"But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:” (Malachi 3:2)

The prophecy of Malachi describes Israel’s complete rejection of God as their Father and King and of their rejection of his pattern and order of worship. Over four hundred years before Christ, this prophecy was written to warn Israel to repent or face the hand of God for their rejection of His doctrine and holiness.

When you look at the following list, you will come to the same conclusion that Malachi did. If they have rejected and offended God this horribly, who will be able to stand against God’s fiery indignation? Moreover, we can compare the sins of Israel to ourselves and see that, if not for the grace and mercy of God, we would not be able to abide the day of His coming!

1. God reminds Israel that He loved them but Israel complained that God didn’t love Esau. God rebukes them for this by saying “Yet, I loved Jacob.” When we look at Scripture we can see that no man DESERVES the love of God. It is only by grace that anyone can be with God. This is what God’s rebuke meant. Jacob didn’t deserve God’s love but God loved him anyway. In this, Israel showed himself to spoiled brat. They took the blessing of God for granted and declared that they deserved God’s love. False teachers today declare the same dangerous heresy. We do not deserve God’s love. Therefore, we should not complain shen we don’t feel God is blessing us “enough."

2. The next sin of Israel was that they were offering unfit animals for sacrifice. The law plainly teaches that the best of the flock should be offered to God. Yet, Israel was giving the worst leftovers to God. This applies to disciples today in the following way. Jesus was our perfect sacrifice so we do not offer things to be killed any longer. However, we are to offer our lives to God. It is our living and reasonable sacrifice. So, do we offer a healthy and prepared sacrifice or the worst leftovers? Have we been living a holy life and present ourselves before the Lord as a spiritually healthy living sacrifice or do we destroy ourselves throughout the week and especially on Saturday with fulfilling the lusts of the flesh? Moreover, do we offer the Lord a living sacrifice whose eyes have been reading the word of God all week and are ready to receive more, or do we blind ourselves with junk entertainment and frivolous knowledge?