When I was in junior high, my school had a student-published newspaper--"Tiger Tales". It had news, sports, weather, fashion, music reviews, gossip. At the end of every school year, the 8th graders were interviewed so they could share memories of our school and their goals for high school. Each of the graduating class would also be asked what they are leaving behind. It would go something like this:
"I bequeath to Susie my ability to annoy Mr. Smith, my back row seat in art class, and my cheerleading uniform."
"I leave to Johnny my basketball jersey number, my locker combination, and my ability to stare out the window and still get an A in Mrs. James' class."
(I just made these up. Johnny, Susie, Mr. Smith, and Mrs. James are innocent bystanders in my imaginary scenario. 😜)
These "famous" last words, also called Senior Wills, held no power; they were full of inside jokes for entertainment purposes only. Susie would have no right to the back row seat promised her; Johnny would not automatically be given an A by following the rules left him. Sometimes you might get an ironic fulfillment of these promises, but they were meant to be all in fun.
In Malachi 2:17, God tells the people that they have worn Him out by saying that everyone who does evil must be good in His sight and He must pleased with them, or else He would have executed justice on them by now. Since chapters and verse numbers were not in the original writings, we can follow God's thought right into chapter 3. He says "See, I am going to send my messenger." It is within His ability to send a messenger and He will do it. The messenger--John the Baptist--will clear the way before the Lord. "The Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple. The Messenger of the covenant you delight in. See, He is coming." I counted 12 times in chapter 3 alone that God used the words "I will." This is covenant, promise language. When faced with the accusation that He doesn't care about sin and evil, He lays out His plan before they people. The Lord who is coming will refine, cleanse, purify, judge, rebuke. He will stand against evil and oppression. How do they know He will? By tracing the line of faithfulness God has shown them before. He has not changed, they have. He has kept His promises, they haven't.
In the continuing back and forth between God and His chosen people, they continue to deny--or at least downplay--their part in their brokenness. But there were some who feared the LORD and He took notice and listened. He even wrote their names down in a book of remembrance with the inscription:
"They will be mine, my own possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. So you will again see the difference beween the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
Spoiler Alert--God is getting ready to go silent. These are His famous last words of the Old Testament. He has loved these people, He has intended peace for them since the beginning. After centuries of having a prophet speaking God's Word to them, they will not hear from another prophet for 400 years. 400 years of wondering where He is. 400 years of wondering if they finally went too far. For all they know, He's left them. He hasn't left them, but He has left something behind. To the Israelite people, He has bequeathed....hope. Not the cross-your-fingers and hope that their Deliverer might finally come. But hope as an anchor, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:17-20 ) Hope all wrapped in one simple invitation--Return to Me, and I will return to you.
O come, o come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here. Until the Son of God appear.
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