BIG IDEA:
GOD PROMISES TO DEMONSTRATE HIS JUSTICE AND PURIFY HIS PEOPLE WHEN HE SENDS HIS SPECIAL MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT TO ESTABLISH RIGHTEOUS WORSHIP
INTRODUCTION:
“That’s not fair” = one of the first cries to come out of children’s faulty reasoning.
I. (2:17) QUESTIONING GOD’S JUSTICE IS ABSURD
A. (2:17a) Charge of Challenging the Integrity of God’s Justice
“You have wearied the Lord with your words.”
Always complaining; always whining; always questioning
B. (2:17b) Self Righteous Questions
“Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied Him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and He delights in them,’ or
‘Where is the God of justice?’”
Very short term, limited perspective.
II. (3:1-4) GOD WILL SEND HIS MESSENGER TO PURIFY HIS PEOPLE FOR RIGHTEOUS WORSHIP
A. (:1) Promise of His Coming (Preceded by Forerunner) = the Agent
“’Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
Near and Far fulfillment in the Two Comings of the Messiah and the forerunners
B. (:2-3a) Purifying and Cleansing = the Means
“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when he appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver”
Ryrie: a refiner’s fire purifies, and fullers’ (laundrymen’s) soap cleanses
C. (:3b-4) Presenting Righteous Worship = the Goal
“so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years.”
III. (3:5) BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR – JUSTICE WILL BE TERRIFYING
A. (:5a) Judgment Will Come Swiftly
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment”
B. (:5b) Judgment Will Accurately Target Smug Transgressors
“and I will be a swift witness:
– against the sorcerers
– and against the adulterers
– and against those who swear falsely
– and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages
– the widow and the orphan
– and those who turn aside the alien”
C. (:5c) Root Problem: Failure to Properly Fear the Lord
“’and do not fear me,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
IV. (3:6) GOD’S IMMUTABILITY VALIDATES HIS JUSTICE BY DEMONSTRATING HIS COVENANT MERCY
A. (:6a) Assertion of Immutability
“For I, the Lord, do not change”
B. (:6b) Appeal to Covenant Faithfulness
“therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”