Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Malachi 3:1

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mal 3:1 . God Himself takes up ( Mal 3:1-6) the challenge, “Where is the God?” &c.

my messenger ] They had been provided, in the priests, with a standing order of “messengers” of Jehovah (Mal 2:7). From time to time His special “messengers”, the prophets (Hag 1:13), had been sent to them. The last of such prophets, bearing as his only name, “Jehovah’s messenger”, was now exercising his office among them. But a yet more special “messenger” is to inaugurate that coming of Jehovah which they profess to desire. See Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27.

Prepare the way ] Comp. Isa 40:3; and for the nature of the preparation, “by preaching of repentance”, Mat 3:1-12.

the Lord ] “He who had before spoken of Himself in the first person (“I will send”), now speaks of Himself in the third person.” Maurer. For a similar change of person, which is not uncommon in Hebrew, see Mal 2:16 above. “We are sure He which spake those words was (Jehovah) the Lord of hosts; and we are as sure that Christ is that Lord before whose face John the Baptist prepared the way.” Pearson on the Creed. Article, Our Lord.

ye seek ye delight in ] A reference, not without irony, to the demand of Mal 3:17, “where is” &c.

his temple ] He, then, who comes is the Lord of the Temple. Hag 2:9.

even the messenger of the covenant ] The R.V., by printing “and” in the text instead of “even” (which however it retains in the margin), and also by the punctuation which it adopts, leaves room for the view that “the messenger of the covenant” is to be identified, not with “the Lord”, but with “the messenger” spoken of at the beginning of the verse, who is to “prepare the way” before Him: “And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts”. The weight of argument, however, seems clearly to preponderate in favour of identifying the “Messenger of the Covenant” with “the Lord”, who shall “suddenly come to His temple”. For thus the idea of the messenger, which pervades this prophecy (see Introd. pp. 13, 14) culminates (as do the Old Testament ideas of the prophet, the priest and the king) in the Messiah, who is in the highest sense the Messenger of God to man. The Angel, or Messenger, whose presence in the Church was recognised from the beginning (Act 7:38; Exo 23:20-21; Exo 32:34; Exo 33:2; Exo 33:14; Isa 63:9), follows up these “preludings of the Incarnation” by being “made flesh and dwelling amongst us”. The covenant, which was before the Law (Gal 3:17) and yet by virtue of its later introduction “a new covenant” (Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:7-13), He comes, in fulfilment of promise and prophecy (Isa 42:6; Isa 55:3), as its Messenger and Mediator (Heb 12:24), to inaugurate and ratify with His blood (Mat 26:28; Heb 13:20); while He vindicates His claim to be “the God of judgment” whom they desired, by the work of discriminating justice which He performs ( Mal 3:2-5).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

God answers their complaints of the absence of His judgments, that they would come, but would include those also who clamored for them. For no one who knew his own sinfulness would call for the judgment of God, as being himself, chief of sinners. Augustine pictures one saying to God, Take away the ungodly man, and that God answers, Which?

Behold, I send My messenger before My face, and he shall prepare My way before Me – they, then, were not prepared for His Coming, for whom they clamored. The messenger is the same whom Isaiah had foretold, whose words Malachi uses Isa 40:3 : The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straiqht in the desert a highway for our God. Luk 1:76. Thou, child, was the prophecy on John the Immersers birth, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His way, to give knowledge of salvation unto His people, for the remission of their sins. Repentance was to be the preparation for the kingdom of Christ, the Messiah, for whom they looked so impatiently.

He who speaks, is He who should come, God the Son. For it was before Him Who came and dwelt among us, that the way was to be prepared. He speaks here in His divine nature, as the Lord Who should send, and Who should Himself come in our flesh. In the Gospel, when He was come in the flesh, He speaks not of His own Person but of the Father, since indivisible are the operations of the Trinity, and what the One doth, the other Two do, since the Three are of one nature, power and operation. Whence Christ, in order to give no excuse to the Jews to speak against Him before the time, refers it, as He does His life Joh 6:57. His doctrine Joh 7:16 words Joh 3:11; Joh 5:43; Joh 8:38, Joh 8:40, Joh 8:47, Joh 8:55; Joh 12:49; Joh 14:10, Joh 14:24 and works Joh 4:34; Joh 5:19-20, Joh 5:26, Joh 5:30, Joh 5:36; Joh 6:38; Joh 8:28; Joh 9:4; Joh 10:25, Joh 10:32, Joh 10:37-38; Joh 14:10-11 to the Father.

Those works, which do not relate to that which b uniquely belongs to each Person, being common, are ascribed now to One Person, now to Another, in order to set forth the One Substance in the Trinity of Persons. Thus, John says Joh 12:41. Isaiah spoke of the unbelief of the Jews, when he saw the glory of God the Son and spake of Him, and Paul says Act 28:25. that the Holy Spirit spake then by him.

And he shall prepare the way before Me^o – The same is Gods way here, and Christs there, an evident proof that Christ is one God with the Father, and that, in Christ, God came and was manifest in the flesh. The prophets and all who turned men to righteousness, or who retained the knowledge of the truth or of righteousness or of God in the world, did, in their degree, prepare the way for Christ. But John was His immediate forerunner before His Face, the herald of His immediate approach; from where he is called the end of the law, and the beginning of the Gospel, the lamp before the Light, the voice before the Word, the mediator between the Old and the New Testament; the link of the law and of grace; a new morning star; a ray, before the true Sun should burst forth, the end of night, the beginning of day.

And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple – He, Whose Coming they sought for, was Almighty God, the God of Judgment. He who should come, was the Lord, again Almighty God, since, in usage too, none else is called the Lord, as none else can be. The temple also, to which He was to come, the temple of God, is His own. The messenger, or the Angel of the covenant, plainly, even from the parallelism, is the same as the Lord. It was one, for whom they looked; one, of whose absence they complained; Mal 2:17, where is the God of judgment? one, who should come to His temple , one whose coming they sought and prepared to have pleasure in; one, of whom it is repeated, lo, He cometh, one, in the day of whose coming, at whose appearing, it was asked, who shall stand? All Christian interpreters are agreed that this Lord is Christ Act 2:36, whom God hath made both Lord and Christ, and Act 10:36. Who is Lord over all; by whom all things were made, are sustained and governed; Who is (as the root of the word implies) the basis and foundation, not of any private family, tribe or kingdom, but of all; 1Co 8:6. by whom are all things and we by Him: and whose we are also by right of redemption; and so He is Rev 17:14; Rev 19:16. Lord of lords and King of kings, deservedly called the Lord. As then the special presence of God was often indicated in connection with the Angel of the Lord, so, here, He who was to come was entitled the Angel or messenger of the covenant, as God also calls Him the covenant itself.

Isa 42:6, I will give Thee for a covenant of the people, a light of the Gentiles. He it was Isa 63:9, the Angel of His presence, who saved His former people, in whom His Name was, and who, by the prerogative of God, would Exo 23:21, not pardon their transgressions. He should be Heb 12:24; Heb 8:6, the Mediator of the new and better covenant which is promised Jer 31:32-33; Heb 8:9, not according to the covenant, that I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, which My covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant, that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God and they shall be My people.

Whom ye seek, are seeking, whom ye delight in – , i. e., profess so to do; He will come, but will be very different from Him whom ye look for, an Avenger on your enemies. Judgment will come, but it will begin with yourselves.

Shall suddenly come – ^o unawares, when men should not think of them; whence perhaps it is that the Jews reckon the Messiah among what shall come unawares. As, it is here said of His first Coming, so it is said of His second Coming (which may be comprehended under this here spoken of) that except they diligently watch for it Luk 21:35, it shall come upon them unawares Mar 13:36. suddenly Mat 24:44. in such an hour as they think not. The Lord of glory always comes, like a thief in the night, to those who sleep in their sins.

Lo, He will come – : he insists again and calls their minds to that Coming, certain, swift, new, wonderful, on which all eyes should be set, but His coming would be a sifting-time.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mal 3:1-6

Behold, I will send My messenger.

Messiahs messenger

The coming of the Messiah was in the time of the worlds deepest wants. As in all instances of national degeneracy, two special causes bore their fruit in Malachis time.

1. Neglect of the Divine ordinances. No Divine law has ever been given that was not essential to human well-being. A neglect of the Divine standard is consequently a sin against ones self. There is not a Bible precept that is unreasonable, and therefore it is unreasonable to give no heed to what is written. In this respect the sufferings of Israel were self-imposed.

2. Decay of spiritual life. It is hardly possible to realise the depth of wickedness portrayed by the prophet.

The priests despised the name of Jehovah. The people had robbed God, and declared it a vain thing to serve Him. In a twofold way we observe the relation of such a lack of service to the national life. This sin resulted in the alienation of the hearts of the children from their parents. It is a mark of national decay when the children make light of their fathers, when they scoff at former virtues. Again, sin against God always carries with it wrong-doing against man. Love cannot be localised upon men while withheld from God. The man who cannot truly honour God will not truly honour man. Our deeds declare our religion. Well did the prophet ask, Who may abide the day of His coming? Who shall bear the tests of His judgment? The prophesied coming of Elijah referred to John the Baptist. There is something sublime in the rugged character that confronted a degenerate nation. He only who knows the Divine greatness and power can have courage to rebuke the self-conceit that resists God. The life of the Baptist interprets the two great lessons of the prophecy in our text calling for notice.

1. Our hope rests in the unchanging God. The idea of changeableness in the one trusted destroys all faith in its very essence. It is unhuman to love the being that to-morrow may turn against us. But for this Divine characteristic no sinner could stand in Gods sight. It was this truth against whose bright background Israels sin is of the deepest guilt.

2. The suicide of unbelief. God added no terrors to Israels sufferings in the fiery day. They had but to remember their words, His blood be on us, and on our children. Unbelief can stay the exercise of Divine mercy towards the individual, but it cannot keep back its own retribution. It can give blindness to the heart, but it cannot blot out the Divine judgment. Against the darkness of the prophets picture there is another, of brighter meaning. There is a healing power in the beams of the Sun of Righteousness. Light takes the place of darkness. The righteous shall not be as flowers to fade and to die, but rather, strong and a source of joy, like the herds that feed in richest pastures. Jehovah is that blazing sun of glory. Unbelief brings a sunset of terror, while righteousness is itself the sunrise of everlasting joy. (Sermons by Monday Club.)

The appearance of the Great Deliverer

The event announced is the appearance of that Great Deliverer who had for many ages been the hope of Israel, and was to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Concerning this desire of nations, Malachi here delivers no new prediction; but, by an earnest asseveration, uttered in the name and, as it were, in the person of the Deity, he means to confirm that general expectation which his predecessors had excited.

1. The characters under which the person is described whose coming is foretold. The Lord, or Proprietor. It denotes dominion. The Lord shall come to His temple. That is Jehovahs. Then the Christ whose coming Malachi announces is no other than the Jehovah of the Old Testament. From many texts it may be gathered that the promised Messiah is described by the more ancient prophets as no other than the everlasting God, the Jehovah of the Israelites. The Messenger of the covenant. Not the Mosaic. Another covenant is spoken of as the new and the everlasting covenant. Of this covenant, so clearly foretold, and so circumstantially described by the preceding prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Malachi thinks it unnecessary to introduce any particular description. The Messenger of the covenant is Jehovahs servant, for a message is a service; it implies a person sending, and a person sent; in the person who sendeth there must be authority to send,–submission to that authority in the person sent. But the servant of the Lord Jehovah is the Lord Jehovah Himself; not the same person with the sender, but bearing the same name because united in that mysterious nature and undivided substance which the name imports. The same person therefore is servant and Lord. Another character of the Messiah must be added. He is the Messenger whom they delight in But this expression here is ironical; the words express the very reverse of that which they seem to affirm. There is more or less of severity in this ironical language, by which it stands remarkably distinguished from the levity of ridicule, and is particularly adapted to the purposes of invective and rebuke. It denotes conscious superiority, sometimes indignation, in the person who employs it; it excites shame, confusion, and remorse in the person against whom it is employed,–in a third person, contempt and abhorrence of him who is the object of it. Irony is the keenest weapon of the orator.

2. The particulars of the business upon which the person announced is said to come. It is reducible to these–the final judgment, when the wicked shall be destroyed; a previous trial or experiment of the different tempers and dispositions of men, in order to that judgment; and something to be done for their amendment and improvement. The trial is signified under the image of an assayers separation of the nobler metals from the dross with which they are blended in the ore. The means used for the amendment and improvement of mankind, by the Messiahs atonement for our sins, by the preaching of the Gospel, and by the internal influences of the Holy Spirit,–all these means, employed under the Messiahs covenant, for the reformation of men, are expressed under the image of a fullers soap, which restores a soiled garment to its original purity. One particular effect of this purification is to be, that the sons of Levi will be purified. The worship of God shall be purged from all hypocrisy and superstition, and reduced to a few simple rules, the natural expressions of true devotion. And then shall this offering of Judah and Jerusalem (that is, of the true members of Gods true Church) be pleasant unto the Lord. All these prophecies were fulfilled, or will yet be fulfilled, in Jesus of Nazareth. (Bishop Horsley.)

Messiah and His forerunner

1. John the Baptist as a kind of connecting link between the law and the Gospel. He displayed much of the austerity of the prophets of old. He may be said to have taught that the law was about to be swept away as a covenant of works; there was not to be introduced any system but one of strict and self-denying morality As he preached a baptism of repentance, and not one of mere ceremonial purification, it became evident that the long twilight of figure and type was about to be succeeded by the clear day of spiritual and heart work religion. John occupied a most singular position: commissioned neither to enforce the law nor to proclaim the Gospel. He may be called a man of two worlds. He stood mysteriously between the law and the Gospel, being neither instructed to marshal the shadows nor privileged to exhibit the substance. And yet with all this John was not ignorant of the atoning sacrifice which Jesus was to offer. From the lips of John flowed the first announcement of an expiatory sacrifice. Behold the Lamb of God. But the preaching of the Gospel includes a vast deal more than the showing forth of the doctrine of the dying Redeemer. Upon this doctrine, as a foundation, rests every other; but the superstructure is not to be confounded with the foundation. Christ must be preached as a risen, a living, and a glorified Saviour. John was a messenger sent to prepare Christs way. But in every case the herald of an illustrious personage announces but part of the business on which that personage comes.

2. Notice the titles here given to Christ: the Lord (Adonai), and the Messenger of the covenant. There is much in the latter title which has to do with the offices of Christ. His special business was, enacting a fresh covenant between God and the human race. The only covenant God could make is one whereby He promises blessings and at the same time prescribes conditions. The whole drawing up of the covenant must be, so to speak, with God. God proposes it, and the only thing which man can have to do is merely to embrace it. (Henry Melvill, B. D.)

My messenger

I. The greatness of John the Baptist.

1. The angel said he should be great in the sight of the Lord (Luk 1:18). He was a prophet, and more than a prophet.

2. What is a prophet? A teacher? Yes, but one who is taught directly by God. He not only predicts the future, but he is the revealer of Gods will for the present.

3. John was more than a prophet. This is explained in three ways.

(1) He was prophesied of.

(2) He was more than a prophet in the richness of his illumination.

(3) Through his nearness to Christ–going before the face of the Lord.

4. The praise of Christ is the purest indication and guarantee of the excellence of His forerunner.

II. The greatness of His work.

1. He had to make ready the way of the Lord in souls, by preaching repentance.

2. The most remarkable part of his office was that of pointing out and bearing witness to the Light.

III. Lessons.

1. Observe how God uses human agency in the accomplishment of His purposes.

2. The preparation is the same in all approaches of the Lord.

3. The work of the Baptist reminds us of the importance of preparation before Holy Communion, when Christ comes hiddenly to us. (The Thinker.)

Christs coming

These words were spoken to the unbelieving priests of Malachis days, who professed that they could see no tokens of the presence of God among His people. The Lord describes–

I. The preparation for His coming. John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord–

1. By his singular birth.

2. By his awakening ministry.

3. By direct testimony. He saw and bare record that this was the Son of God.

II. The time of His coming. Suddenly, or immediately after the preparation of His way by the messenger. How remarkably did the facts agree with the prediction!

III. The dignity of His coming. No mere man could use such authoritative words. He shall prepare the way before Me.

IV. The special business of His coming. Messenger of the covenant. Equal with the Father, as touching His Godhead, Christ is at the same time inferior to the Father as touching His manhood, in order that He might become the Messenger of heaven to a lost world. He came to reveal and to fulfil His own part in a gracious covenant of redemption for guilty sinners.

V. The certainty of His coming. The unbelieving Jews doubted it; even the faithful were despondent; the prediction is therefore attested by a most solemn assurance, Behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. (J. Jowett, M. A.)

The Messenger of the covenant delighted in

This passage cannot speak of any intervention of the Deity, like that which the nation of Israel had often experienced; here was a prediction of the Messiah to come. His Divine nature is declared, and yet, when He is spoken of as the Messenger of the Almighty, we see Him as distinct from God in His human nature. He is the Lord who should come to His own temple; and He is the Messenger or Servant of the Lord of hosts. He is not the Messenger of the Mosaic covenant. That had long previously been established under Moses, as its mediator. Isaiah writes of another covenant, an everlasting covenant. The national covenant must pass to give way to a better. Of this new covenant, to receive the elect remnant of the Jews, and to gather around them all the elect people of the Gentiles–of this covenant it is here said, that the Messiah to come was to be the Messenger; He should establish the covenant; He should be its source; He should be its Mediator; He should be the very substance of the covenant. It was His blood formed that covenant; when He made an atonement for transgression He rendered it possible, because it became just and right that the Almighty should again enter into a covenant of peace with His rebellious creatures. Look at Christ under this character, the Messenger of the covenant,–Him who was sent of God to establish and confirm it. He, in order to bring His people into covenant with God, has been their substitute in suffering. He would also secure us every best blessing. He has become our wisdom, He has also become our sanctification. He is also our perfect example. He becomes an advocate for each of His offending people. And He is our High Priest, touched with the feeling of our infirmities. The prophet tells of the reception which the Saviour was to meet. Whom ye delight in. And good reason have we to delight in this Messenger of the covenant, if indeed we have tasted of His love. We may delight in what He has done, what He does, and what He will do for us. (Hon. and Rev. B. W. Nod, M. A.)

Englands ideal future, and our duty with regard to it

In these words Malachi proclaims to the Jews in Jerusalem the ideal future. Every nation lives in its past. It derives inspiration for noble and worthy conduct, from the memory of illustrious heroes whose names adorn its roll of fame. The Jew appealed to the magnificent episodes in the earlier history of His people, when God had signally and miraculously interposed on Israels behalf. And He drew from this historical source arguments for a renewed faith in God, for a purified religious and national life. But every nation in whom there still throbs the pulse of a vigorous life lives also in an ideal future. It believes in its individual destiny. That destiny may not be clearly defined. It does not need clear definition to exert its power in shaping the course of a nations history. The presence of a great idea is sufficient of itself to shed a guiding light upon a nations onward track. Israel possessed a great leading idea with respect to its future, that, namely, of the coming of a Messiah. The nation held this idea under different forms at different periods of its history. In the latest of the prophets, in Malachi, there is a departure from the traditional picture of the nations future. Malachi no longer speaks of the coming of an earth-born prince. He speaks of a heaven-born Messenger, who should carry into effect the covenant long established between Jehovah and His people. The Messenger of the covenant, who should sit as a Refiner and Purifier of silver, who should separate the evil from the good; who should, like a glorious sun new risen upon the world with healing in his beams, bring new life and invigoration to all earnest souls, to all who feared the name of God. The moment in the nations history which this verse brings before us is that when it is face to face with its apparently destined future, as that future is disclosed by the inspired voice of Malachi. The purpose for which the prophet draws his picture is, that he may rouse the conscience of the different classes of the people; and lead them to reconsider seriously, and in Gods sight, their national, religious, and domestic duties. He derives from his contemplation of the ideal future of his nation an incentive for present action. Let us draw from a contemplation of the near future of our own country a motive and stimulus for present guidance and action.

1. Contrast Malachis vision of the future of Israel with the ideal future of our own country. What is the mightiest force at present working in our national life? It is the progress of popular government, the rule of the country by the people of the country. The nineteenth century was the age of the growth of democratic institutions, of the spread of democratic ideas. This is the one grand force in our national life which contains within itself inexhaustible energies, the capacity for almost unlimited development. Nothing can successfully oppose its course. The tide of popular development will sweep forward. It is destined to attain vaster proportions. Shall we, as religious, God-fearing men, loving our country and humanity, caring for posterity, fail to recognise in this tendency of our age the summons of God to renewed earnestness, to intensified zeal? Shall we say that these vast political movements and issues have no voice for our conscience, no bearing on our Christian duty and Christian faith? The great Hebrew prophet Malachi rebukes us.

2. Look at our duty as Christian men, as Christian workers, in the light of the political destiny of our country. We should–

(1) Accept it fearlessly, and with full faith in God.

(2) Let the Christian Church determine that the movement shall be under the direction of Christian men.

(3) The necessity of promoting education and enlightenment becomes ever more clear.

(4) A new impetus is given to the preacher of the Gospel by the contemplation of this magnificent future of our country. (A. J. Griffith.)

Did Jesus come again

What manner of personage would He be did He condescend to appear among us? Should we know Him merely by His bearing and character? We must believe that, as in Judea of old, Christ would meet men with all consideration and courtesy. All, or almost all, the good manners which we have among us–courtesies, refinements, self-restraint, mutual respect–we owe to Christ, to the influence of His example, and to that Bible which testifies of Him. Conceive–but which of us can conceive?–His perfect tenderness, patience, sympathy, graciousness, and grace, combined with perfect strength, stateliness, even awful ness, when awe was needed. He alone, of all personages of whom history tells us, solved in His own words and deeds the most difficult paradox of human character,–to be at once utterly conscious and utterly unconscious of self; to combine with perfect self-sacrifice a perfect self-assertion. He condescended, in His teaching of old, to the level of Jewish knowledge at that time. We may therefore believe that He would condescend to the level of our modern knowledge; and what would that involve? It would leave Him, however, far less than Himself, at least Master of all that the human race has thought or discovered in the last eighteen hundred years. He might speak as never yet man spoke on English soil, might speak with an authority, originality, earnestness, as well as eloquence which might exercise a fascination, purifying though painful as a refiners fire; a fascination equally attractive to those who wished to do right, and intolerable to those who wished to do wrong. But how long would His influence last? As before, there might come a day when His hearers and admirers would become fewer through bigotry, envy, fickleness, cowardice, etc. And so the world, the religious world as well as the rest, might let Him go His way, and vanish from the eyes and minds of men, leaving behind little more than a regret that one so gifted and so fascinating should have proved–so unsafe and so unsound a teacher. (Canon Charles Kingsley.)

The Lord coming to His temple

Here before us is a twofold prediction. We have a forerunner of Christ announced in it, and then Christ Himself.

I. A forerunner of Christ.

1. His mission from God. Behold I will send My Messenger–there is his Divine mission. Reference is to John the Baptist. Observe the honour it puts upon him. It not only describes him as in the mind of God before his appearance, and as specially appointed by God to his office, but it makes him, like his great Master Himself, the subject of prophecy, and an object of expectation for ages to the Church. It was no personal pre-eminence that so peculiarly distinguished this man. It was this–he was nearer to Christ; he testified more plainly and fully of Him.

2. The work this forerunner was sent to perform. He shall prepare the way before Me. Jehu came, sustaining the character and doing the work of the herald of Christ. The preaching of the Baptist should not only lead men to expect the Messiah, but should prepare their hearts to receive Him. What was it that first led some of you to seek Christ and welcome Him? Was it not a consciousness of sin, a sense of Gods anger, a dread of merited destruction? Now examine Johns preaching, and you will find it calculated to produce just these effects.

II. A prediction of Christ.

1. The names applied to Christ. He is the Lord. He comes to His temple. Thus the Holy Spirit asserts the Redeemers Godhead. Another name is applied to Christ, a lowly one the Messenger of the covenant. He sustains in relation to the covenant a similar character to that which John sustained towards Himself. He is Gods servant, sent into our world on an errand connected with Gods covenant of grace. The covenant is the term applied by Jehovah to the promises He has given His people to bless and save them. It shows them the stability of these promises, and the fixed purpose of God to perform them. And Christ is called the Messenger of this covenant, because He it is who makes it known. He, in His human nature, is the instrument employed by Jehovah in carrying it into effect. Observe the happy blending together in these two names of the Redeemers greatness and lowliness–the Lord of hosts, and yet a servant.

2. The appearing of Christ in our world. Mark the place–His temple. Mark the predicted manner of His appearing–suddenly. Mark the certainty of His advent–He shall come. Put three questions.

(1) What reception have you given to this heaven descended Saviour?

(2) With what feelings and expectations do you come up to this house of the Lord?

(3) How stand you prepared for the future coming of the Lord? (C. Bradley, M. A.)

The advent of Christ

In the days of Malachi there were many who, as the prophet says, even wearied the Lord with their words. They said that God delighted in the wicked as much as in the good, and denied that He would ever put any difference between them. Where, said they, is the God of judgment? Notice–

I. What the prophet says respecting our Lords advent. Jesus is here described under the most august titles. He is the Lord, the supreme Ruler and Governor of heaven and earth. Yet, notwithstanding His equality with the Father as God, He assumes the form of a servant, and comes as the Messenger of the covenant. In this office He was an object of desire and delight long before He came into the world. He was the Desire of all nations. The circumstances of His advent were minutely foretold.

1. He was to be preceded by a herald or messenger. This messenger was John. The conduct of the Baptist excited universal attention, and very general admiration.

2. The temple was the place to which especially He was to come.

3. His advent, though so long predicted, was to be sudden. The manner of His appearance was so contrary to the worldly notions entertained respecting Him that He was overlooked and even rejected as an impostor.

II. The effects which the prophet describes as attending the advent of the Saviour.

1. As the characters of those to whom He was to come were very various, so His advent was to prove discriminating. To discover the hidden dispositions of the heart was one intent of our Lords coming. This effect still follows from the preaching of the Gospel. Men, though unconscious of it them selves, are led to manifest their real characters, either as careless Pharisees or atheistical scoffers or humble believers.

2. As a consequence of this discriminating effect of our Saviours advent it will also prove destructive. A refiners fire will consume the dross, and fullers soap will purge the filth of that to which it is applied. So will our Lord eventually destroy many of those to whom He comes. Their sins are aggravated by His coming.

3. There are many whom the advent of Christ will have the effect of purifying. How comfortable it should be for those who are enduring trials of affliction below, to know that while they are in the furnace the Refiner Himself sitteth over them, watching the process with all due solicitude, and taking care that they shall lose nothing but their dross. Two questions.

(1) What reception have you given to Christ since His first coming?

(2) What preparation have you made for His future advent? (G. Preston.)

The coming of Messiah

I. HIS FORERUNNER. John was to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, and accordingly he aroused their attention, he removed their prejudices, he awakened their consciences., he announced the nearness of Messiahs approach, proclaimed the nature of His reign, convinced them of sin, and showed them that they stood in need of a much greater salvation than deliverance from the Roman yoke.

II. His character. He is described in three ways.

1. By His person–the Lord. The word used is Adonai, a name for God, but not an incommunicable one like the name of Jehovah; for we find it sometimes applied to kings and superiors, It properly signifies authority and dominion. How fully does this apply to Him. He must have had a previous claim to dominion before He acquired this by obedience and suffering unto death.

2. By His office. The Messenger of the covenant. Of the covenant of grace. He is the Mediator, and the Surety, and the Messenger of this covenant, because He was not only to procure its blessings, but to bestow them. Messenger of the covenant is His inferior title. It shows His infinite condescension and grace. His people will never suffer His glory to be injured by His goodness.

3. By the estimation in which He was holden. Whom ye delight in. This will apply even to the carnal Jews, who did look for a Messiah. Much more does it apply to spiritual Jews.; He was desired and delighted in by all the people of God from the beginning.

III. His advent. Suddenly come to His temple. He was now to come incarnate–clothed in a body like our own. Two things are mentioned with regard to His advent: the one regards the manner in which He was to come. Suddenly; which may mean both soon and unawares. The other regards the place to which He was to come, His temple, Fulfilled by His presentation in the temple, and subsequent visits to it, and teaching in it.

IV. The awfulness of his coming. Who may abide? Observe the awfulness–

1. In the occasional emanations and displays of His majesty.

2. In His detection of characters.

3. In the calamities which were to renew the rejection of Him.

V. The operations of his grace. Like a refiners fire, etc. The fullers soap takes stains out without destroying the texture of the cloth, and gives it clearness and freshness of appearance: and the refiners fire severs the dross from the ore, and instead of injuring it, prepares it for circulation or use, and makes it shine. Thus the Lord does with all the subjects of Divine grace. The incarnation of our Saviour regards two classes of men. To the one it is injurious, and to the other beneficial. (William Jay.)

The Lords coming to His temple

Taking John the Baptist as only the precursor of the Lord Jesus, let us look at what is here predicated of Him.

1. It is declared, He shall suddenly come to His temple. His temple implies that He was Lord of the temple. The Jewish people anxiously looked forward to His coming, but greatly mistook its object. They little thought what a searcher of heart and correcter of wrong He would be.

2. Notice how He acted in respect to His temple when He came.

(1) One of His early acts was to cast out them that bought and sold there.

(2) Observe His righteous indignation against evil wherever He met with it.

(3) This was the proximate cause, no doubt, why the Jews put Him to death.

3. Notice the result of His coming as respects others.

(1) It would subject mens characters to a severe trial. Fire separates between the gold and the dross: and the fullers soap fetches the spots out of the stained cloth. How would this be done? By the preaching of the Word. By His dealings with His people. (Stephen Jenner, M. A.)

Purifying through the Lords coming

I. Through his first coming. The prophet Malachi announces the Saviour as one who on His appearing will set on foot a great purifying among the people of Israel. Christs forerunner, John the Baptist, of whom our text speaks, alluded to this. With the greatest earnestness he insisted on purification of heart. The forgiveness of sins, through faith in Christ, is the great purification, through which we are presented pure and holy before God. Thus has Christ laid in Himself a foundation for the purifying and sanctifying of our entire race.

II. Through His daily, invisible coming the Lord exercises His purifying office for our salvation. What Christ did in person at His first coming in the flesh He does now by His Holy Spirit. Even the gold that has been purified needs a continuous purifying. The stain of earthliness still clings too readily even to the pure heart, the flesh always lusts against the spirit; and sin, so long as we tarry in the body, is a foe always cleaving to and burdening us. Therefore does the Lord come even to believing souls with many a crucible of affliction, in which He again and again cleanses the gold from dross, that it may be fitted for His temple. But He often exercises His purifying office inwardly by a gracious coming to our hearts. He then comes with a specially blessed sense of His love, by which we are made ashamed and dissolve in love, such fire of love removing impurity.

III. At His second coming in glory the lord will destroy all anti-Christian ways, and all human pride that raises itself against Him. The day of His first coming the people might, well abide. He had veiled His glory under our weak flesh, Who would not rather in the day of grace be purified by the inner fire of Christs and the Spirits love and grace? To-day is the season of grace, to-morrow perhaps not. (S. C. Kapff.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER III

In allusion to the custom of sending pioneers to prepare the

way for the march of an eastern monarch, the coming of

Christ’s forerunner is described, and then the coming of

Christ himself, 1;

with the terrible judgments which were to accompany that event,

in order to refine and purify his people and his priests, 2-6.

The following verses reprehend them for withholding the legal

tithes and offerings, with large promises in case of their

repentance and amendments, 7-12.

The prophet expostulates with the people for their hard and

profane speeches against the conduct of Providence, and

declares God will one day make a fearful and final distinction

between the righteous and the wicked, whose different

characters are in the mean time carefully recorded, 13-18.

NOTES ON CHAP. III

Verse 1. Behold, I will send my messenger] Malachi, the very name of the prophet. But this speaks of John the Baptist. I, the Messiah, the Seed of God, mentioned above, will send my messenger, John the Baptist.

He shall prepare the way] Be as a pioneer before me; a corrector of civil abuses, and a preacher of righteousness.

And the Lord, whom ye seek] The Messiah, whom ye expect, from the account given by the prophet Daniel, in his seventy weeks, Da 9:24.

Shall suddenly come to his temple] Shall soon be presented before the Lord in his temple; cleanse it from its defilement, and fill it with his teaching and his glory.

The Messenger of the covenant] He that comes to fulfil the great design, in reference to the covenant made with Abram, that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. See the parallel texts in the margin, and the notes on them.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The former chapter, as we have it cast, ended with an inquiry made by vicious and ungodly priests and people, who either doubted or denied the present government. or future judgment of God over the world. This being reproved ill the last verse of the second chapter, now God condescends to give a very full and particular answer to this question, for the instruction and consolation of the good, whatever use the evil will make of it.

Behold: this note in this place, and on this occasion, requires our best attention; consider it well, therefore, all ye that inquire with doubt, and all ye that inquire who belief, that he will come, who is God of judgment.

I will send; or, I am sending, I will shortly send: it is Christ who here speaketh, and who sendeth.

My messenger; John Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, as evidently appears from Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27,28. He is this messenger, whom some by mistake have taken to be an angel; but though the word so signifieth, it doth also signify a messenger, and so it is very fifty rendered in this place: see Mal 1:1.

He shall prepare the way before me, by preaching repentance because the kingdom of heaven was at hand, by baptizing, by calling them to believe on the Messiah, who should now ere long be revealed, &c.: so John Baptist made ready the people to entertain Christ, and to believe in him. This was he who came in the spirit and power of Elias, and such a one the Jews expected.

The Lord; Messiah, who is Lord and Christ, Act 2:36; Lord of lords, Rev 17:14; 19:16.

Whom ye seek; you ungodly disputers seek, but not aright, for you seek, i.e. inquire whether there be such a God of judgment. Beside these, there are others also, who did seek, i.e. humbly, longing and praying that he would come, and waiting, assured that he will come: it is these chiefly intended.

Shall suddenly come, after the coming of his forerunner: this suddenly in the text is not very fitly interpreted of a time so long as between this prophecy and the coming of Christ, but it very well suiteth to the time between John Baptists appearing to prepare the way, and Christs appearing now the way was prepared.

To his temple; that temple which was the second temple at Jerusalem, lately built by Zerubbabel and Joshua, into which the Messiah was to come; and so he did. There old Simeon met him, there he disputed with the doctors, thither he went to drive out buyers and sellers, and this according to what was foretold of him, Hag 2:7; and all the religious Jews, who lived and died before the desolation of this second temple, did believe, and did confess, that the Messiah would come whilst that house did stand. He is then come, for that temple hath been ruined long since by the Romans.

The messenger of the covenant; the Angel of the covenant, not Elias, but Christ, the Messiah, in whose blood the covenant of grace was confirmed, for whose sake it is performed to us.

Whom ye delight in; you Jews, among whom few there are who do not please themselves to think of his coming, for the expectation of the best among the Jews was fixed on salvation, as that they hoped for by Christ. Others expected great but worldly advantage by his coming and setting up his kingdom among them.

Behold; behold again, saith the prophet, consider thoroughly what is foretold.

He shall come, at the time, to the place, in the manner foreshowed.

Saith the Lord of hosts; all confirmed by the word of the great God.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. BeholdCalling especialattention to the momentous truths which follow. Ye unbelievingly ask,Where is the God of judgment (Mal2:7)? “Behold,” therefore, “I send,” c. Yourunbelief will not prevent My keeping My covenant, and bringing topass in due time that which ye say will never be fulfilled.

I will send. . . he shall come The Father sendsthe Son: the Son comes. Proving the distinctness ofpersonality between the Father and the Son.

my messengerJohn theBaptist as Mat 3:3; Mat 11:10;Mar 1:2; Mar 1:3;Luk 1:76; Luk 3:4;Luk 7:26; Luk 7:27;Joh 1:23, prove. This passage ofMalachi evidently rests on that of Isaiah his predecessor (Isa40:3-5). Perhaps also, as HENGSTENBERGthinks, “messenger” includes the long line of prophetsheaded by Elijah (whence his name is put in Mal4:5 as a representative name), and terminating in John, the lastand greatest of the prophets (Mt11:9-11). John as the representative prophet (the forerunner ofMessiah the representative God-man) gathered in himself all thescattered lineaments of previous prophecy (hence Christ terms him”much more than a prophet,” Lu7:26), reproducing all its awful and yet inspiriting utterances:his coarse garb, like that of the old prophets, being a visibleexhortation to repentance; the wilderness in which he preachedsymbolizing the lifeless, barren state of the Jews at that time,politically and spiritually; his topics sin, repentance, andsalvation, presenting for the last time the condensed epitome of allprevious teachings of God by His prophets; so that he is calledpre-eminently God’s “messenger.” Hence the oldest and truereading of Mr 1:2 is, “asit is written in Isaiah the prophet”; the difficulty ofwhich is, How can the prophecy of Malachi be referred to Isaiah? Theexplanation is: the passage in Malachi rests on that in Isa40:3, and therefore the original source of the prophecy isreferred to in order to mark this dependency and connection.

the LordHa-Adonin Hebrew. The article marks that it is JEHOVAH(Exo 23:17; Exo 34:23;compare Jos 3:11; Jos 3:13).Compare Da 9:17, where theDivine Son is meant by “for THELord’s sake.” God the speaker makes “the Lord,”the “messenger of the covenant,” one with Himself. “Iwill send . . . before Me,” adding, “THELORD . . . shall . . .come”; so that “the Lord” must be one with the”Me,” that is, He must be GOD,”before” whom John was sent. As the divinity of theSon and His oneness with the Father are thus proved, so thedistinctness of personality is proved by “I send” and He”shall come,” as distinguished from one another. He alsocomes to the temple as “His temple”: marking His divinelordship over it, as contrasted with all creatures, who arebut “servants in” it (Hag 2:7;Heb 3:2; Heb 3:5;Heb 3:6).

whom ye seek . . . whom yedelight in(see on Mal 2:17).At His first coming they “sought” and “delighted in”the hope of a temporal Saviour: not in what He then was. Inthe case of those whom Malachi in his time addresses, “whom yeseek . . . delight in,” is ironical. They unbelievingly asked,When will He come at last? Mal2:17, “Where is the God of judgment” (Isa 5:19;Amo 5:18; 2Pe 3:3;2Pe 3:4)? In the case of thegodly, the desire for Messiah was sincere (Luk 2:25;Luk 2:28). He is called “Angelof God’s presence” (Isa 63:9),also Angel of Jehovah. Compare His appearances to Abraham (Gen 18:1;Gen 18:2; Gen 18:17;Gen 18:33), to Jacob (Gen 31:11;Gen 48:15; Gen 48:16),to Moses in the bush (Ex3:2-6); He went before Israel as the Shekinah (Ex14:19), and delivered the law at Sinai (Ac7:38).

suddenlyThis epithetmarks the second coming, rather than the first; the earnest of thatunexpected coming (Luk 12:38-46;Rev 16:15) to judgment was givenin the judicial expulsion of the money-changing profaners from thetemple by Messiah (Mat 21:12;Mat 21:13), where also as here Hecalls the temple His temple. Also in the destruction ofJerusalem, most unexpected by the Jews, who to the last deceivedthemselves with the expectation that Messiah would suddenly appear asa temporal Saviour. Compare the use of “suddenly” in Nu12:4-10, where He appeared in wrath.

messenger of thecovenantnamely, of the ancient covenant with Israel (Isa63:9) and Abraham, in which the promise to the Gentiles isultimately included (Gal 4:16;Gal 4:17). The gospel at thefirst advent began with Israel, then embraced the Gentile world: soalso it shall be at the second advent. All the manifestations of Godin the Old Testament, the Shekinah and human appearances, were madein the person of the Divine Son (Exo 23:20;Exo 23:21; Heb 11:26;Heb 12:26). He was the messengerof the old covenant, as well as of the new.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Behold, I will send my messenger,…. These are the words of Christ, in answer to the question put in the last verse of the preceding chapter Mal 2:17, “Where [is] the God of judgment?” intimating that he would quickly appear, and previous to his coming send his messenger or angel; not the angel of death to destroy the wicked, as Jarchi thinks; nor an angel from heaven, as Kimchi; nor Messiah the son of Joseph; as Aben Ezra; nor the Prophet Malachi himself, as Abarbinel; but the same that is called Elijah the prophet, Mal 4:5 and is no other than John the Baptist, as is clear from Mt 11:10 called a “messenger” or “angel”, not by nature, but by office; and Christ’s messenger, because sent by him and on his errand; and which shows the power and authority of Christ in sending forth ministers; his superior excellency to John, and his existence before him, or he could not be sent by him, and so before his incarnation; for John was sent by him before he was in the flesh, and consequently this is a proof of the proper deity of Christ: and the word “behold” is prefixed to this, in order to raise the attention of those that put the above question, and all others; as well as to show that the message John was sent upon was of the greatest moment and importance; as that the Messiah was just ready to appear, his kingdom was at hand, and the Jews ought to believe in him; though it also respects the coming of the Messiah, spoken of in the latter part of the text:

and he shall prepare the way before me; by declaring to the Jews that he was born, and was in the midst of them; by pointing him out unto them; by preaching the doctrine of repentance, and exhorting them to believe in him; and by administering the ordinance of baptism in general to all proper subjects, and in particular to Christ, by which he was made manifest to Israel; [See comments on Mr 1:2] the allusion is to kings and great men sending persons before them when on a journey, to give notice of their coming, and provide for them:

and the Lord, whom ye seek; this is the person himself speaking, the Son of God, and promised Messiah, the Lord of all men, and particularly of his church and people, in right of marriage, by virtue of redemption, and by being their Head and King; so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it of him, and even Abarbinel q himself; the Messiah that had been so long spoken of and so much expected, and whom the Jews sought after, either in a scoffing manner, expressed in the above question, or rather seriously; some as a temporal deliverer, to free them from the Roman yoke, and bring them into a state of liberty, prosperity, and grandeur; and others as a spiritual Saviour, to deliver from sin, law, hell, and death, and save them with an everlasting salvation:

shall suddenly come to his temple; meaning not his human nature, nor his church, sometimes so called; but the material temple at Jerusalem, the second temple, called “his”, because devoted to his service and worship, which proves him to be God, and because of his frequency in it; here he was brought and presented by his parents at the proper time, for the purification of his mother; here he was at twelve years of age disputing with the doctors; and here Simeon, Anna, and others, were waiting for him, Lu 2:22 and we often read of his being here, and of his using his authority in it as the Lord and proprietor of it; and of the Hosannas given him here,

Mt 21:12 the manner in which he should come, “suddenly”, may refer to the manifestation of it, quickly after John the Baptist had prepared his way by his doctrine and baptism:

even the messenger of the covenant; not of the covenant of works with Adam, of which there was no mediator and messenger; nor of the covenant of circumcision, at which, according to the Jews, Elias presides; nor of the covenant at Sinai, of which Moses was the mediator; but of the covenant of grace, of which Christ is not only the Surety and Mediator; but, as here, “the Messenger”; because it is revealed, made known, and exhibited in a more glorious manner by him under the Gospel dispensation, through the ministration of the word and ordinances. De Dieu observes, that the word in the Ethiopic language signifies a prince as well as a messenger, and so may be rendered, “the Prince of the covenant”, which is a way of speaking used in Da 11:22:

whom ye delight in; either carnally, as they pleased themselves with the thoughts of a temporal prince, and of great honour and grandeur under him; and as they would have done, had he submitted to have been made a king by them in this sense; or rather spiritually, and so is to be understood of such who had a spiritual knowledge of him, and joy in him; who rejoiced and delighted in the contemplation of his person, offices, righteousness, and salvation:

he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts; this expresses the certainty of his coming, being said by himself, who is the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies in heaven and in earth, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. This passage is, in some Jewish writers r, interpreted of the world to come, or times of the Messiah.

q Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 76. 4. r Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 16. fol. 219. 4.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Coming of the Lord to judgment. Mal 3:1. “Behold, I send my messenger, that he may prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the angel of the covenant, whom ye desire; behold he comes, saith Jehovah of hosts.” To the question, Where is or remains the God of judgment? the Lord Himself replies that He will suddenly come to His temple, but that before His coming He will send a messenger to prepare the way for Him. The announcement of this messenger rests upon the prophecy in Isa 40:3., as the expression , which is borrowed from that passage, clearly shows. The person whose voice Isaiah heard calling to make the way of Jehovah in the desert, that the glory of the Lord might be revealed to all flesh, is here described as , whom Jehovah will send before Him, i.e., before His coming. This mal e akh is not a heavenly messenger, or spiritual being (Rashi, Kimchi), nor the angel of Jehovah , who is mentioned afterwards and called mal e akh habb e rth , but an earthly messenger of the Lord, and indeed the same who is called the prophet Elijah in Mal 4:5, and therefore not “an ideal person, viz., the whole choir of divine messengers, who are to prepare the way for the coming of salvation, and open the door for the future grace” (Hengst.), but a concrete personality – a messenger who was really sent to the nation in John the Baptist immediately before the coming of the Lord. The idea view is precluded not only by the historical fact, that not a single prophet arose in Israel during the whole period between Malachi and John, but also by the context of the passage before us, according to which the sending of the messenger was to take place immediately before the coming of the Lord to His temple. It is true that in Mal 2:7 the priest is also called a messenger of Jehovah; but the expression (behold I send) prevents our understanding the term mal e akh as referring to the priests, or even as including them, inasmuch as “sending” would not apply to the priests as the standing mediators between the Lord and His people. Moreover, it was because the priests did not fulfil their duty as the ordinary ambassadors of God that the Lord was about to send an extraordinary messenger. Preparing the way ( , an expression peculiar to Isaiah: compare Isa 40:3; also, Isa 57:14 and Isa 62:10), by clearing away the impediments lying in the road, denotes the removal of all that retards the coming of the Lord to His people, i.e., the taking away of enmity to God and of ungodliness by the preaching of repentance and the conversion of sinners. The announcement of this messenger therefore implied, that the nation in its existing moral condition was not yet prepared for the reception of the Lord, and therefore had no ground for murmuring at the delay of the manifestation of the divine glory, but ought rather to murmur at its own sin and estrangement from God. When the way shall have been prepared, the Lord will suddenly come. , not statim , immediately (Jerome), but unexpectedly. “This suddenness is repeated in all the acts and judgments of the Lord. The Lord of glory always comes as a thief in the night to those who sleep in their sins” (Schmieder). “The Lord” ( ha’adon ) is God; this is evident both from the fact that He comes to His temple, i.e., the temple of Jehovah, and also from the relative clause “whom ye seek,” which points back to the question, “Where is the God of judgment?” (Mal 2:17). The Lord comes to His temple ( hekhal , lit., palace) as the God-king of Israel, to dwell therein for ever (cf. Eze 43:7; Eze 37:26-27). And He comes as the angel of the covenant, for whom the people are longing. The identity of the angel of the covenant with the “Lord” ( ha’adon ) is placed beyond the reach of doubt by the parallelism of the clauses, and the notion is thereby refuted that the “covenant angel” is identical with the person previously mentioned as (Hitzig, Maurer, etc.). This identity does not indeed exclude a distinction of person; but it does exclude a difference between the two, or the opinion that the angel of the covenant is that mediator whom Isaiah had promised (Isa 42:6) as the antitype of Moses, and the mediator of a new, perfect, and eternally-enduring covenant relation between God and Israel (Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, i. p. 183). For it was not for a second Moses that the people were longing, or for a mediator of the new covenant, but for the coming of God to judgment. The coming of the Lord to His temple is represented as a coming of the covenant angel, with reference to the fact that Jehovah had in the olden time revealed His glory in His Mal e akh in a manner perceptible to the senses, and that in this mode of revelation He had not only redeemed Israel out of the hand of Egypt (Exo 3:6.), gone before the army of Israel (Exo 14:19), and led Israel through the desert to Canaan (Exo 23:20., Exo 33:14.), but had also filled the temple with His glory. The covenant, in relation to which the Mal e akh , who is of one essence with Jehovah, is here called the angel of the covenant, is not the new covenant promised in Jer 31:31., but the covenant of Jehovah with Israel, according to which Jehovah dwells in the midst of Israel, and manifests His gracious presence by blessing the righteous and punishing the ungodly (cf. Exo 25:8; Lev 25:11-12; Deu 4:24; Isa 33:14): (Koehler). The words “Behold he (the covenant angel) cometh” serve to confirm the assurance, and are still further strengthened by (saith Jehovah of hosts). This promise was fulfilled in the coming of Christ, in whom the angel of the covenant, the Logos, became flesh, and in the sending of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Him. (See also at Mal 4:6)

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Evangelical Predictions; The Advent of Christ Predicted.

B. C. 400.

      1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.   2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:   3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.   4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.   5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.   6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

      The first words of this chapter seem a direct answer to the profane atheistical demand of the scoffers of those days which closed the foregoing chapter: Where is the God of judgment? To which it is readily answered, “Here he is; he is just at the door; the long-expected Messiah is ready to appear; and he says, For judgment have I come into this world, for that judgment which you have so impudently bid defiance to.” One of the rabbin says that the meaning of this is, That God will raise up a righteous King, to set things in order, even the king Messiah. And the beginning of the gospel of Christ is expressly said to be the accomplishment of this promise, with which the Old Testament concludes, Mar 1:1; Mar 1:2. So that by this the two Testaments are, as it were, tacked together, and made to answer one another. Now here we have,

      I. A prophecy of the appearing of his forerunner John the Baptist, which the prophet Isaiah had foretold (ch. xl. 3), as the preparing of the way of the Lord, to which this seems to have a reference, for the words of the latter prophets confirmed those of the former: Behold, I will send my messenger, or I do send him, or I am sending him. “I am determined to send him; he will now shortly come, and will not come unsent, though to a careless generation he comes unsent for.” Observe, 1. He is God’s messenger; that is his office; he is Malachi (so the word is), the same with the name of this prophet; he is my angel, my ambassador. John Baptist had his commission from heaven, and not of men. All held John Baptist for a prophet, for he was God’s messenger, as the prophets were, and came on the same errand to the world that they were sent upon–to call men to repentance and reformation. 2. He is Christ’s harbinger: He shall prepare the way before me, by calling men to those duties which qualify them to receive the comforts of the Messiah and his coming, and by taking them off from a confidence in their relation to Abraham as their father (which, they thought, would serve their turn without a saviour), and by giving notice that the Messiah was now at hand, and so raising men’s expectations of him, and making them readily to go into the measures he would take for the setting up of his kingdom in the world. Note, God observes a method in his work, and, before he comes, takes care to have his way prepared. This is like the giving of a sign. The church was told, long before, that the Messiah would come; and here it is added that, a little before he appears, there shall be a signal given; a great prophet shall arise, that shall give notice of his approach, and call to the everlasting gates and doors to lift up their heads and give him admission. The accomplishment of this is a proof that Jesus is the Christ, is he that should come, and we are to look for no other; for there was such a messenger sent before him, who made ready a people prepared for the Lord, Luke i. 17. The Jewish writers run into gross absurdities to evade the conviction of this evidence; some of them say that this messenger is the angel of death, who shall take the wicked out of this life, to be sent into hell torments; others of them say that it is Messiah the son of Joseph, who shall appear before Messiah the son of David; others, this prophet himself; others, an angel from heaven: such mistakes do those run into that will not receive the truth.

      II. A prophecy of the appearing of the Messiah himself: “The Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the God of judgment, who, you think, has forsaken the earth, and you wot not what has become of him. The Messiah has been long called he that should come, and you may assure yourselves that now shortly he will come.” 1. He is the Lord–Adonai, the basis and foundation on which the world is founded and fastened, the ruler and governor of all, that one Lord over all (Acts x. 36) that has all power committed to him (Matt. xxviii. 18) and is to reign over the house of Jacob for ever, Luke i. 33. 2. He is the Messenger of the covenant, or the angel of the covenant, that blessed one that was sent from heaven to negotiate a peace, and settle a correspondence, between God and man. He is the angel, the archangel, the Lord of the angels, who received commission from the Father to bring man home to God by a covenant of grace, who had revolted from him by the violation of the covenant of innocency. Christ is the angel of this covenant, by whose mediation it is brought about and established as God’s covenant with Israel was made by the disposition of angels,Act 7:53; Gal 3:19. Christ, as a prophet, is the messenger and mediator of the covenant; nay, he is given for a covenant, Isa. xlix. 8. That covenant which is all our salvation began to be spoken by the Lord, Heb. ii. 3. Though he is the prince of the covenant (as some read this) yet he condescended to be the messenger of it, that we might have full assurance of God’s good-will towards man, upon his word. 3. He it is whom you seek, whom you delight in, whom the pious Jews expect and desire, and whose coming they think of with a great deal of pleasure. In looking and waiting for him, they looked for redemption in Jerusalem and waited for the consolation of Israel,Luk 2:25; Luk 2:38. Christ was to be the desire of all nations, desirable to all (Hag. ii. 7); but he was the desire of the Jewish nation actually, because they had the promise of his coming made to them. Note, Those that seek Jesus shall find pleasure in him. If he be our heart’s desire he will be our heart’s delight; and we have reason to delight in him who is the messenger of the covenant, and to bid him welcome who came to us on so kind an errand. 4. He shall suddenly come; his coming draws nigh, and we see it not at so great a distance as the patriarchs saw it at. Or, He shall come immediately after the appearing of John Baptist, shall even tread on the heels of his forerunner; when that morning-star appears, believe that the Sun of righteousness is not far off. Or, He shall come suddenly, that is, he shall come when by many he is not looked for; as his second coming will be, so his first coming was, at midnight, when some had done looking for him, for shall he find faith on the earth? Luke xviii. 8. The Jews reckon the Messiah among the things that come unawares; so Dr. Pocock. And the coming of the Son of man in his day is said to be as the lightning, which is very surprising, Luke xvii. 24. 5. He shall come to his temple, this temple at Jerusalem, which was lately built, that latter house which he was to be the glory of. It is his temple, for it is his Father’s house, John ii. 16. Christ, at forty days old, was presented in the temple, and thither Simeon went by the Spirit, according to the direction of this prophecy, to see him, Luke ii. 27. At twelve years old he was in the temple about his Father’s business, Luke ii. 49. When he rode in triumph into Jerusalem, it should seem that he went directly to the temple (Matt. xxi. 12), and (v. 14) thither the blind and the lame came to him to be healed; there he often preached, and often disputed, and often wrought miracles. By this it appears that the Messiah was to come while that temple was standing; that, therefore, being long since destroyed, we must conclude that he has come, and we are to look for no other. Note, Those that would be acquainted with Christ and obtain his favour must meet him in his temple, for there he records his name and there he will bless his people. There we must receive his oracles and there we must pay our homage. 6. The promise of this coming is repeated and ratified: Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts; you may depend upon his word, who cannot lie, he shall come, he will come, he will not tarry.

