Turn to Malachi. We will read Malachi 1:1-6, Malachi 3:16-18, and Malachi 4:4-6.
The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
I have loved you, saith the Lord.
Yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob;
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
Whereas Edom saith, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and men shall call them the border of wickedness, and the people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.
And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel.
A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is Mine honor? and if I am a master, where is My fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise My name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised Thy name?
Then they that feared the Lord spake one with another; and the Lord hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name.
And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, even Mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.
Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, as we wait in Thy presence, we look to the Holy Spirit to breathe upon Thy written Word and make it living and operative in each of our lives. We commit ourselves to Thee for Thy Word. We ask, Lord, that by Thy Word we may be sanctified, transformed, and become those who truly satisfy Thy heart. We commit this time into Thy hands, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament. From the very beginning, when God created man, God has spoken to man. Hebrews 1:1 says that in former times God spoke to our fathers in many parts and in many ways through the prophets. Our God is One who speaks. He loves to reveal Himself to His people, that we may be blessed.
But unfortunately, we find how dull we are in hearing Him and in obeying Him. The Old Testament begins with Genesis, the book of beginnings. It begins with creation: the creation of man, and how God put man in the garden of Eden, the garden of pleasure, before the tree of life.
Yet when you come to the end of Genesis, you see a coffin resting in Egypt. Then you look at this last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. It begins with a marvelous, wonderful, glorious statement: God says, “I have loved you.” I think there is no announcement more glorious than this. Yet when you come to the end of Malachi, there is an awful, terrible word: curse.
Throughout the history of mankind, God is always faithful, and yet man always fails. As a matter of fact, you find there is really no hope in the first man and all that are of Adam. Our only hope is in the second Man, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, that leads us to the New Testament.
In order to understand the book of Malachi, we need to know a little about its background. Malachi means “My messenger.” We do not know whether this was the actual name of the prophet—probably it was—or whether the prophet took this title in order to hide himself and let the message he delivered be known by the people.
But one thing we do know: the burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel came to Malachi. God spoke to His people Israel through His prophet Malachi.
Time-wise, Malachi prophesied about a century after the remnant returned from Babylonian captivity. In God’s mercy, He allowed His people who were in captivity to return from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild His temple.
Unfortunately, most of the children of Israel remained in captivity. Only a remnant, whose spirit was stirred by God, was willing to be uprooted and return to Jerusalem, which was a city of ruin at that time, in order to build God a house.
This happened around 536 BC. The remnant returned under the joint leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. With the help of the two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, the temple was finally rebuilt.
Then, after about seventy years, Ezra came back with some people from captivity. Ezra came back to beautify the temple—that is, to strengthen the temple service—and also to teach the people the law of God.
About thirteen years after Ezra’s return, Nehemiah came back for the purpose of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. This was around 455 BC. Nehemiah was governor of Judah for about twelve years, and during those twelve years the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt.
Not only that, but the priesthood was strengthened. The people made a new covenant with God. There was quite a revival in the time of Nehemiah. If you read Nehemiah 10, you will see it was quite a revival, because they not only gave what God commanded them to give, but even gave what God had not commanded. They brought upon themselves the word offering and so forth.
But after twelve years of governorship, Nehemiah returned to the palace. During his absence—probably around ten years—the spiritual condition of all the remnant in Jerusalem and in the promised land greatly declined.
The priesthood was polluted. Marriage was dishonored. Tithing was forgotten. Religiously, they were guilty of sacrilege and profanity. Morally, they were guilty of sorcery, adultery, perjury, fraud, and oppression. Socially, they were unfaithful in their family responsibilities. Materially, they were unfaithful in bringing their tithes and offerings to God’s temple.
Within a very short period, great corruption and degeneration came among the children of Israel who were in the promised land. In His great love, God raised up Malachi around 433 BC to stir the heart of the remnant there.
