a world accountable before God

Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”

Malachi 1:5

God displays His power and His sovereign Lordship over all the nations of the world. God, through His prophet Malachi, promised a rebellious Israel that they would know His justice by first seeing Him deal with close neighbors who had oppressed Israel. This would be a warning to them. In Malachi 1:1-5, that oppressor was Edom, the descendants of Esau.

God promised that the Edomites would not be blessed by His love (1:3). The fertile hill country of the Edomites would become a wasteland and unproductive desert (1:3). Edom would be regularly ransacked, and each rebuilding would just be torn down again by a new invader (1:4). God’s anger was kindled against the Edomites forever, never to be relieved (1:4). Their wickedness destined them for complete judgment.

And all of this was meant to get the attention of the Jews in Israel. They were to see God’s judgment in action against Edom and take warning, seeing God’s greatness beyond their border as a wake up call to take God seriously at home. The rest of the prophet’s message in the book of Malachi is directed toward the sins of Judah and God’s coming actions against His people. A quick summary:

• Priests had polluted temple sacrifices (1:6-14).
• God would humiliate religious leaders who had misled His people (2:1-9).
• The covenant with Yahweh was profaned by hypocritical, insincere, “going through the motions” worship (2:10-16).
• God would send His messenger to purge the priesthood and the people of their sin (2:17-3:5).
• Tithes and offerings were being withheld by the people (3:6-15).
• God calls the people to repent, and a remnant among them writes in a book their repentance and willingness to follow Him (3:16-18).
• God promises a future worldwide Day of the Lord to bring universal justice and settle all wrongs (4:1-5)

And like Israel, we should be warned that God is great beyond any borders we think may “protect” us. He holds the world accountable to Him. We worship a God Who is moving all things to a future day where He will be known both for His grace to the repentant, and His judgment on the wicked.