The Godly Remnant (Malachi 3:13-18)

We have seen that this prophecy is largely a collection of interactions between the Lord and the Israelites, sometimes with the priests and at other times with the people in general. They have complained against his providences, although as Malachi points out, these troubles came because they were not honouring the Lord as they should have done with their sacrifices and tithing. In verses 13 to 15, we see a repeated complaint that the people had. They accused the Lord of failing to bless his people, despite their perceived outward adherence to his commandments. Their eyes looked only on external matters, and therefore they noticed that they were worse off than those who did not acknowledge God.

It is clear from the passage that these complainers were practising formalism . They wore the attire of mourners, but they did not have a broken and a contrite heart. The words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,’ did not apply to them. Instead they were going to receive punishment from God; indeed the judgement had already begun.

Thankfully, there were those among the Israelites who were different from the formalists, and they are described in verses 16 to 18. They feared the Lord and had fellowship together. Of them, the Lord had no complaint, indeed he took great delight in them and made great promises to them. ‘Though the great congregations of God’s house were but a mockery, yet there were smaller assemblies which God gazed upon with delight; though the house of national worship was often deserted, there were secret conventicles of those who “feared the Lord”, and who “spake often one to another ”, and our God, who regards quality more than quantity, had respect to these elect twos and threes’ (C. H. Spurgeon).

This is a reminder that the Lord always has a remnant according to the election of grace, no matter how dark the day may be. Elijah discovered that there were 7,000 true believers who had not bowed the knee to Baal during a time of national apostasy (1 Kings 19:18). When Jesus was born, there were those linked to Simeon and Anna who looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Luke 2:38). The future of God’s kingdom, as far as this passage is concerned, belonged to the small remnant who gathered together because they feared God.

The distinctive spirituality of the remnant

Two details are mentioned. One concerns their inner life and the other their outward conduct. Their inner quality was that they feared God and thought about his name.  To fear God is to reverence him out of love to his unique and exalted character. The Book of Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10), it is the essential feature on which a person builds a meaningful life. A person that fears God obeys his commandments and confesses his faults unto the Lord.

These believers also meditate on the name of the Lord. ‘Name’ was often used as a substitute for ‘character’. When we apply it to the Lord, it refers to his attributes, abilities and aims. True believers love to talk about the Lord and his purposes and promises, whether to them personally or to the people of God in general. Circumstances are viewed from the point of view of his providence, they see his hand in all that takes place. Disappointments are his appointments. In Malachi’s day, the remnant was totally different from other religious people: the devout considered what was happening and thoughtfully considered why they were being chastised as a people, unlike the merely religious who accused God of being against them.

The outward feature that is recommended is their practice of meeting to speak with one another. No doubt these times of fellowship were like coals in a fire: each coal retained its heat because it was found among other burning coals. Their fellowship was edifying, encouraging and energising. It was edifying because they thought of God, it was encouraging because they applied what they knew of God to the current situation, and it was energising because it gave them strength to continue serving him. These three features are reasons why we must have fellowship with one another in our day as well.

The delighted response of God

The prophet says that the Lord hearkened and heard them. The verb translated ‘hearkened’ would have been used of an animal that hears a sudden noise that intrigues it. We have all seen dogs and cats lift up their ears as their hearing picks up a distinct and different sound. When we apply this to God, it is a word picture that informs us of his delight in hearing words that are totally different from the complaining words of the majority. Of all the multitude of words that ascend into the ears of God, the ones of which he takes special notice are those of his reverent people. He does this every time they meet to think about his name.

The idea behind the word translated ‘heard’ is that of a mother bending down to listen to the words of her child. What comes from the child’s mouth might not be intelligent or profound, but the words will be an expression of trust. This is what the Lord does when his people express their confidence in him in difficult times. He bends down to listen to every word, and each word fills him with delight.

The Lord does more than listen with delight. Malachi informs his audience that the Lord is determined to bless his trusting people. He uses an illustration taken from the custom of the Persian emperors. Whenever a person did something for the emperor, the action was recorded in a special book. The reason why it was recorded was not merely one of recognition; in addition there was the intention of the emperor to reward the person at a suitable time. This reward would be given according to the riches of the king and not according to the status of the person. It is a marvellous picture of the Lord’s intention to bless abundantly his faithful people. Each time of fellowship was recorded in heaven with the aim of bestowing spiritual blessings upon them in the future. This does not mean that obedience merits grace, but it does mean that there is a clear link between our delight in God and in his determination to bless us.

The wonderful promise of God (vv. 17-18)

In this life, many blessings come our way because of the register in heaven. Yet there is one great blessing in which all his people are going to share, and it will be experienced at the judgement seat. Believers have different experiences of God’s mercy as they live for him day by day, but nothing in this life comes close to the marvellous prediction that the prophet makes in these verses.

God says that they will be his jewels when he puts together his diadem on the final day. They will be put on public display, glorified in a manner suitable for a royal occasion. The King will collect them and arrange them in beautiful harmony and they will glisten in the light of his splendour. All of them will be perfect and will possess greater understanding that they had in this world. Yet they will be doing the same activity there as they did here, talking about the greatness and the grace of God.

The imagery of jewels points to their dark background (jewels are found in all kinds of difficult places), their value to God (they are worth more to him that the universe, which is why he paid such a high price for their redemption), their variety (jewels have their individual features) and their verification (they are the real thing).

Of course, this description of them as jewels is a reminder of the great change that will take place within them. In this life, they are being changed, but even the most sanctified believer is far short of perfection when he or she reaches the moment of death. Nevertheless on dying, their souls are made perfect in holiness and pass immediately into glory.  Yet that great transformation is not the change that the prophet describes here – he is concerned with how they will appear on the great resurrection day.

On that great day, they will observe the Lord making a distinction between them and all others. Malachi says that they will be spared when others are punished for their rebellion. That will be an awful sight, to behold the eternal exile of the lost from the gracious presence of God.

Application

There are three comments to make in conclusion. First, God is the listener to our conversations. Our conversations have consequences, in this life and on Judgement Day. In fact, every conversation in the world can be placed in one of two categories. It is either a conversation that glorifies God or it is a conversation that does not.

Second, as T. V. Moore put it, ‘The best motive for present duty is to be drawn from future destiny.’ We should do now what we will be doing one hundred years from now. If we will be meeting to think about God then, we should meet to think about him now; if we will delight in the company of believers then, we should delight in their company now.

Third, Malachi reminds us of the importance of spontaneous Christian fellowship. If we do not desire to meet frequently with other believers, then we are not well spiritually and should arrange a meeting with the heavenly Physician as soon as possible and tell him our problem.