“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD
listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for
those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.”
Malachi, which means ‘My Messenger,’ (Strongs 04401) was
sent to tell the priests and the people of their sins against God. He used a question and answer format to
reveal their habits of hypocrisy, infidelity, divorce, mixed marriages (Hebrew men
were divorcing the wife of their youth and marrying non-Hebrew women who
practiced idolatry), false worship and arrogance. God said to them “Your words have been harsh against Me.” (Malachi 3:13a) God then reminded the people of such words,
including: “It is useless to serve God;
what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as
mourners before the LORD of hosts?” (Malachi 3:14) For these people, worship
of the LORD and service to Him had become a burden.
In the midst of recounting the people’s complaints and
murmuring, God mentions the remnant of people who still feared the LORD and who
meditated on His name. Not only are they
mentioned here, but we are also told that God listened and heard them, and that
a book of remembrance was written about it.
Did you know that God keeps books?
We are wise to keep aware that God sees all, hears all and knows all. We are wiser still to keep aware that He
records all as well. As a retired CPA, I can only imagine the pure accuracy of God's bookkeeping. Let us consider a
few things God records.
Book of Tears:
Do you know that it pains God to see you hurt? He will never forget about your heartache as
He stores your tears in a bottle and records them in a book. “You
number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your
book?” (Psalm 56:8) God is ever so
aware of the sufferings of His children.
You are not alone.
Book of Plans:
Through the Holy Spirit, King David expresses his awe of God’s knowledge
of David before he was born, and knowledge of David’s future. “For
You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb…Your eyes saw my
substance, being yet unformed. And in
Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there
were none of them.” (Psalm 139:13
& 16) We also see an indication of
this in God’s letter (via Elasah) to the Hebrew captives in Babylon: “For I
know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and
not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Book of Works:
“Those who do not depend on Christ for their salvation will be judged
“according to their works.” Since all
have sinned, and the wages of sin is death, they will all receive the wages
they earned: the second death.” (Charles Stanley) “And I
saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the
Book of Life. And the dead were judged
according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and
Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to
his works. Then Death and Hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death.” (Revelation 20:12-14)
Book of Life:
Those who surrender to Jesus Christ and place their faith in Him for
eternal life are written in the Book of Life.
“And anyone not found written in
the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15) It is also referred to as the Lamb’s Book of
Life: “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes
an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of
Life.” (Revelation 21:27)
Book of Remembrance:
This is the book addressed in the opening scripture reference. Those who fear the LORD and meditate upon His
name are people who have God on their mind.
He is the essence of their being and therefore always on the tip of
their tongue. They seize any opportunity
to give God praise. He consumes their
thoughts and their thoughts are in awe of His work, of His creation, of His
mercy, of His love, of His power, of His provision, of His grace, and much
more.
How did they meditate on His name? A name meant so much back then, and it was
not just one name. God was given names
for how He manifested Himself for them. ‘Jehovah’
itself means “the existing one” (Strong’s 03068). “It also suggests "to become" or
specifically "to become known" - this denotes a God who reveals
Himself unceasingly.” (Blueletterbible.org)
Below is a sample of names of God with the first reference of use in the
Old Testament:
El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty, Genesis 17:1)
El Elyon (The Most High God, Genesis
14:18)
Adonai (Lord, Master, Genesis 15:2)
Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah, Genesis 2:4)
Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner,
Exodus 17:15)
Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd,
Genesis 48:15, of course also Psalm 23:1)
Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals,
Exodus 15:26)
Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There,
Ezekiel 48:35)
Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our
Righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6)
Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who
Sanctifies You, Exodus 31:13)
El Olam (The Everlasting God, Genesis
21:33)
Elohim (God, Judge, Creator, Genesis
1:1)
Qanna (Jealous, Exodus 20:5)
Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide,
Genesis 22:14)
Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace,
Judges 6:24)
Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts, 1
Samuel 1:3)
For every circumstance in our lives, there is an appropriate
name for God. That is what makes it so
easy to meditate upon His name. He is present in every situation.
In the book of Esther, we see from a human perspective how
the king used a book of chronicles to review the actions of his subjects. “That
night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the
records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found
written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s
eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. Then the king said, ‘What honor or dignity
has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?’ And the king’s servants who attended
him said, ‘Nothing has been done for him.’” (Esther 6:1-3) And what honor or dignity does God want to bestow upon those who
are written in the Book of Remembrance, for those who are in awe of Him,
meditate on His name and speak to each other about the great things God has
done? God claims them as His own gems,
and He will protect them from the “great
and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5). Of those written in the Book of Remembrance, “’They shall be Mine,’ says the LORD of
hosts [Jehovah Sabaoth], ‘on the day
that I make them My jewels. And I will
spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’” (Malachi 3:17)
First and foremost, it is of utmost importance that we all
surrender to Jesus Christ and believe on Him for our eternal salvation so that
our names would be found in the Book of Life.
But do you not also desire to delight the Lord with your words of praise
about Him, such that He takes pleasure in having it recorded in the Book of
Remembrance? I pray that we do not weary
our Great God by complaining and murmuring, but rather we delight Him with
public words of praise worthy of entry into God’s scrapbook of loving memories.
“Let them praise the
name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth
and heaven.” (Psalm 148:13)
May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
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