      III. An account given of the great ends and intentions of his coming, v. 2. He is one whom they seek, and one whom they delight in; and yet who may abide the day of his coming? It is a thing to be thought of with great seriousness, and with a holy awe and reverence; for who shall stand when he appears, though he comes not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might have life? This may refer,

      1. To the terrors of his appearance. Even in the days of his flesh there were some emanations of his glory and power, such as none could stand before, witness his transfiguration, and the prodigies that attended his death; and we read of some that trembled before him, as Mark v. 33.

      2. To the troublous times that should follow soon after. The Jewish doctors speak of the pangs or griefs of the Messiah, meaning (they say) the great afflictions that should be to Israel at the time of his coming; he himself speaks of great tribulation then approaching, such as was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be, Matt. xxiv. 21.

      3. To the trial which his coming would make of the children of men. He shall be like a refiner’s fire, which separates between the gold and the dross by melting the ore, or like fuller’s soap, which with much rubbing fetches the spots out of the cloth. Christ came to discover men, that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed (Luke ii. 35), to distinguish men, to separate between the precious and the vile, for his fan in his hand (Matt. iii. 12), to send fire on the earth, not peace, but rather division (Luk 12:49; Luk 12:51), to shake heaven and earth, that the wicked might be shaken out (Job xxxviii. 13) and that the things which cannot be shaken might remain, Heb. xii. 27. See what the effect of the trial will be that shall be made by the gospel.

      (1.) The gospel shall work good upon those that are disposed to be good, to them it shall be a savour of life unto life (v. 3): He shall sit as a refiner. Christ by his gospel shall purify and reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it shall regenerate and cleanse particular souls; for to this end he gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word (Eph. v. 26) and purify to himself a peculiar people, Tit. ii. 14. Christ is the great refiner. Observe, [1.] Who they are that he will purify–the sons of Levi, all those that are devoted to his praise and employed in his service, as the tribe of Levi was, and whom he designs to make unto our God spiritual priests (Rev. i. 6), a holy priesthood, 1 Pet. ii. 5. Note, All true Christians are sons of Levi, set apart for God, to do the service of his sanctuary, and to war the good warfare. [2.] How he will purify them; he will purge them as gold and silver, that is, he will sanctify them inwardly; he will not only wash away the spots they have contracted from without, but will take away the dross that is found in them; he will separate from them their indwelling corruptions, which rendered their faculties worthless and useless, and so make them like gold refined, both valuable and serviceable. He will purge them with fire, as gold and silver are purged, for he baptizes with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Matt. iii. 11), with the Holy Ghost working like fire. He will purge them by afflictions and manifold temptations, that the trial of their faith may be found to praise and honour,1Pe 1:6; 1Pe 1:7. He will purge them so as to make them a precious people to himself. [3.] What will be the effect of it: That they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, that is, that they may be in sincerity converted to God and consecrated to his praise (hence we read of the offering up, or sacrificing, of the Gentiles to God, when they were sanctified by the holy Ghost, Rom. xv. 16), and that they may in a spiritual manner worship God according to his will, may offer the sacrifices of righteousness, (Ps. iv. 5), the offering of prayer, and praise, and holy love, that they may be the true worshippers, who worship the Father in spirit and in truth,Joh 4:23; Joh 4:24. Note, We cannot offer unto the Lord any right performances in religion unless our persons be justified and sanctified. Till we ourselves be refined and purified by the grace of God, we cannot do any thing that will redound to the glory of God. God had respect to Abel first, and then to his offering; and therefore God purges his people, that they may offer their offerings to him in righteousness, Zeph. iii. 9. He makes the tree good that the fruit may be good. And then it follows (v. 4), The offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant unto the Lord. It shall no longer be offensive, as it has been, when, in the former days, they worshipped other gods with the God of Israel, or when, in the present days, they brought the torn, and the lame, and the sick, for sacrifice; but it shall be acceptable; he will be pleased with the offerers, and their offerings, as in the days of old and as in former years, as in the primitive times of the church, as when God had respect to Abel’s sacrifice and smelled a savour of rest from Noah’s, and when he kindled Aaron’s sacrifice with fire from heaven. When the Messiah comes, First, He will, by his grace in them, make them acceptable; when he has purified and refined them, then they shall offer such sacrifices as God requires and will accept. Secondly, He will, by his intercession for them, make them accepted; he will recommend them and their performances to God, so that their prayers, being perfumed with the incense of his intercession, shall be pleasant unto the Lord; for he has made us accepted in the Beloved, and in him is well pleased with those that are in him (Matt. iii. 17) and bring forth fruit in him.

      (2.) It shall turn for a testimony against those that are resolved to go on in their wickedness, v. 5. This is the direct answer to their challenge, “Where is the God of judgment? You shall know where he is, and shall know it to your terror and confusion, for I will come near to you to judgment; to you that set divine justice at defiance.” To them the gospel of Christ will be a savour of death unto death; it will bind them over to condemnation and will judge them in the great day, John xii. 48. Let us see here, [1.] Who the sinners are that must appear to be judged by the gospel of Christ. They are the sorcerers, who died in spiritual wickedness, that forsake the oracles of the God of truth to consult the father of lies; and the adulterers, who wallow in the lusts of the flesh, those adulterers who were charged with dealing treacherously (ch. ii. 15); and the false swearers, who profane God’s name and affront his justice, by calling him to witness to a lie; and the oppressors, who barbarously injure and trample upon those who lie at their mercy, and are not able to help themselves: they defraud the hireling in his wages and will not give him what he agreed for; they crush the widow and fatherless, and will not pay them their just debts, because they cannot prove them, or have not wherewithal to sue for them; the poor stranger too, who has no friend to stand by him and is ignorant of the laws of the country, they turn aside from his right, so that he cannot keep or cannot recover his own. That which is at the bottom of all this is, They fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. The transgression of the wicked plainly declares that there is no fear of God before his eyes. Where no fear of God is no good is to be expected. [2.] Who will appear against them: I will come near, says God, and will be a swift witness against them. They justify themselves, and, their sins having been artfully concealed, hope to escape punishment for want of proof; but God, who sees and knows all things, will himself be witness against them, and his omniscience is instead of a thousand witnesses, for to it the sinner’s own conscience shall be made to subscribe, and so every mouth shall be stopped. He will be a swift witness; though they reflect upon him as slow and dilatory, and ask, Where is the God of judgment, and where the promise of his coming? they will find that he is not slack concerning his threatenings any more than he is concerning his promises. Judgment against those sinners shall not be put off for want of evidence, for he will be a swift witness. His judgment shall overtake them, and it shall be impossible for them to outrun it. Evil pursues sinners.

      IV. The ratification of all this (v. 6): For I am the Lord; I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Here we have, 1. God’s immutability asserted by Himself, and glorified in: “I am the Lord; I change not; and therefore no word that I have spoken shall fall to the ground.” Is God a just revenger of those that rebel against him? Is he the bountiful rewarder of those that diligently seek him? In both these he is unchangeable. Though the sentence passed against evil works (v. 5) be not executed speedily, yet it will be executed, for he is the Lord; he changes not; he is as much an enemy to sin as ever he was, and impenitent sinners will find him so. There needs no scire facias–a writ calling one to show cause, to revive God’s judgment, for it is never antiquated, or out of date, but against those that go on still in their trespasses the curse of his law still remains in full force, power, and virtue. 2. A particular proof of it, from the comfortable experience which the people of Israel had had of it. They had reason to say that he was an unchangeable God, for he had been faithful to his covenant with them and their fathers; if he had not adhered to that, they would have been consumed long ago and cut off from being a people; they had been false and fickle in their conduct to him, and he might justly have abandoned them, and then they would soon have been consumed and ruined; but because he remembered his covenant, and would not violate that, nor alter the thing that had gone forth out of his lips, they were preserved from ruin and recovered from the brink of it. It was purely because he would be as good as his word, Deu 7:8; Lev 26:42. Now as God had kept them from ruin, while the covenant of peculiarity remained in force, purely because he would be faithful to that covenant, and would show that he is not a man that he should lie (Num. xxiii. 19), so, when that covenant should be superseded and set aside by the New Testament, and they, by rejecting the blessings of it, lay themselves open to the curses, he will show that in the determinations of his wrath, as well as in those of his mercy, he is not a man, that he should repent, but will then be as true to his threatenings as hitherto he had been to his promises; see 1 Sam. xv. 29. We may all apply this very sensibly to ourselves; because we have to do with a God that changes not, therefore it is that we are not consumed, even because his compassions fail not; they are new every morning; great is his faithfulness,Lam 3:22; Lam 3:23.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

MALACHI – CHAPTER 3

FORERUNNER OF JESUS FORETOLD

Verse 1-6:

And The Coming Of The Messiah

Verse 1 announces that the Lord God will send His messenger (John the Baptist), who shall prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah, whom they of Israel sought, Luk 1:17; Mat 3:3; Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 1:76; Luk 3:4; Luk 7:26; Joh 1:23; Isa 40:3-5. The sudden coming of the Lord to His temple alludes to His second coming, when He shall come in power and expansive glory, Isa 63:9; Hag 2:7; Luk 12:38-46; Rev 16:15; Mat 21:12-13; 2Th 1:10. Jesus is here referred to as the messenger of the covenant, the one whom all prophecy had presented and God had promised as the Redeemer, Gen 3:15; Gal 4:4-5; Act 10:43; Rev 19:10.

Verse 2 asks who may abide or stand in the day of His coming, His coming in judgment, a thing the priests had actually questioned, Mal 2:17; Rev 6:17. The answer is that none shall stand, but all shall bow to the penalties of unforgiven sins, when He comes to cleanse and purify like refiner’s fire purifies silver and gold and like the power of cleansing in the fuller’s strong alkaline soap, Isa 4:4; Isa 13:9; Mat 3:10-12.

Verse 3 declares that the Lord will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver who places the precious metal in the fire and sits and watches it closely, knowing just when the dross is gone, and when to pull the precious metal of silver or gold from the fire; When He could see His image in it. Even so the Lord would put the Levites through the fire of trial until they were cleansed from their treachery of sanctioning and practicing divorce of their Jewish wives and taking “strange wives” of the Gentile and heathen races. Even so the Lord chastens the believer for his sins today, to prepare him for acceptable worship, Rom 15:16; Heb 12:10; 1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 2:5.

Verse 4 states that then the offering or worship of Judah and Jerusalem shall be acceptable to the Lord as in days of old, in the days of Moses and Aaron when Israel was a young nation, highly regarding the law of her God, Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15-16; 1Pe 2:5. This seems to refer to the time of restoration of the morning and evening oblation sacrifices for a period of about 3 1/2 years, 42 months, or a time, times, and half times, immediately preceding the coming of our Lord in the air, Dan 9:26-27; Dan 12:7-13; 2Th 2:3-4; Rev 11:1-4.

Verse 5 assured the priests who had asked, “where is the judgment of God?” Mal 2:17, that He will come near to them to judgment, long after they had rejected the Messiah, Joh 1:11-12; Joh 5:41; Heb 10:20; Heb 10:38; 2Th 1:7-10. The Lord vows to be a swift witness against adulterers, sorcerers, false swearers, oppressors of people who worked for slave wages, oppressors of widows and orphans, and those who turned the stranger from doing right, and showed no fear for Him and His word, Jas 5:4-9. God is looking on, keeping record of the many forms of disobedience of men; He sees; He knows; and He requires repentance or an accounting hour, Psa 10:11; Psa 73:11; Psa 94:7; Ecc 12:13-14; Act 8:9; Act 13:6; Gal 5:20; See also Mt 24;30; 2Th 2:9.

Verse 6 declares the Lord Jehovah to be the one who is giving this message. He asserts that He does not change in nature of Holiness, mercy, love, and justice, Num 23:19; Rom 11:29; Jas 1:27. It is because of His unchanging nature of mercy and longsuffering that the sons of Jacob, the nation of Israel, had not already been consumed, and would be spared, 1Sa 15:29; Lam 3:22.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Here the Prophet does not bring comfort to the wicked slanderers previously mentioned, but asserts the constancy of his faith in opposition to their blasphemous words; as though he had said, “Though they impiously declare that they have been either deceived or forsaken by the God in whom they had hoped, yet his covenant shall not be in vain.” The design of what is announced is like that of the declaration made elsewhere,

“

Though men are perfidious and false, yet God remains true, and cannot depart from his own nature.” (Num 23:19.)

God then does here gloriously triumph over the Jews, and alleges his own covenant in opposition to their disgraceful slanders, because their wicked murmurings could not hinder him to accomplish his promises and to perform in due time what they thought would never be done; and he adopts a demonstrative adverb in order to show the certainty of what is said.

Behold, he says, I send my messenger, who will clear the way before my face (241) This passage ought doubtless to be understood of John the Baptist, for Christ himself so explains it, than whom no better interpreter can be found; and since John the Baptist was the messenger of Christ, the beginning of the verse can be applied to no other person. Afterwards the Father himself speaks as we shall see: but as he who appeared in the flesh is the same God with the Father, it is no wonder that he speaks, and then that the words which follow are spoken in the person of the Father.

There is here a striking allusion to Moses, whose office it was to intercede, that God might not in his just wrath destroy the whole people; for as then the majesty of God was more than could be borne without an intercessor, so that the people through fear cried out “Speak thou to us lest we die,” (Exo 20:19,) so also now does Malachi teach us, that there is need of an intercessor, by whom God’s wrath might be mitigated, which the Jews had extremely provoked. This office John the Baptist undertook, who prepared the Jews to hear the voice of Christ.

By saying that he would send a messenger to clear his way, he indirectly reproved the Jews, by whom many hindrances were thrown as it were in the way; as though he had said, “They prevent by the obstacles they raise up the redemption and the promised salvation to be revealed: there will therefore be the need of a messenger to clear the way. ” For the Jews had introduced impediments, as though they designedly wished to resist the favor which had been prepared and promised to them. But how the Baptist performed his work by clearing the way, is evident from the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, as well as from the Gospels; and hence may be gathered what I have already said — that God by his fidelity and mercy struggled with those obstacles which the Jews had raised up to prevent the coming of Christ. (242)

He afterwards adds, And presently shall (243) come to his temple the Lord, whom ye seek. After having said that he would open a way for his favor, he now adds, come shall the Lord. He introduces here, not Jehovah, but the Lord, אדון, Adun; and hence he speaks distinctly of Christ, who is afterwards called the Angel or Messenger of the covenant. But the word אדון, Adun, commonly used for a Mediator, as in Psa 110:0, and also in Dan 9:17; where it is expressly said, “Hear, O Jehovah, for the sake of the Lord,” למען אדוני, lamon Aduni; the word is the same as here, come then shall the Lord. The reason for this mode of speaking was, because Christ was shown to them under the type which re presented him. As then the kingdom of David was a representation of the kingdom of Christ our Lord, it is no wonder that the Prophets designate him by this title, especially those who were the nearest to the time of Christ’s manifestation. But he is promised by another title, the angel or messenger of the covenant; but it means not the same here as in the first clause. He called John the Baptist at the beginning of this verse a messenger, the messenger of Jehovah; and now he calls Christ a messenger, but he is the messenger of the covenant; (244) for it was necessary that the covenant should be confirmed by him. The title of John the Baptist was then inferior to that of Christ; for though he was God manifested in the flesh, yet this did not prevent him from being God’s minister and interpreter in order to confirm his covenant; and we know that the office of Christ consists in confirming and sealing to us the covenant of God, not only by his doctrine, but also by his blood and the sacrifice of his cross.

Malachi then promises here to the Jews both a king and a reconciler, — a king under tee title of Lord, — and a reconciler under the title of the messenger of the covenant: and we know it was the main thing in the whole doctrine of the law, that a Redeemer was to come, to reconcile the Church to Cod and to rule it.

And he says that the Mediator was sought and expected by the Jews; and through him God was to be propitious to them: but this was not said but ironically. The faithful indeed at this day have all their desires fixed on Christ, after he has been revealed in the flesh, until they shall partake at his last coming of the fruit of his death and resurrection; and under the law we know that the groaning and the sighings of the godly were towards Christ: but Malachi here, by way of contempt, checks these unreasonable charges, by which the Jews accused God, as though he had disappointed their hope and their prayers. For we have said, and the fact is evident, that God had been presumptuously and shamefully impeached by them, as though he meant not to fulfill his promises: hence the Prophet says ironically, and sharply too, that Christ was expected by the Jews, for they murmured, because God had too long deferred his coming: “O! where is the Redeemer? when will he be revealed to us?” Since then they thus pretended that they earnestly expected the coming of Christ, the Prophet upbraids them with this, and justly too, for they had expressly manifested their unbelief.

Behold, he comes, saith Jehovah of hosts (245) Here he introduces the Father as the speaker, as it has been already stated; and the particle הנה, ene, behold, is used for the sake of removing every doubt; and then he confirms what he says by the authority of God. He might have asserted this in his own person as a teacher; but in order to produce an effect on the Jews by the majesty of God, he makes him the author of this prophecy. It follows —

(241) As quoted by the Evangelists, it is “before thy face.” Jerome’s observation is, that the apostles and evangelists transferred the truth contained in passages without minding syllables and small words. — Ed.

(242) The verb פנה, rendered “purgabit” by Calvin in the sense of clearing, can hardly bear this meaning. It signifies to turn or look to a thing, and hence to provide or prepare. In this latter sense it occurs in six other places; and is rendered by the Septuagint ἑτοιμάζω, as in Gen 24:31, and Isa 40:3, though here ἐπιβλέψεται, according to its primary meaning. The version of Theodoret, here is “ ἐτοιμαζει — prepares.” The idea of Calvin may be said to be included; for as Henderson justly observes, “The language is borrowed from the custom of sending pioneers before an eastern monarch to cut through rocks and forests, and remove every impediment that might obstruct his course.” — Ed.

(243) “ Εξαίφνης — suddenly,” by the Septuagint, “ statim — immediately,” by Jerome, and by some others, “unexpectedly.” The meaning is, according to some, that his coming would be soon after that of John, about six months; or, according to others, unexpectedly, as a light suddenly arising in darkness, without any previous symptom of its appearance.

The literal rendering of these two lines is the following, —

And suddenly shall he come to his temple, The Lord whom ye are seeking.

The remark of Henderson and of others on the ה before “Lord” as being emphatic, is not well founded. It is owing to the relative “whom” which follows, as it is in our language. — Ed.

(244) “A phrase nowhere else in Scripture.” — Secker.

(245) Owing to this repetition, some of the fathers, Theodoret, Eusebius, and Augustine, held that this part refers to Christ’s second coming: but the repetition is only to confirm what had been previously said, and according to the usual manner of the Prophets, contains an expansion of the former idea. A literal rendering of the whole verse would exhibit this as the real meaning, —

Behold I send my messenger, And he shall prepare the way before me: And suddenly shall he come to his temple, The Lord whom ye are seeking; Yea, the angel of the covenant, in whom ye delight, Behold, he is coming, saith Jehovah of hosts.

The four last lines exhibit an example of parallelism which often occurs. The first and the last line correspond, and so do the second and the third. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

MALACHIOR A MINOR PROPHETS MESSAGE TO MODERN BELIEVERS

Mal 1:1 to Mal 4:6.

IN discussing the Book of Malachi, I do not propose to give special time to the two subjects which students of this Book have made the occasion of much dispute, namely, the authorship, and the time of its origin. Suffice it to say that the so-called advanced critics, with a few notable exceptions, believe that no such person as Malachi lived, that the volume is anonymous, and the name came from the words, Behold, I will send My messenger where mal-akhi was the term chosen at a later time for the title. While the more conservative students, with a few exceptions, believe that Malachi was not only the name of a Prophet, but also of that Prophet who gave the world this Book. And these latter fix the dates for his work as between 436 and 347 B. C. In passing, permit me to remark that I believe that Malachi was a man, the last of the Minor Prophets, Gods messenger indeed to Israel, and also to us; and that this volume was his message.

While it does not make mention of him, there are in the Book internal evidences that his ministry practically coincided with Nehemiahs administration. Dr. Angus, in his Bible Handbook calls attention to what a good student of this Prophet would see, namely, that the second Temple was now built, and the services of the altar, with the sacrifices and offerings were established. And the very evils which Nehemiah, in the thirteenth chapter of his volume, so vigorously condemns, Malachi excoriates. The definite purpose of the volume seems to be the correction of Israel who had lapsed into a practical infidelity, and whose continued forms and ceremonies were in flagrant violation alike of the letter and the spirit of Gods Law, and therefore an offense unto Him! This apostasy had so far proceeded that even the priests of the Temple were putrid, and the people polluted and polluting.

Gods Prophet would have sung his song in a minor key, but for the single circumstance that prophets are also seers; and, distant as was the day of the Lord from where Malachi stood, a vision of the same was yet vouchsafed him, and he finishes with a forthsetting of its beauty, and victory for its banners.

Now shall we search the Book and see what Malachi had to say, and how much of this minor Prophets message is applicable to moderns.

The volume opens with a discussion of

THE INFIDELITY OF ISRAEL

The burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us? (Mal 1:1-2).

That infidelity then expresses itself in the first instance by questioning Gods love. Yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us? The remaining text to verse five included Gods answer and argument in proof of His demonstrated affection for them. He had made a distinction between Jacob and Esau and all His favors had gone to the former the father of this people; yea, to this people themselves, for were they not Israeli sons and daughters Israelites? It is bad enough when the unregenerate are infidel and in their folly say, There is no God. It is vastly worse when those who have once had a true knowledge of God turn away from the same. Hear Paul speak of the fate of such It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. I do not profess to understand the full meaning of these words of the Apostle, but I have found that when a man who has once counted himself a child of the King, becomes a scoffer, it is easier to win a thousand sinners to the Saviour than to convert him from the error of his way. There is something so unnatural in his infidelity; something so strange in his skepticism that neither reason nor revelation seem to reach his heart.

Have you not noticed that the greatest ingratitude is sometimes shown by those who have received the most signal favors? There is a man who was bankrupt and you went and stood at his side and gave him your sympathy, and freely offered your silver and gold; joined with him in his struggle and never left off until he was lifted up and prosperity came instead of poverty, and singing instead of sighing. And yet he soon forgot the favor and if one so much as makes mention of it he meets that mention with these questionsWherein did you ever love me? What did you ever do for me? What kindness did you ever show me? Such is the ingratitude born of the spirit of infidelity! And such is Israels state of mind when Malachi Gods messengerflashes the searchlight of newborn Scripture into her unbelieving bosom. But what man ever laid his fellow under such obligation as God has put every living soul? And yet they say, Wherein hast Thou loved us?

Again, that infidelity was evidenced in the transgression of Gods Law. He had said concerning the offerings,

All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household.

And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God (Deu 15:19-21).

But, despising that plain statement and the Name of Him who made it, He says,

Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine altar: and ye say, Wherein have we polluted Thee?

And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person?

Again, God had His Law concerning marriage. They were not to take a wife from strangers, nor to put one away save they had found some uncleanness in her. But here they have divorced the wives of their youth, against whom they had dealt treacherouslythe companions of covenant, whom God had made to be one with them; and taken unto themselves wives from the mixed nations round about, that they might gratify at once the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

When Israel was carried captive to Babylon some of the weakest and least favored of her fold were left in the land. Cut off from their fellows in the faith, widely scattered among the heathen, they soon accepted the adage of doing as the Romans about them, and amalgamated with the nations. They possessed much land, were well regarded socially, and really seemed a superior class to that Israel which was now recovered from the long captivity. And so Gods people saw an opportunity in such alliances to wealth and political influence, and defended the step by reminding themselves that these Samaritans were, after all, their forty-second cousins. The consequence was easy divorce, domestic disorder, and Divine offense.

It is perfectly apparent also from the text that the priests of the time had sanctioned and participated in these sins, and had attempted to supplant the spirit of service with mongrel ceremonies. It is little wonder that Malachi exposes this transgression! It is a true picture of ancient Israel; it is a clean-cut portrait of the modern church. We sometimes read from Genesis the words, The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose, to imagine that that speech is centuries old. And so it is,the old is often new. It is just what is being done todaythe sons of God are forming alliances with the daughters of men. The children of the church, while wearing the Name of Christ, are being unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And the mongrel society,in the church and out,silence every prophet who would dare speak against this agreeable and profitable arrangement. But let it be remembered that if the last John the Baptist was beheaded, the Book of God would remain, and every professed Christian man, and every professed Christian woman consorting with the world, or sending their children to do the same, must either leave it unstudied, or open it to read the condemnation of their conduct.

And yet again,the infidelity of Israel is expressed in that

They are withholding Gods offering. We learn in chapter one, verses seven and eight, that they brought the lame and sick instead of the firstlings of the flock, healthy and without blemish. We learn by referring to verses twelve to fourteen of this same chapter, that they even defended the practice by saying, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even His meat, is contemptible (Mal 1:12). And so the torn, and the lame, will suffice, while they kept back the male of the flock and offered in sacrifice a corrupt thing.

Beloved, here Gods minor Prophet presents again a message of which the so-called church of Christ stands in sore need. We may profess whatever faith we will, but we will never believe in our own profession, nor convince the world of our serious convictions while we treat the treasury of the Lord with neglect or contempt. The crucible for a good profession of faith is the contribution box. The man who is hunting for a church where no offering will be made, no sacrifice expected, or where, instead of giving the most, he may give the least to God, is hunting for an institution from which Gods Spirit has long since departed, and is himself controlled by an idea that crucifies Christ, who Being rich, yet for our sakes became poor, and sets up in His stead an image to covetousness.

Such was the infidelity of Israel! To question Gods love; to transgress Gods Law; to keep back Gods offering! The infidelity of this hour will repeat these processes! And its existence makes Malachis prophecy a reminder to the Church of our century.

Passing on in our study I call your attention to another fact, namely,

JUDGMENT IN NATURAL EFFECTS

It is painfully and yet extremely interesting to follow these lines of infidelity in Israel to see what fruits they bring forth. The Apostle Paul might have been thinking of the Minor Prophets message when he said, Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. You will see that the judgments made against Israel were according to natural law in the spiritual world.

His love was given to others. Seeing that they would not serve Him He said,

I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My Name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My Name, and a pure offering: for My Name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts (Mal 1:10-11).

Beloved, is God to be blamed?

A few years since the newspapers narrated the history of a woman to whom one of our noblest presidents proffered his hand in marriage while they were yet young. She rejected it. He grieved over the refusal, and went his way to woo and win another. When the time came that this second choice shared with him the first place in the land, and his first love found herself without property or position, no one thought to complain against the great man.

I have sometimes wondered if the Jews of the world, scattered and persecuted as they are, were not patient in their sufferings because they knew that they were without a cause of complaint, having rejected God, whose first choice they were, to see the Gentiles come into the Fathers fellowship and enjoy the Divine favor of centuries.

Let us not be blind to parallelisms. History is repeating in substance the very suggestion of the above quoted text. The great denominations of the past have fallen from their favored heights; and humble, despised folk have been exalted above them.

There was a day when Romanism looked with contempt upon Luthers movement. The great hierarchy with its head beside the Tiber was confident that it was the chosen of the Lord. But its very conduct was so much akin to that of this Israel to whom Malachi delivers his message that God could not remain their Friend, but turned rather to Luther and his humble followers, and made His Name great among them.

There was a time when the established Church of England scorned the pretentions of John Wesley and the ragged crowd who walked in his wake.

But the infidelity of the Establishment contrasted the fidelity of the Wesleyans, and Ichabod was written for the Church of England, and the words, Arise, shine; for thy Light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee expressed at once Gods command and commendation of the plain Methodist brethren.

Beloved, do you know the biggest fear that finds a place in my heart today? It is that these denominations of ours that number now over millions, should be puffed up with pride and become Laodicean indeed,lukewarm in love, insane in selfesteem, saying, We are rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing! Lost, except they repent and invite into their lives and labors Him who stands at the door and knocks, saying, If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.

It is not a strange circumstance that the Christian Alliance movement, originating but a little more than fifteen years ago, should have enjoyed such a growth and proven itself such a world-missionary power. Gods love and Gods great power are alike the heritage of them that humble themselves before Him, and undertake for Him.

He expressed contempt for their ceremonies.

But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the Law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of Hosts.

Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept My ways, but have been partial in the Law (Mal 2:8-9).

Few things are more offensive to God, the Father, than ceremonies when they have no spirit of service in them. Before Malachis day the Lord had said by Isaiahs lips concerning this custom, This people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men (Isa 29:13).

And Ezekiel had also declared And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness (Eze 33:31).

One of the most difficult things in the Christian life is to keep form from displacing affection; and ceremony from killing the spirit. It is so much easier to bend the knee than to bow the heart, and to say prayers than to pray; to sing songs than to make a joyful noise unto the Lord; and to look pious while the offering passes than to part with our substance. Did I say it was much easier? No! It only seems to be! It is much harder! The man whose religion troubles him most is the one whose true spirit amounts to the least. It is better to have none than not enough. The out and out unbelievers of Christs time never incited His criticism as did the pious pretenders.

In Dr. Piersons volume on Gordons dream, How Christ Came to Church he tells the story of an aged and venerable clergyman whose son had gone over to the extreme of Roman ritualism. The boy importuned the father to come and preach in his chapel of ease. He finally yielded, but startled the congregation by choosing as his text, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatick.

And then he proceeded to show the utter insanity of the modern methods which had robbed us of simplicity and given place to elaborate ceremonials. We may question the propriety of the fathers procedure, and yet, we cannot rid ourselves of the Saviours declaration concerning the ceremonials of His time, In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

And yet again,

This judgment expresses itself in the failure of the fruits of earth. Mark you here, God is following natural law again. They withheld from Him, and shortly they had nothing to give. There is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty (Pro 11:24).

Will a man rob God? Yes, and without knowing it rob himself at the same time by severing himself from the source of all good. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? He answers,

In tithes and offerings.

Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine House, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of Hosts (Mal 3:8-11).

Beloved, I often wonder how much of our poverty is self-imposed? I often question whether the Church of Jesus Christ has not shorn herself by covetousness? And often have I wondered whether many of the deserts of earth would not long since have rejoiced and blossomed as the rose in fair fruitfulness, had men cheerfully contributed to every call of Him who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

David M. Torrey says, Having found God my Saviour, I thought I would try Him in temporal things, as I was out of business. The first day He allowed me to make 85. Then Mr. Torrey continues by telling how he went on tithing and God went on blessing, until thousands of dollars were poured into his lap.

The history of Wm. Colgate reads like a romance. His gifts were munificent, sacrificial; but Gods gifts to him were greater still, illustrating the words of Jesus, Give, and it shall be given unto you.

In the study of this Book I am profoundly impressed by a single verse in it, and believe it to contain a suggestion worthy definite notice, namely,

THE AFFECTION OF THE FAITHFUL

To me there are two beautiful touches in this Book of Malachi, aside from the bright prospect shown in the last chapter. One is the picture of an ideal priest, Mal 2:7,The priests lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. The other is the verse referred to, and compasses the fellowship of the saints, Mal 3:16-17,Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His Name. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

It is a blessed fact that the Lord is never without true followers. No matter how many speak against Him there are those to speak for Him. When Elijah, in his dejection, supposed himself to be left alone of all Gods followers, he was corrected by the assertion of the Divine One, Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. And you will find that when the time of the antichrist comes, and that enemy of our God rules in all the world, there will be knees that will not bow to him; hands and foreheads that will refuse his mark. In the day of Malachi, miserable as was the situation of Israel, there were some saints, and they spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it.

They must have received strength by exchange of sympathy. Did you ever try to picture what it surely meant to the early disciples of Jesus at the time when they were enduring cruel mockings and scourgings, bonds and imprisonments; when they were sawn asunder, tempted and slain; when they wandered about in sheepskins and were destitute, afflicted and tormented, living in deserts and in caves of the earth? What strength they got from speaking often one to another; from exchange of sympathy! It is difficult to serve God alone. The very desolation of it incites despair. But to meet with kindred spirits and listen to their story of suffering or recitations of victory, and to know that they have learned the fellowship of Christs suffering! Ah, who is not made strong by that exchange?

If you have a friend worth loving

Love him,yes, and let him know

That you love him, ere lifes evening

Tinge his brow with sunset glow.

Why should good words neer be said

Of a friend till he is dead?

If you see the hot tears falling,

Falling from a brothers eyes,

Share themand thus by the sharing

Own your kinship with the skies.

Why should any one be glad

When a brothers heart is sad?

Courage also would come out of this conference of believers. Do you not suppose that is why Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out two by two? Have you not had hours when your heart sank within you; when you felt baffled, defeated; when you said, I am undone! when the coming of some Christian friend, and the converse that followed, filled you with fresh spirit, and caused you to stand forth again, saying, I can, and, God helping me, I will? Where one can chase a thousand, two can put ten thousand to flight.

Here again in this verse,

The communion of the saints called the Lord into the company.

And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a hook of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His Name.

And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels (Mal 3:16-17).

We have long been accustomed to the thought that when the knees of two were bowed together in prayer God was there to hearken to the petition and to grant the request according to His promise.

Have we also forgotten His pledge that where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them? Did it ever occur to you to ask why Jesus appeared to the two on the way to Eramaus? It was because of the subject which engaged them in conversation. And I do not believe that His saints ever assemble anywhere and talk of high and holy things, but there sitting in the midst of them, is the Saviour Himself, taking note of all that is said and standing ready, when we have finished our conversation, to reveal Himself as He did to the two in the way, and teach us truths that no mortal tongue could ever tell. I know not what the fellowship of the saints may have meant to others but to me it has been strength, and courage, and holy communion, and Divine instruction!

But to finish the study of this Book, let me call attention to the fourth lesson.

THE FUTURE OF FIRE AND FAVOR

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall bum as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall bum them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts.

Remember ye the Law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Mal 4:1-6).

Fire is Gods symbol of separation. That is taught not alone in this passage where all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: torn up root and branch, and trodden like ashes under the feet of Gods children, but many other Scriptures suggest the same thought. In Daniel it was fire that slew those men that took up Shadrack, Meshach, and Abed-nego to cast them into the burning fiery furnace; but Gods servants it preserved instead, and they walked in it without hurt, attended by the Son of God Himself.

There is an interesting passage in Isa 33:13-15, illustrating this,

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge My might.

The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.

And this illustration is not unnatural, it is the action of fire. When gold goes into fire it comes out refined, having lost nothing of its real value. When dross goes in it comes out a cinder. The very sun in the heavens is growth to the living trees, but destruction to the dead ones. When Jesus wanted to conclude His discourse of the end of the age, and declare the fate of infidel and faithful alike, He said to the latter, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, but to the former, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

But I will not dwell upon this imagery, with the Scripture extent of which you are familiar. It is a solemn warning against sin. And I hasten from the awful suggestion to remind you that,

Favor is Gods purpose and promise to them that fear Him.

But unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall he ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts (Mal 4:2-3).

It is the Old Testament history; it is the New Testament teaching. When fire consumed Sodom, Lot was saved out of it only because he feared the Lord. When fallen Jericho was touched with a thousand flames, Rahab, the harlot, and hers, were preserved alive for the very same reason,she feared the Lord. As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. The fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom but the secret of Gods favor forevermore.

But the crowning blessing belongs here with the coming of the Son. It is when He arises with healing in His wings that we are to grow up as calves of the stall; that we are to tread down the wicked until they shall be as ashes under the soles of our feet. And before the day of the Lord He shall send Elijah, the Tishbite, And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Beloved, it is beautiful to me to see how though the Scripture conception of the end of the age is characterized by the supremacy of the antichrist, for a short time, that darkness will soon pass, as the hours of the night swiftly receive them, and, though with the rising of the Son of God,who is the Prophets Sun of Righteousness,the day of the Lord is on, and what a day it will be!

It has seemed to me that Joseph Parkers idea that this Scripture is a figure which signifies the inexpressible vigor of life, is justified by the whole text, Grow up as calves of the stall. Parker interprets by saying, Ye shall be sportive, ye shall realize the idea of youthfulness; you shall be vivacious, you shall not be old, cold, dead things; ye shall be as calves of the stall, full of life, leaping because of the very redundance of vitality. There is a hint here of spiritual enthusiasm. This is not an animal vivacity, it is a spiritual impulse and ambition; it is the new and deeper magnetism, it is the effect of being in touch with God.

But when one comes to believe, even this familiar language seems limited. Whose imagination can ascend with Prophet and Apostle to the heights of glory depicted for the day of the Lord, or sound the depths of its joy? All that one can do is to rejoice with the Prophet, and sing with the poet, the prayer:

Thou, glorious Sun of Righteousness,

On this day risen to set no more,

Shine on me now to heal, to bless,

With brighter beams than eer before.

Shine on, shine on, eternal Sun!

Pour richer floods of life and light,

Till that bright Sabbath be begun,

That glorious day which knows no night.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL NOTES.] Messenger] The prophet, in first instance; applied to the Baptist (Mat. 11:10; Luk. 7:27). Prepare] Clear away, like a pioneer before an Eastern prince. Suddenly] Unexpectedly.

Mal. 3:2.] Judgment will begin at the coming of the Lord. Who] i.e. no one can endure it (cf. Joe. 2:11). Abide and stand] As opposed to falling under judgments. The double figure has one meaning. The smelters fire burns corrupt ingredients of metals (cf. Zec. 13:9; the lye or alkaline salt cleanses the dirt out of clothes (cf. Isa. 4:4).

Mal. 3:3.] As smelter the Lord sits], tempering the fire and keenly watching the process. Levis] sons, the objects of the trial, to be purified. When priests morally cleansed, offer sacrifices in righteousness.

Mal. 3:4.] The whole nation will be pleasant to God as in old time.

Mal. 3:5. I] whom ye challenged (ch. Mal. 2:17) will be a judge and eyewitness against sins named.

HOMILETICS

THE COMING OF THE LORD.Mal. 3:1-5

These words are an answer to the sceptical question of the peopleWhere is the God of judgment? If there be a God, why does he permit good to be overcome of evil? Why does he delay his coming to rectify things which seem wrong, to make life plainer, and his people easier? The prophet replies, He will come; I am his messenger; be warned by me, lest you be caught unprepared.

I. The coming of the Lord is a certain event. He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. Do not judge of this event by what you see. Remember the prediction, which can never be falsified by the unbelief and contempt of man, or by the events of nature.

II. The coming of the Lord will be an unexpected event. The Lord shall come suddenly. He may come when men are not prepared for him, when they do not anticipate the appearance of the Judge of all the earth. This suddenness is repeated in all the acts and judgments of the Lord. The Lord of glory always comes as a thief in the night to those who sleep in their sins [Schmieder]. Therefore be ye also ready.

III. The coming of the Lord will be a solemn event. Who may abide the day of his coming? It will be very different from that which carnal Jews expected. He comes not to flatter national pride, nor gratify personal wishes, but to subject their principles and actions to a severe trial. He was to test them by fire.

1. A day of magnificence to the temple. He will come to his temple, to beautify and adorn it by his glory, to purify it for his worship by judicial expulsion of all who profane it (Mat. 21:12-13).

2. A day of solemnity to the world. Who shall stand when he appeareth? (a) He will judge the wicked (Mal. 3:5). (b) He will purify the godly (Mal. 3:4). To some the day will be a revelation of wrath, to others a manifestation of grace, to all a solemn trial. Hence question not Gods justice, murmur not at his delay, but prepare for the decisive day. The day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?

IV. The coming of the Lord is an event of which men are warned. Behold, I will send my messenger. Lest men should be unprepared, warning is given, messenger after messenger is sent to prepare the way. The moral condition of men is not what God desires. In the ministers of the gospel God urges to repentance, helps to remove hindrances and to prepare for the presence of Christ. To make ready a prepared people (supplied like an army with all necessaries) for the Lord (Luk. 1:17).

THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT.Mal. 3:1

Observe the character under which the Messiah is here presented to our notice. He is described in three ways. First, by his person: The Lord. The word signifies authority and dominion. He is King of kings and Lord of lords, Ruler in Israel, and Governor among the nations. Though all power is given to him as Mediator, yet he had a previous claim to dominion before his obedience and death. Secondly, he is described by his office: The Messenger of the covenant. The covenant of grace, ordered in all things and sure, to which David fled for refuge and solace, and in which he found all his salvation and desire. He is the Mediator, the Surety, and the Messenger of the covenant, because he not only procures and possesses its blessings, but bestows them. He announces and makes them known, prefaces all invitations and disclosures with a declaration of his commission from the Father. This inferior title does not detract from his glory as the Lord, but displays it, magnifies it, because it shows infinite condescension and grace. Thirdly, he is described by the estimation in which he was holden: Whom ye delight in. Carnal Jews, mistaken, viewed him as a temporal prince, did seek him, and delighted in him. It applies, in a nobler sense, to spiritual Jews. He was desired and delighted in by all the people of God from the beginning. To seek and delight in him will always characterize the redeemedthose who believe in him; for to them that believe he is precious. All that is desirable, all that is delightful to us we find in him. He is our sun in darkness, our shield in danger, our physician in sickness, our righteousness, our bread, the water of life, and all in all. Let the hearts of them rejoice, therefore, that seek the Lord [W. Jay].

THE REFINER AND THE CRUCIBLE.Mal. 3:2-3

I. The severity of the trial.
II. The agency by which the trial is wrought. He, that is, the Lord, is like a refiners fire. He alone appoints it; he alone effects it. He is present all through the operation.

III. The utility of the trial.

1. It is a sign of preciousness. We never prune the bramble, nor try the worthless.

2. It is a test of genuineness.

3. It is a medium of purification.

4. It is a preparation for service [C. Stanford].

HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES

Mal. 3:1. This word Behold signifieth that this coming of Christ in the flesh should be1 New, admirable, and stupendous.

2. Sure and certain.
3. Desirable and joyful.
4. Famous and renowned [Trapp].

Mal. 3:2. Who may abide the day? There is something awful even in reference to Christs coming in the flesh. First, in the occasional emanations and displays of his majesty. Herod was troubled, and all Juda with him. With a whip only he rushed into the temple and drove out the money-changers. On the mount of transfiguration, in the garden, at death, and in his resurrection were displays of majesty. Secondly, it may be exemplified in his detection of character. All through his ministry his eyes were a flame of fire. He silenced those who ensnared him, knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man. Thirdly, it may be exemplified in the calamities which were to follow the rejection of him. They said, His blood be upon us, and it fell upon them, and rests upon them now. But their unspeakable sufferings were only emblems of those more dreadful punishments to which they are exposed who have trodden under foot the Son of God, &c. For there is another coming and appearance of Christ. Only those who have a better righteousness than their own can stand [W. Jay].

Mal. 3:3-4. The refining process.

1. The objects of it. The sons of Levi. The purest Church and the holiest saints need refining. Gold, the thing valued most, is tried or proved by fire; but Gods people are more precious than gold.

2. The method of it. He sits tempering the fire, and making it just the right heat, neither too hot nor too cold, keeping the metal in the fire the exact time, for none of heavens pure ore will be destroyed. What tenderness, care, and anxiety.

3. The design of it. To purify, that they may offer an offering in righteousness. Right service springs from purified men. There may be gilt, but not gold. Hence the fining-pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but the Lord trieth the hearts.

Mal. 3:5.

1. Monstrous evils in their source. They fear not me.

2. Monstrous evils in their detection. I will be a swift witness against them in providence and the ministry of the gospel.

3. Monstrous evils in their results. I will come near to you, though you cry, Where is the God of justice? &c.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3

Mal. 3:1-5. Come.The last day will assign to every one a station suitable to his character; ranks will then be adjusted, and precedency set right; then virtue will be rewarded and vice punished [Wilson]. A due consideration of this important subject is calculated to rouse our minds, and to set on work those two grand engines and mighty springs of activityviz., hope and fear [Ib.].

Mal. 3:3. Refiner. A few ladies once met in Dublin to read the Scriptures and converse together. One lady said that the fullers soap and the refiner of silver were only the same image intended to convey the same view of the sanctifying influences of the grace of Christ. No, said another, they are not just the same image; there is something remarkable in the expression in this verse: he shall sit, &c. All thought it possibly might be so. This lady was to call upon a silversmith, and report to them what he said on the subject. She went, without telling the object of her visit, and begged to know the process of refining, which he fully described to her. But do you sit while you are refining? asked she. O yes, madam; I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, since if the silver remain too long it is sure to be injured, said he. And how do you know when it is sufficiently refined? Whenever I see my own image reflected in it, I know the process is completed. She at once saw the beauty and comfort of the expression [Whitecross].

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER XLV

THE COMING DAY OF THE LORD

THE LORD WILL SEND A MESSENGER TO PREPARE FOR HIS DAY . . . Mal. 2:17 to Mal. 3:6.

RV . . . Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in them; or where is the God of justice? Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap: and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. And I will come near to you to judgement; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and. fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

LXX . . . ye that have provoked God with your words. But ye said, Wherein have we provoked him? In that ye say, Every one that does evil is a pleasing object in the sight of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in such; and where is the God of justice? Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty. And who will abide the day of his coming? or who will withstand at his appearing? for he is coming in as the fire of a furnace and as the herb of fullers. He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were gold: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they shall offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. And the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord, according to the former days, and according to the former years. And I will draw near to you in judgement; and I will be a swift witness against the witches, and against the adulteresses, and against them that swear falsely by my name, and against them that keep back the hirelings wages, and them that oppress the widow, and afflict orphans, and that wrest the judgement of the stranger, and fear not me, saith the Lord Almighty, For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed:

COMMENTS

WHERE IS THE GOD OF JUSTICE . . . Mal. 2:17

Two things in the arguments of the priests wearied Jehovah. First, they considered evil to be good, so they declared it good in the sight of Jehovah.

Second, they said where is the God of justice. They looked at the drought, crop failures and generally unprosperous conditions of Judah on the one hand, and on the other, the fact that the forms of the ceremonial law were being observed and concluded that God was slack in His justice, As we have seen, the quality of the sacrifices and the spirit in which they were offered put the lie to their arguments.

BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER . . . Mal. 3:1

Here is Gods answer to their question, where is the God of justice. Suddenly the Lord will appear in the temple heralded by His forerunner.

Isaiah had made a similar prediction. (Isa. 40:3-5).

The New Testament applies Malachis prophecy to John the Baptist. (e.g. Mat. 3:3; Mat. 11:10, Mar. 1:2-3, Luk. 1:76; Luk. 3:4; Luk. 7:26-27, Joh. 1:23) The obvious fulfillment of this promise in the baptists ministry would be difficult for any open-minded Bible student to overlook.

The sudden appearance of the Lord mentioned hare was interpreted by the Rabbis as a dramatic explosive visitation by which the Messiah would announce His presence. It was this popular expectation which the devil exploited in tempting Jesus to cast Himself from the pinnacle of the temple. (Luk. 4:9) To have done so would have won for Him instant acceptance as the Messiah on the basis of popular though erroneous expectation.

The messenger of the covenant . . . What more apt description could there be of Him Whose coming formed the heart of Gods covenant promise? How fitting that the writer of Hebrews should introduce his comparison of the Old and New Covenants with the argument for the superiority of the New based on the superiority of the Son over the prophets, angels and Moses, who were the messengers of the Old. (cp. Heb. 1:1 to Heb. 2:4)

(Mal. 3:2-6) Who can abide the day of His coming? The Messiah was coming but not to confirm the racial arrogance or religious exclusiveness of these false Israelites. John will speak of Him as one whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor; and He will gather His wheat into the garner but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire. (Mat. 3:12).

Malachi here makes a like prediction. By a change of metaphors he describes the Messiahs judgement first as fullers soap then as refiners fire.
In this sense, soap and fire have one thing in common, both remove, impurity. The entire ministry of the Messiah, including His first coming, the intervening age and His second coming, will purge the impurities from the people of God. Those whose profession is false, whose hope is based on false ambition and nationalistic exclusiveness will be removed from Israel. The remnant will be saved.

This refining process is described by Zechariah as removing all but a third of those who call themselves Israel. (cp. Isa. 1:25)

(Mal. 3:3-4) Since Malachis primary concern is with false priests (see above on Mal. 3:1-10 -ff), he pictures the Messiah, in verse three, as a refiner sitting before the crucible in which the sons of Levi are purged of those who are unfaithful so that they will offer to Jehovah offerings in righteousness.

The offerings to the Christ are not the blemished animals of Malachis day. Rather they are to be holy and acceptable unto God, (cf. Rom. 12:1, Heb. 13:5, 1Pe. 2:5) as were those offered in the beginning by Aaron.

(Mal. 3:5-6) They have asked where is the God of justice. (Mal. 2:17) When Messiah comes they will have their answer. He will testify against the sorcerers (Act. 8:1; Act. 13:6, Gal. 5:20), against adulterers (Mat. 5:28), against false swearers (Mat. 5:34; Mat. 5:36), against those that oppress the hireling, the widows, the fatherless, and they that turn aside the sojourners (Mat. 25:31-46), and that fear not me(Mat. 10:26-28).

Special notice should be taken of the inclusion in this list of priestly sins of those that turn aside the sojourner. A sojourner was one of another land who was not a Jew. Gods concern for all men, rather than just for the Jew, as stated in the covenant is apparent throughout His dealings with the people through whom He purposed to bless all men.

(Verse b) It is a tragic error to assume that, because God has not smitten the wicked, He has changed from a God of justice to one of easy-going tolerance. Malachi points out to his readers that Gods unchanging nature is the only reason they were not themselves long since wiped out!

Paul points out in Romans eleven (cf. Rom. 11:29) that Gods mercy toward even the covenant people finds its source in His unfailing faithfulness to His own covenant.

Peter speaks to the same fatal fallacy when he writes, But forget not this one thing beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2Pe. 3:8-9)

Chapter XLVQuestions

The Coming Day of the Lord

1.

What were the two arguments of the wicked priests?

2.

What was Gods answer to the questions, Where is the God of justice?

3.

The New Testament applies Mal. 3:1 to _________________.

4.

Relate the rabbinic interpretation of this verse to Jesus temptations.

5.

What is meant by Malachis description of the Messiah as fullers soap and refiners fire?

6.

When Messiah came He would testify against the ___________, ___________, ___________, and against __________.

7.

Comment on those who turn aside the sojourner.

8.

Discuss the proposition that, because God does not immediately smite the wicked, He is no longer a God of justice.

9.

Note the similarity of Mal. 3:7-12 to Stephens defense (Acts 7).

10.

What is the eternal principle presented in these passages?

11.

How were Malachis readers robbing God?

12.

What is the distinction between tithes and offerings?

13.

What were the first, second and third tithes required by the Law?

14.

The offering consisted of not less than ___________ of ones corn, wine and oil.

15.

The Israelites were commanded to give in three categories: ___________, ___________ and ___________.

16.

How does Jesus express the thought of Mal. 3:10?

17.

Is this passage a valid proof text for modern store house tithing?

18.

List four pertinent points concerning Mosaic tithing.

19.

When the principles of stewardship presented by Malachi is applied to modern giving, ten per cent seems._____________________.

20.

What is meant by the promise of Malachi that God would open the windows of heaven?

21.

Gods provisions are always adequate to those who ________________.

22.

Not only have Malachis readers robbed God, they have ______________________.

23.

God has never promised ___________________ to the faithful nor ___________ to the unjust.

24.

The people equated the sacrifice of blemished animals and with holding of tithes and offerings with ___________________.

25.

A book of ________________ is being written.

26.

To whom does they shall be mine (Mal. 3:17-18) refer?

27.

Discuss Mal. 3:17-18 in comparison to Act. 10:34-35.

28.

Trace the association of fire with judgement.

29.

The sun of righteousness shall ____________________.

30.

The wicked are to be punished by fire while Gods people are freed from _____________________.

31.

Does the unequal distribution of wealth negate the necessity of righteousness?

32.

The justice of God demands a ______________________.

33.

The Old Testament closes with a plea to Gods people to ___________________.

34.

Why was it essential that the formal observance of the sacrificial system be preserved?

35.

The proud and wicked would be consumed but the ___________________ would survive.

36.

Who is the second Elijah?

37.

How is the New Testament continuous with the Old?

38.

What is the new factor in the New Testament not present in the Old?

39.

The coming of Christ did not constitute an abrupt break but a __________________.

40.

Approximately how much time lapsed between Malachi and Jesus?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

III.

(1) I will send.Or, I send. It is the participle used as the prophetic present. (Comp. Note on Mal. 1:11.)

My messenger.Heb., Malachi, my angel, or my messenger, with a play on the name of the prophet. In Mal. 2:7, he calls the priest the angel or messenger of the LORD. There can be little doubt that he is influenced in his choice of the term by his own personal name (see Introd.). This messenger, by the distinct reference to Isa. 40:3, contained in the words, and he shall prepare, &c., is evidently the same as he whom [the deutero-] Isaiah prophetically heard crying, In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Moreover, from the nature of his mission, he is proved to be identical with the Elijah of Mal. 4:3. These words had their first, if not their perfect fulfilment in John the Baptist (Mat. 17:12).

The Lord.This word Lord occurs eight times with the definite article, but always, except here, with the name of God following it: viz., Exo. 23:17, followed by Jehovah; Exo. 34:23, by Jehovah, the God of Israel; in Isa. 1:24; Isa. 3:1; Isa. 10:33; Isa. 19:4, by Jehovah Zebaoth; and in Isa. 10:16, by the Lord of Zebaoth. And here, as elsewhere, it must mean God Himself, because He is said to come to his temple, and because He is said to be He whom ye seek: i.e., the God of judgment (Mal. 2:17).

Eveni.e., namely, for so the Hebrew conjunction and is frequently used: e.g., Exo. 25:12; 1Sa. 28:3.

The messenger (or angel) of the covenant.This expression occurs only in this passage. Identified as He is here with the Lord, He can be no other than the Son of God, who was manifested in the flesh as the Messiah. In the word covenant there is, perhaps, some reference to the new covenant (Jer. 31:31), but the meaning of the word must not be limited to this.

