Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Remember, the prophet Malachi is the last prophet to have a ministry with a message from God before the 400 years of silence from the heavens and before the First Coming of Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthew 1 and 2. In our extended reading today we see in view both the First and Second Coming of Jesus Christ to earth.

"My messenger", in verse 1, is a prophecy of John the Baptist who would be the forerunner of Jesus. The extended passage also speaks of "two temples", the one standing in Jerusalem at His First Coming and the one that will be in Jerusalem at His Second Coming. The "Lord", in verse 1, is Jesus at His First Coming.

John the Baptist would go before the Lord to announce His presence. This verse alone should be all that is needed for the Jews today to recognize that Jesus, 2,000 years ago, was the One who came to the Temple as the Messiah.

In verse 2 we see "another temple" and "another coming", the Second Coming of Messiah Jesus Christ. When He comes the second time, He comes as the "judge" and the "refiner".

When Jesus comes, who will be able to stand up to His judgment? The answer is - no one. The focus of this prophecy is the Jewish people who will stand before the "refiner" for His purging.

At the First Coming of Jesus, the Jews rejected the One who gave numerous proofs of who He was. However, at the Second Coming, He comes as the "judge" and cleanses His people from open, public sin, verse 5. This judgment will be a very serious examination of the Jews and the purging of those lost ones from their ranks.

The prophet assures the Jewish people that he will not purge all of them, the Sons of Jacob "will not be consumed", verse 6. The reason, of course, is that the Lord is God and He changes not.

As I write this, I am reminded of the revelation of Jeremiah pertaining to the Jewish people. Jeremiah writes that the Lord's people, the Jewish people, will not cease to be a nation before Him forever, Jeremiah 31:35-36. The confirmation of that promise is that the sun, moon, and stars are shining in the heavens.

What an awesome God! By the way, what the Lord does for the Jews, He also does for each of us who know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

We, too, shall live forever. We know that statement to be true because of the Lord's protection of the Jewish people over 4,000 years and His relationship with the Jewish people today.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you, Lord, for being the Lord that changes not, One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.