We called them “short-timers” in the Army. We hated them unless, of course, we were one ourselves. It expresses the general rule that once a person received orders permanently reassigning them to a new location, that they increasingly became useless in their present duties. The closer their date of departure loomed, the more disinterested they became in continuing to do the best job possible. They let things slide because they knew they would soon be gone and someone else would be stuck cleaning up the mess. Unfortunately it does not work that way for the final generation before Christ’s Second Coming; there is no allowance for “short-timers” when it comes to obedience to God’s Word.
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In last week’s reading of the book of Esther, we observed a powerful lesson in that Mordecai’s good deeds on behalf of the king were not rewarded immediately. Instead, they were written down in the king’s books. :”(Esther 2:21-23)”: As it turned out, this was a very good thing because when the king at a much later date reviewed his books and decided to reward Mordecai, its timing coincided with a much larger work to save the whole of God’s people. God has “a book of remembrance” which will benefit us according to His will and timing for a far greater effect than if we chose the time and place.
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This is the closest biblical basis I can find to justify the age-old claim of the money preachers that if you give to God, He will return it multiplied. Careful examination of these verses, however, reveal that God is not asking for anything extra, He is only asking that the most basic obligations be minimally met. The Law required 10% and the appeal here is to stop short-changing Him and merely give the whole 10%. The promise of material blessing contained here is connected to obedience to His Word — NOT the amount given.
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One of the sure signs that our faith in Christ is waxing and waning the wrong way is when we begin to posit the “only” possible explanations for things we do not like. In Malachi’s time the Jews were upset that although they were God’s Chosen People, it was all those about them who were NOT “chosen” who were experiencing the greatest material blessings. How could this possibly be? The only possibility in their estimation was either God “delights” in those who do evil, or that He was an unfair God incapable of implementing the kind of justice which would reverse the situation. The notion that it might possibly have something to do with their own lack of faithfulness was not even a possibility in their mind.
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Throughout the ages and to this very hour, there have been individuals, organizations, and even entire movements who may have started out right, but ended completely separated from Christ, much less their good intentions. They were not born to evil nor intended it to take hold over them, but responded to and built upon God’s calling only to eventually heed another in its place. How can things go so horribly wrong, even for someone inheriting the best of spiritual legacies? In such cases it always parallels an abiding commitment to God’s Word which gives way to something else. Originally they walked exclusively according to His Word and ways; subsequently they abandon them.
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The term I am thinking of here is “ugly American”. It expresses our embarrassment when as a tourist in a foreign country we see fellow Americans behaving so badly that it does not just reflect poorly on all Americans, but begins to shape the thinking of the people in that country so that they begin to see all Americans in the character of such bad examples. This is sort of what is being discussed here, that those claiming to be God’s people are so insincere and hypocritical that not having any of their attention is preferable. I have to admit that a few times in life I have been in environments where those claiming to be “Christian” were the worst moral and spiritual characters to the degree that I would not even claim to be a Christian myself.
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I believe one of the most repeated issues I keep coming back to is the proper BIBLICAL definitions of terms used in the Bible. Our vocabulary has been tainted by the world to such a degree that when we see words like “faith”, “hope”, or even “love”, we have a tendency to apply meanings which are based on the world’s notions of those concepts rather than according to the actual context of God’s Word. I think this is at the root of every argument in which someone challenges God; they are applying their own definition and concept to find fault with God. It is a very dangerous thing to accuse God of being unloving, especially when it is your own standard of love, and yet that is exactly the point from which Malachi begins.
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