At the same time, Nehemiah came back. In Nehemiah 13:4-31, after an absence of some years, he returned to Jerusalem, saw the situation, and dealt drastically with the condition. With Malachi, God dealt with the cause; with Nehemiah, He dealt with the effect. Through the combination of their work, there seemed to be some restoration.
We do not know how effective that restoration was. We only know that after that, God was silent for around four hundred years. God did not speak a word to His people until, four hundred years later, a voice suddenly came out of the wilderness: John the Baptist, calling God’s people to repent, for the kingdom of heaven was drawing near.
This is the background of the book of Malachi. It is a very unique book. Why? Because it is presented in a very strange form: the whole book is a debate.
There are two parties in that debate: God and Israel, represented by the returned remnant. The prophet spoke for God and, in a sense, for the people. The Word of God came to the prophet, and he delivered God’s Word to Israel. Yet through the Spirit, the prophet also exposed the heart of the remnant at that time. He put their thoughts into words—words they probably never spoke, but thoughts that were in their hearts.
The language is abrupt, naked, plain, and shocking. It reminds us of Isaiah 1:18:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.
Reasoning is a last resort that God has with His people. If there is love, if there is faith, if there is reverence for God, there is no cause for reasoning. The proper attitude of man, especially of God’s own people before God, is to bow before Him, humble ourselves, listen, and obey His Word.
For the creature to argue with his Creator is absurd. But because of His deep love for His people, God condescends Himself to our low level and tries to reason with us. Perhaps through His reasoning, some light may break through, that we may repent and be restored.
So you find that this is a very sad book: God has to reason with His people, and He finds His people so unreasonable that they will not even listen to His voice.
In Malachi there are seven rounds of debate. The first begins in Malachi 1:2:
I have loved you, saith the Lord.
But ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us?
Love is the issue. The relationship between God and man—between God and His people—is a relationship of love. Love is actually the focus of the whole debate. All the rest hinges upon that one point.
God is love. God always loves. He said, “I have loved you.” That means He loved them in the past, He loved them then, and He would continue to love them to the very end. God’s love is unchanging and everlasting. He loves not because we are lovable; He loves because He is love. His love is never affected by circumstances, because it comes out of what He Himself is.
The Lord said, “I have loved you.” What a statement. Can you feel the heart of God when He says that? Yet the people said, “Wherein hast Thou loved us?” In effect, they were saying, “You have not loved us. We do not know that You have ever loved us.”
Now remember who these people were. They were not people of the world who did not know God. They were not even the chosen people who chose to remain in captivity because they were interested in their own affairs and not interested in God’s affairs. They were the remnant who returned from captivity.
When they returned, they were stirred by the Spirit of God. They returned because they loved God above all things. They returned because they wanted to see God’s house built. They did not care whether they had a house or not; they cared for God’s house. They were willing to forsake everything for God.
In other words, they were people who loved God intensely and practically. They had forsaken all for the sake of love, because their hearts were stirred by the love of God.
They remembered how God loved Jacob. Jacob was a supplanter, a twister, a heel-holder, and yet God loved him so much. God was willing to spend time on him, be patient with him, and discipline him until He transformed Jacob into Israel, a prince of God.
Out of Jacob came the twelve sons and the twelve tribes; out of the tribes came the nation of Israel. How God loved that nation: He brought them out of Egypt and brought them into Canaan. The love of God is written upon the whole history of Jacob and the whole history of Israel. God brought them out of captivity not because they were good, but because God was merciful and faithful.
And brothers and sisters, for this people to say to God, “Wherein hast Thou loved us?”—is that not ridiculous?
God had to explain to them. He said, “Look, Jacob was Esau’s brother. They were twin brothers. But I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau.” Why? Not because Jacob was better than Esau. As a matter of fact, in Adam all are equal.
But somehow Jacob had an interest in spiritual things. He longed for the birthright, which is a spiritual thing. He longed for the blessing of the firstborn. But Esau loved the world. He loved what was immediate, and he was willing to sell his birthright.
