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Malachi 3:6–18  “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. “You have said harsh things against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’ ” Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

 “I the Lord do not change.” The constancy of God can be a comforting thing and a frightening thing. Frightening because we know that He is a just God and punishes evil doers. But it is comforting because we know that He is also gracious and merciful and does not count our sins against us when we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior.

Part of the constancy of God is that He keeps reminding us who He is, as he does here through Malachi. Another thing He reminds us of is our failings, our shortcomings, our sins. He does this not to simply make us feel bad. He wants us to turn from our sins and back to Him. His desire is that we live our lives in response to His goodness. He wants us to recognize that we truly are His “treasured possession” and reflect that in the way we live our lives.

In this chapter, Malachi points out that people are not returning a portion of what God has given to then back to the Lord to show their gratitude. They are not asked to give anything that was not already given to them by God. The tragedy is that people deprive themselves of even greater blessings from God when they do not live their lives as He encourages us to do. You can never out-give God. The one who gave His life so that you could have forgiveness and life everlasting continues to bless us.

Of course you will see people who do not fear God who have lots of worldly wealth and that doesn’t seem fair. That is Satan trying to distract you from the wealth you already have in Jesus. You’ve got a Savior, whose birth we are about to celebrate, and God continues to shower down blessings upon you, His treasured possession.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Malachi 3:1–5 ¹ “See, 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. ² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, ⁴ and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. ⁵ “So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

In Advent we prepare. That was also what the messenger promised here in Malachi would call people to do. And that promised messenger was fulfilled with the coming of John the Baptizer. He prepared the way for the Lord, the “messenger of the covenant,” Jesus Himself. Jesus would not only fulfill the covenant that God had made, but he would establish a new covenant, a new testament, which was also promised in the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ³¹ “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. ³² It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. ³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ³⁴ No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Getting back to John the Baptizer…his job was to tell the people to get ready. Prepare yourselves. Something awesome, something you have been waiting for a long time, is about to arrive. Jesus had already been born and lived for about three decades, but now it was time for Him to being what we know as His “public ministry.” He had already been living a life without sin, but now He was making Himself known as God’s promised Messiah. He was calling out sin and offering forgiveness. He would be the sacrifice to pay for all sin. This was what the world needed, what God’s people had long awaited.

The message to prepare during Advent reminds us to get ready to remember and celebrate the arrival of that Messiah in Bethlehem. God with us, come to save us. Because of Jesus, God forgives our wickedness and remembers our sins no more. The promise fulfilled. Prepare.

The last book of the Old Testament is one of those classified as a “Minor Prophet.”  I like to remind people that this classification has to do with the length of the book, not the importance of the message. It is still God’s Word that is being shared with His people through His servant Malachi.

This prophecy was addressed to those who had returned to Israel after the Babylonian captivity. They were trying to rebuild their lives in their homeland under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. At one point Nehemiah went back to serve the Persian King. When he returned to Jerusalem he found the same sins addressed by Malachi, which is why we think the prophecy was written in this time frame, around 433 B.C.

Today let’s consider the message shared in Malachi chapter two. Take a moment right now to read the entire chapter before going on.

God is once again “calling out” the disobedient. He starts with the Priests, the ones who were to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. He says they have not been faithful in their duties even though God has been faithful to His people. The Lord points out that the Priests are not being reliable teachers of His Word to the Children of Israel.

He then condemns those who are marrying people outside the faith, taking wives from the pagans. This led people to fall away from the worship of the God who had made them His chosen people, the one who rescued them from Egypt, the one who promised to send a Messiah for all nations. And even though God’s plan and desire for marriage is that it be a life-long union between one man and one woman, His people were making divorce more and more commonplace.

This chapter concludes with these words:

Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

“All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord.” There really is nothing new under the sun. People still try to maintain that their sin is acceptable. We attempt to justify our terrible behavior, but do so on the basis of our own judgment, not God’s Word. And that is wearisome to the Lord. It is a problem.

There is a solution. In spite of man’s foibles and follies, God is faithful. He kept His promise. He sent the one who would pay for all sin, including the ones condemned through the prophet Malachi. Jesus did that for everyone. That gives us true comfort and peace, which will never be found in trying to justify ourselves and our sinful behavior.

Last night we sat by our fire pit and watched the sunset. We don’t do that often enough. It was a beautiful sight. Last month a wrote a devotion about the beauty of the sun setting, sharing a picture my brother-in-law took, and based it on Psalm 113, which says:

Psalm 113:3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

When we came back into the house I was looking for other passages that talk about the sun rising and setting. One of them is in the book of Malachi. That led me to read the entire book, and I thanked God for leading me to a message I needed to hear this Advent season. The next several days of devotions will be sharing some of my thoughts as I read through the book of Malachi.

As I said, Malachi mentions the sun setting.

Malachi 1:11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

That sounds like a great thing, that people everywhere will acknowledge that the Lord is God, the one in control, and they will give Him the praise and glory He deserves. It is a wonderful thing. But this passage is in the middle of a chapter where God, through his prophet, is calling His people out for their lack of faithfulness. He is dressing them down for the inferior offerings that they are bringing to the Temple.

Take a moment right now to read Malachi chapter one.

God is not pleased with His people offering less than their best to Him. Sacrifices were supposed to be healthy and unblemished animals, but that was not what they were bringing. How often do we do the same?

During Advent we prepare to celebrate the arrival of God giving His best to us. He gave us His Son, who lived a perfect life, unblemished  by sin, so that He could offer that for the sins of the world. John the Baptizer identified Him as such:

John 1:29 “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

He came for the world, which is why we anticipate His name being great among the nations everywhere in this world.

