Wed.’s Devo - Our Future Home

Read: Malachi 1:1-2:17; Revelation 21:1-27; Psalm 149:1-9; Proverbs 31:10-24 Malachi means “God’s messenger” and he probably lived during the days of Nehemiah (about 450 B.C.). God’s message through Malachi was that he loved them and had always loved them even though they had a hard time seeing how he loved them. He reminded them of Jacob and Esau. Jacob had earnestly wanted the birthright and the blessing and went after them and received them. Esau had despised his birthright and only wanted the blessing. God hated Esau and cursed his posterity. He blessed Jacob’s and they were the descendants that Malachi was speaking to. Edom was Esau’s inheritance and though it planned to rebuild, its foundation was wicked as Esau so God would not let that happen. God rebuked the priests of Israel who despised the name of God and offered defiled food on His altar. They offered blind, lame and sick animals that they didn’t want. If they didn’t stop, God was going to bring a curse on them. It would be passed on to their posterity and they would see their priests with poop on their faces, figuratively. He reminded them of the purpose of the Levite family. They were to bring the people life and peace by teaching them the Torah. In the beginning the Levites revered and honored God and his covenant and did what they were called to do. His job was to instruct the people in the knowledge of God. They were to lead people out of sin but the priests of Malachi’s day led the people into sin. God spoke to Judah and rebuked them for following the sins of Israel. They married women who worshipped idols, they made a big display of their offerings so others would see them, they were unfaithful to their first wives. God made them one with their wife and wanted godly children from their union so he wanted them to remain faithful to them. He told them that to put away their wives was to overwhelm he with cruelty. In the original text it is not “divorce” it is “the putting away” which are two different things. They were putting away their first wife with no provision or writ of divorcement. That entitled her to nothing and didn’t free her to remarry because there were no legal papers. That is why Jesus said that to put your wife away was to cause her to commit adultery. Moses clearly told them that if they want to leave their wives they had to do it legally and free her from the contract, then she could remarry. What they were doing was to leave her destitute and God hated it. In Revelation, John is shown the new heaven and a new earth. The new Jerusalem came out of heaven and was so beautiful it looked like a bride. It was the presence of God coming to live among his people in a physical, tangible way. God is the Beginning and the End and this was the new city for the people of God. The unrighteous who chose sin over righteousness and the beast over God would be thrown into the lake of fire. John was taken to see the bride. He was taken to a great, high mountain and showed the holy city of Jerusalem. It was full of the glory of God and sparkled like a crystal. The city wall was broad and high and had twelve gates that were guarded by twelve angels. The name of the twelve tribes were written on the gates - three on each side of the wall. On the twelve foundation stones were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel held a gold measuring stick to measure the city, it’s gates and its wall. It was a square with all of his measurements 12,000 stadia. That number meant that the exact number of Old Testament and New Testament believers were accounted for. The walls measured 144 cubits which stood for the people who sacrificed their lives for the building of God’s kingdom. The foundation stones were the stones that were in the priest’s ephod and stood for the tribes of Israel as well as the apostles of the church. The twelve gates were made of pearls and the main street was pure gold. The Lord and the Lamb were the temple and their light lit the whole city. All the nations would bring their glory and honor into the city and no evil would be allowed. Only those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life would be allowed in the city. Lord, we live to be the temple of the Holy Spirit here on earth and one day live in your holy city. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of your glory and our future.