“A promise”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, December 8, 2024
Malachi 3: 1-4 (Forward, p. 40) CEV p. 976
It’s a funny thing about prophecy. Many of them have multiple meanings and multiple applications. Today’s passage, for instance, is often cited as a prediction of the coming of John the Baptist, and certainly it does work, at least on one level:
“I, the Lord All-Powerful, will send my messenger to prepare the way for me” (verse 1a).
But then that verse continues as follows: “Then suddenly the Lord you are looking for will appear in his temple” and “The messenger you desire is coming with my promise, and he is on his way.”
So, just who is this referring to—and when? Appearing in his temple?
Who is that? There is no indication that John ever did so. So, is this
about Jesus? And when does this happen and what is its
implication? (Jesus was in the Temple on numerous occasions!)
Proceeding further, there are additional prophecies, ones that are linked neither to John nor to Jesus’ first coming into this world:
“On the day the Lord comes, he will be like a furnace that purifies silver or like strong soap in a washbasin. No one will be able to stand up to him” (verse 2).
The Day of the Lord is something is often referred to in the Hebrew
Scriptures, a future event that is not altogether that pleasant.
The refiner’s fire utilizes an image that was well-known in the ancient world. Precious metals such as gold or silver were subjected to heat and flame of a powerful furnace in order to force any impurities or dross to the surface where it could be skimmed off, leaving only the purified metal behind. This image was often used metaphorically to describe God’s refining work in our lives, how He desires to return us to our rightful, holy and pristine state. An observer of this process once asked the refiner when he knows the metal is ready: ‘when I can see my face in it’, he replied. That’s what God wants to see in us, His face, His appearance, His likeness. And what does God use in this process? Often it is affliction that God uses (see Isaiah 48:10).
And the fuller’s soap? White potter’s clay, chalk, or ashes were regularly used to cleanse or whiten clothes, and once again, it was quite a process with the substance being mixed with water in a tub or washbasin and then rubbed or beaten into the cloth. Again, this is used as an image of God’s reforming, purifying work in our lives.
This seems like something of a general event, but what follows is far more specific:
“The Lord will purify the descendants of Levi [the priests], as though they were gold or silver. Then they will bring the proper offerings to the Lord, and the offerings of the people of Judah and Jerusalem will please him, just as they did in the past” (verses 3-4).
So, given its multiple ‘layers’ of meaning and application, just what is it ‘getting at’? What is its overall theme?
Its overall theme is that of readiness, or a lack thereof, or put another way, a lack of a proper behaviour towards God, a lack of respect and love towards the God who had done so much for them. Worship of God and practice of one’s religion should not be an off the cuff, lackadaisical, ‘any old thing’ type of behaviour. It should be intelligent, deliberate and in conformity to God’s wishes. And so, according to Malachi, a certain amount of reformation or refining or purification was needed. And indeed, the coming of the Lord, and His messenger, would be the ways forward for this to begin to happen. And, should it not be happening, with you and I, in this present moment? I think so.
Forward notes: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me” (verse 1).
“My grandmother’s hands were powerful. They were loving, warm hands whose weight on my chest had the power to calm and soothe me when I was anxious or upset. Those hands were healing as they lay on my forehead when I was sick or in pain. They held tightly to my grandfather in times of trouble and caressed her grandchildren in times of joy. I remember how soft and gentle her hands were despite years of manual labor.
“I imagine that God’s hands are like my grandmother’s. Those ordinary hands offered comfort and peace, loving service to others, and welcome to friends and strangers. God used those hands to inspire faith out of their ordinariness.
“As we continue the journey through Advent, God seeks to use our hands to accomplish the mighty and the mundane. We are called to point to a God of extraordinary surprises, a God who routinely calls the unqualified, the unknown, and the underdog to be God’s messengers.”
Moving Forward: “How is God using you to accomplish the mighty and the mundane? Are you open to this divine calling?”