Coming to Judge
Malachi 3:1-4
Tony’s Overview Video
How to Use
Preparing to teach
- Read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge in this month’s issue of the Nurturing Faith Journal
- Watch Tony’s Video for this session
- Select either the Adult or Youth teaching guide and follow the directions
Click to read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge
Key Verse: Malachi 3:2a –
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
There’s a picture in my mind of an old tin tub, filled with water, warming in the sun. It sat inside the L-shaped corner of the back porch of my great-grandmother’s house, where my parents and I lived the first three years of my life. I don’t remember much about the frequency of those baths: just that mental image of the tin tub in the sun.
When we moved to a house that had indoor plumbing, my mother saw to it that we used it far more often than Saturday night. She believed that boys should be clean before they went to bed, so taking baths was a nightly ritual.
Maybe that’s why I grew up liking the idea of being clean. I’m happy to get dirty when I mow the lawn or power wash the patio or go on an archaeological dig – but once the job is over I’m ready to get clean, and it feels so good to wash away the dirt and the sweat. It’s one of life’s simple pleasures.
Misguided questions (5:17)
The prophet Malachi was concerned with dirt of the spiritual kind. [DD] He knew people might smell like a rose on the outside, but a peek inside would show a shriveled soul covered with grime. We know people like that, too. Sometimes we see them in the mirror. [DD]
When Malachi was proclaiming God’s word to the people of Judah long before the coming of Christ, he insisted that those who wanted to meet and follow the new Messiah must be people who are clean in mind and heart.
Who was Malachi? He lived and worked during the postexilic period. His work appears to follow that of Haggai and Zechariah and the rebuilding of the temple (515 BCE), but long enough afterward for the renewed worship to grow stale and the people to grow impatient that their lives weren’t any better.
“Malachi” means “my messenger,” which might be an unlikely name for a child, so it’s often thought that the prophet adopted the name for the purposes of his prophecy.
The book of Malachi consists of six “disputations” in which Malachi states a principle or asks a rhetorical question, quotes a typical response from the people, and then restates the principle, adding words of judgment. The people were facing hard times and apparently trusting in a belief that God would come to earth at the “Day of the LORD” and set all things right. [DD]
Our text is the fourth of the six disputations: Malachi wanted the people to know that God’s coming would not necessarily be good news: he saw them as corrupt and in need of cleansing discipline before any blessings would come their way.
Today’s text begins with a claim that “You have wearied the LORD with your words” (5:27a). Malachi had heard too much complaining that God was not acting, but saw too little repentance that might spark a divine response.
But the people were blind to the inconsistency: “Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?”
Malachi’s response was bruising: “By saying, ‘All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.’ Or by asking, ‘Where is the God of justice?’” (5:27b).
The people had lost the ability to discern good from evil, Malachi declared. They had become so spiritually blind that they blamed the hard times they were facing on God’s failure to “do justice” by them.
A coming messenger (3:1)
In response to the people’s misguided expectations, Malachi launched into a prediction that would bring little comfort. Popular prophets and possibly priests had nurtured a persistent belief in a coming “day of the LORD” when God would defeat all enemies and shower blessings upon Israel, delivering the people from their oppression. [DD]
Malachi had a different vision of what they should expect. Speaking for God, he said “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight – indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts” (3:1).
The word translated as “my messenger” (mal’aki) is identical to the name adopted by the prophet, but does not refer to him. Exactly who is intended is unclear. (See “The Hardest Question” online for more). Looking back through a New Testament lens, readers most commonly assume that John the Baptizer fulfilled the role of the messenger who prepares the way, with Jesus being the Lord to come. Jesus’ initial coming, however, does not fit Malachi’s prediction that the Lord would “suddenly come into his temple” – especially in the way described in the following verses.
Later, Malachi gives the impression that he has Elijah in mind: “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes” (4:5). A New Testament tradition has Jesus identify John as “Elijah who is to come,” apparently referencing Mal. 3:1 and 4:5. This does not mean Jesus believed in reincarnation, but that John filled the role of the predicted messenger. [DD]
While New Testament readers may see Jesus as the coming “Lord,” there’s little doubt that Malachi thought of the Lord who would “come into his temple” as being Yahweh, and that coming would result in judgment. This does not fit with the coming of Jesus, unless we are to think of the crucifixion as being a general judgment on sin: Malachi had something more specific in mind.
A cleansing visit (3:2-5)
The people had asked “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17), as if they had begun to wonder where God was, or even if God still existed. Malachi was not so sure they really wanted God to show up: “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” (v. 2a), he asked.
“For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years” (vv. 2b-3).
Here Malachi used the metaphors of a fire that burns away the dross from precious metals and strong lye that makes garments clean to describe a judgment that does not destroy outright, but cleanses.
Since Malachi believed the priests had become corrupt and had led people astray, he saw them as the first target of the Lord’s cleansing actions. Only when the religious leaders had been purified could the offerings in the temple be pleasing to God (3:4).
The God of justice people had longed for would come, Malachi insisted, but they might not like God’s justice. The same word (mishpat) translated as “justice” in 2:17 is rendered as “judgment” in 3:5 – “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”
Priests were not the only ones facing judgment, for Malachi lists sample sins that were apparently prevalent, but which violated the covenant. The term “sorcerers” could be used for anyone who claimed clairvoyance or magic powers, taking money from the gullible in return for their false services.
Equally guilty were those who destroyed marriages through the adultery, oblivious to the pain their self-gratification brought. Likewise, Malachi condemned those who swore falsely rather than speaking truth, people who could lie with a straight face and somehow think that blatant deception is acceptable behavior.
Note the emphasis Malachi puts on social injustice, comdemning wealthy employers who refused to pay workers appropriate wages, those who oppressed widows and orphans, and those who “thrust aside” immigrants and refugees rather than helping them.
Could there be a stronger indictment of our own society, one in which adultery is rampant, lies are pervasive, millions of workers aren’t paid a living wage, and desperate immigrants are turned away?
Note the last thing on the list: “those who do not fear me.” Those who put selfish interests first and dare claim God’s blessing on their actions have lost all real interest in obeying or pleasing the true God; only the selfish or nationalistic god of their own making.
Malachi’s word is clear: The Lord is coming, both to cleanse those who repent, and to expose those who don’t. Those who are wise will open their hearts and lives to God’s cleansing power, rather than waiting to take their chances on the day of judgment.
That last day of judgment has not yet come for those who live. Yet, each of us faces our own day of reckoning when we die, and none of us know when that day will come. When we hold out in our sin, assuming that we can always repent just before we die, we must realize that we are gambling with grace.
The Advent season reminds us to prepare our hears for the Lord’s appearing. If we would get out the spiritual soap and scrub brushes of repentance and renewal, our hearts and lives could be as bright and shining as the lights of Christmas. And oh, how good that would feel!
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Malachi 3:1-4
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
There are three things that are on every packing list that I have ever created for a youth trip: toothpaste, deodorant, and soap. Everything else is negotiable, but we all need to be clean and smell presentable. Maybe this comes from having my grandmother’s words “cleanliness is next to godliness” instilled into my head. Maybe it is because I have smelled youth after they have been running around and serving all day. We want our students to be clean, both physically and spiritually, but you can scrub so hard it hurts. As you help your students be “spiritually” clean, don’t rub too hard. You don’t want to leave scars.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Malachi 3:1-4
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
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“Fixing Woody” from Toy Story 2
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