The Power of the Refiner's Fire - A Study from Malachi

Malachi 3:1-4 (HCSV)
¹ See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming, says the LORD of Hosts. ² But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner's fire and like cleansing lye. ³ He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. ⁴ And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD as in days of old and years gone by.

Introduction:
•          Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet.
•          After Malachi completed his ministry, a period of 400 years passed in which there was no prophet in Israel who spoke for God.
•          God knew this time of spiritual dryness was coming so He led Malachi to say some challenging things to His people that would sustain them through that period.
•          Many people did not like the challenging things Malachi had to say.
•          But Malachi was not just a doom and gloom prophet. He proclaimed a message of “tough love” in which he urged people to repent of their sins and receive God’s forgiveness before it was too late.
•          That is a message we still need to hear today even though it is no longer popular in our culture or in a growing number of churches.

Verse 1 - I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming!

•          This was a prophetic reference to John the Baptist, who would eventually prepare the way for Jesus to come as the Messiah.
•          It refers to the custom of the oriental kings of that time to send a messenger ahead of them before the king would come for a visit.
•          The messenger’s job was two-fold.
•          First, he was to remove any obstacles that would delay the king’s coming.
•          Second, he was to make sure they planned an adequate reception for the king when he arrived.
•          What obstacles are keeping King Jesus from being fully Lord and Master of our lives?
•          What obstacles are holding back the spread of the Gospel and the expansion of His Kingdom in our corner of the world?

Verse 2 - But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner's fire and like cleansing lye.

•          The people of Malachi’s day did not like the way God was running the world.
•          Their economy was struggling. Their military situation was tenuous. Their culture was in decline. They wanted to blame all of this on God.
•          They asked where God was during times of crisis. They had accused God of not being just because God had allowed bad things to happen.
•          Malachi reminds them that the King of the Universe was coming to set right all that is evil and wrong in the world.
•          Some of our problems are from our own sinful mistakes, Jesus can help us overcome them.
•          Some of our problems are from the sinful mistakes of others, Jesus can help us with that too.
•          Though it can be hard to wait for the King to help us fix it, the waiting itself is part of the refining process.
•          There are different types of fires.
•          A forest fire rages out of control and destroys without concern for anyone or anything.
•          An incinerator consumes whatever is put in it completely until nothing is left but dust.
•          But this verse refers to refiner’s fire.
•          A refiner’s fire does not rage out of control. It is always under the control of the refiner.
•          A refiner’s fire does not destroy what it touches. It purifies what it touches.
•          A refiner’s fire melts down a lump of silver or gold, separating out the impurities that lower the value. After the process is complete, the silver or gold is more valuable because it is more pure.
•          When we go through difficult times in our lives we often think God has abandoned us. But He never leaves us or forsakes us.
•          When we use those difficulties as stepping stones to becoming better people, God purifies us and making us more valuable to His Kingdom and to the world around us.
•          Unfortunately, some people misunderstand what is happening to them and instead of being refined, they become bitter. That is a type of response only leads to more difficulty.
•          Trials produce patience and patience produces maturity and maturity produces hope. (Romans 5:3-4 and James 1:2-4)

Verse 3 - . . . He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.
•          Notice that the Lord will begin the refining process with the sons of Levi. In the Old Testament the sons of Levi were the priests. They were the only ones who could stand before God.
•          But the New Testament teaches that after Christ died on the cross that each Christian is a priest before God.
•          Though Malachi was referring to the Levitical priests in his time, this verse now applies to all born again Christians since we are all priests.
•          Refiner’s fire makes Christians more pure in their faith so they are more useful to the Lord and to the community around them.

Verse 4 - And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD as in days of old and years gone by.

•          After going through the refining process, the offerings (time, talent, treasure) that Christians give please the Lord. They are no longer empty and meaningless because they are given with a pure heart.
•          Many Christians do the right things for the wrong reasons and wonder why they are not blessed. Remember, God looks on our hearts and His blessings flow from our heart relationship with Him. Motives matter!

Conclusion:

•          God wants us to remove whatever obstacles in our lives are holding back the expansion of His Kingdom in our lives and our corner of the world.
•          God uses the fires of difficulty to refine us and make us better people so we can impact the Kingdom in a great way.
•          When we keep our hearts focused on the King, then our “offerings” to God bring blessings into our lives because they come from a heart that is right relationship with the King of the Universe.



This post is part of a larger study of Malachi found in the book, "Malachi: Finding Hope in the Midst of Adversity."