OHBC VERSE – WEEK #39 THIS WEEK‘S VERSE: MALACHI 4:1a & 2a ―For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up… But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings‖ Why Malachi 4:1a and 2a? Because for one final time, just as Peter said in Acts 3:21, an Old Testament prophet is pointing toward and preaching about the second coming of Christ, thousands of years before His first coming! In these verses Malachi beautifully depicts our Lord as the ―Sun of righteousness‖ rising on this planet to usher in ―the Day of the Lord,‖ in the same way the physical sun rises each day on the earth to usher in the morning, or the new day. To fully understand God‘s choice of words in these two verses, it is important to understand some of the things the New Testament reveals. In John 9:5, Jesus said something monumental in terms of the whole of God‘s plan in history. He said, ―As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.‖ So, for 33½ years, this planet had light from a spiritual standpoint, because the ―Light of the world,‖ the ―Sun of righteousness‖ was here. Just as the sun gets red before it sets and nighttime sets in, on the cross, the ―Sun of righteousness‖ became red with His own blood, just as His time on earth was ―setting,‖ and just before a spiritual nighttime set in. With the ―Light of the world‖ no longer here, we are now living in that biblical ―nighttime‖, and await the ―rising‖ of the ―Sun of righteousness‖. Several cross references affirm this ―biblical nighttime‖: I Thessalonians 5:5-8 ―Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.‖ Romans 13:11-12 ―And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.‖ Philippians 2:14-16 ―Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.‖ Notice in Philippians 2:15 that Paul says that in this ―nighttime,‖ we are not the Light that shines. He very specifically said, we shine ―AS‖ lights. We must ask ourselves, what is it that shines at nighttime, that doesn‘t actually have light of its own, but reflects the light of the sun? The moon, right? The moon is actually a dead rock, yet it beautifully brings light to the darkness of the night. Paul is trying to get us to see that since Jesus is the ―Sun of righteousness‖, we are here in the night, just as the moon, reflecting the light of His righteousness, not our own (Phil. 3:9). What this all means, is that for the past 2,190,000 days, God has ―rented out‖ the billboard of the sky to advertise the theme of the Bible, and that to which all of history and creation is pointing. The sun goes down at night and comes up in the morning. The same sun that burns away the morning fog and dew provides the nutrients necessary to make a healthy body. When the Lord Jesus Christ, the ―Sun of righteousness‖ returns to this earth, His light will burn up all His enemies, and yet that same light will provide healing to those who know and fear the name of the Lord. 1 When we see the rising of the sun in the morning, may it jolt our minds to pray for the Lord‘s kingdom to come. When we see the moon in the sky at night, may it remind us to pray that we will not allow there to be a lunar eclipse. when the earth comes between the sun and the moon (i.e. when the ―world‖ comes between us and the Lord, the light God intended to light the night goes out). When we see the sun and the moon in the same sky, may it cause us to live in anticipation of the ―day of the Lord‖, when the ―Light of the world‖ has risen on this planet in all of His splendor and glory, and we rule and reign with Him! As you can see, hiding Malachi 4:1a and 2a in our hearts has the potential to keep us reminded of some incredible spiritual truths from God‘s physical creation. DAY 191 TODAY‘S READING: AMOS 1-6 OVERVIEW: God‘s judgment upon eight nations (chapters 1-2); the guilt and punishment of Israel (chapters 3-6) HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS: One of the most beautiful things about the Book of Amos was who God used to write it. Amos was just a common, ordinary guy of average intelligence. He didn‘t come from a well-to-do or noble family, so no family pedigree (i.e. Amos, the son of...) is given. When God called him, he made his living as a ―herdsman‖ (1:1) – i.e. sheep-breeder, and as a tender of the sycamore trees (7:14). The significant thing about Amos, however, is that God used him in a very uncommon, extraordinary, and above average way! Always bank on it — God is a champion for the common man! Speaking of the time of Jesus‘ ministry, Mark 12:37 says, ―And the common people heard him gladly‖! It was the nobility and intelligential that had such a hard time with Him, spent their time contesting and contending with Him, and ultimately put Him to death! God has always taken great pleasure ―[choosing] the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are‖ (I Cor. 1:27-28). He even says in I Cor. 1:26 – ―For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.‖ Be sure you don‘t take this further than God does, however. Notice that He says ―Not MANY wise, mighty and noble are called.‖ He didn‘t say, ―Not ANY wise, mighty and noble are called.‖ There are SOME, there just aren‘t MANY. Recognize today, that the same uncommon, extraordinary, above average thing God did with Amos is the same thing He wants to do with common, ordinary, average folk like you and me! That may not help you to understand the Book of Amos, but it‘s well worth the price of admission, and will certainly help you to understand how incredibly God wants to use you! Now, concerning understanding the Book of Amos. As verse one indicates, he prophesied during the days when Uzziah was king in Judah, and Jeroboam was king in Israel. That would mean he is a contemporary of Hosea, and places his prophetic ministry somewhere between the years of 783 to 753 B.C. During this time, the physical aspects of the northern kingdom were going extremely well. Businesses flourished, the economy was good, and the government was stable. The spiritual climate, however, was something totally different. It was full and running over with idolatry, greed, injustice, immorality, pride and hypocrisy. In the first two chapters, Amos pronounces judgment on eight nations, saying that God will attack them as a roaring lion (1:2; 3:8) and a consuming fire. (Heb. 12:29). Notice the repetition: 1:4 – ―But I will send a fire‖ 1:7 – ―But I will send a fire‖ 1:10 – ―But I will send a fire‖ 1:12 – ―But I will send a fire‖ 1:14 – ―But I will kindle a fire‖ There was certainly an historic application concerning these eight nations, but as always, the prophets are always pointing to a future fulfillment of these prophecies (i.e. the doctrinal or prophetic application). 2 The eight nations are Damascus (of Syria) – (1:3), Gaza (1:6), Tyrus (1:9), Edom (1:11), Ammon (1:13), Moab (2:1), Judah (2:4), and Israel (2:6). In 2:6-16, Amos identifies the specific sins that had prompted God‘s promise of judgment upon Israel: bribery, greed, adultery, immorality, selfishness, ungratefulness, drunkenness (even forcing the Nazarites to drink – vs.12), and rejecting God‘s Word. Notice also the repetition of the phrase, ―For three transgressions and for four‖ (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). Very simply, three plus four equals seven, the number of completion.