Malachi: The Last Prophet

Sunday, March 23, 2025

 Malachi 2:17-3:5

 Introduction

 Our Messenger Has Come and Is Coming

 The Lord is Wearied

“You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say How have we wearied him? By saying, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them” Or by asking, where is the God of justice?”

 Wearied – yaga - means to have one’s patience, tolerance, or pleasure exhausted. 

 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable." Isaiah 40:28

 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts; they have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them.” Isaiah 1:14

 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.” Isaiah 43:2

 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the LORD, “You keep going backward. So, I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!” Jeremiah 15:5

 “Behold, I am weighted down beneath you as a wagon is weighted down when filled with sheaves.” Amos 2:13

 Behold I Am Coming

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare 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.”

 “my messenger” – who is this messenger? It is John the Baptist!

“For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.” Matthew 11:13,14

 “…And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Luke 1:16,17

 “messenger of the covenant” - the Lord, the owner of the temple of God, is none other than the Son of God, who is with God and is God, and who came into the world and made himself known to us personally in Jesus Christ.

 “behold, he is coming says the LORD of hosts.” - indicates His coming is continual. Malachi pictures Messiah as already in the process of coming. His coming is imminent in our day and it will be swift and sudden. Jesus Himself testifies repeatedly in the book of Revelation about His coming soon!

 “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.”

Revelation 3:11

 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:7

 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” Revelation 22:12

 “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20

• Jesus the Refiner

“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 refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.”

 Why is God refining the ‘sons of Levi?’ Not just the priests but entire tribe? Because God wants pure worship.

 v.4,5 – “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. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his ages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”

 Conclusion