'On the day when I act'

Interesting language, isn't it?

Below are two very different Bible verses in Malachi, yet they are used to describe a single event: God's direct action against evil on this earth, which is oppressing God's Creation (which we are a part of).

God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, "They're mine, all mine. They'll get special treatment when I go into action. I treat them with the same consideration and kindness that parents give the child who honors them. Once more you'll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn't, between serving God and not serving him." (MSG, Malachi 3:17-18)

"Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash – a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking. And you'll tromp on the wicked. They'll be nothing but ashes under your feet on that Day." God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so (MSG, Malachi 4:1-3).

Many of us, especially in our own minds, are such modern people that we don't see miracles, even when they are in front of our faces. We have devised natural explanations for supernatural events. Our prayers frequently reflect this mindset. Jesus and His disciples dealt with sickness and disease much differently than we do today. They commanded it to go. We ask for the doctors to be given wisdom and skill to fix the problem. I once asked a medical doctor, a surgeon I had known for a long time, if he had ever seen a supernatural healing. There was a considerable pause before he responded: "There have been a few cases, where there was no other explanation."

Get the hottest, most important news stories on the internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND's Email News Alerts!

In a sense, Malachi seems to be speaking to us in our present age and mindset in the quoted verses above. God is clearly describing a supernatural action that blesses one group of people, while at the same time the same action punishes a different group of people.

That becomes clearer if we look at the Exodus of the Jews when they were slaves in Egypt. The breath from God's nostrils parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites walked across the former seabed on dry ground. The Egyptian army followed, pursuing them. The waters closed over the Egyptians and destroyed them, their horses and chariots. One event. Very different outcomes, depending upon who you were.

God can operate on a scale that is so massive that it affects the entire earth, or all of humanity, yet at the same time Malachi tells us that He makes individual distinctions. In the Great Flood, Noah and his family experienced very different outcomes than the rest of the people on earth. That event was so catastrophic that God promised us that He would never repeat it. Those who have thrown that rainbow promise in His face will very likely experience God's view of human pride acting in disobedience to His will for their lives. Why would those living in obedience to God's will for their lives, as expressed at Creation, expect to be judged along with the transgressors?

Certainly, there are some reading this and saying to themselves, "Well, you know, that was the Old Testament. God doesn't do that anymore. We are in the New Testament." We should be careful about thinking that. In the natural world in which we live, we are subject to time, which we experience as death, decay and the end of our natural existence.

God, however, lives outside of time. He sees the end from the beginning. We experience time in the increments that He set up for us. We can be surprised by events we see or experience during our lives. God is never surprised, not by us, and not by the events that arise from our interactions during the time allotted to us. He is not simply a bigger and more powerful version of us. The miracle is that despite the vast differences between us, He seeks to cooperate with us in what he intends to do on this earth. This is only possible because Jesus redeemed for us, at great cost, what Adam and Eve forfeited in what must have been the worst trading deal ever made in all of human history.

Right now we need to hang on, because God is about to make some adjustments to what evil people have been doing on this earth. Don't be surprised if He shows off just a bit, because He likes to surprise His Children in good ways. I don't know if He likes to surprise evil people in bad ways, but they probably have no idea what is just in front of them. Evil and arrogance seem frequent companions.

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!