We Take a Detour When We Deny God's Justice...

This week, I would like for us to continue to look at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament  of our Bibles called the book of Malachi. In this section of this letter, we will see Malachi accuse the Jewish people of taking another detour when it came to their relationship with God. And it is in the prophet’s accusation and the evidence that he presents we will see God reveal for us a timeless detour that can get us off track when it comes to our relationship with God and can result in us living a life that dishonors God. So let’s look together as Malachi makes his accusation, beginning in Malachi 2:17:

You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them," or, "Where is the God of justice?"

Malachi begins by revealing God’s frustration with the Jewish people: “You have wearied Me with your words”. This accusation, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “I am sick and tired of you trying my patience with what you have been saying about Me”.

Malachi then reveals exactly what the Jewish people were saying that was testing God’s patience with them: "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them," In other words, the Jewish people were saying “it is good to do evil.” The Jewish people were accusing God of being pleased and delighted with those who were involved in selfishness and rebellion.

But not only did the Jewish people accuse God of delighting in those who were involved in selfishness and rebellion; not only did the Jewish people believe that it is good to do evil. Malachi also reveals for us that the Jewish people of his day were asking the following question: "Where is the God of justice?” Now it is important to understand that the Jewish people were not denying or questioning the existence of God. Instead the Jewish people were denying or questioning the justice of God.

The Jewish people were arrogantly and skeptically asking “Where is the God who acts justly? Because He does not seem to be acting very justly. He has not sent the Messiah yet. We have not been restored to prominence in the world yet. When is God going to demonstrate that He is just in how He has been dealing with us?” The Jewish people were openly questioning and denying that God was just.

           
And it is here where we see Malachi reveal for us a timeless detour that can get us off track when it comes to our relationship with God and can result in us living a life that dishonors God. And that timeless detour is that we take a detour when we deny God's justice. 

Just like the Jewish people of Malachi’s day, when we live our day to day lives as though it is good to do evil; when we begin to arrogantly and skeptically question the justice of God, we begin to take a detour that gets us off track when it comes to our relationship with God and that dishonors God.

Tomorrow, we will see Malachi respond to the Jewish people’s arrogance and skepticism by providing God’s response to their denial of God's justice...