You Might Be Arguing With God and Not Know it

In the Old Testament book of Malachi, we read how the Israelites were arguing with God. Either they didn’t recognize it as arguing or they were just obstinate. Any of us–all of us–have been in both categories. With God and with other people.

That topic is at the root of what goes on in Malachi 3. Here’s a devotion selection from our book, God’s Intriguing Questions: 40 Old Testament Devotions Revealing God’s Nature. God’s question was “Will man rob God?” (Malachi 3:8).

In our daily lives this can apply in many ways. Do you have a child who whines? A friend who argues? A spouse who counters everything you say with something he thinks is better?

Those responses might be some of the strongest obstacles to good communication. They also block an intimate, trusting relationship. In your relationship with such a person, maybe you’ve consistently shown your love but they still argue and distrust your love.

That’s what is happening here in Malachi between God and his people, the Israelites. The book of Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament. After God speaks through Malachi, he will be silent for 400 years until Jesus arrives on the scene.

God is speaking through his prophet Malachi and says,

Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?” Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, “How have we robbed you?” In your tithes and contributions. (Malachi 3:7-8)

God has been trying to woo his people back to following him, but they are determined to argue and whine about everything.

Yet God consistently pursues them.

Here are some of their arguments found in Malachi 3:

• How shall we return? (vs 7)
• How have we robbed you? (vs 8)
• How have we spoken against you? (vs 13)

These are empty defenses with no true desire to seek God. God’s people aren’t looking for truth. They really don’t want to hear God’s answers because then they would have to admit they should change. They just want to argue so they can continue in their disobedience.

Yet God still pursues them because his nature never changes and he is always desiring for his human creation to see how much he loves them. In Malachi 3:6, he says, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob are not consumed.”

God is saying, “I’ve been seeking you all along because I haven’t changed my desire nor my plan. Even when I’ve given you consequences, my desire was to shock you out of your rebellion into obedience. And guess what. I’ve prepared the biggest shock waiting in the wings of the stage of time.”

In the beginning of Malachi 3, God lays out the plan: I’ll send my messenger (John the Baptist) who will prepare the way for the greatest appearance in history: my Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who is the ultimate example of my undying, never-changing love. I referred to the Savior and my plan all the way back in the Garden of Eden when I told the serpent he would someday be destroyed by the ‘offspring/Messiah Jesus’ (Genesis 3:14-16). Can you see my plan has never changed? If I changed, you would have been completely destroyed a very long time ago.

We can be secure and confident in our God who never changes or wavers from his plan. Jesus was predicted and God fulfills the prediction. God always keeps his promises.

• What does God’s unchanging nature mean to you?
• How have you argued with God and what do you want to do about it?

Mighty God, I praise you for your never-changing character which means your plans never change. Thank you for your unchanging love which gives me great security.

God’s Intriguing Questions: 40 Old Testament Devotions Revealing God’s Nature is available in print, Kindle, and audio.