(Mal. 3:1-18) We have already seen how solemnly the prophet lays bare the low moral condition of the remnant-a condition which brings down the chastening hand of the Lord and cries aloud for judgment.
(Vss. 1-5) Accordingly, in chapter 3, the remnant are warned of the coming of the Lord in judgment (verses 1-5). Wearied by the confusion which their own folly had wrought, they cry out "Where is the God of judgment?" (chapter 2:17). And they receive the immediate reply, "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." "But," the prophet asks, "who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth?" And the Lord Himself adds, "I will come near to you to judgment"; and when the Lord comes He will be a swift witness against evil and evil doers.
(Vs. 6) Thus the remnant are not only charged with their low condition, but warned as to the judgment it entails. God, however, is not only a God of judgment, He is also a God of mercy, and hence it is ever His way to grant grace for repentance before the judgment falls. Again, all God's dealings, whether in judgment or mercy, are founded upon the immutability of His nature. For this reason we have the formal declaration of the unchanging character of God before the call to repentance. "I am the Lord," we read, "I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (verse 6). God does not change in holiness, and therefore He must chasten His people when they sin. Neither does God change in His purposes of grace and blessing, and therefore His people are not consumed.
(Vs. 12) Having thus sounded the note of warning, God next, in accordance with His unchanging principles of acting, calls His people to repentance. "Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts" (verse 7). Furthermore the Lord encourages them to return, by unfolding the blessings that will follow repentance: (1) They themselves would be enriched; the windows of heaven would be opened, and blessing, beyond their capacity to retain, would be poured upon them. (2) They would become a witness to the Lord before the world, "All nations shall call you blessed" (verses 7-12).
In addition to calling to repentance, the Lord also shows the way. It is well to face our low condition, to confess it before the Lord; but occupation with our own evil will not in itself lead to recovery. It is not the badness of man but the goodness of God that leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
This way of recovery lies, we believe, in the appreciation of all that God is for His people as presented, in a threefold way, in the opening chapter of the prophecy: -
1st. The sovereign love of the Lord (1:2).
2nd. The settled purpose of the Lord (1:5, 11).
3rd. The mighty power of the Lord (1:14).
Let us look briefly at these three great truths.
(1) The sovereign love of the Lord.
The prophecy opens with the sublime statement, "I have loved you, saith the Lord." This great statement is rich with instruction.
a. It assures us that whatever the condition of God's people, His love towards them does not alter. Israel may depart from the Lord, may fall into idolatry, may go into captivity, may be restored and again fall into a low moral condition, but, says Jehovah through the prophet Jeremiah, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3). So, too, disciples may fail, may forsake the Lord, may even deny the Lord, but, "having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1).
b. However solemnly the Lord may have to speak to us as to our moral condition, and however severely He may have to deal with us because of it, behind His rebukes and His chastenings there is love. The hand that smites is moved by a heart that loves.
c. The love of the Lord is the true measure of all failure. We can only truly gauge the depth of failure when we measure it by the height of His love. This is true, whether it be the failure of Israel or the failure of the Church; whether it be individual backsliding or general breakdown. I can only estimate my personal failure when viewed in the light of the personal love of the One "who loved me, and gave Himself for me." How black, too, the Church's history, how great its ruin, when viewed in the light of the great truth that Christ "loved the Church, and gave Himself for it." How contemptible our divisions, our contentions, our bitterness to one another, seeking to put one another in the wrong to exalt ourselves, misconstruing one another's actions, misinterpreting one another's words, and seeking to impute evil to one another, after hearing the touching words of the Lord, "I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). What appalling littleness our words and actions often betray when we remember that "Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us" (Eph. 5:2).
