thrive, a subject that concerned the psalmist as well (Ps 73:2–14). Those who were complaining are probably the same people as those “who feared the Lord,” only they now have taken the rebuke, repented and encouraged each other to renew their faith. To demonstrate further that God’s judgment is his saving judgment, Malachi reports the Lord’s listening response (3:16) and the believers’ security that they will not be forgotten in the Lord’s record of names of those who are his (Ex 32:32–33; Ps 69:28; 87:6; Dan 12:1; Rev 21:27). Verses 17–18 offer the joy of covenant security and covenant consummation (you are mine and I am yours). Simultaneously, they offer a positive incentive to repent now, rather than wait for the final and irrevocable separation (v. 18). As J. I. Packer says:

Judgment will be vindicatory, establishing justice, rather than vindictive, expressing malice. For God to judge justly is his glory, for which he is to be praised; his self-vindication is glorious (Rev 19:1–5). For God not to judge would be destructive of all serious morality and all moral responsibility. (“Notes on Systematic Theology IV”)

Question 10. Malachi repeats the judgment-by-fire metaphor but now with a disturbing twist. The wicked who do not serve God (3:18) will not experience the fire as purifying but as final destruction. The same day produces gold and “tropical heat, when parched vegetation suddenly catches fire and dry fields become one vast oven in which even the roots of the plants are reduced to ash” (Baldwin, Malachi, p. 250). But the righteous who serve God (3:18) will experience “a fair morning of God, as when dawn comes to those who have been sick and sleepless through the night, and its beams bring healing.… They break into life and energy, like calves leaping from the dark pen into the sunshine” (George Adam Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Vol. 2, rev. ed. [New York: Harper & Row, 1928], pp. 362–63).

Stevens, R. P. (2004). End Times: 13 Studies for Individuals or Groups: With Notes for Leaders (pp. 81–83). IVP Connect: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.

The most stupendous thought of which the mind is capable is that of personal accountability to Almighty God. — Daniel Webster[1]

[1]Stevens, R. P. (2004). End Times: 13 Studies for Individuals or Groups: With Notes for Leaders (pp. 33–36). IVP Connect: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.