Delight in.Rather, desire.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

REBUKE OF INFIDELITY. THE ADVENT OF THE LORD FORETOLD (Mal. 2:17 to Mal. 3:18).

(17) A new section of the prophecy begins with this verse. The prophet now directs his reproofs against the people for their discontent and their want of faith in the promises of God, because the expected manifestation of Gods glory did not take place immediately. Because the doers of evil seem to flourish, the people say that God takes delight in them, or i.e., if this be not the case, Where is the God of judgment? that He does not interpose to punish them. (Comp. Psalms 73, &c.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Jehovah accepts the challenge implied in the question and replies in Mal 3:1 ff., that he will appear speedily in a terrible judgment, that will result in the utter annihilation of the wicked, and in the purification and exaltation of the faithful. But before he himself appears he will send a messenger to prepare his way.

Behold, I will send Better, Behold, I am about to send. The Hebrew construction implies the imminence of the event (G.-K., 116p).

My messenger As the coming of an earthly king is heralded by a forerunner, so the coming of Jehovah will be heralded by a messenger. This messenger is not to be identified with “the messenger of the covenant” in this same verse, nor is he identical with the prophet, as if he declared himself to be the forerunner of Jehovah; on the other hand, he is identical with Elijah mentioned in Mal 4:5.

Prepare the way By removing every obstacle, so that Jehovah can move along smoothly. This forerunner is needed the more because Jehovah will come suddenly. The prediction is based upon Isa 40:3 ff.

The Lord God himself. This title, which denotes the divine sovereignty, is frequently used by Isaiah, as here, to introduce threats. The change from the first person to the third is not uncommon in prophetic discourse.

Whom ye seek Points back to Mal 2:17, where they are represented as inquiring where he is ( compare Isa 5:18).

Suddenly Unexpectedly (compare Mal 3:5; Luk 21:34).

To his temple From which his activities will proceed once more (compare Amo 1:2; Isa 2:2-4). The coming will be in fulfillment of the prophecies of Haggai (Hag 2:9) and Zechariah (Zec 2:5; Zec 2:10; Zec 8:3; compare Eze 43:7).

Even the messenger of the covenant According to this translation the messenger of the covenant is identical with the Lord; if so, he would be the same as the “angel of Jehovah,” who sometimes is identical with Jehovah himself (see on Zec 1:11). This identification is favored by the parallelism and the entire context, which knows of the coming of only one person to judgment. Why the title is applied to Jehovah is not quite clear; some have seen here an allusion to the new covenant of Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34); Smend explains it as a title describing Jehovah as the one living in the midst of the covenant people (compare Dan 11:22; Dan 11:28; Dan 11:30). Both these interpretations seem far-fetched. It seems much better to bring the expression into connection with the covenant mentioned in Mal 2:10, and alluded to several times in chapter 2. Jehovah, appearing for judgment, is called the messenger of the covenant, because by means of the judgment he seeks to re-establish the covenant (compare Mal 3:3-5), which priests and people have so shamefully desecrated.

Whom ye delight in Identical in meaning with “whom ye seek” in the parallel clause; like it, it refers back to Mal 2:17. There they express a wish for the appearance of Jehovah; this wish will be granted, though the sequel may not be to their liking (compare Amo 5:18-20). R.V. reads, “and the messenger of the covenant,” as if the messenger and the Lord were two distinct persons. Those who accept this translation, which the Hebrew permits, identify this messenger either with the messenger who is to be the forerunner of Jehovah, or with a being not mentioned otherwise. To identify the two messengers with one another is not possible, since the one precedes Jehovah while the other accompanies him. The other view sees in the messenger of the covenant the patron angel of the covenant nation (Dan 10:13; Dan 10:20), who will appear with Jehovah and will sit by the side of Jehovah when he comes to dwell in the midst of the people. This is not an impossible interpretation; but on the whole the first interpretation discussed, which identifies the messenger of the covenant with the Lord, is to be preferred.

Behold, he shall come The promise that Jehovah will come is reiterated for the sake of emphasis, and receives additional strength from the closing formula, “saith Jehovah of hosts.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

JEHOVAH’S APPROACH IN JUDGMENT, Mal 2:17 to Mal 3:5.

In Mal 2:17, the prophet introduces to the reader a new class of thinkers in the postexilic community, the skeptics, who have lost faith in Jehovah and in his word, because the sinful prospered while the good suffered. From these inequalities they concluded that Jehovah was taking no interest in the affairs of the nation and doubted that he would ever appear in judgment to right the wrongs (Mal 2:17). To this complaint Jehovah replies that he will suddenly appear, preceded by a messenger who will prepare his way (Mal 3:1); his coming will be terrible to all who have departed from the right, for he will come like a refiner’s fire to burn up the dross (Mal 3:2). The priests he will purify, so that they may again offer sacrifices in “righteousness” (Mal 3:3-4); and from the nation at large he will sweep away everything that is contrary to his will (Mal 3:5).

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Coming Activity of God ( Mal 3:1-6 )

The question, ‘Where is the God of Justice?’ (Mal 2:17) was obviously a two-edged one, but it is questionable whether the people of Judah wanted God to be too just, except in terms of their viewpoint. Their expectations and requirements were all one way. What they wanted was for God to fulfil His promises towards them. What they did not want was for God to be just by expecting the fulfilment of His covenant from them. They felt, rather foolishly, that they were in fact doing enough.

But Malachi now assures them that the God of Justice will indeed act, and then they had better beware.

Mal 3:1

‘Behold, I send my messenger,

And he will prepare the way before me,

And the Lord, whom you seek,

Will suddenly come to his temple;

And the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire,

Behold, he comes, says YHWH of hosts.’

He assures them that God is indeed coming in justice and will in fact send His messenger who will prepare His way before Him. Such a preparation of the way for the coming of YHWH had already been declared as necessary in Isa 40:3-5 by ‘the voice of one who cries’. And in Mal 4:5-6 Malachi reveals that it will be by another Elijah, and that his purpose will be to ‘turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers’. Here therefore we have another indication of the disunity that there was in the community, something which must certainly be sorted out before YHWH comes in accordance with His promises. Thus does he make clear that before YHWH fulfils His promises there must be a great sorting out and a great reconciliation and revival among the people.

And then the Sovereign Lord Himself (adonai), ‘Whom they are seeking’ when they ask where the God of Justice is, will suddenly come to His Temple, even He Who is ‘the Messenger (Angel) of the covenant’, ‘Whom they are desiring’. The idea behind the messenger of the covenant’ is probably the Angel of YHWH Who is regularly involved when God’s deliverance is in question. When YHWH acts invisibly He ‘sends His Angel before Him’ (Exo 3:2; Exo 14:19; Exo 23:20; Exo 23:23; Exo 33:2; Num 20:16; Jdg 2:1; Jdg 5:23; Jdg 6:11-22; Jdg 13:3-21; 2Ki 19:35; Isa 37:36; Isa 63:9; Zec 1:12), and in Zec 3:1; Zec 3:5 He is closely involved in the assessing of and cleansing of God’s people in the person of their High Priest.

‘Behold, he comes, says YHWH of hosts.’ As so often YHWH speaks of the coming One as ‘He’ not ‘I’. (As is the case with the Angel of YHWH). But the promise is that He is surely coming, and they therefore need to be ready for His coming and for His own ‘great and terrible Day’ (Mal 4:5). Note the emphasis on the unexpectedness and suddenness of His coming.

So the promise is firstly of the initial coming of the preparer of the way (whose details are given in Mal 4:5-6; Luk 1:15-17; Mat 3:3 and parallels), and then of the coming of the Sovereign Lord Himself, that is, the Messenger (Angel) of the Covenant. That the Lord Jesus Christ did come in the fullness of time is what the Gospels are all about, and in them He is clearly revealed as the Sovereign Lord and the Messenger of the Covenant. And that He suddenly came to His Temple occurred twice, once at the commencement of His ministry (Joh 2:13-17) and once at the end (Mar 11:11; Mar 11:15-17 and parallels).

Mal 3:2-3

‘But who can abide the day of his coming?

And who will stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire,

And like fuller’s soap,

And he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,

And he will purify the sons of Levi,

And refine them as gold and silver,

And they will offer to YHWH offerings in righteousness.’

He reminds them Who it is Who is coming. He is the Righteous One. And thus the question arises as to who will be able to bear His coming? Who will be able to remain on their feet when He comes? For He is like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s cleansing fluid. The refiner of silver especially had the most difficult of tasks, for if he did not get it right the silver would lose its lustre. Thus the picture of the refining of silver is of the skill and care with which the divine Refiner will work. The vivid picture of the heated flames that smelt the gold and silver, and the chemicals used by launderer’s to cleanse garments, demonstrate the intensity of what is to happen (see Jer 2:22). People’s hearts are to be thoroughly searched out, the dross removed, and the hearts cleansed. This picture of refining fire is often previously used by the prophets, compare Isa 48:10; Jer 6:29-30; Eze 22:17-22; Zec 13:9, while the idea of God seen as fire occurs throughout the Old Testament (e.g. Exo 3:2; Exo 19:18; Exo 24:17; Deu 4:12; Eze 1:27). As the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, ‘Our God is a consuming fire’ (Heb 12:29).

And when He comes He will purify ‘the sons of Levi’. Note the wider term (not the sons of Zadok) for he is not thinking of the priests, but has in mind his words in Mal 2:4-6 concerning the righteous preachers who will arise who will have the law of truth in their mouths, and no unrighteousness on their lips, and who will turn many from iniquity, the true heirs of Levi. And these He will refine as gold and silver, so that they will offer to YHWH offerings of righteousness (righteous offerings).

That there is a deliberate contrast between the righteous offerings mentioned here and the unrighteous offerings of the priests and laity mentioned earlier is undoubted. But as he has brought out in Mal 1:12 they will also be a different kind of offering. They will be the offerings of prayer in His Name as incense (Psa 141:2), the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving (Heb 13:15; 1Pe 2:5), and the offering of their lives as a living sacrifice which is holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1-2) through the sacrifice of the One Who would offer Himself up for them once and for all.

There can be no doubt that in the coming of Jesus and His effectiveness in changing the hearts of men such a refining process did take place, and those whom He refined then went out refining others until His Name was made great among the Gentiles, and the offerings of praise and thanksgiving rose from all parts of the world (Mal 1:12).

‘The sons of Levi.’ If we contrast this with the ‘sons of Belial’ we will see that the term can mean those who follow in the ways of Levi. It does not require that they be strictly Levites. Indeed it must be doubted if anyone today could genuinely identify themselves as sons of Levi with any authenticity, and there would have been few if any in Jesus’ day. The ‘sons of Levi’ were those who heaved like the ideal Levi.

Mal 3:4

‘Then will the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to YHWH,

As in the days of old, and as in ancient years.’

And once this happens the offering of the people of God will be acceptable and pleasant to YHWH, as they were in the best days of the days gone by. ‘Judah and Jerusalem’ indicates the whole true people of God. The early church in Acts 1-12 was of course largely composed of people from Judah and Jerusalem, and all others who joined with them by becoming ‘proselytes’ would be seen as one with them. Thus there are no grounds for denying that the early church is in mind here.

Mal 3:5-6

‘And I will come near to you to judgment,

And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,

And against the adulterers, and against the false swearers,

And against those that oppress the hireling in his wages,

The widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right,

And fear not me, says YHWH of hosts.

For I, YHWH, change not,

Therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.’

But the One Who comes to refine will also act swiftly to judge those who fail to respond. This will include those involved in the occult, adulterers who take other men’s wives, those who give false testimony, those who underpay their workers, or treat badly the widows and the fatherless (those who have no one to defend them), and those who are unjust towards immigrants. That this swift judgment came on Jerusalem and Judah in 70 AD at the hands of the Romans is unquestionable.

So there is a clear division between those who respond to the refining process and those who do not. For the former salvation, for the latter judgment. And this is because YHWH is unchanging. He continually shows mercy towards the repentant and continually brings judgment on the unrepentant. And it is because they are a special people to Him and because He has remembered His promises that He is yet offering the opportunity of repentance to them so that they are not consumed as Edom had been (Mal 1:2-5). The question is as to whether they will demonstrate that they are true ‘sons of Levi’ or not.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Mal 3:1  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mal 3:1 “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me” Comments – Mal 3:1 prophesies of the coming of John the Baptist. Mar 1:2 quotes this prophecy in the opening verses of His Gospel.

Mar 1:2, “As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”

Mal 3:1 Comments – Mal 3:1 makes a reference to the First and Second Coming of Christ Jesus. The prophecy of the coming of John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord in Mal 3:1 a refers to Jesus’ First Coming. The prophecy of the Lord coming suddenly into His Temple in Mal 3:1 b is a reference to Jesus’ glorious Second Coming. The phrase “whom ye delight in” may refer to the fact that the Jewish nation will be eagerly looking for and accepting Jesus Christ as their Messiah as His First Coming, although they rejected Him as His First appearance because He came as a suffering Servant. The final phrase “behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts,” in Mal 3:1 c is simply a restatement of His Coming as a way of establishing the certainly of Christ’s Coming.

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Mal 3:6 Comments When God made a covenant with Israel and promises to Abraham, He does not turn from His Word. Otherwise, He would have justification to destroy the children of Israel as He has destroyed the Edomites (Mal 1:2-5).

Mal 3:7  Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Mal 3:7 Comments Pieter Verhoef interprets Mal 3:7 to refer back to the time of Israel’s forefathers until the present, citing a number of Old Testament verses with a similar grammatical construction (Jdg 19:30, 2Sa 7:6 , 1Ch 17:10, Isa 7:17). [8] The Lord is saying that practically from the beginning of the covenant at Mount Sinai, the children of Israel have broken their promises to God in various ways. God remembered every sin that the children of Israel had ever committed. Although the blood of the sacrifices covered those sins so that God’s wrath did not fall upon Israel, He would not forget those sins until the day of atonement upon Calvary when His Son Jesus Christ would bear the sins of mankind upon Himself.

[8] Pieter A. Verhoef, The Books of Haggai and Malachi, in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987), 300-301.

Malachi will soon call Israel back to the Law of Moses, saying, “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” (Mal 4:4)

Illustration – The Lord once told me, “I respond to you when you respond to me.”

Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Mal 3:8 Word Study on “rob” Strong says the Hebrew word “rob” ( ) (H6906) means, “to cover, defraud, rob, or spoil.” Webster defines the word “defraud” as “t o deprive of some right, interest, or property, by a deceitful device.”

Mal 3:8 Comments – Note that in Mal 1:6-8, these people were already giving tithes and offerings, but they are not giving their best to God (note Mal 3:3). These people were giving blemished offerings as a religious practice. They were not giving from the heart.

Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

Mal 3:9 Comments God declares that He has been robbed when He does not receive tithes and offerings from Israel. According to the Mosiac Law, the tithe belonged to the Lord (Lev 27:30; Lev 27:32).

Lev 27:30, “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.”

Lev 27:32, “And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.”

Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Mal 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house” Word Study on “storehouse” The Hebrew words ( ) (house) and ( ) (treasure, threshingfloor, storehouse) used together ( ) in Mal 3:10 are accurately translated “storehouse.” This phrase is unique to the Old Testament Scriptures.

Comments The Temple in Jerusalem contained many storerooms to keep the offerings dedicated to the Lord. Three times a year the Israelites were commanded to come to Jerusalem to keep the feasts unto the Lord. At this time, many of the Jews brought offerings that were keep in the rooms adjacent to the Temple.

Andrew Wommack says the storehouse was a place where food was stored. This interpretation is supported by the statement, “that there may be meat in mine house.” Therefore, he believes the tithe should be given to the place where a person is spiritually fed. It may be a good local church, or it may be a para-church ministry that is teaching the Word of God accurately and feeding him. [9] If a local church is teaching wrong doctrine and not feeding the congregation, a para-church ministry that feeds one spiritually is the better description of the storehouse. He says in the Old Testament, the Jews brought their tithes to the local Levites and priests in their cities. They did not bring all of the tithes to Jerusalem. They brought the tithe to the minister that was feeding them spiritually.

[9] Andrew Wommack, “Financial Stewardship: The Tithe,” [on-line]; accessed 4 March 2013; available from http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/finance; Internet.

“and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts” – Comments – Mike Murdock says that the Lord’s challenge to prove him with the tithe is a practical way that God gives us an opportunity to practice sowing. [10] As we faithfully tithe unto the Lord and see the marvelous results, we will be encourages to take an additional step and give additional sacrificial offerings. Thus, the tithe can be described as the testing ground for a child of God to learn how to give to the Lord.

[10] Mike Murdock, interviewed by Rod Parsley, Breakthrough (Columbus, Ohio: Rod Parsley Ministries), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program, 23 May 2010.

“if I will not open you the windows of heaven” Word Study on “the windows” Strong says the Hebrew word “windows” ( ) (H699) means, “a lattice, a window, a dove-cove (because of its pigeon-holes, a chimney (openings for smoke), a sluice (openings for water).”

Comments – In the KJV, this word is translated eight times as “windows” and one time as “chimney.” An appropriate means for this Hebrew word is “opening.” J. B. Rotherham translated this word as “sluices” because of the idea of the blessings being “poured from heaven.”

Rotherham, “Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, Yea, I pray you, put me to the proof hereby, saith Yahweh of hosts, whether I will not open to you the sluices of the heavens , and pour out for you blessing, until there be no room.”

Scripture References – Note other verses in the Scriptures where this phrase is used:

Gen 7:11, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened .”

Gen 8:2, “The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped , and the rain from heaven was restrained;”

2Ki 7:2, “Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven , might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.”

2Ki 7:19, “And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven , might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

Isa 24:18, “And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open , and the foundations of the earth do shake.”

In contrast, the Scriptures refer to God closing up heaven:

Deu 11:17, “And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven , that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.”

Deu 28:23-24, “And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass , and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.”

1Ki 8:35, “ When heaven is shut up , and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:”

2Ch 6:26, “ When the heaven is shut up , and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;”

2Ch 7:13, “ If I shut up heaven that there be no rain , or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;”

Mal 3:10 Comments Abraham gave the first tithe recorded in the Scriptures in Gen 14:20. While many people of the land were giving tribute to powerful rulers out of fear and compulsion, Abraham chose to give a portion unto God. After Abraham gave this tithe to Melchizedek king of Salem, the Lord appeared to Abraham and assured him that He would protect him and prosper him in the midst of people who survived under tribute and fear. The tithe was such an effect way of worshipping the Lord that He included this principle in the Mosaic Law. Mal 3:10-11 essentially gives the same promise of the Lord serving as a Shield and Reward to those who tithed when God promised to open the windows of heaven and to rebuke the devourer.

Gen 14:20, “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

Mal 3:10 shows the principle of sowing and reaping. If a man says that he will give if he can first get the money, then it is like a farmer waiting for a harvest before he sows. The harvest does not come before sowing (Gen 6:7).

Gal 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Mal 3:11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mal 3:11 “saith the LORD of hosts” – Comments – The name of the Lord used in Mal 3:11 is the Lord of Hosts, or the Lord of the Armies. This means that there is a battle to be fought within the context of this passage. As we look for an adversary, we find him described as the devourer. This refers to Satan at work taking from God’s children who are disobedient. The Lord of Hosts will rebuke this devourer when God’s children begin to give their tithes and offerings.

Mal 3:12  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mal 3:10-12 Comments Tithes and Offerings – If we do not pay God our tithes, then He will not rebuke the devourer. I have seen a dear relative work hard for many years to save for retirement. Because he drifted away from Church and serving the Lord, and thus, paying his tithe, two divorces have devoured much of his income. (August 9, 1983) He will have money devoured up by the devourer because he is not giving back to God His due tithes.

Mal 3:15-16 Comments The Israelites were not giving tithes or offerings unto the Lord; yet, they were complaining that it was useless to serve Him because they were not being blessed. They saw the material prosperity of those around them with envy, only compounding their sinfulness. The psalmist made a similar observation in Psa 73:3, “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” The prophet Malachi was telling them the source of their lack of prosperity, which was their refusal to give to the Lord so that they could reap His blessings.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Great Day of the Lord.

Jehovah’s Messenger and the Angel of the Covenant.

v. 1. Behold, I will send My messenger, the special prophet spoken of Isa 40:3, the passage upon which the present statement is evidently founded, and he shall prepare the way before Me, Mar 1:3; and the Lord whom ye seek, for whose coming they were so anxiously waiting, shall suddenly come to His Temple, to dwell in the midst of His people, of His Church, even the Messenger of the Covenant, the great Angel of the Lord, the Son of God Himself, whom ye delight in, namely, all those who still desire the covenant of the Lord with His people to he fulfilled. Behold, so the announcement is once more made with impressive solemnity, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. This is the preaching of repentance in order to prepare the hearts for the great advent of Jehovah.

v. 2. But who may abide the day of His coming? be able to endure that Day of Judgment upon the disobedient and secure? Cf Mat 3:8-12; Luk 3:9. And who shall stand when He appeareth? Cf Joe 2:11. For He is like a refiner’s fire, which separates the dross from the pure metal, and like fullers’ soap, thoroughly to cleanse the garment of His Church from all impurities;

v. 3. and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, the entire Messianic period being a time of testing and of judgment, Joh 9:39, culminating in the day of the final Judgment; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, for the judgment begins at the house of God, and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, so that all the members of the New Testament priesthood, in fact, might serve Him in holiness and righteousness.

v. 4. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, the entire Church worshiping Him in spirit and in truth, as in the days of old, when the children of Israel were still in truth His Church, and. as in former years. Cf Tit 2:14; 1Pe 2:5.

v. 5. And I will come near to you to judgment, namely, the judgment of wrath upon the wicked; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the transgressors of the First and Second Commandments, and against the adulterers, those disregarding the Sixth Commandment, and against false swearers, with reference both to the Second and the Eighth Commandments, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, by withholding them altogether or by underpaying him, the widow, and the fatherless, as being without a natural protector, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, Cf Deu 27:19, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts, this last point indicating the source of all iniquity lack of the fear of the Lord.

v. 6. For I am the Lord, I change not, the name Jehovah itself indicating that He is the same from everlasting to everlasting; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed, literally, “and ye, the Sons of Jacob, ye are not yet consumed,” that is, the Lord will keep the true spiritual Israel safe while He sends His judgment upon the wicked in their midst. Even so the Church of Christ in the New Testament is preserved in the midst of hypocrisy and deceit, and the wicked will finally be destroyed.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Mal 3:1

Behold, I will send (I send) my messenger. God answers that he is coming to show himself the God of judgment and justice. Are they ready to meet him and to bear his sentence? Who this “messenger” is is disputed. That no angel or heavenly visitant is meant is clear from historical considerations, as no such event took place immediately before the Lord came to his temple. Nor can Malachi himself be intended, as his message was delivered nearly four, hundred years before Messiah came. The announcement is doubtless founded upon Isa 40:3, and refers to the same person as the older prophet mentions, who is generally allowed to be John the Baptist, the herald of Christ’s advent (Mat 11:10; Joh 1:6). Prepare the way before me. The expression is borrowed from Isaiah, loc. cit. (comp. also Isa 57:14; Isa 62:10). He prepares the way by preaching repentance, and thus removing the obstacle of sin which stood between God and his people. Whom ye seek. When ye ask, “Where is the God of judgment?” Shall suddenly come to his temple. The Lord (ha-Adon) is Jehovah, as in Exo 23:17; Isa 1:24; Isa 3:1, etc. There is a change of persons here, as frequently. Jehovah shall unexpectedly come to his temple ( ) as King and God of Israel (comp. Eze 43:7). There was a literal fulfilment of this prophecy when Christ was presented in the temple as an infant (Luk 2:22, etc.). Even the messenger of the covenant. He is identified with the Lord; and he is the covenant angel who guided the Israelites to the promised land, and who is seen in the various theophanies of the Old Testament. The Divinity of Messiah is thus unequivocally asserted. In him are fulfilled all the promises made under the old covenant, and he is called (Heb 9:15) “the Mediator of the new covenant.” Some render,” and the Messenger,” etc; thus distinguishing the Angel of the covenant from the forerunner who prepares the way. But this is already done by the expressions, “My Messenger,” and “the Lord.” Whom ye delight in. Whose advent ye expect with eager desire.

Mal 3:2

Who may abide the day of his comings? They had expected him to come and judge the heathen; the prophet warns them that they themselves shall be first judged (comp. Amo 5:18). “Malachi, like John the Baptist, sees the future Judge in the present Saviour” (Wordsworth); Joe 2:11. Who shall stand! Who can stand up under the burden of this judgment? The Vulgate Version, Quis stabit ad videndum eum? points to the brightness of his presence, which eye of man cannot endure. Like a refiner’s fire, which separates the precious metal from the refuse. So the Lord at his coming shall sever the good among men from the evil (Isa 1:25; Jer 6:29; Zec 13:9). Like fullers’ soap; Septuagint, , “as the grass of washers;” Vulgate, quasi herba fullonum, What is to be understood exactly by the “soap” (borith), washing herb, is not known. Probably the ashes of some plant yielding a lye, like carbonate of soda, are meant. Such plants are met with on the shores of the Mediterranean and Dead Seas, and at this day large quantities of alkalies are extracted from them and exported in different directions. The Lord shall wash away all that is filthy (comp. Mat 3:10, Mat 3:12).

Mal 3:3

He shall sit. As a judge. The prophet confines himself to the first of the two images presented in the preceding verse. The sons of Levi. Especially the priests, who ought to set an example, and teach holiness and obedience. Thus judgment should begin at the house of God (Eze 9:6; 1Pe 4:17). The purifying consists not only in exterminating the evil, but also in correcting and improving all who are not wholly incorrigible. We may call to mind Christ’s purging of the temple, and his denunciations of the teaching body among the Jews, and see herein his way of trying his ministers in all ages, that they may shine like lights in the world, and adorn the doctrine of God in all things. That they may offer (and they shall be offering) unto the Lord an offering (minchah) in righteousness. The pure sacrifice shall then be offered with a pure heart. As firstfruits of this improved condition, we read in Act 6:7, “A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Mal 3:4

The offering of Judah and Jerusalem. When the purification has taken place, and the priests offer pure worship, then the sacrifices of the whole nation will be acceptable. Judah and Jerusalem represent the kingdom of the Messiah; for salvation is of the Jews, and the gospel was first preached at Jerusalem. As in former (ancient) years. As in the days of Moses, David, and Solomon, or still earlier in the case of Abel, noah, Abraham, and the patriarchs. (See the account of the ideal priesthood, Mal 2:5, etc.) The prophet does not necessarily expect that the Mosaic ritual is to last forever and to be maintained throughout the world, but he employs the terms with which the Jewish people were conversant to express the worship of the new covenant (comp. Mal 1:11, and note there).

Mal 3:5

I will come near to you to judgment. They had asked, “Where is the God of judgment?” (Mal 2:17). He tells them that his judgment shall extend beyond the Levites even unto all the people; they will then see whether, as they supposed, the evil went unpunished. The announcement applies especially to the circumstances of Malachi’s time, though, of course, it has an extended reference. Swift witness. God’s judgments fall swiftly and unexpectedly; and when they fall the sinner is at once convicted, and no con-comment, excuse, or subterfuge is possible. “How terrible is that judgment,” says St. Jerome, “where God is at once Witness and Judge!” Sorcerers; ; maleficis (Vulgate); see Exo 7:11; Exo 22:18; Deu 18:10. The Jews had grown familiar with magical arts during the Captivity; that they practised them later we learn from Act 8:9; Act 13:6. Adulterers. They who were ready to marry heathen wives would not be likely to be restrained by any law from gratifying their passions, False swearers; Septuagint, “those who swear falsely by my name,” which is from Zec 5:4 (comp. Le 19:12; and see note on Zec 5:3). Oppress the hireling. Defraud him of his just wages (see Deu 24:14, Deu 24:15; Jas 5:4). The widow, and the fatherless (Exo 22:22; Deu 24:17). Turn aside (bow down) the stranger; Septuagint, “pervert the judgment of the stranger;” Vulgate, opprimunt peregrinum (Exo 22:21; Deu 27:19; Amo 5:12). And fear not me. This was the root of all the evil.

Mal 3:6

For I am the Lord, I change not; or, Jehovah, I change not. This is to show that God performs his promises, and effectually disposes of the allegation in Mal 2:17, that he put no difference between the evil and the good. The great principles of right and wrong never alter; they are as everlasting as he who gave them. God here speaks of himself by his covenant name, which expresses his eternal independent being, “the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas 1:17). Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Because God’s eternal purpose stands good, and his “gifts and calling are without repentance” (Rom 11:29), therefore the Israelites are indeed chastised and corrected, but not wholly consumed; they have a place and a nation, and the great promises made to their foregathers will all be fulfilled in due time (Jer 30:11; Mic 7:20). He calls them “sons of Jacob,” to remind them of the covenant made with their great ancestor, which was the portion of all true Israelites (comp. Jer 33:20, Jer 33:21). Orelli would read, “Ye have not made an end,” i.e. of your sins; so virtually the Septuagint, which joins this clause to the following verse. But the present text is most probably correct.

Mal 3:7-12

2. God indeed is faithful to his promises, but the people’s own conduct has occasioned the withholding of favours: they have been shamefully negligent in the matter of tithes and offerings; let them amend their practice, and they shall be blessed.

Mal 3:7

Ye are gone away (have turned aside) from mine ordinances. Disobedience was no new offence; they had always from early days been persistent in wickedness; and if the performance of God’s sure promise was delayed, this was because they had not fulfilled the conditions on which rested its accomplishment. Return: unto me, and I will return unto you (Zec 1:3, where see note). Man must cooperate with God’s preventing grace, and then God gives him further grace unto repentance and amendment. Here, if the people followed the preaching of the prophets and obeyed the promptings of the Holy Spirit, God promises to bless and save them. Wherein shall we return? Here is the Pharisaical spirit, as in Mal 1:6, etc. They do not acknowledge their offence; they consider that they are righteous and need no repentance.

Mal 3:8

Will a man rob God? The prophet shows the people how they have departed from God, in not keeping even the outward observances of religion. The word translated “rob,” defraud, found also in Pro 22:23, etc; is rendered in the Septuagint, , “trip up,” “supplant;” Vulgate, si affliget homo Deum, or, as St. Jerome first translated, “si affiget homo Deum,” and referred the words to the crucifixion of our Lord. In tithes and offerings. These were due to the Lord, and therefore in withholding them they were defrauding not man but God. (For tithe, see Le 27:30, etc.; Num 18:21. See the complaint of Nehemiah, Neh 13:10-12.) The “offering” meant is the heave offering, the breast and shoulder of the peace offering, which were the priests’ portion (Exo 29:27; Le Exo 7:14, 32-34; comp. Neh 10:37-39).

Mal 3:9

Ye are cursed with a (the) curse. The effect of the curse was scarcity and barrenness, as we see from Mal 3:10-12 (comp. Mal 2:2; Hag 1:6). The Vulgate assumes the result: In penuria vos maledicti estis. The next clause given the reason of the curse. This whole nation. Not individuals only, but the whole nation (he does not any longer call them God’s people) were implicated in this sin. The LXX; reading differently, has, “The year is ended, and ye have brought,” etc.

Mal 3:10

All the tithes; the whole tithenot merely a portion of it. God is not served with partial service. The storehouse. The tithes were brought to the temple, and laid up in the chambers built to receive them (see Neh 10:38, Neh 10:39; Neh 13:5, Neh 13:12, Neh 13:13; 2Ch 31:11, 2Ch 31:12). That there may be meat in mine house. That they who minister about holy things may live of the things of the temple (1Co 9:13; Num 18:21). Prove me now herewith. Do your part, perform your duties, and then see if I will not reward your obedience. Open you the windows of heaven. The expression implies net only the removal of drought by copious showers of rain, but the diffusion of heavenly blessing in large abundance. That there shall not be room enough to receive it; or, unto superabundance; Vulgate, usque ad abundantiam; Septuagint, , “until it suffice;” Syriac, “until ye say, It is enough.” The Authorized Version retains the negation in the sentence, and perhaps comes nearest to the meaning of the original (comp. Luk 12:17, Luk 12:18).

Mal 3:11

The devourer. The locust (see Introduction to Joel, 1.). God would not only give a fruitful season, so that the crops sprang up well, but would guard them from everything that could injure them before they were gathered in. Septuagint, , which perhaps means, as Schleusner thinks, “I will give a charge unto consumption for your good,” though Jerome renders, “dividam vobis cibos.”

Mal 3:12

Shall call you blessed; or, happy, as Mal 3:15 (comp. Deu 33:29; Zec 8:13, Zec 8:23). A delightsome land; ; literally, a land of good pleasurea land in which God is well pleased (comp. Isa 62:4; Jer 3:19).

Mal 3:13-18

3. The impious murmuring of the people is contrasted with the conduct of those who fear God; and the reward of the pious is set forth.

Mal 3:13

Your words have been stout against me. Ye have spoken hard words of me (comp. Jud 1:15, where we read of “the hard speeches () which ungodly sinners have spoken against” God). Some specimens of these speeches are given in answer to the usual sceptical inquiry. They are of the same character as those in Mal 2:17, and imply that the course of this world is not directed by a moral Governor. What have we spoken so much (together) against thee! What have we said against thee in our conversations with one another?

Mal 3:14

It is vain. It brings no acknowledgment or reward. The Latin and Greek Versions have, “He is vain who serveth God.” Have kept his ordinance (charge). Have done what he ordered. They are either wilfully deceiving themselves and others by pretending an obedience which they never really paid; or they think that the outward observance of certain legal requirements is all that is required. Some think that an interval of time separates this from the last section, and that meanwhile they had made some efforts at improvement, expecting, how. ever, immediate results in added blessings; and as these did not come as quickly as they hoped, they relapsed into their old distrust. Have walked mournfully; i.e. in mourning apparel, as if fasting and mourning for sin (Psa 35:13, Psa 35:14; Job 30:28). Septuagint, “Why went we as suppliants ()?” Before the Lord. Out of reverence and awe of Jehovah. They attributed a certain virtue to voluntary fasts, without any consideration of the spirit in which they were observed (see the reproof of such formal observances in Isa 58:4, etc.).

Mal 3:15

We call the proud happy. This is still the speech of the murmurers. We, they say, do not reckon the humble and meek blessed; we consider that the only blessed ones are the arrogant heathen, or free thinkers, who meet with prosperity and happiness in this world. For the “proud,” the LXX. has, , “strangers,” which, doubtless, gives the meaning (comp. Isa 13:11). Are set up; literally, are built uphave wealth and families, and leave a name behind them (Psa 17:14; see in the original, Gen 16:2; Gen 30:3; and comp. Exo 1:21; Jer 12:16, where the phrase, “being built,” includes all temporal prosperity). They that tempt God are even delivered; they tempt God, and are delivered (Mal 3:10). They try and provoke God by their impiety, and yet escape punishment. Septuagint, , “They resist God, and yet are safe.”

Mal 3:16

With these impious murmurers the prophet contrasts those who fear God, as above (Mal 2:5-7) he set the picture of the true priest in opposition to his delineation of the evil ministers. Then. When the impious made the above infidel remarks, the pious spake often, conversed together. What they said is not repeated, but it was language well pleasing unto God, who deigned to listen to their words, and to console them by announcing the future destiny of the good and the evil. They may have argued with these impious talkers, and warned others against them; or they may have expostulated as Jer 12:1, but yet with full faith that what God does is always good; and this sentiment was all the harder to cherish because they lived under a system of temporal rewards and punishments. The Septuagint and Syriac have, “These things spake they that feared the Lord,” as if the two preceding verses reported the words of the pious. Some Fathers and commentators have taken the same view. But it is difficult to conceive such words coming from the mouth of those who fear God; unless they are so called ironically. But this is inadmissible, as we see that in the present verse they are represented in their true character, and such a sudden change from irony to actuality is unnatural and quite opposed to the prophet’s usual manner. A book of remembrance was written before him. The hook represents God’s providence and omniscience, his ever-wakeful care, his unfailing knowledge. “Are not these things noted in thy book?” says the psalmist (Psa 56:8); and when the dead were judged, Daniel saw that the books were opened (Dan 7:10). The idea is taken from the national records wherein were noted events of importance, such as we find in the cuneiform inscriptions. This book was to lie, as it were, always before the eyes of the Lord, to remind him of the pious. Rosenmuller compares the proverbial saying, , “It is written on the tablets of Zeus” on which Erasmus comments in his ‘Adagia,’ under the title “Fides et Gravitas.” For them that feared the Lord. For their benefit, to preserve their name forever. Thought upon his Name. Prized his Name, regarded it with awe. Septuagint, , “ who reverenced his Name.”

Mal 3:17

They shall be mine, etc. This is better rendered, in accordance with the Septuagint and Vulgate, “They shall be to me, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day which I am preparing, a peculiar treasure.” This day of the Lord is the day of judgment, which God is always preparing by his visitation of nations and individuals. Then shall the righteous be to God a peculiar treasure (segullah), that which he prizes as his special possession (see Exo 19:5, whence the expression is derived; and comp. Deu 7:6 : Deu 14:2; Deu 26:18; Psa 135:4). I will spare them; i.e. when I punish sinners. They are spared on two grounds, because they are his sons, and because they serve him like obedient children (Psa 103:13). Septuagint, , “I will choose them.”

Mal 3:18

Then shall ye return, and discern; or, ye shall again discern. They had already had many opportunities, both in the history of the nation and the life of individuals, of observing the different treatment of the godly and of sinners; but in the day of the Lord they should have a more plain and convincing proof of God’s moral government (comp. Exo 11:7; Wis. 5:1-5); “So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth” (Psa 58:11).

HOMILETICS

Mal 3:2

The manifestation of Christ a testing time to all.

We may apply this truth

I. TO CHRIST‘S FIRST MANIFESTATION TO THE WORLD. This truth was foreseen by Simeon (Luk 2:34, Luk 2:35). And when Jesus entered on his public ministry, his preaching and his very presence served as a testing time to all.

1. His teaching was a process of sifting (Mat 3:12). Socrates used to go about Athens testing and refining men’s ideas, and in his own unrivalled method extracting the few grains of gold from the mass of rubbish in young men’s minds. Our Lord did a more valuable service, testing men’s hearts rather than their heads, their characters rather than their opinions. Illust.: Nicodemus, tested, convicted of ignorance, but ultimately refined. Others when convicted were offended and repelled; e.g. Mat 15:12-14; Joh 6:25-66; Joh 8:33-59. So severe was this testing process that Christ pronounced a special blessing on all who stood it (Luk 7:23). Yet Christ’s teaching held out the door of mercy to all. He showed to the world that in the midst of the dross of some of the foulest lives there were grains of gold, gems of Divinity, which his purifying power could disengage. Sinful men and women “loved much,” because through his words they learned that they had been much forgiven.

2. The purity of his life made his very presence like the flame of a refiner’s fire. Men could not be much with him without being either attracted and purified or repelled and made worse; e.g. the Gadarenes, the chief priests, Judas. On the other hand we note Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, file “sinner” (Luk 7:37), the eleven apostles. This testing process took effect especially among the religious people of that day (Joh 8:3). Judgment began at the house of God. Some priests believed in him; few, if any, confessed him. Of most he had to say Mat 21:31; and see Mat 21:44, Mat 21:45.

II. TO THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO THE SOUL OF A MAN. It was not the mere fact of Christ having come to the world and being seen that made him like a refiner’s fire; it was when he came home to men’s hearts and was manifested to their consciences that the real testing began. In this sense Christ still comes to our homes and appears to our hearts. Of this manifestation we remark:

1. We naturally dread it. Joh 1:26 is too often true. Many shun that manifestation. They put up the shutters and close every chink, “lest the light,” etc. (2Co 4:4). Thus they can tolerate secret sins of which they would be ashamed “in the light of his countenance.” Imagine that we were living in the same house as Jesus Christ, that he noticed every act and word, and that we knew he was acquainted with our thoughts as well. How could we bear it? Should we not at times be constrained to cry out, in distress, if not in defiance, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord”? But alas! we often do not realize “the real presence” of the invisible Christ. When we do, our feelings will be those of guilty Adam or at least of righteous Job.

2. Yet we ought to desire it. Foreverything depends on our knowing ourselves as sinners, and Christ as our Saviour. This should make us very anxious that when Christ reveals himself it may be not simply as the light of God, but as the fire of God. Light merely reveals. Illust.: morning light dawning on the horrors of yesterday’s battlefield. But fire may purify, and Christ is like a refiner’s fire. The two figures of the text are suggestive. “Two sorts of material for cleansing are mentioned: the one severe, where the baser materials are in worked with the rich ore; the other mild, where the defilement is easily separable.”

(1) He is like a refiner’s fire. Illust.: Zacchaeus “purged from his old sins” by Christ, who not only came to his home, but appeared, manifested himself in his heart. Like the flame of the fiery furnace, the fire of the Lord’s holy love consumed the bonds of sin, but the man himself stood upright and walked at liberty. This refining process may be a very severe one to us. But the refining fire is himself the Refiner. He knows the ore he has to deal with. We can calmly leave him to select every step in the process. We know that he is working towards an end which is, or ought to be, very dear to usour own sanctification (Psa 79:9).

(2) He is like fuller’s soap. This is a milder process. Yet even this may imply some rough treatment like treading, beating, hammering with mallets. Linen after cleansing may show how much dirt there was in it before. So Christ’s purifying power may show us how many secret sins there were ingrained in the very essence of our hearts. The discovery may prompt to confession and to prayer (Psa 51:1-10), which will be met by the promise, Isa 1:18. Christ is no mere reformer or disciplinarian. He himself is the fire; his blood is the cleansing fountain; his Spirit is the source of our sanctification. Our supreme desire should be that Christ should be manifested to our souls now as the purifying fire of that holy God who, because he changeth not, doth not consume us (Isa 1:6). For otherwise he will for the same reason (Isa 1:5, Isa 1:6, “For I change not”) consume us at last.

III. TO THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. In this prophecy, as Augustine says, “the first and second advents of Christ are brought together.” Malachi sees the great white throne in the background (Mal 4:1). The result of that coming to us will depend on his treatment of us and our treatment of him now (2Ti 1:18).

Mal 3:6

The twofold aspect of the unchangeableness of God.

Three truths are taught here.

I. THAT GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE.

1. His nature is a pledge of it. Being absolutely perfect, any change of nature must be for the worse. The “light” (1Jn 1:5) would be dimmed; any “variation” would cause “a shadow that is cast by turning” (Jas 1:17, Revised Version). He is “Alpha and Omega,” and not an intervening letter can be displaced; not a “jot or tittle” can pass away.

2. His Name declares it. Whether we interpret the Divine Name, “I am that I am,” or “I will be that I will be,” unchangeableness is implied. He “is, and was, and is to come, the Almighty.” He has emotions, but these are not the capricious feelings of a changeable creature; e.g. contrast the wrath of God and that of King Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 2:1-49. and 3. He revokes promises or reverses threats; but he “cannot lie” (Tit 1:2; cf. Num 23:19). The strongest assurance of this truth is found in the revelation of the Divine Name in Jesus Christ, who through successive ages is proving himself to be “the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

II. THAT THIS UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD IS THE GROUND OF HOPE FOR THE GUILTY. For God hath an “eternal purpose, which he hath purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And he says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” That eternal purpose included his dealings with the elect race of the old covenant. In spite of their many sins, he wrought out his gracious purposes respecting them (cf. Le 26:42-45; Deu 7:7, Deu 7:8). And still God remembers the land and the people (Zec 14:10, Zec 14:11; Rom 11:25-29). The same unchangeableness brings hope to all of us who have been invited and have been led to trust in our Saviour-God, “who hath saved us,” etc. (2Ti 1:9). Those unalterable purposes include our purification (cf. Dan 2:3, Dan 2:4). For that end Christ gave himself for us (Eph 5:26; Tit 2:14), and towards that end God is ever working. Well may we marvel at the everlasting mercy and the unchanging faithfulness of God (Lam 3:22, Lam 3:23). The immutability of God is the sheet anchor of our souls when the storm of guilt and fear threatens our destruction. It was a high eulogy on a Roman commander in a time of national peril that he had not despaired of the republic. It is to the glory of God that he does not despair of us sinners, in spite of our inherited and inveterate sinfulness (Dan 2:7), but “waits, that he may be gracious,” etc. (Isa 30:18), and seeks to overcome our evil by his unchangeable good.

III. THAT THIS HOPE FOR THE GUILTY IS A PLEDGE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE IMPENITENT. This is seen by the connection of Dan 2:5 and Dan 2:6. The unchangeableness of God requires that “the transgressors shall be destroyed together” (Psa 37:38-40). “There needs no scire facias – a writ calling one to show cause, to revive God’s judgment; for it is never antiquated or out of date; but against those that go on in their trespasses, the curse of his Law still remains in full force, power, and virtue” (M. Henry); cf. Ecc 8:11. But judgment deferred is not forgotten (2Pe 3:8, 2Pe 3:9). If judgment is to be escaped, men must change, for God cannot (see the argument in Eze 18:1-30; and cf. Joh 3:7).

Learn:

1. The blessedness of being in unalterable unity with the unchangeable God. For this a reconciliation and a regeneration are provided by God himself (2Co 5:17-21; Jas 1:18). And then “if God be for us, who can be against us?” Changes in our circumstances need little affect us. Eden was no Paradise to Adam without God; the fiery furnace was no terror to Shadrach with God.

2. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” For the unchangeable holiness of God is a consuming fire, which must destroy us in our sins if it does not separate us from them.

Mal 3:7-10

The sin of robbing God.

The special form of sin which is hare denounced (robbing God of tithes and offerings) is only one manifestation of a sin which is older than the law of tithes, and which survives in all nations to the present day. Observe

I. THE NATURE OF THIS SIN. It is an ancient and an inveterate sin. The secret of it is alienation of heart from God (Mal 3:7). It is due to God, our Creator, Benefactor, Redeemer, that we make his will the law of our life, and therefore that we present ourselves a living sacrifice, according to the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. If we fail to do so, it must be either because we do not acknowledge the claims which God makes on us, or, acknowledging them, we yet deliberately withhold them. In the first case, we give the lie to God; in the second, we rob God. (Terrible alternative for every neglecter of God and Christ.) If it is robbery to withhold our hearts, ourselves, from God, it must be also to withhold anything from him. For what is there of which we can say, “This is not God’s property; it is no part of his estate; we can do what we like with this”? It required no law of tithes to assert God’s proprietorship and our stewardship. Cain robbed God when he withheld the offering which God would have accepted, or the spirit of dependence and faith without which even the right offering could not have been received. The withholding of a right spirit from God paves the way for other acts of robbery. The principle of tithes precedes and survives the law of tithes (Pro 3:9, Pro 3:10; Pro 11:24, Pro 11:25; 2Co 8:12; 2Co 9:6-8, etc.). The precept, “Render unto God the things that are God’s,” applies to things as spiritual as souls and as material as silver. If we are not proprietors but stewards, our one duty in regard to every talent we are entrusted with should be, “How will the Divine Proprietor wish me to use it?” If through selfishness or criminal carelessness we use it in a way which does not bring to God the honour that be has a right to expect, we are guilty of robbing God. “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his Name.”

II. IT IS A SIN WINCH MEN ARE HARD TO BE CONVICTED OF.

1. In Mal 3:7 we find a reproof and an appeal which should awaken great searchings of heart: “Lord, is it I?” (Lam 3:40, Lam 3:41). But we may be so self-righteous or ignorant as to evade such general appeals as quite irrelevant. So the net must be drawn tighter; the indictment must be made more definite.

2. So the charge of robbing God is suggested. “Will a man rob God?” The very aversion we feel at the thought of being robbed (for we would rather give away or throw away our property than be cheated of it) should prompt the inquiry, “Is it possible that I may be robbing God?” e.g. of the reverence and godly fear due to the Almighty, as though we could disregard him and dare him to do his worst. Or of the gratitude and dependence he deserves as our Father, our Redeemer, as though we could to a considerable extent dispense with him during life, and then “make it up” at the last. Whose conscience could not convince him that in these or other ways he had been often guilty of robbing God? Yet so hard are men to be convinced of the sin, that to God’s question and his direct charge there comes the glib reply, “Wherein have we robbed thee?”

3. Thus God is compelled to lay his finger on one most glaring act of robbery: “In tithes and offerings.” Some of the offerings were less rigidly regulated by law than tithes, as is the case with the offerings of Christians for the kingdom of Christ and the claims of benevolence. But we may be guilty of robbing God “in offerings.”

(1) By grudging giving. If we do not “freely give,” we withhold from God the right spirit, without which gifts cannot be acceptable. We act as if, though God had a right to demand our money, he had no right to expect the cheerful acknowledgment, “Of thine own have we given thee” (1Ch 29:14; Mat 10:8; 2Co 9:7).

(2) By scanty giving. For there is an amount, some proportion of all we are entrusted with, which it is “meet” to give. To “withhold more than is meet” is to rob God. If a man gives not “according to that he hath,” but as though God had entrusted him with much less, his offerings are not accepted by God. A steward of God (as every one is) is bound conscientiously to consider what proportion of all he receives he should set apart for giving to religious and benevolent objects, so that he may honour the Lord “with the firstfruits of all his increase.” The Jewish laws of tithes and offering may aid him in the estimate. No rule can be laid down for one another, but the Christian steward may fairly start with the presumption that the scale of liberality has not been lowered in the kingdom of Christ, with all its privileges and motives so far in advance of the Jewish theocracy. Lest we should be guilty of robbing God, we should purpose in our heart to devote so much and no less, as God may prosper us. The cheerful, systematic dedication of a liberal proportion of our property to the service of God will preserve us from robbing God. We shall give not as small a proportion as we dare to offer, but as large a proportion as love and conscience in council will justify. Special circumstances may call for special sacrifices; but we shall form, as a first charge on our income, a sacred fund set apart for offerings to God. The experience of those who act on these Divine principles of giving may assure all that they will thus realize, as probably they may never have done before, the truth of our Lord’s words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

III. IT IS A SIN WHICH SHUTS THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN. The excuse which is generally urged for that parsimonious giving which is a robbery of God is, “I can’t afford it.” This may arise from a criminal ignorance of the claims of God and our relations to him, or from a feeble faith on the part of those who yet acknowledge themselves to be his stewards. The guilt of the former has been exposed; the fear of the latter is here met by God’s own challenge, “Prove me now herewith;” “Have faith in God;” “Honour the Lord with thy substance;” “Seek first the kingdom of God;” and then see if God is not faithful to all his promises in regard to both temporal and spiritual blessings. Men may complain of hard times, and may want prosperity to precede liberality. “No,” says God to these suffering Jews and to scanty Christian givers who may be in adversity, “honour me first by obedience and cheerful trust, and see if prosperous times will not come then.” Illust.: widow (1Ki 17:13); poor Macedonians (2Co 8:1-4). Bad times may be the result of past unfaithfulness on the part of God’s servants. You may be reaping sparingly because you have sown sparingly. Try the opposite plan. Now the windows of heaven are closed against ourselves by our own sins. God will open those windows as soon as we honour, obey, and trust. He can surpass our hopes and thoughts (Eph 3:20). His spiritual blessings will only be limited by our capacity for receiving them. Illust.: 2Ki 4:6; 2Ki 13:18, 2Ki 13:19. And with these best of blessings all temporal blessings that will be good for us will be added (2Ki 13:11; Mat 6:33), and showers of blessing on our hearts and homes will descend through the windows of heaven once closed on God’s dishonest servants, now opened to his faithful stewards.

Mal 3:13-18

Hard speeches against God.

Once more God has to bring a charge against his people (Mal 3:13). Their words were “stout,” bold, loud, defiant. Reverence and reticence were both wanting. Once more the plea is entered, “Not guilty.” They will not admit that God is justified when he speaketh and clear when he judgeth. So once more God has to unfold the evidence, that their mouths may be stopped and they may be found guilty before God.

I. HARD SPEECHES AGAINST GOD.

1. God’s service is unprofitable. They charge God with being an ungenerous Master, who allows them to work hard in order to keep his ordinances and to deny themselves (“walk mournfully”), and yet suffers them to enjoy little or no advantage therefrom. Even the service of God is “vanity and vexation of spirit.” This is an old complaint (Job 22:15-17) often repeated (Psa 73:1-28.; Isa 58:3, etc.). It reflects on God’s equity as well as generosity, This is seen more clearly in the second charge.

2. The wicked are better off than we are. They seem to be “happy;” they are evidently “set up,” established by God’s providence in much prosperity. And though, instead of “proving” God (Mal 3:10), they “tempt God,” they go unpunished, and are delivered from trials which still oppress us. The facts noted form part of the world wide and perplexing problem which has often caused atheists openly to blaspheme and Christians to weep in secret. But if ever the problem tries us, let us learn a lesson from the contrast between the conduct of the ungodly professors here and the godly Asaph. These speak openly to others against God, and thus encourage one another in unbelief. But Asaph (Psa 73:15-17) speaks in secret to God about the question, and God guides him into truth and peace.

II. CONCLUSIVE REPLIES TO THEM. Answers to all these hard speeches may be found:

1. In the hollowness of the pretences of these stout speakers against God. They did not really “serve God” or “keep his ordinances.” If they walked “mournfully,” it was a sign that love, gratitude, gladness, were absent, or the joy of the Lord would have been their strength. Since their heart was far from God, so that he says, “In vain do they worship me” (Mat 15:8, Mat 15:9), no wonder they have to confess, “It is vain to serve God.” And whenever we find Christian worship or work bringing little profit to our souls, we may well institute great searchings of heart lest the radical difficulty should be found altogether in our own spiritual state in regard to God. If, however, our hearts condemn us not on this charge, we may see a further answer.

2. In the opposite experiences of those “who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” While the murmurers have been talking to one another against God, another company has conversed together” (Mal 3:16). (Contrast the two gatheringstheir spirit, their subjects, their tones.) They can tell a very different tale. They can speak words which God delights to hear and to record. Their experience of the faithfulness of God and the profitableness of his service even in dark days should neutralize the influence of distrustful complainers. Their characters attest their testimony. The confession of a Paul (2Ti 1:12) more than compensates for the desertion of a Demas.

3. In the fact that we have not yet “seen the end of the Lord.” God speaks of a future, and bids us wait for that (Mal 3:17, Mal 3:18). We have seen the end of the Lord in the case of Job (Jas 5:11) and other tried but triumphant servants of God. We have not yet seen the end of the Lord in that drama of life (sometimes tragical) in which we are taking part. 6, Therefore judge nothing before the time” (1Co 4:5). In our present state of education and probation, “all thing are ours” by possession or by promise. In verses 16 and 17 we are reminded of a few of our privileges. We have the ear of God, a record with God, communion with God, protection by God, and a high estimate in his sight The ultimate issue (verse 18) will vindicate the confidence of his servants and silence the murmurs of his foes (Rom 8:31-39; Jud Rom 1:14, Rom 1:15).

Mal 3:16

Christian converse.

“Then,” etc. When? When ungodliness was rampant (Mal 3:13-15). As an excess of carbonic acid in the air makes the lamps in a mine burn dimly, so the atmosphere of prevailing ungodliness makes it hard to maintain a brightly burning piety. Christian converse is one means of sustaining a bright and vigorous godliness “in this present evil world,” especially when the evil is more than usually “present” and pressing upon us.

(1) The servants of God conversing;

(2) God listening and approving.

I. THE SERVANTS OF GOD CONVERSING. The description of them, “They that feared the Lord,” reminds us of the godly jealousy they cherished for the honour of God, like Noah, Nehemiah, and other servants of God in a corrupt age. Such fear is a source of purity (Psa 19:9; Pro 14:27), and a safeguard in the most ungodly days (Isa 8:13, Isa 8:14). Fearing God, they think much on his Name so deeply dishonoured in their midst; and they do so because (as the term implies) “they highly esteemed his Name.” They feel the danger of spiritual contagion and disease (Mat 24:12). Lest their love should cool or their faith should fail, they conversed one with another. While the ungodly were uttering “stout” words against God (verse 13), they were speaking warm words on his behalf. Learn:

1. Charting circumstances may call for new means of grace. E.g. the meetings of the sons of the prophets and traces of public religious services (2Ki 4:23) in the dark days of Elijah and Elisha. The institution of synagogue worship in the Captivity. The secret services of the catacombs. The gatherings in woods or on moors of Covenanters, Nonconformists, and the martyr Church of Madagascar. “The word of the Lord was precious in those days,”

2. Private Christian communion may do much to supplement or to supply more public means of grace. From public Church fellowship the godly could gain little in the days of Malachi. There was neither purity nor unity (Mal 2:10, Mal 2:11). In such circumstances all the more need for godly converse. “When the fire bums low, the coals that are alive should be brought together, that they may be blown into a flame.” Illust.: Jonathan and David (1Sa 23:16-18); Jeremiah and Baruch (Jer 45:1-5); Paul in prison and his friends “which have been a comfort unto me” (Col 4:11; cf. Heb 3:13; Heb 10:24, Heb 10:25). Such. converse is enjoined in the family (Deu 6:6-8) and among believers (Eph 5:19). But to be a means of grace, it needs to be natural and spontaneous.

“But conversation, choose what theme we may,
And chiefly when religion leads the way,
Should flow, like water after summer showers,
Not as if raised by mere mechanic powers.”

The spirit of it may be seen in Psa 34:1-3, Psa 34:11; Psa 66:16.

II. GOD LISTENING AND APPROVING.

1. “The Lord hearkened, and heard.” It is a solemn truth that God listens to everything we say (Num 12:2; Jer 8:6; Psa 139:4). Here this truth wears a cheerful face. As illustrations: Two Christians encouraging one another in God; Christ in their midst (Mat 18:20; Luk 24:13-31). A Christian man on a lonely walk, courteously conversing with a stranger, and seeking to commend Christ to him. The stranger may go away to pray or to scoff. But that is not all. God hearkened and heard and noted the good deed done in his name. God listens with pleasure to all we say for him as well as to him.

2. “And a book of remembrance,” etc. Older than the chronicles of the kings of Persia (Est 6:1) or of Israel is the book of remembrance of the Divine King (Psa 56:8). “Never was any good word spoken of God or for God from an honest heart, but it was registered, that it might be recompensed in the resurrection of the just, and in no wise lose its reward.” That reward is referred to in Psa 66:17.

LESSON. (Col 4:6.) Supposing a Christian’s talk for one day were taken down verbatim, what proportion of it could be entered in God’s book of remembrance as “good to the use of edifying” (Eph 4:29), and of any service in the great day of account (Mat 12:37)?

Mal 3:17

The Divine Proprietor and his peculiar treasure.

We adopt, as a more accurate translation, the rendering, “And they shall be to me, saith Jehovah, in the day that I am preparing, a peculiar treasure,” etc; and thus learn

I. THAT THE SERVANTS OF GOD ARE HIS PECULIAR TREASURE. It is a joy to know that in such a world as this there is anything which God can regard as his own peculiar treasure. For sin is here. The serpent’s trail is found in every earthly paradise. “The works of the devil” have done much to dim the glory and mar the beauty of the works of God. True, his material works are as attractive as ever (Psa 104:31). But a moral Being cannot find his peculiar treasure in material works. Of what value are the precious metals and the rare gems of earth to God? If they cannot satisfy the hunger of the created spirit, how can they be a special treasure to the Spirit that created all (Job 36:19)? It was a man who was first called “the friend of God” (Jas 2:23). It was to a nation that the promise was first given, “ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine” (Exo 19:5). Though the heavens are not pure in his sight, and he charges the angels with folly, yet he can find a peculiar treasure in sinful souls that fear and love him, that think upon his Name, and nurture in one another’s hearts the elements of, Divine life. While the whole Church of God is his treasure, every individual is an object of special regard and value. God says, “I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in my sight.” Every believer may appropriate the love and sacrifice of Christ, “who loved me, and gave himself for me.” So that each individual in the universal Church may be regarded as a jewel in the Divine treasury. They are God’s “hidden ones,” but not overlooked; scattered, but not lost; the world knoweth them not, but “the Lord knoweth them that are his.” Apply to different classes; e.g. godly children; the obscure poor; uneducated saints (“rough diamonds”); the donors of widow’s mites to the Master’s service; an Abijah in the house of Jeroboam;all are jewels in God’s treasury of redeemed souls.

II. THAT THEY SHALL BE TREATED WITH PECULIAR CARE. “The day” which Jehovah was preparing may represent all the various troubles and dangers which may await both the righteous and the ungodly. We may apply the term:

1. To days of trial in this life. We do not expect exemption from all trials. But we may expect two things.

(1) Spiritual safety in spite of our trials (1Co 10:13). Nay, more, our trials will work for us “experience” (, “probation,” a state in which we have stood the test, and are the stronger and therefore the safer for having done so). We shall still be God’s; “mine, saith the Lord.” The great robber of God and murderer of souls shall fail to pluck us out of the mightier Shepherd’s hands (Joh 10:27, Joh 10:28).

(2) Providential discrimination (Mal 3:18) and alleviation. God will “spare them as a man,” (see next sketch). Illus.: Ebed-melech (Jer 39:16-18); Baruch (Jer 45:5); the Christians escaping to Pella before the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat 24:15-20; Psa 34:19).

2. To the day of death. But “death is yours;” and cannot “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The day of death is the day of promotion, when, in an especial sense, we become a peculiar treasure because redeemed from all iniquity and purified for all eternity unto all good works (Tit 2:14).

3. The day of judgment. (Mat 13:41-43; Mat 25:34.) Who will not claim his offered place among the peculiar treasures of God? Who can bear the thought of hearing from the Judge in that day, “I never knew you; that is no part of my treasure; take it away“?

Mal 3:17

God’s dealings with his servants and with his own beloved Son.

“I win spare them,” etc. These words suggest a comparison and a contrast, and lessons therefrom.

I. GOD‘S PROMISE TO HIS SERVANTS. These words are one of the “exceeding great and precious promises” on which we, the children of the kingdom, may rest. Loving protection is promised us by the great Father on the ground of our filial relationship (“his own son”), and as a reward of filial duty (“that serveth him”). Such is the assurance given to the adopted children of God. But now notice

II. GOD‘S DEALINGS WITH HIS OWN BELOVED SON. Contrast Mal 3:17 with Rom 8:32. There is one in the universe who is God’s Son, not by adoption, but by nature and likeness. He is “his own Son;” his “only begotten Son” (where we lay the emphasis on “only” not on “begotten”). He stands in a relation to God which none other could occupy. None other is “the Brightness of his glory,” etc. The universe knows only one incarnate God. And he was a Son “who served him.” (Joh 6:38; Joh 8:29). How well beloved he was a voice from heaven twice declared (see Joh 3:35, etc.). The love of Mordecai to his adopted Esther, of David to his worthless Absalom, and of Jacob to his dutiful Joseph, are conspicuous examples of earthly paternal love. But who can measure or imagine the love of God to his own sinless Son Jesus Christ? Surely such a Father will not permit such a Son to suffer. Surely he shall be anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. A cloud shall never sit on his brow; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. But no. He “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.” His love to his sinful children made him willing to sacrifice his sinless Son (Heb 2:10). The Father’s sacrifice in allowing Christ to suffer and die must be remembered if we would interpret the words, “God so loved the world,” etc. (Joh 3:16). In reading the parable of the wicked husbandmen (Mar 12:1-9), we may have felt some surprise that the father should expose his beloved son to the treachery and cruelty of such wicked men. The reason is explained: “They will reverence my son.” But the Divine Father knew what treatment his Son would receive among “his own;” yet “he spared him not.” He knew what “travail of soul” would come on him when “the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all;” yet “he spared him not.” This contrast between what we might have expected and what we have seen in the experience of Jesus Christ, God’s sinless Son, teaches us:

1. The reality of the atonement (Rom 3:25, Rom 3:26; 2Co 5:21).

2. The intensity of God’s love to sinners (1Jn 4:9, 1Jn 4:10).

3. The fuller blessings of salvation which God will give to reconciled sinners (Rom 5:10; Rom 8:32).

4. The discipline and self-sacrifice which the saved children of God may be called to pass through if, like their Master, they seek “by all means” to “save some.” The promise of protection (verse 17) will not debar us from the privilege of self-denial (Mat 10:24, Mat 10:25).

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

Mal 3:1

Preparation work.

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.” It is fully recognized that the allusion here is to the ministry of John the Baptist. In him was realized the fulfilment of the promise that Elijah should come again. Our Lord declared that Elijah had come, in his time, and had not been recognized. And the disciples understood him to speak of John the Baptist. The more familiar figure of a “preparer of ways” is that given in Isa 40:3, Isa 40:4. In vision the prophet sees the march of a triumphant king and army. The heralds pass on before, ordering the removal of every obstacle, making level and safe the roadway, and proclaiming with sound of trumpet the speedy coming of the great king. If John was the Lord’s herald or messenger, he certainly was a very strange one. There was nothing whatever about him that suggested the herald; no gay clothing, no bannered trumpet. He did not hurry through the land, proclaiming his message in every market place. He tarried by the banks of the Jordan, a quiet man, dressed only in cheap camel’s hair garments, and satisfied with a leather thong for a girdle. The mission entrusted to him was distinctly and only a mission of preparation. But that work was complete in itself, and of the utmost importance in relation to the after work of the Redeemer. The subject suggested is the mission of those who effect no results, but only prepare the way for those who achieve results.

I. PREPARATION WORK IS ESSENTIAL. The secret of the failure of many enterprises that looked hopeful is found in the fact that they were not efficiently prepared for. The Reformers before the Reformation were preparers of the Reformation. A building depends upon the skill with which the lines for its walls are dug, and the concrete foundations laid. David did an invaluable work when he gathered the material for the temple which he might not build. Two things may be, opened out.

1. The man prepared for can never do the preparer’s work. He is not fitted for it. And yet he is wholly dependent on that preparer’s faithfulness. With reverence we may say that our Lord could not do John’s work, yet John’s work must come before his.

2. Material preparations often precede spiritual missions. There is a removing of obstructions, a mastering of difficulties, and a smoothing of roads, which must precede the free exertion of moral and spiritual influences.

II. PREPARATION WORK IS REALLY COMPLETE WORK. It always is relative to the man who does the preparations. It does not seem to be when we are judging the whole work. A man does his life work well who just completes the preparations entrusted to him. But there is no encouragement of manifest results; and men entrusted with preparation work have to be men of faith.R.T.

Mal 3:1

The unexpectedness of the advent.

“Shall suddenly come” Two messengers are spoken of in this verse. John, the messenger, prepares the way for Jesus; and Jesus, the Messenger, prepares the way for God. Each was a sent and commissioned one. The coming to the temple is a figure of speech, and means coming to the people, not our Lord’s actually entering into the temple. The people of Israel were the temple of the Lord, and of that true temple the material building was a sign. The point indicated in the expression of the text is that Messiah came with surprising suddenness upon the preparing work of John the Baptist. Only some six months of heralding when the King came. The suddenness may be illustrated along three lines.

I. THERE WAS GENERAL EXPECTATION OF MESSIAH. But it was general and vague, and in no way definite and precise. It anticipated the coming of some great One, but when he was coming, or for what he was coming, none seemed quite to know. So when he did come everybody was surprised. They did not think of his coming then, or in that particular way. Stapfer says that “the expectation of Messiah was visionary indeed. It was confused, capricious, fantastic, and at the same time precise and minute in detail, just like a dream. The very name he was to bear was doubtful.”

II. THERE WAS GENERAL DELUSION RESPECTING MESSIAH. We are familiar with the idea of his delivering Israel from the Roman yoke, and restoring the kingdom of David, but this was quite the most sober form of the delusion of the age. Extravagant ideas so occupied men’s minds that they could give no room to the idea of a spiritual Saviour from sin. Misconceiving the images under which Christ’s coming had been foreshadowed, the people were expecting an earthly deliverer, a champion who would free them from foreign bondage, and they would gladly have spread their garments, waved their palm branches, and shouted their hosannas, if he had come to them as a conquering King. John broke into their delusions by his demand of repentance. Jesus broke into them still further by his ministry to sufferers and sinners. Suddenness and surprise characterized his going to and fro among the people, healing the sufferers and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Suddenness was needed to awaken them out of their delusions. The world had to be startled into thought.

III. THERE WAS GENERAL UNPREPAREDNESS FOR MESSIAH. The servants had not put the house ready for the Master. The priests had not. The scribes had not. Those who had prepared themselves were private persons who had very little influence on society. The unpreparedness is typified in this, “There was no room for him in the inn.” His coming was not sudden to Simeon and Anna, because they were prepared through the revealed Word.R.T.

Mal 3:2

The severe side of Messiah’s mission.

“Like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap.” It is usually shown that the triumphant side of Messiah’s mission wholly occupied the mind of the Jews, and that consequently the stern, judgment side needed to be presented vigorously. But some recent accounts of the actual condition of Jewish thought in the first century suggest that the fears of Messiah’s time were so extravagant that they needed to be corrected and qualified. The stern things of the Gospels are mild and reasonable when compared with the extravagant fears of the people. “The people looked forward with dread to the coming of the Messianic era. They were afraid of seeing the war of Gog and Magog, which the scribes predicted as its precursor. They looked for fearful calamities. Rabbi Eliezar ben Abena said, ‘When ye shall see nations rising up one against the other, then look for Messiah to follow. In the weeks of years in which the Son of David shall come, there will be in the first year abundance of rain upon one city, and drought upon another. In the second year the arrows of famine will go abroad. In the third there will be a great famine, and men, women, and children will die, as well as the saints and the rich; and there will be a judgment of forgetfulness upon those that study the Law. In the fourth there will be abundance for some and barrenness for others. In the fifth a great abundance; and they shall eat, drink, and rejoice, and the Law shall he again held in honour, among those who teach it. In the sixth year voices will be heard. In the seventh wars will break out, and at the end of the seventh the Son of David will appear'” It was as necessary to correct these delusions as those which pictured a triumphant earthly conqueror. The severity must be fully recognized as a moral, not material, severity.

I. MESSIAH WORKS TO REVEAL EVIL. This his very presence does. Put a foul thing beside a pure thing, and the pure thing shows and intensifies the foulness. Let God show, in a man’s human life among men, what he requires and what he can accept, and wherever that man goes he is sure to bring evil to light. Christ is doing that work still.

II. MESSIAH WORKS TO PUNISH EVIL. “All judgment is committed unto the Son” But the sphere of the punishment is moral and spiritual. Christ never asked the secular arm to carry out his condemnations.

III. MESSIAH WORKS TO DELIVER FROM EVIL. This is indicated in his work as Refiner. He is getting the metal freed from the dross. Much of our evil is not us, only attached to us, blended with us, a bondage of us.

IV. MESSIAH WORKS TO CLEANSE FROM EVIL. This is indicated in the soap figure. The evil is conceived of as in us, and as having to be got out by the severe processes of the fuller, or washer, by pounding.R.T.

Mal 3:3

Messiah as a Refiner.

Moses gives Messiah the Leader, who should permanently take his place. Isaiah gives us Messiah the Sufferer, Conqueror, and Comforter, matching the condition of Israel as suffering and exiled. Daniel gives us Messiah the Prince, matching the condition of the people as anticipating the restoration of their kingdom. Malachi gives Messiah the Refiner, matching the condition of the people as in a state of moral and religious degradation. It is important to note the many sidedness of Christ’s adaptation to human needs. This aspect of Christ as the Refiner is one that is suited to every age. Men make grave objections to the doctrine of human depravity, and yet all history declares, as with one united voice, that man has never yet been able to keep anything clean. Let him touch anything, and he brings in the stain.

1. Take the sphere of man’s thinking. It is constantly observed that the followers of all great philosophers and teachers and thought leaders always complicate and deteriorate their systems. They bring in the dirt and the dross.

2. Take the sphere of man’s religion. All the world over, and all the ages through, you may see man recalled to pure principles, and soon losing them again under the accumulating and debasing dross of ceremonies and superstitions.

3. Take the sphere of man’s social relations. Self-interest has always proved to be the dross that gathers on and spoils the most perfect social schemes man has ever devised.

4. Take the sphere of man’s personal life. The noblest ideals are unattained, for the dross of self-indulgence soon gathers, and in middle life men are content with low attainments. Getting the dross away is the great Refiner’s work in every age and sphere.

I. GOOD SILVER MIXED WITH DROSS. There is a compliment in speaking of God’s people as “silver,” for silver is worth refining. It is a genuine and valuable metal. For mixture with dross see how lead, silver, and gold are found in the ore, surrounded with that which is comparatively worthless. Humanity is thus represented. It is not as God made it; it has become mixed. There is dross of heresy, vice, crime, etc.

II. GOOD SILVER FREED FROM DROSS. The result of renewed processes; always involving suffering for the refined, and anxiety for the Refiner. Silver has to go through the process seven times. The issue is the purity of the metal, by getting the dross perfectly away. Nothing can be usefully done with the metal while the dross still clings to it. Conclude by showing that Messiah did

(1) the work of his age;

(2) and does the work of this age.

He did his own work as Refiner then; he does God’s refining work now.R.T.

Mal 3:4

The pleasantness of religious offerings.

The idea of offerings being pleasant to God reminds one of Noah’s sacrifice on the cleansed and restored earth: “And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour.” The opposite sentiment, God finding man’s offerings unpleasant, and even offensive, reminds of Isaiah’s opening reproaches, uttered in God’s name: “Incense is an abomination unto me …. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them” The carelessness of the Levites in the time of Malachi had been making the offerings an offence to God. It was evident enough that they were routine and formality. One sign, and the first sign, of spiritual purification would be that the public sacrifices and services would take a new and acceptable tone.

I. THE GRACE OF GOD WHICH FINDS PLEASURE IN MAN‘S OFFERINGS. It might have been that God only required offerings, and felt no personal concern in the offerings, as expressing the feelings of the offerers. It is the marvel of God’s grace that he puts personal feeling into men’s acts and relations; and by his personal feeling calls upon us to put our personal feeling into those acts. Then the value of an offering lies not in what is, but in the pleasure which it gives to God; and that pleasure depends not on its mere value, but on the feeling of the offerer which it carries. The test of every offering is thisCan God be pleased with it? Of the supreme offering of the obedient Son, God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Of some offerings the apostle could say, “With such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

II. THE DUTY OF MAN TO FIND GOD PLEASURE THROUGH HIS OFFERINGS. A duty resting on

(1) obligation;

(2) gratitude;

(3) personal affection.

If we realize what God claims, we must seek to please him. If we realize what he has done for us, we must seek to please him. And the impulses of love will surely lead us to seek to please him. What man asks by his gifts and sacrifices is, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.” “The essence of all sacrifice is the same in every age. No sacrifice is pleasing to God, if not accompanied with the sacrifice of the heart and will, and of all the faculties, intellectual, spiritual, bodily, of the offerer; and no sacrifice is pleasing to God, except by virtue of its reference to the one sacrifice of the dearly beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased” (Bishop Wordsworth). Still, to God, formality is an offence; routine a weariness; hypocrisy the supreme offence; and still, to God, humility, thankfulness, trust, and love are a holy joy.R.T.

Mal 3:5

Messiah’s relation to society sins.

It is important to see that God both considers and deals with society sins as well as individual sins. Not sufficiently is it pressed on attention, that he deals with the evils which are characteristic of aggregates of menwith sins of classes and of nations. It is in the necessary judgment of classes and nations as such that the innocent are wont to suffer with the guilty; and then the interest of the class must be seen to override the interests of the single individual. Society sins are much the same in every age. They are classed in this verse. They run riot when the religious restraint is weakened.

1. Religious deceptions.

2. Immoralities specially bearing on family life.

3. Untrustfulness in everyday relations. “False swearers.”

4. Sweating the workman, and forcing down the wage of the labourer.

5. Taking advantage of the distressed to secure selfish advantage; the “widow, fatherless, and stranger.”

How these sins corrupt society today may be unfolded according to the skill of the preacher. The prophets teach that whenever God manifests himself, he puts forth his power against society sins, and Malachi declares this to be one of the most marked characteristics of Messiah.

I. MESSIAH CUTS DOWN SOCIETY SINS AS BEING FALSE GROWTHS. The farmer will go into his meadows and cut down the coarse grass, which the cattle would not eat, and whose rank growth is crushing out the useful white clover. When a field is left uncultivated, and the good plants are left unnourished, there soon springs up a plentiful crop of weeds, groundsel, rag wort, and thistles, and if there is to be any reviving of profitable vegetation in that field, these rank growths must be cut down. Illustrate from our Lord’s dealing with the society sentiment concerning rabbinism. With some society sins the same must be done now.

II. MESSIAH SEEKS TO CLEAR THE ROOTS OF SOCIETY SINS OUT OF THE SOIL. Cutting off is only a preliminary to rooting out. Presently the farmer ploughs up and harrows the soil, carefully gathering the roots for the burning. Malachi, in God’s name, tried to get at the roots of the society evils of his day. He found them in the self-indulgence of the priesthood, and the self-seeking of the people. He prophesied that Messiah’ would do the same work.

III. MESSIAH ENRICHES THE SOIL TO BEAR GOOD GROWTHS. We should never see Christ’s work only on the negative side. It has two sides. To remove society sins is to give a chance for the nourishment of Christly-toned society virtues.R.T.

Mal 3:6

Man’s hope lies in God’s unchangeableness.

“I am the Lord, I change not.” Man had changed toward God, not in mere relations, but in spirit and purpose. God had been therefore compelled to alter his relations towards men; and his ways of dealing with them; but this must never be assumed to involve any change on the part of God’s feeling towards them. These whom he loves he loves with an everlasting love. In the motive of his dealings he is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Reference here is directly to the purpose to save Israel. No matter what the appearances of things might be, that purpose had never been changed, and never would be. “Because it is the Eternal’s unchangeable will that the sons of Jacob, his chosen ones, should not perish as a nation, he will purify them by the eradication of the wicked among them, that the remnant may return to their allegiance.”

I. MAN‘S HOPE IN THE CHANGEABLENESS OF GOD‘S ADAPTATIONS. Changeableness is not altogether the appropriate term, but it is required for the sake of contrast. If God’s ways with us were ordered by fast and unvariable rules, we should lose all sense of personal feeling, personal relations, and personal adaptations. Adjustment to individuals upon exact knowledge of individuals, and adjustment to circumstances upon exact knowledge of circumstances, are the very glory of God. It is because of this Divine characteristic that we would rather fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. If set rules had been worked without qualification or exception, then many a time Israel must have been abandoned or destroyed. Men make so much of being under the “reign of law;” but that is precisely what we had better not be. It is a truly awful regime. There is no considerateness, no pity, no adaptation, in it. Far better that we are in the personal rule of a Divine and infinitely loving Lawgiver.

II. MAN‘S HOPE IN THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD‘S PRINCIPLES. The Divine adaptations are always within the limitations of the Divine principles. We can never be sure that our fellow man does not change through weakness, and risk principles in making change. We may have perfect confidence that God never does. “Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” True to his word; but only speaking words that express eternal principles. The point of the text is, that God’s unchangeableness guarantees Israel’s security, and God’s changeableness guarantees Israel’s disciplining and refining.R.T.

Mal 3:7

A twofold return.

“Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” And Zechariah has a similar expression (Zec 1:3), “Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” The direction to turn from the evil way is very familiar in the books of the prophets, and should be read in the light of their work as social and moral reformers. Some evil custom is indicated, which the people were turned to, and this the prophets anxiously endeavoured to get them turned from. This turning is the root idea of the terra “conversion,” which should always be associated with conviction, or the sense of sin, and contrition, or sorrow for sin. Then properly comes conversion, or turning from sin. This is met by the remission of sin, and acceptance as free from sin. The word “conversion” is generally used for the whole process, but this use is apt to produce confusion of ideas. Special significance may properly attach to the turning from sin, because it is the recognized sign and expression of sincerity and earnestness. If a man gives up things he loves that are evil, there is good evidence that he is sincere. Reference in this passage is to the national loyalty to the Mosaic ordinances. By it the national piety could be tested. But they were manifestly turned from anything like a loving, hearty, spiritual obedience of those ordinances, such as God could approve and accept. Consequently his favour and blessing were manifestly turned from them.

I. MAN CANNOT RETURN TO GOD UNTIL GOD RETURNS TO HIM. While God holds aloof from the sinner, that sinner may feel remorse and misery. “His bones may wax old through his roaring all the day long;” but he will feel no penitence, no element of hope can enter into his distress. The first move always comes from God. Zacchaeus does not know that he is really seeking Jesus, until he discovers that Jesus is seeking him. Our Lord put this truth into his familiar expression, “No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” It is the testimony of universal experience that God is always beforehand with us. And, rightly viewed, this shows us to be without excuse if we keep on in sin.

II. GOD CANNOT RETURN TO MAN UNTIL MAN RETURNS TO HIM. This puts the truth in paradoxical form; and yet it is precisely the statement of the text. God speaks. But he says he will not turn till man does. God is first in opening negotiation, and yet he says he must come second. Explain that God cannot do his gracious work in the man until the man is in that right moral state represented by penitence and turning to God.R.T.

Mal 3:8

Defrauding God.

The people of Malachi’s days met his reproof in a quibbling and self-justifying spirit. Men who are self-satisfied can resist all appeal. Religious formalities have this as their supreme perilthey satisfy men, and prevent them from feeling moral and spiritual anxieties, and from responding to moral and spiritual demands. These men could not see that there was any sense in which they were depriving God of his rights. The prophet puts his finger on one thing. That suffices to prove his accusation. They were withholding and limiting the tithes and offerings due to God’s house. How could citizens be loyal who neglected to pay in those taxes of the king which were the very sign of loyalty? “One might reasonably think such a presumption could not enter into any man’s thoughts, as to rob God of those things which are dedicated to his service; when he considers that he hath received all things from him, and therefore ought in gratitude to set apart some share of his substance for the maintaining of his worship and the public exercises of religion” (Louth). Consider

I. WHAT GOD‘S CLAIMS ON MEN ARE.

1. His natural claims, as the Author, Designer, Creator, practical Arranger of man’s body, life, relations, and associations. See the rights of a man in the house he builds, the garden he lays out, the machine he makes, the child he rears. Of everything that a man does he expects some appropriate form of return.

2. His revelational claims. Israel was under special obligation because it had received special revelation.

3. His experimental claims. He had gained rights, and reasonably formed expectations, out of his pitiful and gracious dealings through long years.

II. ON WHAT BASIS DO GOD‘S CLAIMS REST. Not merely the supreme rights of Deity; but here especially man’s own acceptance of his claims. Claims are sterner things when they are both made and accepted.

III. HOW GOD‘S CLAIMS MAY BE NEGLECTED OR REFUSED.

1. By the delusion that those claims have been relaxed.

2. By the hope that something can be put in place of obedience to them.

3. By sheer listlessness.

4. By persistent wiifulness.

5. But it is more subtle and searching to sayGod’s claims are now chiefly missed through man’s over occupation.

The world and self fill men up.

IV. HOW IS SUCH NEGLECT OF GOD‘S CLAIMS TO BE DEALT WITH?

1. Call it by its right namerobbing God.

2. Bring discipline to bear upon the neglecters, etc.R.T.

Mal 3:10

Recognition of practical penitence.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” All must include those which ought to have been brought and had not. It was the paying up of old debts which would show the practical and sincere character of the penitence. Sin brings its own punishment. God will treat us relatively to our treatment of him. He recompensed this restored nation of Israel according to their doings. He blighted their fields and blemished their flocks, so that the]and groaned beneath the curse. The only way to remove the evil was for the people to turn from the evil of their way. The sign of such return would be an earnest effort to fulfil their religious obligations. Of such fulfilment the offering of tithes might be a represntative instance.

I. THE MORAL HELPLESSNESS OF SENTIMENTAL PENITENCE. Remorse is the caricature of penitence on the one side, and sentimentality on the other. And sentimentality may be the more subtle evil. A man may be distressed about the consequences of sin, who has no estimate of the evil of the sin. A man may be carried away by a surrounding excitement of penitence without having any real humiliation of heart. This may be illustrated from the excitement produced by Savonarola’s preaching at Florence, and by the bad sides of modern revivals and missions. Convictions which reach no further than a man’s sentiments are not merely helpless to influence conduct, but they are morally mischievous, because they delude, persuading the man that he is right, when his motive and heart are untouched. Some men who persist in living in sin nevertheless have seasons of gushing penitence; but it is only surface feeling, they have no root in themselves. The test of repentance is found in this questionWhat does it make the man do?

II. THE MORAL VALUE OF PRACTICAL PENITENCE. The Apostle Paul calls it “godly sorrow,” and reminds of its practical working. “Ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!” If a man steals from another, all his protestations of sorrow are without moral value unless he restores what he has stolen. God looks for moral value in everything relating to his people; and finds it only when they bring in the tithes which they had been withholding. Restoring, dealing resolutely with cherished sins, “cutting off right hands, and plucking out right eyes,” are the revelation of sincerity, depth, and moral value, in all professions of penitence. It is only when God can approve of and accept the penitence thus revealed that he can respond by opening the windows of heaven to pour out blessing.R.T.

Mal 3:14, Mal 3:15

Doubt of profit in serving God.

“It is vain to serve God.'” The Prophet Zephaniah is more severe. “It shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil” (Zep 1:12). “The prophet condescends to identify himself with those whom he reproves. ‘We call the proud happy; yea, we say, they that work wickedness are set up. Therefore it is vain to serve God.’ But he suddenly quits the seat of the scorners. He retires aside from the crowd, who proudly rely on their own popular verdicts, vaunting their own intelligence, and setting at naught the decrees of God; and, standing aloft from them, he joins the smaller company of the faithful few who wait and fear the Lord, and think upon his Name.”

I. THE SIN OF SERVING GOD FOR THE SAKE OF PROFIT. This is seen in the case of Ananias and of Simon Magus. It is illustrated by Bunyan, in his character of Pliable, the man who was going on pilgrimage for the sake of what he could get. God asks for the service of love. Such service as alone can please him is the service rendered under the impulse of love. It is not possible to serve God acceptably in the spirit of the hireling. It is equally true that God cannot be rightly served under the expectation of pay or reward in the next life.

II. THE SIN OF DOUBTING WHETHER GOD REWARDS SERVICE. It is the sin of unbelief. “He who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” But it really is a deeper and a more subtle sin than that; it is the sin of self-centredness. Only the man who thinks overmuch about himself questions whether his work will be fittingly recognized. This is a constant secret sin, even of good people. They never master it until they can learn of Christ to work for love, and let rewards come or not as they may. A man never conceives of Divine indifference, or hardness, or unreasonableness, until he gets into a bad frame of mind himself, and then he makes God the shadow of his own badness. It was thus with the persons whom Malachi reproves. Only because they wanted to serve themselves did they think it was vain to serve God. The man who loves God and wants to serve him is sure never to think that.

III. THE SIN OF THINKING THOSE ARE REWARDED WHO SERVE OTHERS AND NOT GOD. (Verse 15.) The proud, who serve themselves. Good people, like the poet Asaph, are often tempted to think that the wicked have the best of it in this life. To think so is to “offend against the generation of the upright,” and to dishonour God,R.T.

Mal 3:16, Mal 3:17

The list of the loyal ones.

“A book of remembrance was written before him …. They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels.” Reference is to those persons who “by their pious discourse confirmed each other in goodness, and armed themselves against the impressions which wicked and doubting suggestions might make upon their minds.” “God took special notice of what these pious persons did and said: it was as safely laid up in his memory as if it had been catered into a register, in order to be produced at the day of judgment, to their praise and honour.” It is possible that the reference of these verses may be to “the growth of something like a brotherhood or order, not claiming or professing the inspiration of the older schools of the prophets, not entering, as they had done, on any vigorous effort at correcting the corruptions that were eating into the nation’s life, but bearing a silent witness by lives of holiness and devotion, associated by the bonds of prayer and mutual love, handing down from generation to generation the tradition of higher truths and better hopes.” Illustration may be taken from the Chasidim, or Brothers of Mercy, in the time of Judas Maccabaeus, or the Essenes of the New Testament period.

I. GOD‘S LOYAL ONES ARE THEY WHO KEEP HIS HONOUR IN IMPERILLED TIMES. Compare the seven thousand in Elijah’s day who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

1. The loyal ones may have no public spheres. But the truest work for God is done in the private spheres of home and social intercourse.

2. The loyal ones may have no voice with which to testify. But the mightiest of all arguments is a godly life; the strongest of all persuasions is the winsomeness of a sanctified character. Our witness may have to be rendered in our simply standing aloof, and that may be the very holiest reproach. It may be ours thus simply, but persistently, to keep the honor of God’s

(1) Name,

(2) claims,

(3) Word, as these are imperilled by the self-seeking of our times.

II. GOD‘S PRESERVING HAND IS EVER UPON HIS LOYAL AND FAITHFUL ONES. He is even represented as keeping a list of them before him, so that by no possibility shall the interests of any one of them he forgotten. And his personal concern is intimated by his speaking of them as his “jewels.” The term suggests:

1. Their value in his sight.

2. Their variety; they are of different colours and qualities and tints.

3. Their safety. They are all there in that day. Jesus said of his disciples, “None of them is lost.”R.T.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Mal 3:1-4

Christ as a spiritual Reformer.

“Behold, I will send my messenger,” etc. This passage seems to be an answer to the question of the sceptic in the last verse of the preceding chapter, “Where is the God of judgment?” It informs us that he will come, but that a preparatory work is necessary. It points to the advent of John the Baptist, the herald of that great Messiah predicted by ancient prophets, and who was the “Desire of all nations” (Hag 2:7, Authorized Version). The passage points to Christ as the great spiritual Reformer of the world, and teaches that as a Reformer

I. HE IS GLORIOUS. This appears:

1. From the fact that a Divine messenger was sent to prepare the way for him. This messenger who did the preparatory work was John the Baptist, to whom Isaiah (Isa 40:3-5) referred when he spoke of a voice crying in the wilderness. This man was not only the greatest of all the prophets, but Christ tells us he was more than a prophet. He presented to his age, on the banks of the Jordan, in words of flame and a voice of thunder, an epitome of all the teaching of the previous prophets. He denounced sin, he urged repentance. But this man, great as he was, only prepared the way for the true Reformer.

2. From the description that is here given of him. He is here represented as the Proprietor of the temple, and as the “Messenger of the covenant.” Christ is the world’s spiritual Reformer. He revolutionizes the thoughts, the emotions, the aims, and habits of mankind. No one else has ever done this, and no one else ever can do it.

II. HE IS AWE INSPIRING. “Who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth?” In the presence of this Reformer, whose eye will penetrate into the depths of every soul, unrenewed men everywhere will stand aghast and tremble at their own moral enormities. When he appeared to them he would not flatter their theocratic nation’s prejudice, but he would subject their principles to the fiery test of his heart-searching truth. Listen to what John the Baptist, his herald, said of him: “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and east into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Even Peter, in his awe inspiring presence said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man!”

III. HE IS THOROUGH. “He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap.” Two figures are here employed to indicate how thorough his reformation is. The smelter’s fire, which burns out the corrupt ingredients that are mixed with the gold and silver; and the fuller’s soap, whose alkaline salt cleanses all polluted garments from their dirt. In Christ’s reformation, everything that is wrong, that is impure, is worked out of the human soul.

IV. HE IS PERSISTENT. “He shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of silver.” He is intent upon the work, and makes no slight or passing business of it. As a refiner of gold and silver sits over the burning crucible until he sees his own face reflected in the metal, so Christ will continue his work until it is fully accomplished.

V. HE IS SUCCESSFUL. “He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” He will constitute for men one day a “holy priesthood,” a priesthood that will render to the Almighty offerings that are holy and acceptable to him.

CONCLUSION. Blessed be the Eternal Father for sending such a Reformer into this corrupt world, One in every way qualified for the work, One who has reformed millions now in Paradise, is still reforming thousands on this earth, and will one day work out the moral reformation of the race. “He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he hath set judgment [rectitude] in the earth” (Isa 42:4).D.T.

Mal 3:5, Mal 3:6

The world of sinners.

“And I will come near to you to judgment.” From this passage we are reminded

I. THAT SINNERS EXIST IN THIS WORLD IN GREAT VARIETY. Here are “sorcerers,” “adulterers,” “false swearers,” and heartless oppressors. The first were very general in Judaea. “There was,” says Lightfoot, “hardly any people in the whole world that more used or were more fond of amulets, charms, mutterings, exorcisms, and all kinds of enchantments. The elder who was chosen to sit in the Sauhedrin was obliged to be skilled in the arts of astrologers, jugglers, and sorcerers, that he might be able to judge these who were accused of practising such arts.” Perhaps we have few, if any, professional sorcerers in England; but what is as bad, if not worse, practical deceivers abound. Adulterers, too, and liars, and ruthless oppressors, where are they not? Sinners exist, alas! in a great variety of type and in a great variety of degree. “There is not a just man on earth that doeth good and sinneth not.”

II. THAT SINNERS OF EVERY VARIETY ARE EXPOSED TO A DIVINE JUDGMENT. “I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift Witness.” I “whom ye challenged, saying, ‘Where is the God of judgment?’ ‘I will be a swift Witness.’ I whom ye think far off, and to be slow in judgment, am near, and will Come as a ‘swift Witness,’ not only as a Judge, but as an Eyewitness; for mine eyes see every sin, though ye think I take no heed. Earthly judges need witnesses to enable them to decide aright. I alone need none. Sinners will be awfully undeceived who flatter themselves, ‘God will never see it. How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?’ (Psa 10:11; Psa 73:11; Psa 94:7)” (Fausset).

III. THAT SINNERS ARE PRESERVED ON ACCOUNT OF THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD. “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Ewald translates this verse,” For I, Jehovah, have not changed; but ye sons of Jacob, have not ye altered?’ I have not altered towards you, but you have altered towards me. Because I have not changed you are preserved. I determined to Continue you a distinct people on the earth, and therefore, notwithstanding all your murmurings and transgressions, you are not “consumed.” God’s immutability explains the continuation of sinners on the earth. He is essentially Love, and a change in him would be a change from love, and a change from love would be the ruin of sinners. When he says, “I change not,” it means, “I am as full of love as ever.” “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner.”D.T.

Mal 3:7-12

A Divine complaint and a Divine invitation.

“Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances,” etc. In these words we have two thingsa Divine complaint and a Divine invitation; and both are addressed to sinners. Notice

I. A DIVINE COMPLAINT AGAINST SINNERS. The complaint involves three charges.

1. The charge of apostasy. “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances.” Your fathers who brought on themselves the Babylonian captivity departed from my ordinances, and you are doing what they did. All sin is an apostasy, a departure from God’s “ordinances” both moral and positive. “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer 2:13). Like the prodigal son, we have all gone away from our Father into the “far country” of practical atheism and sin.

2. The charge of dishonesty. “Will a man rob God? Yet he have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” Their dishonesty consisted in withholding from him his claims. Thus they robbed or defrauded him. “Ye have robbed me.” “Ye have done so to me in respect to the tithes due to me; viz. the tenth of all the remainder after the firstfruits were paid, which tenth was paid to the Levites for their support (Le 27:30-33), a tenth paid by the Levites to the priests (Num 18:26-28), a second tenth paid by the people for the entertainment of the Levites and their own families at the tabernacle (Deu 12:18); another tithe every third year for the poor, etc. (Deu 14:28, Deu 14:29). ‘Offerings.‘ Not less than one-sixth part of corn, wine, and oil (Deu 18:4). The priests had this perquisite; also the tenth of the tithes which were the Levites’ perquisite. But they appropriated all the tithes, robbing the Levites of their due nine-tenths; as they did also, according to Josephus, before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Thus doubtless was God defraudedthe priests not discharging aright their sacrificial duties, and robbing God of the services of the Levites who were driven away by destitution” (Fausset). Thus men rob God now; they keep back what belongs to him. They cannot take anything from him, and thus make him poorer, as in the case of man robbing man, but they can rob him by appropriating to their own use that which he demands, by acting like Ananias and Sapphira.

3. The charge of insensibility. “Ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?” They had lost all sense of their obligation in relation to these tithes, and become utterly indifferent to the Divine claims. “Wherein have we robbed thee?” As if they did not know their fraud on God. Thus men go on keeping from God what is his due without any sense of wrong. Sinful habits blind and deaden a man’s conscience to his momentous duties.

II. A DIVINE INVITATION TO SINNERS. Here is an invitation to return:

1. To Divine friendship. “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” Return to me by rendering to me my dues, and working lovingly and loyally in my service. “Return to me”this has been God’s voice to sinners in all ages; this was the invitation of Christ: “Come unto me,” etc. The return is in a sense mutual. God says, “I will return unto you.” This does not, of course, mean that God compromises, changes; but it expresses his readiness to receive them, as the father of the prodigal was ready to receive his lost son. He waits to be gracious.

2. To honest service. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house; Nehemiah calls the “storehouse” (Neh 13:5) a great chamber where they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels. To put this to its proper use is what Jehovah would have them to do, and he promises, if they accede:

(1) To give them good in abundance. “Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” From heaven all good comes. Sometimes the windows seem so closed up that blessings descend not to some men. When God says, “I will open you the windows,” it means good shall come pouring down, in abundance.

(2) To give them good in connection with the produce of the earth. “And I will rebuke the devourer [perhaps the locusts] for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field.” Their vines should produce fruit in the season.

(3) To give them good in the affections of men. “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts;” “Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord, the Shield of thy help, and who is the Sword of thy excellency? And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places” (Deu 33:29).

CONCLUSION. Learn:

1. That a man is a bad man who withholds from God his due. What are God’s dues? All we have and are. “All souls are his.” And if we render not up to him our soulsour allwe are bad.

2. A bad man becomes good by surrendering his all to God. By bringing his all into the storehouse of God, devoting all to the Divine service.

3. The more good a man has in himself, the more good he has from the universe. If his whole soul is filled with supreme love and reverence for right and God, all the heavens outside of him will “open their windows” and rain blessings on him. Religious liberality is of all profitable investments the most profitable. And the converse. The niggard is “cursed with a curse.” The man who robs and defrauds God robs and defrauds himself. As the fabled eagle who robbed the altar set fire to her nest with the burning coals that adhered to the stolen flesh she bore away, so the soul that defrauds God of his claims will set itself in flames.D.T.

Mal 3:13, Mal 3:14

Religion delineated and depreciated.

“Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord,” etc. In these words we have religion delineated and depreciated.

I. PRACTICAL RELIGION DELINEATED. Three expressions are here used to represent it.

1. To serve God. “Ye have said, It is vain to serve God.” There is a great difference between serving God and serving man.

(1) In the one case the servant benefits the master, in the other the sole benefit is the servant’s.

(2) In the one the service is estimated by work actually done, in the other by work earnestly purposed.

(3) In the one there is a surrender of freedom; in the other there is the attainment of it. He who engages to serve man must surrender some portion of his liberty; he who serves God alone secures the highest freedom.

2. To keep God‘s ordinances. “We have kept his ordinance.” This is only a branch of the service, or perhaps the method of doing it. God has ordinances or institutes, some of which are moral, some are ceremonial; the latter may cease to bind, the former are everlastingly in force.

3. To walk mournfully before the Lord. “We have walked mournfully before the Lord.” To “walk” before the Lord is religion in perfection, religion in heaven. It implies an abiding consciousness of the Divine presence, and continual progress in the Divine will. Walking “mournfully” characterizes the religion of earth; it is associated with penitence, contrition, etc. The walk of religion is only mournful here.

II. PRACTICAL RELIGION DEPRECIATED. “Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance?” Men say this:

1. When religion does not answer their secular expectations. Many take up with religion in these days because of the secular good they expect will accrue from their profession of it; if the good comes not, they think it vain.

2. When they see the truly religious in poverty and affliction. Asaph saw this, and he said, “I have cleansed my heart in vain” (Psa 73:13).

3. When they have taken up religion from selfish motives. A man who takes up with religion for the sake of good will get no good out of it: he will get disappointment and damnation; for “he that seeketh his life shall lose it.” No truly religious man has said religion is vain; he feels it to be its own rewardthe highest reward. For in truth, it is the only service on earth that will not prove vain. Whatever other labour fails, the success of this is ensuredensured by the Word of God, the constitution of mind, and the arrangements of the universe. “Therefore be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding,” etc. (1Co 15:1-58, 58).D.T.

Mal 3:16-18

Genuine religion.

Then they that feared the Lord stake often one to another,” etc. We shall use these words to illustrate genuine religion, and three things are noteworthy

I. THE ESSENCE OF GENUINE RELIGION. “They that feared the Lord.” The men who fear God may be divided into two classes.

1. Those who fear him with a slavish fear. The unrenewed millions when they think of him at all dread him; their guilty consciences invest him with attributes of such horror that they shudder at the idea of him, they flee from his presence. “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid.” All that is superstitious in the world, all that is barbaric in the religion of Christendom, spring from this dread of God.

2. Those who fear him with a filial fear. The fear which a loving child has for a worthy and noble sire. There is, perhaps, always a kind of fear in connection with true love. We fear, not that the object will harm us, but that we may harm or displease the object. Our fear is that we shall not please the object up to the measure of our intense desire. The fear of genuine religion is not the fear of suffering, but the fear of sin, not for the consequences of wrong, but for the fact of wrong. This filial fear with all is the beginning of wisdom.

II. THE SOCIALITY OF GENUINE RELIGION. “Spake often one to another.” We are social beings, and what interests us most has the chief power in bringing us together. Nothing interests a religious man so much as religion. Hence the few good people living in this corrupt age of Malachi met and “spake often one to another.” Spoke, no doubt, in language of mutual instruction, mutual comfort, mutual exhortation. There is no force in the world so socializing as religion; it brings souls together, and centres them in a common object of love, in a common current of sympathy, in a common course of life.

III. THE WORTH OF GENUINE RELIGION. See what God does with the genuinely religious.

1. He specially attends to them. “The Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them.” This does not, of course, mean literally that God keeps a book, or that he has any difficulty in remembering what takes place. It is an anthropomorphism, a symbolizing .of the special interest of God.

2. He claims them as his own. “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” My friends, my children, mine to love and serve me.

3. He appreciates them as precious. “In that day when I make up my jewels.” The word here rendered “jewels” in Exodus (Exo 19:5) rendered “peculiar treasure.” “They are peculiarly precious to me.” He knows the worth of their existence, the cost of their restoration, the greatness of their capabilities.

4. He distinguishes them from all others. Here they are so mixed with worldly and worthless men that they are mostly undiscerned and undistinguished. One day he will separate them, the sheep from the goats.

CONCLUSION. To attain religion should be the supreme aim of our life. It is not a means to an end; it is the grand end of being; it is the Paradise of soul.D.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Mal 3:1. Behold, I will send my messenger, &c. Here is a description of two persons whom God promises to send to the Jews. The one God calls my angel or messenger, whose errand is said to be to prepare the way before me; meaning, that he should be a prophet of note, (for so the Hebrew word malaak has been interpreted in other parts of the Old Testament,) who should usher in the LORD who was to follow him,and supply the place of a harbinger to a great Prince; and consequently, from the nature of his employ, was as much inferior to the Lord who was to come after him, as servants are to him whose forerunners they are appointed. The other is represented in very high characters, as that Lord whom they sought, or expected to come; as the Angel or Messenger of the covenant, in whom they delighted; that is to say, under or by whom they promised themselves all felicity; and again as a severe Judge, Mal 3:2. It was partly the atheistical behaviour and discourse of many Jews in that age, which moved God to give them this prophesy. “We are not so wicked, said they to the prophet who reproved them, as you make us; or, there are others more wicked than we, that prosper; and why may not we? If God disliked their ways, he certainly would not bear with them; or, where is the God of judgment?” “Well then,” replies God, “you shall know experimentally where he is, and find him where you least look for him. By Him whom you seek,whom you delight in, will I appear to be a God of judgement: and, that you may not be surprised at his coming, Behold, I send my messenger,” &c. He is the same person, as Eben Ezra observes, who, from the dignity of his person, is called the LORD, and from his office, Angel of the covenant. His office relates to a covenant with his people, which, as it seems by the punishment which followed his coming, they should reject. The time of his coming is said to be suddenly, that is, after the messenger, who was to prepare his way; and is implied to be under that temple which they despised and profaned, but of which he shall be the glory.

The question now is, Who is intended by the first messenger? and again, Who by the LORD,the messenger of the covenant? You need only turn to chap. Mal 4:5-6 to be sure that the first messenger is the same that is there called Elias. In the one place we read, My messenger shall prepare the way before me; in the other it is declared how he shall prepare it; viz. by turning the hearts of the fathers, &c. In the one place the day of his coming is described as very dreadful; But who may abide? &c. In the other, it is expressly named so, and with reference to what went before: that great and dreadful day of the Lord! in both for the same reason;because of the terrible judgment which ensued. The Jews in St. Jerome’s time interpreted the first messenger of Elias; and so did the Jews much earlier, who composed their liturgy: in the prayer at the bringing forth the book of the law, they say, “O God, animate and strengthen us, and send to us the angel (or messenger), the redeemer. Let Elias thy prophet surely come in our days, with Messiah the son of David thy servant.” He is called Elias the prophet, chap. 4: but nowhere God’s prophet, except in the passage before us, where God saith, I will send my messenger, &c. Knowing the first messenger, we cannot be in doubt about the second, since the coming of Elias and of the Lord Messiah are ever joined together by the Jews; the one presupposes and infers the other. You read in the prayer just quoted, “Send to us the angel (or messenger), the redeemer.” This is Malachi’s Angel of the covenant. Again, “Let Elias thy prophet surely come in our days, with the Messiah,” &c. This is the LORD in Malachi, who shall suddenly come after the messenger, his forerunner. Kimchi, Abarbanel, and other of the ancient Rabbis, unanimously agree that the Hebrew word adon, or, Lord, means the “Messiah the son of David.” St. Jerome says they referred it to their , their Anointed, or Christ, which is the word that Aquila and Symmachus used for the Messiah: and indeed it is not possible to find any other person to whom the words in question will apply. What man besides was ever expected and sought, and delighted in, so long before they knew him? What man else was ever called the LORD, and the Lord of the temple, but he, whom David in spirit called My LORD, because of God’s associating him as Man into dominion with himself, to sit at his right hand, till he made his enemies his footstool? What other deliverance was looked for by the Jews, as the deliverance of God himself, than that by the Messiah? There is one certain deliverance promised them in a succession of prophets, by the terms of salvation by the Lord,by the Lord God himself, as superior to, and different from, their former deliverances by flesh and blood; and this the Jews appropriate to the redemption by the Messiah. God saves, and God judges by him: and he is, therefore, in Malachi, termed the Lord, as being Emmanuel, the God, the Saviour with us. In a word, who but one of his dignity ever had in Scripture a forerunner appointed him, that was predicted to give notice of, and prepare for, his coming? Who, but the Angel of the covenant, was likely to transact the new covenant, which God assured them he would make with them in the latter days, and, as they understood, by the Messiah? St. Mark, therefore, with good reason, introduces his Gospel with this unexceptionable text of Malachi, in order to shew the connection between the Old and New Testament; and that one began where the other ended. Malachi was the last prophet whom God vouchsafed to the Jews before the coming of Elias; and he, supposing the belief of a Messiah to come to be already received, and borrowing the expressions of the former prophets,where-ever Malachi speaks clearly of the Messiah, he may be justly thought to direct how we should understand those prophesies before him, of the Messiah. Thus when he says, The Lord whom ye seek, &c. he plainly intimates, that in his days the Jews expected and wished for that coming; even before the assurance that he now gave them. They had certainly some grounds for such pleasing hopes; for no one desires or delights in things unknown, undescribed, unpromised: and, the event depending merely on the will of God, nothing less than God’s revelation was sufficient foundation for believing it; which revelation God was wont to communicate to their nation by the prophets. The writings of the prophets were in their hands; and they read therein many gracious promises of great good under some king of the house of David, repeated frequently before and after the captivity. On these promises they built their hopes; and as their affairs became low or intricate, the more their longings for these happy times increased. In such a situation Malachi found them at the time he prophesied. But, did he tell them that they were mistaken in their expectations? On the contrary, he assures them, that the Lord whom they expected shall come, &c. He could not have established the belief of a Messiah better, if he had cited the very texts from which they expected him. Yet some of these texts he refers to in this prophesy; for the words spoken of Christ’s harbinger, He shall prepare the way before me, being taken from Isa 40:1-3 we have Malachi’s testimony that Isaiah prophesied of the same person as he does. Isaiah begins his prophesy thus, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, &c. Something very extraordinary appears to be here promised. The Jewish Targum tells us what it is, Mal 3:9. Behold, the kingdom of your God is revealed; meaning the kingdom of the Messiah; which, because the God of heaven shall set it up, is called the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of heaven. Hence the Jews learned to call the days of the Messiah the days of consolation; and waiting for the consolation of Israel is explained by seeing the Lord’s Christ, or Messiah, Luk 2:25-26 and by looking for redemption, and waiting for the kingdom of God. Hence one of the names of the Messiah is Menachem, or Comforter: and his salvation, Isa 62:1 is interpreted by the consolation of Israel, in the Chaldee. Since, therefore, Isaiah, under the figure of a voice proclaiming the approach of a greater person, prophesies of the coming of a certain messenger, to remove all hindrances out of his way, who is called the glory of the Lord, and their God; and since Malachi, predicting the coming of the same messenger, recites the very words of Isaiah, that he should prepare the way before him; and then applies the title of LORD to him whom they sought and delighted in; that is to say, to the Messiah;we cannot avoid thinking that the same persons are intended in both the prophesies. It may be collected from this text, that angel or messenger is one of the titles of the Messiah. Malachi’s fixing the character of messenger of the covenant on the Messiah authorises us to look for the accomplishment of those prophesies which speak of another covenant in the days of the Messiah. God signified by his prophets successively, that he would make a new covenant, a covenant of peace; an everlasting covenant: that he would give his servant, his elect, to be a covenant to the people, and a light to the Gentiles. To what time or person these prophesies did relate, might be disputed before Malachi prophesied, though they have internal marks which point to the Messiah. But after Malachi had said so plainly, that the Lord whom they sought, meaning the Messiah, is the Messenger of the covenant whom they delight in, and that he shall surely come, we can no longer doubt it. It is saying in other words, the Messiah shall be the declarer, the publisher, the mediator of that better covenant,for all these ideas are comprehended in the word messenger,as Moses was of the old covenant; and that a law should be given by him. See Bishop Chandler’s Defence, p. 52, &c.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

SECTION IV

The sending of Jehovahs Messenger. The coming of the Angel of the Covenant to judge, but not to utterly destroy Israel (Mal 2:17 to Mal 3:7)

17Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, wherein have we wearied Him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

Malachi 3

1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly1 [unexpectedly] come to his temple, even the messenger [angel, , LXX.] of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. 2But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap [lye]; 3And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. 4Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5And I will come near to you to judgment: and I will be a swift2 witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress3 the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside [ plural. The Keri reads singular] the stranger from his right, and 6fear not me, saith the Lord of Hosts. For I am the Lord, 4I change not [For I, Jehovah, change not]; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mal 3:17. Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. This verse should have been the first verse of the third chapter, for a new subject begins here, having no very close connection with what precedes. The prophet is here opposing the unbelief of a class, who, like the Pharisees, served God, kept his ordinance, and walked mournfully before Him, but who lost their faith in Providence, when God delayed to punish the wicked, and who complained, not in words perhaps, for, as Cocceius remarks, Scripture is wont to ascribe to the wicked expressions suitable to their character,that He treated all alike, for if this was not the case, why did He not punish the wicked? That by the doers of evil here, and by the sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, and oppressors of Mal 3:5, and by the proud (Mal 3:15), are meant sinners of the Jews, and not of the Gentiles, seems perfectly evident, for these were offenses against the law of Moses. The prophecy had nothing to do with the heathen, who were without the pale of the Covenant. Such a denunciation of Gods judgment upon the heathen would have gratified the haughty and intolerant spirit of the Jews. Strange to say, this reference has been made by Jerome, Hengstenberg, Hitzig, Reinke, Bunsen, Keil. The burden of the third chapter is, Maranatha! The Lord cometh!

