The great and dreadful day of the Lord

The great and dreadful day of the Lord

Malachi 3:13~4:6

□ Praise and Sharing

Hymn 412 From the depths of my soul

Hymn 175 Jesus is the bridegroom

 

How was your last week?

 

My family's 28th wedding anniversary thanks and prayers

 

Decision to impeach the president in the National Assembly

 

If those who despise God's word and commit evil deeds receive immediate retribution, and those who fear God and live righteously prosper, then it will be clear how we should live. But in reality, it is not uncommon for the wicked to prosper and the righteous to suffer. In these circumstances, it is not easy to honestly walk the path of fairness and justice. Trust in God's righteous character, faith that awaits the day of perfect justice and peace that God has promised. That belief gives us the strength to endure the unjust and absurd reality.

 

□ Words and Sharing

1. When the day of the Lord comes, the righteous and the wicked will be clearly divided (verses 13-18).

1) What is the reality that those who oppose God have witnessed and what is the conclusion that follows from it? (14-15)

14 For you say, 'It is useless to serve God. What good is it that we have kept his commandments and walked mournfully before the LORD Almighty?' 15 But now we call the proud blessed; evildoers prosper, and those who tempt God escape.

 

They witness the reality that the proud are blessed and those who do evil prosper, and they say that serving God is in vain.

 

2) Who are the ones written in the book of remembrance before God? (v. 16)

 

16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem his name.

 

A book of remembrance was written before the LORD, those who feared him and those who honored his name.

 

3) What does God do on the day he has appointed? (verses 17-18)

17 “‘They will be mine own,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘on the day I make my own, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18 Then you will return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not serve him.

God will make them his own special possession on the day he makes his choice, and he will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then they will return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not serve Him.

 

<Sharing 1> Even in a reality where the wicked prosper, those who fear God and pursue a righteous life are the children of God and righteous people who will be acknowledged on the day of the Lord. Have you ever envied the wealth and honor enjoyed by those who do not serve God and who have strayed from the path of God’s Word? How can we live in fear of God in this absurd(unfair) reality?

 

We can live in fear of God, confident that the final judgment day will come when God will judge with fairness and justice.

 

2. ‘The great and terrible day of the Lord’ is the day when justice and peace will be established on this earth (4:1-6).

1) What will happen to the proud and the wicked when the day of Jehovah(LORD) comes (4:1)?

1 Thus says the LORD Almighty: 'Behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace. All the proud and all who do evil will be stubble. The day that is coming will burn them up, says the LORD Almighty, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

All the proud and all who do evil will be like stubble. The day that comes will burn them up, leaving them neither root nor branch.

2) What will happen to the righteous people who fear God on that day (4:2-3)?

 

2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out and skip about like calves released from the stall. 3 You will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I do this,’ declares the LORD Almighty.

 

The righteous who fear God will go out and leap like calves released from the stall, and they will trample down the wicked.

3) What will the prophet Elijah do before the day of the Lord comes? (4:4-6)

4 Remember the law of Moses my servant which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and ordinances. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

<Sharing 2> When the day of Jehovah comes, all the injustice and absurdity of the current situation where the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer will be reversed and return to their proper place. The faith of a saint is to hope for that day and endure today. What must we endure in hope of the end?

 

We must endure the unrighteous words and actions of the wicked and the persecution of the wicked with the hope of the end.

 

<Sharing 3> Jehovah’s Day is a time of reconciliation (peace) when fathers and children turn to each other. John the Baptist prepared this day, and it began with Jesus.

Let's talk about what we can do to invite those who still remain in discord(disharmony) into this peace.

 

Let us pray for the restoration of broken families and take on the role of peacemakers.

 

□ Let's pray together

May we endure today's injustice in the hope of the day when God will bring righteous judgment!

Please restore broken homes and help us fulfill our role as peacemakers!

 

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