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The 365-Day Devotional Commentary

GOD’S PRIZED POSSESSION
Malachi 3–4

” ’They will be Mine,’ says the LORD Almighty, ’in the day when I make up My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him” (Mal. 3:17).

The little Jewish community in Judea may have strayed from the Lord. But God kept careful track of individuals who loved and remembered Him. In the same way God maintains our names on His “scroll of remembrance.”

Background
Tithing. Under Mosaic Law a tenth of all that the land produced belonged to the Lord. This tithe of flocks and produce was brought to the temple, where it was used to provide offerings and to support the priests and Levites who ministered there.
An additional tithe was to be set aside every third year, and retained locally, for the support of widows and orphans and others in need.
While the principle of the tithe can be seen before the Law was given (cf. Gen. 14:20), the concept underlying it is specific to the Old Testament Law. The Lord owned the Holy Land, in which His people were settled. As the One who gave them Canaan, God had a right to the “rent” due on the land His people worked.
Malachi challenged his generation, calling on them to “test” God in this. Begin paying the tithe, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (3:10).
While the tenth is not mentioned in the New Testament as a standard of giving (see 2 Cor. 8–9), certain basic principles are common to the teaching of each Testament. All we have comes from and belongs to God. We are but stewards of His possessions. We honor God by our giving, showing by our contributions to support modern ministries that the Lord is important to us. And showing too that we trust God enough not to rob Him of His share out of fear that we will not have enough.

Overview
Malachi predicted a day of purifying judgment (3:1–5). The Lord urged His people to show repentance by their tithes (vv. 6–12) and talk (vv. 13–15), and promised to bless individuals who fear Him (vv. 16–18). Malachi closed with a vivid image of the Day of the Lord (4:1–4), and a promise of Elijah’s return (vv. 5–6).

Understanding the Text
“The Lord you are seeking will come to His temple” Mal. 3:1. These words were not a promise, but a threat. The people of little Judah complained about God. “Where is the God of justice?” they asked (2:17). Now Malachi warned them that the One they said they desired, will come.
We too look forward to the Day of the Lord and to Christ’s second coming. But we need to ask ourselves a question that these folks never thought to ask. “Are we ready?”
There’s nothing we can do to speed His coming. But we can and must prepare ourselves for His appearance.
In Judea in Malachi’s time the people talked about Messiah’s appearance. But they paid no attention to the commitment, the personal moral purity, and the zeal to do God’s work, which would prepare them for that day.
It’s certain that the One whom we desire will come. Let’s make sure that when He appears, we will be filled with delight rather than regrets.

“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver”
Mal. 3:2–5. Precious metals were placed in a crucible over hot fires. The ore melted, the impurities were skimmed off, and the unadulterated metal was poured into molds. “Launderer’s soap” was a powerful chemical compound that was used to soak newly woven cloth. The bits of gummy matter that remained were dissolved, and the new cloth was thus brightened and purified.
Neither image suggests a pleasant experience. Each implies purification. As a result of God’s painful purifying work, Malachi said that “the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD.”
Divine discipline today too may seem as uncomfortable as a refiner’s fire or as distasteful as a powerful launderer’s soap. So when undergoing discipline, you and I need to keep our eyes focused on the product. When God has purified and cleansed us, our offerings to Him—our worship, and our lives—will be acceptable once again.

“I will come near to you for judgment” Mal. 3:5. How much better not to need purifying, because we already live pure lives! Here Malachi listed some of the attitudes and actions that call for judgment. More importantly, he summed up their cause: these things are done by those who “do not fear Me.”
If you and I maintain a reverential awe of God as well as love for Him, we need not worry about judgment. If we truly fear and love God, we will always do right by others.

“How do we rob You?” Mal. 3:6–12 It’s possible for a believer to say in all honesty when he hears a call to turn back to God, “How am I to return?” This is because we are often unaware of straying from the Lord. Like Saul, we don’t know that the Lord has departed from us (see 1 Sam. 16:14).
Malachi suggested a simple test. Go through your checkbook! Are you giving God a fair portion of what you earn? Or are you robbing God by selfishly using what He has given you without concern for others or for the ministry of the Gospel?
The question comes with a challenge. If you’ve been holding back because of fear that you won’t have enough, God invites you to test Him. After all, the wealth of the universe is His. Shake off your fear, God says, and “see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
God can be trusted. We need not hold back out of fear.

“You have said harsh things against Me” Mal. 3:13–18. It’s not uncommon even for believers to wonder sometimes if faithfulness really pays. And as for unbelievers, they scoff loudly, preferring the ways of the arrogant rich to those of the humble.
But there are two defects in all such thinking. First, the whole idea that we worship God in order to “gain” something is flawed. We keep God’s requirements because He is God, and we love Him. We do not obey God in order to be paid in the coin of earth’s realm.
Second, the idea that God’s blessings are material is also flawed. And so Malachi said of those who feared the Lord and talked about His name, “They will be Mine . . . in the day when I make up My treasured possession” and “I will spare them.” The distinction between the righteous and the wicked can’t be determined by this world’s bottom line. The balance in our bank account has nothing to do with the treasure stored up for us in heaven.
Yes, at times we may wonder if it pays to serve God. When we do, we have God’s Word that there is, and will be, a great distinction made between “those who serve God and those who do not” (v. 18).

