Trial by Fire – Malachi 3:1-3
Malachi preached around the time, if not contemporaneous with, Nehemiah. The temple worship had been restored. But, many Jews had married non-believers, in clear violation of the law of Moses. Many Jews were also not giving as they should have. So, Malachi is supporting through his preaching the reforms of Nehemiah.
Some of the Jews were skeptical that God really cared for them. They had spent 70 years in exile. Many of them had died in Babylon. Now they were questioning God’s nature – “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17). God answers that question by predicting that someone would come who would “purify” the nation of Israel. A messenger would be sent who would prepare the nation for Him. The messenger, of course, was John the baptizer and the one whom they would seek was the Messiah.
But the one whom they desired would not come as they would expect. He would not tickle their ears and flatter with his lips. But, he would put their practices to the test, a test of truth (Matt. 3:10-12).
Let us take a closer look at this passage and, as always, ask ourselves what message is there for us today in 21st century America.
THE WORK OF A REFINER:
Refining is the process of heating metal until it is purified of dross. The refiner is pictured as sitting before the crucible, with his eye on the metal, regulating the heat to the appropriate temperature. Sometimes, he needs to increase the heat. But, he will not use any more heat than is necessary.
CHRIST AS THE PURIFIER:
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Jesus is the Great Purifier. His mission is to separate the righteous from the unrighteous. To put it in other words, he came to save people from their sins (Matt. 1:21; Luke 19:10).
Man is made in the image of God and, therefore, is worth saving. But sin is the dross that must be removed. We must be cleansed from our lives (Matt. 16:26; Rom. 3:10, 23).
What Malachi has in mind is that God would bring affliction on his people until their sinful impurities disappeared and the Divine image is reflected on their soul (2 Cor. 3:18; Job 23:10; Gala. 4:19).
THE LORD’S PROCESS AT WORK:
Christ’s work of purifying removes the dross of our sin, makes us holy, and prepares us for service to Him while we are on earth and makes us fit for the eternal inheritance in heaven – Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 4:12, 13.
We often do not like this process of purifying because we misunderstand the nature of the fire. Fire does not destroy the gold. It destroys the dross. James 1:2-8; Hebrews 12:4-13.
Christ has provided for our cleansing – 1 Peter 1:22-25. What remains yet is for us to submit to His teaching and “purify ourselves even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).
–Paul Holland
