Thursday, 10/8/15
In our opening reading from 450 b.c.
Malachi spoke against the upper class, who, in the eighty years since Jerusalem
had returned from the Babylonian Captivity, had fallen into the same sin for which God had allowed them to
be carried off to Babylon. That
sin was one of making slaves of even relatives and neighbors when they got
behind in paying off their debts.
Before getting further into their
sins, we must note that Malachi wasn’t a real name. The name Malachi simply
means “My messenger,” or “God’s messenger.” He didn’t use his own name, because
he didn’t want those rich oppressors to know who he was.
What we should note here is that
Malachi was not accusing them or greed or cruelty, but of Fear of the Lord. They
thought that God wasn’t able to fight for his poor people.
Chapter Eleven of Isaiah lists the
virtues for which the Messiah would be great. It said, “The Spirit of the Lord
will rest upon him, a spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude,
Knowledge and Fear of the Lord.
I have a friend who belongs to a
Pentecostal church. Any time I mention Fear of the Lord, she straightens me out
She says, “Tom, I don’t think we should fear the Lord. I think we should love
him.”
I get the point she is making. But I
still like what Isaiah said after listing those gifts of the Holy Spirit. He
said the Messiah’s delight would be Fear of the Lord.
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