Malachi 2:17

The Bible says in Malachi 2:17, “Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?” A lot of times in our secular society we say, “If only people prayed more.” The problem is that people do not pray like they used to. They have even taken prayer out of public schools. That certainly was not the problem in the days of Malachi. The Israelites prayed very much. The problem was much deeper than whether they prayed or did not pray. These people had spiritual problems that made their prayers of no effect. Sin is a block to prayer. It says in Psalms 66:19, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” It also says in James 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” It says in Malachi 2:17, “Ye have wearied the Lord with your words.”

God was not pleased with their prayers, and we are told exactly why God was not pleased. We are told two things that these people believed that kept their prayers from being answered and kept their prayers from being pleasing to God. What you believe doctrinally speaking is important. If you believe the wrong things, then you will not please God. Perhaps there are some people who believe the wrong doctrines because they have not yet heard sound doctrine. But once someone has heard truth, and then rejects it, they have no excuse. Once someone has heard sound doctrine and rejects it, they prove what spirit they are of. One of the false ideas held by the Israelites was that they said the following: “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD.” They totally twisted goodness and evil. That which was evil, they called good; and that which was good, they called evil. And this was done in the context of religion. Does that happen today? It definitely does happen. Someone is wrong about abortion. Someone is wrong about living together before marriage. Someone is wrong about the drinking of alcoholic beverages for social purposes. Think of the modernists, and the cults, and the other false religions that are so very wrong about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second thing that these Israelites believed that kept their prayers from being pleasing to God is found in the question that they asked that is recorded at the end of Malachi 2:17, “Where is the God of judgment?” This is a question that expresses doubt and a lack of faith. One of the purposes of the evil one is always to get people to question basic truths about God and Jesus Christ. The evil one used the same method on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to cause them to fall when he questioned God’s Word in Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” This question in Malachi 2:17 doubts God’s presence, and it doubts God’s righteous judgment: it doubts God’s involvement in every person’s life to bring the consequences and punishment and judgment that God decides that each person needs or deserves. You do not need to ever pray, “O Lord Jesus, please be with us today.” God is always with us. He is every-where present. He is always in all places. Maybe you need to ask for more faith to believe in the presence of Christ.

Concerning God’s judgment against wrong-doers, it says in Romans 12:19, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” The teaching in Romans 12:19 tells us not to take vengeance because we know that vengeance belongs to the Lord. The Lord is the Judge. The Lord decides when and how someone deserves punishment. If you really believe that, then you will not avenge yourself. Instead of taking vengeance on someone because they deserve it, you will wait and let the Lord decide what to do. It is not your job to take vengeance. That job belongs to God. But it will take faith on your part to trust that God will take vengeance His way and His time, and it will take faith in Him as the Judge who is present with everyone and who sees and observes all things.

The Israelites during the time of Malachi had a lack of faith that God was going to judge evil-doers because they asked the question, “Where is the God of judgment?” Their lack of faith was expressed differently than taking vengeance. Their lack of faith in the judgment of God was expressed by them thinking that one would actually prosper by doing evil. That is why they said in Malachi 2:17, “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD.” Evidently, they saw what appeared to be short-term benefits to doing evil; and therefore, they came to the point of saying that God was blessing these people for what they were doing. Through their lack of faith they were saying something like, “Just look at the results. These people are prospering by what they are doing, and their prosperity must be from God. Therefore, what they are doing is good.” And so their human logic took them away from truth. Their lack of faith took them away from truth. You must believe that God is Judge and that He judges all evil. If you do not have that kind of faith, you also will descend into error. You must believe Philippians 2:10 that says, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.” The truth is that God decides when to judge. For some people the judgment comes very quickly. For others, years pass before judgment comes. For all, it will definitely come when they stand before Jesus to be judged for everything done in their bodies and with their lives.

The Bible says in Malachi 3:1-4, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to this temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifer of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” In Malachi 3:1 the Israelites are being told what is the very next thing in God’s continuing revelation that is going to happen after the writing of the book of Malachi. The book of Malachi was the last Old Testament writing. But before God would give more writings (the New Testament) God would send a “messenger.” This passage is referred to in Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, and Luke 7:2. It is interesting to notice that the same prophecy about this “messenger” is also found in Isaiah 40:3-5 that says, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

Referring to these passages in Malachi and Isaiah in the Old Testament, it says in Mark 1:2-8, “As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” When the Old Testament tells us about this messenger who will be sent, one truth that is being emphasized is why the messenger will be sent. He will be sent because of the sinfulness of the people. Massive sinfulness was already the problem with the people of Israel in the time of Malachi. No wonder that the priests and Pharisees were such horrible people by the time that Christ came. The priests and Pharisees and everyone else had over four hundred years to descend even further away from fellowship with God. To get right with God and to meet Jesus, they needed to hear one very important message: get right with God, turn from your evil ways, and repent.

This person that God sent as His messenger was named John. It says about John that he was, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness.” There are two important things to notice from this statement. The first is that John was “in the wilderness.” That means that John was not from the big city. John was from the country. In Matthew 11:11 Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” One aspect of John’s life that made it easier for John to become a better person was the fact that he was from the country. There is something about the life style of urban areas of civilization that result in an increased level of sinfulness, and that is because of the corrupting nature that human beings have on each other. One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. God had to choose someone to be the messenger and God chose someone from the country. Remember that if you are a Christian, God wants you to be a good influence on the people around you. But if you are not careful, the opposite will happen: Those around you will be a corrupting influence on you instead.

The second thing to notice about John was that he was “the voice of one crying.” This does not mean “crying” as in tears. It means crying out, and speaking up. God chooses some people to be the ones that speak His Word. Most of the time we should probably make an effort not to speak up because often the more that we speak, the more that we say things we should not. One exception to that is someone who is chosen to speak forth the Word of God. If God wants you to speak, then speak. Don’t hold back. God used John the Baptist because John spoke. It was not enough that he lived a godly life. He had to speak also. As it says in Romans 10:13-15, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

Both of the prophecies in Isaiah and Malachi about the messenger make clear statements that Jesus is God. It says in Isaiah 40:3 that the messenger will say, “Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” The messenger is speaking about whom? He is speaking about Jesus. John was the forerunner of Jesus. John was preparing the way for Jesus to come. Jesus is called “LORD,” which means Jehovah, and Jesus is called “our God.” Notice what it says about the messenger in Malachi 3:1, “I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to this temple.” Who is speaking in this verse? God is speaking about himself when He says, “I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to this temple.” Who is the “me” in this verse? It is God because God is speaking, but it is also Jesus because John prepared the way before Christ. Jesus is God.

The message that John the Baptist brought is needed by every person. The message is this: “Prepare to meet God: prepare to meet Jesus.” How do you prepare? You prepare by repenting of your sins. If you repent, Jesus will forgive you with open arms.

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