“The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” Mal. 4:1–4. Malachi closed with another distinction between the righteous and the wicked. When the Day of the Lord comes it will “burn like a furnace” for “every evildoer,” but will be like the warming and healing sun for those who revere God’s name.
What a thought. When Jesus comes, He will seem beautiful to you and me. We will exult joyfully, and rush to be near Him. But the One we find so beautiful will strike terror into the hearts of those who have failed to bow the knee to Him.
How can we be sure that we will welcome Christ with delight? Malachi said, “Remember the Law of My servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.” If we do those things that we know please God, we will have no fears nor regrets at His coming.

“I will send you the Prophet Elijah” Mal. 4:5–6. The Old Testament closes with this promise. Jesus said that John the Baptist carried on an Elijah-like ministry. He preached repentance, and so turned hearts. But the people of Israel did not welcome their Messiah. They rejected Him, and turned Him over to the Romans to be crucified. Thus Malachi foretold another Elijah, destined to appear before Messiah returns and “that great and dreadful Day of the LORD[’s judgment] dawns” (v. 5).
What a close to the Old Testament. The ancient issues are unchanged. God still struggles with men, calling His own to faith and obedience, warning the arrogant, and urging repentance. The history of God’s people is replete with cycles of revival and sin, of restoration and judgment. Through it all one would think we, and all His people, must surely learn the lesson so clearly taught.
God does love us. He calls us to trust Him, and to display our trust in obedience. If we do, we can rest assured: there is blessing ahead. But for all who refuse to trust and turn to wickedness, the future holds only judgment.
It is coming. Just beyond tomorrow lies a great and terrible Day of the Lord.

DEVOTIONAL
The Eye of the Beholder
(Mal. 3)
Every once in a while, about every day, I tell my wife she’s beautiful. She usually smiles and says, “That’s what you think.”
She suspects that I’m biased, even though I keep telling her that I’m totally objective about her.
I must admit that in most cases, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What seems beautiful to one person won’t to another. It all depends on our perspective.
That’s what Malachi said in this chapter of his little book. Our attitude depends on how we look at life. Malachi even identified three things that we need to look at from God’s perspective.
The first is discipline (vv. 1–5). When some painful thing occurs, don’t despair. Look at it as a purifying fire. See the beauty that exists within you, that God is so eager to display. God is willing to burn away your impurities, even though it hurts you. Don’t think of the present experience. Look beyond it, and rejoice in what you will become.
The second is finances (vv. 6–12). Don’t look at the little you have, and worry about how you’ll make ends meet. This will only shut your heart to the Lord, and make you stingy in your giving. Instead remember that God possesses all the wealth in the universe. Trust Him enough to give freely, and expect Him to provide all that you need.
The third is blessings (vv. 14–18). Some media evangelists sound so much like the disgruntled of Malachi’s day. They ask us to measure blessings by financial well-being, and so beg us to give to their ministry, promising that God will more than repay in good, hard cash.
But Malachi urged us to serve God not for profit, but out of love. Even so, we are abundantly repaid, not in cash here, but in blessings stored up for when Christ returns. Only in eternity will we see the distinction God makes between those who serve God and those who do not, so we should not expect large cash down payments now!
And don’t expect those outside of Christ to see life as we do. Many Christians may not even share these perspectives. But you and I need to embrace the way of looking at life that Malachi adopted. We need to look beyond our pain, to look beyond limited resources, and to look beyond material rewards. When we see the beauty God seeks to create in us through discipline, the unlimited resources of our God, and the glory that awaits us in eternity, we will serve God with overflowing joy.

Personal Application
Be wise, and view life with spiritual eyes.

Quotable
God laid upon my back a grievous load,
A heavy cross to bear along the road.
I staggered on, and lo! one weary day,
An angry lion sprang across my way.
I prayed to God, and swift at His command,
The cross became a weapon in my hand.
It slew my raging enemy, and then
Became a cross upon my back again.
I reached a desert. O’er the burning track
I persevered-the cross upon my back.
No shade was there, and in the cruel sun
I sank at last, and thought my day was done.
But lo! The Lord works many a blest surprise,
The cross became a tree before my very eyes!
I slept—I woke—to feel the strength of ten,
I found the cross upon my back again.
And so through all my days from then to this,
The cross—my burden—has become my bliss.
Nor ever shall I lay my burden down.
For God some day will make my cross a crown.-Amos R. Wells

The 365-Day Devotional Commentary

Malachi

INTRODUCTION
Malachi is the last of the three postexilic prophets. He ministered to descendants of those who returned to Judea from the Babylonian Captivity. When Malachi wrote, priests and people had become lax in their worship at the rebuilt temple, which had been completed in 515 B.C. Through a series of sharp rhetorical questions Malachi challenged his generation to shrug off its spiritual lethargy, and stir up the fires of complete commitment to the Lord.
Malachi serves this same function for believers today. We too need to examine our hearts and our practices, and maintain that enthusiasm which is appropriate to a people of the living God.

DISHONORING GOD
Malachi 1–2

” ’If I am a father, where is the honor due Me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?’ says the LORD Almighty” (Mal. 1:6).

How can we honor God in our worship and in our daily lives? The pointed questions that Malachi asked his generation help us evaluate our own relationship with the Lord, and point to ways that we as His people can honor Him.