Mal 3:1. Behold, I will send my Messenger. The prophet now opposes to the unbelief of the people Jehovahs own word. He will come for judgment, but before his coming, He will send his messenger to prepare his way. It is not said, a Messenger, but his Messenger, the one familiar to them from Isaiahs prophecy (Isa 40:3), where the Hebrew words, to prepare the way, are identical with those here. The crier of Isaiah is here described as the Messenger of Jehovah. In both prophecies his office is the same. That Malachi is not here speaking of himself, nor of an ideal person, in whom the whole prophetic order culminated, as Hengstenberg maintains, is clear from the fact that this messenger is called in ch 4:5 Elijah, the prophet; that our Lord, speaking of John the Baptist, declares, This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee (Mat 11:10; Luk 7:27), and that Mark makes use of this prophecy as fulfilled in John, quoting it, indeed, as from Isaiah, because he was the Major Prophet, according to Tregelles text of Mar 1:2 : Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord, their God, and he shall go before him (i. e., the Lord, their God, the Angel of the Covenant, the Lord of Mal 3:1) in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luk 1:16).

Mal 3:1. The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Angel of the Covenant. The Lord, whom ye seek, refers back to the preceding verse, where is the God of Judgment? The word Lord, , with the article, is applied only to God. In the parallel clause, even the angel of the covenant, he is designated by a peculiar title expressing his office, as this is the only place where this official title occurs, it requires explanation.

From a very early period we find mention of an extraordinary Messenger, or Angel, who is sometimes called the Angel of God, at others, the Angel of Jehovah. He is represented as the Mediator between the invisible God and men in all Gods communications and dealings with men. To this Angel divine names, attributes, purposes, and acts are ascribed. He occasionally assumed a human form, as in his interviews with Hagar, Abraham, Jacob, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah, and his wife. He went before the camp of Israel on the night of the Exodus. In Exo 23:20, Jehovah said, Behold, I send an angel before thee to bring thee into the place, which I have prepared. My name is in him. In Isa 63:9 he is called the Angel of his Presence, or face, where there is a reference to Exo 33:14-15, where Jehovah said to Moses, My presence (or Hebrew, My face) shall go with thee, and Moses said, If thy face go not with us, carry us not up hence. He is called the face of God, because though no man can see his face and live, yet the Angel of his face is the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. In him Jehovahs presence is manifested, and his glory reflected, for the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ. There is thus a gradual development in the Old Testament of the doctrine of the incarnation, of the distinction of persons in the Godhead, not brought to light fully, lest it should interfere with the doctrine of the unity of God. (For a more full discussion of the Angel of Jehovah, see Hengstenbergs Christology, vol. 1. p. 161, Keiths Translation; Lange On Genesis, p. 386; Keil On Genesis, p. 184).

We would further remark that of the Covenant has been understood by most Commentators, as referring to the New Covenant of which Jesus is the Mediator (Heb 9:15). Khler and Keil understand by it the Old Covenant, in which God promised to dwell with his people. In that case, the Angel is the Mediator of the Old Covenant. But we need not restrict it to either, but consider it applicable to both, to all Gods covenant relations to man. Behold he shall come must be predicated of the covenant angel.

Mal 3:2. But who may abide the day of his coming. We find similar language in Joe 2:11 : The day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it? The question, who shall abide it, is an emphatic negative, no one can abide it. As the Lord is a righteous judge, the day in which He comes must be a day of decisive judgment. As Augustine says, The first and second advent of Christ are here brought together. Malachi sees the great white throne in the background. In the last clause of this verse he gives the reason why it is impossible to endure it, since He is like the fire of the refiner, which separates all dross, and like the lye of the washer, which cleanses all stains.

The word , which is translated in our version soap, occurs only here and in Jer 2:22. Soap was unknown to the ancients, and this was a vegetable substance, from the saltwort, which was burned and water poured on its ashes.

Mal 3:3. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. In the second verse the Lord is the fire; here by a flight change in the figure, he is the smelter, who lets the pure metal flow off, while the dross remains behind. He shall sit is pictorial to make the figure more striking.

This judgment begins at the house of God, with the priests who stand in the closest relation to Him. This purification will result in the cutting off the impenitent, and in the reformation of those who repent, so that they offer sacrifices in a proper state of heart, in righteousness.

Mal 3:4. Then shall the offering, etc. When the priests are thus purified, then the sacrifice of the whole nation will be acceptable, as in the early and better times, as in the days of David, to the Lord. The Masora remarks, that the prophetic lesson for the Sabbath before the Passover begins here and ends with the prophecy. This lesson was selected because of the injunction in Mal 3:4, to remember the law of Moses.

Mal 3:5. And I will come near to you to judgment. The prophet proceeds to show that the coming judgment will not be only upon the priests but upon all the people. He will practically convince the wicked by his judgment, and that too unexpectedly, and thus will be a swift witness. The sins specified here were all sins against the law of Moses, some of them to be capitally punished. The Jews were very much addicted from this time onward, as Josephus and the New Testament testify, to sorcery, or witchcraft. The oppressors are mentioned. Those who oppress the wages of the hireling. This verb is followed by the accusative of the person, excepting here, and in Mic 2:2. That turn aside the stranger (Deu 27:19), or oppress him. The tenderest love to the stranger is everywhere breathed in the law (Exo 23:9; Deu 10:17-18; Deu 27:19).

Mal 3:6. For I Jehovah change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Jehovah is not here the predicate, as in our version and Luthers, but is in apposition with the pronoun I, in contrast with the sons of Jacob. For is causal. It is because Jehovah is unchangeable in his gifts and calling, that He will not suffer Israel wholly to perish, though their sins deserved their destruction. He must accomplish his purposes of mercy. Khler finds in the phrase sons of Jacob, an intimation that they resembled Jacob in character before he became Israel, but it is better to regard it as an emphatic expression for the covenant nation. These do not perish, because their existence rests upon the promise of the unchangeable God, as Moore remarks, The sons of Jacob shall not be consumed, the seed of Christ shall not perish. The unchangeableness of God is the sheet-anchor of the Church.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

E. Pocock: On Mal 3:1. He should come unawares when men should not think on or be aware of Him. By the temple no doubt is meant the temple at Jerusalem, then lately built after their return from the Babylonish captivity, which, whatever alterations were made in it, was still looked upon as one till the time it was destroyed by the Romans; and by the Jews called the Second Temple in respect to that former, built by Solomon, and destroyed by the Chaldans. To this temple it is here said, that the Lord here, spoken of should come; and so did Christ whom we say o be that Lord; and of his coming to it and his appearances there at several times we read, He was there first presented by his mother (Luk 2:22); there again, when He was twelve years old, found sitting among the doctors (3:46), where, in his answer to his mother who told him that they had sought Him sorrowing, He may seem to allude even to this prophecy, Wist ye not that I must be in my Fathers house? Was it not foretold that He should come to the temple? Was not that the proper place for Him to be in, and or them to look after Him in? Several other times we read of his going to it, preaching in it, received with Hosannahs, exercising his authority in it, in purging it, and vindicating the dignity of it, and driving out thence those that profaned it. Any of these appearances there is sufficient to prove in and by Him to have been made good that which we take to be the main drift of this expression in this prophecy, namely, that the Lord (Christ or Messiah) here spoken of was to come while the temple (that temple then built) was standing; which is likewise evidently foretold by the Prophet Haggai (Mal 2:7), that into it should come the desire of all nations, and it should be filled with glory, yea, that thereby the glory of that latter house should be greater than that of the former (Mal 3:9), though it were then in their eyes as nothing in comparison with it (Mal 3:3).

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Pressel, on Mal 3:17. Where is the God of judgment? The judgment of the world and of Scripture as to the riddle of human destiny; or, there is a God, who lives to avenge and punish,a truth which even men of the world admit, but which only lovers of the truth rightly understand. Ye have wearied, etc. Whereby is the God of infinite patience wearied? Not by our prayers. Not even by our infirmities, but indeed by our hardness and stubbornness, which will not confess our guilt, and be converted.

On Mal 3:1. Though there are quotations from the Old Testament in the New, which are to be regarded only as an application, though never a random one, of the language of the Old, yet, in all the quotations, which are accompanied by an explanation from the Lord Himself, or his Apostles, we have the most certain commentary, which informs us how the Old Testament writer himself understood, and how he would have others understand his prophecy. On this ground, such an interpretation of Mal 3:1, as Hengstenberg and others have given, is untenable; for when the Lord Himself (Mat 9:10; Luk 7:27) says, This is he of whom it is written, we must understand by, my messenger, a definite person, first named by Malachi, and not the collective body of the prophets, extending down to John the Baptist. If there is to be a second coming of our Lord, it may be assumed that the prophecy before us will be fulfilled in all its particulars, and for the very reason that Malachi knows no difference between a first and second coming of the Lord, and his Messiah. Now it cannot but be expected, that the second coming of the Lord will be accompanied with the same purification as the first was in the children of Israel and that the process of this purification will have the same general cause and result. Though this is to be expected, it by no means follows that this will be accomplished by a second sending of John the Baptist, or by the sending of only one man, after the manner of Elijah, since the person of the Lord Himself is carefully to be distinguished from that of his forerunner: the Lord is one; the forerunner, whether John an Elijah, may be more than one; the Lord is for all nations; Elijah and John only for the people of Israel; and when the second coming of the Lord is at hand, there may be also among the different nations of the world, different messengers, like Elijah and John, to prepare the way of the Lord, as indeed the Revelation of John speaks, in the eleventh chapter, of two such witnesses.

On Mal 3:5. We need only further remark, that between the first and second coming of our Lord, a process of purification takes place in portions of Christendom, by virtue of which the impure elements will be cast off, the hollowness and profanation of Gods service and the Christian character will be exposed, and the true Christian will go to meet his future glory, as after all his inevitable, and often fiery trials, he reflects the image of his God and Saviour.

Among the commentators on the Prophets, we must reckon the great Handel, for he has in such a way illustrated to the world their most weighty prophecies in his Oratorio of the Messiah, that we cannot read them without being reminded of his musical commentary, and thereby be inspired, as it were, to interpret them. This is specially true of this last prophecy of the Old Testament.

On Mal 3:1 : Behold, the day cometh! Two Advent questions: Dost thou believe in the coming of the Lord in humiliation? and dost thou hope for his coming in glory? The world may believe or not, the Lord cometh: the world may prepare itself, or not, the Lord judges. This first Advent teaches us the former, and his second Advent the latter. After perhaps the hymn has been sung, All Christians wait for thee, O Son of God ! can we also say, And love thy appearing

The Lord once said, Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed, and it remains true down to the second coming. Notwithstanding God calls to his people, Behold! for true faith has its eyes open for that which happened at the first coming of the Lord, for that which will happen at his second, and for that which must happen in us, in order that the first as well as the second coming may prove our salvation. He shall prepare the way before me. Every minister of the Church, and every Christian, in the most private circle, can prepare the way of the Lord by warning and teaching, by example and intercession, but he is only a servant, and must wait in the humility and patience of the Lord Himself. Every thing in the world is easier to be calculated, than the day when the Lord comes, and easier to be endured than his coming. He shall sit as a refiners fire. The refining of the Lord has its day, and the day of the Lord has its refining. What salutary terror, and what strong consolation must this comparison of the divine refiner work in us!

The purifying fire is at hand to us all. It brings with it a torture, for which the world has no soothing balm; it penetrates what is most secret and inmost; it makes manifest whether we shall be acknowledged by the Lord, or cast away. If we would be the Lords, then we may say, The Lord sits, and has his eyes fixed upon me even in the furnace, and especially there. He intends only my purification, and should the smallest grain of gold in faith and love be found in me, He does not cast me away with the dross of this world; and his design is that his image may be reflected in me, and that I may be acceptable to Him. The prayer of humility and faith is, O Lord, though thou shouldst, find no gold in me, let me only be found as useful silver.

Mal 3:5. How suddenly and how deeply will the day of judgment interrupt the pursuits of the world! How suddenly! for the prophet says, suddenly, and a swift witness, so that the world will be surprised in the midst of it pursuits. How deeply ! for all unrighteous actions and causes, however great, or little, will be rejudged, and brought to light in their ungodliness. Job was able to comfort himself with the word, My witness is in heaven !the opposite of the threatening word, a swift witness: hence the question comes up, Have I a witness in heaven to fear? What does He see with his all-seeing eye? and what sentence will He hereafter pass upon me with his all-decisive lips?

Footnotes:

[1]Mal 3:1., not immediately (statim Jerome), but unawares, unexpectedly, LXX. suddenly. Messenger, corsponding to angel in Greek, Angel of the Covenant, identical with the Lord, . This form is always spoken of Jehovah; Exo 23:17; Psa 114:7; Isa 1:24.

[2]Mal 3:5., swift, corresponding to , Mal 3:1, unexpectedly.

[3]Mal 3:5., followed by a neuter object only here, and in Mic 2:2.

[4]Mal 3:6.Jehovah is not the predicate, but in apposition with I: the parallel, ye sons of Jacob, shows this.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 1272
THE EFFECTS OF CHRISTS ADVENT

Mal 3:1-3. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his people, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appearelh? for he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers sope. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

THE goodness and long-suffering of God are often made an occasion of profane derision and atheistical contempt. Because he does not instantly interpose to vindicate the honour of his injured Majesty, many will deny his interference in the concerns of men, and his determination to punish sin in a future world. We are assured that such scoffers will be found in the latter days, who will insultingly cry, Where is the promise of his coming [Note: 2Pe 3:3-4.]? And such there have been in every age and place. In the days of Malachi there were many who even wearied God by their impious language: they said, that God delighted in the wicked as much as in the good; and denied that he would everput any difference between them; Where, said they, is the God of Judgment [Note: Mal 2:17.]? It was in answer to that question that the Lord Jesus Christ inspired the prophet to announce his advent in the flesh, and to declare the discriminating effects that should be produced by it.

Let us notice what he says respecting,

I.

Our Lords advent

Jesus is here described under the most august titles
[He is the Lord, the supreme Ruler and Governor of heaven and earth, the Lord of all [Note: Act 10:36.], even Lord of lords, and King of kings [Note: Rev 17:14.]. Yet, notwithstanding his equality with the Father as God, he assumes the form of a servant, and comes as the Messenger of the covenant. He made a covenant with the Father for us, and himself became the surety of that covenant [Note: Heb 7:22; Heb 8:6.], pledging himself to God, that our part should be performed, and to us also, that Gods part should be fulfilled. This covenant he confirmed and ratified with his own blood [Note: Luk 22:20. 1Co 11:25.]; and he calls us into the bonds of it, assuring us, that it is ordered in all things and sure, and that all the blessings of it shall be imparted to those who believe in him. In this office he was an object of desire and delight long before he came into the world: He was the desire of all nations [Note: Hag 2:7.]: not indeed that all actually sought and delighted in him; but he was the joy of all that knew him; they who saw his day, though at ever so great a distance, rejoiced in it [Note: Joh 8:56.]; and if all the earth had known his office and character, they would have been like-minded with those, who waited for him as the consolation of Israel, and looked for redemption in Jerusalem [Note: Luk 2:25; Luk 2:38.].]

The circumstances of his advent also are minutely foretold
[He was to be preceded by a herald, or harbinger, who was to announce his speedy approach, and to prepare the minds of men for his reception. This messenger was John, who had the distinguished honour of pointing him out as that very Lamb of God, who should take away the sin of the world [Note: Joh 1:23; Joh 1:29.].

The temple was the place to which in a more especial manner he was to come: yes, it was while the second temple was yet standing, that he was to come. And thither was he brought at the purification of his mother, when that holy patriarch, Simeon, took him up in his arms, and blessed God for permitting him thus to embrace the promised Saviour [Note: Luk 2:27-29.]. It was at the temple also that his parents found him conversing with the doctors when he was but twelve years of age: and, when his mother expressed the sorrow that she and her husband had felt while seeking him, he answered, (doubtless in reference to this and similar prophecies,) Wist ye not, that I must be at my Fathers [Note: .]? It was in the temple that he delivered many of his instructive discourses, and wrought many stupendous miracles, and he repeatedly purged it from the profanations which the venal priests had allowed [Note: Mat 21:12-14; Mat 21:23.].

His advent, however, though so long predicted, was to be sudden, as in fact it was: for though there was then a general expectation of his arrival, yet the manner of his appearance was so contrary to the carnal notions which were entertained respecting him, that he was overlooked; and, instead of being welcomed as the Messiah, was rejected as an impostor.
The repetition of this prediction in the close of the verse is remarkable as being intended to evince the certainty of the event predicted.]
The prophet, having thus foretold the Messiahs advent, proceeds to declare,

II.

Its diversified effects

As the characters of those, to whom he was to come, were very various, so his advent was to prove,

1.

Discriminating

[Many in that and every age have professed a great regard for the law of God, while they have really hated it in their hearts, and have shewn their utter enmity to God under the semblance of zeal for his honour. On the other hand, many, who have been despised of their fellow-creatures on account of some enormities they may have committed, have really possessed a broken and contrite heart, and have proved incomparably more willing to submit to Jesus, than any self-applauding Pharisee ever was. Now to discover these hidden dispositions of the heart was one intent of our Lords coming: He was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that should be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts should be revealed [Note: Luk 2:34-35.]. And this was the very effect produced by him; for the Scribes and Pharisees, filled with a conceit of their superior knowledge and goodness, cast him out with abhorrence, while many publicans and harlots believed on him to the saving of their souls. This very effect also still follows from the preaching of his gospel; the precious are separated from the vile, and men, though unconscious of it themselves, are led to manifest their real characters, as careless Gallios, atheistical scoffers, proud Pharisees, or humble believers.]

2.

Purifying

[Some there were in our Lords day, who, the more they were rubbed with the fullers sope, and heated by the refiners fire, were the more freed both from their outward filthiness and their inward depravity: the apostle tells us of many, who, having once abandoned themselves to the most infamous lusts, were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God [Note: 1Co 6:11.]. So at this time many of the sons of Levi, not ministers only, but people also (for all believers are now priests unto God) are purified as silver and gold, and offer to the Lord their offerings in righteousness. And it is no small consolation to them to know, that, while they are in the furnace, the Refiner himself sitteth over them, watching the process with all due solicitude, and taking care that they shall lose nothing but their dirt and dross.]

3.

Destructive

[A refiners fire will consume the dross, and fullers sope will destroy the filth, of that to which it is applied: so will our Lord eventually destroy many of those to whom he comes; He will prove to them no other than a stumbling-block, and a gin, and a snare [Note: Isa 8:14.]. When he appeared in the days of his flesh, how many were there that could not stand the trial! their prejudices were excited, their enmity called forth, their hearts hardened, their sins multiplied. Thus it is also in this day: Christ comes, in the preaching of his Gospel, and sits as a refiner and purifier of silver: but do all, to whom his as a refiner and purifier of silver: but do all, to whom his word is preached, approve themselves to be pure gold? Would to God that this were the case! But, alas! the greater part shew themselves to be but reprobate silver, or mere dross; who, instead of being purified and rendered meet for their Masters use, are only as vessels of wrath, fitted for everlasting destruction [Note: Rom 9:22.].]

Let two questions close this interesting subject
1.

What reception have you given to Christ since his first coming?

[Ministers are sent, like John, to prepare his way; they are a voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert an highway for our God! Let me then ask, Are you seeking this Lord? Are you delighting in him as the Messenger of the covenant? Do you open your hearts to him as his temple, and invite the King of glory to enter in? Are you welcoming him even under the character of a refiner, and saying, Put me, Lord, into any furnace, so that I may but come out of it purified as gold? Is it your one desire and endeavour to offer unto him your offerings in righteousness? and do the sacrifices of prayer and praise ascend up daily from the altar of your hearts, inflamed by fire that you have received from heaven? This, this is the reception which he should meet with; God grant that he may be thus precious to all our souls!]

2.

What preparation have you made for his future advent?

[It is no less certain that He will come again, than that he has already come. Nor will his advent be less sudden than at his first arrival: yea rather, as Noahs flood, it will come wholly unexpected by the world at large [Note: Mat 24:37-39.]. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? That will be a discriminating day indeed: all that have ever lived will have the counsels of their hearts made manifest; and the tares shall then be separated from the wheat, and the sheep from the goats. Alas! how will his fire then burn up the ungodly [Note: Compare Mal 4:1. Nah 1:6. Rev 6:15-17.]! and how strict a scrutiny must every one undergo, before he shall be finally approved [Note: 1Co 3:13-14.]! Brethren, are ye ready? Are ye prepared to meet your God? Have ye been so purified from the love of sin, that ye are now meet for the inheritance of the saints in light? Are ye so seeking and delighting in Jesus now, that ye can give up your account to him with joy and not with grief? O say not, Where is the God of judgment? Think not that he delighteth in any who commit iniquity: but know that he will come even as a thief in the night; and that it is to those only who look for him, that he will appear to their everlasting salvation [Note: Heb 9:28.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

The Prophet is here opening to the Church some precious views of the Lord Jesus Christ, in description of his person, glory, majesty and grace; as he was to appear in the days of his flesh to his people. The sad events of his coming to his enemies are also described. The Chapter closeth in sweet and gracious promises to the Church.

Mal 3:1

The Prophet in the name of the Lord, opens with a blessed proclamation to the Church. The Lord Jesus had said by one of his servants, behold me! behold me! Isa 65:1 . And now, by another, the Church is called upon to say, he is at the door. It is a blessed confirmation to this scripture, that when the Lord Jesus Christ was come, one of the Evangelists begins his gospel with saying, that this was to fulfil this very writing of this Prophet, as well as Isaiah’s prophecy. See Mar 1:2 . See also Isa 11:8 . There can be no doubt to whom both Prophets, Isaiah and Malachi referred. John the Baptist was the herald, and forerunner of Christ. I beg, the Reader to be very particular in marking the characters here given of Christ, and as he looks upon the account, to keep his eye stedfastly fixed on the person and offices of the Lord Jesus, and he will discover their beautiful correspondence. He is said to be the Lord whom they seek. Now we are told in the Gospel, that when John the Baptist came, all men mused in their heart, whether he was the Christ or not, until John totally disclaimed it. See Luk 3:15 ; Joh 1:19-27 . And so great was the expectation of the people for Christ’s coming, at the time he did, (because by the calculation of the books of the Prophets, the time was arrived,) that we are told, Simeon was waiting constantly for the consolation of Israel. And Anna, an aged woman, departed not night and day from the temple on this account. See Luk 2:25-38 . By suddenly coming to his temple, implies the certainty and swiftness of his approach. And when it is expressly called his temple, nothing surely could more decidedly prove his Godhead. For who but the Lord of Hosts can be the Lord of the temple? To ascribe a temple to any but God, would be the highest blasphemy. The word Lord, in this place, is Adonai; meaning the bottom and foundation of it. See Isa 28:16 . And it is no dimination of this glory of the Godhead, to call Christ both the messenger or angel of the covenant, as well as the covenant itself; for the Lord Jesus sustains all characters, as Mediator; and is both Lord of all, and Servant of all. Phi 2:5-11 . One feature more must be attended to, in this sweet verse. He is said not only to be the Lord whom his people seek, but whom his people delight in. Yes! he was truly described by the Prophet to be the desire of all nations. And so he is indeed, in the hearts of all his redeemed, in all kingdoms, nations, and climates of the earth. Every poor sinner, once made sensible of his own wants and miseries, and Christ’s ability to deliver from them, will have his whole affections centre in Jesus, and Jesus only. Such then was the Prophet’s account of Christ; and such the correspondence of Christ to his prediction. Jesus proved his right to the Temple by the power he exercised there, when making a scourge of cords, and driving the buyers and sellers out of it. Joh 2:14-17 . Some have thought, and justly thought, that this act of Christ in the Temple, was as striking a miracle as any he performed.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Coming of the Lord

Mal 3:1

Here is a twofold prediction: we have a forerunner of Christ announced in it and then Christ Himself.

I. This tells us two things of this forerunner.

a. It points out his mission from God. Our Lord Himself refers to this passage, and says that it points to John the Baptist and the ministry of the Baptist

b. The work this forerunner was to perform. The very appointment of a messenger to precede Jesus, even in His Humiliation, was a foresight and evidence of Christ’s royal dignity of his being King over His believing people.

II. We have in this passage two statements of Christ’s Divinity:

a. He is called the Lord. It is most important thus to observe the Divinity of Jesus, not only where it is directly but even where it is incidentally stated in Scripture, for the Deity of Christ supports the very substance of our religion.

b. The end of the verse tells us, it is the Lord of Hosts. The Lord Jesus and the Lord of hosts are one and the same. Thus constantly throughout Scripture we meet with this same truth of the Deity of Jesus.

III. He is also called

a. ‘The messenger of the Covenant.’ The covenant is the gracious term used by Jehovah in regard to the promises which He makes to His people to bless and save them.

b. A messenger. For it is He who has made known the glad tidings of salvation, and through the Holy Spirit He reveals and offers to us the blessing of the Gospel. In these two names we observe the happy blending together of our Lord’s majesty and lowliness. He is the Lord of the temple, and at the same time a Messenger, the Lord of hosts and yet a servant.

IV. Observe the place, He shall come to his Temple; and about this temple the last three Prophets frequently spoke telling the Jews that they polluted and profaned it, but that the Lord Jehovah would one day honour it and come to it.

E. J. Brewster, The Shield of Faith, p. 174.

The Glory of God’s House

Mal 3:1 , etc

I. We may trace four stages in Messianic prophecy:

a. From the Fall to the Exodus.

b. From the time of Moses to Saul.

c. The period of the earlier kings.

d. From Isaiah to Malachi.

II. Malachi tells of the coming of the Lord to His temple, and calls attention to the unexpectedness of that coming and to the misapprehension of its purpose. They had expected him to come and judge the heathen. But the Prophet warns them that they themselves shall be first judged.

III. The purpose of the temple was twofold. A house for God to dwell in among His people, and a place where acceptable sacrifices might be offered. We may notice three stages in the development of the sacrificial idea:

e. The building of altars of sacrifice.

f. The building of a tabernacle in the wilderness to be a dwelling for the ark with which was associated God’s abiding presence.

g. The temple planned by David and built by Solomon was but a development of the tabernacle, linked in the same way with God’s presence.

IV. The temple reached its glory when Christ entered it The two ideas connected with the Temple blend into one in the Holy Eucharist, the presence and the sacrifice.

A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, p. 181.

References. III. 1. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 268. Ibid. vol. iv. p. 126. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2611. III. 1, 2. Bishop E. H. Browne, Messiah as Foretold and Expected, p. 30. III. 1, 3. C. Stanford, Symbols of Christ, p. 175. III. 2. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 73. III. 3. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v. p. 205. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii. No. 1575.

The Light of Other Days

Mal 3:4

It seems as if we heard God’s own voice in these words and the words that accompany them. This is not a man talking about the light of other days; it is, in the person of the Prophet, God Himself speaking, and saying, in effect, O that it were as it used to be! what times we had together in the long ago, in the former years, in the days of old! Things have gone wrong since then; the house is not what it used to be: O if these people would only return, repent, and give Me the opportunity of saying, I forgive you all, we should bring back the centuries we have lost, we should make new time, we should make forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four in the day; and by My grace and power we should accomplish the miracle of living our lives over again.

I. You remember some of the former days; the days, you know, when our love saw no difficulties. Love has always been blind; in that sweet sense may love never get its eyesight! To be blind is sometimes to be right and happy and secure. When love begins to see difficulties you may close the windows, and turn the key, and send in the man who will buy up wrecked happiness for bronze. If love should give way the mother has given way, and we always said that as long as mother was there we need not trouble about grate or cupboard or bed to sleep on. But when love gives way, sell your house, go out into the wilderness, and by accident drop in the sea if you can.

II. And who cannot recall those happy years when the soul was absolutely without a suspicion? Once we believed everybody; of course it never occurred to us that anybody could be saying anything that was not true. ‘Let your yea be yea, and your nay nay.’ That is the very soul of the kingdom of God sincerity, simplicity, directness, emphasis, and candour. I long for the days when we never suspected anybody, when we thought there were no wrinkles in any heart, when we were perfectly sure that what was said to us was said in truth and innocence, simplicity and love, and might be relied upon to the last tick and syllable of the speech.

III. I sometimes want the days to come back when my confidence was absolutely strong, when I rose with a simple creed and worked it out all day, and then laid my head upon it at night and slept well. There was a time when. I thought that everything would come right, when I was quite sure that everything was right because God was in it.

Now we are glad when any man arises to give us an excuse for giving up our old ways; if he will hint that there is something wrong in this page or on that page, enough, we are quite willing if he can prove that, then we are away to serve the devil. Not that we care for criticism or archaeology or any verbal difficulties, but we are glad that men have arisen to point all these out, because it gives us chance to go with an easier conscience to redouble our social iniquities. Will the enthusiastic days of faith ever return, when men are battling at the church gates and saying, Open to me the gates of Zion; I will enter in and be glad and shout the Lord’s song? I wonder.

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. Iv. p. 69.

References. III. 6. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 236. III. 7. J. Keble, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany, p. 236. III. 8. W. Baird, The Hallowing of our Common Life, p. 23. J. Foster, Lectures (2nd Series), p. 339.

Faith in Darkness

Mal 3:16

The internal state of Jerusalem was bad beyond all former example. The crimes of those men who one after another filled the high priest’s office, and the general wickedness of the people, were quite enough to prevent them from expecting those blessings which had been promised as the reward of their faithful obedience.

I. To what then could a good man look with hope in such a time of darkness? Outward signs of God’s favour to His people were nowhere to be seen; their condition was in no respect better, and in some it was worse, than that of the heathen nations around them. Had God then cast them off utterly, and was there nothing more to be hoped from trying to serve Him? Many of them did not scruple to say that it was so.

II. For those who looked only on the surface of things, there was nothing that could support their faith. But the more thoughtful, and those who loved God better, sought to find whether there was not some ground of comfort yet left them. They turned over the volume of the law and the prophets; they found trust in God urged as a duty which would never be practised in vain.

III. We must live by faith; that is, we must take much upon trust; we must sow in patience, believing that the harvest will come All our practice in common life is founded upon belief, not upon certainty: we cannot be sure that a single plan we form will answer; we cannot be sure that a single step we take will lead to our good. So then we may believe or not, as we choose; and herein lies our trial.

References. III. 16. J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 20. III. 16, 17. J. C M. Bellew, Christian Life: Life in Christ, p. 249. C. D. Bell, The Name Above Every Name, p. 85. III. 18. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1415. III. Canon Jelf, Sermons for the People, p. 152.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

The Divine Call

Mal 3

How wonderfully coloured is the Bible! What a mystery of light and shade, mercy and judgment, goodness and severity! We have found this all the way through the record, and now we find it on the last page of the revelation. God is the same God, and he changes not All the change has been in form, in outward relation, in merely trivial circumstance; there has been no change in God; the standard of righteousness has never been lowered; hell has always been hot and bottomless. Make of the testimony what we will, there it is; many men wrote the Book many men who never saw one another, and who never read what the other had written, and yet when all the parts of the Book are brought together they are one. The unity of the Bible is one of the strongest arguments in exposition and defence of its inspiration. If all the men had written in the same room, in the same day, under the same pronounced inspiration, we might have had the same mechanical unity; but the circumstances are wholly different. The men wrote without knowing that others were writing; some of them wrote at various times themselves, perhaps hardly remembering what they had written; they wrote amid the rush and storm of ever-changing political circumstance: yet when all the parts are gathered together, was ever such a literary temple seen on all the field of time?

Yet down to the last God is in controversy with certain people. He has not so wrought out the Bible that at last on the final page of the Old Testament everybody is in heaven. There is the clash of arms on the last page; men are still discontented, impious, selfish, rebellious to the uttermost yea, men who ought to have known better. The men with whom God is now in controversy are men who have had opportunities of knowing him, seeing him, reading his law, and watching his way in life and time, and yet at the very last their “words” are “stout against” God. What a school God keeps! What stubborn scholars, what dense minds, what rebellious hearts! Yet the school is not closed. How patient is God! how merciful even in anger! How restrained is he to whom even the lightnings say, Here we are; use us, and we will put an end to rebellion. Still the school goes on, still the scholars are reading and writing, and praying and thinking; now and again God visits the school and sheds tears over it, but still he will not close its doors, or withdraw his light from its windows.

The complaint of the people was from a certain point of view not unnatural. How was the complaint grounded? It was grounded upon visible and obvious facts, such as, the prosperity of the wicked, the happiness of the proud, the abundance of the prayerless. These circumstances were aggravated by the fact that in many cases those who prayed most had least, those who made virtue a study were stung through and through with keenest disappointments. Yet this is God’s world. It is somebody’s world, because here it is. It is not a world of dream or speculation or intellectual invention, but a real world, visible, ponderable, tragical; scarred with graves, mad with grief. Yet to charge such a world upon God brings with it a difficulty of no ordinary kind. That difficulty, indeed, would be fatal were the history of the world limited to any statable number of years, though the years might run into centuries. The time of judgment is not yet. We could stop the builder and say, pointing to his unfinished house, his unroofed edifice, Is this a home for men? Can you mock human expectation by such rudeness of outline? The builder says, Give me time, and you shall see a house, and you shall see burning in it a hospitable fire, and the walls shall be adorned with pictures, and every echo in the place shall answer musically to childish laughter and glee give me time. It we give the builder time, shall we hasten God impiously? Our urgency may be blasphemy. Who will stop the artist and say, Do you call that the delineation of the human face? The artist says, No, I do not, but give me time. I have much to do there yet; all I want is patience on your part and patience on my own, and then when I say I have done my utmost you may pronounce your judgment, but so long as I am working, hold your tongue. That would not be unreasonable. Is it, then, reasonable to point to God’s world and say, Look at the graves, the agony, the misery, the disappointment, the whole tragedy! O dost thou call thyself Father and Sovereign? The answer is, Yes; I am the Sovereign and the Father of the universe, and all creation shall be musical and beautiful; give me time.

At that period of history we read:

“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name” ( Mal 3:16 ).

So even at that period society was not given up wholly to impiety. Whilst some men were speaking against God, some were speaking for him. The Lord knew who were gathered together in his name. Even Christian critics are often too much given to noting the noise and the tumult, the riot and the success of wickedness, to catch the whisper of prayer on the part of others. Once a good man said he was left alone; he was the only man that prayed. Surely the Lord might have smiled upon such innocent ignorance as he said, No, poor rejected prophet “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” It is an infirmity on the part of Christians that they do not recognise the real, active, solid good that is in the world. Yet that infirmity is in some degree excusable. Christians do not want to see any darkness or iniquity or wrongdoing, and so long as they see aught of that kind they cannot open their eyes to the beauty that lies close at hand. Blessed be God, he is the registrar himself; he keeps the books, he marks the statistics; God takes the census.

A beautiful picture is this, containing men that “feared the Lord.” Mark the reverence of their attitude, the benignity of their countenance; listen to the tender music of their voices: men that are speaking to one another, with one another, for one another; they may all be speaking together without disorder; in that holy tumult there is distinctness of articulation. Nor is that enough: not only have we God-fearing men, and men speaking to one another, but we have such men “often” speaking to one another. Not once a week, not a Sabbatic interview, not an occasional fellowship, but an “often” brotherhood. Men should seek opportunities for talking and praying together. We should have a thousand prayer-meetings in the week if we would only enter into the real genius of religious communion. When two men meet together why should they not hold each other’s hand, and in a moment pray; look one another in the face, and take a solemn pledge? Why this mechanical arrangement of praying at a certain hour on a certain evening? That may have its uses, but there ought to be an “often” meeting, roadside interviews, words few in number, but pregnant in meaning, uttered sometimes hastily, sometimes more by sign than by articulate speech; and thus the fraternal relationship should be kept up, and be turned into an instrument of religious inspiration, comfort, and progress. We may be cautioned against formality, and the caution is not without its uses; let us take care lest in denouncing formality we lose the whole fellowship.

No man can estimate the practical uses of religious intercourse. Take it that some men, say seven in number, pray in the city every day, they keep the city alive; yet the heads of the city, not being of the number, smile at the thought; but which is larger, the thing seen, or the thing not seen? Which is really mightier, the hammer that an arm can swing, or the gravitation that even mathematical genius cannot calculate or express in number and figure? Which is the more important, the man’s body that must die, or the man’s soul, the immortal unquenchable fire that makes him a man? We ourselves are driven along certain directions to confess that the spiritual is greater and mightier and more valuable in every sense than the material; we have only to carry our own admission to its highest consequences to ascertain and establish as a practical factor in life the holy doctrine that religious inspiration is the salvation of society. Is the air empty? Why, there is more vacancy than aught else in the universe if such be the fact. What does God want with all this unmeasured vacancy? We are told even by cold science that there is life in the air: we know by experience that without air this life could not live. What is air? What is its magnitude, its colour, its composition other than chemical? If the air itself is vital and vitalising, who shall say that the air is not a sanctuary, a temple of spirits? Who knows who goes forth on the wings of the wind? They must not speak who are always angry with religious dogmatism; they have by anticipation shut their own mouths on that subject. They will have no dogmatism; then let them be consistent with themselves, and refrain from being dogmatic Let it be a question at all events that may tempt the fancy, and inflame with holy excitement the imagination. Who knows what presences are in the temple of the air? There are many things more unthinkable, to use a cant and grotesque expression, than things distinctively religious. If you have any kind of eternity you have something just as unknowable and unthinkable as God. We are all in the same condemnation, if it be a condemnation to be associated with that which is infinitely greater than ourselves. Where did this so-called matter come from? Has it always been here? “Always” is as indefinable a term as “God.” Who knows the meaning of the term “always”? It is a debased form of the word “eternity.” It is either always, or it is not always: if it is not always, when did it begin? If it is always, who can stretch his mind over dateless duration? We prefer, therefore, seeing that we must at some point be associated with so-called unthinkableness, to associate ourselves with the idea of living sovereignty, tender fatherhood, merciful, gracious, and mighty providence. Accepting that theory, we often talk one to another about it; each man writes his own prophecy or psalm or history, and when a hundred of these are all brought together they make a beautiful Bible, one in thought, one in music, one in love. We should compare notes frequently; men should not be ashamed of talking about their soul’s progress. Because certain men can degrade religious intercourse into fanaticism and hypocrisy, that is no reason why other men should not elevate it into a daily means of grace.

“A book of remembrance was written before him.” All books are not made of paper. God has a book, and “another” book, which is the Book of Life. What we call book is a sign or hint of that larger writing inscribed by the finger of God, or immediately under his inspiration. There is a book of names. Men are often asked to inscribe their names in books that there may be some remembrance of them in the family when they are no longer present. The idea is pathetic: why not lift up the thought to its best religious applications, and think of God writing our name? He seems to take a delight in names; saith he, I have known thee by name, I have called thee by name. “Rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you,” said Christ: take no pleasure in mere miracles and wonders and signs, “but rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”

Then comes the holy consequence:

“And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” ( Mal 3:17 ).

“That day.” What does the Bible mean by this constant reference to another or special kind of day? Always in the Bible there has been a coming day, and always there has been a promised prophet; everywhere there has been the sound of One who was coming. This is the largeness of the Book, its sensitiveness to the whole action of evolution. Poor soul, to have thy name written everywhere but in God’s Book! Is that fame? Reject it, resent it, avoid it! When the day does come, it “shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Here, on the one side, you have what mistaken people said, namely, “It is vain to serve God: the proud are happy, yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” That is our complaint against Providence. On the other hand, we have:

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” ( Mal 4:1 )

He comes slowly, but he comes surely. The proud man has a short day to work in. The candle of the wicked shall be blown out: the memory of the wicked shall rot. “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.” Who will fight against God? “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace.” Here is providence brought before us focally. We see somewhat of it in its intense unity: man’s complaint, God’s judgment; man not understanding the mystery of human education, and God explaining it. God will not heat this fire so long as he can help it; mercy prevails against judgment. An opportunity is given for the very last offender to lay down his arms and return to his Lord: but if there be aught left of wickedness it shall be burned in the oven. When God has consumed a man, who can find him?

We might exegetically end here, but evangelically we cannot. There is a call to men to return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon them; to confess their sins, and he will forgive them; to meet God at the Cross, that eternal reconciliation may be effected there. Blind are they who do not see God in providence; lost are they who take the world as meaning nothing but dust. Jesus Christ came to give us a new view, to set us in a right relation to God and to himself and to the coming eternity. He found himself thirsting, and he said, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” He shall have trial, tribulation, difficulty; but all these are part of a process, the Lord will lead through all this disintegration and temporary ruin into reconstruction and ineffable blessedness.

This is the Christian doctrine which we have espoused. We love it. It covers the whole space and the whole necessity of life. There be some curiously-headed men who want to be God themselves. We cannot explain them; that they can be explained we will not doubt; but they are men fruitful in the suggestion of difficulty, skilful in the barren process of cross-examination; they are difficult to satisfy, because they want with a blind eye to see God’s glory, and it cannot be done. Be modest, be calm, be trustful. Try the Christian Cross, the Christian truth, in daily life; see how it goes with a man in all the action of life’s tragedy; listen how it talks; observe how it soothes; note how it inspires; behold how it makes man a new creature.

Prayer

Almighty God, we bless thee for boys and girls; they are thy children; of such is the kingdom of heaven. Thou wilt not rest until Jerusalem is filled with boys and girls; this is in thy counsels, this is written in thy Book, this thou wilt surely do, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. There are no orphans; thou art our Father in heaven; thou dost never change, thy love never cools, thine eye is never withdrawn from any of us: thou dost guide us by thine eye. If we could trust in thee more we should have no fear; if we could live in God we should live for ever: they are immortal who are in God. Now and again we feel the cold wind, and we say, The hill we travel is very high, and the darkness comes down upon us suddenly; but if we had faith in the living Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the wind would be a summer air, the hills would be a slope up towards heaven, and the darkness would be the background of the stars. Lord, increase our faith. Look upon us in all the relations of life; look upon us in the house, and make the house a home, and the home a church, because the living Christ is there; look in upon the wedding feast, and grace it with thy presence, thou Son of man, Maker of the only wine that can make glad the heart of man; be present in the death-chamber, and Death shall see thee and flee away, for thou art the Resurrection and the Life; be with all thy servants in business, and help them to understand that there is no business worth doing compared with the business of the Father’s house; be with us in all straits, difficulties, afflictions, and burden-bearings, and at last, through the Cross, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, bring us fully home. Bless all the lands, far-away countries in the east and in the west, in the north and in the south; may the whole earth rejoice in the impartial glory of the Sun of Righteousness. Amen.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

A Gallery of Pictures

Malachi 1-4

We have some pictures in the prophecy that are very vivid, and some of them very humiliating. For example, we have a picture of the utterest selfishness in Mal 1:10 :

“Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought.”

Yet they sang how good a thing it was to be but a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord. Men do not come to this kind of selfishness all at once. For some degrees of wickedness we must patiently and skilfully graduate. We do not attain the highest quality of iniquity at a bound; we cannot, speaking generally, extemporise the supremest kind of devilishness. We begin carefully, we proceed slowly, we take pains with the details of our action, and not until we have become inured to certain practices and usages do we take the final step that lands us in the very refinement and subtlety of evildoing. Nothing is so soon lost as spiritual apprehension, the power of taking hold upon the invisible, the eternal, the spiritual. There is so much against it We unhappily have eyes that can only see what we describe as the material, and in our folly we describe it as the real. That is the very lowest kind of philosophy. There is a metaphysic that denies the existence of everything we see; I would rather belong to that school of negation than to the school which affirms that there is nothing but what we can see with the eyes of the body. We are always tempted away from the higher lines. Who would shut his eyes and talk to nothing, and call it prayer? Who would have so many of his own aspirations dropping back upon his heart like dead birds, and still believe in an answering, benignant, loving God? Who would refuse the great bribe? There it is, visibly, tangibly, immediately; you can lay your hand upon it, and secure it, and if there is any need by-and-by to pray yourselves back again from the felony, and still retain its produce, then see the man of God and take his ghostly counsel. The distinction of Christianity is its spirituality. Christianity lives amongst the spirits. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.” When we make Christianity a mere argument or a mere philosophy, we lose its whole genius and meaning. Christianity comes to kill the visible by putting it into its right perspective, and investing it with its right value, which is nothing beyond a mere convenience. Christianity comes to lift up the soul to God, and to fix the heart upon things unseen and eternal. Christianity comes to make a man blind to everything but God, and therefore to see everything aright because to see it in its relation to God. How far are we to blame for degrading Christianity from its proper level, and making it stand amongst so-called other religions to take its chance with the general mob? We can be attacked with some success, not to say with desperate savageness, if we fight the battle on wrong lines; but not when we stand upon Christ’s lines, of direct living fellowship with God, doing everything for Christ’s sake, glorifying God in our body, which is so-called matter, our soul, which plays a part in the psychical philosophies, and our spirit, the touch that makes us one with God. If we pray ourselves into higher prayers, ever-ascending until speech must be displaced by music, then we are upon a way where we shall find no lion, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon, it shall not be found there. And as for dying, we shall not die “he was not, for God took him,” shall be the rhythmic ending of a noble, beautiful, spiritual life. Losing this spiritual apprehension, what do we come to? to men-service; we come to be men-pleasers, time-servers, investors, hirelings. When the true spirituality reigns in us we shall have no fear of man, we shall see the richest patron of all going out of the sanctuary, not because he is wounded in the back, but because he is wounded in the heart by the Spirit of God, on account of his unrighteousness, unfaithfulness, vanity, and worldliness; the Church will be the richer for his absence. Never let the spirituality of the Church go down, for then you open the door to every kind of invader; you make devastating encroachment possible; but laying hold of God, you shall be safe even from the insidious assaults and invasions of selfishness.

We have also a picture of the true priest:

“The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts” ( Mal 2:6-7 ).

What was said of Levi should be said of every man in the varied ministry of the Church; he ought to be as beautiful as this. Yet not only beautiful, but massive, strong, pure, dominating; not asking permission to live and to preach, but granting permission to millionaires to chink their gold. It is quite true that here we have an ideal picture. It satisfies the imagination to have a word like “ideal” in its vocabulary. But may we not so use the word “ideal” as to find in it a temptation to a continual lowering of the spiritual stature, and a continual cooling of the spiritual temperature? Certainly these words are ideal; this is God making another Adam, this time out of marble, breathing into him the breath of life, and making him majestic and noble: this is God’s conception of the true priest. Yet we call it ideal, and then go away to our commonplace. The minister of Christ cannot rise to perfection. If any man were to assume himself to be perfect he would justly discredit himself by that very assumption. What is it that is required of the true priest, preacher, minister, or pastor? It is required of him first that he be found faithful to his light, to his immediate inspiration; he is not to live for tomorrow, he is to live for this present day, with all its clamour and all its importunate necessity. But should not a man study consistency? Yes No. Is it possible for an answer to be both in the affirmative and in the negative? Certainly. Wherein is to be the consistency of the preacher? In his spiritual sincerity. There he must never fail. As to his words and views, do we not live in an atmosphere? Are we not environed? Do not ten thousand ministries continually play upon every line and fibre of our nature? There may be inconsistency in words, phrases, terms, and statements, and yet there may be consistency of the finest quality and fibre in the moral purpose, the spiritual intent, the unchangeable loyalty to the Cross of God the Son. A preacher’s perfectness should be found in the continuance of his aspiration, and the continuance of all practical endeavour to overtake his own prayers. Do not mock a man because his life is not equal to his prayer; when a man has no higher prayer to offer than he can live he may pass on into some other world in the Father’s universe. Meanwhile, no man can pray sincerely, profoundly, continually, and want to be like Christ without growing, not always upwards; there is a growth in refinement, in susceptibility, in moral tenderness, in sympathy of the soul for others, as well as a growth in knowledge, and stature in intellectual majesty. It is well to have an ideal before us. One of two things must happen in the case of the priest. “… Did turn many away from iniquity.” That is a beautiful work for you, my preaching brother, to have done. You may never have been heard of beyond your own sphere, and yet within that sphere you may have been working miracles which have astounded the angels. You have kept or turned many away from iniquity. I have a brother who had great influence over one of his leading men, and that brother, though his name was never heard of beyond his own circle of ministerial exertion, laid himself out to save that man. That man’s temptation was drink. The minister followed him, turned swiftly upon him at the public-house door, and said, No, not here! It was not much of a sermon to preach from a public point of view, but the poor tempted soul quailed under the interdict, and went home. Why, to have been the means of giving him one night’s release from the devil was to have done a work worthy of the Cross! You cannot tell what your negative work amounts to how many you have kept from going wrong, doing wrong, or speaking unwisely, untruly, or impurely; you do not know what your example has done. Be cheered, be encouraged; you do not always live in the miracle of Pentecost; sometimes you live in the quietness that can only do a negative work, but blessed be God, when he comes to judge our work there will be nothing negative about it He who has turned away a man from iniquity shall be accounted as one who has turned a soul to righteousness; he is a great judge, and he gives great heavens to those who serve him.

There is another line of thought

“Ye have caused many to stumble” ( Mal 2:8 ).

How acute, how penetrating, how ruthless is the criticism of God! Here again we may not have been wanton in our irreligion, we may not have been irreligious at all in the ordinary sense of the term, but for lack of zeal, for lack of honesty, for lack of character, we may have caused the citizens of Gath to mock, and the daughters of Philistia to sneer at the Lord. “Caused many to stumble”: how could they help it? They looked to the priests, pastors, guides, and teachers of the community for example, and they saw nothing but warning. They said, The speech of these men will be pure, gentle, courteous, gracious; they will especially speak of one another in terms of appreciation and brotherly regard. Hark! Why, this is talk we might have heard at the tavern; this is criticism we might have heard at hell’s gate; this is censoriousness that would shame an infidel. What if they have gone away to mock the God whose name his own professors had forgotten? “Caused many to stumble” by little-mindedness, by narrowness of soul, by lack of sympathy, by idolatry instead of worship, by pointing at a church-roof and calling it God’s own sky. Here we should daily pray that we give offence to no man needlessly; here we should do many things that the Gospel be not hindered; here we may work miracles in the name and power of the Cross.

Another picture is that of a terrible judgment:

“And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts” ( Mal 3:5 ).

