Malachi Chapters 2:17-3:18/Commentary

Malachi Chapter 2:17-3:18

2:17 “You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them," or, "Where is the God of justice?"

“You have wearied the LORD with your words”: God does get tried of hearing the same old excuses and complaints! Man is not given the right simply to “vent” whenever he wants. God doesn’t simply overlook or tolerate sinful complaints. “Yet you say”: Again the people were portrayed as being oblivious to their sin (1:6-7; 2:14). How often do we convince ourselves that our complaining and grumbling is either justified, or “we are just airing our concerns”? “Everyone who does evil is good”: The apparent prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the godly or supposed godly is an age-old complaint (Psalm 73). Observe the irony. They questioned God’s justice in allowing evil people to live and prosper and yet they were acting in a wicked manner! Let us learn a lesson. God doesn’t appreciate people who question His moral government! If God exercised His “justice” on the spot, then all these people would have been condemned. The fact that God doesn’t bring judgment instantly upon sinful men should humble us, because we need the same mercy.

The same patience that allows a sinner to prosper is the same patience that gives us a second chance. “The underlying assumption here is that prosperity always results from divine blessings and implies divine approval. God must ‘delight’ in the wicked else they would not be so blessed” (Smith p. 642).

Nothing has changed. Today, skeptics and unbelievers still make the same arguments against God’s existence, that is, “How could a good God allow innocent people to suffer?” Or, “if God is as all-powerful as you claim, then why doesn’t He stop the suffering in this world?”

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Outward prosperity, or the lack of it, isn’t an accurate measure of divine approval or disapproval. The same is true concerning the size of a religious group. As God’s people, let us not get frustrated when false doctrine spreads and grows, for to complain about the growth of a group that teaches error is to be guilty of the same sin these Jews were committing.

Chapter 3

3:1 "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts” “The God of judgment was nearer than any of the skeptics imagined” (Smith p.

642).

“I am going to send My messenger”: This statement refers to John the Baptist, who was the forerunner for Jesus (Mark 1:2; Matt. 11:10; Luke 7:27). “He will clear the way before Me”: Here is another verse that teaches the deity of the Messiah. Clearly, the “Me” in this passage is God. The “Me” who arrived, was Jesus, therefore, Jesus is Jehovah. “And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple”: “To come suddenly did not mean immediately, but at once, instantaneously, unannounced” (Hailey p. 418). “How suddenly and unexpectedly came the announcement of the forerunner’s birth (Luke 1:5-22), of the Messiah’s birth (Luke 1:26-38; 2:8ff)! How unexpected the voice in the wilderness (Luke 3:2), and the public appearance of the Messiah (Luke 3:21; John 1:29)” (Laetsch p. 533). The temple belongs to not only the Father, but also the Lord who is coming. Jesus was presented as an infant in the temple (Luke 2:22).

He also visited the temple for teaching purposes (John 2:13; 5:1ff; 7:14ff).

“The messenger of the covenant”: The messenger of the covenant appears to be the same person as the Lord in this verse. Jesus came to bring a new covenant (Hebrews 9:15; 13:20). Here are people who claim to delight in God, and yet will face God’s judgment (Matthew 7:21-23).

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“In whom you delight”: That is, they claimed to delight in Him. They wanted God to come and exercise His judgment on all the sinners, while forgetting that they were sinners as well!

3:2 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap” “Who can endure the day of His coming?” “The coming of Jehovah will not be as they had expected; for He will not come simply as a judge of the heathen, but as a judge of His own as well. The unbelieving skeptics will not be able to stand under the judgment which will include them” (Hailey p. 419). Jesus turned out to be a completely different Messiah than most Jewish people were expecting (Matthew 3:1ff; John 2:13ff; Matthew 21-23).

“Who can stand when He appears?” That is, stand justified and right in His sight. “For He is like a refiners fire and like fullers’ soap” “He is like fire which burns whatever it touches, like soap (lye), which eats deep into the tissues” (Laetsch p. 535). Jesus came as a smelter, who purged the dross from the real precious metal and like a fuller, one who washes with strong lye soap. His teaching separated the good and honest hearts from the hypocrites, genuine believers from pretenders, and He came to cleanse men, if they were willing to be purified. One will either be purified when He comes into contact with Jesus and His teachings, or He will be rejected as dross or chaff. Our attitude towards truth, will determine which fate will be ours.