Background
Postexilic life. Some 50,000 Jews traveled from Babylon to Judea in 538B.C The Persian Cyrus had supplanted Babylonian rulers, and he decreed that captive peoples could return to their homelands. So a little group of Jewish pioneers, motivated by religious enthusiasm, set out for Judea. They were intent on rebuilding the temple of God and on building a faith-community in the land promised to Abraham’s offspring.
The story, as told in Ezra and Nehemiah, and as reflected in the postexilic Prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, is one of mixed triumph and tragedy. After the temple foundations were laid, the difficulties of reestablishing farms and homes on what was then a desolate frontier seemed overwhelming. Commitment to rebuild the temple waned as the exiles concentrated on meeting their own needs. Some 18 years later the Prophets Haggai and Zechariah rekindled the spiritual fires, and the temple was finished in 515B.C But again revival fires cooled.
About 80 years after the first group returned home, the scribe Ezra led another small contingent back to the Holy Land. God later supplied another godly leader in Nehemiah, who served as governor and rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls. Each of these leaders, however, found a people less committed to God, with a lax lifestyle that revealed a marked lack of respect for the Lord.
Most commentators believe that Malachi, whose words condemned the same spiritual maladies, ministered sometime after the governorship of Nehemiah. If so, we can’t help being amazed—and warned—by how quickly the Old Testament community drifted again from its commitment to the Lord.
Perhaps this is the major contribution of Malachi to our own lives. We see how vulnerable all of us are to spiritual drift. We’re shown ways to find out if we ourselves are off course. And we are encouraged by the promise that as we remain true in our commitment to honor God always, we will be among those who make up God’s most treasured possession.

Overview
God had loved His people (1:1–5). Yet His priests treated Him with contempt (v. 6–2:9), and His people wearied God with their unfaithfulness (vv. 10–17).

Understanding the Text
” ‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD” Mal. 1:1–5. The foundation of our relationship with the Lord is not our faith, but the fact of God’s love. It is the unshakable conviction that God loves us and has shown His love for us in Christ, that creates faith, and keeps our love for the Lord growing.
How significant then that the people of Judah responded to God’s affirmation of love with a cynical question: “Love? Oh yeah? How have You loved us?”
This is just the first of a series of seven such questions asked by the priests or people of Judah which revealed their spiritual lethargy. All talk of God, all occasions for worship, had become dreadfully boring to God’s own. In modern terminology, worship had become a drag!
Unless you and I keep a clear focus on God’s love, and return that love, our faith too will soon become meaningless. We will lose our sense of joy, and those things we have done to please God will seem like meaningless chores.
Keeping the “personal” in our personal relationship with God is our first and most important priority.

“I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated” Mal. 1:1–5. Here “Jacob” and “Esau” refer primarily to the peoples descended from the two brothers. God had demonstrated His love for the Jewish people (“Jacob”) by restoring them to their homeland. But the Edomites (“Esau”) had been displaced from their lands by the Nabateans, and the territory had become a “wasteland” inherited by “desert jackals.” This was a divine judgment on a people who had from early times been hostile to God’s chosen people, and merited punishment (cf. Ex. 17:8–16; Jdg. 3:12–13; 1 Sam. 27:8; Obad.).
“I have loved” and “I have hated” is a way of expressing acceptance and rejection, and has two references. The saying describes God’s rejection of any claim Esau might have had to inherit God’s covenant promise to Abraham (Gen. 25:23; Rom. 9:13). And the saying contrasts what has happened to the Jewish people and the Edomites. Both the original choice of Jacob, and the subsequent experience of the Jewish people, display the love of God for His chosen race.
Today if anyone were foolish enough to challenge God, saying, “How have You loved us?” we would point to the Cross. And we would testify how Jesus has changed our lives. God’s decision to sacrifice His Son, and the subsequent experience by Christians of the great salvation Jesus won for us, prove God’s love beyond any shadow of doubt.
There may be times when you and I ask “why?” But we never need wonder whether God loves us. Grasping the extent of that love, we will say with the godly of Malachi’s day, “Great is the LORD.”

“How have we despised Your name?” Mal. 1:6–14 When God through Malachi confronted the priests of Judea for failing to honor Him, they responded blandly with another cynical question. The response was the same as a denial: “Despise Your name? Not us!”
Malachi went on to identify three ways these religious leaders showed contempt for the Lord.
First, they demonstrated disrespect by placing “defiled food on My altar” (vv. 6–7). Old Testament Law described in detail how sacrifices were to be offered (cf. Lev. 1–6). This was not mere ritual: careful observance of the rules governing sacrifices was a way to show respect for the Lord. The priests, however, disregarded the Law’s regulations and so defiled the sacrifices (rendered them ritually unclean). It was as if our parents came over for dinner, and we served them a can of dog food.
Second, they demonstrated disrespect by offering disqualified sacrifices (Mal. 1:8–9, 13–14). Old Testament Law required that sacrificial animals be unblemished. These priests accepted diseased or crippled animals for sacrifice. Malachi said pointedly, “Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you?” Yet they dared to offer such beasts to God, who is no mere governor but the universe’s great King!
Third, they disdained the privilege of leading in worship, finding it “a burden” and sniffing “at it contemptuously” (vv. 10–14). They had totally lost any sense of God’s presence, and were merely going through the motions of worship.
What clear and simple—and yet overwhelming—tools for us to use in evaluating the quality of our own personal relationship with God. Are we careful to show respect for God in the way we worship, or are we careless in our church attendance and practice? Do we give Him our best, or does the Lord receive only our leftovers? Do we look foward to worshiping the Lord privately and with others, or has worship become boring and meaningless?
If we have fallen into the ways of the priests of Malachi’s day, then we need to confess now. We need to focus again on God’s love for us in Jesus, and ask the Lord to fan our love for the Lord into flames. Then we need to return to worship filled with a vital sense of Christ’s living presence as we bow down to Him.

