Ensign: Who God Is

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.            Isaiah 18:3

 

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                                    6 March 2015

The book of Malachi at the end of the Old Testament can also be seen as a sneak preview of the New despite the four hundred year gap between them.  Though we're not given any specifics on when Malachi was written, we can deduce that it was another message to the returning exiles.  The description of worship in the Temple parallels Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah too closely to be coincidence. 

 

But Malachi himself seems to almost be a Jewish Socrates with the format he uses in the messages the LORD gave him.  The question-answer pattern occurring seven times in Malachi (1:2, 1:6, 1:7, 2:17, 3:7, 3:8, and 3:13-14) is meant to recall the people from a grudging, form-satisfying "worship" of God to a cheerful, functional, and thriving devotion to Him.  Who we say God is determines how we respond to Him.  How much this succeeds is history -- there is no action in Malachi, just the message.

 

The second chapter addresses the priests, the spiritual leaders, as well as the malaise that grips us all sometimes.  The priests should be doing what the tribe of Levi was originally commissioned to do, speak the truth of the LORD and walk with him in peace and equity, and turn many away from iniquity.  (2:4-6)  But not only are they failing to be the shepherds that Paul will later cite that pastors are called to be, they are not even fair.  God's punishment to those who show partiality among His people is pretty definite: "The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts."  (12)

 

Those who are unfaithful in their covenant with the LORD have also been unfaithful in their marriage vows ("deal treacherously against the wife of thy youth", v. 16).  Can't we see how when our relationship with God is eroded it affects every other relationship we have?  It does because then we have no standards of conduct; we're saying with the people, "Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?" (17) 

 

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come . . . even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:"  The third and fourth chapters both prophesy the coming of one who will make the way for God Himself to come.  With hindsight, we can determine that it's Jesus, God's Son, who's coming and John the Baptist who makes the way for Him, but would Malachi's contemporaries (mid-5th century B.C.) understand that? 

 

It's not for nothing that we read about the confusion of the people at the Jordan River in the New Testament, before John the Baptist first and then of the disciples before Jesus Himself.  Peter's confession recorded in Matthew 16:13-20 and Mark 8:27-30 comes after Jesus asks who others say He is.  

 

Some people said Jesus was John the Baptist (who'd been beheaded by this time), some said He was Elijah (who left Earth alive and was prophesied to return in Malachi 4:5), and some said He was one of the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, or any of the others).  Jesus' question to Peter which elicited his confession was directed to him (as it's directed to each of us in modern English): "Whom do you say that I am?"  That, we each must answer ourselves.   

I must answer myself, David

P. S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages you too. If I'm not or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in praise and prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even the ones we don't know we have! Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for all of us in leadership and service here and abroad, as well as for opportunities we have and the promise of new life! I pray we all seek and have a blessed week. Amen.