Through a reading of the Bible and an understanding of human history, you will discover that there exists a major fault line that divides those who are a part of God’s true family and those who are not. The fault line divides those who honor God and those who do not honor Him, the righteous and the wicked, and those have been reconciled to Him and those who remain alienated from Him.
From the beginning we are introduced to Cain and Abel. We are told that both men participated in the worship of Yahweh, but it was Abel’s worship that was accepted by God and because Cain was jealous of Abel relationship with God, Cain murdered his brother. Noah had three sons who experienced the miraculous salvation of their family by God through the Ark, yet it was Noah’s youngest son, Ham, who did not walk in the ways of his father (Gen. 9:18-29). Isaac and Rebekah had twins who grew up in the same household under the same roof, yet it was Jacob who became the son of promise and Esau who followed the appetites of his own flesh and was rejected by God.
The thing that set Abel apart from Cain, Noah’s sons Shem and Japheth from Ham, and Jacob from Esau was fear. There are three types of fear used throughout the Old Testament. There is the kind of fear (pḥd) which means to dread (e.g. Isa. 33:14). A second type of fear used in the Old Testament is the kind of fear (môrāʾ) where one experiences terror (e.g. Isa. 8:12). The third type of fear (yareʾ) is a type of fear that includes reverence and respect; it is the kind of fear the people of God are called to in Proverbs 3:7, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” The same Hebrew word for fear is used for the word fear in Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
Everything we have read in Malachi regarding the people has been negative so far. What have we learned of the Priests and the people to whom the book of Malachi is addressed?
- They questioned the love of God (1:2)
- They gave the poorest and cheapest of offerings to God (1:6-2:9)
- They were covenant breakers with their spouses, neighbors, and with God (2:10-16).
- They were stingy in their giving (3:8-9)
- They questioned God’s character (3:13-15)
Finally, we learn of another group of people in verse 16 that look very different than the unfaithful priests and people addressed previously. We see the same fault line that exists between those who truly belong to Yahweh and those who do not… especially when you see verse 16 in contrast to verses 13-15. Notice the stark difference between these two groups of people:
“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.” (Malachi 3:13–15)
Now, notice the contrast between the above verses with verse 16,
Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.(Malachi 3:16)
What I find interesting about those described in Malachi 3:13-15 is that they assumed they belonged to God while questioning the value in serving God, obeying the Word of God, or what reward there was in “walking as in mourning before the Lord” (denying the pleasures of the world and sin). Their conclusion about life and the worship of God was very different than those who are described in Malachi 3:16.
Those Who Feared the Lord Belong to the Lord
Those who feared God, spoke with one another. Out of a reverent awe of God, these people spoke with one another about God… do not miss this point! We are not told what they said to one another, but what we can assume is that their language was shaped by a genuine love of who God is. My guess is that those who feared the Lord, most likely testified about the goodness of God, believed that His infinite goodness was enough to stand on when things were difficult, and understood that He was not only worthy to be treasured but sufficient to be trusted.
Unlike those words that have been hard against God (v. 13), those who “feared the Lord” did not look at their relationship with God in the same way Cain or Enoch did before them. Those whose words were “hard” against God, viewed their religion as a transaction, and if you could put their attitude into a phrase, it would go something like this: “You scratch my back, and I will scratch your back.” One commentator describes those who had “hard words” against God as religious people who viewed their worship as something God needed from them: “They gave something to God—sacrifices, offerings, and a variety of religious activities—and they expected a return on their investment: the blessings of prosperity and welfare. As a result, if their religious efforts didn’t materially benefit them in measurable ways, it meant that the Lord had not kept his end of the bargain. God owed them something in return for their obedience.”[1]
Those described in verse 16 understood their worship of God as relational. They not only feared God, but they honored Him as their heavenly Father, and they trusted Him as being totally sovereign over their lives even when things did not go the way that they had hoped. They understood themselves to be children of the God Almighty instead of his customers. Because those who feared God, had a relationship with Him, we learn that Yahweh, “…paid attention and heard them.” Those who fear Yahweh experience Him very differently than those described in Malachi 2:13 who, “…cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from their hand.”
There are two things that need to be noted here: The first thing I have already stated, and that is that those who truly fear God love to talk to others about God. The second thing to be noted is that those who fear God live for God. This is why there is a book of remembrance written of those who, “feared the Lord and esteemed his name.” As one commentator wrote: “The fear of God affects both their attitude toward Him and their actions before Him.”[2]
The “book of remembrance” is different than the Book of Life that lists all those who have been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus as the Lamb of God (see Rev. 13:8), it is also unlike the Book of the Lord that records the judgment of God against the nations (Isa. 34:16), nor is the book of remembrance the same as the books that will be opened on the Day of judgment (Rev. 20:12). The book of remembrance is only for those who fear (yareʾ) God because they truly belong to Him; it is a book that records the righteous words, motives, and deeds of those who are treasured by God because they belong to Him as a son or daughter belongs to a father.
