Living In Denial!

TEXT:

‘Yet you say’ (Malachi 1:2)

THOUGHT:

Malachi, last book of the Old Testament, is a warning from God to His own people, the Israelites, and may have been written during Nehemiah’s absence when he returned to report back to King Artaxerxes.¹

How quickly the Israelites had departed from God’s ways and degenerated into wickedness, for when Nehemiah came back from Persia, he found God’s house neglected and the Levites and worship leaders working in the fields in order to survive because God’s people had stopped giving their tithes and offerings.² Also, instead of keeping the Sabbath holy for the Lord, it had been reduced from a day of rest to just another day of the week for buying and selling.³

This is similar to when Moses went up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God and stayed for forty days. In his absence the Israelites soon persuaded Aaron to make the golden calf and cast off godly restraint celebrating, totally unaware of their true spiritual condition. Likewise the Laodecian Christians thought they were, ‘Rich, wealthy and in need of nothing’ but in God’s eyes they were really, ‘Lukewarm, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked’ (Revelation 3:16-17). They were in denial just like in the time of Malachi. The only answer was to repent!

Malachi records seven questions the Israelites asked in self-justification. Perhaps we can identify with some of them if we have been asking the same thing ourselves. May God help us to see clearly the truth about ourselves, and use some or all of these questions to soften our hearts to the truth!

• God’s Love – ‘I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, “In what way have You loved us?”’ (Malachi 1:2)

Comparing the prosperity of the surrounding nations with their lack, it was easy to think God did not love them anymore. When witnessing, people often say to me, “If there is a God why does He allow sickness and suffering?” or “Why did He let my mother die?” Gideon’s first response to the angel was, ‘If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles?’ (Judges 6:13)

Let us never forget, ‘My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects’ (Hebrews 12:5-6 MSG). God’s loves us too much to want to leave us the way we are!

• God’s Name – ‘Yet you say, “In what way have we despised Your name?”’    (Malachi 1:6)

How it grieves a true believer when God’s name is used as a swear word or made fun of. Yet many Christians are reluctant to speak out when people do this. God’s names reveal who He is and what He wants to be towards His people. ‘Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him; I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never]’ (Psalm 91:14 AMP). The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to say, “Our Father in heaven, holy is your name”, but God asked through Malachi, “If I am Father and Master, where is My honour and reverence?”

• God’s Offerings – ‘But say, “In what way have we defiled You?”’ (Malachi 1:7)

They were offering to God unacceptable sacrifices which would have been an insult to any civic leader. Then they stopped offering to God at all.

‘But you say, “In what way have we robbed You?”’ (Malachi 3:8)

The answer came back swiftly, ‘In tithes and offerings’.  As a result there was an economic downturn when all the time God wanted to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing and prosperity.⁴

• God’s Witness In the Home – ‘Yet you say, “For what reason?”’ (Malachi 2:14)

God always intends His people to be salt and light in this darkened world.

Not only were there mixed marriages (Jews marrying Gentiles which was forbidden) but divorce was rampant.⁵ Today God intends marriage to symbolise the eternal relationship between Jesus and His bride, the Church. Yet we see Christian marriages failing nearly as often as those in the world.

• God’s Witness Outside of the Home – ‘Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?”’ (Malachi 2:17)

The answer is, ‘By saying that evil is good, that it pleases the Lord! Or by saying that God won’t punish us—he doesn’t care’. God does love everyone, including the sinner but He hates the sin. Instead of speaking out against wickedness and refusing to be part of it, God’s people compromised and even condoned such behaviour.

‘Yet you say, “What have we spoken against You?”’ (Malachi 3:13)

This is what they were saying, ‘It is foolish to worship God and obey him. What good does it do to obey his laws, and to sorrow and mourn for our sins? From now on, as far as we’re concerned, “Blessed are the arrogant.” For those who do evil shall prosper, and those who dare God to punish them shall get off scot-free’ (Malachi 3:14-15 TLB).

It is important to realise that God hears what we say whether it is good, bad, godly or wicked. Jesus warned, ‘I tell you this, that you must give account on Judgment Day for every idle word you speak’ (Matthew 12:36 TLB).

God listens to those who fear Him and speak to others in a godly way and has a great reward in store for them. ⁶ Government security forces try to find out what people are saying who are planning terrorism. They do it through infiltration, surveillance and eaves-dropping, but God knows what we are about to say as David realised, ‘You know what I am going to say before I even say it’ (Psalm 139:4 TLB).

God will always tell us the truth about ourselves and what we need to do to rectify things. Do not live in denial. If there is a problem, confess it, repent and move on! Repentance may be an old-fashioned word but doing it brings everything right up to date with God!

Endnotes:

¹ Nehemiah 13:6         ² Nehemiah 13:10       ³ Nehemiah 13:15-16              ⁴ Malachi 3:9-12

⁵ Malachi 2:13-16       ⁶ Malachi 3:16-18