CHAPTER 3

(397 B.C.)

MESSIAHS FIRST ADVENT

¹Behold, I will send My Messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the LORD, Whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, Whom you delight in: behold, He shall come, says the LORD of Hosts. (Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me, predicts the First Advent of Christ, with 4:4-6 predicting the Second Advent. But the moral facts of the First cover both. Now Israels question of 2:17 is answered. The Messenger is John the Baptist [Mat. 3:3; 11:10; Mk. 1:2-3; Lk. 1:76; 3:4; 7:26-27; Jn. 1:23].

And he shall prepare the way before Me, means to remove moral obstacles and bring one to contrition of heart. This would happen some 400 years after being predicted by Malachi, speaking of John the Baptist preparing the way for Christ.

And the LORD, Whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple, actually means: in Whom you delight. The Jews eagerly desired the coming of a conquering Prince who would set them at the head of the nations and endow them with wealth and glory. In effect, they had a totally erroneous conception of Who and What the Messiah would be! Israel did not desire a Judge Who would expose their sins.

Even the Messenger of the Covenant, Whom you delight in, proclaims Christ as the Messenger not only of the First Covenant [Ex. 3:2-6; Acts 7:38], but also the Messenger of the Second. This Messenger is Christ and not the messenger of the first phrase, who is John the Baptist.

Behold, He shall come, says the LORD of Hosts, proclaims the certitude of this action. In other words, this is not a conditional Prophecy, but rather an unconditional Prophecy, meaning that whatever happens, at the appointed time, Christ would come. And so He did!)

MESSIAHS SECOND ADVENT

²But who may abide the day of His Coming? and who shall stand when He appears? for He is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap (Verses 2 and 3 are another instance of the First and Second Comings of Christ being referred to in the same Passage.

The question, But who may abide the day of His Coming?, addresses the accusation of the Jews to Malachi, Where is the God of Judgment? As well, this phrase speaks of His Second Coming rather than His First.

The question, And who shall stand when He appears?, concerns Him coming with Power, Glory, and with vengeance on the Antichrist and on all who are associated with this evil despot. At that time, Christ will judge the nations [Mat. 25:31-43]. Israel, at that time, will be judged as well! Then, the question, Where is the God of Judgment?, will be answered.

For He is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap, defines the manner in which He will judge all. The refiners fire separates the precious metal from the refuse. Fullers soap speaks of cleansing [Zech. 13:1]):

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. (And He shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of silver, refers to the purifier who sits watching the silver and maintaining the temperature; directly when he sees his face reflected in the metal, he stops the process. In other words, when the Lord sees Himself sufficiently in Israel, He will then say, It is enough, and the dire process of refining and purifying will be ended. In essence, the time of Jacobs Trouble will be forever ended [Jer. 30:7].

And He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, refers to Judgment beginning at the House of God. That they may offer unto the LORD an offering in Righteousness, speaks of True Repentance, in which these sons of Levi will, at long last, engage; they will, in turn, receive the True Righteousness, which only Christ can give.)

ISRAEL RESTORED

⁴Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. (The word Then refers to the Second Advent of Christ, when He shall come back to judge and purify men. After Israels True Repentance, Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD. As in the days of old, and as in former years, refers to the times when the Sacrifices were offered in the right attitude and spirit, pointing to the One Who was to come, namely Christ.

To be sure, as the Book of Ezekiel bears out, the Sacrifices will be maintained in the coming Kingdom Age as a memorial.)

JUSTICE WILL BE METED OUT

⁵And 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 who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, says the LORD of Hosts. (They had asked the question in 2:17, Where is the God of Judgment? He now tells them, and in no uncertain terms, I will come near to you in Judgment. Witchcraft, immorality, false prophets, and those who practice injustice will be judged.

And that turn aside the stranger from his right, refers to Israel forgetting that they were strangers in Egypt, and that they should ever remember this by treating all strangers kindly! And fear not Me, says the LORD of Hosts, proclaims the reason for practicing these sins. There is no fear of God!)