As part of my Advent preparations, I am asking God to help me remember that I should always offer Him my best as a response of gratitude to Him having given me His best in the gift of Jesus as my Savior. I want the place I live to be a place where His name is great.

A beautiful sunset was my reminder.

II PETER 3:8-9 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Life is made up of periods of waiting. The child must wait until she is old enough to have a bicycle. The young girl must wait until she is old enough to drive a car. The medical student must wait for her diploma, the young employee waits for a promotion. An expectant mother waits for the child to be born. A young couple waits for the day they can afford to buy a new home. Life is full of waiting. It comes easier to some than to others. The art of waiting is not learned all at once.

I think people were more patient 100 and 200 years ago. They had to be more patient — they had no choice. If a man missed his stage coach, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Oh well. Another one will be along in a couple of weeks.” Compare that to the young executive who curses and causes a scene at the airport when his flight is delayed by 30 minutes. Back then, if you ordered something through the mail, you might wait months for it to arrive. Now we expect overnight shipping. We live in a world of instant everything. We have become accustomed to having everything fast, from fast food to the Ten Minute Oil change. Perhaps communications is the place where our need for instant gratification is most obvious. We send a text and expect an immediate response. We ask Siri or Google a question and expect and instantaneous answer.

Obtaining so many things in our world today without the wait has made us more impatient than we were. Isn’t it amazing how we can get so wrapped up in ourselves and our own importance that we fail to see those around us as people, too? We act as though our schedules and appointments are the only things that matter. Patience is for other people. We want them to be patient with us, but they better not expect us to be patient in return. And they certainly better not be slow in doing what we want done!

This was the attitude Peter addressed in the passage above. The people were confusing slowness and patience. What they saw as God’s slowness to act was actually His patience. Part of our focus during Advent is on the return of Jesus to this world, coming as the Righteous Judge who will take the faithful to be with Him. You and I live in the confidence that because Jesus died on the cross and rose again, we will be with Him as His sheep when He returns. God promises that our faith obtains this blessing. But when will that be? Why hasn’t He come yet? Those questions were being asked already just a few years after Jesus ascended into heaven. They knew of His promise to come again, and were anxiously awaiting that return. The non-believers also knew of this promise, and they jeered and joked about it: “Where is this coming He promised?”  This made those who were faithful even more anxious for Jesus to return. They began to think that maybe God was being slow in keeping His promise. They were becoming impatient.

Peter explains here that there is a difference between slowness and patience. Yes, the Redeemer is going to reappear. But you have to understand that God is not in time. What we see as an unbearably long time is but an instant to our God. And it is not just the fact that God is outside the realm of time that has brought this delay. He is patiently giving more and more people the chance to repent and believe in Jesus. The longer He delays His return, the more chances we are given to share the Gospel message with those who have not heard and those who do not believe. And you know as well as I do that there are plenty of those folk. All around us. People who need to be brought to faith. So God is being patient.

There was a blackout, so I went to the closet and fumbled around to find the candles. I lit four of them. I was turning to leave with the largest one in my hand when I heard a voice, “Now, hold it right there!”

 “Who said that?”

 “I did.” The voice was near my hand.

 “Who are you? What are you?”

 “I’m a candle.”

 I lifted it up to take a closer look. There was a tiny little face in the wax, and it said, “Don’t take me out of here.”

 “What?”

“I said, ‘Don’t take me out of here.’”

“What do you mean? I have to take you out! You’re a candle and your job is to give light. It’s dark out there and I need you.”

 “But I’m not ready,” the candle pleaded. “I need more preparation.”

 I could not believe my ears. “More preparation?”

“Yes, I’ve decided to research this job of light giving so I won’t go out there and make a bunch of mistakes. You’d be surprised how distorted the glow of an untrained candle can be…”

“All right, then,” I said. “You are not the only candle on the shelf. I blow you out and take the others.” But right then I heard the other voices: “We aren’t going, either!”

I turned to the candles and said, “You are candles and your job is to light dark places!”

“Well, that may be what you think,” said the first one. “You may think we have to go, but I’m busy. I’m meditating on the importance of light. It is very enlightening.”

“And you other two?” I asked. “Are you going to stay here, too?”

A short, fat, purple candle with plump cheeks spoke up. “I’m waiting to get my life together. I’m not stable enough to go out there and shine.”

The last candle had a female voice, very pleasant to the ear. “I’d like to help,” she explained, “but lighting the darkness is not my gift. I’m a singer. I sing to other candles to encourage them to burn more brightly.”

She began a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine” The other three joined in, filling the closet with singing….I took a step back and considered the absurdity of it all. Four perfectly healthy candles singing to each other about light but refusing to come out of the closet.

Someone sent me that parable years ago. I don’t know the author. But I thought it appropriate for this time of year when we see so many candles everywhere as part of the seasonal decorations. Candles are used in Advent and Christmas to remind us of the coming Light of the World. This should be a time of increasing Light in our lives and the lives of those around us. So how can you let your light shine?

• Share the love of God with someone with an act of kindness or a gift.
• Invite someone to your home to share a meal.
• Invite someone to attend a special worship service with you.

By your words and your actions, let it be known that Jesus, the Light of the world, came for all people. There is more to Him than the story of His birth. He is the one who lived a perfect life, offered it to pay for the sins of all people, and rose again victorious on Easter to bring life and immortality to light. He wants you to shine His light into your world this Advent and Christmas season.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Today also marks the beginning of Hannukah, which also uses candles. As you let your light shine, pray that our Jewish friends will come to know that Jesus is the Messiah that was promised, the one they are looking for.