“If you do not set your heart to honor My name . . . I will send a curse” Mal. 2:1–9. The failure of the priesthood was critical, for “a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction” (v. 7). Any flaw in the priesthood was bound to affect the people they were called to serve. Malachi charged the priests of his day, “You have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble” (v. 8). A priesthood that failed in its mission of serving God and instructing the people would surely be punished.
The warning is directly applicable to us. New Testament believers are called a “holy priesthood,” serving under Jesus our High Priest (1 Peter 2:9). We too are charged with worshiping God and instructing others in His ways. Because our lives have such an impact on others, we must guard our commitment carefully. The higher the calling, the greater the responsibility. And ours is the highest calling of all!

“You have wearied the LORD with your words” Mal. 2:17. Most of us remember how small children pick up a phrase or saying, and repeat it again and again and again. After a time it seems as if you can’t stand hearing it even one more time.
I have that problem with popular music. Right now a group called “New Kids on the Block” has captivated our nine-year-old. All I hear is snatches of their songs hummed or sung over and over again, or “Joe likes pizza,” Joe this, and Joe that. I’m pretty sure I can’t stand it much longer. But at least I’ve learned what it means to be “wearied with words.”
Malachi portrays God as fed up too. He heard His people talking, and they were saying the same things over and over again. But God was not just annoyed by what they said. God was slandered! His own people claimed He was pleased with this or that person who complained, “Where is the God of justice?” In other words, “God’s not being fair!”
Somehow the perspective of the people of Judea had become distorted, and neither the Lord nor His ways were understood.
How dangerous it is to suppose that we can judge what God does. How dangerous to suppose that we can relegislate morality, and pronounce “good” those who do what God says is wrong.
There’s just this spirit loose in our land today, as moral issues are clouded by rhetoric and demands for the “right” to do wrong. As believers, we ourselves are bound by God’s Word. We must stand with God in His identification of what is right and of what is wrong.

DEVOTIONAL
Always Be True
(Mal. 2)
A children’s song captures the meaning of the seventh commandment. “Always be true,” it says. “Always be true to one you’re married to.”
Malachi too captured this meaning. “Judah has broken faith,” the prophet proclaimed. Men had married pagan wives. Men had discarded older wives to marry younger, more sexually attractive girls. In many ways, but particularly in these, the people of Malachi’s day showed that they totally misunderstood the concept of loyalty which lies at the root of every human relationship, and at the root of relationship with God Himself.
You see, God had long ago made a commitment to Abraham and his offspring. Those offspring had often proven rebellious and disobedient. Yet through the long centuries God remained faithful to His covenant commitment. God would love, endlessly, even if His people did not love Him in return.
That’s what covenant means. Commitment. Loyalty. Always being true.
Marriage was intended by God to be a covenant relationship. It was to be a pact of loyalty, by which two of His people committed themselves to one another. Oh, there might be the unusual situation in which the hardness of one person ultimately made marriage impossible and divorce a necessity. But there could be no excuse for what was then going on in Judah. Men were obviously marrying to satisfy their passion, with no sense of the deeper meaning of marriage. They took foreign wives, who surely would not attract them by their character or faith! And they cast off older wives in a heated rush to find a younger bride, who would be no more to them than a sex object.
Where was the commitment so essential to covenant relationship? Where was loyalty? Gone! And, Malachi said, God is a witness on the side of the wife who is treated so shabbily. Malachi said God no longer pays attention to the offerings of such a husband, nor accepts them. Such divorce God hates, for it is an act of violence, tearing at and destroying the very heart of the abandoned wife.
Reading this passage I can’t help thinking of one couple I know. He began an affair with a fellow worker, and then decided to leave his wife and two teenagers to marry her. He did leave. And I’ve counseled with both the wife and the teens, and seen the terrible damage his choice has done. Seeing their hurt, I understand why God hates such a divorce.
That husband has never faced the appalling nature of his betrayal, or acknowledged to any of the three he’s harmed that his abandonment was a sin. The husband and his new wife go to church regularly. They sing in the choir. But I wonder if he ever senses the terrible fact that the Lord “no longer pays attention to [his] offerings or accepts them with pleasure from [his] hands”?

Personal Application
We are to model our relationships with others on God’s covenant relationship with us.

Quotable
“There are more people who wish to be loved than there are willing to love.”—S.R.N. Chamfort

The 365-Day Devotional Commentary

Haggai

INTRODUCTION
Haggai was the first of the postexilic prophets. When a company of Jews returned from Babylon in 538 B.C., they laid the foundations of a new temple. But for the next 18 years members of the community concentrated on building their own houses, leaving the house of the Lord unfinished. Haggai urged the people to put God first, and finish the temple.
The people responded to Haggai, winning God’s promise, “From this day on I will bless you.” The project was resumed in 520 B.C., and the temple was finished in 515 B.C.

