“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
MALACHI 3:1 (NIV)
Malachi shares with us the essence of conversations between God and the people he had brought out of captivity; the people who had rejoiced at the rebuilding of the temple; the people who, in a short space of time, had forgotten the power of their God and the deprivations of captivity. The prophet’s own voice is largely silent as he records the anger, sadness, and evident love of the Lord God, and the indifference and arrogance of the people who worship him in name only. The very fact that the people feel enabled to challenge God’s criticisms speaks of their perception. In their eyes he is no longer a God who intervenes in their lives, whose promises are sure, and who has all power. They question his love for them: “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ ” (Malachi 1:2).
God reserves special criticism for the priests when he reminds them of their God-given responsibility: “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble…” (Malachi 2:7-8).
Within this society, disengaged from their promised destiny and filled with corrupt practices, there is enormous comfort in the comment, ‘Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts…’. There
was a remnant who supported and encouraged each other – and when they prayed, ‘…the Lord listened and heard them…’ (Malachi 3:16,17 NKJV).
Jesus had similar words for the religious leaders of his day – offerings were compromised (Matthew 23:23); the temple was no longer the sanctuary it was intended to be (Matthew 21:13); the poor and disadvantaged were neglected. The Messiah, promised in Malachi, had not come – but even in this situation, there remained a ‘remnant’ There are the excited words of Andrew to his brother, before he became Jesus’ disciple, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). He was part of a remnant who waited with hope for that Messiah, and clung to the gift of the scriptures that God spoke of in Malachi’s writings. They waited for that moment as prophesied in Malachi’s words, even after 400 years of a history devoid of a saviour, ‘ “Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.’ (Malachi 3:1).
Prayer Father, in a world that has, in many ways, turned its back on you and the gift of your word, please strengthen us to remain faithful, to pray to a Father we know is listening, to speak comfortingly to one another as we wait for the ret