Our Judge is Just

Introduction

Good morning please open in your Bible’s to Malachi 2:17-3:5 that is Malachi 2:17-3:5. If you are using one of the Bible scattered throughout the chairs that is on page 754 again, that is page 754. Why is there evil is the world? Is God doing anything about it? These are questions that many of us ask from time to time. We look around and we see that things are not right, and we want to know is there a God of Justice? And if there is, where is He? This is the exact question that is asked by the people of Israel in today’s text. Where is the God of Justice? Why isn’t God doing anything about my problems in this world? Why isn’t God fixing that which is evil?

However, before we can answer such a question we must clearly define what evil is. We must agree that there is good and evil. And what standard to we use to distinguish what is good and what is evil. Is there a Judge? If so, who is the Judge? And is He Just? Is He present? In today’s text God tells His people there is a Judge- The Lord of hosts, God himself. He is Just, and He is coming. His presence will manifest here on earth, and justice will be served. Let’s read Malachi 2:17-3:5.

Where is the Judge? v. 17

Malachi 2:17 “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?””

Verse 17 starts the fourth oracle of the book Malachi. Prophecies given to Israel after their return from exile and after the rebuilding of the temple. In this prophecy the Lord tells Israel that they have wearied him. Now, Psalm 121:4 “Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” so the question is, how do you weary someone that does get tired. I believe the best way to understand this text is to see that the patience of God is wearing thin. That is to say that He is letting the people know that His judgment is coming soon. His long suffering with the people’s sin, giving them opportunity to repent, will not last forever. God will judge their sin. And what is bringing about this weariness?

It is two things. One, the people of Israel are saying that everyone who does evil is good in God’s sight. They are claiming that God delights in evil acts. This is a breaking of the third commandment which reads Exodus 20:7 ““You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” This command does simply forbid using God’s name as a curse word, though it does that as well. But also means that we cannot claim that God stands for that which is evil. We cannot attach God’s name to sinful acts. Just like a tradesmen doesn’t want his name associated with someone else bad work, God will not allow His name to be attached to evil deeds. Yet, the people of Israel seem to claiming that God delights in things, that God is declaring as evil. Perhaps it was their divorces. The people claiming that God sanctioned their betrayal of their marriage covenants. I was heard of a man justify his adultery by claiming God wanted him to be happy. The other woman made him happy, happier than his wife made him. Or maybe they claimed that God delighted in their blemished offerings, after all wouldn’t God want the people to enjoy the best fruits of their labor? God wouldn’t mind taking the sick and lame from their flocks so that they can be happy. We also justify our lack luster worship all the time. Wouldn’t God want us to have a healthy retirement fund, pay off the house sooner, drive the new car etc. God doesn’t really want us to give to Him a portion of our income first. He’ll be ok with the leftovers. We can’t serve the church on a Saturday that’s my only day off. God wants me to have that time. He delights in my me time, my financial security, my blemished offerings of sacrifice and praise.

We want these verses to be about the world and their evil, and make no mistake the world calls evil good all the time. Pagans acted like pagans in 500 BC, don’t be surprised that they are still doing it. But this particular prophecy isn’t for them. This word of God was for the people of God. The people who knew God’s law, saw God’s faithfulness in saving them from exile, and still did not render unto God what was due Him. They were evil, but acted like what they did was good. James 4:17 “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” We take God’s name in vain, we weary Him when we call evil good.

We often do not live as living sacrifices, we in the church are not faithful to our spouses, even if it is in our hearts and minds, we are at times idolatrous, treating finite things as ultimate, we are not faithful to one another as fellow church members, when we do not consider one another as more important than ourselves. And we allow our crooked hearts to justify our evil and call it good. We cover it up our sin, hide it away, and at times maybe even claim God delights in this. God is fine with what I am doing. It makes me happy, and God just wants me to be happy.

And yet, this world is filled with trial and trouble. We weary the Lord with our sin and unrepentance and then we ask, Where is the God of Justice? Come on God, don’t you see what is going on down here? Don’t you watch the news!? Aren’t you going to do something about this!? Where is your justice Lord!?

T/S- And God in his weariness, in His righteous anger, does something astounding. God our righteous judge comes to us.

