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Malachi
FA I L U R E — there is something in the word that chills our spirit.
Everyone wants to be a success, although different people may picture
success in radically different ways. But how many would say, “I want to
be a failure” or “How exciting to be a failure”? Malachi was writing to a
people who had known repeated failure for decades. For generations, the
people of Judah and Israel had been plagued with idolatry, unfaithfulness to God, waywardness, and sin. The problem was so deep-seated
that God arranged for severe punishment—the destruction of the holy
city, Jerusalem, and the conquest of the people and their lands.
What you will be
The people, both Israel and Judah, would live in
reading about
foreign lands, captives far from their homeland.
The people of Judah had the added burden of the
1:1– 2:9
The sinful leaders
destruction of their great city, Jerusalem, and
God’s Temple there. The consequences of their
2:10 – 3:15
The sinful people
failure were serious indeed.
Now back in their own land, the people of
3:16 – 4:6
The faithful few
Judah were again failing in their relationship
with the Lord. Malachi makes a catalog of these
failures: contempt for God’s name, false worship, breaking God’s laws, keeping
the tithes and offerings for themselves, and arrogance. Ironically, the people
were surprised that God found fault with them, so ignorant had they become
of God’s ways! But the telltale sign that the people were failing to follow God
was that there was no longer a distinction between the godly and the ungodly,
the righteous and the evil.
Sin is failure to obey God, and in that sense we are all failures. But the great
message of Malachi, and the New Testament to which he points, is that failure
need not be final! There is hope for those who fail, forgiveness for those who sin.
Malachi concludes with a promise of the coming of one like Elijah. This was
a promise of the coming of John the Baptist, who in turn would announce the
Messiah, Jesus Christ. In the Messiah is ultimate forgiveness for sin, hope in
the midst of hopelessness, and ultimate success for those who have failed—
a promise of eternal life in God’s eternal home.
As the curtain is lowered on the Old Testament, a light shines through, introducing the New Testament. Jesus has come to turn our failures into a bright
future. Choose today to be successful in God’s eyes. Turn away from your sins;
seek God’s forgiveness. Decide to be distinct and stand out as a Christian,
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