Because Jacob responded, as it were, to God’s love, God loved him to the very end. Indeed, God disciplined him. He went through very hard times. Even when he stood before Pharaoh, he said that his life had been difficult. But God disciplined him to mature him and to bring him into sonship, into that birthright.
Esau was different. Outwardly, Esau may have been better than Jacob. He was carefree, open, straightforward, and rough. But he had no desire for God. He loved the world. Because of that, he was hated by God. God punished him, but Edom, which came from Esau, rebelled against God’s judgment. God said that no matter what Edom did, it would be destroyed.
God shows how much He loved Jacob and how much He loved Israel. Dear brothers and sisters, once you respond to the love of God, God will never let you go. Once you respond to God’s love, God will love you to the very end.
Even though you may depart from Him, go astray, or become hardened like the remnant at that time, love will still pursue you until He brings you back to Himself. That is the love of God.
You know, sometimes when we are surrounded by love, we become insensitive to love. Probably it needs a time when love is taken away before we begin to appreciate it.
I came from a family of love. My parents loved all seven children. But when I was at home, I never left home until the Lord called me out. I was surrounded by love, but at the time I did not realize how much my parents loved me.
Sometimes I thought my parents loved this one or that one better than they loved me, because I happened to be in the middle. Usually, you know, a mother may love the oldest son and a father may love the youngest daughter. But I happened to be in the middle.
Not until I left home after I finished college and the Lord called me out did I realize it. When I was away from home, living alone in the upper room of a gospel bookroom, suddenly one day the love of my parents came upon me. Suddenly I realized how much they loved me.
I could recall that when I was sick, my parents never sent the children to the hospital; they always nursed us back. When I was in college, sometimes I studied late in bed, fell asleep, and my mother would come at midnight and cover me. Suddenly their love just came upon me. I was so overwhelmed that I wrote them a letter to tell them how much I appreciated their love.
Oh, brothers and sisters, when you are surrounded by love, you forget that you are loved. God loved Israel so much. Their whole history was the story of God’s love to them. Yet they could say to God, “Wherein hast Thou loved us?” They forgot all the goodness of God. Probably all they remembered was God’s discipline.
They blamed God for all their distresses. Perhaps they wondered why God’s promises had not yet come, why they were still under Persian rule, why life was still hard, and where the blessings were that God had promised them. They did not know that they were under discipline—and that discipline was the discipline of love.
Brothers and sisters, first love is what God is really after. Does God have a controversy with us today? Are we not a people loved by Him? Have we not responded to His love?
Are you still daily constrained by the love of Christ? Or, when the love of God is mentioned, does it seem like ancient history—forgotten history? Where is our first love?
Do we love Him above all things? Are we willing to give up anything, everything, for Him? Do we still live for Him and not for ourselves? Where is our first love?
Has our heart become hardened to such a degree that we begin to wonder whether God loves us or not? Do we begin to say, “Wherein has He loved us? He has never loved us”?
The relationship between God and Israel is a relationship of love, like that of a husband and a wife. God was like a husband to them. He loved them so very much, but His love was not reciprocated by Israel.
Christ loved the church so much that He gave Himself for her. But does the church reciprocate that love to Christ? This is the first round of debate.
It did not seem to make any effect. In the second round, God says, in effect, “Even though you may forget that I am a husband to you, Israel My wife, at least you should remember that I am a Father to you.”
“You are what you are today because of Me. I am a Father to you. Now, as a Father, should I not be honored? A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am your Father, where is My honor?”
Let us not talk about love. Let us talk about honor. Do you respect Me? Do you honor Me as your Father, as One who nourishes you, cherishes you, brings you up, and supplies you with everything?
If you do not honor Me as a Father, let us go a step lower. Am I not your Master? Have I not redeemed you out of Egypt and taken you out of captivity in Babylon? At least I am your Master, and you are My servants. Where is your fear? If you do not honor Me, at least you should fear Me.
Especially, God speaks to the priests. The priests were set apart for the purpose of honoring God and sanctifying God. They stood for the holiness of God. They taught the people the law of God: that God is holy, that He needs to be honored, and that He needs to be feared.