For those who do not fear Yahweh in verses 13-15, they see no value in serving God, no point in rejecting worldly pleasures in light of eternity, or the benefit in obeying the Word of Yahweh because they do not think He is able to see. However, those who fear Yahweh, know better! God sees, they know it, and they sing it: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there” (Ps. 139:7–8, NASB). God sees you Christian! He sees when you turn from sin out of a desire to please Him. In his commentary on Malachi, Robby Gallaty makes the following observation:
Every time a woman respects her body and rejects intimacy with another man before marriage, God sees and honors that decision. Every time a husband refuses to engage in immoral talk at work or to be seduced into looking at pornography, God recognizes it. Every time you avert gossip, every time you bear the burden of an injustice and refuse to lash out, God sees that. Every time a family opens their home to be a Christian witness to the world, God sees that. Every time you share the gospel with a lost family member or friend, God sees that, whether or not anyone else does.[3]
Not only does our God see, but for those who fear Him, this is what He says about such people: “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him” (v. 17). Those who belong to God are not only seen by God, but are treasured by Him! Why are they treasured by Him? Not because of their deeds, but because of Him who spares out of mercy (v. 17b).
Don’t forget what was already promised in Malachi 3:1-4. A messenger would come to prepare the way for Yahweh, and He will come to His temple as a refiner’s fire to purify the “sons of Levi” by suffering the fire of God’s justice for our sins. The same mercy that will purify Levi, is the same mercy spoken of in verse 17. Jesus, as the Father’s refiner’s fire, will purify a people, and if you are a Christian, you are that people!
We learn from 1 Peter 2:9-10 that all those whose have been reconciled to God through His Son belong to God as His treasured possession: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Pet. 2:9–10). This is what sets the righteous apart from the wicked, look at the next verse in Malachi: “Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him” (v. 18).
Those Who Belong to the Lord Will Enjoy the Salvation of the Lord
In Malachi 2:17, those who did not fear the Lord said of Him: “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in those who does evil.” This is why the same people claimed that it was, “…pointless to serve God.” Their view of God and lack of reverence for Him is the reason why they could have the audacity to show up for worship while asking: “what benefit is it for us that we have done what He required?” (v. 14).
God’s answer to the ridiculous accusations of those who claimed to worship Yahweh is found in Malachi 4:1, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” You wonder where is the justice of God? Do you think that because you have not seen His justice yet that you can live the way you want to live? Do not mistake His mercy for indifference! Consider what the apostle Paul wrote to those who had similar questions related to sin and the justice of God: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God…” (Rom. 2:4–5, NASB 2020).
God’s kindness, restraint, and patience is meant to lead you to repentance! But, if you take for granted His kindness, restraint, and patience so that you can continue in your sin, then the refiner’s fire will fall upon you and you will be consumed by it, but in the way the prophet Isaiah and Jesus described: “For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isa. 66:24b).
There is good news though! It is good news for those who fear the Lord and it is good news for those who do not presently fear the Lord: “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall” (4:2). This is good news because the “sun of righteousness” is the “Lord our Righteousness” and the “righteous Branch of David” (Jer. 23:5-6). This is good news because the “sun of righteousness” is the “Son of God” who is also the “Lamb of God,” who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). This is good news because the “sun of righteousness” is the “resurrection and the life” who is making all things new (John 11:25; Rev. 21:5). This is good news because “the sun of righteousness” is the One who, “…loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” (Rev. 1:5-6). I am not sure who wrote this, but what this person wrote in light of Malachi 4:2 is too good not to share with you:
As the rays of the sun spread light and warmth over the earth for the growth and maturity of the plants and living creatures, so will the sun of righteousness bring the healing of all hurts and wounds which the power of darkness has inflicted upon the righteous. Then they will go forth from the holes and caves, into which they had withdrawn during the night of suffering and where they had kept themselves concealed, and skip like stalled calves which are driven from the stall to the pasture.
Malachi 4:2 is good news for those of us who have placed our faith and trust in Jesus out of a right fear for God. When the “sun of righteousness” appears, we will experience the promise of Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). Listen, for the one who does not yet fear God because you do not know Him, this promise is available to you through the same Jesus who experienced the wrath of God for sinners like you. You only need to come to Him in faith to receive the forgiveness of your sins.
So, of the two groups of people described in Malachi, who are you? Are you religious in words and empty deeds? Is your relationship with God merely commercial in that worship of God is no more than a transaction to you? When it comes to your worship, do you despise God’s name with your actions? Can you hear the Spirit of God ask you this question: “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?” (1:6)?
Oh, won’t you come to the sun of righteousness who invites all sinners to lay down their sin and pride to find their rest in Him: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28, NASB 2020).
If you are the person described in Malachi 3:16, then you belong to God. With the cry, “It is finished!” from our Savior upon the cross, can be heard through the echo: “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him” (Mal. 3:17).
Amen.