O God, send some man to testify against us, and we can contradict him; send the oldest and purest of thy prophets to charge us, and we can recriminate, and remind him of his human nature, and tell him to take care of himself lest he fall, rather than waste his criticism upon us who have fallen. Send Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel; send all the minstrels of Israel, let them mass themselves into a cloud of witnesses, and we can laugh them to scorn, and tell them not to mock our fallibility by an assumption of infallibility of their own; but thou wilt not do this, thou dost come thyself. Who can answer thunder? Who can reason with lightning? Who can avert the oncoming of eternity? “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” He will be not only a witness, but a “swift witness”; he will break upon us suddenly, he will come upon us from unexpected points; where we say, All is safe here, there shall the fire leap up, and there through a hedge, where we thought to make a resting-place, shall a serpent break through to bite us. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” Yea, I call mine a man’s hand, but to thee it is the hand of a little child; take hold of it, for the way is slippery, the crags are here and there very sharp, and the steep is infinite, and the enemy is already breathing upon my neck. O God, save me, or I perish! In that modesty we have strength; in that reliance upon God we have a pavilion that the thunder cannot shake, that the lightning cannot penetrate. I would hide me in the house of my Saviour’s heart.

Then we have a picture of a perfect restoration:

“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts” ( Mal 3:11-12 ).

One nation cannot be good without another nation feeling it. When England is noble the whole world is aware of the transformation; when America has responded to the appeal of righteousness the whole globe feels as if a Sabbath were dawning upon the shores of time; when any nation does a noble deed it is as if all the world had prayed. Let us remember the might, the immeasurable might, of spiritual influence. Convert England, and you convert the world; convert London, and you convert England, speaking after the manner of men. Leave God to look after the results which you call material. Is there a devourer? God will rebuke him for our sakes. Does the vine cast her fruit before her time? Angels shall keep that fruit on the stem until it be purple with hospitality, yea, with the very love of God’s heart; and as for the fields, their hedges will become fruit trees, and all the fences shall bloom and blossom because the Lord’s blessing has fallen upon the earth. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” God will take care of the vine if we take care of the altar.

Then, lastly, we have a picture of a sun-lighted world:

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings” ( Mal 4:2 ).

The last verse of the Old Testament is terrible; it reads” “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers” that is good, but the last words “lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” The Rabbi would never end with that; the Rabbi said, “No, I will go back and read the last verse but one.” The Rabbi could not end with a curse. There are several books in the Bible that end with doleful words: “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” The Rabbi could not defile the synagogue with making “evil” the climacteric word, so he read the verse before. Isaiah ends: “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” And the Rabbi said, We cannot end with that, we must end with the verse before. And the Lamentation, “But thou hast utterly rejected us: thou art very wroth against us.” And the Rabbi said, Read the verse before that; we cannot end with storm and darkness, and tempests of imprecation. Oh let us close with some word of comfort! So must it ever be with the true messenger of God. He will have to deliver his tremendous message; but blessed be the Cross of Christ, every sermon may end with music and light and joy. There is no text in the Bible that lies half a mile from Calvary. I do not care what the text is, there is a road from it right into Golgotha. Malachi has for his last word curse; but we may have for our last word blessing, we may have for our closing word peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.” If we added to that we should be attempting to paint the lily and gild refined gold. There is but one word that can be added to it, and that is not our own: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXXI

THE BOOK OF MALACHI PART I

Mal 1:1-3:9

We now take up the prophecy of Malachi. We have seen that there were three prophets in the period after the exile, whom we called the prophets of the restoration. These were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. We now take up the last of those three, the prophet whose writings closed the canon of the Old Testament. Between the books of Zechariah and Malachi there is an interval of about sixty years, and of what was done during these sixty years we have some light. We can draw inferences from the condition of things previous to, and the conditions we find portrayed in Malachi’s book.

We are pretty sure of some things. We know that the Temple was finished and dedicated four years after the preaching of Haggai, under the inspiration of his preaching and that of Zechariah, his greater successor. We know that the Temple worship was instituted, and the ritual and the ceremonial had been performed and they had built the walls of the city. Herein fall the events of the book of Esther, Ezra’s reformation and Nehemiah’s organization. These facts are about all that we have regarding that period.

There are some things also we can determine by way of inference. It is important to know the condition of Israel at the time of the prophecy of Malachi. We must always know the historical situation, the economic, civic, social and religious conditions of the people in order to fully understand the message which God brings to them through his prophet.

We take up now the political condition. Israel was only a very small vassal, dependent upon the great Persian Empire. Zerubbabel evidently had been appointed governor soon after they arrived in the land, but apparently he had no successor in the royal line, for in the period of Malachi the Persians had appointed their own governors. They are under a Persian governor and are one of the least known and least interfered with of all the little nations of the world. The great tide of the world’s history has flowed north; Xerxes had made his great campaign against Greece; was three or four times defeated, and the great tide of barbarism from the Persian Empire was rolled back by that wonderful little nation, Greece, and thus Europe was saved from an eastern Asiatic and barbarous civilization.

The consequences, or the effect, of that upon all ancient history we can hardly calculate. Had Xerxes succeeded in conquering Greece, southern Europe and perhaps northern Europe would have been overrun with Persian religion and civilization. As it was, that invasion was driven back, and a century or so later Alexander the Great spread the civilization of Greece over the Persian Empire; the tide was turned eastward instead of westward, and the world has been the better ever since.

All this passed and did not touch Israel. They had no place whatever in one of the greatest movements of the ages. They had enemies round about them, who never forgot them, and who never failed in a chance to thwart their purposes, or to harass them in their efforts to build up their nation again. They apparently had no hope, and there seemed to be no reason for the hope of the fulfilment of the prophetic visions of Amos, Hosea, Micah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. These all seemed to be failures, and there was no indication on the horizon of history that they would be fulfilled. Thus their political situation tended toward a despondent condition of mind among the rulers and probably among all the people.

The following were the economic conditions: They had had a succession of bad harvests and of hard times. This we find in the book of Malachi itself. A great many of them had suffered from poverty. They had been compelled to pay their taxes to the Persian Empire regularly, and in order to do that, many of them, as we find in Nehemiah, were forced to mortgage their property, and some of them had to sell their children into slavery. Part of the population, the dregs, had been left by Nebuchadnezzar when he destroyed the city and carried away the best of the people, and when the other people were removed they took possession and cultivated all the best of the land for themselves. The Samaritan people, that mixed race of the north, had also come in and cultivated their land, and a great many of them had become wealthy and were in a prosperous condition. Doubtless, many of them came down into Judah and there held important positions. Thus there grew up a large number of families of considerable wealth and social influence. But the best of the people who had returned from the captivity were poor.

Now let us look at the social condition. The city itself had never been rebuilt. The ruins were there to be seen every day in the year. These people were mainly poor, and in order that they might become rich and influential they married into the rich families and got rich wives. In order to marry these heathen or semi-heathen women who belonged to the rich influential families, they divorced their own wives. This was done altogether too promiscuously in Judah. There grew up a select class and as a result there was enmity between the poor and the rich.

These political, economic, and social conditions produced a peculiar religious condition. The colony had returned with all the glorious promises of the great prophets filling their horizon, and they looked confidently to the time when they should be a great nation, and all the nations of the world should look to them for the law of Jehovah. Naturally they were filled with a considerable amount of spiritual pride, because of the exalted position in which they believed themselves to be placed. The Persian kings were generous; did not interfere with their religion. These people had nothing of the fires of persecution to purify them, nothing to arouse that which was best within them. They were beginning to settle down upon their lees, and to grow dull and stupid in their religious life.

Because of these conditions, and the seeming failure of the prophecies of the great prophets, their pride was set on edge, and a peculiar condition developed in Israel, such as we have never met before, viz: a contempt for their revealed religion and ceremonials, contempt for even God and his Temple, the ritual and the sacrifices. They began to think that there was no use to believe in God. They began to doubt the very existence of the love of God, and to have little or no reverence for the honor and holiness of God. The priests treated all their ceremonial and ritual with contempt. The nation seemed to be on the verge of renouncing God and their religion entirely.

As a result they sacrificed only with the poorest gifts they could find; they picked out the lame and the maimed and the blind and the halt for their sacrifices. They offered the poorest of their bread upon the altar and treated God as if he were not worthy of their worship. By marriage they mixed with the heathen or the semi-heathen surrounding them, and thus were in danger of amalgamating their race with the low and degraded race of that country, thus losing their distinct nationality as a people. Some of them went further than that, and actually began to doubt and question the justice of God in his rule over the world. They were coming to the point of saying that God dealt more kindly and justly with the wicked than he did with the righteous, and was treating the wicked better in all their sin, than he was the Israelites in all their righteousness. They refused to bring in the tithe to support the priesthood. Some of them had actually come to the conclusion that there was no profit in serving God, and they might as well renounce it all.

In this brief survey of the condition we observe that Malachi met a great many of the problems which we have to meet today. The book of Malachi is rich in homiletical material. A great many of the problems which we must face are there. In this period the Pharisees and the Sadducees began to spring up. In the authorized, Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions the book is divided into four chapters, as we have it in the American Standard; the Hebrew combines the third and fourth chapters into one, but none of the chapter divisions exactly fit the contents and subject matter of the book as we have it in our Bible.

According to the title of the book, the prophet’s name is Malachi, which means “my messenger,” exactly what the Hebrew word means, as found in Mal 3:1 : “Behold, I send my messenger [Malachi].” A great many maintain that this book is anonymous, and that Malachi is not the name of the man, but that the name is adopted from this expression here, and given to the author because his real name was unknown. The Targum, the translation of the Hebrew text into Aramaic, adds this little note and says, “My messenger is Ezra the scribe,” thus ascribing this prophecy to Ezra, but this is not the prophecy of Ezra, although it does breathe a great deal of his spirit. It is not necessary to say that Malachi is strictly the official name and not the real name. There is no reason why Malachi should not be the name given to the man, his personal name, as well as his official name. Malachi was the name of the prophet who actually lived and wrote in the postexilic period.

There is no date given. It can only be inferred. We know that it occurred some time after the rebuilding and dedication of the Temple, but the question arises, Was it before Ezra returned from Babylonia in 458 B.C. or after? Was it before Ezra’s visit in 458 and Nehemiah’s visit in 444, or was it between Nehemiah’s visits in 444 and 432, or was it after Nehemiah’s second visit? It is more probable that these things would be said in connection with Nehemiah’s second visit, for he compelled the Jews to bring their tithes in, to divorce all their foreign wives, and to adhere to the Temple ceremonials. It fits the conditions of Nehemiah’s second visit. Malachi was preaching against the very conditions which Nehemiah dealt with. There is no Question that it occurred during the reign of Artaxerxes, the same ruler who sat upon the throne when Nehemiah came. Edom had been conquered and almost totally destroyed by this time. So this prophecy parallels very closely the latter part of Nehemiah.

The book is a dialogue in form, prosaic in style, with simple, smooth, and concise diction. It is a fine piece of eloquence, the outline of which is very simple, as follows:

Introduction: The name of the author (Mal 1:1 )

I. Fundamental Affirmation (Mal 1:2-5 )

II. Formal Accusations (Mal 1:6-2:17 )

III. Final Annunciations (Mal 3:1-4:6 )

Malachi adopts a peculiar method of prophesying, a pedagogical method. We will observe it more closely as we go on with our exposition. His method was to make a great statement of some fundamental, theological truth which was being questioned in that age. Then having made that statement be throws out the question that is raised up by those people who are in that peculiar religious condition described above, in which they question these theological truths. He voices their skepticism and doubts. Then he gives his answer, and drives it home with illustration, with exhortation, and even with threats.

This is a pedagogical method for either teaching or preaching, and an effective method, an excellent way to arouse the careless and indifferent. It compels attention; it compels the people to action. This method of Malachi is the beginning of a certain scholastic method that prevailed in the synagogue for centuries after. As we have in the book of Zephaniah the beginning of the great apocalyptic literature which is amplified in Daniel, Zechariah, and the book of Revelation, and as in Habakkuk we have the beginning of the speculative method in Israel, when they were speculating upon God’s providence and God’s rulership, so in Malachi we have introduced the scholastic method which has survived more or less ever since in Hebrew and Christian literature.

Now we come to the exposition of the prophecy. We take up in this chapter three of the prophet’s messages. There are eight in all. The remaining five will follow in the next chapter. Malachi’s fundamental affirmation is that God’s love was shown in Israel’s election, and Edom’s rejection (Mal 1:2-5 ). Here we have exemplified that pedagogical method. He first makes his great fundamental, theological statement: “I have loved you, saith Jehovah,” one of the most fundamental and far-reaching truths that was ever uttered. With that as the fundamental truth in theology we hold to everything else. Malachi then projects their questioning: “Ye say, wherein hast thou loved us?” This question represents their very dangerous, skeptical attitude. This attitude, as expressed by “wherein,” is manifested at seven points in this book, viz: Mal 1:2 ; Mal 1:6-7 ; Mal 3:7-8 ; Mal 3:13 . But Malachi goes on and proves that God loved Israel. His proof is based on the history of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, in contrast with the history of Jacob, or Israel. His love is proved by the difference in his conduct toward Jacob, and his treatment of Esau. In other words, God’s love for Jacob is proved by Jacob’s history, in contrast with the history of his brother.

These nations were as near akin as they could possibly be, but the very opposites in disposition and destiny. We have some of the characteristics of Edom in Obadiah. Now the difference between God’s treatment of Jacob and Esau is as he says in the latter part of Mal 1:2 , “Yet I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.” He does not mean that he actually hated Esau, but that Esau occupied a very small place, or a very subordinate place in his estimation, for God cannot hate any nation, but he puts them in a very low place in his estimation in comparison with others.

God’s love for Israel is proved in her preservation, while his lack of love for Edom is proved in the fact that Edom is made a desolation, which occurred at the hands of the Nabataean Arabs during the period of the exile, somewhere about the middle of the century preceding this prophecy. Then he goes on to verify that history of Esau, “Whereas Edom, after he had been so utterly crushed, said, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places.” “They shall build, saith Jehovah, but I will throw down, and they shall call them the border of wickedness, and the people against whom Jehovah hath indignation forever. And your eyes shall see [this judgment upon Esau], and ye shall say, The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel.” Paul refers to Jacob and Esau in Rom 11:13 to illustrate the doctrine of election. They do not show honor and reverence for God as do the heathen (Mal 1:6-14 ). Again Malachi starts with his fundamental, theological premise. He says, “A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master.” He is basing his remark on the Fifth Commandment which says, “Honour thy father and thy mother.” God did not say, “Love thy father and thy mother,” but “Honour thy father and thy mother.” What Malachi has in mind here is the holiness, the majesty, the authority of God, which demands honor and reverence on the part of his people.

Then God speaks, “If then I am a father, where is mine honour?” I have commanded you to honor father and mother, which implies that in the very highest and noblest sense you honor God also. But they had begun to despise and heap contempt upon the holiness, the majesty, and the authority of God Almighty. “If I am a master, where is my fear?” The first thing demanded of a servant is that he fear his master, and of the child, that he honor and reverence the parent, and the first and fundamental thing demanded of subjects is that they reverence and fear Almighty God. But these people were despising the holiness of God; the priests looked upon the services with contempt.

Now having projected this great fundamental truth, he states the objections of the people. He charges the priests with despising his name and saying, “Wherein have we despised thy name?” Such is their position, and that position, on the part of those priests, indicates a woeful, wilful ignorance or a scornful skepticism. To be unconscious of the fact that they were despising God’s name shows that their moral consciousness, as well as their religious perceptions, must have been dormant, or utterly perverted.

Now having stated their position, he attacks it. This is what they do: “Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar,” and that proved that they despised the name, majesty, and holiness of God. “And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.” Then he goes on to specify in what ways they made the table of Jehovah contemptible; that when they offered the blind, and the lame, and the sick, they thought it was all right. They would not dare offer such a gift to the governor, but they did to Almighty God. They knew the governor would not accept it of them, but they dared to offer it to God.

Malachi goes on with his admonition: “And now, I pray you, entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious unto us: this hath been your means: will he accept any of your persons?” He will not..

Then the prophet breaks forth and says, “Oh, that the doors of the temple could be shut! I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand,” expressing the same attitude toward their sacrifices as did Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah, not that he objected to the ceremonial or to the ritual, but he objected to the spirit in which they offered them, as also those prophets did.

Now we have a remarkable prophecy in which he shows the Gentiles will offer up incense and sacrifices all over the world: “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts.” This passage finds its fulfilment in the transfer of the covenant privileges from the Jews to the Gentiles which came to pass when the Jews rejected the Messiah. The argument is that the Jews with their great mission to all the world were failing and therefore, they must be punished for their failure with such opportunities.

He goes on stigmatizing those priests. They profane the Temple of Jehovah, they pollute it and they say, “Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it . . . and ye have brought that which was taken by violence, and the lame, etc.” Then he pronounced a curse upon the deceiver who had in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is terrible among the Gentiles.”

Next he charges the priests with unfaithfulness and wickedness. Here we have some splendid homiletical material for the preacher. In Mal 2:1 he continues thus: “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.” The third verse gives a description of the awful curse that shall come upon them.

Then he goes back to the history of Levi to get his ideal for the priest, when the tribes were set apart in the great covenant on Mount Sinai: “My covenant was with him of life and peace; I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.”

Then he gives his reasons for the statement: “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge.” The role of the priest was to teach and from the very beginning of God’s institution of his religion, he required a whole tribe to be set apart as teachers and administrators of the law. God recognized the fact that human nature must have teachers provided for their instruction. “They should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.” But by way of contrast to what Levi did at one time and what he does now, look at Mal 2:8-9 , “But ye are departed out of the way; you have caused many to stumble in the law.” They had wilfully perverted it or misinterpreted or misapplied it. “Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.” And God Almighty will make every priest and every preacher of his people contemptible and base in the eyes of the people, if they do with his gospel as the priests did with his Law.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the historical setting of this book?

2. What is the political condition of the people at this time?

3. What is the economic condition?

4. What is the social condition?

5. What is the religious condition?

6. What two Jewish parties began to spring up about this time?

7. What are the chapter divisions in the different versions, what in the Hebrew and how do these arrangements fit the subject matter?

8. What of the author and his name?

9. What is the date of the book and what were the difficulties in connection with it?

10. What is the general character of the book?

11. Give the outline of the book.

12. What is Malachi’s method?

13. What was Malachi’s fundamental affirmation and what was their reply?

14. What was the attitude of the people as indicated by the sevenfold “wherein” and where do they occur in the book?

15. What was God’s reply to their question, what was the meaning and what is the New Testament use of this statement?

16. What was Malachi’s first accusation, against whom was it made, what commandment referred to in this accusation, and what their reply?

17. What were his charges against the priests?

18. What were the threats against the priests for this failure in duty and what was Malachi’s ideal for the priests?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

XXXII

THE BOOK OF MALACHI (CONTINUED) PART II

Mal 2:10-4:6

We continue in this chapter the exposition of the prophecy of Malachi. In the first chapter we examined three of the prophet’s sermons directed against the people; the first one corrected their false and skeptical ideas regarding the love of God toward the nation, the second one attacked their attitude toward his majesty, or holiness, in the matter of their offering blemished sacrifices, and the third one was directed against the priests because of their external delinquencies, their perversion of the truth that they were given to teach, and their general wickedness.

The next evil which the prophet charged against them was the cruel evil of divorce (Mal 2:10-16 ). This evil of divorce arose, as we have already seen, from the growing custom on the part of some of the people who wished to belong to the high and rich families, of marrying into families of mixed and foreign bloods. In order to do this they were compelled to put away the wives that they had already. This charge gives the prophet’s view regarding that evil.

The key words in this section are “dealing treacherously.” He is addressing the people now, for they, as well as the priests, have indulged in this cruel and wicked custom. In this case he begins with a broad and fundamental principle of a common fatherhood. “Have we not all one father? hath not God created us?” He has in mind Israel as a descendant of Abraham the father of the Jewish nation, and God the common creator of all. “Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?” In other words, why do the Israelites sustain such a relation to one another? Why do they “deal treacherously one with another”? For in speaking of brothers here he included men and women, for it was the wrong against the women that he spoke of specifically. In doing this he says that they profane the covenant of their fathers, for a covenant was made between God and Israel at Sinai asserting this one thing, that all the people of Israel were God’s and there should be no dealing treacherously one with another. In dealing thus, they were breaking the fundamental law of the covenant between God and Israel.

In Mal 2:11-12 he specifies the charges; he says that Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem. Then he explains what that is: “For Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah which he loveth and hath married the daughter of a foreign god.” To marry the daughter of a foreign god meant to an Oriental, to marry a woman who belonged to another race and to another religious cult; in marrying into that other nation or religious cult, he was practically marrying a daughter of the foreign god, for every nation conceived itself as the offspring of its own particular god. They were thus marrying the daughter of the foreign deity.

As the result of this evil (Mal 2:12 ), “Jehovah will cut off, to a man,” that is, every man without an exception, “that doeth this, him that waketh and him that answereth,” a proverbial expression, to include everyone. That was partly fulfilled in the time of Nehemiah. The divorce court was then set up, and nearly all the men that had married foreign wives were compelled to put them away, and those who would not, were excommunicated, and thus cut off from the congregation and life of Israel. In Mal 2:13 he says, “And this again,” or literally, “this a second time ye do.” And, in order to make it very vivid, he draws a picture of the divorced wives, weeping and wailing because of the wrongs that have been done to them. He says (Mal 2:13 ), “Ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, neither receiveth it with good will at your hand.” The weeping wives and punctilious offerings and sacrifices would not to together.

And now to show the carelessness and grossness of the people, he represents them as saying, “Wherefore? Why is it that he hath not received them with good will?” as if they were innocent. Then the prophet answers, “Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth.” In marriage vows Jehovah was witness between the two. These vows were taken for life, and now they had dealt treacherously. The prophet recognized the wife as still the wife and companion, although thus divorced.

Mal 2:15 represents some difficulties. There are many translations of it. The translation given here is, “And did he not make one, although he had a residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed.” Now the margin of the American Revised gives a different translation: “And no one hath done so who had a residue of the Spirit. Or what? Is there one that seeketh a godly seed?” which is almost unintelligible. The general meaning seems to be this: Did not God, when he first made man, make one man and one woman, although he had the residue of the spirit of life and might have made a thousand women for one man, if he had chosen to do so. He had all the power, yet he made one man and one woman. And why one? Because he sought a godly seed; because he sought a pure offspring. Therefore he made one man for one woman and one woman for one man, in order that the best results might thereby come.

It enunciates a great and fundamental principle, which is the same as that enunciated by our Lord Jesus Christ himself. When the Pharisees came and asked him the question about divorce, he said, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” God made one man and one woman and put them together in Eden. That is also Paul’s teaching, that God intended that one man and one woman enter into a union for life.

Now an admonition arises out of that. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For I hate putting away.” The prophet closes with this admonition: “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.”

In Mal 2:17 he brings his charge without enunciating his general fundamental principles: “Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words.” They returned the question to him. “Wherein have we wearied him?” And the prophet gives his answer, “In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in them.” Or, “Where is the God of justice?” It is a very dangerous kind of skepticism; they are saying, “Jehovah delights in the wicked more than in the righteous. He is blessing the unrighteous more than the righteous. His pleasure is with the man who is of the world. Where is the God of justice?” The application is that God is not just in the administration of the affairs of this world; it is not according to the principles of righteousness. Many a man, in adversity, has asked the question, “Where is the God of justice?”

In Mal 3:1-6 , the prophet gives his answer to that question, and it is complete: “Men may think that the evil doer is God’s delight, and that God is not a God of justice, but the time will come, when they will see that he is a God of justice, for, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.” Justice is coming, God is going to manifest himself, he is going to discriminate between the righteous and the wicked. He will come in a day of judgment; he will send a messenger before him, who shall prepare the way, that he may carry on his work of judgment and of righteousness in the world, and not only will the messenger come to prepare his way, but when he has prepared the way before him, then “the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple.”

As in the days of Amos, they sought the day of Jehovah, now in the days of Malachi they look for the day of Jehovah. Then he raises the question, “Who can abide the day of his coming? . . . for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s Soap; and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi,” their priests and leaders, and when he has done that, they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness. Then when the priests are made pure and are refined, there will be a revival of religion in Israel. Then will the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Jehovah.

The fulfilment of this we are told by Jesus, occurred when John the Baptist came preparing the way for him. He himself was the Lord; he was the messenger of the covenant; he came to refine and purify the people. His first public act was to cleanse the Temple, drive out the sellers of oxen and sheep, and the money changers, and every word he said, every sermon he preached, every truth he taught, every act he did, tended to refine and purify the world, and all his life was as a winnowing fan separating the chaff from the wheat, dividing mankind into two great classes.

“Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation.” Here is a reference to the law of tithes, or the custom of giving one tenth, which appears first in the Bible in the days of Abraham, long before it was given by Moses on Mount Sinai. Really it is coincident with the religious practice and customs of the human race. It appeared in religious observances from the very beginning, long before Moses honored it by embodying it in the law received on Mount Sinai. As the law of the sabbath is a fundamental requirement in the physical and moral constitution of mankind, so the law of tithes is also a fundamental requirement of religion.

Now we come to a great text: “Bring ye the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord.” People who are giving their tenth prove God, and those who faithfully give the tenth find that God blesses them for doing so. Spurgeon used that same text and applied it to the sinner: Prove me now, come and test my gospel and salvation. Find out for yourself if what I say is true. Prove me and see if I will not bring abundant blessings to you, if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. “Windows of heaven” is an Oriental expression for great blessings from heaven, which of course refers to the source of all blessings.

Then he goes on to say, “I will rebuke the devourer,” the locusts that had been eating up their crops, “for your sakes,’ that is, “I will bring to pass certain things in the administration of physical elements of this world, and will so take care of the order of nature that the devourers shall not destroy the fruits of your vineyards; neither shall your vine cast forth its fruit before the time. Then all nations shall call you happy, for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts,” and that has been literally fulfilled many a time as God’s people have met the conditions herein prescribed.

Mal 3:13-4:3 . In Mal 3:13 we have set forth another dangerous phase of their skepticism. The charge is this: “Your words have been stout against me, saith Jehovah.” Again the people say, “Wherein have we spoken against thee? What have we said? Ye have said it is vain to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept his charge and walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts? What good is it to serve God? It doesn’t pay; there is no profit in it.” That is a different phase of the problem from what we find in the book of Job. Satan said, “Job is a good man because he finds that it pays to be good.” Then God brought Job through that suffering and trouble, in order to prove that a man might serve him for his own sake and not for the profit of this life. Now, because these people received no profit, they therefore said, “It is no use; if God is not going to make us rich, we will not serve him; we don’t make any money by it.” That is the modern commercial idea which underlies this skepticism.

And now they begin to say some rather strange things, depicting the anomalies that are to be found in the religious life: “Now we call the proud happy.” When they saw these proud and yet happy people, they said, “The happy ones are they that work wickedness; they that do unrighteousness, they are the ones that eacape.” Many people now envy the rich and think that the wicked are the ones that are being built up; that the people that tempt God escape, whereas they are loaded down with troubles and difficulties. It is the old problem discussed in the book of Job and in Psa 73 . In answer to this complaint, the prophet says, “There is going to be a separation between you and the others when the time comes for the great judgment.” When that day comes, they that fear Jehovah, that speak one with another are heard: “And Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and thought upon his name.”

The picture is taken perhaps, from a custom observed by the Persian Empire with great scrupulousness. Whenever a man did a deed or conferred a favor upon the empire worthy of remembrance, the Persian emperor always had that fact recorded in a book kept for that purpose. Mordecai, when he saved the life of the king, had his name and deed written in the book, officially recorded) and afterward he received his reward. Every man who did something worthy of reward had his name recorded in that book. The Persian dominion was over Israel at that time, and this custom was seized upon by the prophet Malachi, and made use of by way of an illustration. Jehovah is going to have a book of remembrance, and in that is recorded the names of all those that remember him and speak to one another. The time is coming when he is going to reward them.

This thought we find wrought out more in detail in the book of Revelation, where the Book of Life is mentioned more than once. (See author’s sermon on “The Library of Heaven”). “And they shall be mine in that day,” when this judgment comes, when the separation takes place, they shall be “mine own possession,” my peculiar possession, my own dear ones not my jewels), “in the day that I do this thing; when I bring this judgment and create this separation. I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” They will be spared as a man spares his own beloved boy. When that time comes they shall also have moral discernment and shall be able to discern distinctly between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Now we have one of the finest descriptions of the judgment day, of the coming of Jehovah in Mal 4:1-3 : “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be a stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, and shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear his name, ye righteous ones, you true Israelites, you that speak often one with another, you that are yet faithful, for you shall see the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” As the great sun suddenly springs up above the Plains of Moab, spread his rays of light over all the country, and flashes them over Judah and Jerusalem, giving life and light, so the Sun of Righteousness, the messenger of the covenant shall come and shall send his rays of divine righteousness which shall burn up the wicked and bring its blessings to his own. “Ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall,” i.e., be happy and prosperous and blessed. “And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I do this thing, saith Jehovah of hosts.” This passage is paralleled in Mat 3:11-12 .

In Mal 4:4-6 we have God’s last great effort to have the people do right and to save them; he promises to send his greatest and best prophet in order that he might, if possible, bring all back to himself. In the meantime, “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb.” Keep my statutes and ordinances, observe those carefully and I will send Elijah the prophet before that great and terrible day of Jehovah, and Elijah shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. If that is not done, I will come and smite the earth with a curse. How was it fulfilled? We know that Elijah came, not the real Elijah, the former prophet, the most powerful personality of all the prophets, but John the Baptist with the spirit and power of Elijah, the most powerful personality of all those centuries, except Jesus Christ. We know the story of how he came, how he preached and how there was a great turning of hearts and when Jesus came a great separation, refining and purifying process was begun and now goes on through the centuries, and Jesus Christ will finally separate the evil from the good forever.

QUESTIONS

1. What charges against the people in Mal 2:10-16 , how introduced, and what the judgments denounced?

2. What was his charge in Mal 2:17 , what was their reply, and what was the point of their question?

3. What was the annunciation of Mal 3:1 and what was the fulfilment?

4. What was the process of the Messiah’s administration as described in Mal 3:2-6 and what attribute of God is here declared to be the basis of his mercy to Israel?

5. What appeal to the nation in Mal 3:7 , what charge following this appeal and what great lessons of God’s providence in this passage?

6. What was the charge in Mal 3:13 and how does the prophet here show their skepticism?

7. What optimistic note in Mal 3:16 and what picture here presented?

8. What is the “Book of Remembrance” here spoken of and what other references to such books in the Scriptures?

9. What was the blessed relation between God and his people pictured in Mal 3:17 and what was the result?

10. What day is here spoken of and what great revelation shall be made on that day?

11. What was the picture presented in Mal 4:1-3 and what is the correspondent New Testament teaching?

12. What of the beauty and force of “Sun of Righteousness,” etc., what is meant by treading down the wicked?

13. In closing this book what reminder is given and what special fitness of it here?

14. What promise in this connection and what is the New Testament proof of its fulfilment?

15. What was to be the great work of this Elijah and what was the significance of it?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Ver. 1. Behold, I will send my messenger ] It is well observed by the learned, that this whole prophecy of Malachi, though distinguished, as now, into several chapters, yet is but one entire sermon, at once delivered. Those atheists that asked in the precedent verse (and they did it with an accent too, that they might not be slighted), “where is the God of judgment?” are here fully answered; and that they might the better attend, they have it with a note of pregnancy, “Behold, I will send,” &c. q.d. differtur quidem iudicium sed non aufertur. Tandem veniet, profecto veniet. Judgment comes not as soon as you call for it; but come it will, be sure it will. For, behold, I send, in the present tense, my messenger, the Baptist, and, at his heels, as it were, Messiah, the Prince, who shall reform and rectify all disorders. “For judgment,” saith he, “come I into the world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind,” Joh 9:39 . And then, you that call for judgment shall have enough of it; when ye see my messsenger, harbinger, or herald, know that I am hard at hand. “Behold”: this is set here as the sound of a trumpet before some proclamation, to arouse men’s attention.

I will send ] Heb. I do send, or, am sending; though the thing was not done till four or five hundred years after; but in God’s purpose and promise it was a done thing already. All things are present with him, for he is a pure act; his whole essence is wholly an eye, or a mind; he is all things eminently, exemplarily, and contains all things in himself. Hence he knows temporal things after an eternal manner, mutable things immutably, contingent things infallibly, future things presently. Hence he calleth things that yet are not, as if they were, Rom 4:17 ; and this, as in the works of creation, renovation, resurrection, so in the accomplishment of his promises, which we must not antedate, as we are apt to do; but learn to live by faith, Hab 2:2 . Possibly the calendar of heaven hath a post-date to ours. Strive to be strong in faith, and glorify God.

My messenger ] Not Christ, as Eusebius doted (lib. 5, de Demon. Evang. cap. 28), nor Messiah, the son of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Joseph, as Rabbi Abraham would have it (for the Jews foolishly expect two Messiahs, one the son of David, and the other the son of Joseph), nor an angel of heaven, as Rabbi David interprets it, according to Exo 23:20 ; but John Baptist, as our Savidur expounds himself Mat 11:10 , who is here called Christ’s messenger, or angel, by reason of his office: one by whom he would manifest his mind to his people. “He was a burning and a shining light,” Joh 5:35 , or lamp, and shone for a season, till the Sun of righteousness came in place: as lights and candles are of good use till the sun riseth. See 1Sa 3:8 .

And he shall prepare the way ] Expurgabit, everret, emundabit. He shall clear the way, sweep it, accoutre or dress it. He shall remove all rubs and remoras out of the way, he shall pare and pave a path for Christ into the soul, open those everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in; he shall make “ready a people for the Lord,” Luk 1:17 . Man’s heart is full of mountains and valleys, Luk 3:5 . These must be levelled ere Christ can be admitted: and that is not done but by repentance unto life. As John Baptist was Christ’s forerunner into the world; so must repentance be his forerunner into the heart: for he that repenteth not, the kingdom of heaven is far from him; so that he cannot see it (as the Hebrew word here used imports he must do), for his lusts that hang in his light, viam aperture et oculis intuentium conspicuam faciet.

And the Lord whom ye seek ] Dominator, that Lord paramount, of whom David speaketh, Psa 110:1 , and for whose sake Daniel desireth to be heard, Dan 9:17 . Messiah the Prince, Dan 3:25 , the Prince and Saviour, Act 5:31 , Lord and Christ, Act 2:36 , the God of judgment, whom they called for, Mal 2:17 , and whom they are said to seek for. As God, he is not very far from any of us, saith Paul, Act 17:27 , not so far as the bark is from the tree; for in him we all live, and move, and subsist. And as Godman, he

shall suddenly come to his temple ] Suddenly, that is, in the fulness of time (which is but a short time in respect to the long expectation of the patriarchs), and speedily after John Baptist’s birth; suddenly also, because unexpectedly to the most, who stood amazed at his preaching, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter, &c.? To his temple he came, when presented there to be circumcised, Luk 2:21-39 , when he put forth a beam of his Divinity there, in his disputation with the doctors, Luk 2:46-49 . But especially when he purged the temple; 1. By his doctrine, Mat 5:1-12 ; Mat 15:1-20 ; and 2. By his discipline, Joh 2:14-16 ; Joh 12:12 ; at which time, “Tell ye the daughter of Sion,” saith God, “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass,” Mat 21:5 ; not upon a stately palfrey, a as an earthly potentate. And that was the very cause that these in the text, that are said to see him when they had him among them, could by no means think well of him, in respect of his mean and despicable condition. They had a certain notion of the Messiah, and were in expectation of him, and of temporal deliverance and felicity by him, of which, when disappointed, they were as blank as the time they saw the hoped issue of their late Jewish virgin turned to a daughter; or when they saw Mahomet eat of a camel; whom till then, when they saw him arising in such power, they were ready to cry up for their long looked for Messiah (Dr Hall’s Peacemaker).

Even the messenger of the covenant ] viz. Of the covenant of grace; for in Christ God reconciled the world to himself. And of this covenant Christ is the angel, or messenger, because, 1. He revealeth it, and we must take heed how we slight it, Heb 2:3 , shift it, Heb 12:25 Heb 12:2 . He mediateth it, 1Ti 2:5 , and in and by him it hath accomplishment, 2Co 1:20 . Hence, Isa 9:6 , he is called the Prince of peace, and, according to the Septuagint there, the Angel of the great counsel: M . Let all that would receive mercy from God get into Christ, and so into covenant; for as the mercy seat was no larger than the ark, so neither is the grace of God than the covenant of grace; and as the ark and mercy seat were never separated, so neither are such from God as are found in Christ.

Whom ye delight in ] They delighted in his day, the better sort of them, though afar off, Joh 8:56 ; they anticipated him, and were recognised by him, Heb 11:13 . They promised themselves, through Christ, malorum ademptionem, honorum adeptionem, freedom from all evil, and fruition of all good. Hence he is called, “the desire of all nations,” Hag 2:8 . The Church in the Canticles saith he is totus desiderabilis, altogether desirable, Son 5:16 . The Church in Isaiah desires him with her whole soul, Isa 26:9 ; Isa 64:1 ; as impatient of further delays, crieth out, “Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.” “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down, righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation,” &c., Isa 45:8 . Lo, what earnest rantings and disquieting ways were in those ancient believers after Christ, what continual sallies, as it were, and egressions of affection.

Behold, he shall come ] He shall, he shall; nay, he is even come already: for so the Hebrew hath it, Hinneh ba, behold, he is come; methinks I even see him. A like text there is Hab 2:3 . The duty required is, wait; the promise is delivered doubled and tripled: It shall speak, it will come, it will surely come. Nay, doubled again: It shall not lie, it will not tarry. It is as if God had said, Do but wait, and you shall be delivered, you shall be delivered, you shall be delivered; you shall, you shall. Oh the rhetoric of God! oh the certainty of the promises! A Lapide’s note is not here to be passed by. This word “Behold” signifieth that this coming of Christ in the flesh should be, 1. New, admirable, and stupendous. 2. Sure and certain. 3. Desirable and joyful. 4. Famous and renowned.

Saith the Lord of hosts ] And that is assurance good enough; for hath he said it, and shall he not do it? Here is firm footing for faith; and men are bound to rest in God’s Ipse dixit. He spoke for himself. Abraham did, and required no other evidence, Rom 4:16-22 . He cared not for the deadness of his own body or of his wife’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. No more must we, if we will be heirs of the world, with faithful Abraham. God’s truth and power are the Jachin and Boaz, the two pillars whereupon faith must repose; believing God upon his bare word, and that against sense, in things invisible, and against reason, in things incredible.

a A saddle-horse for ordinary riding as distinguished from a war-horse; esp. a small saddle-horse for ladies. D

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Malachi

THE LAST WORD OF PROPHECY

Mal 3:1 – Mal 3:12 .

Deep obscurity surrounds the person of this last of the prophets. It is questioned whether Malachi is a proper name at all. It is the Hebrew word rendered in Mal 3:1 of our passage ‘My messenger,’ and this has led many authorities to contend that the prophecy is in fact anonymous, the name being only a designation of office. Whether this is so or not, the name, if it is a name, is all that we know about him. The tenor of his prophecy shows that he lived after the restoration of the Temple and its worship, and the sins which he castigates are substantially those with which Ezra and Nehemiah had to fight. One ancient Jewish authority asserts that he was Ezra; but the statement has no confirmation, and if it had been correct, we should not have expected that such an author would have been anonymous. This dim figure, then, is the last of the mighty line of prophets, and gives strong utterance to the ‘hope of Israel’! One clear voice, coming from we scarcely know whose lips, proclaims for the last time, ‘He comes! He comes!’ and then all is silence for four hundred years. Modern critics, indeed, hold that the bulk of the Psalter is of later date; but that contention has much to do before it can be regarded as established.

The first point worthy of notice in this passage, then, is the concentration, in this last prophetic utterance, of that element of forward-looking expectancy which marked all the earlier revelation. From the beginning, the selectest spirits in Israel had set their faces and pointed their fingers to a great future, which gathered distinctness as the ages rolled, and culminated in the King from David’s line, of whom many psalms sung, and in the suffering Servant of the Lord, who shines out from the pages of the second part of Isaiah’s prophecy. This Messianic hope runs through all the Old Testament, like a broadening river. ‘They that went before cried, Hosanna! Blessed is He that cometh.’

That hope gives unity to the Old Testament, whatever criticism may have to teach about the process of its production. The most important thing about the book is that one purpose informs it all; and the student who misses the truth that ‘the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’ has a less accurate conception of the meaning and inter-relations of the Old Testament than the unlearned who has accepted that great truth. We should be willing to learn all that modern scholarship has to teach about the course of revelation. But we should take care that the new knowledge does not darken the old certainty that the prophets ‘testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and of the glory that should follow,’ Here, at the very end, stands Malachi, reiterating the assurance which had come down through the centuries. The prophets, as it were, had lit a beacon which flamed through the darkness. Hand after hand had flung new fuel on it when it burned low. It had lighted up many a stormy night of exile and distress. Now we can dimly see one more, the last of his order, casting his brand on the fire, which leaps up again; and then he too passes into the darkness, but the beacon burns on.

The next point to note is the clear prophecy of a forerunner. ‘My messenger’ is to come, and to ‘prepare the way before Me.’ Isaiah had heard a voice calling, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,’ and Malachi quotes his words, and ascribes the same office to the ‘messenger.’ In the last verses of his prophecy he calls this messenger ‘Elijah the prophet.’ Here, then, we have a remarkable instance of a historical detail set forth in prophecy. The coming of the Lord is to be immediately preceded by the appearance of a prophet, whose function is to effect a moral and religious reformation, which shall prepare a path for Him. This is no vague ideal, but definite announcement of a definite fact, to be realised in a historical personality. How came this half-anonymous Jew, four hundred years beforehand, to hit upon the fact that the next prophet in Israel would herald the immediate coming of the Lord? There ought to be but one answer possible.

Another point to note is the peculiar relation between Jehovah and Him who comes. Emphatically and broadly it is declared that Jehovah Himself ‘shall suddenly come to His temple’; and then the prophecy immediately passes on to speak of the coming of ‘the Messenger of the covenant,’ and dwells for a time exclusively on his work of purifying; and then again it glides, without conscious breach of continuity or mark of transition, into, ‘And I will come near to you in judgment.’ A mysterious relationship of oneness and yet distinctness is here shadowed, of which the solution is only found in the Christian truth that the Word, which was Grod, and was in the beginning with God, became flesh, and that in Him Jehovah in very deed tabernacled among men. The expression ‘the Messenger or Angel of the covenant’ is connected with the remarkable representations in other parts of the Old Testament, of ‘the Angel of Jehovah,’ in whom many commentators recognise a pre-incarnate manifestation of the eternal Word. That ‘Angel’ had redeemed Israel from Egypt, had led them through the desert, had been the ‘Captain of the Lord’s host.’ The name of Jehovah was ‘in Him.’ He it is whose coming is here prophesied, and in His coming Jehovah comes to His temple.

We next note the aspect of the coming which is prominent here. Not the kingly, nor the redemptive, but the judicial, is uppermost. With keen irony the Prophet contrasts the professed eagerness of the people for the appearance of Jehovah and their shrinking terror when He does come. He is ‘the Lord whom ye seek’; the Messenger of the covenant is He ‘whom ye delight in.’ But all that superficial and partially insincere longing will turn into dread and unwillingness to abide His scrutiny. The images of the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ soap imply painful processes, of which the intention is to burn out the dross and beat out the filth. It sounds like a prolongation of Malachi’s voice when John the Baptist peals out his herald cry of one whose ‘fan was in His hand,’ and who should plunge men into a fiery baptism, and consume with fire that destroyed what would not submit to be cast into the fire that cleansed. Nor should we forget that our Lord has said, ‘For judgment am I come into the world.’ He came to ‘purify’; but if men would not let Him do what He came for, He could not but be their bane instead of their blessing.

The stone is laid. If we build on it, it is a sure foundation; if we stumble over it, we are broken. The double aspect and effect of the gospel, which was meant only to have the single operation of blessing, are clearly set forth in this prophecy, which first promises purging from sin, so that not only the ‘sons of Levi’ shall offer in righteousness, but that the ‘offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant,’ and then passes immediately to foretell that God will come in judgment and witness against evil-doers. Judgment is the shadow of salvation, and constantly attends on it. Neither Malachi nor the Baptist gives a complete view of Messiah’s work, but still less do they give an erroneous one; for the central portion of both prophecies is His purifying energy which both liken to cleansing fire.

That real and inward cleansing is the great work of Christ. It was wrought on as many of His contemporaries as believed on Him, and for such as did not He was a swift Witness against them. Nor are we to forget that the prophecy is not exhausted yet; for there remains another ‘day of His coming’ for judgment. The prophets did not see the perspective of the future, and often bring together events widely separated in time, just as, to a spectator on a mountain, distances between points far away towards the horizon are not measurable. We have to allow for foreshortening.

This blending of events historically widely apart is to be kept in view in interpreting Malachi’s prediction that the coming would result in Judah’s and Israel’s offerings being ‘pleasant unto the Lord as in former years.’ That prediction is not yet fulfilled, whether we regard the name of Israel and the relation expressed in it as having passed over to the Christian Church, or whether we look forward to that bringing in of all Israel which Paul says will be as ‘life from the dead.’ But by slow degrees it is being fulfilled, and by Christ men are being led to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God.

The more directly Messianic part of this prophecy is closed in Mal 3:6 by a great saying, which at once gives the reason for the coming and for its severe aspect of witness against sin. The unchangeableness of God, which is declared in His very name, guarantees the continued existence of Israel. As Paul says in regard to the same subject, ‘The calling of God is without change of purpose’ on His part. But it is as impossible that God should leave them to their sins, which would destroy them, as that He should Himself consume them. Therefore He will surely come; and coming, will deliver from evil. But they who refuse to be so delivered will forfeit that title and the pledge of preservation which it implies.

A new paragraph begins with Mal 3:7 , which is not closely connected with the promises preceding. It recurs to the prevailing tone of Malachi, the rebuke of negligence in attending to the legal obligations of worship. That negligence is declared to be a reason for God’s withdrawal from them. But the ‘return,’ which is promised on condition of their renewed obedience, can scarcely be identified with the coming just foretold. That coming was to bring about offerings of righteousness which should be pleasant to the Lord. This section Mal 3:7 – Mal 3:12 promises blessings as results of such offerings, and a ‘return’ of Jehovah to His people contingent upon their return to Him. If the two sections of this passage are taken as closely connected, this one must describe the consequences of the coming. But, more probably, this accusation of negligence and promise of blessing on a change of conduct are independent of the previous verses. We, however, may fairly take them as exhibiting the obligations of those who have received that great gift of purifying from Jesus Christ, and are thereby consecrated as His priests.

The key-word of the Christian life is ‘sacrifice’-surrender, and that to God. That is to be stamped on the inmost selves, and by the act of the will, on the body as well. ‘Yield yourselves to God, and your members as instruments of righteousness to Him.’ It is to be written on possessions. Malachi necessarily keeps within the limits of the sacrificial system, but his impetuous eloquence hits us no less. It is still possible to ‘rob God.’ We do so when we keep anything as our own, and use it at our own will, for our own purposes. Only when we recognise His ownership of ourselves, and consequently of all that we call ‘ours,’ do we give Him His due. All the slave’s chattels belong to the owner to whom he belongs. Such thorough-going surrender is the secret of thorough possession. The true way to enjoy worldly goods is to give them to God.

The lattices of heaven are opened, not to pour down, as of old, fiery destruction, but to make way for the gentle descent of God’s blessing, which will more than fill every vessel set to receive it. This is the universal law, not always fulfilled in increase of outward goods, but in the better riches of communion and of larger possession in God Himself. He suffers no man to be His creditor, but more than returns our gifts, as legends tell of some peasant who brought his king a poor tribute of fruits of his fields, and went away from the presence-chamber with a jewel in his hand.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

Behold, I will send, &c. = Behold Me sending, &c. Quoted in Mat 11:10. Mar 1:2. Luk 1:76; Luk 7:27. Not to that then present generation, but to the “generation” of our Lord’s day. See note on Mat 11:18. This is the answer to the question “Where? “in Mal 2:17.

My messenger. John the Baptist (Mat 3:3; Mat 3:11, Mat 3:10. Mar 1:2, Mar 1:3. Luk 1:76; Luk 3:4; Luk 7:26, Luk 7:27, Joh 1:23). Compare Mat 22:2, Mat 22:3. Isa 40:3-5.

prepare. By removing obstacles from the way. Compare Isa 40:3; Isa 62:10.

the Lord. Hebrew. ha-Adon. App-4. This refers to Messiah. Ref to Pentateuch (Exo 23:20 Exo 33:14, Exo 33:16). App-92.

suddenly = unexpectedly.

behold Figure of speech Asterismos (App-6), for emphasis.

said = hath said.

the Lord of hosts. See note on Mal 1:4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 3

Now the promise of the coming of John the Baptist as the forerunner to Jesus Christ.

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like the fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and in the former years ( Mal 3:1-4 ).

Now here we have a co-mingling of both the second… the first and the second comings of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist did come as the forerunner, proclaimed the coming of the Lord after him. “There’s One coming after me mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I’m not worthy to unloose” ( Joh 1:27 ). When he saw Jesus, he said to his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” ( Joh 1:29 ). He bore testimony of Jesus Christ.

But Jesus was rejected. He did come to the temple. He did cleanse it. He drove out the moneychangers and those that were selling the doves. But He was rejected. But He is coming again, and before He comes again, Elijah shall come, precede Him, and prepare the hearts of the people for the coming of the Lord. So part of this was fulfilled in His first coming; much of it remains to be fulfilled in His second coming.

But with Malachi and so many of the others, they did not see the two aspects of the coming of the Messiah. So as they wrote, Peter said, “They wrote of things that they really didn’t understand.” Earnestly desiring to look into these things and to understand them. But they really didn’t, and they didn’t understand, really, the seeming ambiguity and contradictions of the prophecies that they were making. For they were prophesying that He would reign as King and Lord forever upon the throne of David and establish the kingdom forever, and yet, they were saying, “and He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief, cut off from the land of the living” ( Isa 53:3 ). “The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself” ( Dan 9:26 ), or without receiving the kingdom. So they were giving these prophesies that they could not themselves understand, because there was this seeming paradox, the differences. But yet, they wrote of them, honestly obeying the voice of the Spirit that was speaking to their hearts, though they themselves did not understand the things of which they wrote.

The Lord said,

And I will come near to you to judgment ( Mal 3:5 );

Now this is referring, of course, to the second coming of Christ; He’s coming to judge the world. The first duty, the first activity of Christ when He returns to the earth is that of judgment, gathering the nations together for judgment.

and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers ( Mal 3:5 ),

Now the sorcerers are those… the word in the Greek is pharmakeia, from which we get pharmacology, which is the use of drugs… those that are using the drugs for hallucinogenic purposes, against the adulterers.

against [those who are liars] false swearers [those who swear falsely], against those who are oppressing their [employers, or their] employees in his wages ( Mal 3:5 ),

Withholding, actually. In James it says, “Go to now ye rich, weep and howl for the woes that have come upon you, for you have defrauded the laborer, you’ve been holding back his wages in order that you might live sumptuously.” Now the Lord speaks of their being cut off. So those that are oppressing the hirelings holding back the wages,

oppressing the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed ( Mal 3:5-6 ).

God’s promises to Jacob are sure, otherwise He would’ve consumed them; He would’ve consumed the people. But His promises He keeps, and He promised that to Jacob there would arise the star, the morning star. So God keeps His word, but God is here declaring that if it were not for His word, they would be consumed. “But I am the Lord, and I change not.” This is what is called, from a doctrinal standpoint, the immutability of God. That is, God does not change. In the New Testament we read concerning Jesus Christ, “The same yesterday, today, and forever.” He does not change. God’s immutability–one of the divine attributes of God.

Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances, and you’ve not kept them. Return unto me, and I return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But you said, Why should we return? ( Mal 3:7 )

So God is even now giving them the chance to turn. “Return to Me,” God said, “I’ll return to you.” They said, “Why should we?” They were surely impudent people.

Then the question:

Will a man rob God? Yet [the Lord said] you have robbed me. But you say, Where have we robbed you? [And God said] In the tithes and in the offerings ( Mal 3:8 ).

The word tithe means a tenth. God claims that a tenth of the increase belonged to Him. For them to withhold it from God was robbing God, and God looked upon it as actually robbing from Him. This is under the Old Testament law. God said,

Ye are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation ( Mal 3:9 ).

Now, when Nehemiah came back the second time, the worship in the temple had been forsaken because the people were not bringing tithes and offerings into the temple. Thus, the priest had left the ministry in the temple and they’d gone out into the fields, and they were cultivating fields and they were working in order to provide for their own necessities for their own survival. Thus, the temple worship was neglected when Nehemiah returned. So he called the people together and he rebuked the people for the fact that the priest had to leave the ministry of the temple and go out into the fields to work to support themselves. Nehemiah set this thing straight. So again, the book of Nehemiah helps give you background for what Malachi is saying.

God talking about the people robbing Him, and then God commands them,

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour out unto you a blessing, that you’ll not have room enough to receive it ( Mal 3:10 ).

Now, it is interesting to me that, as far as I know, this is the only place in the scripture where God has actually challenged a person to prove Him. For God says, “Prove Me and see if I’ll not pour out upon you a blessing so great that you won’t be able to contain it.”

Now, we often hear the objection, “Well, there is no mention of tithing in the New Testament. It is a part of the Old Testament law. It is not something that is applicable to the church age.” This, for the most part, is true. There is only one mention of tithing as such that I can think of, and that is when Jesus was speaking about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and how they had twisted so many things, “straining at a gnat, swallowing a camel” kind of thing. He said, “You paid tithe of your anise, your mint, and your cumin.” Now these are spices; they’re little spice gardens that they would grow. They would take these little anise seeds and count out, “Nine for me, one for God. Nine for me, one for God.” Little tiny seeds, and they were very careful that God got His tenth part of this spice from their herb gardens. He said, “You pay tithes for these things, but,” He said, “you totally overlook the more important things of fairness and honesty. You know, you’re crooked in your dealings, yet you’re so careful that God gets His tenth part, even of your spices.” Now God said, Jesus said, “This you ought to have done,” in the reference of their tithing, “You ought to do that,” but He said, “You shouldn’t leave the other undone.”

