Soap

Doug Martens

Anyone who thinks that God does not have a sense of humour has not read the Bible and considered what he is reading! The book of Malachi was written in a time when the Israelite priests were overcome with the boring rituals of offering sacrifices to the Lord. The diseased and crippled animals they were offering were not being accepted by the Lord, and their prayers weren't being answered. Eventually the word of the Lord they were seeking came to them:

"Suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. "But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear Me" (Malachi 3:1,2,5).

Christians everywhere long for the day when our Lord and Saviour will return as He promised. Here's a question: Was the prophecy in Malachi 3 referring only to the first coming of Christ? (Certainly it was fulfilled in the way Jesus attacked the wickedness of the Pharisees and scribes.) Or is it possible that the second coming of Christ will be a bit similar to the first? We do know that "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). What God hated thousands of years ago, He hates today.

As Christians, our hope is in the return of the Lord. Could it be that few Christians will be able to endure His coming? Will He not be like "launderer's soap" or a "refiner's fire" to us? Could it be that He will be quick to testify against us for our actions, especially since we have seen the truth?

Doug Martens is a member of Main Centre (Sask.) MB Church, currently living with his family in southern Yukon.

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