Malachi 3:16 – 4:6
Malachi, like his fellow prophets, rooted his understanding of the present in his convictions about the future. Because we can know the future, because we can see what will be, we can understand the reason why we are called to live as we are in the present moment. The book of Malachi is filled with that kind of insight. They feared God; they revered his name.
Malachi is a short book, but it uses one particular phrase 24 times. The phrase is repeated so often that it almost fades into the background; we become so used to it we almost stop hearing it. That phrase is, "the Lord of Hosts," the Lord Sabaoth. Those words mean that Yahweh is the Lord of armies. It is a dread and powerful way of describing our Lord. He is the victorious master of a great army the angelic host arranged behind him, his servants in bright array that will sweep aside his foes. Our awesome God deserves to be treated with respect, with fear.
The people who love their Lord, both in ancient times and today, speak of him. Whether in a formal worship service, or in the ordinary course of events, at work, in the homes, those who love the Lord are willing to praise him, reach out to one another with words of encouragement about him, to hold his name up to honor.
What we should focus on is the last phrase of Mal.3:16, where it says, ''those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name.'' The idea behind the word ''to esteem'' is to critically think about, to judge, to make a decision. I think what the prophet may be suggesting here is that these people not only spoke about the Lord in the ordinary course of their day, but they also thought about him in all the events that befell them. When they looked at current events they wondered what God was doing, what was in his heart and mind as the events of the day passed before them.
What about us? When we interact in business do we think about the Lord, about the ramifications of Christian truth for a certain business transaction? We must learn to think Christianly, in the phrase that is becoming more familiar to us; to take thoughts captive to the Lordship of Christ. Esteem for the Lord in this sense means that in every environment we think critically about the Lord and about the ramifications of his truth for the way we live. Three things then characterized the people in the Book of Malachi: they feared God; they spoke about him; they thought of him. Can we say the same?
The last three verses of Malachi give us something to ponder upon. Remember that the book of Malachi tells us that by knowing the future we can deal with the present. We have been told clearly by this prophet, as we have been told clearly for years in our lives, about who the Lord is; what the future holds, that he is coming for us, that we can trust him in these things. We need to make a choice: have we prepared the way?
O mighty and righteous God,
May we be the kind of people who repent, who fear the Lord rather than test him; people for whom the coming dawn will bring healing, not ashes. May we open our hearts, minds and doors in preparing the way of our Lord. Amen.
Amy Inghram
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