⁶For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. (For I am the LORD, I change not, refers to the Nature and Character of God, which cannot change. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed, pertains to the Lord having made Covenants with the Patriarchs, and those Covenants being kept by Him [Gen. 12:1-3; Chpt. 15; Hag. 2:20-23; Zeph. 3:18-20, etc.].

The reason why the Hebrews were not as totally destroyed as the Philistines and other nations was because of the unchangeableness of Gods electing Love and Promises. To be sure, these Promises were not secured by Israels unchangeable love to God, but by His unchangeable Love to them.)

⁷Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from My Ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, says the LORD of Hosts. But you said, Wherein shall we return? (The first phrase pertains to the displacement of the Holy Scriptures as the authority and rule of life. Such originated declension and corruption. And have not kept them, refers to the Holy Spirit through the Prophet bluntly telling them that despite what they say, they have not adhered to the Word of God.

Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, is a plea for Repentance and is as simple as the language enjoined. The question, But you said, Wherein shall we return?, proclaims Israel so spiritually deadened that they did not even know their true Spiritual condition.)

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed You? In Tithes and offerings. (The question, Will a man rob God?, is blunt and to the point; it instantly portrayed Israels present condition, in that they had, in fact, robbed God! Yet you have robbed Me! proclaims unequivocally that they had robbed God, which is a serious charge indeed!

The question, But you say, Wherein have we robbed You?, brings back the quick answer through the Prophet, In Tithes and offerings. Some claim that tithes are a part of the old Mosaic system and are not applicable under the New Covenant! However, paying tithes was practiced long before the Law [Gen. 14:20; 28:22]; it was also commanded under Grace in the New Testament [Mat. 23:23; Rom. 2:22; I Cor. 9:7-14; 16:2; Gal. 6:6; Heb. 7:1-10].

Abraham, a type of all Believers, paid tithes to Melchizedek, a Type of Christ [Gen. 14:20], which sets the standard; inasmuch as we are children of Abraham, we are to continue to pay tithes to the Work of God, which, in effect, is the propagation of the Message of Christ and Him Crucified [Gal. 3:6-7; I Cor. 1:23].)

⁹You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. (You are cursed with a curse, is dire indeed! The effect of this curse was scarcity and barrenness, as we see from Verses 10 through 12. Robbing God of tithes and offerings brings a curse. These belong to God by virtue of Covenant agreements with man; to use them for personal gain is robbery of that which rightly belongs to Him.

The phrase, For you have robbed Me, even this whole nation, proclaims the reason for the poverty, among other things, of the nations of the world.)

¹⁰Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in My House, and prove Me now herewith, says 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. (Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, referred to the Temple and cities of the Levites under the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant, it refers to the place where ones soul is fed, wherever that might be. Some have claimed that the local Church is the storehouse where all giving is to be brought; however, that is incorrect, inasmuch as those who propose such fail to understand what Church actually is! Church is made up of all members of the Body of Christ, irrespective of who they are or where they are. It has nothing to do with the building, organization, or religious institution. It is the Message which must be supported not an institution.

The phrase, That there may be meat in My House, has reference to the support of the Priesthood in the Temple of old. The Lord has no such house at present, because Jesus fulfilled all that the ancient Temple represented, with Him now residing through the agency of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and lives of all Believers [I Cor. 3:16].

And prove Me now herewith, says the LORD of Hosts, presents a challenge presented by the Lord for men to prove Him regarding the rewards of tithing. 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, speaks of a superabundant amount. The same phrase, Windows of Heaven, is used in Gen. 7:11 regarding the flood; therefore, we are speaking of Blessings unparalleled!)

¹¹And 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, sa ys the LORD of Hosts. (In the first phrase, the Holy Spirit uses the word devourer; then, He uses the pronoun he, symbolizing a personality behind the destruction, i.e., Satan. As well, the word rebuke means to turn back or keep down.

