Tag Archives: Malachi

Advent, He came to refine and cleanse, December 10, 2018

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

One of our favorite places to visit is Williamsburg, Virginia. I remember one of first times my wife and I visited my daughter was still an infant and we visited as an anniversary present to ourselves. That meant it was December in Williamsburg. It was a great time to be there with all the Christmas decorations and the smell of baked goods in the air. But it was also bitterly cold. I had our daughter bundled up and then stuff in my coat. Most of the shopkeepers were a little surprised when I would begin to unwrap all the scarves and gloves and layers of stuff and suddenly this squirmy little six-month old bundle of flesh poked its head out to look around the store.

We enjoyed the little village a lot. We liked the food. We liked the reenactment of life in the early days of the settlement. We eagerly watched the way things were done with no electricity, no running water, none of the conveniences we have today. It’s really fascinating to watch and sometimes participate in the making of things we just take for granted today. Things as simple as making a cup of tea. I walk to the sink fill up a cup, pop a tea bag in it and often just stick in the microwave for a minute and viola, I have a piping hot cup of tea. But in 1750 Williamsburg making a cup of tea was a process.

Chop firewood for the stove. Assuming of course you already chopped down a tree in the forest to have a cord or so of firewood to chop. Build a fire in your Franklin stove. Go to the well and pull up a bucket of water. Put the water on the stove and wait for the stove and the pot to get hot enough to heat the water to boiling. Find the tin of tea and put a few dried leaves in a strainer if you’re a little on the wealthy side or just put them in the cup if not. Pour the boiling water into the cup and let it steep for a few minutes. Then carefully drink the tea trying to avoid moving the cup too fast so you don’t also get a mouthful of tea leaves in the process.

I’m beginning to understand why they always had afternoon tea in those days. It’s probably because it took all morning to get everything ready to make those couple of cups of tea for that small social gathering.

One of the most fascinating things to me about that era, though, is the craftsmanship of the journeymen in the various trades. Many of those buildings are as sturdy today as they were then because of the skill of the masons who laid the brick and stone in those walls. They have stood undisturbed for three hundred years and it looks like they will stand that much longer without a problem. The furniture is equally well crafted. And they didn’t have the glues and epoxies and fasteners we have today. They just cut everything to exact measurements and fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle so that they went together perfectly and would not come apart. It took incredible skill with only hand tools at their disposal to do the things they did.

Well, one of the most interesting shops we visit when we go to Williamsburg is that of the silversmith. Here you find some of the most intricate designs on candlesticks, silver sets, tableware, platters, door knockers, all sorts of things used around the house. Silver is not a plentiful ore, but is not impossible to find either. And the craftsmen that work with it can do some incredible things with it. In the silversmith shop, though, you can learn some important truths that help us understand scripture a little better.

Here we are in the second week of Advent. Yesterday’s lectionary readings included a passage from Malachi that said the Messiah would come as a refiner’s fire. I heard that term growing up and knew that refiners worked with the ore that held precious metals like gold and silver, but that was about the extent of my knowledge… Until I talked to a silversmith in Williamsburg. You see, a silversmith and a goldsmith use a refiner’s fire every day. They depend on it to purify the ore or the silver ingots they purchase from miners. They want the purest metals when they work because any impurities will cause flaws in the final product. Their trays or cups or mirrors or pitchers or whatever else they might be making will not shine or be as smooth or as perfect as they want.

So how do they make their material pure? I had to ask the question. And the answer is by putting the ore into the a crucible and subjecting it to the refiner’s fire. It super heats the metal until all the impurities burn away. What’s left in the crucible is the pure silver or pure gold. And how does the refiner know that all the impurities have burned away? He just peaks into the crucible and looks at his reflection in the metal. When his reflection is absolutely clear, no spots, no waves, no ripples, just a pure, clean reflection of his face, he knows all the impurities have burned out. The silver is pure.

