A Promised Messiah Pt 8: Malachi

Intro

What’s happening in Israel (Judah) during this time?

~ 100 years after return from Babylonian Exile

The Temple has been rebuilt, the people are being re-established as a nation, and, as we’re told in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, there is provided leaders for the people to enact reforms to make them into the people God has called them to be.

As we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks: the people are wondering, is NOW the time of the Messiah—and the message of Zechariah: Are you going to be a peopel worthy of this Kingdom?

And as we saw, and continue to see…they don’t live up to it. As a nation, they are unable to live up to the call of God through the Covenant He made with them. (As a review, though, we saw the good news, that Jesus, the Messiah, came to, not only establish His Kingdom, but to make for Himself a people worthy of His Kingdom.)

But it’s during this time period, once Judah returns, they are quick to, again, fall into rebellion…

And here’s what we see being addressed by God through His messenger, Malachi:

Questioning God’s love for them.

Offering polluted food on the altar (blind, lame, and sick animals)

Priests are participating in these corrupt forms of worship

Men are divorcing their wives and going after foreign women (and their gods)

Stopped contributing their tithe to the Temple

Their hearts are summed up in Malachi 3:14 “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?”

What’s the point? What benefit does it bring? I think, if we are honest with ourselves, we’ve been there.

Perhaps it was because their return to the Promised Land didn’t fulfill all of their expectations…it was more difficult…they didn’t see the fullness of the promises of God in the timeframe they wanted. They looked around at the nations surrounding them, the Persians who were now in power, and as they compared their lives with that of the other nations, they became jealous.

And as their eyes became fixed on everything around them, everything and everyone OTHER than the God who had called them to Himself, the wondered further and further away from the Good plans and purposes He had for them.

So Malachi, the messenger of God, issues this charge, this address.

Now, this is the final message from God to His people before the Messiah comes, before Jesus arrives on the scene. There’s about to be, roughly, 400 years of silence, that the people of Israel are going to be left to ponder and reflect and wrestle with this message.

As they are back in their homeland, trying ot figure out what it means to be the people of God, what it means to be a people worthy of the Kingdom of the Messah…what is the promsie? Where do we see the Messiah?

We’re going to look at 2 passages in Malachi where we see Him show up:

The Promised Coming Messenger

1st: Look with me:

READ Malachi 2:17 -3:5

So here’s what we’re seeing here:

The people are questioning where this God of justice is. As their morals have gone topsy turvy, as they call evil, good and good, evil. And God says: Get ready, because a day is coming…

Now, as we look here, and as we’re going to see later in the 2nd passage in Malachi we’re going to unpack, as well as the New Testament Gospel Matthew, Mark, and Luke as they referene this passage, there’s 2 messengers being referred to.

The first, we see, is preparing the way for the Lord. Later in chapter 4 referred to as the prophet Elijah, and we see this fulfilled in the Gospels through John the Baptist. Matthew, Mark & Luke all reference Malachi 3:1 in reference to John the Baptist.

He’s preparing the way for the Lord, who is revealed as this Messenger of the Covenant.

And here’s what He’s coming to do: To refine and Purify. This is exactly what we saw last week in Zechariah—the Missiah is to come and make for Himself a people worthy of His Kingdom.

And let’s not downplay the severity of what is being revealed here:

“But who can encure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?”

You know how gold and silver are purified, right? Through fire.

Silver, specifically, is purified by placing it in the absolute hottest part of the fire. But here’s what’s really cool: The way the silversmith knows that it’s complete, that all the impurities have been burned away: He can see his reflection perfectly in the silver.

This Messenger of the Covenant, the Messiah, is coming to refine a people for Himself who reflect His Image—and we go all the way back to Genesis, the creation of humanity, and this is the original design, the original purpose before sin enterred the picture!

So He’s refining a people, and then, once He’s refined a people, He’s going to draw near for judgement. Don’t miss the order here: He refines for Himself a peopel first, then comes in judgement against the wicked.

So now, here’s the question: How is the distinction made? Between those who are refined, those who are made pure, and those who He is going to come into judgement against?

A Remnant

Jump over, and let’s read: Malachi 3:16-18

Those who feared the Lord, and esteemed His name.

Those words, “feared” and “esteemed”—it’s that notion of profound respect, to tremble before, to regard highly. Those who honour Him those who See Him for WHO HE IS, and who

And this is what the Lord says about this people, this Remnant:

Shall be his

His treasured Possession

Spared from disaster

Distinction shown between the righteous and the wicked

The Great Day of the Lord

Malachi 4:1-6

So here, we saw again, at the close, this one who is to come and prepare the way for the coming Messiah, prepare the people for the “great and awesome day of the LORD”. John the Baptist.

