Creator, Father, King #162

You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

WHEN WAS THE LAST time you were in a really long line? Perhaps it was during holiday shopping at the mall or waiting for an amusement park ride.

Inevitably, when forced to wait, some people start to complain. Kids start to get fidgety. Babies begin to cry. It’s basically the end of the world.

As humans, we hate waiting. We want to get to our destination. Not in five minutes. Not in thirty seconds. NOW.

The book of Malachi—the Old Testament’s final book—is about waiting. Malachi was a prophet who probably lived in the mid-fifth century BC. At that time, the Jews had been back in Palestine for nearly a century after their Babylonian exile.

In the post-exilic era, God had promised to restore Jerusalem and the Temple to great glory (Haggai 2:9; Zechariah 8:1-23), punish his people’s tormentors (Zechariah 9), and send the Messiah (Zechariah 9:9-10). But none of that had transpired by Malachi’s lifetime. The Temple was a shell of its former self, and so was Jerusalem. The people were Persian subjects—a conquered nation, without a Davidic king on the throne—and morale was low.

This affected many people’s spiritual lives. Their love of God had grown cold. Their present reality was hindering their faith, and their struggles had warped their theology.

“Where,” they asked, “is the God of justice?” (today’s verse).

Malachi called them to repent and trust in God as they waited for his promises to be fulfilled.

What’s It Mean?

The Jews from Malachi’s day until Christ’s birth approximately four hundred years later had to live by faith, not by sight. For those who considered only what their eyes could see, it’s no wonder they easily became discouraged and spiritually derailed.

Today is no different. We live in troubling times, just like the ancient Jews of Malachi’s era. We will face many hardships. We must rely on more than what we see and physically experience in this difficult life. We must live by faith as we wait for Jesus’ return.

Many fell away in Malachi’s day. But the waiting wasn’t for naught. It was all part of God’s sovereign plan to introduce his Son, the Redeemer, at the perfect time (Galatians 4:4-5).

One day, Jesus will return again once and for all, as God has promised. Don’t lose faith! Don’t fall away! The wait can be challenging. But live by faith, even when it’s hard not to live by sight.

The God of justice will be faithful to his promises.

Now What?

Read the book of Malachi for a fascinating look at God’s last prophetic word in Old Testament times until the coming of Christ.

Did You Know?

In Hebrew, Malachi means “my messenger.”