d. The love of the Lord is not only the measure of our failure, it is also the way of recovery from it. Was it not a look of love that recovered Peter? Peter denies the Lord with oaths and cursing, and the "Lord turned and looked upon Peter." A look, may we not say, of infinite love. Peter discovered by that look that his denial of the Lord had not altered the Lord's love to him. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Love broke him down. Our sins broke His heart, but His love breaks our hearts. How did Joseph dispel the lingering doubts in his erring brethren, who had treated him so shamefully? We read "he comforted them and spake to their hearts" (Gen. 50:21, margin). He confirmed his love to them. And how will Jehovah at last restore his backsliding people? We read in Hosea these touching words of the Lord: "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak to her heart" (Hos. 2:14, JND Translation). In wilderness circumstances God speaks to her heart, opens to her a door of hope, and there, when love has done its work, once again she sings as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And may we not say, in these sorrowful days, the Lord is dealing with His people after the same manner? How many mourn the loss of some loved one, whose face they will see no more down here. The wife mourns her husband, the children their father, the mother her son. Thus for many a heart the Lord has turned the world into a wilderness. He has allured us into the wilderness, but, in so doing, He has allured us to Himself, that, in the midst of our tears, He might speak to our hearts, and, as He tells us of His love, bind up our wounds and enable us to sing-
With mercy and with judgment, my web of time He wove,
And aye the dews of sorrow, were lustered with His love.
In the light of this great love may we judge our low condition, and, by its constraining power, may we henceforth live not unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again.
(2) The unchanging purpose of the Lord.
The Lord not only reminds His people of His love, but He would fain recover them by unfolding the purposes of His love. This leads us to the second great truth unfolded by the prophet. We read "The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel" (verse 5); and again, "From the rising of the sun to 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" (verse 11). To the declaration of the Lord's love the remnant retort, "Wherein hast Thou loved us?" And the Lord meets this spiritual blindness by giving proof of His love. They are taken back to the past and reminded of the sovereign love that chose their father Jacob, and they are led on to the future and shown that love has purposed to make Israel the center of blessing on the earth. "The Lord will be magnified," but it will be from the "border of Israel." And the accomplishment of this great purpose will make manifest the love of Jehovah. In the prophet's day they professed they could not see His love. They said, "Wherein hast Thou loved us?" But the Lord replies there is a day coming when you will see, "Your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified beyond the border of Israel." Edom may seek to oppose, but all in vain; Edom will be called "the border of wickedness," but "the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel."
And are we tempted in our day, by reason of the roughness of the way, to call in question the Lord's love, and again say, "Wherein hast Thou loved us?" Then let us remind our souls once again of the Father's sovereign love that chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, and of His settled purpose to get glory to Himself in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout the ages of ages. Let not the passing sorrows of time for one moment dim our vision of the love that chose us before time was, and shall bless us eternally when time shall cease to be.
The power of Satan, and the intrusion of the flesh and the world, ruined the testimony of God's ancient people, just as they have ruined the testimony of God's people today. Nevertheless in the end God's purposes will prevail, whether for the earthly or the heavenly people, and the glorious result will be that "the Lord will be magnified" and His name "shall be great" (verses 5 and 11). We shall be blessed, but He will be magnified. And just as His name will be great among the heathen on earth, so His name will be great among the hosts in heaven. For we read, "His name shall be in their foreheads." Our names may be written in heaven, but only one Name is seen in heaven.
(3) The mighty power of the Lord.
What love has purposed, power will perform, and so the prophet brings before us the mighty power of the Lord. "I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and My name is to be revered among the heathen" (verse 14). The Lord is great in majesty and great in power. He has at His disposal unnumbered hosts. The chapter opens with the touching announcement, "I have loved you, saith the Lord," and it closes with the sublime statement, "I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts." Love and power combine to carry out God's purposes.
How solemn the state of the remnant when viewed in the light of the Lord's love for His people, the Lord's purpose to exalt His name and bless His people, and the Lord's power on behalf of His people. So low is their condition that they cannot discern His love, they profane His name, and treat with contempt the One who is "a great King" and "the Lord of hosts."
And does not the low condition of God's people today stand fully exposed, when viewed in the light of the sovereign love that has chosen them, the high destiny that awaits them, and the exceeding greatness of the power towards them? Does it not behoove us to return again to the Lord, and in His presence review our moral and spiritual condition in the light of these great truths, to review the manner of our lives-the inner life and the outer life-the things that hold our affections and engross our thoughts, the words we utter and the spirit in which we utter them, the things we do as well as the motive for doing them? And as we thus make search in the light of His love, and purpose, and power, we shall have to confess that much in our lives looks very poor and loathsome.
Let us not, however, be discouraged. That by which we measure our failure becomes the means of recovery for those who are exercised thereby. As we dwell upon the love that chose us, the glorious destiny that awaits us, and the mighty power that works in us, we shall be delivered from all that we are and rejoice in all that He is.