Malachi 3:1-4
The scripture today foretells the coming of the Son of God. Malachi, whose name means “my messenger,” is the first messenger in the passage. He says a second messenger will come to prepare the way for God’s son. Scholars believe the second messenger is John the Baptist. Malachi asks “who can endure the day of His coming?” referring to the coming of Christ.
Malachi says “He is like a refiner’s fire.” The fire burns hot removing impurities from the gold or silver, but it does not consume the metal nor destroy it. It purifies the silver even as we will be purified. The launderer’s soap cleans or bleaches fabric with our destroying the fabric, as followers will be cleansed.
Today, most of us are familiar with this passage of scripture because of its being in Part I, Scene 2 of Handel’s Messiah. Powerful music underlies the power of the coming of God in the form of Jesus, not as a babe in swaddling clothes, but rather as a purifying fire that will cleanse Judah and Jerusalem and future generations. God is unchangeable and we will be refined to become like Christ. Thanks be to God!
~ Pat Cole