3:3"And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness” The special objects of His purifying and purging would be the “sons of Levi”, the priests who had previously been brought under condemnation (1:6-2:9). This new and refined priesthood would be a nation of priests or Christians (1 Peter 2:5,9). God would accept their sacrifices and offerings (Hebrews 13:15-16).

3:4"Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD, as in the days of old and as in former years”

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“Under these conditions the offering of Judah, the new nation, and Jerusalem, the new city unto which the redeemed and purified have come (Hebrews 12:22,24), will be pleasant and acceptable to God” (Hailey p. 419). The expression, “as in the days of old”, does not intend to suggest that the same offerings would be made (i.e., animal sacrifices); but that proper sacrifices (the best, as in contrast to giving God the left-overs), will be the mark of Christians. Do we today offer God our best as did the faithful in the “good old days?”

3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the LORD of hosts” God will judge all the wicked, regardless of who they are, even the wicked among His own people. In the context, adultery was being practiced when Jewish men were leaving their Jewish wives and marrying pagan women (2:14ff).

Consider the root of all these sins—“do not fear Me”. We need to teach a proper respect for God, because when people don’t take God or His Word seriously, they end up in sin. This verse is also a warning to people who continue to offer gifts to God without first offering themselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:12). God has been so specific about what is sinful, and what He condemns, that we are without excuse for engaging in something that is wrong. The Bible is filled with various “lists” of things, which God says will condemn us (1Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8).

3:6 "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” This verse answers various questions. First, the reason that God had not intervened is because of His mercy and patience. This patience had allowed other “sinners” to prosper, but the same patience had been extended towards the people who were complaining about God’s tardiness in executing His judgment (2:17). Secondly, the reason that God would condemn all unrepentant sinners is because God doesn’t change His values or His mind concerning what is wrong.

This verse reminds the Jews of Malachi’s time that they deserved to be consumed!

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3:7 "From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?’”

First note that apostasy and unfaithfulness is a pattern that runs throughout Scripture. God’s professed people in any given generation have not endured long. The same trend is truth in the New Testament (Acts 20:28; 1 Tim.4:1-3; 2 Timothy 4:2-4). “The Lord impresses upon the self-righteous Jews the bitter truth that they would have deserved to be consumed by His wrath, had it not been for His unchanging grace. The entire history of Israel is the record of everrecurring departing from, and rebellion against God’s ordinances” (Laetsch pp.

538-538). Yet, even at this late hour God is still willing to forgive them, if they will first change their ways. In light of such mercy—why should anyone end up lost?

“But you say, ‘How shall we return?’” It looks like the people are pretending to be ignorant of their unfaithfulness. As if, “I don’t think we have ever strayed”.

Some writers that I checked with did not take this question as a sincere question, i.e., “How do we come back to God?” One reason for such a view is that none of the other questions asked by the people are sincere, rather they are all attempts to hide from the truth and avoid responsibility.

Will a man rob God? 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed Thee?' In tithes and offerings” They still remain defiant, insisting that they have not done anything wrong.

“Again the people vehemently deny the charge. They demanded proof of this indictment. The Lord fired back the response: ‘with regard to tithes and offerings’. The tithe was an annual contribution to the Levites of one tenth of the yield of the field (Numbers 18:21). The offering may be offerings in general or the heave offerings, which was given to the priests. They had robbed God by withholding from His ministers those gifts which were rightfully theirs” (Smith p. 646). The unfaithfulness of many of the current priests were not an excuse to stop giving! When people don’t give as they should, God takes it personally. In addition, problems in a congregation do not give us the right to stop giving to God. If we can no longer support a congregation in good faith, then we need to

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find a sound congregation that we can support. God expects His due, no matter what is happening.

3:9 "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!”

Not just isolated individuals, but God brought a curse (see Haggai 1:6; 2:15-17) upon the entire nation. God has the power to see that an entire nation suffers for its’ selfishness. God can also cause a drought of sorts to come upon entire congregations. “Is Malachi out of date? Are there no such robbers to be found in the churches of our day?” (Laetsch p. 539). Compare with 2 Corinthians chapter 9.

3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows” God will not be pleased with 50% or 75% effort. He demands the “whole tithe”.

The expression, “so that there may be food in My house”, means food adequate to take care of the priests so they don’t have to find work and neglect the temple and its services. The term “storehouse” refers to the special rooms in the temple for keeping tithed grain. God is willing to not only give the people another chance, but He is even willing to bless them abundantly if they repent. Blessings such as abundant rains that would result in abundant harvests, good crops that would not be destroyed by pests, only awaited their repentance and obedience.

