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, however, clearly identifies John the Baptist with the first “messenger” of Malachi 3:1. See also Luke 1:76-79; and Isaiah 40:3, which is quoted in Mark 1:3 and 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 1:11). He is the Messenger, or Angel, of the covenant, — regarding which see 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 31:31-34; Matthew 20:28; 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 6:15-17 (for the world) and 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.
Isaiah 33:14-17 gives the answer to the questions asked in verse 2; 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 7-8, 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 2-3 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 27:45-46). It was then that the sins of every confessed sinner who has looked in faith. to God for salvation met their judgment (2 Cor. 5:21); 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 6-7 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 7-8, 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 30:7), when the whole land, because of Jehovah’s righteous indignation, shall be devoured. (Zephaniah 1:18). The devourer then will be the Assyrian or king of the north (Isaiah 10:5-6; 28:2-4).
The Christian is not to expect earthly prosperity; his truest blessings are heavenly, as many Scriptures tell; 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 1:7,29 (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, 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. 4:16-17).
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.