But these priests had become so degenerate. They did not honor God. They did not fear God. They took the lead in despising God’s name. Think of that.
God’s name is holy. In the Ten Commandments, the third commandment is:
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
In other words, do not despise God’s name. Honor God’s name. Do not utter it idly, as people today may casually use the name of God as though it were nothing. They despise the name of God as though God is nobody and God is nothing.
Yet even the priests despised God’s name, and still they said, “Wherein have we despised Thee?” Why? Because God had become nobody to them. You do not despise nobody.
They looked down upon God to such a degree that He was just nothing to them. Therefore, they did not honor Him. They did not fear Him.
Brothers and sisters, how about us today? If we do not love God, at least we should honor Him and respect Him. If we do not respect Him, at least we should fear Him, for He is God.
Hallowed be Thy name.
That is a prayer our Lord Jesus taught His church to pray. Sanctified be Thy name. We are a people called by His name. In other words, the name of God is vested upon us. Whether that name is honored or dishonored seems to rest upon us.
Do we bring honor to God with our lives, or do we bring reproach to God with our lives? Look at the children of Israel. God’s name was brought into reproach because of what they were. Think of the whole church: do we give glory to His name, or do we bring shame to His name? Where are we?
When the heart is hardened, the mind is darkened. Ephesians says that people are alienated from the life of God, their understanding darkened, because of the hardness of their heart.
In the first round of debate, it is a matter of the heart. Love is a matter of the heart. In the second round, it is a matter of the mind. Do you understand? Do you know? But the remnant was so blinded that they despised God’s name and did not recognize it.
We often say that love is blind. In one sense, love covers a multitude of things. But there is another side: love brings in light. Where there is love, there is light. God is love, and God is light. But where love is missing, the light is gone. That is why the mind becomes darkened. It is a very sad situation.
The third round is in Malachi 1:7:
Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine altar.
And ye say, Wherein have we polluted Thee?
In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
God says, “You have offered polluted bread on My altar.” They reply, “Wherein have we polluted Thee?” Why? Because they regarded the table of the Lord as contemptible.
The priests were to offer sacrifices to God on the altar. According to the law of God, all these sacrifices had to be without blemish. All the offerings had to be pure. Why? Because all these sacrifices were types of Christ, the Lamb of God, holy and without blemish.
But at that time, what did they do? They offered to God the blind, the lame, and the sick. Even when they made a vow, when they performed that vow, they changed the sacrifice. They kept the best for themselves and gave the worst to God.
God said, “If you give such an offering to your governor, will he accept your person? Who am I, that you treat Me like this? I am a King.”
“Oh, that someone would shut the doors of the temple! I do not want them to offer, because I will not accept their persons. I am tired of it.”
Dear brothers and sisters, what had happened? The children of Israel, the returned remnant, and the priests were still offering sacrifices. But to them it had become a religious act, a formality, a custom. Their fathers had done it this way, so they thought they had to do it this way. There was no heart in it.
They simply went through the motions, and the priests became professionals. They kept the form of godliness without the power of it. It was all formality—religious formality—perhaps merely to bribe their conscience.
As a matter of fact, they thought nothing of it because the table of the Lord was contemptible to them. “What a weariness that we have to do these things.” Actually, God said, “I did not ask you to do these things. I wish you would close everything.” Yet they continued doing it.
But God said, “I know how to vindicate My name.”
From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering: for My name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.
You do not honor My name, and you pollute My table. But God says that from the rising of the sun to its setting, His name shall be great among the nations. Brothers and sisters, this has come about in the church.
Even though Israel did not honor, respect, or love God, and even despised God, God vindicated His name. Out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, God has raised a people for Himself. They are to bring to Him pure incense and spiritual sacrifices.
Are we not living stones, being built together into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ? This is what the church is.
What is a pure sacrifice? In reality, spiritual sacrifice is offering to God the Christ whom He has given to us and whom we have apprehended. That is spiritual sacrifice, because only Christ can satisfy God. Only He is God’s food.
