Malachi the prophet wrote
Lord's words concerning His “messenger” who would be the
forerunner to the Messiah. This “messenger” would pave the
path for the Messiah who would be the answer to the nation of
Israel's question, “Where is the God of judgment”? We
learned in the last verse how the Messiah is like “like a
refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:”,
and in chapter three and verse three of Malachi we learn how he
purifies and purges the sons of Levi where we read:
And
he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he
shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
The verse begins, “And he shall sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi,” When
we employ our imaginations, we can almost see the Messiah sitting “as
a refiner” which is “one who smelts, tests or proves true a
material” and as a “purifier of silver” which is a
reference to “a person who cleanses or makes clean silver metal”.
When the “refiner” receives the raw materials in which the
silver lie, he must melt it down with great heat. As the heat
increases, materials which are not pure silver rise to the top of the
cauldron and the refiner scrapes or cleanses the residue that is
there. Each “cleansing” of the top of the cauldron allows the
silver below to become more and more pure. This is the process by
which the Lord will test and prove “the sons of Levi” who
are His priests.
The
verse continues, “and purge them as gold and silver, that
they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.” In
addition to the Lord “refining” and “purifying” His priests,
The LORD adds that He will “purge”
or “distill, strain, and refine” “them as gold and
silver” which are precious
metals, and His reason for doing so - “that they may
offer” which means “draw
near and approach intimately” “unto the LORD an
offering” or “gift,
tribute, offering, present, oblation, sacrifice, meat offering”
“in righteousness”
which means in a “just, equitable, and righteous manner”.
By
this example and illustration, we discover the Lord's seriousness
about refining, purifying and purging His priests. We may also
realize that He desires to do the same for us. The goal is to make us
pure that we may draw near and approach Him to make offerings and
sacrifices in righteousness. One of the wonderful aspects to our
Savior Jesus Christ is that He is the refined, purified and purged
offering which was made for everyone who is in the world. He was and
is living purity, and there was not found any impurities within Him.
His ability to offer to God the most righteous sacrifice of Himself
gives us access to the throne of God, and as we approach His throne
the Lord continues to refine, purify and purge us from anything that
is contrary to Him. May our prayer be for the Lord to give us the
power of His Holy Spirit to endure His refining, purifying and
purging, that we may become more and more pure like Him every day.
Next
time we see the satisfaction of the Lord once the priests and
offerings are purified,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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