Our text today forms a fitting conclusion to the book of Malachi. Remember that the prophets were covenant enforcers – not primarily foretellers of the future but forthtellers of the Word of God, of the law of God, the Law of Moses. They applied the unchanging Law of Moses to the changing circumstances of Israel’s history. So Malachi closes with an admonition to the people to remember God’s law. But it also closes with a promise; a promise that would enable God’s people to identify the day of the Lord before it arrived and so to recognize the Covenant Lord’s presence. It is this promise that we consider today: what did it mean and how did God fulfill it?

Today we learn that there were some who truly loved and served the Lord in Malachi’s day. Our text today assures us that when the Covenant Lord visits His people, He will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. While the wicked will be destroyed, the righteous shall be saved. This promise gives us immense hope and encouragement and should relieve us from anxiety. The Lord is on our side; whom shall we fear?

We have already learned that the offerings which Israel presented to the Lord were defective. Priests and people alike dishonored God’s Name by offering blemished sacrifices on the altar. Today we learn that not only were these offerings blemished they were also insufficient. Israel was robbing God by failing to return to Him the tithe that belonged to him. So what is the tithe? Where did it come from? What do we as Christians learn from Malachi’s words about paying tribute to our Covenant Lord?

We have learned from our study that in the prophet Malachi’s day Israel was covenantally treacherous and was endeavoring to soothe the conscience by declaring that God approved of their behavior or just didn’t care – if he even existed. Weary of their words, God announces through Malachi the same thing which He has made clear from the very beginning – He abhors evil and acts in space and time to manifest his abhorrence. This promise takes additional substance in Malachi 3 – where Yahweh promises to send Adonai, the Angel of the Covenant, to fulfill the terms of the covenant that He had made.

Societies that are in chaos, that are in rebellion against their Covenant Lord, inevitably endeavor to soothe the conscience in one of two ways – either declaring that the Covenant Lord sanctions their rebellion or declaring that the Covenant Lord doesn’t care. But God reveals that both avenues are dead ends. He is the Covenant Lord and rules and reigns in space and time.

Even as Israel generally and the priests particularly have been violating their covenant obligations, today we learn that the Israelites have been corrupting God’s purpose for marriage and are guilty of covenantal treachery. So how does Malachi help us understand why their conduct is so profane and what God will do and has been doing about it?

Today we learn that the reason God has been taking the priests to task is because they have been violating his covenant with them, a covenant that God made years prior with their father Levi. Studying God’s words to the priests equips us to understand His relationship with ministers of the Gospel in our day as well as with us.

In this section of Malachi God condemns our fathers, especially the priests, for dishonoring His Name. Once again Israel responds in disbelief – how have we defiled your name? God’s response consists of three parts: they have dishonored His Name by offering blemished sacrifices with a contemptuous attitude in cowardly compliance with the sin of the people. Malachi’s condemnation supplies us with great wisdom as we consider what it means to be servants in Christ’s kingdom.

Israel was defined by her relationship to God. God graciously established His covenant with Israel and united her in relationship with Himself. Israel became His treasured possession and He became her husband. He loved Israel. But Israel didn’t see things that way. They disputed God’s love for them. So God responds and demonstrates that He has indeed loved Israel and shown Himself on her side – even as He continues to be on the side of His people, the Church.