Malachi3
New International Version
1“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
2But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,
4and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
5“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.
6“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
7Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.
9You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.
10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
11I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty.
12“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
13“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
14“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?
15But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”
16Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
17“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.
18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Malachi 3.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The coming of Christ. (1–6). The Jews reproved for their corruptions. (7–12). God's care of his people; The distinction between the righteous and the wicked. (13–18).
vv1-6
The first words of this chapter seem an answer to the scoffers of those days. Here is a prophecy of the appearing of John the Baptist. He is Christ's harbinger. He shall prepare the way before him, by calling men to repentance. The Messiah had been long called, “He that should come,” and now shortly he will come. He is the Messenger of the covenant. Those who seek Jesus, shall find pleasure in him, often when not looked for. The Lord Jesus, prepares the sinner's heart to be his temple, by the ministry of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, and he enters it as the Messenger of peace and consolation. No hypocrite or formalist can endure his doctrine, or stand before his tribunal. Christ came to distinguish men, to separate between the precious and the vile. He shall sit as a Refiner. Christ, by his gospel, shall purify and reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it, shall regenerate and cleanse souls. He will take away the dross found in them. He will separate their corruptions, which render their faculties worthless and useless. The believer needs not fear the fiery trial of afflictions and temptations, by which the Saviour refines his gold. He will take care it is not more intense or longer than is needful for his good; and this trial will end far otherwise than that of the wicked. Christ will, by interceding for them, make them accepted. Where no fear of God is, no good is to be expected. Evil pursues sinners. God is unchangeable. And though the sentence against evil works be not executed speedily, yet it will be executed; the Lord is as much an enemy to sin as ever. We may all apply this to ourselves. Because we have to do with a God that changes not, therefore it is that we are not consumed; because his compassions fail not.
vv7-12
The men of that generation turned away from God, they had not kept his ordinances. God gives them a gracious call. But they said, Wherein shall we return? God notices what returns our hearts make to the calls of his word. It shows great perverseness in sin, when men make afflictions excuses for sin, which are sent to part between them and their sins. Here is an earnest exhortation to reform. God must be served in the first place; and the interest of our souls ought to be preferred before that of our bodies. Let them trust God to provide for their comfort. God has blessings ready for us, but through the weakness of our faith and the narrowness of our desires, we have not room to receive them. He who makes trial will find nothing is lost by honouring the Lord with his substance.
vv13-18
Among the Jews at this time, some plainly discovered themselves to be children of the wicked one. The yoke of Christ is easy. But those who work wickedness, tempt God by presumptuous sins. Judge of things as they will appear when the doom of these proud sinners comes to be executed. Those that feared the Lord, spake kindly, for preserving and promoting mutual love, when sin thus abounded. They spake one to another, in the language of those that fear the Lord, and think on his name. As evil communications corrupt good minds and manners, so good communications confirm them. A book of remembrance was written before God. He will take care that his children perish not with those that believe not. They shall be vessels of mercy and honour, when the rest are made vessels of wrath and dishonour. The saints are God's jewels; they are dear to him. He will preserve them as his jewels, when the earth is burned up like dross. Those who now own God for theirs, he will then own for his. It is our duty to serve God with the disposition of children; and he will not have his children trained up in idleness; they must do him service from a principle of love. Even God's children stand in need of sparing mercy. All are righteous or wicked, such as serve God, or such as serve him not: all are going to heaven or to hell. We are often deceived in our opinions concerning both the one and the other; but at the bar of Christ, every man's character will be known. As to ourselves, we have need to think among which we shall have our lot; and, as to others, we must judge nothing before the time. But in the end all the world will confess that those alone were wise and happy, who served the Lord and trusted in Him.
Key Words
הִנֵּה: lo!
שָׁלַח: to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)
מֲלְאָךְ: a messenger; specifically, of God, i.e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher)
פָּנָה: to turn; by implication, to face, i.e. appear, look, etc.
דֶּרֶךְ: a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
אָדוֹן: sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine)
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
בָּקַשׁ: to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after
פִּתְאוֹם: instantly
Cross References
Malachi 3Jesus directly quotes Malachi 3:1 here, identifying John the Baptist as the promised messenger.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
The foundational Old Testament prophecy of the forerunner clearing the way, which Malachi directly builds upon.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Prophesies the desire of nations coming to fill this specific second temple with glory.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The pre-incarnate Angel of the Covenant appearing in divine fire, illuminating Messiah's identity.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts the scoffers' superficial desire for the Day of the Lord with its terrifying reality.
Supported by JFB
John the Baptist announces Messiah's coming with refining fire and thorough purging of the dross.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel description of God bringing His people through the refining fire to purify them.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The classic declaration of God's unchangeable character and faithfulness to His covenant promises.
Supported by John Calvin
Messiah suddenly enters His temple to clean it, physically acting out the purification prophecy.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
New Testament confirmation of God's absolute immutability, with whom there is no variation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Because of the Lord's unchanging compassions, the sons of Jacob are not utterly consumed.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Identical reciprocal promise: "Return unto me, saith the Lord... and I will return unto you."
Supported by Matthew Henry
Historical reality of the curse of drought and crop failure due to neglecting God's house.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Echoes the wicked complaint that serving the Almighty brings no profit or benefit.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The covenant basis for God's people being His unique, treasured possession ("jewels").
Supported by Matthew Henry