Every Day With God

Read Malachi 3:18-4:6

These verses represent the last Old Testament words to be written.  More than 400 years of silence from heaven would follow these lines before God’s next recorded revelation to man as an angel announced the birth of John the Baptist to the aged Zechariah.

If you think about it, the announcement of the birth of John was the appropriate next revelation.  After all, verses 5 and 6 are cited in that angelic conversation with Zechariah (Lk. 1:17).  John was the man to fulfill that promise.

But there are other dimensions of these final Old Testament prophetic words that lie yet further into the future, even beyond our present day.  There is, yet ahead, a period of time consisting of contrasting extremes.  It is the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” (4:5).  This “day” will include the future tribulation (dreadful) and the following thousand year kingdom in which Christ will rule (great).  This “day” will distinguish “between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who don’t” (3:18).  It will separate the “arrogant and evildoers” (4:1) from those “who revere God’s name” (4:2).  For the one, it will be a day of fire and destruction (4:1), while, for the other, it will be a day of sunrise and healing.

Of course, that contrast of experiences is determined by each person’s faith response to Jesus Christ.  He is the coming “sun of righteousness.”  He is the One who offers healing and hope to all who place faith in Him.  As Christ followers, we can anticipate the coming day of sunrise!  That will be a great day!

But, keep in mind that there will be many who will go through the dreadful day of judgment instead.  Unless they respond with repentant faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus on their behalf (1 Cor. 15:3-5), theirs will be a dreadful experience.

Although Jesus has done all that is necessary for them, He invites you and me to be faithful messengers of His work.  We have been invited to identify “five” for whom we are praying.  These are “five,” to whom we are reaching out.  They are “five” we are inviting to join us at Grace.  Are you remembering your “five”?

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Read Daniel 3:1-30

Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods (v25).

When Shadrach’s, Meshach’s and Abednego’s obedience to God led them straight into the middle of a fiery furnace, Jesus Christ showed up and proved Almighty God was Who they knew Him to be.

Their love for God and their faith in Him showed itself true when they were presented with a problem: disobey God and bow down to an idol or die.

Their obedience and faith led to an awesome showing of God’s mighty power, a tip of His hand for things to come. His hand that saves, even amidst impossible fire. One day, Jesus would conquer that impossible fire by way of death.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had sacrificed a lot just to be in that place, in the service of Nebuchadnezzar. Still, they served God first and foremost.

Having been given lots of opportunities to turn their backs on what they believed, they stood strong with Daniel, when he convinced the guard in charge to let them give up the king’s best food for the sake of their God and the purity He would give them when they remained undefiled by the royal food and wine (See Daniel 1:8).

Still, God called them to more. He knew Shadrach’s, Meshach’s and Abednego’s faithful hearts.

I wonder if they wavered as they fell into the fire. Did they remember all they’d given up? Did they question their choice to stand firm in their God-fearing?

If they did, it only lasted a moment. For no sooner had they followed God’s ways right into the center of a furnace, than Jesus Christ Himself showed up and stood inside the flames with them.

Their faithful obedience led to miraculous revelation. Had Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego rested on the laurels of all they’d already given up for the sake of Almighty God, they would have missed the gift of His personal saving. They would have gotten no glimpse of the Word, who would become flesh hundreds of years later.

For God loves a heart that trusts Him so entirely it will not waver, no matter what He asks. The one that recognizes its own folly and turns to Him in full surrender. He saves that heart by His grace alone. Personal rescue by the Messiah Himself.

Read Jeremiah 23:1-8

As Jeremiah penned these words, the once unified nation of Israel was divided.  There were the ten northern tribes who retained the name “Israel” and the two southern tribes called “Judah.”  But they had not only experienced something of a civil war that separated them from one another.  Under the leadership of shepherds in the form of kings and spiritual leaders, they had wandered from God.  As a result, the “flock of God” was “scattered.”  And God Himself brought His own judgment on the people.  Those from Israel, the northern tribes, were taken into exile by the Assyrians while Judah, the southern tribes, were being carted off into Babylonian exile.

Quick sidebar here:  There always is a price for sin.  We can be sure that our sin will find us out (Num. 32:23).  God cannot be mocked.  Everyone will reap the results of what they have sown (Gal. 6:7).

In reality, however, Jeremiah was communicating words of hope rather than discouragement.  In spite of the scattering caused by the shepherds and the judgment wrought by God, he pointed them to a future day they could anticipate with joy.  In that day:

God Himself would gather His people.  We have seen this promise fulfilled in part as the Babylonian Exile ended and God’s people returned.  We have seen partial fulfillment in the establishment of Israel as a nation in the 1940’s.  But a day is coming when even greater fulfillment will come.  In that day, they will be fruitful and fearless.

God will place shepherds over them, who will properly care for them.  Certainly, people like Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel, and others played key roles in the days following the exile.  Still coming, however, is the leadership of key people who will be used of God with His people.

God will raise up “David’s righteous Branch.”  This, of course, speaks to the return of Jesus Christ and to the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7) when our Savior will reign on earth with wisdom, righteousness, and judgment.

Jeremiah, you see, spoke hope into a hopeless situation by pointing Old Testament people to the coming of Jesus.  Shouldn’t you find hope today in the expectation of His return?

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Read Isaiah 53:1-12

Israel was in a tight spot. They’d been exiled and held captive in a far away land. When they returned, they found their homeland in ruins. Jerusalem lay decimated from the conquest, and the people were beyond despair.

So the Lord used His prophet Isaiah to bring hope to His people. He stepped in with a word of hope, the promised Word, who would become flesh some 700 years later and bring forever-salvation and peace that would endure throughout all generations. Even ours.

For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Is. 53:12)

What the prophet said had not yet come to pass, but he spoke as if it had already happened. That’s how sure God’s promise was. That’s how certain His Word.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows . . . But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Is. 53:4-5)

A Savior was coming. Hope was on its way. Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come and rescue His people, not only from despair and captivity, but from the guilt of their own sin.

. . . and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Is. 53:6b)

The Word God promised would bear the guilt of Israel. Every one of my faults. Every one of yours. He would be “led like a lamb to the slaughter.” (Is. 53:7) He would be stricken and crushed by God Himself (vv 8,10). Though blameless and righteous through and through, this Servant, Messiah, would become a guilt offering (v10). And God’s chosen people — the people of Israel and you and even me — would be offered peace, because of God’s plan (v 5).

(B)y his wounds we are healed. (Is. 53:5)

It’s easy to read this incredible prophecy and forget it was just that. I can look at it’s truth and gloss over the fact that it was spoken hundreds of years before it took place. But we can see throughout Scripture, God has always had a plan. A plan to prosper His people. A plan to save us and bring us to Himself. God had worked out every single detail before the foundations of the earth were laid. So that we might have life and peace.