Now, I do not, and you know that I don’t, preach tithing as a requirement or as a law. You know that oftentimes I have spoken to you of the grace of God, and that God will never be a debtor to any man, and how that our blessings from God are not predicated in this covenant of grace upon our obedience to the law, our faithfulness in devotions, our faithfulness in tithes, or whatever. Where the people at one time related to God through the law, God has chosen that we should relate to Him in love.

God has chosen to bestow upon us His blessings on the basis, not of our obedience or faithfulness to the law, but upon the basis of His grace towards us. So that all of God’s blessings are bestowed upon my life not because I merit them, not because I deserve them, but because God just loves me, and I just can’t help that. I am so thankful for it. That God just loves me so much He wants to give to me. Now, wouldn’t it be rather stupid for me to say, “Oh, God, don’t do that, you know. Don’t do that. You’re too good, Lord!” I often say, “You’re too good,” but I don’t say, “Stop.” I appreciate the goodness of God. I thank God for His grace, and I thank God that I can relate to Him in love, not the law. I feel sorry for people who have a legal relationship with God. Oh, how I thank God for this love relationship that I have. I love Him, He loves me, and it’s just a neat deal. Because He loves me more than I love Him, and He is always showing to me how much He loves me. Quite often He is showing me how much He loves me right after I have failed so miserably, just so I won’t get discouraged. By His grace He just sort of says, “Hey, I know you’re frame. I know you’re but dust. I still love you anyhow, and I want to show it to you.” God just is constantly overwhelming me with His love.

However, there is a divine law involved in giving. I would be derelict as a minister if I did not point out to you a divine spiritual law that God has enacted in this universe. The law is basically expressed in the New Testament in these words, “Give, and it shall be given unto you. Measured out, pressed down, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” ( Luk 6:38 ). Now that’s a spiritual law of God. The more you give, the more you will receive. Paul the apostle expressed it by saying, “He who gives sparingly will receive sparingly, but he who gives bountifully will receive bountifully” ( 2Co 9:6 ). It’s a divine spiritual law.

Now, we’re quite conscious of the natural laws that govern our universe. Though we don’t fully understand them, we are aware of them. And we live in accordance to them, and we take advantage of them. Now, I’m certain that none of us really understand how gravity works; we just know that it does work. We know that an apple falls down not up. Just how the principle of gravity may work, how mass attracts, we don’t really know, but we know that there is an attraction by mass. So we learn to respect the law of gravity and abide by the law of gravity.

Now, we have learned through our scientific developments and technology to learn that there are other laws of aerodynamics by which we can compensate against the law of gravity. We can put airplanes into flight by the laws of aerodynamics, which we understand–the thrust of air going over and so forth, under the airlines and so forth, the lifting power and thrust. And we’ve learned through the laws of aerodynamics to compensate against the law of gravity. But basically, we, all of us, respect the laws of gravity. We don’t just jump off a ten-story building, saying, “Well, I don’t care for the law of gravity. I don’t understand how it works, and I just don’t believe in it.” We’re not that stupid that we would defy the law of gravity in such a way.

Now, there’s the law of electricity, how that the positive particles repel and the negative particles attract. And we know the opposite poles, the attraction of opposite poles and so forth, but yet, to understand electricity, we really don’t. But we sure learn how to use the law of electricity and make it our servant.

Now, just as there are laws of gravity, laws of electricity, laws of aerodynamics, and these basic laws of nature that we have learned to live with and to use, so there are spiritual laws in the universe that God has inaugurated that you can use for your benefit. God has established these laws. They are just as powerful in their cause and effect as is the law of gravity or any of the other laws of nature which we have learned to live with. One of the laws, the spiritual laws, involves the giving to God, and that is, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; measured out, pressed down, running over.” The more you give to the Lord, the more you will receive from Him. That’s just a basic spiritual law. You say, “Well, how does it work?” I don’t know. All I know is that it does work. God, only in this area, challenges people to prove Him. “Just prove Me,” God says, “just see if I will not pour out unto you blessings that you won’t be able, you won’t have room enough to contain.”

Now, you want to take God’s dare? God’s challenge to you, try it. Prove the Lord. See if He will not pour out unto you blessings that you cannot contain. There will not be room enough to receive it. For the Lord says,

I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. And your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against you? ( Mal 3:11-13 )

Every time God tells them something is wrong, they challenge, “Where, why, when, how?” “You said that it was vain to serve God. It doesn’t pay to serve the Lord. That’s what you’re saying,” the Lord said, “Saying it was vain to serve God, doesn’t pay to try and be good.”

what profit it is that we have kept his ordinance, that we have walked mournfully before him? ( Mal 3:14 )

“God, it doesn’t pay. God does not respond to us. There’s nothing, you know. The Lord hasn’t done anything. Doesn’t pay to serve the Lord.” How many times Satan tries to throw that little trip on us. “Doesn’t really pay. What profit is it that I’ve tried to be good? Look, they’ve took advantage of me. It doesn’t pay to serve God.”

And now we call the proud happy; yes, they that work wickedness they are ( Mal 3:15 );

Voted into office many times. Thank God we’ve got some good Christians in some of the areas of government. I think that it is the duty of every Christian to really know the position of a candidate on spiritual things. I really feel that that’s our obligation. That we really can’t complain about bad government if we are not exercising our privilege of voting, and if we are not using diligence in determining those that we vote for. And when Dr. Peterson runs for the School Superintendent of Orange County, you should know that he is a beautiful born again brother in Jesus Christ. You should think about that when you vote. It’s illegal for me to try to persuade you to vote for a particular candidate, and I wouldn’t think of doing that. But don’t forget the name Dr. Peterson. He happens to be the incumbent. But find out about the candidates; find out about their position. God help us, it would be glorious if we had all spiritual men serving in the cabinet of the President, serving in the legislature, the offices of legislature. Of course, then we probably wouldn’t be so anxious for the Lord to come.

Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another ( Mal 3:16 ):

The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Bible says that to fear the Lord is to hate iniquity, or is to depart from iniquity. The fear of the Lord is not a phobia type of fear that debilitates a person. The fear of the Lord isn’t even a healthy cautionary type of fear that is so important for our survival. But the fear of the Lord is a reverential awe as we stand in the presence of His greatness, of His glory, of His majesty, and of His power. We think of the greatness of the God who created this vast universe. We think of the wisdom of God who created all of the life forms, and we just sort of stand in awe of that greatness and power, and wisdom. That’s what the fear of the Lord is.

“They that feared the Lord spake often one to another,” always talking about the Lord. Isn’t it glorious to be around people who want to talk about the Lord all the time? You know, whenever you get around them, the conversation comes up, “Oh, the Lord is so good. Oh, let me tell you what the Lord’s done. Let me tell you what the Lord did for me today.” Just so full of the Lord, they speak often one to another about it. As they speak about the Lord,

the LORD hearkens unto them, and hears it ( Mal 3:16 ),

The Lord eavesdrops on every conversation concerning Him. Isn’t that neat? God just loves you to talk about Him. We used to sing a chorus, “Let’s talk about Jesus, the King of kings is He, the great I Am, the way, truth, the life, the Lord.” It’s just a… what better conversational piece can you have than the Lord? Isn’t it interesting how the world says, “Well, you want to open a conversation, just start talking about the weather.” Sort of a, you know, “Well, the sun did come out today, didn’t it? I wondered if it was going to come out. Typical May weather.” You know, talk about the weather. Yeah, well, the weather is such a changeable thing, yet isn’t it sad that people have nothing better to talk about than the weather?

Now, there are people who all have their favorite subjects, and they can be a total dud until you get on their subject. Then they come alive. They become animated. Now you’re in their field. Oh, now they’ll really expound. But you bring up the subject of the Lord and things will go quiet. What happened?

“They that feared the Lord spake often concerning Him one to another. The Lord hearkens, He hears,”

and he’s keeping a book of remembrance for them who feared the LORD, and thought upon his name ( Mal 3:16 ).

Names in the Hebrew culture were all meaningful. They didn’t just choose the name out of the dictionary for their children, but they chose a name that meant something. Now, our name still means something, you can look up in a dictionary and find out what your name means. But your parents, as a general rule, weren’t thinking of the meaning of the name when they named you that. But when they were in school they had a friend by that name, and they liked that friend very well. So that name has always been a good name to them. There are some names, you know, you knew some dummy in first grade who couldn’t read, and his name was this, and it sort of stained you on that name. You just never did like that name because it always reminded you. So it’s interesting how we don’t think of names as far as significant in their meanings. Or else we would probably be naming our children different names than what we do. We’re calling our children, “Beautiful Sunshine” or something, or things that mean something to us. A little kid goes to school, the teacher says, “What is your name?” “Beautiful Sunshine Smith.” So it just isn’t appropriate in our culture.

But in those days names were significant, and the name of the Lord is extremely significant. So much in the Psalms and in the Proverbs you find the references to the name of the Lord. “The name of the Lord is great,” and so much concerning the name of the Lord, and the awe and the reverence that a person should have concerning the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is actually a Hebrew active verb. The name Yahweh means the Becoming One, and so God has expressed His nature in His name. God has expressed in His name His desire, for it is His desire to become to you whatever your need may be. So the name of Yahweh was often compounded with other Hebrew words. So you have the Yahweh-Raphah, the Lord has become our healer. Yahweh-Shalom, the Lord has become our peace. Yahweh-Jireh, the Lord will provide. Yahweh-Tsidkenu, the name of Jesus in the Kingdom Age. It won’t be Yeshua, it will be more difficult for you, Ya-Tsidkenu, which means the Lord has become our righteousness. And He is. He is our righteousness for us who trust in Him. But the name was significant. The name of the Lord, or the name Yahweh is a strong tower. The book of Proverbs says, “The righteous runneth into it, and is safe” ( Pro 18:10 ).

Have you ever run into the name of the Lord, just sort of closed yourself around it and said, “Oh, Jesus! Lord Jesus!” And you just sort of have fled to the refuge of the name? In danger, in peril you’ve fled into the name of Jesus, “Oh, Jesus!” You feel that warmth and that protection and that comfort and that assurance of the name of Jesus.

The name Yahweh, Yeshua, is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe. So, “They who thought upon His name, they who reverenced the Lord and thought upon His name.” God keeps this book of remembrance, their names are written in the Book of Life, in His book of remembrances.

And [the Lord said,] they shall be mine ( Mal 3:17 ),

I get so excited when I think of God speaking about me in the personal, possessive pronoun. When God speaks of me as, “My son, My child, My servant.” Oh, how I love God to speak about me with a personal, possessive pronoun. I belong to Him; I’m His. “They shall be mine,” the Lord said.

and in that day when I make up my jewels ( Mal 3:17 );

You are His treasure, Peter said, “for we are His peculiar treasure.” The Lord speaks of you as a treasure that was hid in the field, that He bought the whole field that He might take the treasure out of it. Paul in writing to the Ephesians prayed that God might open up their understanding, that they might know what is the exceeding riches of His inheritance in the saints. Now in another place he said, “Oh, I wish you knew what God has in store for you, the riches, and the glory of God’s kingdom.” But then he is praying, “Oh, God help them to understand the riches of His inheritance.” In other words, God help you to understand how much God values you. We’re so often putting ourselves down. “Oh, I’m not worthy. Oh, I’m nothing. Oh, I’m just so miserable.” And we’re oftentimes putting ourselves down, and God looks upon you as a valuable gem, as a treasure. “And in those days when I make up my jewels,” the Lord says. He treasures you and He values you so highly that He was willing to send His Only Begotten Son to take your sin and to die in your place that He might redeem this world, in order that He might claim you as “My child.” All possible because Jesus paid the price of the redemption for the world, that you might be saved. “They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;”

and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him ( Mal 3:17 ). “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Mal 3:1. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:

The name Malachi means my messenger. The reference here is, of course, to John the Baptist, who was to prepare the way of the Lord.

Mal 3:1. And the lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,

Now, the temple at Jerusalem is utterly destroyed, so how can the Jews still think the Lord, whom they profess to seek, will suddenly come to his temple? He must have come there already, so we know he did, for there is not one stone of the temple left standing upon another: The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,

Mal 3:1. Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Christ was the great messenger of the covenant, the messenger of mercy; and the Lords own people, even in that ancient time, delighted in anticipating the coming of the Christ of God, the anointed and appointed messenger of the Lord of hosts.

Mal 3:2. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap:

All that only looked like religion, but was not real and genuine, was purged away at his coming. He was like a refiners fire, consuming the false pretensions of the Pharisees, and the vain boastings of the Scribes. There is, in the religion of Jesus Christ, a power that is a great purgative and a great refiner.

Mal 3:3. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:

Christ comes suddenly, but he comes to stay: He shall sit. If he comes into our heart at this moment, and he may come there suddenly, he will come to stay there, and he will sit there as a refiner and purifier of silver.

Mal 3:3. And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Those men, called to holy service, shall offer unto the Lord offerings in righteousness after he has cleansed and purified them. You cannot worship God aright until you have been cleansed by Christ. Till then, you are like priests with defiled feet, unfit to come into the sanctuary of God; but when Christ has purified you, fail not to draw near to God, and to present your thanks-offering unto him.

Mal 3:4-5. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

See how hard taskmasters are put, by divine inspiration, with sorcerers, and adulterers, and false swearers. They do not think badly of themselves, but the Lord thinks badly of them, and his judgment is always just.

Mal 3:6. For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

This is their comfort; even the immutability of God is on the side of his people. He is just, and always just, he hates sin, and always hates sin; yet that unchangeableness of his is always on the side of the people of his choice.

Mal 3:7. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

Ye wanderers from God, take this invitation home to your hearts, and act upon it. Arise, and return unto your Father; for when you are yet a great way off, he will see you, and will run to meet you, and have compassion upon you: Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.

Mal 3:7. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

God takes notice of what men say to him after he has spoken to them. He will take notice of what you say when you go out of this house of prayer. Erring men usually have something to say for themselves. The selfrighteous can always invent some excuse, or ask some question, as they did here: Wherein shall we return?

Mal 3:8. Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.

They were always ready to deny or question a just accusation, instead of letting it operate upon their conscience, so they asked about this charge.

Mal 3:8. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

They had kept back from Gods service the money which was needful for the carrying on of the worship of his house. We read, in Neh 13:10, that the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field, for they could not live at Jerusalem, because the portions of the Levites had not been given them, their supply of provisions having been stopped through the meanness of the people who had thus robbed the Lord in tithes and offerings.

Mal 3:9. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation,

They could not make out why they were so poor, and why they could not get on; the real reason was that there was a curse resting upon all that they did, because they had robbed God.

Mal 3:10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

They had kept themselves poor by their own meanness. If they had behaved rightly towards God, he would have enriched them with the bounties of his providence; the very windows of heaven would have been thrown open to give them abundance for all their needs.

Mal 3:11. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, with the LORD of hosts.

The locust and the caterpillar came up and ate their harvests, all because God was angry with them; and he alone could change their miserable circumstances.

Mal 3:12. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

God is able, simply with a turn of his hand, or a glance of his eye, to enrich or to impoverish. He gives in a thousand ways that we cannot control, and he takes from us in as many ways which perhaps we cannot understand. It is always best to be right with God.

Mal 3:13-15. Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Those were indeed bad old times when the mass of the people looked only to their own temporal comfort, when they saw the wicked become rich, they wished that they were wicked too, in order that they might be rich. They thought that it was of no use to serve God; but happily there was another set of people in the land, as there always is, more or less. God never leaves himself without witnesses; and when the wicked are proudest, Gods people are often boldest.

Mal 3:16. Then

At that very time,

Mal 3:16. They that feared the LORD spake often one to another:

They could not bear to hear their God thus spoken of, so they went to one anothers houses, they found one another out, and talked to one another.

Mal 3:16. And the Lord hearkened,

He loves to listen to the holy talk of a holy people: The Lord hearkened,

Mal 3:16. And heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

That is a very precious expression; you cannot perhaps, speak much for the Lord, yet you think the more about him; and God remembers those who think upon his name. Yet, often, thinking leads to speaking; and there ought to be no speaking without previous thought. God loves to listen to the thoughtful conversation of a loving people who stand true to him in the midst of an ungodly crowd, and he thinks very highly of them.

Mal 3:17. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;

Others, who thought much of themselves, shall be thrown away like worthless pebbles, but these faithful ones shall be mine in that day when I am putting my jewels into my crown, for they shall be precious in my sight.

Mal 3:17. And I will spare them, as a man prepareth his own son that serveth him.

When the sword of the foeman is drawn from its sheath, when disease is putting down its myriads, when Gods vengeance has laid hold upon the ungodly, he will be a hiding-place for his people, and will care for them as a man would anxiously care, not only for his son, but for his only son, one who is obedient and faithful to his father: his own son that serveth him.

Mal 3:18. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,

Not now, but then; by-and-by, there shall be a distinguishing mark set upon all mankind: Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,

Mal 3:18. Between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

This exposition consisted of readings from Mal 3:4.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Mal 3:1-6

BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER . . . Mal 3:1

Here is Gods answer to their question, where is the God of justice. Suddenly the Lord will appear in the temple heralded by His forerunner.

Isaiah had made a similar prediction. (Isa 40:3-5).

The New Testament applies Malachis prophecy to John the Baptist. (e.g. Mat 3:3; Mat 11:10, Mar 1:2-3, Luk 1:76; Luk 3:4; Luk 7:26-27, Joh 1:23) The obvious fulfillment of this promise in the baptists ministry would be difficult for any open-minded Bible student to overlook.

The sudden appearance of the Lord mentioned hare was interpreted by the Rabbis as a dramatic explosive visitation by which the Messiah would announce His presence. It was this popular expectation which the devil exploited in tempting Jesus to cast Himself from the pinnacle of the temple. (Luk 4:9) To have done so would have won for Him instant acceptance as the Messiah on the basis of popular though erroneous expectation.

The messenger of the covenant . . . What more apt description could there be of Him Whose coming formed the heart of Gods covenant promise? How fitting that the writer of Hebrews should introduce his comparison of the Old and New Covenants with the argument for the superiority of the New based on the superiority of the Son over the prophets, angels and Moses, who were the messengers of the Old. (cp. Heb 1:1 to Heb 2:4)

Zerr: Mal 3:1. The book of Malachi is the last of the inspired writings until we come to the New Testament, and there is a space of about 4 centuries to intervene. The prophets have frequently gone from fleshly to spiritual Israel in their predictions and exhortations, either drawing parallels or showing contrasts as the nature of the occasion suggested. This book so far has consisted mostly of condemnation and admonition for fleshly Israel because of the worldiness and selfish ness of their officials especially. It was appropriate, therefore, to jump across the chasm of four hundred years to the time when the Lord expected to give the world a new religious system that would be far superior and more exacting than the old one. This and the following chapter is taken up vith alternating between fleshly and spiritual Israel, speaking first of one and then the other, going back and forth from one of them to the other. Our present verse goes to the time of spiritual Israel and predicts that the importance of that system is so great that a preparatory work will need to be done before the Author of that system begins His work. Hence God said he would send his ‘messenger ahead, and according to Mat 11:10-11; Mar 1:24 he was John the Baptist. Come to his tentple means his kingdom or church, for that institution is so called in 2Co 6:16. Messenger of the covenant. The most important covenant that God made with Abraham is recorded in Gen 12:3 Gen 22:18, which is a promise of Christ. That would identify Christ as “the messenger of the covenant.”

(Mal 3:2-6) Who can abide the day of His coming? The Messiah was coming but not to confirm the racial arrogance or religious exclusiveness of these false Israelites. John will speak of Him as one whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor; and He will gather His wheat into the garner but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire. (Mat 3:12).

Malachi here makes a like prediction. By a change of metaphors he describes the Messiahs judgement first as fullers soap then as refiners fire. In this sense, soap and fire have one thing in common, both remove, impurity. The entire ministry of the Messiah, including His first coming, the intervening age and His second coming, will purge the impurities from the people of God. Those whose profession is false, whose hope is based on false ambition and nationalistic exclusiveness will be removed from Israel. The remnant will be saved. This refining process is described by Zechariah as removing all but a third of those who call themselves Israel. (cp. Isa 1:25)

Zerr: Mal 3:2. Abide the day of his coming means to face it or feel equal to the awfulness of that day. It is because it will be very thorough in its treatment of sinners in the process of cleansing or purifying them.

(Mal 3:3-4) Since Malachis primary concern is with false priests (see above on Mal 3:1-10 -ff), he pictures the Messiah, in verse three, as a refiner sitting before the crucible in which the sons of Levi are purged of those who are unfaithful so that they will offer to Jehovah offerings in righteousness. The offerings to the Christ are not the blemished animals of Malachis day. Rather they are to be holy and acceptable unto God, (cf. Rom 12:1, Heb 13:5, 1Pe 2:5) as were those offered in the beginning by Aaron.

Zerr: Mal 3:3-4. A refiner’s fire is used to separate the dross from precious metal, and the fact has been used throughout the Bible to illustrate the work of purifying men tram their sins. Sons of Levi is said figuratively because they were the ones who were the priests under the Mosaic system. They had become corrupt in their office and the prediction means that the priests of this new covenant will be purified by the refining influence of the Gospel. Judah and Jerusalem are used spiritually to refer to the services under Christ, in about the same sense that Levi is mentioned in the preceding verse to signify the spiritual priesthood in the system under Christ.

(Mal 3:5-6) They have asked where is the God of justice. (Mal 2:17) When Messiah comes they will have their answer. He will testify against the sorcerers (Act 8:1; Act 13:6, Gal 5:20), against adulterers (Mat 5:28), against false swearers (Mat 5:34; Mat 5:36), against those that oppress the hireling, the widows, the fatherless, and they that turn aside the sojourners (Mat 25:31-46), and that fear not me(Mat 10:26-28).

Special notice should be taken of the inclusion in this list of priestly sins of those that turn aside the sojourner. A sojourner was one of another land who was not a Jew. Gods concern for all men, rather than just for the Jew, as stated in the covenant is apparent throughout His dealings with the people through whom He purposed to bless all men. It is a tragic error to assume that, because God has not smitten the wicked, He has changed from a God of justice to one of easy-going tolerance. Malachi points out to his readers that Gods unchanging nature is the only reason they were not themselves long since wiped out!

Paul points out in Romans eleven (cf. Rom 11:29) that Gods mercy toward even the covenant people finds its source in His unfailing faithfulness to His own covenant. Peter speaks to the same fatal fallacy when he writes, But forget not this one thing beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2Pe 3:8-9)

Zerr: The evils named in Mal 3:5 had been committed by the Jews in Malachi’s time. and the words of condemnation were meant as a severe r ebuke ot them. And they were also a prediction of the exacting regulations regarding such practices to be instituted in the time of Christ. Looking at Mal 3:6, consider that God has never dealt with man as his conduct deserved or he would have been long since consumed. It has always been thus with God for he changes not; that is why the sons of Jacob had not been consumed.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The last division of the Book contains the prophet’s announcement of the coming of Messiah. It falls into three sections, one dealing with the coming One, one dealing with the Coming Day, and one uttering the closing words.

The prophet announced the advent of Jehovah’s Messenger, describing His Person and the process of His administration, and finally declaring the principle of the unchangeableness of Jehovah.

He next appealed to the nation generally, calling the people, to return, and then making a twofold charge against them of robbery and of blasphemy. To each of these they responded kith the same inquiry, “Wherein?” and thus showed that like the priests, they were observing formalities of religion while being deficient in true spiritual life.

In all this widespread apostasy a remnant still remained loyal to Jehovah, whom the prophet described, and then addressed, declaring to them Jehovah’s knowledge of them and determination concerning them.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

a Purging from Evil

Mal 3:1-12

The opening verses of this chapter stir the heart like the call of a trumpet. We remember how literally they were fulfilled in the presentation of our Lord in the Temple by His parents. Unnoticed by the crowds, jostled amid the press, borne in the arms of poverty, the King suddenly came to His Temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant. Only two faithful retainers, Simeon and Anna, were there to welcome Him. But there is another and more personal reference. Let us keep the doors of our hearts wide open to the coming of the King. There may be no blare of trumpet, no flash of jewel, no cry of herald, but into your hearts secret shrine He will come. Is not this just what we need? Make haste, great Lord of all, and in our poor hearts do thy blessed work, that we may be refined as gold and silver, and offer to thee an offering in righteousness. Then will it be a delight to bring all the tithes into the storehouse.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 3

Preparation For The Messenger Of The Covenant

Malachi means, My messenger. It was through him Jehovah declared, Behold, I will send My messenger (using the same word as the prophets name), and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts (ver. 1). Thus was Johns coming predicted as the herald of the King, Messiah, but in such a way as to make it plain that Messiah Himself was identified with Jehovah; for the word is, He shall prepare the way before Me. (See Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; and Luk 1:76; 7:28). It is also of importance to notice that angel and messenger are one in the Hebrew. So John was the angel of Jesus, but Jesus Himself was the Covenant-Angel of whom Jehovah had said long ago, My name is in Him (Exo 23:20, 21). To the very temple but lately rebuilt by Zerubbabel, though afterwards enlarged and beautified by Herod, did He suddenly come as the Nazarene, only to be despised, rejected, and crucified.

But another coming is clearly foretold here; for when it actually takes place, the unholy will not be able to abide it, nor to stand in His presence. As a refiner and purifier He shall sit to purify and purge the Levitical family, setting apart for Himself the sons of Zadok (Eze 48:11), who shall have turned to Him, owning their guilt and judging themselves for their share in the sins of the priesthood. Upon the rest judgment must burn like fire (vers. 2 and 3).

It seems plain from verse 4, as also the 43rd chapter of Ezekiel, that in the days when the kingdom is established over all the earth, sacrifices and offerings will be reinstituted in Jerusalem and the land of Judah, though only as commemorative of the one great sacrifice of the cross; thus sustaining to millennial saints the same relationship that the Lords Supper now occupies among Christians.

The evil-doers will be weeded out from among the people, and a righteous remnant alone be preserved, For I am Jehovah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed (vers. 5, 6).

Never had they kept His ordinances in a completely scriptural manner. But from the days of their fathers they had departed from what He had caused to be written for their guidance. So, in view of the advent of the Messenger of the covenant, He bids them return unto Him in heart, that He may return unto them with blessing and loving favor. But, as so often before, they arrogantly ask, Wherein shall we return? (ver. 7). There was no sense of need or of failure. Quite the contrary; they were self-satisfied and content. So long as outward forms and ceremonies were attended to, they saw no reason to search and try their ways.

So their sinfulness has to be pressed upon them more strongly still. Will a man rob God? Yet they had deliberately robbed Him. With amazing effrontery, they ask, Wherein have we robbed Thee? He replies, In tithes and offerings, and declares that the curse of the violated law rested upon the whole nation. It is a question which was the most solemn-their sinful course, or their calm indifference concerning it. Conscience seemed completely gone; and when a good conscience has been put away, anything can be indulged in with a degree of self-assurance that seems inexplicable (vers. 8, 9).

Still, terrible as their failure had been, it is not too late yet to repent. He calls upon them to bring all the tithes into the storehouse, in this way acknowledge their stewardship under Him, and that needful provision may be made for those who served in the temple, thus releasing them from attention to carnal things; and they are promised abundant blessing if they but heed His voice. He would have them prove Him, and see if He would not open the windows of heaven and pour out upon them such a shower of spiritual refreshment that they would be straitened as to storing it. The devourer, too, He would rebuke for their sakes, causing their enemies to cease from molesting them, that in peace and quietness they might enjoy the abundant fruits of their labor. Blessed with all that heart could desire, both spiritually and temporally, all nations would call them the happy people, and theirs should be a land of delight (vers. 10-12).

All this is to be literally fulfilled when the spirit of grace and supplication is poured out upon the future repentant remnant, and they return to God with their whole heart. Everything waits upon this, even as the Lord Jesus Himself declared, Ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

But for saints of every dispensation an important principle is here enunciated-blessing waits on true devotion of heart. Let all that is due to the Lord, long withheld because of our selfishness, be rendered to Him-all the tithes brought in, and He will rejoice to pour down showers of blessing upon His waiting and expectant people. God delights to give; but our low, earthly-minded state so frequently hinders His visiting us with a gracious revival. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord (Lam 3:40) is a word in season at the present solemn moment in the Churchs history.

For Judah, the era of blessing had not yet dawned, nor has it ever really come since; for they knew not the time of their visitation. Their words were stout, or strong, against God; yet, when He challenged them as to this, for the eighth time, they brazenly challenged Him in return, inquiring, What have we spoken so much against Thee? (ver. 13). No appeal, entreaty, or warning, seemed to move them, or to turn them in the slightest degree from their self-complacency and egoism.

Yet they had said, It is vain to serve God, for they blindly estimated things by the standard of worldly prosperity; and as they contrasted their lowly lot with the proud surrounding nations, they considered there had been no profit in keeping Jehovahs word and seeking to obey His voice. What they did not take into account was that they were part of a failed nation, and still reaping the sad fruit of their fathers evil sowing, So they were stumbled at the prosperity of the wicked, but did not, like Asaph, enter with unshod feet into the sanctuary, that they might understand the end of the enemies of the Lord. (See Ps. 73.)

Nevertheless all were not thus insensate and gainsaying. A remnant is distinguished in vers. 16 to 18 that may well be a shining example to us. In the midst of all the declension and cold-heartedness of the mass, a few there were who feared Jehovah, and sought each other out in the dark and cloudy day, speaking often one to another of the precious and serious things pertaining to a walk with God. The Lord took pleasure in this feeble company, and hearkened, and heard their communings and their confessions, and entered their despised names in a book of remembrance, which will soon be opened at the judgment-seat of Christ: And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My peculiar treasure; for as they had found their treasure in Him, He found His in them. In the day when He shall visit upon the wicked their iniquities He will spare the remnant, discerning between those who truly served Him, and those who had no heart for His Word. It is a striking and beautiful passage, that is rich in the ministry of comfort and cheer to the tried and tested ones who value fellowship with God above all else.

Occupation with the evil can only weaken the hand and distress the spirit. But occupation with Him who sits in peace above all the mists of earth will strengthen and cheer, and prove the only real power for practical holiness and victory over all the might of the enemy.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Mal 3:1-3

Interpreting this prediction by the event, let us read what it says,-

I. As to the manner of the Saviour’s coming. (1) He was to come announced by a forerunner. (2) He was to come to fulfil a great commission. (3) He was to come suddenly.

II. Consider what is said of a certain work that the Messiah was coming to accomplish. Looking into the text, we find that it sets before us: (1) The severity of the trials through which Christians may be called to pass. It is a trial by fire. Fire is the symbol of all that our nature most shrinks from, yet it is the symbol of what our nature must pass through. (2) The agency by which the trial is wrought. It is the Lord; therefore let no man’s heart fail him: “He” shall do all this. (a) He alone appoints it. (b) He alone effects it. (c) He is present all through the operation of the trial. (3) The utility of the trial. (a) It is a sign of preciousness. You never try that which is unquestionably worthless. Do you cast a stone into the crucible? Do you winnow chaff? Do you plough a rock? While the Refiner is subjecting dross to the high heat of adversity, it is only because, mixed with it, He detects a Divine particle which cost the sacrifice of Calvary, which transcends the worth of worlds, and which is destined to shine for ever. (b) It is a test of genuineness. Trial is the grand revealer of character, the certain analyst of life. There are depths of undiscovered character in us all. “No man knows what he is until he is tried.” (c) It is a medium of purification. The dust, the stones, the grains of sand which fire finds in the silver it will not leave there. (d) It is a preparative for service. Powers of great usefulness can be educated in no other way. Powers of endurance are unknown, where there has been nothing to endure. Powers of rule belong alone to those who have learned to rule by learning to obey. (e) It is the precursor of glory. Cling to the joyful creed, so radiantly distinct in our Gospel revelation, that trial alone belongs to earth, glory alone belongs to heaven; that, “absent from the body,” the soul is at once “present with the Lord.”

C. Stanford, Symbols of Christ, p. 175.

References: Mal 3:1-3.-W. Jay, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 37. Mal 3:1-4.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 397. Mal 3:2.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xii., p. 31; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 289; J. Keble, Sermons for Saints’ Days, p. 133.

Mal 3:3

Under the image of the text is symbolized the whole course of the sanctification of the elect, until, through the searching discipline of God, they attain the perfection to which they are predestined Our Lord’s Passion has caused an entire revolution in the experiences and views of mankind. As the Cross, once an object accursed, is now elevated among material forms to be the object of highest reverence; even so suffering in the flesh, from being regarded as the mark of Divine displeasure, is become a means of closest union with God, a seal of His love, a law of highest sanctity. The laws which regulate our purification move along two different lines, each having its counterpart in the passion of our Lord.

I. One form of spiritual chastening is found in the internal discipline, the self-imposed effort involving secret pain, with which the soul, strengthened by the grace of God, subdues its natural emotions in meeting and overcoming trial. To nerve our hearts and overcome in the hour of temptation, and choose the higher course, is the very condition of our sanctification.

II. The outward circumstances in which we are placed have, moreover, their own special office as a further means of spiritual chastening. We are girt about with innumerable influences, from which we cannot escape, which act upon us unceasingly from hour to hour. The fall has caused that close fellowship, that keen sensibility, which were to have been the rich enhancement of every pure joy, to be the occasions of a searching discipline, and ofttimes the aggravations of suffering, in proportion to the prevalence of sin and the multiform workings of our common infirmity.

III. Two incidental results from the imagery employed in the text, to strengthen and encourage the soul in its course of trial. (1) It may have been that the custom of the refiner watching the furnace, to see his face reflected on the surface of the burning mass, as the test of its attaining the required purity, was in the mind of the Spirit when selecting this image, to denote the mystery of our sanctification. Such a custom is a beautiful exemplification of the momentous truth that the object of all spiritual discipline is the restoration of the likeness of God. (2) Silver, in its pure state, is the brightest of all metals. The selection of silver in the text conveys the blessed promise of the exceeding glory with which, even now, humanity is being clothed, as it passes out of great tribulation, its robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb.

T. T. Carter, Sermons, p. 275.

I. Look first at the process: “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and purge them as gold and silver.” From this we see clearly that one important truth is assumed, and that is the inherent preciousness of man. That which is not of more or less value no one will take the pains to purify. The Scriptures nowhere, from the beginning, allow you to suppose that they treat man as an insignificant creature. When they introduce him at first it is in great stateliness, as the crown and flower of creation, the last in the ascending series of earthly creatures, and the best. When he fell from holiness and happiness he did not fall from his lordship. That still remained, though often sadly perverted and degraded, a lordship of tyranny and wrong.

Our Saviour constantly and anxiously keeps man to the front and at the top of all other things. He set His seal upon the infinite worth of man by taking his nature. The cradle of Bethlehem is the mirror in which man can see his own face as the image of the invisible God. If we were worthless Christ would not sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He sees the dross, and He sees the metal, and He does not cast away the metal because of the dross, but He seeks to cast out the dross from the metal.

II. “He shall purify.” Here we see the great aim and purpose of the Gospel. So far as man’s own life and character are concerned, there is no other of higher end that the Gospel can contemplate than this-our purification. This is the end of our Saviour’s incarnation, the end of His teaching, the end of His atoning death, the end of His intercession, the end of all His discipline and providence with respect to us; this is His will, even our sanctification.

It is clear, from the words of our text, that among the agencies through means of which this purity is to be accomplished, one is that of trial-trial as if by fire. It is an unspeakable joy to the Christian to know that, as he must be tried in the fire, he is to be tried under the eye, and hand, and heart of his Saviour. We know that a process over which He presides will be conducted with infinite wisdom. He alone knows the nature of the evil which has to be separated, and He alone knows the kind of trials to send.

E. Mellor, The Hem of Christ’s Garment, p. 72.

References: Mal 3:3.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1575; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. vi., p. 329; F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v., p. 205.

Mal 3:6

We can all of us, perhaps, look back to occasions when, if God had been pleased suddenly to call us away, in the state in which we were living at that moment, we could only have put our hands upon our lips and confessed that the sentence was perfectly just. Why are we here, the survivors of the thousands and tens of thousands who have gone before us? Every one will at once say, “It is the long-suffering of God.” But why is He long-suffering?

The solution which the prophet, or rather which God Himself, gives of this matter is twofold-one sovereignty “I am the Lord;” and the other unchangeableness, “I change not.”

I. The sovereignty of God is a subject full of comfort to a balanced mind. It lays the base of every man’s salvation in the free electing power of God, which is manifested to the individual soul by the outgoings of the Holy Spirit producing certain emotions and feelings in the man’s mind. Therefore it is that God loves us with such an unwearied love,-because His love preceded our love, and He loved us from all eternity. Sovereignty is the cause of forbearance. Mercy is, by the consent of all nations, the prerogative of the throne. Christ is exalted that He may give remission of sins. His cross justifies the act of forgiveness, and His throne makes it.

II. “I change not.” In the hand of God there is a chart laid down and accurately mapped before the foundation of this world was laid. Nothing occurs in this earth which is not the transcript of that chart. It comes from one mind-it is wrought out by one man-it illustrates one truth, and it reaches to one appointed end. Changing pilgrims through this changing scene, fix your eyes upon the changeless. Rest yourselves on these two grand ideas-the foundation of all life and of all peace for ever,-“I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 7th series, p. 236.

References: Mal 3:6.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i., No. 1; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 307; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 461; vol. v., p. 332; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit,vol. iii., p. 447; F. Silver, Ibid., vol. x., p. 221.

Mal 3:7

I. This is one of those verses which show most clearly and graciously the forethought of our heavenly Teacher, in providing for us the Old Testament: (1) in that words spoken on a particular occasion to the Jews are made to convey a heavenly warning and message to Christians of all generations at all times; (2) in that Almighty God here, as in many other places, furnishes comfort and instruction beforehand to that bitterest of cares and doubts, the care and doubt which must hang over those who feel that they have grieved His Spirit, received in baptism, by wilful sin, and having been partakers of the heavenly gift, have fallen away and trodden Christ, His grace, His warnings, His example, under foot.

II. “Wherein shall we return?” Instead of submitting at once to God’s reproof, the Jews of Malachi’s time make answer, and pretend to argue the matter with Him; they go on as if they did not understand what was said, as if their conscience did not smite them at all. The reply in the text, “Wherein shall we return?” may be taken in the like sense, as if they who were reproved were not aware of any particular reason why they should be called to repentance. Or it may be understood in a milder and better meaning, as spoken by a person really in doubt, wishing to repent, but hardly knowing how to begin. Either way, it is a manner of speaking and thinking which one meets with every day in our times. For the benefit of both sorts of answerers, God’s wisdom has condescended to point out, by what follows in the prophet, the right course to be pursued. The particular sin which he here reproves in them is their robbing God of His tithes; and when they say, “Wherein shall we return?” this is His Divine command, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house,” etc. That is, Make a courageous effort and force yourself to do those things which are most contrary to the particular sins against which conscience warns you. Do not stand waiting and hesitating, and asking how you must set about the work of repentance, but at once begin exercising yourself in whatever most contradicts the bad tendencies which you cannot help being aware of. Only let us begin courageously and at once, and persevere humbly and patiently; for the journey is great for us, the time is short, and we, alas! are far behind.

Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times” vol. iv., p. 311.

References: Mal 3:7.-M. Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, p. 286; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. viii., p. 176; Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. x., p. 231; J. Keble, Sermons for Christmas to Epiphany, p. 236.

Mal 3:8

I. (1) Heaven is not the only domain of God’s vast property. All here on earth belongs to Him as well. If all belongs to God, then comes in the liability to commit robbery against Him. For, it may be, that there shall be no general habitual sense and acknowledgment of His sovereign claims; no feeling that all does so belong. This is the comprehensive spirit and principle of the wrong toward Him, and will go into many special forms; this state of mind is a general refusal to acknowledge His law. (2) Coming to a more particular account of what may justly be called “robbing God,” we may say that it is so, for anything to be suffered to have a stronger power over us than His will, so that that shall obtain from us what His will obtains not; whether it be our own inclinations-or the opinions of men-or the spirit, customs, example of the world.

II. A few plain particulars should be specified of what we cannot withhold from God without this guilt. (1) One plainly at first sight is, a very considerable proportion of thought concerning Him. (2) Fear, of the deepest, most solemn kind, is due to God. (3) Will a man refuse the gentler affections-love, gratitude, humble reliance? These affections are to be given-to go out-to something. And are they just to go out to a few inferior objects close around us, and stop there, quite absorbed? Is it to the perfect excellence, the supreme goodness, the transcendent beauty, that the soul of man is to be indifferent and insensible? (4) Each and every precept of God’s law tells of something we may refuse Him, namely, obedience; and a temptation stands close by each.

III. It is not for His own sake (in any sense intelligible to us) that God requires our homage, service, and obedience. It is for our sake; because all the things He requires will be for our good, here or hereafter, not only because He will so, but by the nature of the case. To be conformed to the will of God,-to be delighted in performing services to Him,-to be animated with the love of holiness and all that is good, and hatred of sin-this would be to be happy (in heaven itself), and therefore required. In robbing God men iniquitously and fatally rob themselves.

J. Foster, Lectures, 2nd series, p. 339.

References: Mal 3:8.-W. Baird, The Hallowing of our Common Life, p. 22. Mal 3:8-18.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 293.

Mal 3:10

I. God has ever connected the enjoyment and use of certain blessings with the observance of His ordinances, and with obedience to His requirements.

II. Although God has thus connected blessedness with obedience, and with the observance of His ordinances, the people of God have often neglected them,-neglected institutions founded for their benefit and neglected Divine precepts and prohibitions.

III. Such neglect often brings spiritual adversity and sometimes exposes to sore affliction.

IV. Our awaking to the knowledge that we have not all that God has promised, and to the consciousness of spiritual adversity, should be immediately followed by searchings of heart.

V. The discovery of the neglect and the disobedience as the cause of our particular adversity should be instantly followed by supplying the omission. To this God speaks by the text, “Prove Me.” Prove Me, not by asking Me for some new commandment but by obeying the old neglected commandment-not by seeking new paths, but by returning to the old paths.

S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 4th series, No. 2.

References: Mal 3:10.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 362; J. N. Norton, Every Sunday, p. 329. Mal 3:14.-Fountain, Aug. 5th, 1880.

Mal 3:16

In the text the prophet describes the method used by good men to confirm themselves in their faith. “They that feared the Lord,” he says, “spake often one to another.” It was their surest means, by God’s grace, of resisting the temptation, of their enemy, and so it is ours. It was the greatest earthly blessing of their lives, and so it is of ours. An earthly blessing indeed it ought scarcely to be called, for it reaches from earth to heaven. The communion of saints which is begun here will go on for ever and ever; only that whereas now they who fear the Lord speak to one another of Him, hereafter He will himself join their company, and they shall be one with Him and in the Father.

It has been well observed, that when Christ sent forth His seventy disciples during His own lifetime to preach the Gospel through the cities of Judah, He sent them forth two and two together. What the Apostles needed in their journeys as preachers of the Gospel, we need equally on our journey through life. The great object for which Christians were formed into a Church or society was that they might afford to one another a mutual comfort and support. But even where the feelings of Christian brotherhood were strongest towards the whole society of Christians, still there was room for individual friendships of a yet closer kind; where the comfort and support would be yet dearer and more effectual.

I. Consider the support-comfort-to be derived from our communion with the Church or society of Christians. Every Christian ought to feel that between himself and a man who is also a Christian there is a natural connexion of the closest kind. How often do we see that similarity of tastes in some worldly matters bring two persons together, in spite of every difference of station, of manners, and even of general character. How much more should this be the case, when the point of agreement is that one thing needful, in comparison with which everything else fades into nothing!

II. The text should be true of the society of Christians in general, but it is, and ought to be, much more so of those who take sweet counsel together, and are bound to one another by the closest ties of personal friendship. He who is without Christian friends loses the most powerful earthly instrument by which he is saved from temptation and encouraged to good. Few men, if any, can keep their hearts fixed as they ought to do, on God and on Christ. They cannot encourage as they should do the workings of the Holy Spirit within them, without sometimes speaking out of the abundance of their heart, and pouring forth to others the thoughts which most engross them. Therefore it is the interest, and if it be the interest in spiritual matters it is the duty, of every Christian to endeavour to secure the blessing of a Christian friend.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i., p. 190.

I. The prophet Malachi lived some time after the restoration of the Jews to their own country, and the building of the second temple, when they had been brought back from the captivity in Babylon. He was the last of all the prophets, and flourished about four hundred years before the coming of Christ. Of this period of four hundred years, therefore, the Bible tells us nothing; nor, as far as the Jews are concerned, can we learn much about it from any other quarter. We know only that they were left during this time just under similar circumstances to those in which we ourselves are living now. I mean, that they were left in a state of trial, to see how far they would make use of the means of grace already given; that the revelation of God was for the time completed; miracles were at an end and prophecies were at an end; there was in their hands the volume of the Law and the Prophets, and in that written word alone were they to seek for the knowledge of God’s will. At the same time they were taught to look forward to some future day when God should again visit them in a more open manner, and should establish a state of things far better and more perfect than that which actually existed. We see at once how exactly this corresponds with the condition in which we ourselves are placed now. The history of the Bible mentions further a third case similar to the two which I have noticed: the state, namely, of the Jews, for another period of nearly three hundred years, from the death of Joshua to the beginning of the ministry of Samuel.

II. Twice then already have the servants of God had their term of patient waiting; twice have they had to struggle with the temptations of the world, with no other weapons than the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And twice has experience shown that their faith and their struggles were not in vain; and that the Lord in whom they trusted was able and willing to save them to the uttermost. If we are longer waiting for the fulfilment of the promise, yet its language is more positive and clear than it ever was before, and the blessings to which it directs our hope are of a nature far more valuable. He who looks for complete certainty and the removal of every difficulty in the way of our belief in Christ, is confounding earth and heaven together. There we shall enjoy perfect knowledge, and our service will be one of untroubled love; but here we must walk by faith, not by sight, and the enemy of our souls will never cease his assaults against them.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i. p. 181.

Religious conversation.

I. “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.” (1) Then. The context tells us that the time spoken of was an evil time. So prevalent was sin, so bold, and apparently so prosperous, that people were beginning to say, “It is vain to serve God.” (2) “They that feared the Lord.” It is a sufficient description of the good, be they many or few, that they are those who fear God. In times of difficulty and discouragement they spake often one to another. It does not expressly say what about; but it is implied that they spoke to one another as those that feared the Lord; as those who had a common cause, and that common cause the cause of good, the cause of God. They tried the experiment of sympathy, of combined counsel, and combined action too.

II. Religious conversation should begin in God’s worship. Here at least we can communicate one with another on the common basis of the fear of God, and take in large supplies of strength and faith at the very Fountain-head of both.

III. Another way in which all who fear God ought also to speak often one to another is in the privacy of true friendship, when to one faithful ear you can confide something of your personal difficulties and temptations, and exchange that sympathy which is always strengthening, even where it may seem to be rather the confession of weakness.

IV. “The Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him.” Let us remember that for every idle word we speak we shall give account in the day of judgment. Of all the sayings written down from Christ’s lips in the Book of God, none surely is so terrible in its sound as that which declares: “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

C. J. Vaughan, Memorials of Harrow Sundays, p. 316.

Consider:-

I. The comfort and value of Christian friendship. Who is there that has ever analyzed his emotions that has not felt how large a portion of his joys spring from the fount of sympathy? In solitariness there is no happiness; and there is hardly to be found in Scripture a more touching exhibition of the solicitude of our Divine Parent for our happiness than is to found in these words: “God setteth the solitary in families.” The friendships of the world are bound only by the ropes of selfish sand, and mayhap, when reliance strains upon them, will give way. But the blessed communion of saints is formed of the golden links of a holy love and godly principle. A friendship which coheres by virtue of a mutual love of Christ can never be sundered.

II. The prevailing power of intercessory prayer. Herein it is that Christian friendships are so incomparably superior to the friendships of the world. Happy is the man who can reckon among his friends one, two, three, who are in favour with God, and who can go with him and for him to the throne of grace, and who have interest, so to speak, in the court of heaven. When the secrets of this mysterious world are laid open at a future day we shall be astonished to find what the intercessory prayers of the “hidden ones” have done, and how kings and statesmen, how churches and pulpits, have been influenced by the electric touches of these secretly spoken supplications which have gone up from the hearts of kneeling cottagers, and have entered into the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth.

R. Glover, By the Waters of Babylon, p. 91.

I. Godliness is here presented as the firm basis of confederation and communion.

II. The godly spoke (1) of God’s holy name; (2) of His awful power; (3) of His precious promises; (4) of His immutable truth.

J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 20.

Reference: Mal 3:16.-W. Arnot, Good Words, 1862, p. 441.

Mal 3:16-17

There are three main features of this description in the text.

I. The book of remembrance. Probably the rudiment of this idea is to be found in Ezr 6:1-5. There was a roll found on a critical occasion, “in the palace which is in the province of the Medes,” the remembrance of which the Jews would not willingly let die. But what chiefly concerns us is the fundamental thought. The Lord knew these men by name. Those who, like them, stake all on fidelity to God, who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, are the upper ten thousand of the universe, the peerage of heaven, through eternity.

II. There is the recognition of their sonship. “I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”

III. The day shall come when the book shall be brought forth, when the names shall be read out before an assembled universe, and shall shine as headstones of beauty in the new creation through eternity.

J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 29.

The text is an evident and happy illustration of the advantages of Christian fellowship. It would appear that in the olden time Christian fellowship, or the communion of saints, was: (1) commonly practised; (2) divinely noticed; (3) blessed by reward.

I. One great purpose of the Saviour’s incarnation and of the call and authority of His disciples was to establish a Gospel Church. The central thought-the great necessity of churchmanship-is union with Christ, participation in the benefit of His dying, transformation through the influence of His Spirit. But this spiritual change is effected in human hearts. Human hearts have in them chords of sympathy and a strong social instinct, so that, by inevitable and congenial affinity, like will yearn for like. Hence arises organization, the gathering together of those who think alike, who acknowledge the same supreme obligation, who are inspired by the same majestic hope, and who travel to the same assured and glorious recompense of reward.

II. (1) One purpose which seems essentially involved in the possession of spiritual Christianity is the bearing witness for Christ. This would seem to necessitate an organized system of testimony. (2) Another thing which seems to necessitate Church membership is respect for the memory of Christ; and for the ordinances which He appointed of perpetual obligation in His Church. His object was to separate a people, not merely as the recipients of His truth, but as the instruments of its extension, and at once its depositary and its herald. He appointed, moreover, initiatory and confirmatory sacraments: Baptism as the gate of entrance; the Eucharist as the banquet of the faithful, and as the renewal of the consecrating vow. But the sacraments are dispensed in the Church, and in the Church only. (3) Again, the Church exists for purposes of spiritual aggression. She is to preach the Gospel of the kingdom for a witness unto all nations. It is manifest that this work, to which its charter of incorporation binds it, can be accomplished only by associated efforts. It is our duty to avow ourselves of the Church rather than of the world, and to throw in whatever we possess of energy, and influence, and zeal with one or other of the troops which are displaying the common standard of the Cross.

W. Morley Punshon, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 267.

Reference: Mal 3:16, Mal 3:17.-W. Arnot, Good Words, 1862, p. 443.

Mal 3:17

I. Notice the finding of the jewel. Just as the diamond and the gold are hidden among the rocks and earth, mud and sand, and are only found by great labour and trouble, so God’s jewels are lost and hidden among vile sins and earthly habits, and shut up in hard, stony hearts; it is with great trouble He discerns them. He sent His Son down from heaven to seek His lost jewels; and He had to come and work in the muddy river-beds and in the dark earth and rocky mines to find them.

II. The fashioning of the jewel. Jesus finds His jewels and snatches them out of their sins, but they are not yet fit to be worn by God. He has to give them over to a most skilful Artificer who purifies and polishes them, and forms them into jewels fit for God to wear. This is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit uses a great variety of means to fashion God’s jewels: (1) Water; water is used to cleanse the diamond and the gold. What is the water which the Holy Ghost uses? It is the Word (Eph 5:25-27). (2) Fire; the fire which the Holy Spirit uses is affliction. Affliction melts hearts, and then they flow into God’s mould.

III. The wearing of the jewel. Kings and great people who have many jewels keep most of them locked fast; but on great occasions, such as a coronation day, they bring them all out. So there is a day coming when God is to gather together all His jewels and wear them before all eyes. (1) He will rejoice in the beauty of His jewels. (2) He will rejoice in them as a display of His wealth of love.

J. Stalker, The New Song, p. 131.

References: Mal 3:17.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 403; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. 295; H. V. Macdona, Penny Pulpit, No. 568; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 447; vol. iv., p. 311. Mal 3:18.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv., No. 1415.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

4. The Announcement of the Messenger and the Day of the Lord

CHAPTER 3:1-6

In this chapter and in the next we have the prophecies of Malachi as to the Messiah and His forerunner. The last verse of the preceding chapter belongs rightly to this chapter. Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied Him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment? It is this last bold question, produced by their arrogant pride and self security which opens the way for the prophetic message in this chapter. Where is the God of judgment? The answer is, Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. The first announcement of the messenger, who goes before the Lord, is quoted in Mat 11:10; Mar 1:22; Luk 1:76; Luk 7:27. Isaiah, too, had spoken a similar prophecy in Isa 40:3. This prophecy was fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist, as the herald of His first coming; still this prophecy considered in the light of the prophecy in the next chapter, concerning the coming of Elijah, remains yet to be fully accomplished. John the Baptist was not Elijah; Elijah is still to come and do his work preceding the coming of the Lord. The messenger is followed by the Lord, the Messenger, or Angel (the meaning of the Hebrew word) of the Covenant. The word Lord is here the word Adon with the article, always used of God. It is the Lord God who comes, and His official title is The Angel of the Covenant. Many expositors have blundered here in that they imagined the word covenant means the new covenant of which the Lord Jesus is the Mediator Heb 9:15. But it is not the truth. The Messenger of the Covenant is the same Angel of the Lord who appeared frequently in Israels past history, and generally in the form of a human being. The Angel of the Lord is the Son of God in His preincarnation manifestations, and He is announced here as the Angel of the Covenant. The nation believed in His coming, and in the question Where is the God of judgment? they had asked for Him. That there was a partial fulfillment of this prophecy when our Lord, the Messiah of Israel, came unexpectedly in the temple, must not be overlooked, but that it was the fulfillment of these words is not true. It will be accomplished in the day of His Return, preceded by another messenger. Their question Where is the God of judgment? will then be fully answered, and what it will be we read in the next two verses (Mal 3:2 and Mal 3:3). He will purge the nation of the dross, beginning with the sons of Levi. It is the same as in Zec 13:9. John the Baptist announced the same also, and when he gave his inspired testimony of the purging of the threshing floor and the burning of the chaff with unquenchable fire Mat 3:12 he referred not to the first coming of Christ, but to His second coming.

