Where Were You, God?

Introduction

May 28, 2006—Pope Benedict XVI visited the infamous Auschwitz prison camp in Poland. To say the visit was of monumental importance not only to the Catholic church, but to the world as a whole, would be an understatement. Benedict’s heritage was German, and now here he was, the proclaimed spiritual representative of approximately 15% of the world’s population, standing in the very site of humanity’s worst atrocities. The following words are what he softly and pensively spoke before the crowds.

“To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man, is almost impossible - and it is particularly difficult and troubling. . . for a Pope from Germany.  In a place like this, words fail; in the end, there can only be a dread silence - a silence which is itself a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain silent?  How could you tolerate all this?  In silence, then, we bow our heads before the endless line of those who suffered and were put to death here; yet our silence becomes in turn a plea for forgiveness and reconciliation, a plea to the living God never to let this happen again. . . .

How many questions arise in this place!  Constantly the question comes up: Where was God in those days?  Why was he silent?  How could he permit this endless slaughter, this triumph of evil?”

Where were you God? Have you ever asked a similar question? Why does good happen to bad people? Why does bad happen to good people? Why do those who do wrong seem to prosper? And where is God in all of that? Does He even care? If you have ever thought this, take heart. You are in good company. The question is about as old as humanity itself. So I am pretty sure we will not be able to eliminate that question today, but I would like to address it, and maybe display it from an angle that you might never have considered before.

Because if you have been in church any length of time, you are probably like me where we know the “right” answers for those questions, don’t we? We know how to respond when someone has lost a job or a experienced the passing of a loved one or gone through some trial. We know what Bible verses to recite as we pat our friend on the shoulder and say, “It’s going to work out eventually. God’s ways are not our ways. You just gotta trust. Have faith, man, have faith. I’m sure God had some reason.” And a lot of times we actually end up doing more harm than good because in the moment, that person does not need a hashtag worthy quote; they need the personal pervading presence of the Lord lived out in you and me as we comfort them.

And so I started wondering, what does God have to say about this matter? I mean, we see it from our questioning view a lot. We ask the “Where is God” questions, and I wondered—What does God say about where He is when good seems to flounder and evil seems to triumph? Is there any way to get a glimpse within the divine understanding of that which confounds and astounds us so? The answer is yes. Let’s look at that answer in Malachi chapter 3. I would like to express my thanks to pastor for allowing me to be back in this pulpit. He mentioned on Sunday night the loving gentleness that Open Bible has with me, and I want you to know that that is reciprocated. There would be no me preparing for a life of serving God and people if it were not for Open Bible. Any time any good comes out of my life to the blessing of God or benefit of others, you have a part in that because of the part you have played in my life. Thank you all. I pray I can give some of that back tonight through this message. Let’s start reading in Malachi chapter 3, verse 13.

Malachi 3:13–4:3 KJV 1900

13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? 14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: And what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, And that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? 15 And now we call the proud happy; Yea, they that work wickedness are set up; Yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. 16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, And a book of remembrance was written before him For them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, In that day when I make up my jewels; And I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, Between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. 1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, That it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise With healing in his wings; And ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet In the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

In order for us to make sense of Malachi, two factors must come into play—First, you must envision a court room; second, you must understand the time period. And we see that

1. The people had a problem.

The kingdom of Judah has been out of captivity probably for around one hundred years now, and God is trying to get the attention of His people again. Starting way back with Moses, God appointed a human leader to guide his people on His behalf. We know that leadership transferred to Joshua and then to the judges. Samuel was the transition man between the time of the judges and the time of the kings and prophets. Then men like Elijah, Elisha, and Nathan guided Israel spiritually while everyone from Saul to David to Ahab ruled Israel and Judah politically. In that time, Israel split into what was essentially two distinct nations. The northern kingdom kept ten of the twelve tribes, but they never once had a good king. They were taken into captivity by Assyria, and to this day, those tribes have never been reassembled into a coherent unit. The southern two tribes, collectively known as Judah, lasted approximately 150 years longer before they too were taken into captivity, but by now Assyria had passed off the scene, and Babylon was in charge. Seventy years pass, and the Persians have taken over as the dominate world power under Cyrus. The Greek empire was in its last glory days, and Rome was beginning its early growth stages. Cyrus had released Judah, allowing the Jews to return to Israel as free men and women.

But all was not well. The land was pitiful. Every meaningful part of the Jews’ existence was in shambles. Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the people to rebuild the temple. Ezra took over the religious leadership, and Nehemiah was the driving force behind reconstructing Jerusalem’s walls. But after one hundred years back in the land, the Jews were still disheartened because even at its best moments, Israel was now literally 1/6 what she used to be and hardly 1/600 as glorious. The people felt like they had a bone to pick with God, and they were not afraid to say so.

So along comes Malachi. He speaks as God’s messenger (that’s what his name means) on God’s behalf to the people. Here’s where the courtroom idea from earlier comes in. God already knows what the people are thinking because He is God. He knows their complaints, from the weakest argument to the strongest, and He chooses to address them all. The book of Malachi is set up as sort of a divine cross-examination. God makes a statement. Israel responds with an accusing question, usually beginning with “Wherein have we. . .” or put in modern English, they say to God, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then God responds to their question. This happens at least six times throughout the book.

Well, we get towards the end of the book here, and God makes a statement. “Your words have been stout against me.” Now, “stout” is not exactly a word we use quite as commonly today. And when I hear it, I think of the old Winnie the Pooh cartoon where Pooh sang, “I am stout, round, and I have found, speaking poundage-wise, I improve my appetite when I exercise.” And while I may or may not be able to relate to that, the Bible is not here describing a fitness routine or lack thereof. “Stout” meant “strong or hard.” Essentially, God was saying, “You have made some strong accusations against me, Israel.” He goes on in verse 14 to detail just exactly what it was they had spoken in.

Malachi 3:14–15 KJV 1900

14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: And what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, And that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? 15 And now we call the proud happy; Yea, they that work wickedness are set up; Yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Israel asks God one final burning question in the book—Where. Were. You. “As far as we know, our kin no longer exist. We were abandoned in Babylon. And now, just when we had a little bit of hope, everything is back to being worse than ever. We have been trying to serve you, to keep your ordinances, to live penitently before you. But we might as well call sinful boasters fulfilled and evil people established. Even those who hate you get to live and thrive. God, where are you? Do you care?” “Why, Lord, did you remain silent?  How could you tolerate all this?  In silence, then, we bow our heads before the endless line of those who suffered and were put to death here; yet our silence becomes in turn a plea for forgiveness and reconciliation, a plea to the living God never to let this happen again. . . . How many questions arise in this place!  Constantly the question comes up: Where was God in those days?  Why was he silent?  How could he permit this. . . triumph of evil?” Just like the German Pope Benedict, that was the question the Jews were asking.

And get this—God answered. Now He didn’t answer like when Job questioned His goodness and He responded with question after question of “Where were you when I did such and such?” No. He didn’t answer like we often imagine He does by saying, “Just trust that my ways are higher than yours and everything will work out in eternity.” No. He told a short story. God told Israel a story. Look at it again beginning in verse 16.

Malachi 3:16–4:3 KJV 1900

16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, And a book of remembrance was written before him For them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, In that day when I make up my jewels; And I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, Between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. 1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, That it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise With healing in his wings; And ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet In the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

We see

2. The record was kept.

God said earlier in the book that not everyone who was calling on Him and claiming to worship Him really was. He addressed that issue earlier. So here, He says that for those who truly were worshipping Him and really were wondering if it was all worth it that He heard! There can be no mistake. The Bible says He hearkened and heard it! That means He listened intently—no distractions. This was not like when your teenager says he’s listening to you but he still has the tv on, earbuds in, and music playing on the radio. No, no. If you will, God hushed the angel choirs to say, “My kids are talking to me, and I want to hear what they have to say.” And if you know Jesus as your personal Savior, that is exactly what He is doing for you today. As you begin to cry out, He says, “Gabriel, hold on for a second, my child, my son, my daughter is talking, and I want to hear what they have to say.”

Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. Long before Ron Popeil or Billy Mays, God said, “But wait, there’s more!” Not only did He hearken and hear, He had a book of remembrance inscribed in His presence on behalf of those who feared Him and thought on His name. Now, I have no clue what was in that book. Maybe it was the names of those faithful ones who feared Him and thought on His name. Maybe it was what they were saying. We don’t know, but what we do know is that God took notice that His children were hurting and wrote it in His personal diary.

So far, I’m pretty encouraged with that. But wait, there’s more.

3. The day is coming.

God says in verse 18, “The good times will return again. There will be a time when you see the righteous get rewarded and the wicked punished.” “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven. Judgment is coming. And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble. They will get what they deserve. And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, That it shall leave them neither root nor branch. Both they and their legacy will be no more. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise With healing in his wings; And ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. In our terminology, ‘You gonna be blessed. A lot.’ And ye shall tread down the wicked; For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet In the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.”

For Israel, God’s promise of care pointed to the millennium, the first time in human history since the garden of Eden where the entire earth will be ruled justly. God’s answer to Israel was that the thousand-year kingdom, a time when the faithful saints will rule and reign with God, was coming. He promised the arrival of the Sun of Righteousness. Now you’ll notice that the verse says s-u-n sun, but it is capitalized. This is Jesus. Way back even in Malachi’s day, God was saying, the answer is Jesus. Messiah is coming. Yes, this world is full of wickedness and injustice and hurt and pain and unanswered questions, but there is an answer. And His name is Jesus. He is the S-o-n of God, the shining S-u-n of righteousness.

And friends, the questions haven’t changed much in the last 2,500 years have they? We still wonder if serving God is worth it. We still wonder if God hears. We still cry out to know that God cares. And you know what? That is ok. It’s ok to ask those questions. Because just like the questions haven’t changed, neither has God’s answer. The world and even sometimes religion itself looks at the problem, the paradox of good happening to bad people and bad happening to good people and comes up with nothing better than a feel-good pithy quote that wears off just a minute or two later. But God has an answer to our unanswerable questions, and His name is Jesus.

That perfect time period in which God will rule over all the earth has not arrived yet. When Israel crucified Jesus on that Roman cross, they effectively crucified their chance at being the generation that saw that come to pass. They rejected God’s kingdom offer. But that day is coming, and now we as the church have that same offer. We can find the same hope God gave Israel. What we see as an unanswerable question, God says was answered back in Malachi’s day.

Conclusion

About five years ago, I had the privilege of flying out to California to visit a couple of colleges. And on the way back, we had a layover from LA in Las Vegas before our redeye into Philly. When we boarded the plane, a rather strange sequence of events took place. I was with three other people, and none of us were scheduled to sit together. When I got to my seat, the gentleman beside me kind of awkwardly asked if I would be willing to trade seats with his wife who was a few rows up on the plane. I could tell he was really hoping I would, and so I agreed. When I sat down in my new seat, the seat beside me remained open almost until take off, and I had a pretty good guess of to whom it belonged. Another gentleman had been wandering back and forth in the plane, as if in a mental haze, totally unaware of where his seat was located. Surely enough, he finally sat down and introduced himself. We’ll say his name was Dave.

Dave and I struck up the usual uncomfortable airplane conversations, and then it died down for a while. He began to look around, and I pulled out my Bible. Noticing it, Dave asked why someone flying out of Las Vegas was reading a Bible. He and I began to talk, and he told me his story. He told me about his faithful Christian mom who for him represented all that was good and right in the world. He told me about how she had recently had a stroke. He told me about how she was paralyzed down the whole left side of her body now. And he asked how a good God could allow such a good person to go through such a bad time of life. I gave him the best answer I could—God hears. He is keeping track. And there is a perfect day coming when those who have accepted Him alone as Savior will have no more sickness, pain, or death.

Friends, the questions don’t change. Neither does the answer. Cry out to God. Ask the hard questions. He hears. He’s keeping record. And that perfect day is coming thanks to Jesus Christ. Where was God? Right here all along.