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Day 3 Malachi 3 Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, says the LORD of hosts. 6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, says the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, says the LORD of hosts. 13 Your words have been stout against me, says the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? 14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. 16 Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not. 4:1 For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the LORD of hosts. 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Have you seen times of trouble, that seem like they will never end? Have you gotten a raise or promotion only to see it eaten up with repairs? God instructed his people to do two things – return to him and pay their tithes and offerings. God wanted more than anything else to bless his people, but he could not because they refused to acknowledge him as their King and God. God said he would purge the nation of Israel, starting with the priesthood, the tribe of Levi. You all want to see God’s blessing on your life, and he promises to give it. He even went as far as to say, “Prove Me, and see.” It is the only time God will ask us to prove him to see if he will keep his promise, but we need to obey him and turn to him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We need to be obedient to him, and we need to pay our tithes and offerings. What is God’s promise when we obey him in giving to him first? He promises to bless us in every area of our lives. First, he will rebuke the devourer off our lives. He will not allow Satan to take our finances from us. In other words, the repair bills will disappear because nothing will break down one after another. Next, he says you will have plenty of food. You won’t go hungry. Last, he says even the nations will bless us. Not just the nations, but you will find favor from those you do business with. All the blessings God promised his people, Israel, are also yours when you obey God. Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou come in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou go out. 7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou set thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God gives thee. 9 The LORD shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. God also promised he would send a messenger before he sent their Savior, to prepare the way. We know that to be John the Baptist who was born six months before Jesus, our Savior. God also promised the Sun of righteousness – Jesus our Savior, the Light of the world, would come with healing in his wings. Jesus, like all Jews, wore a prayer shawl, the ends of the shawl had strings knotted together in a certain number and order, signifying the law and the statutes God gave Moses. This part of the prayer shawl is known as the wings. God told his people there would be healing in his wings. A woman came through the crowd of people to see Jesus, and just touch the hem, the wings, of his garment, his prayer shawl, and she would be healed. Matthew 9:20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. (KJV) Jesus not only brought salvation, he brought healing. He is the Light of the world, and his light goes into the whole world and all those who accept him as their Savior and Lord will know his healing touch, and God will rebuke the devourer off all those who accept him and obey him. God also said he would send Elijah before the great and awful day of the Lord to turn the hearts of the children and fathers to each other. The great and awful day of the Lord is the Tribulation, when God’s two witnesses will stand and preach salvation to the people, one last time for 3.5 years, and God’s people, Israel, will be saved. Elijah is one of those witnesses, and Enoch is believed to be the other because neither experienced death, but they will during the Tribulation. Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. As Christians, we wait for the day, when Jesus will return, and fulfill this final prophecy. Here ends the study of the Old Testament. Let’s pray: Father, your promises are yea and amen. You have not left one promise unfulfilled. Help me be obedient to your Word, so I will receive the blessing you promised and told me I can even prove you when I obey you. Let your blessings over take me as you open the windows of heaven on me, your servant. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 18 April 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay