Recently I attended a professional continuing legal education three day conference. God’s name and thoughts of God’s name were absent from that conference, except, of course, by those who used his name as a curse. My spirit had sunk and my emotions were weak by the end of those three days. “These people never think upon God or his ways,” I thought to myself as I drove away. And such is the way of most men in this time just before Christ returns to claim his own. Instead of God, most people now think of pleasure, evil, and making more money. True justice and righteousness are the farthest things from their minds, even from the minds of those who entered the “justice” profession. But God esteems another type of man. He considers those prophesied thousands of years ago by Malachi, who said,
16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. (Malachi 3:16-18 KJV)
This passage speaks of those whose names are written in the Book of Life, those who become “jewels” and become part of the fabric of New Jerusalem, the temple of God itself. These are they who think upon the name of God at all times, who order their lives according to the ways and the dictates of that One. They do not see this God as an Ogre who created onerous laws in an “Old Testament” in order to keep his ancient people in check and unable to enjoy themselves. They see Him as the maker of the royal commandment to love one another and to love God. They see him as the one who told them to sit and enjoy your own vine and fig tree (their own land, wine and good food). They see Him as the One who freed them from the bondage of the sins that destroyed their lives and all whom they touched.
Today the world hates these people, these “self-righteous do-gooders.” They have black-listed them from good jobs in their universities, corporations, and governments for many years. They made them their “middle class” slaves. Now they seek to impoverish and utterly destroy them. But the day is coming, and coming soon, when God will esteem these who think upon his name. He will bless them as he curses the wicked. He will now show a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous will be preserved in the days of judgment ahead while the wicked gnaw their tongues and gnash their teeth in outer darkness.
The passage quoted above falls right in the midst of the following verses which clearly relate to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.[a] 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
…
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules[d] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 3-4 ESV)
So, if you fear the LORD, if you think upon his name, do not fear that which is about to come upon the world. God will make a distinction between you and the wicked. In fact, if you have indeed overcome the evil one and walked in God’s ways, then He will cause you to “tread down the wicked.” He will empower, anoint, and glorify you as his own true son. You will actually become an instrument of your Father’s judgment upon evil. You will rule with a rod of iron, “the law of my servant Moses.”