When we try to present ourselves—the product of our own hands, out of our own energy, of the flesh—even the best, in God’s eyes, is the sick, the blind, and the lame. We pollute the table of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, in worship we worship Him in spirit and truth, not in our flesh. In prayer, we pray in the Spirit, not in our flesh. In service, we serve in the power of the Spirit, not in the energy of our flesh. These are pure incense and pure sacrifices.
Do we pollute the table of the Lord?
God said, “I made a covenant with Levi, a covenant of life and peace, that out of his mouth there might be the law of God.” God would discipline them until He obtained for Himself a spiritual and holy priesthood. That is the third round of debate.
The fourth round is found in Malachi 2:17:
Ye have wearied the Lord with your words.
Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied Him?
In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or where is the God of judgment?
Ungodliness produces unrighteousness. When people are not right with God, they cannot be right with man. The relationship of the returned remnant with God was wrong. They did not love God, honor God, or fear God. They despised His name. They offered polluted bread to God and thought nothing of it.
When they did that to God, what could you expect them to do to their fellow man? They began to oppress their fellow man. They committed forgery and fraud. They became unfaithful in marriage.
If you read Nehemiah 13, you find that when Nehemiah returned after his absence, the children of Israel had again begun to marry the daughters of the nations. They divorced their own wives and married strange women.
Yet they still came to the altar. They wept and moaned as though they were the most pious people in the world. They used their prayers to cover their sin. Hypocrisy. They were hypocritical people. They lived a double life.
Not only that, but they even said, “Everyone that does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them. Where is the God of judgment?” In other words, God was not in their eyes. God did not care. You could do anything you liked. God would not judge.
“After all, we are the chosen people of God. Nothing will happen to us.” But John the Baptist said, “Do not say that you are children of Abraham. God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” If you do not repent, being children of Abraham will not save you.
Brothers and sisters, you see the spirit of Phariseeism and Sadduceeism already there. The spirit of Phariseeism is maintaining an outward appearance as though one were the most pious person in the world, while in secret and in private one swallows the widow’s house.
They washed the outside of the vessels, while the inside was full of hypocrisy. That is one thing our Lord hated most. In His whole life, He pronounced woes upon the hypocrites, and He cursed the fig tree because there were leaves but no fruit—falsehood, no reality.
Then there was the spirit of Sadduceeism: unbelief. They did not believe in angels, spirit, or resurrection. Here the same spirit was already present. “Where is the God of judgment? He is nowhere. If there is a God, He does not care. He will never judge. We are chosen people. We have Abraham as our father.”
Not so. Not all Israel is Israel, but only those of faith. Brothers and sisters, where are we? God said, “You have wearied Me.” Oh, how we can wear down God, as it were. We have tested God’s patience.
What is our relationship with our fellow man? What is our relationship with our brothers and sisters? Are we faithful to our spouses? Do we live a double life, or a pure life before God and men?
Paul said that he lived before God and man with a conscience without offense. Where are we? Is our action the same as our word?
Round number five is found in Malachi 3:7:
From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from Mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.
But ye say, Wherein shall we return?
They said, “Where is the God of judgment?” God simply does not care. They did not know that it was the longsuffering and patience of God. One day judgment would come.
Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, He cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.
But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth?
For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
and He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
Dear brothers and sisters, the God of judgment will judge. Judgment does not come today because of His longsuffering. But when He judges, He will be like a refiner’s fire. He will sit as a refiner to purify the silver, taking away the dross so that the pure gold and silver may come forth.
Oh, brothers and sisters, in judgment there is mercy. According to what we are, we should all be consumed. There is nothing but dross, we would say. But thank God, in judgment there is mercy. God has put His life, Christ, in us. He will refine it and bring it out.
But God said, “Return unto Me. If you will only return to Me, I will return to you.” Yet they said, “Wherein shall we return? We have never gone astray. We are right.”
