The answer to the question asked at the end of chapter 2 immediately follows:
“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, ... .”
Two persons are here spoken of, the first being John the Baptist, at the Lord’s first coming, though we must also look onward to a coming day when that which John failed to accomplish, will be wrought before the Lord’s second coming to the earth (Mark 1:2,2As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (Mark 1:2) however, clearly identifies John the Baptist with the first “messenger” of Malachi 3:11Behold, 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. (Malachi 3:1). See also Luke 1:76-7976And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:76‑79); and Isaiah 40:3,3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3) which is quoted in Mark 1:33The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Mark 1:3) and John 1:2323He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. (John 1:23)).
John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded, and Whom he served was crucified, but here as generally in the Old Testament prophecies, no indication is given of the unmeasured period from the cross to the awakening of the Jews which will take place before the Lord’s second appearing on earth.
The Lord, the second person spoken of in verse 1 is of course the Son of God, Israel’s Messiah. They looked for the Messiah, but when He suddenly came to His temple they would not receive Him (John 1:1111He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11)). He is the Messenger, or Angel, of the covenant, — regarding which see Exodus 23:20-23,20Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. (Exodus 23:20‑23) and when He comes it will not be on the ground of the old broken covenant of Sinai, but the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-3431Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33But 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. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31‑34); Matthew 20:2828Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28); Hebrews 9:15,15And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15) etc., where, “covenant” should be read instead of “testament”).
“But who”, is asked, “who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth?”
It is the fearful day of the Lord, told of in so many Scriptures, including Malachi, Two New Testament Scriptures may with profit be referred to in this connection (Revelation 6:15-1715And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:15‑17) (for the world) and 1 John 4:1717Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17) (for Christians), the true reading of the latter being,
“Herein has love been perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that even as He is, so also are we in this world” (JND).
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.
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 2-3 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 44:6-316And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, 7In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. 8And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. 9Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. 10And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. 11Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. 12Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity. 13And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. 14But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. 15But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God: 16They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. 17And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 18They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat. 19And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments. 20Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. 21Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. 22Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. 23And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. 25And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. 26And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. 27And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord God. 28And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. 29They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. 31The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast. (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 22:1-31<<To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.>> My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:1‑3); Matthew 27:45-4645Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:45‑46)). It was then that the sins of every confessed sinner who has looked in faith. to God for salvation met their judgment (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)); for the unbelieving there remains the wrath of God. (John 3:3030He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30); See Psalm 94:1-91O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself. 2Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. 3Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? 4How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? 5They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. 6They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. 7Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. 8Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? 9He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? (Psalm 94:1‑9); 1 Thess. 5:1-31But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 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 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27). The judgment of the great white throne (Revelation 20:11-1511And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11‑15)) must then be the later portion of those who are overtaken by the earthly judgment of verse 5.
Verses 6-7 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 21:1515So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. (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 7-8, 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”?
Give God His due place in heart and conscience, and there will be the richest blessing; this is the lesson of verse 10. Do we not find here the explanation of much in both of the lives and the meetings of Christians that is not what it should be? His word is plain, — “Bring”; and then, “prove Me now, herewith.” Prayer for blessing is excellent, but a selfish withholding from His servants who do His bidding, in order to have more for ourselves, is without doubt, often a real hindrance; it is the one hindrance named in verses 8 to 10. God’s readiness to bless is fully shown; when it is not given, we must look within for the hindrances, and remove them; then blessing can be counted upon.
Verse 11. If there is obedience, the devourer will be rebuked, as it is said, “for your sakes,” so that he shall not destroy the fruits of the ground. This passage is general in scope, no doubt, for the reward promised to Israel for obedience to God’s Word is earthly blessing; nevertheless it must specifically refer to the day of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:77Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7)), when the whole land, because of Jehovah’s righteous indignation, shall be devoured. (Zephaniah 1:1818Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. (Zephaniah 1:18)). The devourer then will be the Assyrian or king of the north (Isaiah 10:5-6; 28:2-45O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isaiah 10:5‑6)
2Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. 3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: 4And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. (Isaiah 28:2‑4)).
The Christian is not to expect earthly prosperity; his truest blessings are heavenly, as many Scriptures tell; 1 Timothy 6:6-86But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. (1 Timothy 6:6‑8) may be contrasted with Dent, 8:7-9, the one giving the Christian’s right earthly position, while the other exhibits Israel’s.
The happy slate to which verse 12 refers has never been seen, nor can it be, until sins, national and individual, are owned in the fullest way of repentance. Thus verse 13 brings to the chosen people a charge of guilt more flagrant than any before named in this prophecy: “Your words have been stout against Me.” It is the last accusation Malachi was given to set before God’s earthly people, but as in each preceding case, the callousness of their hearts is such that they unfeelingly reply, “What have we spoken against Thee?” And, they add, “And now we call or consider) the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set (or built) up; yea, they tempt God, and they escape” (JND). This is the character of man at a distance from God which will be fully displayed before His judgment falls upon them.
Thank God, there are those who, perhaps moved by the growing wickedness of the scene in which they live, are aroused in their consciences; of these the next verse 16 tells.
How encouraging, how refreshing, is the action in verse 16— “Then”, when the tide of evil is surging high; “Then” when the heart of man is daring in impiety, “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another”; and the end of the verse brings in this further word about them, that “they thought upon His name.” There are two Hebrew words frequently translated “fear” in our Bible: one is yirah, meaning reverence; the other is pachad, meaning dread. The former, which occurs much more often than the latter, is represented here; “they that reverenced Jehovah.” These two words are found close together in several passages; for example, in Proverbs 1:7,297The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: (Proverbs 1:29) (reverence); verses 26-27, 33 (dread).
“And the Lord hearkened”—His attention, we may with reverence say, was attracted to the feeble few who often spoke to one another; what they said reached His ear; all unknown to them He listens; He causes a “book of remembrance” to be written before Him for them; and He who changes not, whose word shall stand forever, declares “They shall be Mine in that day when I make up My jewels.”
In an earlier day, He had promised deliverance by power through a remnant, as for example, in Judges 6:11-14,11And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. 13And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? (Judges 6:11‑14) etc.; but no change is here promised the remnant until the day of the Lord; all is to be allowed to go on, man pursuing his evil course, but a work of God will be maintained amid it, until iniquity has reached its height, and the Lord appears.
Verse 16 has ever, and rightly, spoken comfortably to Christian hearts, because they, too, have a remnant character in a world ripening for judgment; they too, are given no promise of a display of divine power, but are to go on in faithfulness to their Lord until He takes them to Himself.
What we have in verses 17-18 is without exact parallel in Christian doctrine, relating to the deliverance and bringing into Millennial blessing of the earthly saints, and, particularly the Jews who will be converted after the Church’s removal to glory. They will be Jehovah’s “jewels” or “special treasure”, as the marginal, reading puts it, in the day that He prepares. Before that day the heavenly saints, including us (believers) who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with the dead in Christ, in heavenly bodies, to meet the Lord in the air and to be forever with Him (1 Thess. 4:16-1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17)).
Although the Old Testament prophecies are almost without reference to the heavenly saints (part of the mystery revealed by the Lord to the apostle Paul), that would be a cold heart indeed, among them, that would be indifferent to the day when the Crucified One shall be glorified on the earth in a redeemed and blest earthly people, objects of divine grace, as are we for whom a place in the Father’s house is prepared.