Malachi 3:2-9
VERSES 2-4: We have here another evidence of the contrast between the coming of the Lord for His earthly people, and His coming for His heavenly bride.
Isaiah 33:14-17 gives the answer to the questions asked in the second verse; it will be a time of deep searchings of heart on the part of the believing Jews of that day, who will, like Noah in Genesis 7 and 8, pass through the storm of God’s judgment that will fall on the world, and in a special way upon the Jews.
At the very instant of the Lord’s coming for His heavenly people, they will be given heavenly bodies; the old nature will be gone forever; heaven will thenceforth be their dwelling place; but the Jewish believers of the coming day must pass through the refining and purifying of which verse 2 and 3 tell, before they are brought into peace and rest oil earth.
The sons of Levi, the priestly family, through whom God will again deal with His earthly people, will come in for a special governmental dealing from Him to fit them morally for their work. See Ezekiel 44:6-31 which relates to the Millennial place of the priests.
That the judgment of sin is inseparable from the throne of God, has been exhibited on many of His Word, yet how many deceive themselves with the thought that evil will unpunished! Hearken to that cry from the Holy Sufferer while bearing our sins on the cross,
“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? . . . But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” (Psalms 22:1-3; Matthew 27:45, 40). It was then that the sins of every confessed sinner who has looked in faith. to God for salvation met their judgment (2 Cor. 5:21); for the unbelieving there remains the wrath of God. (John 3:30; See Psalm 94:1-9; 1 Thess. 5:1-3).
Verse 5, as in the Old Testament generally where the judgment of God is spoken of, refers to an earthly dealing; but in the New Testament, eternity is unveiled, and eternal judgment, as well as eternal blessing, are disclosed.
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but, after death, the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27. The judgment of the great white throne (Revelation 20:11-15) must then be the later portion of those who are overtaken by the earthly judgment of verse 5.
Verses 6 and 7 give a touching address to the wayward children of Israel, breathing the grace and sovereign mercy of our God.
“I am Jehovah; I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed,” “Sons of Jacob”, rather than “sons of Israel”, is no accident of terms, but suited to their case, for the phrase brings forward the untrustworthy natural, rather than the spiritual, character of their ancestor.
In the same way the Lord said to Peter, reminding him in the use of his old name of what he was in nature, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” John 21:15.
“But ye said, Wherein shall we return?” reveals a characteristic of moral distance from God. And this is seen again in the inquiry which follows in verse 8, “Wherein have we robbed ‘Thee?” ‘How unfeeling must be the heart of any true child of God that would so think of Him!
It is easy to think of other Christians as in need of taking to heart what is said in verses 7 and 8, but it is well to apply them in unsparing self-judgment, to ask oneself alone, in the presence of God. Have I, perhaps, unconsciously, drifted away from an inward life that will bear His searching gaze, so that He is speaking to me, too, in this word, “Return unto Me”?
ML 12/12/1937