Malachi says the Lord will come as a refiner’s fire. He will purify the tribe of Levi. But scripture also tells us we priests when we accept him as savior. Why? Because we are commanded to spread the good news that he came to forgive sins. He came to sacrifice himself for our atonement. He came to die that we might live. He came to show us who God is. He came and died and rose again and told us he would return to take his followers back to heaven with him.

He also came to cleanse us. To purify us. To make us new and remove the stains of our old life and recreate us in his image. He came to show us how to live in community with God and with each other. He came to give us a new covenant. A new Way to live. New directions. New joy. A legacy of internal peace in an external world of chaos. He came to be more than just a good teacher or a mysterious prophet. He came. God incarnate. Immanuel. God with us. A refiner’s fire.

Malachi also says he will come like fuller’s soap. There is another one of those terms that pops up in ancient times that we know little about in our modern society. So what is fuller’s soap? It’s not easy to discover. The first places I searched likened a fuller to a launderer, but in ancient times, there were no laundries like we think about them today. Families did their own laundry in the rivers, lakes, and streams around the cities where they lived. Or they had slaves do it for them. Sometimes for really stubborn dirt or stains, they would use a large kettle filled with water heated over a fire and a stick or paddle became the agitator in the kettle much like in our washing machines today.

The second line of thinking is that a fuller worked with the wool from sheep. When the wool is removed in shearing, it’s not very clean. Sheep graze in the fields, are subject to the weather and whatever environment they live in, so their wool get tangled and dirty as it grows. The only time it really gets any attention before shearing is when it rains and natures washes some of the crud out of it. So the sheared wool goes to the fuller, whose job is to scrub the wool with soap to clean and untangle it so it can be made into yarn for making cloth.

The soap was a mixture of a kind of clay called fuller’s clay and ashes. This alkaline mixture served to bleach cloth and other materials as much as to clean them, but because of the alkaline properties, it did kill most of the bacteria and so helped keep populations a little healthier when used for cleaning, bathing, washing clothing, and so forth. In our early American history, the fuller’s soap would be akin to our lye soap and used much the same way. It was a very harsh, but effective means of bleaching and therefore cleaning clothing.

So whether we are talking about the soap used by a family to clean their limited articles of clothing or a person who cleans and prepares the sheared wool for further use, the fuller’s soap in ancient Israel was the stuff Granny Clampett used to scrub the hide off Jethro when he needed his Saturday afternoon bath. A harsh, rough on your skin, bleach like soap used to scrub anything that needed a lot more than just hot water to get it clean.

The Lord comes like fuller’s soap ready to scrub the toughest pots and pans to get the crud out. He comes like fuller’s soap to make sure that stuff behind the ears is gone. He comes to make sure that smidge of dirt under the fingernails disappears. He comes to get rid of the pesky buildup in the corner of the closet that nothing seems to reach. He brings the fuller’s soap to scrub inside and out so there is nothing left but purity. It’s cleaning power is better than Pinesol or Ajax or Mr. Clean. The stuff he brings gets the job done right.

Well, Malachi prophesied about his coming. And Jesus came. The Messiah was born in a little town called Bethlehem. Enough historical facts have now been uncovered by the scientific world to show the man, Jesus lived and died. Many don’t want to believe the rest of the story. But Jesus fulfilled so many of the prophecies of the Old Testament that the odds that he is not the Messiah have been calculated. In fact, one scholar shows that Jesus fulfilled 456 prophecies. The odds of that happening is a number we cannot begin to fathom. A mathematics professor at Westmont College gave 600 students a probability problem to determine the odds of one person fulfilling just eight, and the odds were 10^17. That 10 with 17 zeros behind it.

So what is that number like? Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up the one silver dollar that has the special mark on it. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time. It would take more than 20 million years to reach that number counting as fast as you can.

