“‘See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty. 2But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. 5‘So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the Lord Almighty,” (Malachi 3:1-5).
As I read this I asked myself who this messenger of the covenant was. It had to be Jesus followed by the Holy Spirit. If we look at the nature of Jesus’ teachings and His conversations with the religious people of the time, we see that He wouldn’t tolerate any lukewarm attitudes any more. If we take for instance the Sermon on the Mount and apply it to our lives and heed to His other teachings and those of the Holy Spirit through the Epistles and the Book of Revelation, we will definitely be purified.
The message behind this passage in Malachi 3:1-5 is clear and final. The Lord seemed to have had enough of Israel who played games with Him so to speak. His heart’s desire is people who would worship and serve Him out of a pure and dedicated heart with all their being. Verses two and three above say a lot. The Levites of the Old Testament were those who served the Lord and presented Him to the people. In New Testament context the ‘Levites’ are therefore Jesus’ servants – His disciples, who include you and me.
Why would this refiner’s fire and launderer’s soap refine and purify the Levites? It is so that the Lord “will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years,” (verses 3-4). Through these words we hear the Lord’s heart. This is what He always wanted of Israel and which they found so hard to understand, which is why He had to send Jesus. If the Levites are pure and bring righteous offerings, those they serve will do the same.
Jesus spent most of His ministry to lay out these purification measures. The words He spoke and the words the Apostles wrote through the Holy Spirit are designed to purify and refine His followers so that our offering, which is our lives (Romans 12:1-2 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2012:1-2&version=NIV1984), would be righteous and would result in others’ lives to be righteous. He told His disciples in John 15:3, which we discussed recently: “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
Do you get the Lord’s heart? Do you understand that He needs us not to be like the Israel of old who served other gods and lived impurely? Can you see that it is His heart’s desire to have a people washed by the Word, who would worship Him in total dedication and in purity?
The way the Word refines and purifies us is by us doing what it says and by applying it to our conduct. Are you prepared to let the refiner’s fire and the launderer’s soap; the Words of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, purify you for a righteous, sacrificial life?
Lord, please refine me.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.
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