This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 11: A Book of Remembrance: Malachi 3:16.

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In the previous post, we began to examine Malachi’s reference to “a book of remembrance.” We complete our study of Malachi 3:16 in this post.

At that time those who feared the LORD spoke to one another. The LORD took notice and listened. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who feared the LORD and had high regard for his name. “They will be mine,” says the LORD of Armies, “my own possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him (Mal. 3:16-18).

Attitude

Thankfully, there’s a second group of Israelites: those who truly repent, respond with reverent fear of the Lord, and highly regard his name. The primary difference between the first and second groups – the wicked and the righteous – is attitude. The wicked demand that God compensate them for their religious obligations. But the righteous understand that no external act merits God’s favor. Rather, the heart must first be tamed, and the will must be surrendered to divine commands. 

Malachi describes the righteous as those who “feared the LORD” (3:16). Three main Hebrew words are translated “fear.” First, there’s pachad, which means “to dread or fear.” Isaiah describes sinners in Zion as “afraid; trembling seizes the ungodly” (Isa. 33:14). 

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