As the result of this judgment in store for the nation, when the sorcerers, the adulterers, the false swearers, and the oppressors will be dealt with, we read in the fourth verse (Mal 3:4) Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

SERMON #12. CHRIST THE REFINER AND PURIFIER

Text:Mal 3:1-6

Subject:Christs Refining Work

Date:Sunday PM November 1, 2009

Introduction:

(Mal 3:1-6) Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. (2) But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap: (3) And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. (4) Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. (5) And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. (6) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

We will focus our attention tonight upon Mal 3:3; but we must always seek to understand a passage in its context. My subject is CHRIST THE REFINER AND PURIFIER. Here the prophet of God tells us that when the Lord Jesus comes, He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Messenger of the covenant, in whom Gods elect delight. When he appeared in this world, all that was not real and genuine, all that was spiritually pretentious, fake and hypocritical was purged away by him. He was like a refiners fire, consuming the false pretensions of the Pharisees, the vain boastings of the Scribes and the imagined superiority of the Sadducees. The Lord Jesus Christ is a great refiner and purifier.

SUMMARY

Let me summarize these six verses with five statements. Then, I will try, by the help of God the Holy Spirit to bring out a few thoughts from verse three about the work of our Savior as our Refiner and Purifier.

1.When he comes to a sinner in the mighty, saving operations of his grace, he comes suddenly, unexpectedly (Mal 3:1).

2.When the Savior comes to a sinner, he comes to sit, to sit permanently, in his house, as Savior and Lord.

3.When the Lord Jesus comes in the mighty, saving operations of his grace, he comes to refine and purify his chosen, the sons of Levi, whom he has ordained to serve as priests in his house (Joshua the High Priest Zechariah 3).

4.Refined in him and by him, chosen, redeemed sinners, sanctified by his grace offer pleasant offerings in righteousness unto the Lord (Mal 3:3-4).

5.Yes, blessed be his name, the Son of God takes away the shame of his people and saves all his chosen, because he hateth putting away, because he changes not (Mal 3:6).

(Mal 3:6) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. This is spoken of as one of the results of the coming of the Lord. Malachi said he would test and try all things, destroy the false and the evil, and make those pure whom he had chosen.

Behold, the Promised One has come! He suddenly appeared in his temple as the messenger of the covenant. Simeon, and Anna, and all who waited for the consolation of Israel, rejoiced. Faithful witnesses testified, We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

But to many our Lords first advent was a day of darkness and judgment. When we look back upon the destruction of Judaism, the destruction of the Jewish nation and the darkness that yet engulfs the physical descendants of Abraham, we understand Malachis astonishment in Mal 3:2. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap.

SAVING OPERATIONS

That which was true of our Lord at his first appearance in this world in human flesh is still true of him. When the Lord Jesus comes to his own in the saving operations of his grace, he sits as the Refiner and Purifier in his house, in the hearts of chosen sinners.

Whenever the Lord Jesus comes, he comes in utmost mercy to make our souls clean. His coming always means that he is about to purify the soul. Here is his highest mercy: He comes to rid his people of sin, to purify us into his own glorious holiness. Christ loved his church, and this is bow he showed it: He gave himself for it, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. He performs this great work of making sinners pure by three mighty, operations of grace.

1Redemption Blood Atonement

2Regeneration Sanctification

3Resurrection (Jud 1:24).

(Jud 1:24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

Mal 3:3 specifically speaks of our Lords work of grace in regeneration and conversion (Tit 3:3-7).

(Tit 3:3-7) For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. (4) But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, (5) Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (6) Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; (7) That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Whenever Christ comes to one he loves, he comes as a refiner and a purifier. He comes to take away the dross from the silver and to make the fine gold pure.

1He comes as a consuming fire, to burn up much that we naturally love (Religion Personal Worth Self-righteousness).

2He comes as a Purifier, to cleanse our souls.

How is this refining work performed? It is carried on in part by the word of God.

(Jer 23:29) Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Wherever the gospel is preached it consumes dross.

1The Dross of Religious Tradition

2The Dross of Human Inventions

3The Dross of Doctrinal Error

Read Psalms 107 regularly, and be reminded often that another instrument by which the Lord Jesus refines and purifies his own is his wonderful works of providence. Providence apart from the gospel has no saving effect upon the soul. But providence, working by the gospel certainly does.

(Psalms 107) O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (2) Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; (3) And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. (4) They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. (5) Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. (6) Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. (7) And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. (8) Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (9) For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

(10) Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; (11) Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: (12) Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. (13) Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. (14) He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. (15) Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (16) For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

(17) Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. (18) Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. (19) Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. (20) He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (21) Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (22) And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

(23) They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; (24) These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. (25) For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. (26) They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. (27) They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits end. (28) Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. (29) He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. (30) Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. (31) Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

(42) The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. (43) Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs,

And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds you so much dread

Are big with mercy and will break

With blessings on your head.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err

And scan His works in vain;

God is His own interpreter.

And He will make it plain.

William Cowper

God the Holy Spirit is the great fire that burns in Zion to refine and purge Gods elect. He is the fire by which the Lord Jesus makes the Word of the Gospel and the works of providence effectual.

By the operations of his Word, and by the influences of his blessed Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus brings his people into the furnace of purification. He melts our stubborn nature and our obstinate will. By the Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of burning, he purges the dross, takes away our tin and forms all his elect into vessels of mercy and sanctification.

This operation of grace in us is as necessary for our everlasting salvation as Gods works of grace performed for us in eternity, our Saviors work of obedience in his life as our Representative, his death as our Substitute upon the cursed tree, and his resurrection and ascension as Lord over all. Without this refining work, this purifying work of grace, the Son of God could never present his elect unto himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, holy and without blame before him in love.

SITTING BY

Now, watch this. All the time he is performing this mighty work of grace, both for us and in us, we are told that our Lord Jesus shall sit as a refiner. He sits by and watches over us, constantly tempering the fire in exact proportion to purpose of grace and our souls needs. He never permits the enemy to fan it even a 1000th of a degree more than his love and wisdom have ordained.

1He sits by as a Sovereign upon his throne.

2He sits with perfect patience.

3He sits as one who knows what he is doing!

Gods furnace doth in Zion stand,

But Zions God sits by,

As the refiner views his gold,

With an observant eye.

Always observing, always watching, the Lord Jesus shall sit, He shall sit as a refiner. See him sitting as a Refiner, eternal power performing what everlasting love designed. His fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem (Isa 31:9).

THE FIRE

When the hand of God that is turned upon his little ones to save them, we are told, will do so by bringing them through the fire.

(Zec 13:7-9) Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (8) And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. (9) And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

It is written, We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (Act 14:22). All who wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb must come through great tribulation (Rev 7:14). They must pass through the fire and be refined as silver is refined and tried as gold is tried. Both Zechariah and Malachi are describing Gods mercy not his wrath, his grace not his judgment. They are telling us about that which God does for chosen, redeemed sinners when he turns his hand upon them to save them. He refines them with fire.

(Isa 48:9-11) For my names sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. (10) Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (11) For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

If you want to see Gods elect in this world, look for them in the fire. Look for them in the burning and fiery furnace. If you walk with God, you must walk through the fire.

When God confirmed his covenant to Abraham (Gen 15:8-18), he gave him three things, by which he assured his servant of grace.

1.An Altar of Sacrifice Blood Atonement!

2.A Burning Lamp Guiding Light (Word/Spirit).

3.A Smoking Furnace Divine Chastening.

Anything precious and valuable must be tried (Pro 17:3).

(Pro 17:3) The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

It was a law in Israel that everything that could abide the fire must go through the fire (Num 31:23). The diamond must be cut. The gold must be purified. The silver must be refined.

Whenever there is a sacrifice offered to God there is fire. You and I are to present ourselves to God as constant living sacrifices (Rom 12:1); but no sacrifice was offered to God unless it was burned.

We could never be conformed to Christ were our feet not burned in the furnace (Rev 1:15). Our Lords feet represent his humanity. His head represents his Deity. Deity could never suffer; but his feet, his human body and soul, suffered all the wrath of God in this world, when he died as our Substitute. Thank God, we will never suffer his wrath (Rom 8:1). Yet, our feet must also be burned in the furnace.

The furnace of affliction, like the refiners fire, has many uses. When blessed of God to our souls good the furnace is a very helpful place.

The refiners fire is a purifying fire. God uses trouble to purge the dross of sin that he hates from the soul that he loves.

The furnace makes hard steel easily molded. The blacksmith beats his iron on his anvil in vain until he puts it in the fire; but the heated iron bends to the touch.

The furnace is a place of great light. You will see things more clearly in the furnace than anywhere else. The Vanity of the World! The Beauty of Life! The Blessedness of Grace! The Goodness of God! The Preciousness of Christ!

What mercy it is for God to put us into his furnace! It is his hand that brings us into the fire; and it is his hand that brings us through it. If God has chosen you, you must go through the fire. If Christ has redeemed you, you must go through the fire. If God the Holy Spirit has called you, you must go through the fire. You will go into the furnace; but you will go through the furnace; and you shall not be harmed, but only made better by the furnace.

(Isa 43:1-7) But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. (2) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (3) For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. (4) Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. (5) Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; (6) I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; (7) Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

THE FIRE OF CONVICTION

I do not doubt that the fire spoken of here is primarily the fire of Holy Spirit conviction by the Word of God, the very fire of hell itself in your soul. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD (Jer 23:29). Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word (Psa 148:8). Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee (Eze 20:47).

Your time in the fire may be very long and slow, or short and fierce, but you must go through the fire. The Lord knows exactly what we need and what we can bear. When the fire of conviction has done its work and the sinner convinced of his sin looks to Christ, the Lord God declares, They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

(Isa 25:9) And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

That is exactly what Malachi tells us. The Lords object in all this is to make his chosen a people who may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, an offering pleasant to God himself (Mal 3:3-4).

Our Saviors purpose in refining us is that he may deliver us from all evil and make us perfect. Remember, the subjects of purifying are his own chosen ones: He shall purify the sons of Levi. Levi was the tribe taken out of the rest for Gods service. The Lord has a people whom he has set apart unto himself, and these he will purify.

(Tit 2:11-14) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

What he has redeemed he will refine. Gethsemane and Calvary have bound the Refiner to his task. But none will ever call upon him in faith who are not brought by him through the fire.

O beware of trust ill-grounded;

Tis but fancied faith at most,

To be cured, and not be wounded;

To be saved before youre lost.

THE FIRE OF CHASTISEMENT

Yet, throughout our days upon this earth, our great, gracious, and good heavenly Father continues to bring us through the fire, refining us as silver is refined and trying (proving) us as gold is tried.

Trials and temptations, sickness and sorrow, domestic trouble and bereavements, slander and persecution, war and adversity, deep and daily discoveries of the body of sin and death that is in us, the hidings of our Saviors face and the needful denials of the sense of his presence are all fiery trials of faith through which our heavenly Father brings his little ones, fires by which he by which he refines his silver and proves his gold. His fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem (Isa 31:9); and when he brings us through the fire, it is to bring us into a wealthy place (Psa 66:12).

And by these things we are brought to call upon, worship our God, who declares, They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

By these trials and exercises there is a gradual weaning from the world, a humility, meekness and brokenness of spirit worked in us before the Lord, a greater simplicity and godly sincerity, more willing obedience to the precepts of the gospel, and a greater desire to know the will of God and do it. O that these fruits of the Spirit might abound in us and all the saints and servants of God!

Remember, it is God our Savior who puts us in the fire. It is his furnace that we are tried. He is always with us in the furnace. He will bring us through the furnace. And when he does, he will bring us, at last, into heavenly glory which shall be a wealthier place because of the fire through which he has brought us Yes, the very fire by which we are tried shall be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls (2Co 4:17-18; 1Pe 1:3-9).

(2Co 4:17-18) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

(1Pe 1:3-9) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (5) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (6) Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (7) That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (8) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (9) Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Yes, even after he has performed his mighty work of grace in us, stripping us, laying us low, sweetly forcing us to know our need of him, our blessed Savior still shall sit as a refiner. He never abandons the work of his hands. He ever performs his work of grace in us, until it is finished. Graciously, wisely he keeps us needing him and keeps us coming to him!

(Php 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

(Php 2:12-13) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (13) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

(Heb 13:20-21) Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, (21) Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Grace will complete what grace begins,

To save from sorrows or from sins;

The work that wisdom undertakes

Eternal mercy neer forsakes.

Is this the case with you? Is this the case with me? Are all the fiery trials we have gone through, regulated, kept under and blessed, by our Savior to everlasting good? Oh my foolish heart, how have I repined in my affliction, because I saw not my Saviors hand in the appointment, failed to discern his love carrying me through it and missed the display of his wisdom in appointing it!

Lord Jesus, blessed Refiner, give me grace to see you sitting by. Do, blessed Savior, sit in this most needful office over my soul, that as all true believers are of the royal priesthood, being sons of Levi, and made kings and priests to God and the Father, never may my soul come out of the furnace of your purification, until that I am enabled, by your grace, to offer in heaven itself the perfect offering of one made perfect by your grace!

Blessed be his name forever! Though he puts us in the fire, none he puts into his fire shall be consumed.

(Mal 3:6) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Amen.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

Lord

The f.c. of Mal 3:1 is quoted of John the Baptist; Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27 but the second clause, “the Lord whom ye see,” etc., is nowhere quoted in the N.T. The reason is obvious: in everything save the fact of Christ’s first advent, the latter clause awaits fulfilment Hab 2:20. Mal 3:2-5 speak of judgment, not of grace. Malachi, in common with other O.T. prophets, saw both advents of Messiah blended in one horizon, but did not see the separating interval described in Matthew 13. consequent upon the rejection of the King Mat 13:16; Mat 13:17. Still less was the Church-age in his vision; Eph 3:3-6; Col 1:25-27. “My messenger” Mal 3:1 is John the Baptist; the “messenger of the covenant” is Christ in both of His advents, but with especial reference to the events which are to follow His return.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

I will: Mal 2:7, Mal 4:5, Mat 11:10, Mat 11:11, Mar 1:2, Mar 1:3, Luk 1:76, Luk 7:26-28, Joh 1:6, Joh 1:7

and he: Isa 40:3-5, Mat 3:1-3, Mat 17:10-13, Luk 1:16, Luk 1:17, Luk 3:3-6, Joh 1:15-23, Joh 1:33, Joh 1:34, Joh 3:28-30, Act 13:24, Act 13:25, Act 19:4

and: Psa 110:1, Isa 7:14, Isa 9:6, Hag 2:7-9, Luk 2:11, Luk 2:21-32, Luk 2:38, Luk 2:46, Luk 7:19, Luk 7:20, Luk 19:47, Joh 2:14-16

even: Gen 48:15, Gen 48:16, Exo 23:20, Isa 63:9, Hos 12:3-5, Act 7:38

he shall come: Hag 2:7

Reciprocal: Gen 16:10 – the angel Gen 32:3 – sent Exo 3:2 – angel Exo 29:43 – sanctified Num 25:12 – General Deu 18:18 – like unto Deu 33:7 – and bring Jdg 2:1 – And an angel 2Ch 7:1 – the fire Job 33:23 – a messenger Psa 24:3 – stand Psa 24:7 – King Psa 96:13 – he cometh Ecc 5:6 – before Son 8:1 – that thou Isa 35:4 – behold Isa 40:10 – the Lord God Jer 33:14 – General Eze 21:27 – until Eze 44:4 – the glory Hos 12:4 – angel Amo 5:18 – desire Hag 1:13 – the Lord’s Zec 2:8 – sent Zec 2:10 – lo Zec 3:1 – the angel Zec 12:8 – as the Zec 13:8 – two Mat 3:3 – Prepare Mat 3:10 – now Mat 11:3 – Art Mat 12:6 – General Mat 21:12 – went Mat 25:6 – go Mar 9:11 – General Mar 11:11 – Jesus Mar 11:27 – as he Mar 13:1 – out Luk 2:49 – my Luk 7:27 – Behold Luk 9:52 – sent Luk 12:56 – that Luk 17:24 – in Luk 24:27 – and all Luk 24:44 – in the prophets Joh 1:26 – whom Joh 1:31 – but Joh 7:14 – the temple Joh 11:27 – which Joh 13:19 – that I Joh 20:28 – My Lord Act 2:2 – suddenly Act 7:30 – an Act 10:36 – he is Act 13:32 – how Act 26:6 – the promise Gal 4:4 – the fulness Eph 1:10 – in the Heb 1:8 – O God Heb 9:11 – Christ Rev 7:2 – And I

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE FORERUNNER AND THE MESSENGER

Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.

Mal 3:1

I. The forerunner and his commission.(1) The forerunner of the Messenger of the covenant was John the Baptist (cf. St. Luk 2:25; Luk 2:38). (2) His commission was preparative. This is indicated (a) By his own confession. (b) By the character of his preaching.

II. The Messenger of the covenant and His commission.(1) The Messenger of the covenant is our Lord Himself. (2) His commission involved a fulfilment of human desire and expectation. (3) This commission included an unexpected visit to His Temple. (4) His commission is implied in the name assignedMessenger of the Covenant.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

The full answer to all this is that God Himself was going to intervene in a very personal way. In the first verse we have in the first place, ‘My messenger’, or ‘angel.’ ‘He is to prepare the way before Me’; the ‘Me’ here evidently being Jehovah. Then, thirdly, there is the ‘Lord’, or ‘Master’, who is the ‘Messenger’, or, ‘Angel of the covenant’, clearly distinguished from the angel first mentioned. In this very close way the coming Messiah is identified with the Jehovah who sends Him. In this remarkable verse the two advents are predicted, though not clearly distinguished: a feature we also see in Isa 61:2. At His first advent the messenger sent in advance was clearly John the Baptist, who prepared the way of the Lord, and came in the spirit and power of Elijah, though not the Elijah of which Mal 4:5 speaks, for he is to come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord in judgment. John came after the fashion of Elijah, but before the coming of the Messiah in grace, who is the Master, identified here with Jehovah.

Suddenly to His temple the ‘Lord’, the ‘Master’ came. And He was the One in whom they delighted, as a matter of theory, in expectation, though, when He did appear, they saw no beauty in Him, that they should desire Him, as Isaiah had predicted. Hence He was rejected and crucified as we know; though that is not predicted here. In contrast thereto our thoughts are turned at once to His second advent, when He will be like fire and soap in their testing and cleansing power, and who will then be able to stand before Him? He will then be in majesty on the throne, and not standing as the Prisoner in Pilate’s judgment hall.

So, as we said, both advents are here predicted, and the exact fulfilment of the first part gives us the assurance that the second part will in its season be fulfilled with equal exactitude.

In Malachi’s day this was not apparent, and the point to the people of his time was that things would be brought to an issue, and their state judged by an intervention of God, such as they had never before known. All their hypocritical self-satisfaction would collapse, and reality be brought to light when He appeared.

It may be profitable now to digress a little and point out two things. First, let us observe that behind all this state of things so clearly manifested, lay the work of the adversary, making it certain that when Christ came in grace, He would be rejected. A few centuries passed and the state of things exposed by Malachi, developed into the Phariseeism and Sadduceeism, exposed in the Gospels and in the Acts. The former ardently followed a religion of outward observances; the latter favoured something of a more intellectual type, and therefore were unbelieving as to certain things that did not appeal to their reason. Both therefore were absolutely self-confident as to their own position, and bitterly resented anything that undermined it. The spirit that we see among priests and people in Malachi’s day was so intensified, that when the Messiah did arrive His coming was no joy to them. This we see in Mat 2:3. That an evil king like Herod should be troubled, when tidings of His birth came by the wise men from the east, need not surprise us. But look at the words, ‘and all Jerusalem with him’. Let us each underline in our minds that word, ‘all’. It evidently signifies – Pharisees and Sadducees included. True, these religious men had a knowledge of their Scriptures, for they could at once quote Mic 5:2, in reply to Herod’s demand. Yet the only practical use made of their knowledge was to furnish Herod with an opportunity to kill the infant Messiah. There is no record of their doing anything about it, or welcoming Him.

There was of course a work of God, going on amongst the people in Malachi’s day, as we shall presently see, and this worked out also, and was maintained till the coming of Christ as we see in the lovely picture of devout souls, who gladly received Him, given us in the opening of Luke’s gospel. Through the years, however, these were few in number and comparatively unknown.

There is a second thing we ask our readers to observe. This strain of self-satisfied complacency, that resents and repudiates all criticism, evident in Malachi’s day, and more decisively manifested when Christ came, is predicted in Rev 3:1-22, as characterizing the end of the church’s history. We refer to the Laodicean church, that felt itself to be so ‘rich, and increased with goods’, doubtless of a spiritual sort, as well as a material, that they had ‘need of nothing’. To have need of nothing is for all practical pun poses to lay claim to perfection, and therefore to be beyond all criticism; and bitterly to resent it, if offered, even as they had begun to do when Malachi prophesied.

And let us note another feature. The outward ruin of Israel fairly started when ‘that woman Jezebel’ was married to Ahab, and nearly diverted the ten tribes to the worship of Baal. Then with the two tribes there was that time of deadness Godward in the days of Jeremiah, ended by the captivity. And then the mercy of God, permitting a remnant to return to the land and re-establish the temple worship, and amongst these were a number of really godly and devout souls. It was amongst that remnant that the evils, we have had before us, had developed.

Now notice a painful analogy. It may not be very pronounced and distinct, but it is there nevertheless. The addresses to the seven churches give us a prophetic outline of ‘things which must shortly come to pass’, as Rev 1:1 states; and when we reach the latter part of Rev 2:1-29, we find ‘that woman Jezebel’, dominating things in the Thyatira stage. And this is followed by the spiritual death that marked Sardis, and then some measure of recovery in Philadelphia, not anything great, for their strength was ‘little’, and they had the rather negative virtues of keeping the word of the Lord, when others were forsaking it, and of not denying His name, when others were doing so.

But then comes Laodicea. If God has granted a measure of recovery during the last century or two, and some of us have entered into a heritage of spiritual blessing, let us beware of this Laodicean spirit of self-occupation and self-conceit which so naturally would entangle us. Today we have not only the high class intellectualist, who believes he has a modernistic version of Christianity, which is beyond all criticism, but also a mystical type, great on the experimental side of things, who feel they have entered into something which is also beyond all criticism. They feel ‘rich’ because they increase in ‘goods’, in the form of increased light and further revelations.

We see the Laodicean delusion, if we may so call it, beginning in the days of Malachi. It is sadly evident in our day, and hence we need to be warned against it, for it is a deep-seated tendency of the flesh, which is in every one of us. The more worldly-minded believer may be tempted to glory in wisdom or nobility, and the more spiritually minded to glory in spiritual experiences, imagined or real, but the only safe ground of boasting is that stated by the Apostle Paul, ‘He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord’ (1Co 1:31).

The first verse of our chapter, as we saw, has in it predictions that found a fulfilment at the first advent of Christ. The second and third verses, however, make it clear that the main emphasis is on His second coming. Then it is that the fire of the refiner will come into action with purifying effect, and this means judgment as verse Mal 3:5 states. The bringing of the advents together is not unusual in Old Testament prophecy. Take the later chapters of Isaiah for instance, where the humbled ‘Servant’ of Jehovah and the mighty ‘Arm’ of Jehovah, achieving His purpose, come before us. Isa 53:1-12, which predicts the sufferings of the Servant, begins by asking, ‘To whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?’ In other words, ‘Who identifies the glorious and irresistible Arm with the despised and humbled Servant?’ This was not so plain in the days when the prophets spoke; but very plain in ours; so that we can all reply – Thank God, we do with joy identify them.

What His second advent will accomplish is stated in verses Mal 3:4-5. There will be first a work of purification, and at last the offerings of a restored people will be pure and acceptable, as it had been at the beginning. The ‘fuller’s soap’ will have had its effect. So also the ‘refiner’s fire’ will have come into action judging and removing all the sins and evils, then so prevalent among the people. The fear of God will be established in every heart, and express itself in life.

And the guarantee of all this is found in verse 6. It is the unchangeable character of Jehovah. We might have expected the next words to be, ‘Therefore ye sons of Jacob must be consumed;’ but they are just the opposite. God exercises much forbearance, and He has power to reach His own purpose in the end. The Apostle Paul asks the question, ‘Hath God cast away His people?’ and he at once answers, ‘God forbid’ (Rom 11:1). At the time of the second advent judgment will fall on the Jew, yet a godly remnant of the ‘sons of Jacob’, will be preserved and blessed. The same thing of course is true today.

In verse Mal 3:7 the prophet returns to his earlier theme, and lays against them the general charge of having departed from God and His Word, with the promise, if they returned to Him, He would return to them. The charge was most apparently true, yet they did not admit it, but rather called it in question. Again they resented and repudiated these words. So, in verse Mal 3:8, the prophet brings against them a specific charge. They robbed God. by withholding that which was His due, according to the law.

Did they admit this? No. Once more they challenged the accusation. They had to be told that ‘tithes and offerings’ had been withheld. and so what should have been given to God had been spent on themselves. This it was that brought a curse upon them in the government of God. At the opening of Haggai’s prophecy we saw how their ancestors were doing the same kind of thing, though perhaps on a smaller scale, when they stopped the building of the house of the Lord, and started the building of nice houses for themselves. In both cases the practice was to give the first place to their own things, and then any surplus to be given to God.

And what is the practice in Christendom today; and even among true Christians? We fear that very similar charge could be maintained against all too many of us. Small wonder then, if we see but small result from the work in which we do engage.

Thus they had been robbing God, and the prophet had to confront them with this solemn fact. But he also was authorized to assure them that if they reversed their practice and gave to God His due, there would open ‘the windows of heaven’ and pour out more than they could receive. The emphasis here is of course on material things for as the Apostle tells us, God ‘is able to do exceeding abundantly above Rev 1:1-20 that we ask or think’ (Eph 3:20). So there is no limit on His side, though such failure, and so often, on our side.

The delightful state of things promised in verses Mal 3:11-12, will only be reached in the age to come, when Christ returns, for only then will God be fully acknowledged and His claims fully met. Palestine will at last be a ‘delightsome land’, when Christ is on the throne. In Malachi’s day things were different, and the people in their spirits far from God. This comes before us once more, and for the last time in verses Mal 3:13-14.

Their words had indeed been ‘stout’ against the Lord, as this short book bears abundant witness. Yet they did not admit even this. If we have counted rightly, the prophet cites what they were saying no less that twelve times, and of these twelve no less than eight were cases of priests and people indignantly repudiating the accusation that God had to bring against them. They were not prepared to admit anything, and resented the words of God. They would not even admit that they had resented and repudiated the truth.

If we glance at such scriptures as Jer 2:30; Jer 6:3; Jer 7:28; and Zep 3:2; we find that a similar spirit prevailed among the people in Jerusalem just before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. They who refuse ‘correction’, thereby claim to be Rev 1:1-20 they should be. In Malachi’s day, as we are seeing, all correction was being refused; and the same thing meets us in Rev 3:1-22, since Laodicea is so rich as to have need of nothing, and therefore no need of correction. So again we have to remind ourselves of our danger in this direction, which is specially acute as we draw near to the end of the church’s history.

The disastrous effects of this spirit we see in verses Mal 3:14-15. The people had been serving God in this official and ceremonial way, and they felt they got nothing out of it in the form of material gain, which was what they wanted. Hence their sense of real values was entirely perverted. In their view to be proud was to be ‘happy’; and evil amongst them became exalted. This is just what we see in the record of the Gospels; the proud Pharisee was accounted the happy man. Because of this, when on the mountain the Lord ‘opened His mouth and taught’, the very first of His beatitudes was, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit; for their’s is the kingdom of heaven’ (Mat 5:3). To be ‘poor in spirit’ is the exact opposite to being proud in spirit, as the leaders were in Malachi’s day, as well as in the day when Christ came; and we fear it is not absent in our day also.

In verse Mal 3:16 we find something more in keeping with our Lord’s beatitude. Amidst all this proud self-conceit and intolerance of correction, there was found a godly remnant, who are characterized as ‘they that feared the Lord’. This ‘fear’ produced a reverence for God and His will, that made Him the governing factor in their lives. This at once put them into complete contrast with the mass of priests and people, that surrounded them.

Certain features that marked these pious folk are given, and we find them very instructive. The fear of the Lord was the fundamental thing, but this led them to think ‘upon His name’. They recognized that they were a people called into relationship with Jehovah, according to the way He had revealed Himself to their fathers, and they were therefore responsible to live lives in keeping with the revelation made, so that His name might be honoured. Consequently, they could be acknowledged as ‘righteous’, and as serving God, as verse Mal 3:18 shows.

These features, we have just noticed, were Godward, but they led to a happy state of things manward; that is, among themselves. They did not remain as a number of isolated units, but recognized each other and sought one another’s company for spiritual help and encouragement. This they did ‘often’, and their intercourse was of so good a character that though it has not been recorded on earth, a heavenly record has been kept. No small honour this!

We turn to the opening chapters of Luke’s Gospel, and we find that though several centuries have passed a godly remnant still persists. And here we are permitted to read a few of their utterances. Let us take as a sample what old Anna spoke about when she went visiting ‘all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem’ – they could not have been a very great number; could they? – her theme was this, ‘she spake of Him’, The advent of the long looked-for Messiah was her only theme.

Once again we may turn to Rev 3:1-22, for in the address to the assembly at Philadelphia we find similar good features appearing. Though having only a little strength they too had kept the word of the Lord and had not denied His name – and the name, in the light of which they walked, went in its claims beyond anything known in Malachi’s day, or even in the day when Anna spake of Him.

It is an encouragement to know that, however dark the day, God will maintain a witness to Himself. Let us seek grace and humility from God to be within that witness today; for, as this scripture shows, it is of value in His eyes. A day is coming when these obscure, unknown saints of Malachi’s day are going to be owned as ‘Mine’, by the Lord of hosts and that will take place when He will ‘make up My jewels’; the inference being that He will count even them, as being jewels in His sight. A person might point to a casket of jewels and tell us they are but small pieces of stone. Yes, we should reply, but they possess the property of reflecting light, and sparkling in various hues as it is turned upon them. The figure therefore is an apt one, for the saints of God are partakers of the divine nature, and so have the capacity to reflect the light into which they are brought. In Rev 21:1-27, the foundations of the heavenly city are precious stones, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Vital Questions

Mal 1:1-14; Mal 2:1-17; Mal 3:1-18

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

The Book of Malachi presents questions asked by God. In response, instead of a direct answer, the chosen people, Israel, ask God questions in return. As these pairs of questionings have to do with the theme in hand, we have decided to give a brief description of the varied questions that are in the Book as a whole.

1. The first pair of questions.

God says, “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is Mine honour? and if I be a master, where is My fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise My Name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised Thy Name?” (Mal 1:6).

The Lord is speaking of the utter lack of filial honor, and servant-fear, which Israel manifested. If Israel desired to claim God as their father, God asks, “Where is Mine honor?” If Israel claims God as Master, God says, “Where is My fear?”

The reason God asks His question is because His people had offered polluted bread on His altar.

Israel answers God’s question by asking one. She says,

“Wherein have we despised Thy name?”

“Wherein have we polluted Thee?”

God replied at once, “In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.” Then the Lord continues with a series of questions:

“And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts. And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts. Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire in Mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand” (Mal 1:8-10).

We trust that some who hear these words will stop and ponder their own course? How many of our gifts must displease the Lord, who so richly gave us His best; yea, His all. How can we treat the Lord Jesus Christ as we do. We find many who give to Him no more than the “left overs,” or, the no-account and worthless remains of things already sapped of their value.

When, on the other hand, we serve Him, we demand a good sum. We would not shut His doors, unless we were to receive something in coin or in honor from men. No marvel God says that He has no pleasure in us.

2. The second series of questions.

This time Israel speaks first. After God has charged His people concerning their sins, and laid bare their ignominy, showing how they had wearied the Lord, then Israel asks, “Wherein have we wearied Him?”

The Lord’s people are feigning innocency. They would seek to hide their shame. With a false piety they ask, “Wherein have we wearied Him?” God quickly places His finger on their sin, and specifies their iniquity. He says, “When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them: or, Where is the God of judgment?”

God then tells Israel how He will send His messenger before His face, how He will come suddenly to the Temple, and then God asks,-“But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.”

Let those who act foolishly and deceitfully with the Lord, remember that a day of judging lies ahead.

3. The third series of questions.

We now come to the verses assigned for today’s study. God calls unto Israel to return unto Him. Israel, still professing innocency, asks, “Wherein shall we return?”

In answer to this query, God asks some questions and makes some statements:

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal 3:8-11).

How wicked it is to receive from the hand of the Lord, but never to return to Him! To take, but never to give. God gave definite command to Israel as to their tithes and offerings. When these were withheld, His people were no more than robbing Him. Are we better than they? Have we not received from the Lord, good measure, pressed down, and running over? Shall we then give back into His hand the miserable pittance that marks too many gifts. Shall Christians give a tenth? We reply that we certainly should not give less. Grace is not meaner than Law. Larger blessings demand larger gifts.

After God has said that He would hold back from Israel His blessings, as a punishment for their infidelity, then He says that their words have been stout against Him. Then follows:

4. The fourth series of questions.

“Your words have been stout against Me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against Thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?” (Mal 3:13-14).

The questions this time are from Israel. She still persists in her innocency. She claims thus not to have spoken against the Lord. She even goes so far as to assert that she had served God in vain. She claimed to have kept the ordinances of God and to have walked mournfully before Him in vain.

Thank God the Book continues to give a prophecy of the time when Israel will seek the Lord, and when He will be gracious unto her.

Read also carefully 2Co 8:1-5, 2Co 8:9.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

Mal 3:1. The book of Malachi is the last of the inspired writings until we come to the New Testament, and there is a space of about 4 centuries to intervene. The prophets have frequently gone from fleshly to spiritual Israel in their predictions and exhortations, either drawing parallels or showing contrasts as the nature of the occasion suggested. This book so far has consisted mostly of condemnation and admonition for fleshly Israel because of the worldiness and selfish ness of their officials especially. It was appropriate, therefore, to jump across the chasm of four hundred years to the time when the Lord expected to give the world a new religious system that would be far superior and more exacting than the old one. This and the following chapter is taken up vith alternating between fleshly and spiritual Israel, speaking first of one and then the other, going back and forth from one of them to the other. Our present verse goes to the time of spiritual Israel and predicts that the importance of that system is so great that a preparatory work will need to be done before the Author of that system begins His work. Hence God said he would send his ‘messenger ahead, and according to Mat 11:10-11; Marli: 1: 24 he was John the Baptist. Come to his tentple means his kingdom or church, for that institution is so called in 2Co 6:16. Messenger of the covenant. The most important covenant that God made with Abraham is recorded in Gen 12:3 Gen 22:18, which is a promise of Christ. That would identify Christ as “the messenger of the covenant.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mal 3:1. Behold, &c. To silence the cavils of unbelievers, spoken of in the last verse of the preceding chapter, the prophet here foretels the coming of the Messiah, who should set things in order; and of his harbinger, who should prepare men for his reception. I will send my messenger It is God who speaks here, for John the Baptist, who is here intended, was Gods messenger, and had his commission from heaven and not of men, Mat 21:25-26; being sent by the same divine authority by which the prophets were sent, and for the same purposes, namely, to call men to repentance and reformation; and he shall prepare the way before me Before Jehovah, the fulness of whose Godhead dwelt in Christ bodily. Whoever compares this verse with Isa 40:3, &c., will easily see that both passages speak of the same person. The messenger here spoken of as sent to prepare the way before the Lord, who is described as coming immediately after this his forerunner, is represented in Isaiah as preparing the way of the Lord, who is spoken of as coming, and his glory as just ready to be revealed, Mal 3:5-9. Both passages, according to the evangelists, were intended of John the Baptist, and indeed are applicable to no other person whatever. He is promised under the name of Elias in the following chapter, whom all the Jews, both ancient and modern, expected should come as the forerunner of the Messiah. This messenger, or prophet, (see the note on chap. Mal 2:7,) here represented as the Lords harbinger, was to be as much inferior to the Lord himself, as servants are to a great person, of whose arrival they give notice. This John himself often confessed, Mat 3:11; Joh 1:26; Joh 3:28; and so much appears by the following words. Instead of the reading here, which is the literal translation of the Hebrew, we read in three places of the New Testament, (see the margin,) I send my messenger before thy face to prepare thy way before thee, namely, before the Messiah, to prepare his way before him; the Messiah acting in the name of his Father, the Father being in him and he in the Father, Joh 14:10-11. John prepared the way of Christ by calling men to the practice of those duties which would qualify them for the reception of the blessings of the Messiahs kingdom; and by taking them off from all confidence in their relation to Abraham as their father, which they thought would ensure the favour of God to them without a Saviour; and by giving them notice that the Messiah was now at hand, and so raising their expectation of him that they might readily enter into his measures for the setting up of his kingdom in the world.

And the Lord, whom ye seek That promised Lord or Shiloh, of whom you have such great expectations, and whose coming you so much desire; and who, if you obey him, will bring the greatest good to your state, and will also make foreign nations partakers of your blessings; shall suddenly come That is, soon after the messenger, or unawares, as Christs first coming was, and second will be; to his temple The second temple at Jerusalem, lately built by Zerubbabel and Joshua. All the Jews, before the birth of Christ, firmly believed that the Messiah was to come into that very temple, according to what the Prophet Haggai had expressly declared, Hag 2:8. The word here rendered Lord, , is the same that is used by David, Psa 110:1, where he calls the Messiah his Lord, and properly means a basis, or foundation, and also a proprietor, and governor. It is a term peculiarly proper to Christ, who is at once the foundation and governor of his church, and was the Lord of that temple in which he was to make his appearance. Even the messenger [or angel] of the covenant A phrase, says Secker, found nowhere else in Scripture. It may mean the person by whose intervention the covenant is made, or by whom a covenant proposed by one party is sent to the other. The same person is meant who is termed the angel of Gods presence, Isa 63:9; who delivered the law upon mount Sinai, as St. Stephen speaks, Act 7:38, and as the apostles words imply, Heb 12:25-26. He is both the revealer and mediator of the new covenant, which the prophets foretold would take place under the Messiah, Jer 31:31; Isa 42:6; Isa 55:3; even that blessed one that was sent from heaven to negotiate a peace and settle a correspondence between God and man; commissioned from his Father to bring man home to God by a covenant of grace, who had revolted from him by the violation of the covenant of innocence. By his mediation this covenant is procured and established; and though he is the prince of the covenant, as some read the clause here, yet he condescended to be the messenger of it, that we might, upon his word, have the fullest assurance of Gods goodwill to man. Whom ye delight in Whose coming ye so much desire, the time of it being the subject of your earnest inquiry and diligent search, and the expectation of it your comfort and delight. Behold, he shall come The promise is repeated, and that in the name of the Lord of hosts, to give the fullest assurance of its accomplishment. There were few among the Jews who did not please themselves to think of the Messiahs coming, though from various motives; the pious among them doubtless expecting spiritual blessings, such as a further revelation of Gods will, and larger communications of his grace and Spirit; but the great bulk of the nation looking for mere worldly advantages under a temporal kingdom, which they expected he would set up.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mal 3:1. Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. John the baptist, as our Saviour himself expounds this passage. Mat 11:7-18.

The Lord whom ye seek, and for whom ye wait, as the Desire of all nations, shall suddenly come to his temple. Here a flood of light broke in upon the prophets mind. He saw the Lord always before him, even the brightness of the Fathers glory. He saw that the jewish state and temple would subsist for more than four hundred years, and that the city and temple would then be burned, as Daniel had foretold: Dan 9:26. The Hebrew is, Ha-Adon, he the Lord, by way of eminence, who cannot be confounded with any created intelligence. He the Angel of the covenant declared to Abraham, and confirmed to David, and in both instances with an oath. Luk 1:72-73. St. Jerome quotes a jewish prayer, on bringing forth the book of the law. Oh Lord, animate and strengthen us, and send us the Angel, the Redeemer. Let Elias thy prophet surely come in our days, with Messias, the Son of David, thy servant.

The three words used by our prophet, of this glorious personagethey expected himthey sought himthey delighted in himmark a Presence expected in the temple more than human; even the Messenger of the covenant. Archbishop Newcome says, This is the only place where this phrase occurs, and by consequence it ought not to have much weight. But in what does it differ from Isa 63:9. The angel of his presence, or literally, the angel of his face, saved them. He is indeed the angel of his face, the brightness of the Fathers glory, and the express image of his person. He is the Shiloh, the glory of the mercyseat. He is the Saviour, the Consolation of Israel. In a word, he is the Son, who came to his Fathers house, and cleansed it. He came clothed with all the glory essential to his mission, full of grace and truth. His miracles declared him to be the Lord of universal nature, and the almighty Saviour of men.

Mal 3:2. But who may abide the day of his coming. It was once terrible to the jews; what will it be to the infidel and the unitarian world, who will not have this man to reign over them. But how dreadful are his own words. When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth.

Mal 3:5. I will be a swift witness against the adulterers. They sin in secret, but the Lord will bring their iniquity to light.

Mal 3:7. Return ye to me, quoting the words of Zechariah: chap. 1:3.

Mal 3:10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse. See on Deu 26:12. Assuredly the men learned in the law of the Lord, who organized this vile and immoral race that returned from Babylon, who daily instructed the people in righteousness, and were fathers and friends of the whole community, deserved bread as much as he who tilled the lands which otherwise had belonged to the priests. Their short harvests demonstrated the displeasure of God against their sin.

Mal 3:14. Ye have said, it is vain to serve God. The prophet reproves sadducean principles, which ever existed since Cain disputed against Abel. Simon, the just, succeeded Ezra as president of the school in Jerusalem. Antigonus was a pupil of Simon, and Zadok, who founded the sect of the Sadducees, was a disciple of Antigonus. Thus colleges foster error as well as truth. See on Mat 3:7.

Mal 3:16. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. The righteous in synagogues, as St. Paul states in meetings of church- fellowship, might all prophesy one by one, and declare what God had done for their souls. What is this but the body edifying itself in love, building up one another in our most holy faith, and strengthening each others hands in the Lord. The catechumens in the primitive church were put under tutors and deaconesses for this purpose. The Roman catholics have long had their spiritual guides; the pietists, among the Lutherans, have had in the vestries their social meetings, as the Methodists have had their class meetings.

Mal 3:17. They shall be minein that day when I make up my jewels. God records the name of holy men in his book, seals them by his Spirit before the day of visitation, and accounts them his most precious jewels. The term is also applied to illustrious men. Livy reports that when the mother of the two Grachuses paid a visit to a Roman lady, she was shown all her jewels; and when the visit was repaid, the lady asked the same favour in return. The mother made some excuse for a time; and when her boys came home from school, she took one under each arm, and presented them to the lady with eclt. Here, madam, said she, are my jewels. A faint emblem of the value which the Lord sets upon his redeemed, and of the proof he will give of that endearment another day, when nothing will be saved but what is most valuable or indestructible. Cities, nations, the earth with all its works shall be burnt up; but the Lord will gather up his jewels, as the only treasure to be saved out of the wreck and ruin of an expiring world.

Mal 3:18. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked. There are but two classes of men in the world, those which are here mentioned; all other distinctions are lost and swallowed up in this, which alone has reference to an eternal world. Yet essential as this difference is, it is not always apparent, or clearly to be discerned in the present state. Amidst a number of prominent characters, there still are many more who appear to have no character at all. Some indeed are manifestly righteous; we see them uniformly devoted to God, habitually just and kind, and living for the good of others, and it is easy to discern to what class they belong. Others are as manifestly wicked, and notorious for their impiety and enmity to all religion. But there is a still larger number of undecided characters, who seem to inhabit the confines of both these provinces; they are neither for Christ nor against him, neither cold nor hot; too good as it were to be classed directly with the wicked, yet not good enough to be considered as truly righteous; such in short, of whom an apostle might stand in doubt. Gal 4:20. But amidst the darkness that covered the earth, and the corruption which overwhelmed the church in Malachis time, it is probable that the prophet more especially refers to the mysteries of providence, which seemed to overlook all difference of character, and to leave it doubtful whether any or what advantages attached to true religion. Judging from present appearances, the wicked would seem to have the better portion. Egypt and Babylon triumph while Israel is oppressed. Jezebel is rioting in luxury, while a hundred prophets of the Lord are fed with bread and water. Csar is on a throne, and Paul in a dungeon. The mercenary priests in Malachis time lived on the fat of the land, while those who feared the Lord were driven into holes and corners.But wait awhile: the day is coming when all these difficulties will be cleared up. The righteous will then be more eminently righteous, the wicked more eminently wicked; the difference of character will be more strongly marked than it has ever been in the present state. Here we only see the bud and the leaf, but then the full corn in the ear. Wide also will be the distinction which marks the divine conduct at that awful period. The Lord will no longer treat his enemies as if they had been his friends, though here he had indulged them with a profusion of goodness, and exercised towards them all longsuffering and mercy. Some of them also he had suffered to abide in his house, as if they had been his sons; yet now that the day is come for a final distinction and separation, he will for ever disown the hypocrite and the unrighteous. Nor shall those that fear his name be any longer overlooked, or go unrewarded; they shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, and as the firmament for ever and ever.

REFLECTIONS.

The national priesthood having by their mercenary conduct, by their ignorance and impiety, caused many to stumble at the law, and brought religion into general contempt, we here find a torrent of corruption overwhelming all classes of society. The common people are become impious and profane, treacherous and abominable towards one another, full of all manner of excess, and abounding in every crime. Those enumerated in the fifth verse would he disgraceful to any heathen nation.

Even those who professed to be the worshippers of God were the subjects of great hypocrisy; they defrauded the altar of tithes and offerings, oppressed the poor, the widow and the fatherless, till the proud and the opulent were accounted happy, being the only persons who appeared to be favoured of providence. They that wrought wickedness were exalted to stations of honour and dignity, and they that tempted God were even delivered.

In such a state of things, and at such a time, it is not a little refreshing to find that there were a few who feared the Lord, and were preserved from the moral contagion which prevailed around them. Good men will be good men in the worst of times; and though only a small remnant, scattered amidst an extensive population, they can always find one another out. True religion has a language of its own, and features of its own, by which its subjects are recognised and become known to each other. In the very worst of times the Lord will have a people to bear witness for him, and to testify their love to his holy name.

These pious individuals are represented as keeping up a close communion with each other, and conversing often together. Men of the world were all alive to their secular interests; and those who feared the Lord were alive too, but it was to the interests of true religion. The seed of the serpent were in league with each other, and the seed of the woman communed together. Their communings and their conversation must have been edifying, or it would not have been recorded in heaven; but the Lord hearkened and heard. They might have occasion to admonish, to instruct and comfort one another, in such a state of things as then existed; and the more wicked the world is, the more need there is of christian fellowship, of watchfulness and prayer.

It is sweet also to observe, and highly encouraging, that these same individuals whose conduct was so graciously noticed of heaven, were only engaged in some of the humblest acts of social piety; not in any great enterprize, nor in any enlarged or extensive plan for the revival of the public interests of religion. It is only said of them, that they thought upon the name of the Lord, while those around appeared to have forgotten it, or cared nothing about it. Gods honour and the success of his cause in the world lay near their hearts; and they were ready to say, If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget. They thought upon his name with grief, to see how it had been dishonoured; and with love, to devise means for its being glorified.

We have in the instance before us a criterion of true religion, as well as a proof of its identity in all ages of the world. Wherever it exists it will manifest itself in a supreme affection for the name of the Lord; his cause and interest will occupy our thoughts, we shall labour to introduce his gospel where it is not, and place our chief happiness in the gladness of his nation, and in glorying with his inheritance.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mal 2:17 to Mal 3:6. The Coming of Judgment.This passage is addressed to those of the prophets contemporaries who were so perplexed by the state of things around them that they had become sceptical of Gods justice. The times were out of joint, prosperity was the lot of the wicked instead of the righteous. Their querulousness became a burden to Yahweh, so that He announces His immediate intervention; the day of Yahweh, long regarded as the panacea for all Israels ills, is about to dawn. Malachi, like Amos (Amo 5:18) and other prophets, stamps the popular conception with an ethical value. Yahweh is even now sending His forerunner, possibly to be identified with Elijah (Mal 4:5) but probably more like Yahwehs angel so often mentioned in the historical books, who is often almost one with Yahweh Himself. So here the Lord . . . even (mg.) the messenger. Perhaps we should distinguish between my messenger and the messenger of the covenant. The phrases whom ye seek (cf. Mal 2:17, Where is the God of judgment?) and whom ye delight in (or desire) are parallel. The Gospels (Mat 11:10 = Luk 7:27, Mar 1:2) cite Mal 3:1 a in reference to John the Baptist. The judgment is to be a time of purifying and cleansinglike a fierce crucible in which the silver is separated from the base elements of the alloy. By soap is meant lye, water alkalised by vegetable ashes. The judgment will begin by purging (lit. straining) the corrupt priesthood, and be effective (Mal 3:3 f); it will then pass on to attack evildoers of different kinds among the people. It is a mission of cleansing, not of destruction (cf. Jer 30:11); Yahwehs love of the house of Jacob (cf. Mal 1:2 f.) is unchanging.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

3:1 Behold, I will send my {a} messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the {b} Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the {c} messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

(a) This is meant of John the Baptist, as Christ interprets it; Lu 7:27 .

(b) Meaning, the Messiah, as in Psa 40:17 Dan 9:17; Dan 9:25 .

(c) That is, Christ, by whom the covenant was made and ratified, who is called the angel or messenger of the covenant, because he reconciles us to his Father, and is Lord or King, because he has the rule of his Church.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

E. Negative motivation: the coming messenger of judgment 3:1-6

Like the first address (Mal 1:2 to Mal 2:9), this one ends with more motivation. Unpleasant things would happen if the people failed to change in their dealings with one another. The warning centers around the coming of another messenger whose arrival would bring judgment in the future. This section contains four predictions (Mal 3:1 a, Mal 3:1 b, Mal 3:3, Mal 3:5).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The Lord’s response to the cynical Israelites was to point them to the future. He predicted the coming of His messenger (cf. Isa 40:3-5). There is no question about who this was because Jesus identified him as John the Baptist (Mat 11:10; cf. Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27). This future messenger would clear the way in preparation for Yahweh (cf. Isa 40:3; Joh 1:23). Clearly Jesus Christ is Yahweh since John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus.

"Perhaps most intriguing of all the issues raised by the fourth disputation is its implicit identification of the ’messenger of the covenant’ as Yahweh himself. No other passage in the Old Testament so clearly assigns divine prerogatives and nomenclature to the figure of the Messiah (though the term masiah is not itself employed by Malachi). When one examines how this disputation describes the identity and actions of the ’messenger of the covenant,’ one can only conclude that he is divine." [Note: Stuart, p. 1347.]

Then the Lord, whom the Israelites were seeking, would suddenly come to His temple (cf. Eze 43:1-5; Zec 8:3). Though Jesus entered the temple in Jerusalem many times during His earthly ministry, this sudden coming was not fulfilled then (cf. Mal 3:2-5). It will occur when He returns to set up His messianic kingdom.

"The fact that he will come suddenly is ominous, for suddenness was usually associated with a calamitous event (e.g. Isa 47:11; Isa 48:3; Jer 4:20, etc.)." [Note: Baldwin, p. 243. Cf. Rev 1:1; Rev 22:6.]

"The messenger of the covenant" is another name for the Lord who would come following the appearance of the first messenger promised in this verse. He would be the divine Messiah. "Messenger" means "angel," and the Angel of the Lord is in view here. The "covenant" is the New Covenant that God promised to make with the Jews in the future (cf. Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:22-36; Eze 37:26). Another view is that the covenant in view is the Mosaic Covenant and, behind it, the Abrahamic Covenant. [Note: Clendenen, p. 386.] The Jews delighted in this Messenger because His coming had been a subject of messianic prophecy and an object of eager anticipation from early in Israel’s history (Gen 3:15; pass.). Sovereign Yahweh promised His coming again here. The Jews had been expressing disbelief that God would intervene and establish justice in the world (Mal 2:17), but God promised He would.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

5. “WHERE IS THE GOD OF JUDGMENT?”

Mal 2:17; Mal 3:1-5

In this section “Malachi” turns from the sinners of his people to those who weary Jehovah with the complaint that sin is successful, or, as they put it, “Every one that does evil is good in the eyes of Jehovah, and He delighteth in them”; and again, “Where is the God of Judgment?” The answer is, The Lord Himself shall come. His Angel shall prepare His way before Him, and suddenly shall the Lord come to His Temple. His coming shall be for judgment, terrible and searching. Its first object (note the order) shall be the cleansing of the priesthood, that proper sacrifices may be established, and its second the purging of the immorality of the people. Mark that although the coming of the Angel is said to precede that of Jehovah Himself, there is the same blending of the two as we have seen in previous accounts of angels. It is uncertain whether this section closes with Mal 3:5 or Mal 3:6 : the latter goes equally well with it and with the following section.

“Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words; and ye say, In what have we wearied Him? In that ye say, Every one that does evil is good in the eyes of Jehovah, and He delighteth in them; or else, Where is the God of Judgment? Behold, I will send My Angel, to prepare the way before Me, and suddenly shall come to His Temple the Lord whom ye seek and the Angel of the Covenant whom ye desire. Behold, He comes! saith Jehovah of Hosts. But who may bear the day of His coming, and who stand when He appears? For He is like the fire of the smelter and the acid of the fullers. He takes His seat to smelt and to purge; and He will purge the sons of Levi, and wash them out like gold or silver, and they shall be to Jehovah bringers of an offering in righteousness. And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to Jehovah, as in the days of old and as in long past years. And I will come near you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and the adulterers and the perjurers, and against those who wrong the hireling in his wage, and the widow and the orphan, and oppress the stranger, and fear not Me, saith Jehovah of Hosts.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary