Please turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi chapter 3, as we conclude this book and our study through the Old Testament. As we concluded our study last time, we read in Malachi 2:17, "You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you say, `In what way have we wearied Him?' In that you say, `Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,' or, `Where is the God of justice?'"
Notice the question they end with, "Where is the God of justice?" They were getting away with evil and they thought that God accepted their actions or that He couldn't do anything about what they were doing. Chapter 2 concludes with the thought "Where is the Judge?" and chapter 3 is going to open up with the thought, "Here comes the Judge!" With that said, let's begin looking at Malachi chapter 3, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.

VERSE 1
1. This, of course, is speaking of the Lord's first coming. And prior to His ministry beginning, a messenger would come on the scene to prepare the way for the Messiah, to prepare the people for His coming. Now we don't have to guess who this is speaking of, for the New Testament speaks very clearly that this is none other than John the baptist. In Mark 1:1-8 we are told "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: `Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight."' John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, `There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'"

2. Also, remember when the angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias and told him that he and his wife will have a child, even though they were well advanced in years. And this son would be called John. In Luke 1:13-17 we are told "But the angel said to him, `Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also 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 a people prepared for the Lord.'"
And in Matthew 11:14 Jesus said regarding John the baptist "And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come." Thus, John the baptist was a type of Elijah, preparing the way for the first coming of Jesus. He came in the spirit and the power of Elijah. Then, in the Lord's second coming, Elijah will come and He will prepare the hearts of the people for the return of Jesus, and we will see that as we conclude this book this evening.

3. One other point before we move on. When Jesus began His ministry He entered the temple, driving out the money changers, those who were making a profit off of God in the house of God. And we read of this in John 2:13-17, "Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, `Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!' Then His disciples remembered that it was written, `Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.'"

4. Now, Malachi is going to jump from the Lord's first coming to His second coming where He will judge this earth with a righteous judgment!

VERSE 2
1. When the Lord returns the land will be purged of wickedness, no man will be able to stand in his own righteousness, and only those who make it through the refiner's fire, only those who have been cleansed as white as snow by the blood of Jesus, will enter into the kingdom age!

VERSE 3
1. In His second coming the Lord will cleanse the priesthood, the one's who conspired against Him in His first coming and put Him to death. It is as Peter says in I Peter 4:17, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" To whom much is given, much is required and they, as we, are accountable for our actions!

VERSE 4
1. As God established the nation of Israel there was a beautiful relationship. The tabernacle was set-up in the middle of the camp and their tents opened to see the tabernacle as the Shekinah glory rose over it. God was the focus of their life. In fact, if you were to look down upon the camp of Israel from above, the way they set-up the camp, it would be in the shape of the cross with God in the middle. What a way to start the day, focused on the Lord and as they day ends, you close it with the Lord. And in the end the hearts of the people will return to the Lord, but those middle years were and still are very shaky. You see, they got use to the Lord, there was no real awe at His presence. Their service unto the Lord became nothing more than empty rituals, but God is saying one day that joy, that awe of God will return!

VERSE 5
1. Now when you read through that list of evil activities you may wonder how in the world they got that far away from God? How could they sink so low? God tells us. He says "Because they do not fear Me." Their actions reflected their relationship with God, or should I say non-relationship with God. And in the end, God says that He will judge them. May we be careful in our walk, that we don't lose that fear of God, because if we do, we too will sink low like Israel did.

VERSE 6
1. What a glorious promise to Israel. They deserved death but because of God's love, His promise to them, He will not destroy them but restore them! We too, like Israel, deserve death for our sin, but in Christ God has given to each of us life! What a glorious promise. Jesus said in John 5:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."

VERSE 7
1. God just finished speaking of His love towards them and still they would not listen, they would not obey, just as their fathers did. And God still calls out to them to return to Him. What love, what patience, what longsuffering! God wants to restore people if they would only listen and return. And in the end they pretended not to know what evils they were doing. They had traveled down a wicked path and now they could not find their way back!

2. In II Chronicles chapter 14 king Asa is faced with a problem, the Ethiopians gathered their forces of 1 million men plus 300 chariots, against a army of only 580,000 that Asa was able to put together. They were highly outnumbered. And in II Chronicles 14:11 we are told "And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, `LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!'" What a great thing to do, give it to God and you then are not outnumbered. And in this battle God gave the Southern Kingdom of Judah a great victory.
Then, as Asa and his men were returning home from this great victory, we are told in II Chronicles 15:1-2, "Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: `Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.'" What a silly thing to say, of course Asa was going to trust in God, look how the Lord gave him this great victory! One thing to learn is this. When God speaks, no matter how silly it may sound, we need to listen, for He does know what He is talking about!

Now later on in his life, Asa was tested again and this time by the Northern Kingdom of Israel. But instead of coming to the Lord, trusting in Him, he trusted in man and made a deal with his enemy, Ben-Hadad, king of Syria to help him in this situation. And the plan worked great, they obtained the victory, and yet, in II Chronicles 16:7-19 we are told "And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: `Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.' Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time." Asa didn't like what the prophet said this time and tried to silence him. And tragically we read in II Chronicles 16:12-13 "And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign." His walk with God was diseased and it finally killed him! May we pay attention to that lesson in our own walk, to stay close to the Lord!

VERSES 8-9
1. A person not walking with God will always try to justify his actions! Instead of giving to God they were keeping it for their own pleasure, their own enjoyment when the reality was, it was all God's in the first place and He was only asking for 1/10th in return.

2. Isn't it interesting that when someone breaks into a church and steals from it how upset we are. We can't believe someone would sink that low, stealing from God. On the other hand, if someone robs a liquor store, we are not as shocked, they are different. But are you robbing from God and it is not even a concern to you? You think nothing of it? God is going to challenge you in the next few verses.

VERSES 10-12
1. This is the only area that God challenges us to prove Him in - our giving! You see, you can't out give God. Now please, don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that God is like a stock market investment or some kind of lottery. But God does want to bless us and it is not always with money. And God is saying to Israel that if you honor Him with your giving you will be so blessed that surrounding nations will stand up and take notice of what God is doing.

2. Now for us today, how much should we give? Some say 10%, but if you look at what Israel actually gave to the Lord in tithes, it was over 23%! Then what are we to give? I like what Paul says in II Corinthians 9:6-7, "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." Give joyfully to the Lord whatever you desire and you will be blessed. But, if you give sparingly, you will also get little in return. Let me leave this section with this thought, if a Jew living under the law gave a tenth, how much more should a Christian living under the grace of God?!

VERSES 13-15
1. Look how messed up their thinking had become. They saw their religious activity as honoring to God. And yet God didn't bless them. They spoke harshly against God for not blessing them and as they looked at the prosperity of the wicked, they came to the conclusion that it doesn't pay to serve God! WOW!

2. Asaph, in Psalm 73 had this same problem as he got his eyes off of God and upon the things of this world, the prosperity of the wicked. And he said, as he too came to a conclusion about all of this, "Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning." Psalm 73:13-14. How did he resolve this conflict? He tells us "When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end." Psalm 73:16-17. It was not until he was back in fellowship with God that he saw things clearly. He saw the fate of the wicked as opposed to those who serve the Lord and it was out of all that he is once again able to share the Lord with others! It is difficult to do when your eyes are not upon Him.

3. Today we have health, wealth and prosperity teachers telling people that being poor is a sin, that being sick is a lack of faith, and that reality is, when many don't make millions, when they are not healed, they turn against God! We too must have a proper perspective of things. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 4:16-18, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." Our focus needs to be on the eternal, not these bodies that are going back to the dust of the earth and these possessions that will disappear faster than the warrantee is up! We need to look to glory. Even Jesus looked beyond the pain and suffering of the cross and so must we!

