February 23, 2023

Malachi 3:1-6  (HCSB)
3 “See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and like cleansing lye. 3 He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old and years gone by. 5 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts. 6 “Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

Janet Koontz
As we read the first part of Malachi chapter 3, we see that even in Malachi’s time there were scoffers just as we have scoffers against God's word today. But Malachi answers the scoffers of those days letting them know about the coming of a messenger, who we know is John the Baptist, to prepare a way for Christ’s coming. God spoke this promise through Malachi. Will God remember Malachi’s promise? God not only will remember, but He also wrote it down. Today's Christians hold fast to the promises God gives us through the New Testament of Christ coming back. God also responded to Israel’s complaint that God seemed to be rewarding the wicked and wasn’t exercising His justice in the world. Hmmm... that sounds familiar to what we hear some complaining about today. But as God promised to set things right by sending His Messiah, so is the same when Christ comes back to call us home. He will set things right in the world today.