Man's Sin and God's Silence / Message #2

January 20, 2013
Man's Sin and God's Silence / Message #2
Malachi 2:17-3:18
Scott Howard

Review from last week:

• We are dead in sin
• We are prone to defile one another
• We are desperate for a Savior & need to be born again

God is:

• Overwhelmingly Gracious --> His Grace is able to overcome our sin
• Inexpressibly Holy --> He is without error and also without equal
• Consistently Faithful --> He is the Groom, we are the bride (marriage was designed to be a picture of God's faithfulness to us)

God Loves faithfulness because God is Faithful

This week we look specifically at the passage of Malachi 2:17-3:18
This passage shows 3 Gaps that Isreal had in their faithfulness, and God's solutions to those gaps.

1. Israel had a Gap in their Theology (what is true regarding God) --> Malachi 2:17-- no longer believed God was pure & just

Accusations that weary the Lord:

• God cannot discern between good and evil
• The God of justice is nowhere to be found

The Israelites thought that God had abandoned them, that good & evil were equal.  But in reality they had lead themselves far away from God through deceitful righteousness.  They had wandered so far from God that they no longer remembered God's character.

God's solution for closing the Gap:

• God is personally coming to purify and judge --> Malachi 3:1-5

    2.   Israel had a Gap in their Tithing --> Malachi 3:6-12
If there were no tithes, there was no way for the temple to care for others--there would be no need for the priest to offer sacrifices, and ultimately no need for a functioning temple of worship.

God's solution for closing the Gap:

• Open your hands and trust Me because I do not change --> Malachi 3:6-7a; 3:10-12 

God is always faithful to bless those who obey Him.  We reap what we sow. 

    3.   Israel had a Gap in their followership and service to God --> Malachi 3:13-15
In their deceitful righteousness, Israel thought they were doing right and not gaining anything by it.  But they did not truly serve God by following the commands He had given them.

God's solution for closing the Gap:

• Obey Me because I will remember the Faithful --> Malachi 3:16-18

God has preserved a remnant by providing a Redeemer. 

The fact that God responds to the Israelites in solutions for closing these Gaps in their relationship with Him shows His love for them.  We can be encouraged knowing that God was patient with His people then and since He doesn't change, He is still patient with us today.

This is the promise throughout the Old Testament:  The only way to bring we who are dead in sin to new life is for God Himself to come in person to pay the price of sin, death, and because He is God, to rise from the dead and give us eternal life with Him in His presence!  So, 400 years after this point in time with the people of this passage, Jesus came to Earth be Emmanuel, God with us!  God keeps His promises, He is faithful!