Malachi begins his message to Israel by assuring them that God loves them:
1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 2 I have loved you, saith the LORD.
Why does he do that?
It helps if we understand the historical situation.
As noted in the previous post, when Judah returned from the Babylonian Exile, two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, brought messages from God to them. The first message was to rebuild the Temple despite opposition from the local non-Jews. But both prophets included a look into the future, promising that God would bless his people, and that all nations of the earth would bring their treasures to Jerusalem and worship there (Hag 2.7; Zec 14.16-21).
Now, we know that this promise is long-term—so long-term, in fact, that it still hasn’t happened. Premillennialists (of which I am one) believe that this will happen in the future Millennial Kingdom (Re 20.1-6), when Christ reigns on earth for a thousand years (hence the name).
But these returnees had no idea that it would be that long. We know that over the next four centuries (what we call the Intertestamental Period) Messianic expectations would be at a fever pitch. Some speculate that the reason Judas betrayed Jesus was that he was not overthrowing the Roman overlords and establishing his kingdom. And after Jesus’ resurrection, even the remaining disciples apparently expected that Now Is The Time for the kingdom to come on earth (Ac 1.6). And even then Jesus said that it was not yet time (Ac 1.7-8).
Now, from our lofty perch here millennia later, we may be tempted to look down on these misguided folks as overly eager and slow to comprehend. But I suspect that all of us would have had similar expectations at the time. The prophets of the return said that this new Temple would be something really great, specifically because God was going to make Jerusalem a global focus (Hag 2.3-9). I’m not going to criticize the returnees for believing him.
Well, as we all know, that didn’t happen. That doesn’t mean God was mistaken or was deceiving them; lots of biblical prophecy has very long-term fulfilment. Given their disappointment, what would be a natural response?
“Welp, I guess it’s not gonna happen.”
And what’s a predictable next response? Disappointment with God, a decline of spiritual focus, frustration with the way things are currently going. Oh, maybe make your sacrifices, but don’t knock yourself out—don’t sacrifice your best animals—and don’t take it all that seriously. Already tried that, and it didn’t work.
And that’s exactly what we’ll see Malachi dealing with in his brief prophecy.
Now, before we get to that, it’s worth thinking for a minute about how they should have responded.
What do you do when God makes a promise but takes his time fulfilling it?
A couple of things.
- First, you remind yourself that God is not a stranger. You know him. You have asked him for things, and he has answered. Even when you have not asked, he has been abundantly gracious to you, giving you everything you really need. Do you trust your friends? Of course. Why? Because they have proved themselves trustworthy. It’s not naive to trust your long-time friends.
- Second, you look to the Scripture to see further evidence of his trustworthiness. He has made promise after promise that has been fulfilled, from the seed of the woman (Ge 3.15) to the Abrahamic Covenant (Ge 15.1-21) and well beyond. He has predicted scores of things about the first advent of Messiah; why should he be unreliable about the second?
As we’ve noted, Jesus himself taught just before his Ascension that it was not yet time for the Kingdom. But earlier he had said, “Occupy till I come” (Lk 19.13; cf Lk 19.11-27).
They should have believed him, and they should have continued to work for the future kingdom.
As should we.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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