When God’s People Get Comfortable
Malachi 3:1-4 Haggai 2:6-9 December 7, 2003
We are continuing with our study of the passages of scripture that Handel used when he composed the Messiah in 1741. The Oratorio was written in three parts. The first relates to the prophecies concerning the coming of the messiah. The second relates to the Passion of Jesus. And the third points to his triumphant return.
Our texts this week come from the books of Haggai and the only Italian writer of scripture, Mal-a- chi, sorry, that was brought up by a colleague at a study this week. Of course the second passage comes from Malachi. We will be reading from Haggai 2 and Malachi 3.
[6] "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. [7] I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. [8] 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. [9] 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
"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.
[2] But 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. [3] He 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, [4] and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
CCI: The good news of the coming of the Lord, is the fact that he will purify his people.
Intro: Imagine that tomorrow you get a letter in the mail telling you that one day next two weeks you will be visited by the crew of “Door Knock Dinners” with Gordon Elliot. They will arrive and come into your kitchen and cook a gourmet meal in your kitchen with whatever you have in the house. What is the first thing you will do? I would begin cleaning the kitchen and making sure my knives were sharp and drawers were in order. I would be certain the cabinets were organized. I would clean all my tablecloths and get new napkins. I would make sure there was some good food in the freezer and scrub the floor.
It would be an exciting time, but no matter what I did, I would not feel ready when the they arrived and knocked on my door for dinner!
In the books of Haggai and Malachi we have this same dynamic going on. There is an eagerness for the Lord to come, but at the same time there is an awareness that it will be very difficult, the coming of the Lord is a very serious.
Historical setting: Let’s look at the time line again this week. Haggai prophesies approximately 18 years after the Edict of Cyrus that told the people to return to their homes and rebuild the temple. During that time, many people had returned, but what they found was not what they expected. The prophets had spoken of Jerusalem and Palestine in glowing terms. Isaiah said there would be abundant harvests, that the gates of the city would be encrusted with jewels, that the nations would run to Jerusalem in adoration, yet none of these hope were being fulfilled. They had some political freedom, they had a governor who was a descendant of David, even though he was appointed by Persia. They had their own high priest, but, still, their hopes were left unfulfilled.
When Haggai appears, he is quite angry. Cyrus had sent them back with the command to rebuild the temple, yet it had not happened at all. As they settled into the land, the people said, “The time has not yet come for the LORD'S house to be built." Apparently they thought there other things they had to do first. Perhaps, they needed homes for themselves. Maybe, they needed to prepare fields for planting, or, they needed to get their businesses up and running, and get to know their neighbors. And this had continued for 18 years. All of these things were taking priority over building the temple.
I find that kind of amazing! God had moved through a pagan king and ordered them to return and rebuild the temple to God, he was sending with them all the gold and silver and bronze that had been plundered, he was even providing monies from the royal treasury to make it possible. Is their any way God could have more clearly shown his people what he wanted them to do? Yet, they missed it!
And Haggai declares that their current economic crisis is a fitting judgement for their disobedience. They are not seeing the harvests and honor that they had been promised because of have ignored the Lord in their lives.
It seems Haggai’s preaching had an effect because in chapter 2 we see that the temple is indeed being rebuilt. The foundation has been laid and the work is progressing. But there is another problem. As the work progresses, those older members of the community who are able to remember Solomon’s temple, are devastated by the size of what looked to them like a cheep imitation. The new temple was much smaller and did not have the glory of the former one. In fact, in Ezra 3, we learn that “those who had seen the first house on its foundations wept with a loud voice when they saw the new house.”
This is where Haggai once again begins preaching. And he promises that in a little while, as they are faithful, God will shake all nations and what everyone has longed for will appear in this house. This is the promise that Handel uses in this section of the Messiah. Listen to the urgency and serious nature of this passage. The bass solo highlights the severity of the message. (play track through 1:06, then pause – The text will be on the screen). The hope that the treasure of the world would come, that the one the whole would longed for would arrive is the hope that spurred the building of the temple.
And the temple was indeed rebuilt, worship was restored, but the glory days the people were hoping for did not return. So, one generation later, another prophet arose. His name was Malachi and he was part of the tribe of Levi. Originally, there were twelve tribes that were given land when the people settled in Palestine, and one that was told the Lord would be their inheritance. The tribe of Levi was the family group from which the priests and temple workers came, their inheritance was not land, but the Lord himself. And in this tribe, there was a family fight. All the priests were sons of Levi, but not all the sons of Levi were priests. Those who came from the wrong branch of the tribe were relegated to cleaning the temple, singing in the choir and caring for the sacred objects.
In addition to leading the worship, the priests had also become the primary political authority. They were proud of what they were doing, and of their positions. As a result of their pride, they began taking advantage of the people around them. They married and divorced freely; they offered sacrifices that did not meet God’s standards; they redefined evil as good; they gave only what they thought they could afford; and they even said it was worthless to serve God because God did not keep his promises.
The nation had developed a form for worship, but there was no substance. They had a temple, but it was empty. They had a priesthood, but they were self-serving. They had returned to their land, but their hopes were empty.
Malachi’s message was clear. The Lord will come, as he had promised. But when he comes it will not be all sweetness and cream. In Chapter 2 he opens with the question, “Who may abide the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears?”
As followers of Jesus, we often look forward to the second coming of Jesus as the day we long for and the day we hope for and the day we have dreamed about. And the scriptures support that. We look to that day the same way the Jews did in Malachi’s day, it was to the be day they finally received their inheritance. However, in addition to the good news, there is also a difficult message. Jesus told his followers that they were to be prepared for His coming so that when the master comes, he will not find us sleeping. The message of the prophet was like the telegram from Doorknocker Dinner. The good news is “the Lord we seek will suddenly come to his temple,” the hard news is “But who may abide the day of his coming?” Will any be able to stand under his scrutiny?
Can you? If God examines your life, can you stand before him? When Isaiah found himself in the presence of God, he understood his sinfulness and pled with God to forgive him. As Paul considered his life, he became aware of the sin that was within him.
No matter what we do, the impurity remains. We justify our sinful behavior; we ignore God’s commands concerning the marriage vows; we exempt ourselves from God’s demands on wealth; and we deceive ourselves into believing that since it is our best, God will understand. But no matter how hard we try, when we come before God, we continue to stand with shaking knees. The seriousness of this is highlighted in the bass aire, “Who may abide.” (Play from 2:53 track 5, have lyrics on the screen).
Yes, as we hear, even in the tone and mood of the music, it is very serious. We can not stand before God and hope that we will find favor. But there is good news. And the good news comes in the very next verse. Listen to the way Handel interprets the good news. Notice the new mood! (Play track 6) God himself will purify us. We can not do it ourselves so He shall purify his people. What we can not do, God does. God demands righteousness from us. He demands that we be perfect. We have all fallen short of that demand, so we stand condemned before God. Howeve