But the professor didn’t stop there. He then went on to look at 48 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus during his lifetime. Remember, some have shown Jesus fulfilled 456, but the odds of one man fulfilling 48 four-hundred year old prophecies is 10^157. That’s 10 with 157 zeros behind it. We can’t think in those terms. Those odds are so far beyond our comprehension they are laughable. Is Jesus the Messiah? Don’t take my word. Look at the math. What are the odds he is not? Go find that marked silver dollar blindfolded and tell me what you think!

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Silence can be deafening, February 12, 2018

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Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 21; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 141 through 147

I was thinking after I read this week’s scriptures about the span of time the Israelites went from the words we hear this week until the next chapter in our quest and the next movement in God’s great plan. Malachi stood as the last writer of the Old Testament and it would be 400 years before the next prophet announced the arrival of the Messiah.

400 years. Our nation is just over half that old. We can barely think back to the founders of our country. Most of our kids would have a hard time naming five of the fifty-six signers of the document that announced our beginning, the Declaration of Independence. That piece of paper told Great Britain we had a voice.

Malachi told God’s people that God still had a voice, but for the next 400 years, He didn’t use it. He was silent. He didn’t speak through any prophets or priests. God spoke through the prophets and given His people a plan for returning to Him. They didn’t follow and were cast into exile. God allowed them to return and rebuild the temple.

Ezra read God’s message to the people gathered around the rebuilt temple. The Levites explained His word to those who did not understand the ancient language so everyone knew what the law said and what it meant. And they wept. They saw the error of their ways. They repented of the sins they committed against God and against each other. They determined to live according to the law Ezra read to them.

Nehemiah told them to go home and eat, celebrate, give praise because they finally understood what God wanted from them and could carry out His plans for their lives. They didn’t ask for a new king. They didn’t ask to be like the countries around them. They didn’t ask for wealth or greatness as a nation. They just asked for forgiveness and pledged to follow God’s guidance.

But still, God remained silent for 400 years. The priests conducted their ceremonies and worship services. The singers sang. The teachers taught. The readers read God’s word to the assemblies. The people listened and carried out the laws as best they could. Still God was silent.

Can you imagine not hearing from the leader of the nation for 400 years? In essence that’s what happened to the Israelites. God didn’t speak. They didn’t ask for a new king or a different kind of government. The people had learned their lessons. Yes, the nation lived under the watchful eye of other nations, but in that time, they patiently waited for their coming Messiah. 400 years.

I keep bringing up that number because it’s a little hard to wrap our heads around. No clear guidance for almost twice the age of our country. Nothing from God for four centuries. Silence for almost half a millennium. At sixty-three, I have a hard time remembering what I had for supper last night. 400 years is just impossible to grasp. But for 400 years, the Israelites continued to seek their Messiah. They continued to pray he would come soon. Every young girl prayed she would be the mother of their savior and king.

God’s people never gave up their search for the Messiah. They knew God would keep His promise of deliverance from their oppressors. They knew He would put someone from David’s lineage on the throne and rescue them. They knew God made a promise He would not break. They knew God could not fail and could not break His covenant. They knew God would do what He said He would even though they didn’t keep their side of the bargain. They knew God.

Yet He remained silent. They waited.

It makes me think back to Abraham who waited 25 years for the son God promised him. Joseph waited 22 years in prison for the position that would save his family from starvation. David waits 15 years from the time Samuel anoints him as the next king before he takes his position on the throne for two of the twelve tribes, and another 7 before he is accepted as king of all twelve tribes.

Today we have a problem waiting on God. We think having to wait more than three seconds for a web page to load is unacceptable and complain to our Internet carrier. We think waiting in line for more than five minutes to get our fast food is too long and demand more lines be opened. We complain to the grocer when our favorite vegetable is out of season and demand he figure out how to get it from a greenhouse that produces year round. We complain stop lights are too long. Commercials are too long. Traffic is too slow. Promotions and raises are too slow.

Think about Abraham and Joseph and David and those who heard Malachi’s message. They all waited almost a lifetime to see their promises unfold and even then, none of them saw the complete fulfillment of what God told them would happen to their descendants and their nation.