PUTTING GOD FIRST
Haggai 1–2

“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” (Hag. 1:4)

The fall of Israel to Assyria, and of Judah to Babylon, illustrates what happens when people fail to put God first. The response of the postexilic community to Haggai’s preaching illustrates what happens when people do put God first.

Background
The return. The Babylonians had taken the Jewish people into Captivity in a series of deportations between 605 and 586B.C It was not until the fall of Babylon and the ascension of Cyrus of Persia in 538B.C that a small contingent of some 50,000 returned to their devastated homeland. During the years of Exile once-fertile fields had become overgrown with weeds and briars, houses had fallen into ruin, while orchards and vineyards had died. The returnees faced a formidable task: they must reclaim the land, plant crops, and rebuild houses, for once-prosperous Judah was now a wild frontier.
In the grip of their first enthusiasm, a foundation for a new temple of God had been laid. But soon that enthusiasm was worn away under the pressures of survival. The focus of the community shifted from putting God first to putting their own many needs first.
For some 18 years they struggled to reestablish a viable society. But somehow they seemed unable to make progress. Every step forward seemed matched by two back. It was at this point that Haggai was sent by God to speak to the discouraged pioneers, to urge them to once again put God first.
Haggai is an encouraging book for believers today. It reminds us that blessings lie ahead for those who put God first.

Overview
On August 29, 520B.C, Haggai urged Judah to finish the temple (1:1–11). The people obeyed God’s voice and set to work (vv. 12–15). On October 17 Haggai promised the completed temple would be filled with glory (2:1–9), and on December 18 Haggai promised that from now on, God would bless (vv. 10–23).

Understanding the Text
“Give careful thought to your ways” Hag. 1:1–11. Haggai’s initial message was blunt and practical. He reminded the community how they had struggled to survive the past 18 years. They had worked constantly, and yet seemed to have made no progress. He also reminded them that they had put aside rebuilding the temple in order to concentrate on meeting their own needs. And Haggai had just three questions for them:
Had it worked?
Were they really better off than they were before? Had setting God aside helped them get ahead?
The answer was no! They “expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.”
The fact of the matter was that the prosperity of the postexilic community depended entirely on God. He was the One who controlled the reins; He was the One who could make them prosper. In setting God aside they abandoned the one essential for success.
Christians too might well be practical. Never mind for the moment whether it’s right to set God aside for a time to concentrate on getting ahead. Just ask the question, “Will it work?” The answer today, as in Haggai’s time, is no! Our God is a sovereign God, who is able to bless our efforts, or to withhold blessing. If we set God aside, and fail to give Him the priority He deserves, we abandon the one resource essential for our own success.

“They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God” Hag. 1:12–14. While the practical argument is compelling, it takes more than argument to cause a person to change his or her priorities. The text says that “the LORD stirred up the spirit” of the leaders and of the people (v. 14).
You and I may give others the best of reasons why they should trust the Lord or follow Him. And there are many good and practical reasons. Yet people will only respond if the Lord Himself stirs up their spirits within them.
Christian witnessing and Christian counseling both call for more than knowledge and more than skill in presenting good reasons for wise choices. Effective witness and counsel demands prayer that God will take our good reasons and good advice, open the heart of the hearer, and stir him or her up to respond.

“Be strong . . . and work” Hag. 2:1–4. As the work commenced it became clear that the new temple would be far less splendid than the first. So the people became discouraged. It hardly seemed worthwhile, when what they were doing fell so far short of what others had done.
You and I often fall into this trap. We compare our accomplishments or the tasks we are called to do with those of others. What we’re doing seems so unimportant. So we become discouraged, and let our hands fall to our sides. God’s first response to such an attitude is to give us a simple prescription. He says, “Be strong. . . . Be strong. . . . Be strong. . . . and work” (vv. 3–4).
Our calling is not to compare, but to be strong, and work at the task God gives us.

“I will fill this house with glory” Hag. 2:5–9. The dimensions of the new temple were far less than those of Solomon’s. The new temple would also lack the expensive adornment of the earlier house of worship. Yet God not only promised to fill the new house with glory, but said that “the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house” (v. 9).
The ancient rabbis saw this as a messianic prophecy. The “desired of all nations [who] will come” (v. 7) they held to be the Messiah. The temple would be filled with glory not because of its material trappings but because of His presence.
How accurate this insight. Over half a millennium passed. But then Jesus of Nazareth did come, first as a Boy and then as an Adult, to the second temple. Herod had expanded and beautified the original structure. But the temple was glorious, not because of its ostentatious wealth, but because of the enfleshed presence of the God in whose honor it had been built.
There is a lesson here for us. What we do may seem unimportant when compared with what some accomplish. Yet as long as what we do is done for Christ, His presence floods the simplest task with glory.

“The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine” Hag. 2:8. The struggling community in Judah, hardly able to make ends meet, must have been discouraged by its poverty. How could it afford the high costs of construction, to say nothing of the costly equipment required for worship? Here God simply reminded His people, “The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine.” The people of Judah were responsible to work. God was responsible to provide.
And God did! Ezra 6:8–12 tells us that when local opponents of the Jews complained, they were ordered by the Persian ruler to finance the entire project from tax revenues!
We need not know where our resources will come from. But we do need to be sure that what we do is in the will of God.

