We've been talking alot about going through the process to get to the prophetic promise. Alot. We've been talking ALOT about going through the process to get to the prophetic promise. So I was a little confused when Pastor Randy asked us to read Malachi every day until he got back. Let me just tell you the first three days of reading this book I struggled. It wasn't the happy, joyful, sort of read I was looking for. I didn't know what I was missing but I knew I must be missing something. So this morning I decided to dig a little deeper and I came across this little gem:
Although the Jews had been allowed to return from exile and rebuild the temple, several discouraging factors brought about a general religious malaise: (1) Their land remained but a small province in the backwaters of the Persian empire, (2) the glorious future announced by the prophets (including the other postexilic prophets, Haggai and Zechariah) had not (yet) been realized, and (3) their God had not (yet) come to his temple (3:1) with majesty and power (as celebrated in Ps 68) to exalt his kingdom in the sight of the nations. Doubting God’s covenant love (1:2) and no longer trusting his justice (2:17; 3:14–15), the Jews of the restored community began to lose hope. So their worship degenerated into a listless perpetuation of mere forms, and they no longer took the law seriously.*
Apparently they had gotten stuck in the process and had lost sight of the promise. We do not need to doubt God's covenant love and he will fulfill his promises. We need to continue through the process, God is not a man so he doesn't lie, the prophetic promise is coming!
xoxo
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* http://biblica.com/niv/study-bible/malachi/
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