Now, this is really interesting as we look at what this “day of the LORD” entails, and the timing of it, and how we see it fulfilled in Jesus. So this day is coming, when there will be a distinction made between those who fear the Lord, and those who are arrogant and evil. And the impact of this day on each group is vastly different:

For the wicked, it’s a day in whcih they are to be set ablaze, they will be destroyed. But for those who fear the name of the Lord, it will be a day of great joy. It says they will “go out leaping like calves from the stall”. Have you ever seen a calf leap? Probably a lot more people here have seen this than in any other church I’ve preached in! Our neighbour’s cows just had calves, and they’re hilarious to watch, when they get excited, and they kick up their back legs.

Here’s where we have to go back and remember what we talked about a couple of weeks ago (If you missed when we went through Zephaniah, you can find the sermon on our website!): This reality of the Kingdom of the Messiah, the Kingdom of God. The Messiah came, the messenger (the prophet Elijah) came preparing the way…then He came and He established His Kingdom. We aren’t waiting for the Kingdom to be established…we’re waiting for it to be brought to completion, to its fullness.

And we looked at Matthew 13, at 3 parables Jesus told regarding the establishment of His Kingdom:

Mustard Seed and Leaven — showing that it’s a Kingdom that begins small, but grows massive.

Then, the parable of the weeds—the reality that the wheat of the Kingdom that was planted continues to grow, but also weeds planted by the enemy are growing alongside the wheat. And in order to protect the wheat, the weeds aren’t uprooted right away. But at the end of the age, there will be a distinction made—the wheat will be harvested, and the weeds will be thrown into the fire.

So I wanted to review that, because it sets us up to unpack more of the realities of this Messianic Kingdom that we see in Malachi—specifically regarding the distinction: those who are refined, those who are welcomed into the Kingdom, and those who face judgement.

So flip over, if you have you Bible, to Matthew 13, as we look at 3 more parables in this series of teachings by Jesus on the Kingdom of Heaven.

Messianic Kingdom Established

Matthew 13:44-50

3 Parables that reveal the distinction between the Remnant and those who fail to receive the Kingdom:

Parable of Hidden Treasure & Pearl of Great Value

These first two give us the clearest picture of those who will enter the Kingdom of God. And it’s pretty remarkable. It is the same exact message we have seen over and over and over again…it is those who desire it. Who truly, genuinely, desire it.

Now, let’s be clear, though—it isn’t desiring simply some paradise, or perfect world with no more pain or sickness. If heaven would still be heaven to you, even if Jesus wasn’t there, then you don’t understand heaven. If the Kingdom of the Messiah would be just as good in your mind with or without its Messiah, then you’ve missed it. The Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of the Messiah, is what it is because of the Messiah who rules over it. To desire the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of the Messiah, is to desire the Messiah—to long for His rule and reign.

So the question is: is this your desire? When you look at Jesus, when you read of who He is, as you come face to face with the reality of the kind of Saviour, the kind of Ruler and King that He is—do you see Him as a treasure worthy of selling all your possessions for? Do you see him as a fine pearl of great value, worth you selling all that you have in order to attain?

This is the Gospel message, and sadly this message is too often distorted…it becomes a “get out of hell free” card…”believe in Jesus and you get to go to heaven”. It becomes an altar call based off of fear and manipulation—”well, if you don’t want to burn in hell, come and say a prayer, and you get to spend eternity in a perfect world”. How shallow! It misses the whole point! It’s not about the land!! The people in Malachi’s day and received back the land…and it meant nothing, because the Messiah wasn’t there yet! Just having the land, just having the location meant absolutely nothing without the Messiah who had been promised. The Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of the Messiah, doesn’t exist without the Messiah. When our longing is for a land, a place, a world of any kind, with no thought to the Messiah, we miss it. The land isn’t the treasure, He is.

So do you long for Him? This summer, I’m having the interns read the book “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. In the first chapter, he challenges readers in regards to our longing for Christ, and here’s what he says:

“I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.”

Written in 1948, it could have been written today.

Do we desire Him?

2. Parable of the Net

There will come a day…when a separation will occur. When the Kingdom comes into its fullness and completeness. When judgement will come upon those who do not long after Christ, long for His Kingdom.

Conclusion

Matthew 16:24–26 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”