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Before the Silence

Father God, what I know of You will only ever be a fraction of who You are. Jesus, open my mind to see You and understand the Scriptures. Spirit, move my heart from familiar to fascinated until it is ablaze with Your unfailing love.

Read: Psalm 119:81-82a,114

Today I am reflecting on the final verses of the Old Testament. The Jews have returned from exile and rebuilt Jerusalem, but the people of God have learned nothing. The same cycles of exile-inducing injustice and unfaithfulness to God continue! Yet a small and faithful remnant remains. To these faithful few the prophet Malachi speaks words of hope…

Read: Malachi 4:1-6

‘The God Story plot has unraveled in ways God never intended it to. Israel has not fulfilled the glorious destiny God had called it to. In many ways, it looks like the narrative is meandering to a slow stop. And God is about to go quiet. But before God does, he speaks one more word of promise through the prophet Malachi. God’s famous last words reveal that the redemptive thread which has held The God Story together has not disappeared….’* There is hope for Israel’s future because God has not finished with them yet.

How does the plot of my life read at present? Does it feel as if it’s unraveling or slowly stalling?

Holy Spirit, however, I may feel about this chapter of my life, would You show me the redemptive thread You’re weaving through my story. As I listen, please speak words of life and hope to me.

Pause and pray

God, You speak to nations today, just as You spoke to the people of Israel. So I ask, what would You want to say to my nation? I listen for Your words and allow them to shape my prayers.

Pause and pray

What word or phrase jumped out at me from this passage?

I notice the names, Moses and Elijah. These two heroes represent the law and the prophets. They remind me that God is encouraging His people to remember all He has said. His word will sustain them through centuries of waiting, anticipating the day that God Himself will arrive to break the silence.

Jesus, I too am waiting, anticipating the day when You will return and make all things new. So as I wait today, I yield to Your word; help me to remember Your promises and instruction to me, and to pray with hope until Your return.

Amen.

* Adam Cox and Alain Emerson, The God Story (London: SPCK, 2024), p. 110.