Lesson 6
“Trumpets! Lightnings! The
earth trembles! But into the Virgin’s womb thou didst descend with
noiseless tread”
- Agathias Scholasticus
Silence can be
deafening. Whether it’s the ringing of our ears or the reflection of our
conscience, silence roars with a sobering force. It is often during those times
of quietude that we have opportunity to reflect upon our decisions, our
tragedies, our triumphs, and a host of other things that normally race past us
with the speed of life. What about when God seems silent? Doesn’t his
silence tear into our conscience with the rage of ten-thousand lions? It is
during these times that we are compelled to stop and survey our spiritual status.
We naturally ask questions like, “Is God displeased with me?”
“Have I caused this breech of communication?” “Why has God
stopped speaking?”
With the
closing of the Old Testament, there is silence. God had spoken continuously
through the prophets, but now he has ceased in his instruction. Decade after
decade rolls by, and God fails to speak one word. In fact four-hundred years
transpire without God uttering a syllable. Concern about this issue must have
plagued the minds of many. God’s apparent absence becomes a chastising
rod of reflection. The Jews are now forced to survey their own spiritual state
in search of a reason for God’s deafening stillness. Naturally, the now
attentive pour over that last piece of communication left by God to man, the
book of Malachi.
The book of
Malachi is a scathing rebuke of
"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. 2 "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. 3 "And 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” (Mal 3:1-3).
The Israelites
insinuate that God is not just and will not judge. God responds that his
judgment is sure and that he will enact it personally on all those who have
gone astray, including the cynics who posit such faithless questions. In
chapter 4, the prophet describes this coming as the “great and terrible
day of the LORD” (vs.5). These passages appear to tell us that the Lord
will come to his temple with a great conflagration; consuming rebellion like
fire consumes dry brush. Who will be able to stand?
Of course,
those reading this prophecy in search for a reason for God’s four-hundred
year silence have all the more reason to be concerned. God is still because of
their sin. But he will not remain still, for he will break this silence as he
comes with a lightning rod in his hand with which to strike a blow of justice.
With this fear in scope, those who had poured over the pages of Malachi looked
fearfully for the messenger the Lord had promised.
About
four-hundred years from the time the Old Testament was finished, the silence is
broken! “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” cried John
the Baptist. This rugged man was “the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, ‘make ready the way of the LORD, make His paths
straight’” (Matt 3:2-3). It is interesting to note that in
ancient times, if a king or a queen was going to make a trip from one city to
another, people were sent out before them in order to prepare the way for them
to travel. They would clear the way of any obstacles; they sought to make a
smooth path in the desert for royalty to travel comfortably. John’s task
was to prepare for the coming of the King of the universe, and to entreat
others to do likewise. How did his ministry fare?
Multitudes of
people fearfully flocked from all around, and for good reason. With Malachi
fresh in their minds, they knew that the Lord was about to come with judgment.
How could they stand in his furnace of judgment unless they prepared their
hearts with contrition? In repentance, many confessed their sins and were
baptized by John in the
I imagine that
as people pondered on the coming of Yahweh, they constructed all sorts of
scenarios of how this arrival would occur. But of all the scenarios, most
people thought that the Lord’s coming would be one of great grandeur and
display. “Since this is the King of kings” most probably
speculated, “the sky will be severed in two and an innumerable canopy of
angels will fill what will appear a far too small firmament. They will advance
brandishing swords of fire, clothed in blinding radiance and filling the
horizon with ineffable spectacles. People will flee with fear as they see
angelic creatures strange enough to make monsters of human imagination seem
docile. Multitudes will hide themselves in caves and among rocks, and will
beseech the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the
presence of Him who sits on the throne; and from the wrath of the Lamb.’
Then the Lord of hosts will descend with a brilliance eclipsing the brightness
of the stars of heaven and the limitless angelic host combined. Even the
holiest of angels must cover their eyes lest they look upon his infinitely
superior glory and perish. ‘And in thy majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of
truth and meekness and righteousness.’ Again, ‘thine arrows are sharp; the people fall under Thee’ (Psalm
45:4&4).
In total
contrast to the expectation of the majority, we read the following: “And
after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:14&15).
There is no
grand angelic procession described here. The heavens remain intact and the
earth rests quietly. Yahweh descends not robed in garments of glory and
vengeance, but in humility and redemption. The Lord comes not with arrows of
judgment and a declaration of war, but with the salve of forgiveness and a
proclamation of peace. Christ walks meekly into
Is this at odds
somehow with the prophecy found in Malachi? In this book, God seems to come
with great power and vengeance whereas Christ’s coming looks like
something different. A closer examination
of Malachi, however, brings illumination. When the Lord comes, God through this
Old Testament prophet says that he will be “like a refiner's fire and
like fullers' soap. “And 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” (Mal 3:2&3).
Notice, God will be like two things to the Jews at his coming: 1) He will be
like a refiner's fire which will remove impurities from the people. 2) He will
be like a fuller’s soap which will remove the stains of rebellion from
heart of man. The Lord performs these tasks in order to change a sinful people
into righteous people.
In light of
this, does the Lord come with a great conflagration and enact the justice that
prompted this prophecy found in Malachi 3? In one sense, yes! I know of no
greater heavenly battle than that which was waged on the cross. We may ask like
the Jews, “Where is the God of justice and judgment?” Can we not
direct our gaze to the cross where the God of justice pours out his wrath on
his Son who bears the sins of many? And yet, although the cross is a place of
judgment, it is because of this judgment that God can refine and cleanse. In
reference to this, will not all of humanity from every age be judged in
relation to that day on
by Jake Magee
Possible Discussion Questions
1. Why is the 1st coming of Christ
associated with cataclysms?
2. Discuss the ‘false’
expectations surrounding the
3. Are there any wrong expectations
that people have of Christianity today? How about you?
4. According to Malachi, what is
God’s mission in coming?
5. How does justice and mercy find
their reconciliation in the cross?
6. In what way has the