For a period of about 400 years, not a single prophet spoke the word of God to Israel. Malachi was the last one. Israel had fallen into sin yet again, so God stepped away—but also promised they’d hear from him again through the Messiah. Since then Israel waited for that Messiah, whom Moses called a prophet from among them, whom Jeremiah called a righteous Branch of David, whom Daniel called the Son of Man given dominion, whom Isaiah called Immanuel. The world waited with hope for the advent of Christ.
But Malachi also reminds us of another crucial part of who this Messiah would be. Not only would he be a savior from oppression and an exalter of the lowly and the prince of peace—he would also be a refining fire! He would come to cleanse his people of everything impure, even the most slight sins or hidden unholiness, until all that was left was righteousness. Imagine Michaelangelo, the artist behind the famous sculpture of David, who said that he started with a massive block of stone and simply chipped away everything that didn’t look like David. Much the same, Christ our refiner will chip away every part of us that’s not supposed to be there—everything that doesn’t look like himself—even the parts we wickedly hold most dear. Refining is a painful process. Candidly, the concept of God’s justice should make us just a little bit uncomfortable.
But more than that, it should call us to worship. To be refined is to be freed from sin! It sets us free from that which causes death and destruction in us! When God’s justice is done, everything is set back into its proper order, humanity is restored to right relationship with their God, and the faithful rejoice. Personally, I think getting there is worth a little painful refining! And here’s the best news: the Messiah which Malachi and the other prophets promised did in fact come, and all who saw the baby in the manger rejoiced. The refiner had come to avenge evil and cleanse his people of all impurities. So sing joyfully this Christmas about what God has done and is still doing here. He is refining us, restoring us, and making all things new.
