“Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of armies. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years.” (Malachi 3:1–4 NASB)
When the people of Israel re-entered the land after the exile, God had expectations, and so did they. Both sides were disappointed. Israel was disappointed that the glory of the temple was not as Haggai promised and the prophecies of prosperity foretold by Zechariah had yet to happen. God was disappointed, too. The exile was the result of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God, but they did not return to the land committed to a renewal of covenant faithfulness.
They didn’t see God’s goodness in bringing them back. They discounted their sin and the responsibility they bore for being exiled in the first place. They questioned God’s love for them. Did the exile help them, cleanse them, cause them to work harder to be faithful than they had before? Did the exile help them learn humility before God?
Apparently not. What was in question was their love for God, not God’s love for them. God says they offered polluted food in their sacrifices to him, giving God tainted sacrifices – blind, lame, and sick animals. God says they were unfaithful to him – marrying spouses who served other gods and taking on their idolatrous worship – and unfaithful to their wives, divorcing them and abandoning their covenant promises.
The prophecies on which they based their expectations would eventually be fulfilled, though not in the timing or the ways expected by the Israelites. God told them his messenger will come, preparing the way before him. And in his advent, he will come to his temple.
But will they be ready? It will be a time of cleansing, of purifying, of being made holy. The trials of exile hadn’t renewed their vigor for worshiping the Lord. God prophesies in Malachi 3 that his messenger is coming, an appropriate message given the name Malachi means “my messenger.” And when God comes, he will bring purification and restoration, cleansing of the people so their sacrifices will be acceptable. God’s expectations will be fulfilled. In light of the advent of the Son of God, we can interpret the messenger of Malachi 3 as John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah.
Today, we as followers of Jesus also must submit to a cleansing and purification, a sanctifying process. Fortunately, God is satisfied in the sacrifice of his Son. And yet, he still has standards for us – of growth, of healing, of transformation, being made new in an ongoing way. As we read in 2 Corinthians 4:16, the work of the Holy Spirit helps us daily: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.”
What are our expectations? This work is not automatic; it calls for us to draw near to God, to be vulnerable before him so his work of spiritual growth and maturity can take place. We read in Hebrews 5 that it is possible to NOT mature, to not grow spiritually. This Advent, are we leaning into the healing and transforming work of God? It is work that does not cease with time served in church. It is work that is not lessened because we preach sermons or lead Sunday School classes. To reference the title of a book by Darrell Guder, it is work that calls for our continuous conversion, or, as Eugene Peterson called it, it is “a long obedience in the same direction.” The advent of a vulnerable Messiah can serve as an invitation to us, a revelation that spiritual power can, and maybe must, come from humble beginnings. But for us, this humility is not just the start, it is to be our ongoing posture.
Wayne Stapleton is the VP of Cross-Cultural Engagement and Emerging Leader Engagement for the North American Baptist Conference.