Oh, the blessings we miss out on when we are half-hearted. Anyone who claims, “Christianity isn’t working for me” isn’t working very hard! Compare with verse with Luke 6:38 and Ephesians 1:3. Sadly at times even Christians lose sight of the tremendous blessings that God has given us. If we are saved, in a good congregation, being cared for by good elders, hearing God’s truth on a regular basis and have a good family life—then our blessings are overflowing!

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3:11-12 "Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the LORD of hosts. 12"And all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts” God here promises “pest” protection. Insects such as locusts could completely devour crops. Nothing would be allowed to injure the crops, neither would there be the problem of premature and undeveloped fruit that would never ripen. God would prevent such a waste of resources.

The prosperity of Judah would then be the envy of all the nations. When we serve God as we should, our lives do reflect Divine wisdom. When my neighbors observe my marriage, my family life, and my level of contentment, do they call me blessed?

3:13 "Your words have been arrogant against Me," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against Thee?’”

God accuses these people of uttering arrogant words against Him. The word “arrogant” here means, “stout, hard, harsh, offensive”. In their daily conversations with one another they had said strong and defiant things against God. They had complained that God didn’t love them (1:2), and that God didn’t know what He was doing (2:17). Do we utter harsh things against God? Do we complain that “hell” is an unreasonable punishment? Do we resent the way that Jesus and the apostles preached? Do we cringe that passages that expose the errors of our friends?

3:14 "You have said, 'It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts?’”

In response to their denial, God gives them a specific example of their harsh words. They had questioned and criticized God’s moral government among them. They said it was “vain” (useless, unprofitable, to no advantage) to serve God and be faithful. They said there wasn’t any immediate or earthly profit in keeping His commands or being humble and repentant. Note how they viewed their relationship with God. They viewed it as a business arrangement. That is, they would keep His commands and He would give them stuff in return. The complaint was that God demands so much and gives so little in return. They felt that God owed them blessings and that He wasn’t fulfilling His end of the 7

bargain. Is this the way we view God? Do we complain when something bad happens that we “didn’t deserve this”, and after all, “being faithful should protect me from such things?”

“And that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts” That is, repentance is supposed to make everything better, right? Why do you repent? Is our motivation for repenting so that God will give us something earthly or physical?

3:15'So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.' " Look at the proud, impudent, haughty sinners who transgress every law of God and man. And now, under these circumstances, we must call them happy. They are even “built up”, they prosper in spite of their wickedness, and all that test God, all that have the courage to tempt Him by deliberately transgressing, ignoring His commandments, are even delivered and escape punishment. The argument seems to include, “When we test God, God immediately punishes us” (3:9), but when those people test God, they end up blessed!

3:16 “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name” “There was never a time when Jehovah does not have His ‘seven thousand in Israel’ whose knees ‘have not bowed unto Baal’ (1 Kings 19:18). Even now, in contrast to the murmurers who questioned the moral government of Jehovah, there were some who feared Him. As they listened to the words of the unbelievers and to Jehovah’s rebuke of them, those who were concerned conversed among themselves” (Hailey p. 423).

What they said was obviously pleasing God, for He recorded their names, as well as their words and deeds in a book of remembrance (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 20:12). This is another way of saying that God will remember everything that we said and did for Him (2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31).

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When people complain about the church or some biblical doctrine, do we join in and add to the ignorance and ungodliness being spoken, or do we speak respectfully and reverently of the things of God? 3:17 "And they will be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him” “This provides assurance that when God deals with these individuals He will not forget their submission to Him” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1586). God knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2:19), and He is able to protect them. Look at how God providentially protected Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and Daniel. In this verse, the “sparing” is connected with God preparing His own possession. This may be a spiritual sparing, for God’s own possession are the faithful. The people in Malachi’s day who were faithful will become part of God’s family, which in the New Testament is the church (1 Peter 2:9-10).

3:18 “So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him” In this context, the “wicked” are the people who complain about how God runs this world (3:15). Sadly, even among professed believers we have many people who are trying to blur the lines between who is serving God and who isn’t. The faithful will always preserve the distinction between the faithful and the unfaithful. Any group of people who attempt to argue that there is no objective way of determining who is serving God and who isn’t—has just disqualified themselves as being part of the faithful (Hebrews 5:11-14; Revelation 2:2). God wanted His people at this time to start making this distinction again, in fact the entire book of Malachi is an appeal to start making biblical distinctions.

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