“For I am the LORD, I do not change.” (Mal 3:6 NKJ)

Do you get it? The vineyard of God-of-the-Angel-Armies is the country of Israel. All the men and women of Judah are the garden he was so proud of. He looked for a crop of justice and saw them murdering each other. He looked for a harvest of righteousness and heard only the moans of victims. Doom to you who buy up all the houses and grab all the land for yourselves—Evicting the old owners, posting no trespassing signs, taking over the country, leaving everyone homeless and landless. I overheard God-of-the-Angel-Armies say: “Those mighty houses will end up empty. Those extravagant estates will be deserted. A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine, a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain.” (Isa 5:7-10. MSG)

If this truly is the Word of God, then we would all agree that the text in Malachi is a true statement. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

God was looking, is looking and will always be looking for justice and righteousness. The Isaiah text applies to the Isreali government’s dealings with the Palestinians as much as it applies to the bankers of Morgan Stanley and high-interest mortgages.  The day will come when the unjust will suffer the same penalty that they inflicted upon others—God changes not.