The Judge Comes to Us v. 3:1-4

Malachi 3:1–4 ““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. 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. 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. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

There are three figures mentioned in verse 1: “My messenger” sent to prepare the way, the Lord (Adoni), and the messenger of the covenant. The traditional Christian understanding of these figures has been that “my messenger” is John the Baptist, the Lord is Yahweh (God Himself), and the messenger of the covenant is Jesus, who is God made flesh the second person of the Trinity. I believe this is the correct understanding of this verse. John the Baptist is credited with fulfilling the prophecy set forth in Isaiah 40:3 in Matthew 3:3 “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”” The prophecy in Isaiah and this prohecy here in Malachi seem to be alluding to the same person. And in Malachi 4:5 ““Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” and Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 17:11-13 that John the baptist is this Elijah figure. So, God sends John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus. Mark who also credits John the Baptist with fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy tells us this about John the Baptists work to prepare the way for Jesus in Mark 1:4–8 “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”” Here you have one out in the wilderness (Isaiah’s prophecy) preparing the way through the repentance of sin. This fits Malachi’s prophecy thematically as Malachi is urging repentance for the people of Israel and declaring that the messenger of the covenant will come purify the sons of Levi.

What is outstanding about this passage though is the identity of the other two figures. Yes, God like many mighty kings in the ancient world sends a herald before him in John the Baptist. However, here is this passage He also pledges to come to His people himself. The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The whom you seek is an ironic callback to verse 17 in chapter 2. Where is the God of Justice is a wearisome complaint, but here the Lord decides to answer the question in a literal fashion. It is like when our kids in a moment of discipline yell hurtful words like “I wish I had didn’t have parents!” and the experienced parent responds to their ridiculous outburst by allowing the child to truly entertain that notion. “Oh, you wish you didn’t have parents. How would pay for a house? Who would do your laundry, make your food, drive you to soccer practice? Really, you wish you didn’t have parents?”

The people of Israel are saying, “Where is the God of justice?” And the Lord replies “Oh, you want to see the God of justice? You want to really come before me?” Because I am coming. The God of justice will come and come suddenly to His temple. He will come as the messenger of the covenant, in who you say you delight, but in truth you broke faith with his covenant with your idolatry, adultery, and polluted sacrifices by the way, He is coming. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come and appear before His people. And when he does who can endure the day of his coming, who can stand when he appears? What covenant breaker is going to keep pretending like he delights in God’s law when he stands before the great judge of the world. They say they delight in God because they have called evil good. But when the judge comes there evil will be brought to like and true goodness will shine. He will make known what is actually true. There is no more duplicity before the Lord God. None who are unrighteousness will be able to continue to cling to their false righteousness before the true judge.

Yet, when he comes he will not come to completely destroy these covenant breakers. At least not at first. You see, Israel has been in this situation before many times throughout their history. They were incapable of keeping their covenant with God. They failed over and over and God for His name’s sake would relent his judgement at times and restore the underserving people at other times. And when the messenger of the covenant comes He is going to fulfill the covenant. He going to make it possible that people really can be his people and he their God. He is going to refine and cleanse the people.

This messenger, who we know is Christ the Lord, will refine the people like a hot fire purifies precious metals. The heat burns away the dross, the impurities in the metal, so that only the pure metal is left. He is going to take these filthy garments, these idolaters, adulterers, and polluted people, and cleanse them from their filth. They deserve to have dung wiped across their faces and be removed from the city. Yet, the messenger of the covenant will cleanse them like a fuller’s soap. The fuller would often take a filthy piece of cloth and take it to a place with running water, like a river. They would apply their soap, often a harsh chemical to the cloth and immerse it water in a basin. Slaves would be used to trample on the cloth with their feet. They would beat the cloth until it was clean and then stretch it out to dry.

I believe this has a two-fold meaning for us. Sanctification can be a painful experience though a necessary one. When we are found in sin, we are purified by the burning fire of the Spirit’s convicting work. He moves in our conscience to drive us to repentance. Repentance itself can be painful. It can cost us to lose face when we admit we are wrong, maybe lose money as we make restitution, and maybe even lose respect of a loved one through confessing secret sin. The refining pain of God’s discipline must be endured if we long to be pure and offer right sacrifices to the Lord.

And there is another reality being communicated in this text. The Judge is coming and he will refine and cleanse his people. It will be a painful experience, and a righteous judge cannot withhold the right punishment for sin and rebellion. You see, the messenger of the covenant will come and none will be able to stand before His holy presence. None, will be able to offer appropriate sacrifice for the purification of the people. There will be no lamb, no bull, able to atone for the sins of the people. So, the Son of God, the messenger of the covenant, will become the spotless lamb, he will himself be the sacrifice for sins. He will be trampled for our sin. He is the King of glory that can stand in the presence of God and ascend the holy hill. He has never committed idolatry, he never committed adultery, even in his heart or mind, he has never offered anything but perfect sacrifices and offerings before the Lord. And though he can endure the coming the Lord of host, though he could stand on his own merit before God. He will lay down in death in order to purify the sons of Levi. He will purify for himself a people of his own possession, zealous to do what is truly good. A priesthood who is able to offer acceptable sacrifice, because their sacrifice will be purified by the death of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s righteous anger burns toward your sin and mine. And because the Lord has determined to appear in his holy temple He must allow his anger to rage against unrighteousness. And so it did rage, but not out of control like human anger so often does. His anger raged against sin in perfect tandem with his divine promise keeping love as all the wrath of God was poured out on the Son. God’s hatred of sin is sighted in by His love and mercy toward sinners. And it was unleashed upon Jesus Christ. Burning away all your dross, washing away all of your filth. Leaving behind a holiness purchased for us by the death of the Son. We are only safe from the holy anger of God if we are united to His son by faith. He anger is good, because through it we are cleansed of our sin. The fires of God’s wrath which consumed His perfect son are the fires of his holiness which purifies us from sin.

His judgement is good and therefore He will Judge all mankind,

The Judge Will Judge v. 5

Malachi 3:5 ““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.”

God will draw near to us for judgement and he will be a swift witness against all of those who do not fear him. A judge makes a swift judgement when he is sure of his verdict. Judges deliberate and take their time when the case is convoluted and unclear. When there are many factors to consider before rendering a verdict. But God is a swift witness against evil. When He comes to judge the living and the dead at the end of the age there will be no need for Him to deliberate in his chambers. He will know right from wrong and he will execute justice swiftly and accurately.

He will judge the sorcerers, those who practice the occult, who use divination and pretend to be God. Those who entice he demonic or those who play the part to take advantage of the naive and simple will be judged. Those who commit adultery and commit hatred toward their wives of their youth by leaving them through divorce. They forsake their covenant and break faith with their spouse and God by denying their one flesh union. He will deal with those who perjurer or lie in court in order to get the innocent punished or the guilty free. These sins tear at the very fabric of society and one day God will put a final end to this sin.

He will judge those who oppress the hired worker for his wages. That is the boss who cheats his hardworking employees. The one who takes advantage of the widowed and orphaned. Those who cannot take care of themselves. He will be a swift judge against those who take advantage against the sojourner in the land. The sojourner is at a disadvantage in a foreign land as they navigate a culture unfamiliar to them. God reminds the people that they were once foreigners in Egypt who were driven to slavery by the Egyptians. This is not to be the way in God’s kingdom among God’s people.

We all understand the gravity of these kinds of sins. Sins that take advantage of the weak. It is why we root for underdogs in sporting event and movies. There is something innate within us that wants to see the little guy win. It is also innate that when someone takes advantage of the little guy that that person is a special kind of immoral. But ultimately these sins can be summed up at those that do not fear the Lord of hosts.

To fear the Lord is to worship Him. This theme of fearing the Lord has been throughout the book of Malachi. In chapter 1:6 God asks where is His fear? Meaning his honor and respect. In verse 14 He promises that one day all of the world will fear his name that is worship Him. In chapter 2:5 God tells of how the Levites used to have a covenant of life and peace and fear. That is a covenant of worship toward the Lord. They use to stand in awe of Him. And in verse 16 of chapter 3 we will see that God will remember those who fear Him. To fear the Lord is to worship Him, it is to be in awe of who He is. Those who fear the Lord honor him as God and live like He is God.

And all those who do not fear the Lord. Those who do not acknowledge Him by places their faith in the Son of God who died for their sins will be judged. Their sin will not be burned away by the purifying flames of the messenger of the covenant. Instead, they will burn for all eternity in Hell.

Conclusion

Jesus will come to judge all of the earth. He currently sits at the right hand of the Father, but this passage promises that the Judge will come. He will render swift judgment to all who do not fear Him. Jesus tells this parable in Matthew 13:47–50 ““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” At the end of the age we will not be able claim that our evil deeds are good. Good fish will be found to be good and bad fish will be found to be bad. No one will question where is the God of justice? Instead, God’s justice will be duly rendered without partiality. Those who are united to the Son by faith will enter into His eternal rest. And those who do not fear the Lord: the sorcerer, idolater, adulterer, oppresser, and all evil doers will be thrown into the fiery furnace. The place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. A place of eternal torment. If you hear the warning this morning run to Jesus. Repent of your sin and be purified by the refiners fire. Put your faith in Christ and fear the Lord. Worship Him alone. Let’s pray