“From this day on I will bless you” Hag. 2:10–19. God promised to bless His obedient people. But He protected the little community, and us, from a common error.
Haggai was told to raise a question of ritual purity with the priests. If a defiled person touched a holy object, would he be made holy? The answer was no. In fact, if a defiled person touched a holy object, that object became defiled!
God was about to pour out blessings on His people in Judea. They might conclude that it was because they once again worshiped at a temple. The questions and their answers showed that no one would be made holy by going up to the temple. God’s blessing was to be poured out not because of the holiness of the people, but because of the grace of their God.
In choosing to put God first, the little community had placed itself on the one path that led to the blessing God was eager to bestow.
God’s blessing today is evidence of His grace. We can never earn the good things He gives us. Yet our obedience does bring us to that shore of the river where His blessings flow.

“I will shake the heavens and the earth” Hag. 2:20–23. The book concludes with a word to Zerubbabel. This member of the royal family represented the Davidic line. The words mean that while the present generation will be blessed, a future generation will experience the full blessing promised by God. Then, at a future date, One from the house of David, the Messiah, will appear. He will shake the nations and establish the earthly kingdom of God.

DEVOTIONAL
After Putting God First
(Hag. 2)
Haggai 1 invites us to look at the empty spaces in our lives, the disappointments and frustrations, and ask if this is what we want our lives to be. He then urges us to stop living selfishly, and put God first.
The little Jewish community in Judea in Haggai’s day did just this—and decided to change their priorities. From then on, they would put the Lord first.
I suppose if this were all there were to this little book, it would be well worth reading. But actually, there’s much more. Haggai 2 goes on to show us how life changes when we do put the Lord first in our lives.
What do we see there? First, we find significance in even little things. The rebuilt temple seemed small when compared to Solomon’s spectacular structure. But then the Lord said, “I am with you,” and we know that when we have put Him first, what we do is important indeed. In fact, we have the assurance that there is far more glory in the littlest thing we do for the Lord than in anything we have ever done before (vv. 1–9).
Second, we find repeated evidence of blessings we do not deserve. We discover that in putting God first, we have put ourselves in the center of that channel through which grace constantly flows.
There are material blessings, yes. But even more important, there is the knowledge that we are pleasing God, and fulfilling ourselves. And in this we find peace.

Personal Application
The only way to get ahead is to put God before us.

Quotable
“Do not wait to do a great thing. The opportunity may never come. But since little things are constantly claiming your attention, do them for a great motive—for the glory of God, and to do good to others.”—F.B. Meyer

The 365-Day Devotional Commentary

EVENTS OF DAVID’S REIGN
2 Samuel 21–24

“The LORD lives! Praise be my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Saviour!” (2 Sam. 22:47)

When you tell someone the story of your life, there are some things that just won’t fit in a chronological report. Here in an appendix the writer of 2 Samuel relates more about David.

Overview
David permitted the Gibeonites to exact revenge for Saul’s violation of an ancient treaty (21:1–14). The Philistine wars are summarized (vv. 15–22). David’s song of praise for deliverance is recorded (22:1–51). After a report of David’s last words (23:1–7) and a list of war heros (vv. 8–39), the book closes with an account of David’s sin in taking a census of fighting men (24:1–25).

Understanding the Text
“It is because he put the Gibeonites to death” 2 Sam. 21:1–14. At the time of the Conquest, nearly 400 years before Saul’s time, Israel had sworn in God’s name not to harm the Gibeonites. Saul broke this treaty and ferociously attacked the Gibeonites, who still held land in Israel. When David learned that a famine which had struck Israel was God’s punishment for breaking the oath sworn in His name, he asked the Gibeonites about reparations.
The Gibeonites demanded the death of seven of Saul’s male descendants. David ordered they be executed and their bodies left unburied. Exposure of the dead body was considered a great disgrace in Israel.
Old Testament Law prohibits punishing any person for a parent’s sins (Deut. 24:16). Because of this, and because 2 Samuel 21:1 fixes the blame on Saul and “his blood-stained house,” it seems likely that the seven David executed had leading roles in the attempt to exterminate the Gibeonites.
Unpunished crime is a rebuke to any nation. It was especially abhorrent to God, who used the famine to bring this terrible crime to David’s attention.

“David sang to the LORD” 2 Sam. 22:1–51. The psalm traces David’s rise from a fugitive to a conquering monarch, and praises God as the source of David’s deliverance and his achievements. God protected David when he was in deadly danger (vv. 1–7), and David was in awe of His mighty power (vv. 8–16). God rescued righteous David from his enemies (vv. 17–25), and David acknowledged God’s faithfulness to those who trust in Him (vv. 26–37). God raised David to power and international prominence (vv. 38–46), and David sang praises to the Lord for His unfailing kindness (vv. 47–51).
This song of praise, very similar to Psalm 18, reflects David’s awareness that all he was and had become was a gracious gift of God. It was true, when the psalm was penned, that God’s reward was “according to my righteousness.” But this thought is no boast. David simply reflected on the fact that God is faithful in keeping his promise to bless those who keep “the ways of the LORD.”
When I was a child I stood in the yard of my uncle’s farm home and watched rain pour down on a field just across the road, while I remained perfectly dry. What David is saying is that by obedience we cross the road and find showers of blessing. God’s blessings are always being poured out. Obedience puts us in the place where the blessings flow.

“The last words of David” 2 Sam. 23:1–7. David’s last words praised God. More importantly, they show the basis on which David felt secure. “Has He not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will He not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?”
Death found a confident David, resting in the promises God had made to him, certain of his own salvation and of a future after death.
The Bible picture’s death as man’s enemy, and fear of death as a stranglehold Satan has on mankind. David’s confidence reminds us that for the believer death is not the end of existence, but the doorway to a glorious future.

