Third Friday in Advent

The Long Wait

Four hundred eighty years before the birth of Christ, God’s people asked him a question: “Where is the God of justice?” (Mal. 2:17). They asked why those who did evil seemed to prosper as if they enjoyed God’s favor. And they asked why the Lord would reject their sacrifices and their prayers (v. 13).

How did God respond? The Lord’s prophet said the Lord will come to his temple to purify his people (3:1–4) in preparation for his judgment (v. 5). The Lord will make his people and his priesthood shine like silver and gold. The Lord will re-establish righteous offerings—and, by extension, righteous living (2:13–15). Israel herself will once again provide a fragrant aroma to the Lord, and he will find great joy in them.

Five centuries later, Christ came to this earth. he entered his temple, and he purified it himself when he turned over the moneychangers’ tables. He also physically and spiritually cleansed his people from infirmities, death, and demonic powers. He taught his people how to pray the Lord’s Prayer and how to pray righteously with parables like that of the Pharisee and the tax collector. He saw a widow drop two coins in the box at the sanctuary and taught his people to make righteous sacrifices. And he offered the great sacrifice, the one his people needed the most but could never perform in their sin. He died on the cross for us, was buried, and rose again. He gave his people a new righteousness, one that would satisfy the Lord and reconcile God’s people to him forever.

“God is not slow as some count slowness” (2 Pet 3:9). Malachi died long before Jesus ever walked the earth. Noah might have looked like a fool for a long time waiting for the flood to come, but in a sense, Malachi died a fool. He died trusting in and proclaiming the promise that God would come to purify his people. But because of this faith, God proudly calls Malachi his own, and has room for him in the heavenly city (Heb. 11:13–16). In our own day, wicked people still prosper, righteous people still suffer, and earnest believers can experience a disconnect with God.

Just as Malachi hoped in Christ’s first advent when Messiah would initiate his kingdom, we celebrate that coming and anticipate Jesus’s second advent, when he will consummate that kingdom. Our hopes for complete justice, renewal and blessing rest finally in the second advent for which we still wait. Let us not be afraid to proclaim that hope too. —Dan Kunkel

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for answering our needs in your first Advent. Thank you for coming to us, and for healing us with your very own hands and feet. Thank you for the process of refining us like silver and gold. As we celebrate your faithfulness in keeping the promise of Advent, encourage us to trust in that faithfulness as we live and look to the future. In your name, Amen.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

And his kingdom will have no end.

Photo credit: Tingey on Unsplash