Post by Josh on Aug 31, 2007 9:12:50 GMT -8
Malachi 3: 1 "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
.......
Malachi 4: 5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."
Malachi is most likely the last book of the Old Testament to be written. The Jews had returned to their homeland after their exile, their city and Temple had been rebuilt, but still the promised of the coming Messiah had not yet come to pass. The people fell into malaise and neglect of their faith.
Then comes Malachi with a stern message laced with hope. Here, we have, from the Christian perspective, a prediction of John the Baptist (the messenger), the sudden and unexpected return of God to His temple.... [which would be literally be in the flesh]. Notice how it says the Lord will come AND also says the messenger of the covenant will come. That's a pretty powerful OT prediction that Jesus would be both a human agent and God himself.
Verses 2 and 3 refer to the whole period between Jesus' cleansing of the Temple in AD 30 (and perhaps 27 as well) and Jesus' coming in Judgment against Jerusalem (through the Romans) and the corruption of the Temple sacrifice in AD 70. Verses 3 and 4 refer to the sacrifice of praise God would find in the Church (the true Israel, Judah and Jerusalem). See how Peter emphasizes this:
1 Peter 2: 4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ
The last cluster of verses (4:5-6), speak all the more clearly of the messenger in the likeness of Elijah (John the Baptist) and pronounce a possible blessing and a possible curse.
Verse 6 is the last verse of the OT and it thus ends on a super haunting note- God saying that how His people choose to respond to the Messiah will determine whether they receive a blessing (their hearts turned to one another) or a curse. The word for curse here is the word "herem" which is the same word used in the Penteteuch/ Joshua to refer to anything handed over to the Lord for complete destruction (ie, the Canaanite people and their property).
Jesus, of course, brought both an infinite blessing in founding His kingdom but also, in deep anguish, did pronounce "herem" on the Temple and those who rejected the New Covenant.
This makes me think, Michelle, about what you said on the Joshua forum about how it seems in Joshua that God has no sorrow for those he commands Israel to destroy. Well, it occurred to me that Jesus pronounced "herem" on Jerusalem in the Gospels (Luke 21, Matthew 24, Mark 13), but check out his feelings about it:
Luke 19:41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
Jesus is talking about something that He will order to be done in one sense (as just Judge of the Universe), though done through a less than perfect intermediary (the Romans) yet He is deeply sorrowful that it must be done.
It seems logical to conclude that this is how he felt so long ago during the conquest of Israel for those who had rejected Him and therefore brought judgment upon themselves. Indeed, for everyone who has ever lived that has brought judgment upon themselves.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
.......
Malachi 4: 5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."
Malachi is most likely the last book of the Old Testament to be written. The Jews had returned to their homeland after their exile, their city and Temple had been rebuilt, but still the promised of the coming Messiah had not yet come to pass. The people fell into malaise and neglect of their faith.
Then comes Malachi with a stern message laced with hope. Here, we have, from the Christian perspective, a prediction of John the Baptist (the messenger), the sudden and unexpected return of God to His temple.... [which would be literally be in the flesh]. Notice how it says the Lord will come AND also says the messenger of the covenant will come. That's a pretty powerful OT prediction that Jesus would be both a human agent and God himself.
Verses 2 and 3 refer to the whole period between Jesus' cleansing of the Temple in AD 30 (and perhaps 27 as well) and Jesus' coming in Judgment against Jerusalem (through the Romans) and the corruption of the Temple sacrifice in AD 70. Verses 3 and 4 refer to the sacrifice of praise God would find in the Church (the true Israel, Judah and Jerusalem). See how Peter emphasizes this:
1 Peter 2: 4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ
The last cluster of verses (4:5-6), speak all the more clearly of the messenger in the likeness of Elijah (John the Baptist) and pronounce a possible blessing and a possible curse.
Verse 6 is the last verse of the OT and it thus ends on a super haunting note- God saying that how His people choose to respond to the Messiah will determine whether they receive a blessing (their hearts turned to one another) or a curse. The word for curse here is the word "herem" which is the same word used in the Penteteuch/ Joshua to refer to anything handed over to the Lord for complete destruction (ie, the Canaanite people and their property).
Jesus, of course, brought both an infinite blessing in founding His kingdom but also, in deep anguish, did pronounce "herem" on the Temple and those who rejected the New Covenant.
This makes me think, Michelle, about what you said on the Joshua forum about how it seems in Joshua that God has no sorrow for those he commands Israel to destroy. Well, it occurred to me that Jesus pronounced "herem" on Jerusalem in the Gospels (Luke 21, Matthew 24, Mark 13), but check out his feelings about it:
Luke 19:41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
Jesus is talking about something that He will order to be done in one sense (as just Judge of the Universe), though done through a less than perfect intermediary (the Romans) yet He is deeply sorrowful that it must be done.
It seems logical to conclude that this is how he felt so long ago during the conquest of Israel for those who had rejected Him and therefore brought judgment upon themselves. Indeed, for everyone who has ever lived that has brought judgment upon themselves.