Malachi 2:17-3:6 - "Wearying and Wounding God"

Introduction

Malachi 2:17–3:6 ESV

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?” 1 “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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. 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. 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Message Introduction

Message Outline

Message Exposition

The complaints about the Lord’s injustice

Malachi 2:17 ESV

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?”

Think of the ways we wound and weary God

Our complaining mouths are in overdrive and our worshipful spirits are in neutral

Complaints - God is unfair and unfaithful

Haggai, Malachi 4. Situation: Complaints of the Lord’s Injustice (2:17)

a sign of God’s unfairness or unfaithfulness

God is unjust

God is negligent

God is not being faithful to His covenant

Does God change? Wearying God?

Westminster Confession (2.2): God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever Himself pleaseth.

Haggai, Malachi 4. Situation: Complaints of the Lord’s Injustice (2:17)

But Malachi’s audience had concluded (as we sometimes do), in effect, that God was either unjust or negligent—either way, he was not being faithful to his covenant. No wonder the Lord was weary of them! (Cp. Moses’ complaint of “the burden of all these people” in Num 11:11–17.)

The term “weary” (ygʿ) can refer to being physically spent as a result of prolonged labor, travel, or other activity. It can also refer to emotional disturbance (i.e., a sense of being annoyed) or exhaustion resulting from the persistent stresses, sorrows, and trials of life (cf. Pss 6:6; 69:3; Isa 49:4; Jer 45:3). In the sense of having diminished physical or emotional energy, the Lord cannot become “weary”; he is a source of strength to the weary (Isa 40:28–31). But since being “weary” may imply prolonged and often unpleasant activity that is soon to stop, the verb can be used figuratively of God. His weariness represents the fact that God’s patience is near an end, as it had also been in Isa 43:22–24, a passage to which Malachi may be alluding.

Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. You have not brought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.

The term, then, vividly conveys God’s patient and gracious endurance of their rebellious and insulting attitude toward him and that the time for his patience is almost over.

God’s answer - God did not have to do this, but He did

God sends His messenger to prepare the way for the Messiah (Malachi 3:1a)

Prepare the Way by preparing hearts

Prepare the Way by preaching repentance

God sends His Messiah to cleanse His people and condemn the wicked (Malachi 3:1b-6)

The Messiah will come in human flesh

The Messiah will save and sanctify His people

Hope for broken sinners

The refiner’s fire

A transformed people

Iain M. Duguid & Matthew P. Harmon (Duguid, I. M., & Harmon, M. P. (2018). Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (p. iii). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.)

The Messiah will judge the wicked

Coming…Purifying…Vindicating

Our response

I will come myself

God does not start out by talking about what he will do; he begins with who he is.

LORD - Jehovah

God is the bringer and keeper of the covenant

Great, good, gracious

Justice and righteousness

What will the messenger do?

Judge

Make a distinction

Rejecters

Receivers

God promises to refine us and purify us

Why? Because he loves you. Because you are more valuable to him than gold

We wound and weary God

To answer that, God gives us a word of hope

Send

Small m capital M

Save and Set apart

Sanctification

Humble and Hopeful

Cleanse versus Consumed

Discussion Questions

What new thoughts have you had since reading and studying the passage or from hearing James’s message?

What verse from this passage will you commit to meditate on and memorizing this week? Write it down. Share it with others.

Bringing It Home

Pondering the Passage:

What is the main point of the passage?

Learn

What did I learn?

Where has my thinking, beliefs, and values been challenged in this passage?

Do I find any of the characteristics ways of thinking or behaving of the ungodly in my life?

List and describe those areas in which I struggle.

Love

What does this passage teach me about God?

Has my thinking about God changed?

How have I learned to love God more and others selflessly as a result of this passage?

Have I learned ways that I have acted unlovingly towards others that I must change?

Live

What are the practical steps that I can take to apply to what I have learned in this passage?

Where must I change?

What do I need to repent and confess?

How will pondering and personalizing this passage change how I live my life today and moving forward?

Praying the Passage (ACTS)

What specific things can I pray adoring God because of what I learned in this passage?

What specific things do I need to confess based on what I learned from this passage?

What specific things do I need to thank God for based on what I learned from this passage?

What specific things do I need to request in prayer (supplication) based on what I learned from this passage?