Elie
Weisel, the Jewish writer and Noble Prize winner once said that when he was a boy, his mother would be waiting for him each
day when he returned from school. Upon
his arrival, each day she would ask him the same question. That question was, “Did
you have a good question today?” His mother did not want for him to
simply to be passively absorbing whatever subject the instructor had taught that day.
Rather, she wanted him to be actively seeking knowledge from his instructor.
He therefore needed to ask good questions in the classroom.
The Prophet Malachi certainly had good questions to ask. In
fact, he posed 22 questions in the 55 verses of the book of Malachi. In
reality, the entire book is organized about a question—answer format. Malachi’s questions were timely. The
year was about 460 BC. The peoples had returned from exile in Babylon to
the land of Judah. The land to which they had returned was not the prosperous
land of which the Prophets Haggai and Zechariah had spoken. Rather, the ground
was hard to plow, and locus and drought continued to ravage their crops. Moreover,
as a country, they were a struggling and impoverished little province within the larger Persian Empire. Life was hard!
Throughout their history, the Hebrews had trusted that God would act in their behalf. Moreover, that faith consisted in waiting for God to act in their behalf. Their ancestors once had been slaves in Egypt, and God had led them to freedom and given them a new
land. Under Joshua’s leadership, God had led them across the Jordan River. Throughout
the conquest period, God had given them victory against overwhelming foes.
However, the peoples’ faith in Malachi’s time had turned cold. They sensed that they were in the backwaters of world affairs. The great movements that were shaping history were taking place elsewhere. The Greeks had battled the Persians at Marathon 30 years before during the first Persian invasion,
and then at Thermopylae 20 years before. Daily
life consisted of the routines—obeying God’s commandments in their relationships with family and neighbors---paying
of the tithe for the support of the Temple—and praying their daily prayers. God
seemed very far away. Sometimes it seemed that, like world events, God
too had moved on and forgotten about them.
In the face of all God’s poor “poll ratings,” Malachi imagined that the people had
called God to task. God had been put on trial for failing to keep his promise.
The people charged God with forgetting them. God responded, “I have loved you, and I love you still.” The people continued to press God on his unfaithfulness to them, saying: Oh, do not recite the past for us! When know of
all the things that you have done for the people in the past. What have you done for us today? Do not speak in generalities. Can’t
you simply give us some examples of how you have shown your love to us today?
In the end, the people have pushed God too far. The tables
suddenly were turned. Now, God put the people on trial. God charged the priests with forgetting their calling to lead
the people in living holy lives. God charged that because they had failed
to be faithful examples, they had become corrupt in their impure worship of God. In
turn, the people had followed the priests’ sinful examples. They too, then had become corrupt and were living disobedient lives.
God in his commandments in Leviticus 27 and Deuteronomy 14, God had commanded them that
they were to present to him a tithe of their best flocks. They were not
to bring for sacrifice any blind, sick, lame, or blemished animals. For
them to bring anything less than their best, that offense was an assault on God’s house, and an affront to God’s
holiness. Therefore, God had rejected
their sacrifices of blind, lame, and sick animals. In not offering God the tithe of their best flocks, they had been robbing God of that which was his due.
They would not have dared to offer such inferior offerings as a tribute to the
Persian regional Governor. Therefore, why have they dared to offer such
inferior offerings to God?
Further, they had not been taking their marriages seriously.
Divorces were increasing; many of them even were marrying foreign wives
that were worshipping other gods. The people knew that they had sinned against God. They knew that they had been spending their time, money, and energy just like those
who claimed no faith. However, they
had not worried, for they had not thought that it would make any real difference.
Then Malachi spoke up. He told the people that the
Lord has gotten tired of their self-righteous complaining about God. In fact, they were the ones that had wronged God. They
had failed to fulfill their part of the Covenant. Moreover, when the Lord would
come to judge the world, he would find them guilty and deserving God’s punishment.
God however did not want to destroy them. God loved them. Therefore, prior to the Lord coming to
judge the world, the Lord was going to send a messenger before him. That
messenger was going to prepare the world for the Lord’s coming—God was going to purify them. God would begin that purification process beginning first with the priests.
His work of purification would be like a “refiners’
fire, and fullers’ soap.”
Malachi’s images are intriguing—God as refiner’s fire, God as strong lye soap. To refine metal requires the intense heat produced by a blast over—heat
so hot that it would cause the metal to turn to a liquid form. The dross, the impurities, they would be burned away, setting free the pure metal.
God’s messenger likewise would purify them. God’s
messenger would burn away their impurities; bringing out their best qualities—making them pure and acceptable to God.
For no impurity, no sin, no evil could survive in God’s holy presence.
Further, in the metal purification process, when silver is refined, the silversmith treats it with
carbon or charcoal preventing the absorption of oxygen. The result is its
beautiful sheen. The silversmith therefore has not completed the purification
process until the silversmith can see his or her reflection in the metal. Likewise, God will refine the people in order that their righteous lives might reflect
God’s image.
Malachi further described the messenger’s work as being like fuller’s soap. A “fuller”
was one who bleached and dyed cloth. The
process of cleansing the filthy wool of its crud and dirt was an intense effort. It
involved washing the raw animal wool with lye soap, and then stomping on it to free the wool from the impurities. The fuller then would spread the wool out upon a rock to dry.
Following, the purification process, the wool would be clean and soft enough to be woven into cloth.
Even though the purification of metal and wool were different images, the idea they shared was the
same. The purpose of the purification process was not to destroy the metal
or wool, but to bring out their best qualities. Likewise, God loved the
people of Judah. Therefore, God had not destroyed the people for their
sinfulness. Yet, at the same time, God could not ignore their sinfulness.
God therefore was going to send his messenger to purify them prior to the
Lord’s coming—to save them from his destruction of them because of their sinfulness.
Who was this messenger to be? Scholars have differed on that question. The word “Malachi” in Hebrew means “My Messenger.” Perhaps the prophet saw himself as the messenger. At the same time, in the last verses of his book, Malachi
identified the messenger as the Prophet Elijah.
According to the scriptures, the Prophet Elijah had not died. Instead, Elijah had been swept up into the heavens in a fiery
chariot and a team of horses. In
speaking of Elijah as the messenger, Malachi had declared, that, “he will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents...”
The book of Malachi ends with a note of expectation in Elijah’s coming to purify the people.
Likewise, God today comes to us in our lives. God comes to us in God’s own way and in God’s own timing. He comes to us amidst through the joys and struggles of our lives—seeking to help us to grow
in faith and service through those experiences. He comes to us during the
season of Advent—seeking to help us to grow in our awareness of Christ’s his love and good purposes for each of
us. Finally, he will come to us
at the end of all time—welcoming us as a part of his new creation. Moreover, we will be formed in God’s own image.
It will be good!
Often, the early church sought to read selected passages the Old Testament scriptures through their
own experiences of Jesus. The early church therefore often identified the
“messenger” not as Elijah, but rather as John the Baptist. The
writer of Mark actually quoted from Malachi when he wrote, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way.”
Today we can appreciate both Malachi’s testimony that God would send Elijah as a messenger to
purify us for the Lord’s coming—as well as the early church’s testimony that God sent John the Baptist as
the messenger to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming.
Today as we come to worship
the God who loves us, we come and we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We
come to remember that Christ took our own sins upon himself. He gave up
his own life as atonement for our sins—God own pure offering for our sins of omission and commission. He gave himself as an offering. He gave himself that he might present us as purified and spotless before the holiness of the Lord God. Thanks be to him. Amen!
