According to the prophet
Malachi, the nation of Israel forsook their relationship with “the
LORD of hosts” by offering their sacrifices of worship with
contempt and by dealing with their wives treacherously. Though the
Lord desired to bless them, He would not regard nor receive their
offerings when given in this manner. As though these reasons were not
enough, in Malachi chapter two and verse seventeen we read of another
way the people in Israel abandoned their relationship with God. It
says,
You have wearied the
LORD with your words. Yet you say, Wherein have we wearied him?
When you say, Every one that does evil is good in the sight
of the LORD, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God
of judgment?
The
verse begins, “You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet
you say, Wherein have we wearied him?” Malachi
wrote, “you have wearied” which means “labored,
especially with effort and toil, or pained” “the
LORD with your words” which refers to their “speech,
utterance or speaking unto the Creator God”, and still the people
asked with ignorance once again, “Wherein have we wearied him?”
The indictment against them was their very words were a labor to the
Lord, and they were so blind to their lack of relationship with Him,
they could not understand how their words affected Him in this way.
The
verse goes on to say, “When you say, Every one that does evil is
good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them;” As an
answer to their question, the prophet Malachi records for them two
specific examples of which the first one has two parts. The first
was, “When you say, Every one that does evil is good”
which is “asah ra towb” in Hebrew and means whenever the people
would say that “everyone who makes, fashions or accomplishes bad,
wicked, and hurtful things is pleasant, agreeable, and excellent”,
and notice, “in the sight of the LORD” which means “in
the eyesight of the LORD”. Not only are the people saying these
things in the plain view of the LORD, but they also say “he
delights” which means “takes pleasure in, desires and is
pleased” “in them”. These people were so far away from
their relationship with the Lord that they actually believed and
stated that evil was good, and God took pleasure in the evil that was
being portrayed.
Finally
the verse says, “or, Where is the God of
judgment?” The second example of words spoken that wearied the
Lord were, “Where is the God of judgment?” which questions
the idea that God will judge anyone for being or speaking evil. In
other words, if the LORD is so against evil in the world, then where
is His judgment for it? Their conclusion was basically that all
people are good and the proof of it is that God is not judging anyone
anywhere for the wicked things they do. Because they saw no judgment,
they said “Every one that does evil is good in the sight of the
LORD, and he delights in them”.
Isaiah
the prophet wrote,
“Woe unto them that
call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light
for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
in chapter five and verse
twenty of his prophecy, and Jesus said,
“Verily, verily, I
say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For
as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have
life in himself; And has given him authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour
is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his
voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.”
The
people within the nation of Israel made a mistake that is often made
today. They believed that the Lord's delay in judgment was His
approval of their behavior rather than His grace and mercy extended
toward them. They went on to believe that the Lord “delighted” in
their behavior because He took no immediate action against them. Evil
was deemed as good, and they concluded God would not judge them for
it. As we ponder these words, let us examine our own speech before
the Lord. Would He be weary with what we say? Would He labor through
our misguided statements, and be pained by our false conclusions? As
we live and speak in this sometimes wicked world, let us pray that
the Lord will open our eyes to see as He sees, speak concerning evil
as He speaks, and never mistake His delay in judgment as His approval
of things that are wicked.
Next
time we begin a new chapter and see the prophecy of the coming of
John the Baptist,
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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