The Lord of Society (Malachi 2:17-3:5)
Introduction
The separation of church and state is a misunderstood phrase in American culture. It only means the spheres of church and state have different responsibilities. It doesn’t mean the separation of God and state. God rules over all spheres including the family, church, and state. Someone’s morality will become law. Will it be God’s or man’s?
The Passage
You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?” “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 2:17–3:5
Explanation of the Passage
As Malachi preaches against the evils in his day, he’s spoken against the people’s hatred for God’s love, the corruption of the priests, and the breakdown of the family. Today we consider the sins of the larger society that everyday people tolerated. It seems Israelite society committed five social sins (Mal 3:5). They mistreated non-Israelites, they found ways to cheat employees, widows, and orphans, they lied in the court room, the committed adultery, and they consulted sorcery.
While Israel commits injustice against their neighbor, they accuse God of injustice (Mal 2:17). God is tired of their hypocrisy. So, He promises to send two messengers who will purify the people. He promises to send one messenger to clear the way before Him (Mal 3:1). God, himself, is the second messenger. We know that the first messenger is John the Baptist (Matt 11:4, 10, 14). His job was to clear the way and prepare the people for the Lord. Jesus came as the messenger of the covenant.
The question in verse 2, “who can endure His coming?” implies that no one can endure His coming. When Jesus comes to purify Israel, He will purify what is pure so that what is not pure will be burned. Jesus is like a smelter who purifies silver with heat. He will purify the people so that they will offer righteous sacrifices (Mal 3:3). Part of that purity involves judging the evildoers for their sins (Mal 3:5). But the result after the smelting is that God will be pleased with their worship (Mal 3:4).
When Jesus initiated the New Covenant in His blood, he transferred the title of “God’s chosen people” from Old Covenant Jews to the New Covenant church. The church, the true Israel now worships in Spirit and Truth. After Jesus ascended into heaven, He waited 40 years. He ended the evil of the corrupt Israel with the destruction of the temple and blessed His New Covenant church.
God is both Just and Justifier
Every age, sinners question the justice of God. In Noah’s day, they doubted God’s justice would come. Job questioned if God’s justice was accurate. In Malachi’s day they doubted if God saw injustice. In our day, many people believe examples of God’s justice are actually examples of His injustice. Most secular people believe the crucifixion of Christ proves God’s injustice.
When Johnny breaks Mr. Smith’s window, Mr. Smith is the offended party and Johnny is the offender. It’s just for Mr. Smith to demand Johnny pay for a new window. When humans sin, God is the offended party. But because God is so righteous (His window is so expensive) there’s no way we can pay Him back. At the crucifixion, God the father agreed that the life of God the son was sufficient payment (Acts 4:25-28). At the crucifixion, God the son agreed to pay for the sins of the world (Mark 10:45). For Christians, we simply believe God is just to punish sin and that we are righteous because God punished Jesus in our place.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:23–26
Jesus came for sinners (Luke 5:32). Jesus died for sinners. Jesus rose from the dead for the righteous (Romans 6:4-7). If you are a Christian, then your sins died with Christ, and you share in His righteousness. Jesus created the church to welcome dirty sinners at the front door and commissions righteous saints at the exits.
Social Purity
Remember, the Ten Commandments are social, not individual. For example, the ninth commandment is not to bear false witness. We tell little kids it means not to lie, but in reality, it’s to not commit perjury in court. We can see why this courtroom law is in there when the 8th commandment is not to steal, and the 10th is not to covet. People tend to lie against someone else because they envy what others have. Now, think about all the social pressure over the last few years. It’s root is the sin of envy.
The church purifies society. The job of the church is not to roll over and complain about injustice like Israel did in Malachi’s day. Our job is to be salt and light in this dark world (Matt 5:13-16). We call sinners to repent of their sins and trust Christ. We call families to follow Jesus. We call governors to stop permitting abortion. We provide grace and peace where we can. We worship the God of justice each week so that our hearts desire worship each day. The more the church spreads and remains pure, the more justice will pour in our streets.
This nation needs to repent of apathy. It’s been 3.5 years since Covid. There’s been debate and uncertainty about it’s origins. I’ve seen more agreement in this last year that the virus was made in a lab. There’s also serious questions concerning our own government’s involvement in the creation of covid and virus like it. No one cares! Thousands of people lost their life because of the virus, the shutdown, and not treating people. Thousands of businesses shut down never to reopen. No one cares! This nation deserves what we obviously don’t care about.