August 10, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them.’” (Malachi 4.1)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Last Sunday, I went to do some grocery shopping for my mother-in-law. I was delayed because of a huge rainstorm. There is just something about summer rain that feels and smells different than any other rain. This trip would require me to go to two different stores. As I drove to one and got out of my car, parked facing west, I heard a mother unloading groceries into her car say, “If you look real hard you will see two rainbows.” Her daughter said, “I don’t see it.” I looked to the east and there in the sky was a partial rainbow in vivid colors. Faint but visible was a second partial rainbow. It was amazing to see how many people just stopped in the parking to observe what is not uncommon. Yet, the sight of it still stops most people in their tracks. After not finding what I needed in one store, I returned to my car. To my amazement, the rainbow still hovered against the clouds. A little more of it was visible by this time. As I travelled to the second store, I watched as the direction I took allowed one end of the rainbow to appear as if it hovered at the end of the road. I took some pictures with my phone. Heading from one thoroughfare to another, the angle I was taking allowed me to see more of the rainbow as it filled the sky. It could almost be seen from end to end. In fact, the ends began to bend as they neared the horizon as if trying to form a circle. I stopped in a parking lot to video the sight because I could capture it all in one frame. Even in that parking lot, people were stopped with wonder at the beautiful sight. I went on to the grocery store watching the rainbow to my left. It never wavered. The second rainbow remained partial and faint. When I arrived at the second grocery store, it looked as if the rainbow was piercing the clouds. The clouds were not serving as a background. Now the two had become like one: clouds and rainbow. It was breathtaking.

It was also inspiring. As I took a few more pictures to capture the moment, a man walked by and commented, “It is quite something what God has done.” I replied, “It is remarkable. It is also a solemn reminder that the next judgment to come on earth will not be a flood but a flame.” The man responded, “Now you are preaching. God is good.” I answered, “All the time.” He spoke back, “All the time,” to which I answered, “God is good.” Mighty ones of God, we are living in those times when signs and wonders, awe inspiring and sometimes death provoking, are seemingly accumulating. There is no doubt that such a season has happened before in the course of time. Not one of us knows when the end will come. What we do know, and many want to deny, is that the end will come. We see floods, fire and earthquake. We hear of wars and rumors of wars. We see mountains rise up and mountains fall into the sea. We watch as the heavens are filled with the wonder of God. We wonder as the heavens reveal things unseen before to the human eye. We weary as the respect for life fades like that second rainbow. We are pierced to the heart by the violence and the compassion as Mary must have been when her own Son was pierced and wounded for our transgressions. While we do not know if this season will be the last before that “last Day,” we do know that “last Day” will come. When it does, it will come with a fury and a flame that will pierce every heart, mind, body and soul to the core of existence. The truth will burn within us and the reality of our lives will be compared to it.

What will happen after that? God says to Malachi and to those for whom Malachi’s prophecy was intended: “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire. Not a root or a branch will be left to them.” Some say it is a vision of nuclear warfare. The images from Hiroshima and Nagasaki should come to mind as we reflected upon those “days” eighty years ago. At ground zero, the flash of those explosions incinerated life and devastated buildings. In some places, it seems as if the shadow of some lives were etched into the walls to remain forever lost. And there may well be something like that happening when Christ shall appear in the clouds. Or it may be like on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of the Lord promised by Jesus and asked for by Christ of His Father came down and anointed the disciples with the power to stand against the world and the untruths of the enemy. The heart, mind and soul of every person was revealed. The truth of God became a power within each believer to do good and to be good. It worked to perfect them and temper them for the service which was to come. And for those who refuse and deny the Holy Spirit? We know from Jesus that this is the unforgiveable sin. The protection of life which God gives to every person is cast off by those who deny the work of the Holy Spirit. They will be consumed by their own choice and burn with a passion for death instead of life. How can they be saved when they do not believe in the only salvation which can protect the body and soul from the presence of Hell? And sadly, as Malachi proclaimed, “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.” Mighty ones, this may be a literal statement, but it is also a figurative statement. The mention of “root or branch” speaks of generations of the past and the future. On “that Day” members of families and families themselves will be consumed, incinerated and devasted. They will be as enduring reminders of a death that shall not end. They will not be shadows left etched in the walls of our lives. They will be wounded souls forever captured in the burning halls of Hell. All because they thought of themselves more highly than they should and so little of God’s promise to love, honor and cherish.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.