Judgment Is Coming

Malachi 4:1-2 - “Watch now,” the Lord Almighty declares, “the day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. The proud and wicked will be burned up like straw; like a tree, they will be consumed—roots and all.  “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.

 

Malachi closes the Old Testament with one more admonishment to ‘watch.’  This will be the last word from God recorded from a prophet for around 400 years. He tells us to watch for the day of judgment….a time when all the evil elements of the world God created will be burned up quickly and completely.  The only way to be freed from this process is to fear God’s name so we may rise above the heat with the power of the joy we will receive from his grace.

 

The word ‘watch’ is one of those multiple meaning words I lecture so much about in the classroom I teach. The Pioneers’ New Testament …in an article titled word study #125….says it represents …. “eight different Greek words, whose primary meanings range from guarding a prisoner through the simple measuring of time and ordinary sleeplessness to sobriety and diligent faithfulness....”

 

It’s a curious thing….and perhaps a reason to keep more than one version of the Bible in our possession at all times…for the KJV does not translate the word watch here as my Living Bible does.  It simply states one more time that “judgment is coming.” The NIV states… “Surely the day is coming.”  But I will add my own opinion here and say I am glad the writers of the Living Bible added it here. It puts into a single word the expectation that we should all have as we approach the next moment of our lives. The promised time of judgment is closer than it has ever been.

 

The important thing here is to spread his truth to as many people as we can…so that less people are consumed in that burning fire…and more people join us in eternal life in heaven.  The more active we are in loving others and modeling God’s great power for others…the less evil will have to be destroyed.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you have promised an end to the greatest story ever recorded.  Forgive me for allowing the worries of the world to interrupt my call to spread your love to others and help to decrease the amount of people that are consumed by satan’s great lies. Help me to watch actively…and boldly proclaim your love to others.  Amen.