On the Day the Lord Acts

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

On the Day the Lord Acts

Date: Jun. 30, 2021

Passage

Malachi 3:13-4:6 (ESV)

13 “Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 3:3:17

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.

1. The Lord's treasured possession (3:13-18)

Some Israelites thought that it wasn't worth it to serve the Lord. They looked around and saw the wicked prosper, while those who acted piously seemed to have nothing. This is a question many people in the Bible (and even today!) wrestled with. Why does the Lord let the wicked prosper and those who love and serve him struggle so much? Malachi assures us that the Lord listens and hears those who love him. The Lord promises compassion on those who fear him. Those who love the Lord are his treasured possession. The Lord will make a distinction, on judgment day, between the rights and the wicked.

2. Judgement and salvation (4:1-6)

The day of the Lord will come. When it does, those who are wicked will perish and be punished eternally in fire. But those who revere the Lord's name will be found righteous. On that day they will rejoice. Before that day, the Lord would send his messenger. This was John the Baptist who prepared the way for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be patient and wait for your reward. Lord, I revere your name.

One Word: Revere the name of the Lord.

Rebekah’s Decision of Faith

Genesis 24:50-67

Key Verse: 24:58

And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.”

Today's Question

How is Christ our redeemer?

See answer and references