“David’s mighty men” 2 Sam. 23:8–39. It’s likely that “the thirty” was an elite corps or special military unit, perhaps like our “green berets.” Others assume these war heros served as leaders of David’s legions. Whatever their role, they remind us that David did not win his victories alone.
No leader can do it all himself or herself. Every leader needs talented and able persons around him or her.

“Go and count Israel and Judah” 2 Sam. 24:1–17. While the chapter indicates that David committed a sin by taking a military census, the text does not indicate why David was wrong. Some suggest the census indicated self-confidence and a failure to rely on God. Others assume God commanded David not to take the census. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus says David failed to collect the half-shekel temple tax required of Hebrew males. Whatever the real reason, even General Joab knew David was wrong and argued against the census.
When David persisted, the Lord gave David a choice of punishments. David selected the most severe but shortest of the three.
It’s unwise to insist on our own way against the conviction of others that what we intend is wrong.

“Burnt offerings that cost me nothing” 2 Sam. 24:18–25. The purchase of Araunah’s threshing floor is theologically significant. This height near David’s city of Jerusalem would be added to the city by Solomon, and become the site of the Jerusalem temple. The same mount is fixed by tradition as the place where Abraham came to offer up his son Isaac at God’s command. Placed here, at the end of the book that records David’s accomplishments, the purchase prepares us for the introduction of Solomon, who constructed the temple that David wanted so much to build.
The personal significance of the incident is found in David’s response when Araunah offered to give him the land. “I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
God is not honored by leaving Him “tips” that we hardly miss. The God who loves us so much deserves costly offerings, whether of money or service.

DEVOTIONAL
Who Done It?
(2 Sam. 24)
“The devil made me do it” is more than a saying. Sometimes Christians do blame the devil when caught up in some sin. Other times we may blame others. Or childhood trauma. Or any number of things. One of history’s worst serial killers, Ted Bundy, blamed pornographic pictures he saw as a teen for the murders he committed across the country.
This chapter raises the question of blame by stating, “He [the Lord] incited David” to initiate the census (v. 1). In another account Satan is the one who incited David (1 Chron. 21:1). Yet in each of these chapters David accepts responsibility for the act and says, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done” (2 Sam. 24:10; see 1 Chron. 21:8).
Part of the answer is found in the Hebrew concept of causation. God is the ultimate cause of all that happens. Satan, as an independent being, while acting under the umbrella of God’s permissive will, is an intermediate cause. But while God and Satan can be held responsible for their actions—God responsible for punishing Israel’s sin, and Satan for attempting to harm God’s people—David is ultimately responsible for his own choices as well. Neither God nor Satan made David count Israel.
You and I too are subject to many influences. Influence brought to bear by our friends or family. Influences from our childhood. Influences that appeal to our emotions, our baser passions, our desire to do good, etc. Even God the Holy Spirit influences the Christian, and undoubtedly Satan attempts to influence us too. Yet in the last analysis, no one can say, “The devil made me do it.” Or, “My childhood made me do it.” Without in any way arguing for the unrestricted distribution of pornography, we can say with confidence that Ted Bundy’s early exposure to pornography did not make him commit his terrible crimes.
Our own will stands between our actions and the many influences that bear on each one of us. Ultimately when we fail we must say with David, “I have sinned greatly.” The fault lies not with God, or with the devil, or with my childhood, but with me.
Why is it so important to face this truth and accept responsibility for our failures? Because to admit fault is the first necessary step we take on our journey toward God. When we accept the fact of our sin, we are preparing our hearts to seek, and to find, the forgiveness offered us in God.

Personal Application
There is no one further from God than the person who refuses to accept responsibliity for his sins.

Quotable
“The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.”—St. Augustine

The 365-Day Devotional Commentary

ABSALOM’S REBELLION
2 Samuel 15–20

“Say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron’ ” (2 Sam. 15:10).

In difficult times we may even wonder if God has deserted us. Particularly if our conscience is not clear. Absalom’s rebellion was just such a time for David.

Background
David ruled over Judah for seven years before the northern tribes acknowledged him as monarch. This rift between north and south was exploited by Absalom. His claim that he would support any northerner who came to Jerusalem with a complaint or legal case gradually won their support. After Absalom’s rebellion was put down, the tension between the two sections again exploded briefly before being put down by Joab. Half a century later, after the death of Solomon in 931B.C, sectional differences were still so intense that the kingdom broke into two parts. The northern splinter-kingdom, called Israel, existed until its destruction in 722B.C The southern splinter-kingdom, Judah, survived until 586B.C

Overview
Absalom gradually won allegiance of Israel’s northern tribes and was proclaimed king (15:1–12). David fled Jerusalem with a few companions (v. 13–16:14). In Jerusalem one of David’s secret supporters gave Absalom advice, enabling David to escape south (16:15–17:29). David raised troops there, and in the ensuing battle Absalom was killed (18:1–18). David set aside grief to honor his army (19:1–8), and returned to Jerusalem (vv. 9–43). Joab put down another brief northern rebellion and David’s throne was secured (20:1–26).