So, if we fail to give to God, the Lord proclaims that He will not turn back the devourer. This will result in the fruits of our efforts being destroyed. To give to God means the opposite. Crops will be abundant, with efforts resulting in prosperity.

The last phrase simply speaks of the harvest being gathered, and abundantly so, and not being lost.)

¹²And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightsome land, says the LORD of Hosts. (The first phrase speaks of the Blessings of the Lord as being so abundant that other nations will enquire as to the reason.)

¹³Your words have been stout against Me, says the LORD. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against You? (The manner in which the Lord used Malachi is different than any other Prophet. The accusation by the Lord is given, with the remonstrance of the people also given. Such left absolutely no room for doubt as to what was being said.

Your words have been stout against Me, portrays their deeds having been exposed, their words are now recalled. They were words against God! The question, Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against You?, has to do with what they said in their conversations one with another. Now, He will tell them exactly what they have said and the reason they said it!)

¹⁴You 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? (You have said, It is vain to serve God, once again harks back to 2:17. The word vain means empty nothings, and claims them saying that serving God brought no acknowledgement or reward.

The question, And what profit is it that we have kept His Ordinance?, has to do with His Commandments and Laws. In effect, they had not kept His Ordinances, willfully deceiving themselves and others by pretending obedience they never really did.

The question, And that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?, concerned their fasts that they had entered into, of which the Lord had already spoken years before through Zechariah, Did you at all fast unto Me, even to Me? [Zech. 7:5]. These fasts were merely religious observances and were not out of reverence and awe to Jehovah.)

¹⁵And now we call the proud happy; ye s, they who work wickedness are set up; yes, they who tempt God are even delivered. (The first phrase proclaims Israel as considering the happy ones to be those who scoffed at God, who seemingly were prosperous. They fell into the same trap as Asaph of old, as is recorded in Psalm 73.

Yes, they who work wickedness are set up, means that these wicked have wealth and families and leave a name behind them; their not serving God seemed to have brought them no ill consequences. The phrase, Yes, they who tempt God are even delivered, means that they, whoever they may have been, provoked God by their sin and rebellion and yet escaped punishment. In other words, they resist God and are yet safe.

Let it, however, ever be known: The tempting of God may, for a time, evoke only silence from Jehovah; but ultimately, there will be a reckoning day.)

¹⁶Then they who feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them who feared the LORD, and who thought upon His Name. (Irrespective of the majority in Israel, the Lord had then, as now, those who loved and feared Him. Then they who feared the LORD spoke often one to another, proclaims the necessity of united worship, even though it may be only two or three [Mat. 18:20]. As well, the word often should proclaim the necessary frequency.

And the LORD hearkened, and heard it, means that He attends every service, even as He said in Mat. 18:20. The last phrase portrays Heaven lovingly recording the worship of little groups of believing people whom Earth despises. What intense interest these records will excite when published in the coming Millennial Day!)

¹⁷And they shall be Mine, says 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 who serves him. (And they shall be Mine, says the LORD of Hosts, has reference to these precious ones as being His Peculiar Treasure. They lived for Him, served Him, and were faithful to Him, when most did the very opposite. In that day when I make up My Jewels, has reference to the jewels on the Breastplate of the High Priest; likewise, the Lord considers each Believer as a jewel. The last phrase refers to the fact that these jewels will never be judged in a negative sense.)

¹⁸Then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who serves Him not. (Then shall you return, refers to the proud skeptics and oppressors of Verses 7 and 15. These denied any distinction on the part of God between a righteous man and a wicked man; but the day appointed by God will compel them to turn from their skepticism, and to recognize and confess that God does distinguish between His Servants and His enemies [3:17; 4:1, 3].

The Then of Verse 18 is to be contrasted with the Then of Verse 16. The latter is the Believers present day of affliction; the former, the unbelievers future day of doom. And discern between the righteous and the wicked, means that the day is coming when there will be absolutely no doubt as to Gods Direction.

The phrase, Between him who serves God and him who serves Him not, is actually what everything boils down to. Men are either serving Him or they are not serving Him. There is no in-between!)