Do You Weary God? (Mal. 2:17–3:5)
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.Yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” When you say, “Everyone who does what is evil is good in the Lord’s sight, and He is pleased with them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”
3:1 “See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire —see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and like cleansing lye . 3 He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 And the offerings of Judah anJerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old and years gone by.5 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts.
Do You Turn from God? (Mal. 3:6-7)
6 “Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. 7 “Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Hosts.But you ask: “How can we return?”
The old saying goes, “If you’re not as close to God as you once were, guess who moved.”
Do You Rob God? (Mal. 3:8-12)
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!”You ask: “How do we rob You?”“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. 9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you-the whole nation-are still robbing Me. 10 Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the
Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts. 12 “Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of Hosts.
Recount the most recent time you have been aware of God’s blessing you for your faithful giving to Him.
Biblical Truths of This Lesson in Focus
• Don’t accuse God of injustice. He gets tired of it.
• God desires purity and works to purify His people.
• If we have turned from God, we can return to Him!
• Faithfulness to God requires faithfulness in giving.
• God blesses His obedient people as a testimony to the world of His goodness.
Have a good week and hope to see you Sunday.
Chuck