VERSE 16
1. For the righteous, for all those who are in Christ, God is writing a book about us! Don't make it a short story but a book filled with the love of God expressed in actions, fruit that is born in our lives. I don't know anyone who wants to write a book about me, for my life is not that interesting, except the Lord, He wants to write a book about me and about you! What a honor it is to serve the Lord, may we not forget that. May we have that reverential fear of Him, giving Him the glory due His name!

VERSE 17
1. God is speaking of the nation of Israel, making them His special treasure, His jewels once again. He will spare them and restore them, they will not see His judgment.

2. And for us, we are His today, we are His special treasure, and we are spared from the wrath of God!

VERSE 18
1. When you are living in sin you can't discern between good and evil because your light has dimmed so low you can't see. Just ask any person who has traveled down a path of sin, ask them how low they got before they looked up and God lighted their path once again, He restored them. Sin is a deadly poison that will destroy your life if you let it! And Satan wants to rip you off, prevent you from the blessings that God has for you, and so many times we listen to his voice instead of the voice of God and we miss out on what God has for us. May we be in tune with God, close to Him so that the enemy can't get us off course!

VERSE 1
1. For those who have rejected Christ, they will be burned in the fire of His wrath and cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for eternity! They will be cut off from the kingdom age. Not a pretty picture, nor is it intended to be! In Zephaniah we are told, "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, for He will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land...`Therefore wait for Me,' says the LORD, `Until the day I rise up for plunder; my determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all my fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.'" Zephaniah 1:18, 3:8. The Lion from the tribe of Judah is coming back in judgment!

VERSES 2-3
1. When Jesus returns He will come with healing for this land, a restoration to the way it was in the Garden of Eden. Man will be restored and live through the millennial reign. What a day that will be. It is as Paul said in Romans 8:21-23, "because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." Not only will man be restored, but all of creation!

VERSE 4
1. God's law is perfect, the problem with keeping it is that man is not perfect. But that does not mean we are to forget about it, ignore it, neglect it, not at all! It is as Psalm 19:7-11 says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward." Thus, remember what God has said and do it, be obedient to what God has said!

VERSES 5-6
1. Elijah is coming again to prepare the way for the Lord's second coming. This occurs after the church is caught up or raptured unto the Lord, meeting the Lord in the air. You can read of this in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 and I Corinthians 15:51-58. It is after this that the Lord pours out His Spirit upon Israel, fulfilling the last 7 year period, the 70th week of Daniel spoken of in Daniel chapter 9, and this period of time is known as the tribulation period.
In Matthew chapter 17, as Peter, James and John are coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, we read beginning in verse 9, "Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.' And His disciples asked Him, saying, `Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' Jesus answered and said to them, `Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.'" Matthew 17:9-11.
Elijah is one of the two witnesses we read of in Revelation chapter 11. The other I believe is Moses. You see, Moses represented the Law and Elijah represented the Prophets. And for the first 3½ years of the 7 year tribulation period they will share their faith in Jesus and 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe will get saved and they in turn will evangelize, they will share Jesus! It is at the end of the first 3½ years that the Antichrist will kill these two men and their bodies will be left on the streets for 3 days.

You see, the people hated these men who stood up for righteousness and said Jesus is the only way! And when you stand up for Jesus, many times people will wish you were dead, the light you are shining is exposing their evil, just as we see with these two men. And in their death there is a party that the earth dwellers throw, but then, all of a sudden, God raises these two men up and carries them into heaven and great fear fell among the people. I guess so!
The point being is that Elijah will come again before the return of the Lord, preparing the hearts of the people to receive the Lord! You see, God's grace is so great that before He comes in judgment, He gives people another chance to turn to Him!
We have been in the Old Testament now for some 6 years, from Joshua through Malachi, and I hope it was a blessing to you, for it truly has been for me. Next time we will enter into the New Testament and we will see that Jesus is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament prophets spoke of. All that they said will come into light. But keep in mind that as Malachi finished speaking, God was silent for 400 years until John the baptist comes on the scene to prepare the way for the Lord's first coming. And we will begin this adventure in the New Testament next time we meet.