Understanding the Text
“Absalom . . . stole the hearts of the men of Israel” 2 Sam. 15:1–12. Some commentators blame David’s refusal to see Absalom for two years after his return from exile for making this handsome son bitter. But Absalom’s plot follows a pattern established long before. Absalom had waited patiently to kill his brother Amnon (13:23). Now he labored patiently for four years to lay a foundation for his rebellion. Absalom’s revolt was well-planned and premeditated. Absalom was not so much bitter as determined to have his father’s throne.
It’s popular these days to excuse a person’s actions by blaming someone else for treating him or her unfairly. Yet in fact each of us is responsible for his own choices and actions.

“There will your servant be” 2 Sam. 15:13–23. David had served his country well. Yet most of his own people now rejected him. Their unfaithfulness is underlined by a mercenary captain who entered David’s service only the day before, and yet was prepared to keep his oath of allegiance even if it should mean death.
There is nothing as painful as betrayal by a person we have every right to expect will be loyal.

“If He says, ‘I am not pleased with you’ ” 2 Sam. 15:24–37. When the priests and Levites prepared to leave Jerusalem carrying God’s ark, David sent them back. David’s remarks reveal his own uncertainty. God might no longer be pleased with David, and the rebellion might be God’s way of removing him from the throne. If so, David wanted the ark to remain a symbol of faith. And if God remained pleased with David, the king would surely return to the ark.
David may have been uncertain. But his priorities remained clear. God was to be worshiped, not used in political campaigns.
David also remained a wise politician. He left behind several faithful men who would have gone with him, to provide him with information and to try to disrupt Absalom’s plans.

“You man of blood, you scoundrel!” 2 Sam. 16:5–14 When Shimei reviled David he may have expressed David’s own inmost doubts. David had not mistreated Saul’s family, but he had indirectly caused many deaths. He surely had acted like a scoundrel in his affair with Bathsheba. The sins of his sons must also have weighed heavily on his heart. This may be reflected in David’s refusal to let one of his supporters silence Shimei. After all, David suggested, he may be doing God’s work (cf. v. 10).
David preferred to leave it all up to the Lord. God might very well transform those curses into blessing.
What others say about us matters very little. They may wish us ill. But if God is for us, what we will receive will be good.

“So I advise you” 2 Sam. 16:15–17:29. David’s friend Hushai was able to disrupt Absalom’s plans. The advice he gave permitted David to escape, while following the advice of Ahithophel would have guaranteed David’s death.
Christians often receive conflicting advice from friends, relatives, or counselors. Often what we need is not more advice, but the wisdom from God to know what advice is best. How good to have the promise, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

“O my son Absalom” 2 Sam. 18:1–19:8. In the battle that followed Absalom was killed—against the king’s express orders. Rather than rejoice in the triumph, David was brokenhearted with grief. Joab’s rebuke reminded David of his duty, and the king went to receive the congratulations of those who had fought for him so loyally.
David’s sorrow for Absalom’s death was undoubtedly misplaced, but understandable. It’s hard to acknowledge when our children’s actions merit punishment. But like David we must at times put aside personal feelings and serve the public good.

“Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand” 2 Sam. 20:1–13. Joab was a harsh man, but completely loyal to David. Like many loyal men, this commander of David’s army acted at times without orders, or ignored orders if he thought his action was in the king’s best interest. Earlier Joab had assassinated Abner, the Israelite military leader who was negotiating with David. In this battle Joab personally killed Absalom despite David’s command that he be spared. Now Joab murdered Amasa, who had commanded Absalom’s forces. While Joab might be commended for his loyalty, he merits no praise for his actions.
Many Christians seem to take Joab’s course. They proclaim their loyalty to God, and they do try to serve Him. But they want to serve God their way, without submitting to His Word.

DEVOTIONAL
In Flight
(2 Sam. 15–16)
We can sense David’s mood as he fled Jerusalem with just a few retainers. Absalom, with a large army, was in pursuit. The situation seemed hopeless. And to top it all off, Shimei cursed David, shouting that God was just paying David what David deserved for his bloody past.
Everything had gone wrong. Besides, David’s conscience wasn’t clear. There were grounds to think that Shimei might be right. No wonder David seemed despondent and depressed as he gathered his cloak around him, and hurried over the Brook Kidron in the late evening shadows.
How did David really feel? And what can we do when we find ourselves feeling as he must have? The answer is in Psalm 3, which David penned “when he fled from his son Absalom.”

First David looked around.

O LORD, how many are my foes!
  How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
  “God will not deliver him” (Ps. 3:1–2).

Then David looked back.

But You are a shield around me, O LORD,
  my Glorious One, who lifts up my head.
To the LORD I cry aloud,
  and He answers me from His holy hill (vv. 3–4).

Then David looked up.

I lie down and sleep;
  I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
I will not fear the tens of thousands
  drawn up against me on every side.
Arise, O LORD!
  Deliver me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the jaw;
  You have broken the teeth of the wicked (vv. 5–7).

Then David looked ahead.

From the LORD comes deliverance.
  May Your blessing be upon Your people (v. 8).

Looking around, you and I see our difficulties realistically. But looking back, we remember that God has helped us in the past. Looking up, we find peace as we commit ourselves and our needs to the Lord. And looking ahead, we know we can expect good things from God.

Personal Application
When we face difficulties, we need to follow the simple pattern of looking—around, back, up, and ahead—with faith.

Quotable
“Be not miserable about what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father, who cares for you today, will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.”—Francis De Sales