There is more hope for the prodigal son than for the elder brother. The prodigal son repented and returned. But the elder son thought he never needed to repent, and the result was that he remained outside the father’s house.
Dear brothers and sisters, where are we? Have we left our first love? Do we honor God as our Father? Do we fear Him as our Master? Do we despise His name, pollute His table, live as hypocrites, and commit the sin of unbelief? If so, be led to return, and God will return to us.
Round number six is in Malachi 3:8:
Will a man rob God? yet ye rob Me.
But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee?
In tithes and offerings.
God said, “You rob Me.” They said, “Wherein have we robbed You?” God answered, “In tithes and offerings.”
Tithing was a law God gave to the children of Israel: they were to give one tenth of all their income. The reason was to remind them that what they had was not theirs; it was given by God. They were stewards, not owners.
Tithing is to remind people that they are stewards, not owners. But the returned remnant withheld their tithes. They did not bring the tithe to the storehouse of God. Because of this, the Levites and priests, who lived on the tithe, had to go back and till their fields, and the temple service was neglected.
What is an offering? An offering is a love offering. When you are moved by the love of God and want to devote something to God, you give it as a gift to God. This offering ought to be the best, not a leftover.
God said, “You rob Me. If you bring the tithes and offerings into My storehouse, and try Me, I will open the windows of heaven and pour down My blessing upon you until there is no room to receive it.”
Dear brothers and sisters, I read somewhere—I forget who said it—that we are very careful to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, because if we do not, the IRS will be after us. But we are not careful to render to God what is God’s.
It is not necessary that you rob God of money, though you may. You may rob God of your time. You may rob God of your life. You may rob God of the gift He has given you. You may rob God of the grace He has given you. We can rob God in many ways.
Who can say that he has never robbed God—that he has always rendered to God what is God’s? Our life belongs to Him. Have we rendered our life to Him as our offering?
All the gifts God has given us—we are stewards. Whether they are spiritual gifts or material gifts, we are stewards. Are we faithful in serving Him? Have we come to such a place that we rob God and are not conscious of it?
How sad when God has to contend with His people and say, “You have robbed Me.” Round seven is found in Malachi 3:13:
Your words have been stout against Me, saith the Lord.
Yet ye say, What have we spoken against Thee?
Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
Here you find the returned remnant had degenerated to such a degree that, from leaving their first love, they had fallen into open rebellion. Their words were stout against God—hard words. “What is the use of serving God? What profit do we have in serving Him?”
They were in open rebellion against God, and yet they were so insensitive that they did not know it.
But God said, “Under such circumstances, I still have a people—a remnant out of the returned remnant—those who still fear My name, who still mention My name, and who encourage one another in the fear of the Lord.”
“I am listening. I am observing. I am writing in My book. I remember them. I will consider them My peculiar treasure. I will spare them as one spares his only son, for the day when judgment shall come.”
Dear brothers and sisters, God never fails. Men may fail, but God never fails. He will still have His people who fear Him, honor Him, and love Him. Even though it may be a remnant out of the remnant, they will be a peculiar people to God, a treasure to Him.
God will be honored. Oh, that we may be among this people. When Christ returns, He will be like the sun of righteousness with healing in His wings.
After the seven rounds of debate, God concludes the debate with His final word in Malachi 4:4-6: “Remember the law of Moses. I will send Elijah to come.”
What does this mean? Moses represents the law, and Elijah represents the prophets. What do the law and the prophets teach?
In Matthew 22:37-40, a lawyer came to test our Lord and asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” The Lord said:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets.
In other words, that is all the debate is about. Remember Moses. Think of Elijah. Repent. Return to love. That is what God wants.
The last message of the Old Testament is a message of repentance. When you open the New Testament, the first message is also a message of repentance.
When you come to the last book of the New Testament, you find that the message through the seven churches is the same: repent, return to first love, because God is love.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, do speak to us. Make us sensitive to Thee, that we may repent and return, and be recovered to the first love that Thou art seeking for. May Thy heart be satisfied, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.