On The Day When I Act

Malachi 4:3
Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the LORD Almighty.

Good News Translation
On the day when I act, you will overcome the wicked, and they will be like dust under your feet.

Contemporary English Version
When I come to bring justice, you will trample those who are evil, as though they were ashes under your feet. I, the LORD All-Powerful, have spoken!

Amplified Bible
You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the LORD of hosts.

New Living Translation
On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

When we speak of injustice and terrible experiences we go through, all of us have been victims one way or the other. When we write about the wicked and the righteous, we are conscious that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. The message to the righteous that justice is coming is a message for each and every one of us. The message warning wicked people that they will be punished is a message for each and every one of us.

It is difficult to ignore the need to give hope to the suffering righteous and warn the wicked. This is the repeated message throughout the prophetic books. If the Bible repeats it we must repeat it too. The Bible always speaks in a manner that we feel personally addressed. If you don’t feel addressed in person by any Bible message, you need to be worried, the Holy Spirit could have deserted you and that means eternal doom. If you feel personally targeted by God’s word, praise Him for that means He loves you enough to send you a personal message.

The prophets were not better than the people they were ministering to yet they had to preach the message of righteousness. When the prophet warned the wicked he did not in any way feel or believe that he was better than them. The prophet delivered the message and also benefited from it. The prophet was a sick man who took medicine to fellow patients and shared in the medication. By bringing the medicine he did not feel or believe he was healthier than them.

In our text today, Malachi tells the people of Israel that the righteous will trample on the wicked. By this message, he warns the wicked in and outside Israel. By this same message, he gives hope to the righteous who are suffering. Malachi doesn’t claim to be better than fellow Israelites.

The message of Malachi is important because it addresses the silence of God. Has God ever seemed silent to you? Have you expected God to speak, move and act but He didn’t? Has God disappointed you, so to speak, in that He didn’t move when you expected Him to move?

Malachi tells us that God promises victory to all the righteous who are suffering. The victory and triumph are not daily. The victory and triumph are not instant. We may pray and wish that God vindicates us right here and right now, but it may not happen that way. Our text today tells us that there is a day when God will act. On the day when I act!

God sees. God hears. God is hurt as we are hurt. Sometimes He acts instantly. Many times He plans a day when He will act. On the day when I act!

God saw wickedness on earth. God sent Noah to preach. The people made fun of Noah. Noah was abused and harassed. Noah may have expected God to act instantly but He didn’t. For one hundred and twenty years Noah suffered but when the flood came it was God’s day of acting. On the day when I act!

Israelites suffered in Egypt. They prayed and fasted until it seemed there was no caring God who could help them out. Then God’s day of acting came and He saved them from Egypt. On the day when I act!

Mark 6:17
For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.
Mark 6:18
For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Mark 6:19
So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to,

Mark 6:27
So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison,

Herod arrested John the Baptist. John expected some divine action to vindicate him but none came. John even sent his disciples to find out if Jesus was aware of his imprisonment and if he was really the Messiah, Luke 7:18-19. Like it happens to many of us, there was no divine instant action. God seemed silent and even seemed uninterested. Herod killed John the Baptist. God did not act instantly. God seemed silent. The silence of God can put the faith of saints in jeopardy. The silence of God can embolden the wicked to believe they are right and untouchable.

Acts 12:23
Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

But many years later, God killed Herod. He was first eaten by worms, then he died. God made sure Herod’s death is clearly seen and known as divine punishment. Herod had accumulated many careless actions that killed John then Jesus, then James. The day for God to act came, and God did not disappoint the need for justice. On the day when I act!

What are you going through today? Does God seem silent? Are you wondering if there is any God out there who hears and answers prayers? Are you almost giving up on prayer and faith? This is your message. God says do not despair, I will fix everything, in the day when I act. Are you a perpetrator of evil? Did you once fear that God will act but He didn’t and now you feel empowered because you seem invincible? You no longer feel guilty when harming others and you even justify it? This is your message, God will punish you severely unless you repent, that punishment will come on the day when I act.

Save us from wickedness so that we will be safe on the day when You act. Make us humble enough to repent. Give us patience as we wait for the day when you will act in our favor, in Jesus’s name, Amen!

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