Malachi 3.6 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore
you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (ESV)
You know, you find the most interesting stuff in the
Bible and some of it lays around in the prophecies of the minor prophets. (They’re
only called minor because their prophecies don’t take up that much space in the
whole of the Bible. Small, yes. Less important, NO!) What I read today in
Malachi 3 helped me in my understanding of God and I quote: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore
you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” That’s good news!
Israel (and in this context I mean the entire nation of the Jews, not just the
northern 10 tribes) deserved much more than they got (i.e. the exile). They got
off fairly lightly, all things considered. So, in Malachi’s prophecy we find
the restoration of the Jewish nation back in Palestine after seventy years of banishment.
Or at least we find the words of a prophet encouraging those people who had
come back from Babylonian (and subsequently, Median and Persian) captivity.
The big questiona in their minds may have been something
like: Now what!? What’s next? Malachi
revealed what God told him about the coming days of the Lord and the ‘malachi’
(i.e. messenger) leading up to those days. Malachi told them it was to be a
whole new ballgame. And things were going to be set right. He encouraged them
to keep looking forward but don’t forget the things they’ve already been
instructed to do: be Jews according to God’s wishes and live by the rules He
already established. Keep doing that until the next phase kicks in…
And then silence for four hundred years.
And this: “For I
the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”
It’s like God was saying to them: I haven’t
changed and I don’t want you to either – I will love you as I always have and I
will keep you as I always have. The world has changed and will continue to do
so, but I the Lord, do not change, therefore children, you’re not going to be consumed
by the changes in the world…if you stick with Me!
This was a word given to an ancient people who’d maybe
lost sight of who they were, why they were, and where they were. Not everyone
who went into captivity came home. But the ones who did needed to hear God say:
I the Lord do not change… He doesn’t,
He hasn’t and He won’t. Ever. And His kids will always be His kids and His
promises to them will stand the test of time and the irritation of
world-change.
It is also a word for us today.
Our world is rapidly changing and the haters of God are
growing more and more bold in their denial of His majesty and presence. His
kids (us) are not to get caught up in the changes in the world but to cling to
the unchangeableness of His being, for He has said: I the Lord do not change. We
worship an Unchanging God who continues to love us amidst the changes in the
world and in our lives – Amen! Lord, I’m with You!
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