As God speaks through his prophet Malachi he shares with those who have returned from exiles the ways in which they are rejecting his rule. Most of the people did not experience firsthand the worship in Solomon’s temple. If they did their memories were corrupted by the perverse practice of the priest at the end of the first temple period, by the incomplete memories of their youth, or by the errors in the stories that had been passed down to them. Maybe they were like many Christians today. They were back in God’s inheritance and now that they had done “their part” where were the bounties God had promised? The questions in the believers’ hearts seemed to be; What about me? When do I get to be happy? (Malachi 3:14) Those are the same questions many modern American believers are tempted to ask. So Malachi’s words to those settling exiles also speak directly to us; offering us words that Jesus would later rephrase from the sermon on the mount. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be given to you.” (Matt 6:33) If the questions that believers ask today are the same that were asked in Malachi why would we expect the answers to be any different?
Stuart
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