Up to this point in our study of Malachi, we have seen the “messenger” of God put his finger on many areas that were out of alignment with the priests and the people of God. The worship was wrong. Their hearts were wrong, their actions and relationships were all wrong. The way the priests were performing their work was wrong. And it’s not surprising that when we turn to this section from 2:17 – 3:5, we read that the people’s sense of justice and providence is all wrong as well. They are filled with skepticism, cynicism and doubt that God is really working good on their behalf.
Foundationally, these people have lost sight of who God is and have lost sight of his sense of justice. They have lost the plumb line of God’s standard of right and wrong. They have lost the right perspective of reality. So Malachi is taking the priests and people to task for wearying the Lord with their words. God loves his people to pray. He desires us to give praise, and thanks and to petition him. But he does not want to hear talk about Him that misrepresents who He is.
It may be easy to look around at the world today and wonder how people who are so anti-God can be so successful or can get away with so much bold evil. Where is the God of justice with all the corruption in government or all the babies being murdered? Or why are the churches not stronger or more united? Why is evangelism so seemingly unfruitful? Or why is God not doing more for his people? Where is he? Where is the God who acts justly?
We can see why these Old Testament Israelites were thinking and saying these things about God. But Malachi tells them straight that God finds their words wearisome because they misrepresent him. They’re not true about him.
Malachi answers them head on and tells them in the first five verses of chapter three that his timing and justice are on schedule. The answer to their complaint and misrepresentation about God is the Gospel. This will always be God’s answer to us if we begin to think as the people of chapter 2, verse 17 were thinking.