Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20090208.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Malachi: Replacing Spiritual Callousness With Insightful Sensitivity
Part IV: Exchanging Hopelessness Over Growing Apostasy With Respect For A Longsuffering God
(Malachi 2:17-3:6)
  1. Introduction
    1. In an era of growing apostasy, we can be tempted to become discouraged and adopt a view that leads to hopelessness in assuming that the wicked will never be judged and the good never rewarded.
    2. That attitude is actually an evil, for it fails to appreciate that God's attributes are so great, what may appear to be slackness on God's part to us is only His grace at work, a truth that Malachi 2:17-3:6 reveals:
  2. Exchanging Hopelessness Over Mounting Apostasy With Respect For A Longsuffering God.
    1. Malachi 2:17a charged the people of Israel of wearying the Lord with their words.
    2. Typical of the style of the book of Malachi, the prophet voiced Israel's response to this charge by saying, "How have we wearied Him?" (Malachi 2:17b)
    3. God then reported He was weary of Israel's claiming "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them" or "Where is the God of justice?" to cite Malachi 2:17c,d ESV. Thus, God was weary of hearing Israel complain that the wicked seemed able to practice their sins without accountability, that God was seen by faithless people as having failed to stay opposed to sin!
    4. To correct this errant view, God told of the severe judgment He would level against ALL sinners, 3:1-5:
      1. The Messiah anticipated by Israel Who would deliver the nation from her foes would truly come, and that after God had sent the Forerunner to prepare the way of the Lord to arrive, Malachi 3:1a. We know from the New Testament that this Forerunner was John the Baptizer, cf. Matthew 11:10.
      2. Then, the Messiah would suddenly appear at His temple (Malachi 3:1b), but He would come in judgment that was severe (Malachi 3:2), a sample of such judgment being given by Christ's purging the temple of the moneychangers at the start of His earthly ministry in John 2:13-17.
      3. However, the complete purging of Israel that has yet to occur that is described in Malachi 3:2-5 means this prophecy awaits its ultimate fulfillment in the Great Tribulation Period yet to come (as follows):
        1. God will purge the sons of Levi like gold and silver in the fiery trials of the Tribulation so they will offer sacrifices in righteousness unlike Malachi's era, Malachi 3:2-4 versus 1:6-14; cf. Rev. 15:2-4.
        2. God will then purge Israel of individuals who were sorcerers, adulterers, liars, financial oppressors who afflicted widows, orphans and aliens, people who no longer revered the Lord, Malachi 3:5.
    5. Thus, in view of this coming, comprehensive and severe judgment, God concluded that He remained changeless in His righteousness unlike fickle Israel both was and wrongly claimed Him to be, for only by God's changeless grace was Israel was not consumed in His justice, 3:6. This statement has two lessons:
      1. First, the reason God had not judged Israel's sinners was not because He had ceased being intolerant of sin as Israel charged in Malachi 2:17, but because He was LONGSUFFERING, cf. 2 Peter 3:3-4, 9.
      2. Second, God was gracious, explaining the reason ANYONE in Israel still survived was due to His covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant of blessing for a justified, sanctified Israel; He intended to keep that promise, meaning He had to work graciously and carefully to purge Israel without annihilating her!
    6. In application, Jesus' work of purging the temple in His day was very GRACIOUS in that He even stopped flogging the money changers, and did not eradicate all sinners in Israel at that time! No wonder John admitted of Jesus: "And of his fulness have we all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16), an expression that means "grace piled upon grace", Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to John 1:16!
Lesson: Malachi warned Israel to cease complaining that God was ceasing to be just for not having yet punished sinners who seemed to sin with boldness. God was opposed enough to sin that He could have eradicated every sinner in the nation, yet He was GRACIOUSLY working slowly and gently enough with Israel to fulfill His GRACIOUS COVENANT with Abraham to BLESS a PURIFIED Israel.

Application: (1) May we refuse to feel a sense of hopelessness due to the growth of apostasy around us, for God's GRACE is the ONLY reason He is not yet judging EVERY sinner SEVERELY! (2) Thus, may we test OURSELVES to see if we have sinned, and REPENT if guilty of sin in our OWN lives!