Malachi 3:13-18
They Will Be Mine
13“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
14You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
15So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
16At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.
17“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
Berean Standard Bible
The people have been accused of robbing God. Now they are accused of using harsh words against Him, and once again they ask what they have said.
The answer is a conversation about usefulness. They say it is futile to serve God. What have they gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before Him? Then they look around and call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers prosper. People test God and escape.
It is the same question as before, in a different coat. If obedience does not produce an immediate advantage, why keep obeying? If the arrogant seem to be doing well, perhaps the people who fear God have misunderstood the whole arrangement.
Then the scene changes quietly.
At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them.
They do not solve every question. They speak to one another, and God listens. A scroll of remembrance is written before Him for those who fear the LORD and honor His name.
Then God names what these people are to Him.
“They will be Mine,” says the LORD, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession.”
He says He will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. The image is not of a God who has forgotten the difference between faithful and faithless. The final verse says that distinction will be visible again, between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
The arrogant may look blessed for a while. That is not the whole record. God hears the people who keep speaking to one another in reverence, remembers them, and claims them as His own.
How We Know
The phrase “treasured possession” belongs to the covenant language God used at Sinai. Exodus 19:5-6 says that Israel will be His treasured possession among all the peoples if they listen to His voice and keep His covenant.
Malachi is not presenting remembrance as God recovering information He lost. The scroll is an image of deliberate notice. The people who fear the LORD may feel unseen while arrogant people prosper, but God says their names and reverence are not overlooked.
Questions
1 What do the people say about serving God?
AnswerThey call it futile and ask what they have gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before Him.
2 What do they conclude about arrogant people and evildoers?
AnswerThey call the arrogant blessed and say evildoers prosper, test God, and escape.
3 What do those who fear the LORD do?
AnswerThey speak with one another, and the LORD listens and hears them. A scroll of remembrance is written concerning those who fear Him and honor His name.
4 What distinction will God make visible again?
AnswerThe distinction between the righteous and the wicked, and between those who serve God and those who do not.
What This Means for Us
It matters who we talk to when obedience feels pointless. Cynicism grows in an echo chamber, but faithful people can keep one another from mistaking a delay for an absence. We do not have to manufacture cheerful answers. We can tell the truth about what looks unfair and still speak of God with reverence.
Make room for those conversations at home. Let a child say, “That does not seem fair,” without being scolded for asking. Then remember together that the visible scoreboard is not the final one. God hears people who keep honoring Him in the middle of questions.
Prayer
Father, when obedience feels wasted, keep us from becoming cynical. Give us people with whom we can speak honestly, and make our home a place where you hear faith growing again. Remember us, and keep us yours. Amen.