So what does it mean for us? You know that son or daughter you’ve been praying for their salvation? Keep at it. God thinks in terms of eternity. That neighbor you’d like to see come to know Jesus? Keep praying and sharing God’s word. It may take a while, but God still works in His upper story to work His will in this world.

Worried about something going on in your life? God knows about it. Just keep following His laws and doing His will as best you know how. He is faithful. His timing doesn’t necessarily coincide with our timing, but His timing is perfect. Trust Him. Remember we cannot see around the bend in our lower story, but God sees perfectly in His upper story. Look up and know God is always at work for good for those who love Him and love people.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

 

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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Consult with each other (Malachi 3:6-18), October 16, 2015

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Malachi 3:6-18

Set – Malachi 3; Acts 5

Go! – Malachi 3-4; Psalms 148; Acts 5

Malachi 3:6-18
6 Because I am the Eternal One, I never change; as a result, you children of Jacob have not been destroyed though your blessing may have been delayed.
7 From the days when your ancestors served Me, you have turned from and ignored My statutes. Return to Me and I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will return to you. But you shameless people ask, “How will we return? 8 Will someone steal from God?” Yet you are always stealing from Me! But you self-centered people still ask, “How have we stolen from You?” In the tithes and the offerings you have not given Me as the law requires! 9 You are cursed with a curse, for as an entire nation you are stealing from Me. 10 To rectify this situation, you must bring the entire tithe into the storage house in the temple so that there may be food for Me and for the Levites in My house. Feel free to test Me now in this. See whether or not I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will open the windows of heaven to you and pour a blessing down upon you until all needs are satisfied. 11 I will rebuke the swarm of locusts devouring your crops, and the devourer will not cause the produce you have grown in the earth to decay or the vines in the field to drop their grapes. 12 And all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight. I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise you this.
13 Your words of rebellion against Me have been strong. Yet you ask, “What have we said against You?” 14 You have said, “Serving God is a waste of time,” and, “What benefits have we received by following Him as we mourned on our journey before the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies? 15 Now we believe the bluster of the arrogant and agree they are blessed; we encourage the wicked who also test God and escape.”
16 Then those who fear the Eternal One consulted each other about God’s charges, each one to his neighbor, and the Eternal One paid attention and heard. A book of remembrance was written before Him for those who honored the Eternal One and valued His name and the good reputation.
Eternal One: 17 And they will be Mine on that day when I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, make My unique treasure—which is the kingdom of Israel. I will have pity on them as a man has pity on his son who serves him.
18 And you will return and notice the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those serving God and those not serving Him.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

You’ve probably heard a lot of sermons from Malachi chapter three. Most have probably been on tithing and robbing Me of what belongs to Me. But in the verses you heard today, I want to point out something the people did that Malachi spoke to that caused many of them problems. It had to do with their stealing from Me and their rebellion against Me, but those charges were already confirmed by My judgment against them as voiced by My prophet Malachi.

If you listened carefully, you heard that they consulted each other about the charges, each one to his neighbor. Sometimes that can be a good thing, but sometimes not. The caveat that’s important in the description here is that those who feared Me consulted each other. When they did, they found the charges true and they needed to do something about it. The rest, just blew off what Malachi told them as just another preacher spouting off.

The difference will be obvious among those who listened and those who didn’t one day. Those who don’t heed My warnings will find themselves eternally lost. Those who listen to Me and follow My directions will find peace and prosperity in My kingdom. You might not have the riches of this world, but the riches of this world never last. Mine do.

The world can tell the difference between those who heed My warnings and those who do not. There is a difference in your countenance. A difference in the way you approach life. There is a difference in the way you handle the adversity that comes to everyone. A difference in the praise you give and the way you give grace to those around you, even to those who do not deserve it.

So go ahead and discuss the charges you hear from Me, but don’t discuss too long. When you hear from Me, just do something about it. I will extend My grace and forgive when you turn to Me. But do it soon, time is running out.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.