Malachi 3:3

And he shall sit [as] a refiner, and purifier of silver,.... Kimchi interprets this, as he does the latter part of the preceding verse Malachi 3:2, of the day, and not of the Lord, which he compares

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

And he, King Messiah, Christ Jesus our Lord, shall sit; as resolved to attend this work, he will set to it vigorously, and continue in it constantly, till it is finished. As a refiner and purifier of silver; overlooking the furnace, that it be hot enough to melt down the silver and gold, and to consume the dross, and purify the best part of the gold. He shall purify; the effect of this fiery trial, of this scouring, shall be the thorough cleansing of the persons that are to pass through it: these sufferings, together with his word, shall, by the power of the Spirit accompanying them, thoroughly purge the good, and they shall be a fire hot enough to burn up the wicked. The sons of Levi; either the Jewish Levites, or all Christians, who are made priests unto God, to offer sacrifices to him, even prayers, praises, and alms, &c.; or such as should minister more immediately to God, in the services of the spiritual temple, as the Levites did in the material temple. And purge them as gold and silver; that they may be vessels of honour, purified for holy employments. That they may offer unto the Lord an offering: by the law phrase is set forth gospel worship, for it cannot be meant of legal offerings, which the Messiah did abolish at his coming. In righteousness; in right manner, purely and uprightly. And he, King Messiah, Christ Jesus our Lord, In righteousness; in right manner, purely and uprightly.

Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.Ver. 3. And he shall sit as a refiner] i.e. He shall stick to the work, and not start from it, "till he bring forth judgment to victory," Matthew 12:20, that is, till he have perfected the work of grace begun in his people (for he is "author and finisher of their faith," Hebrews 12:2), and by patience made them "perfect and entire, wanting nothing," James 1:4. Christ, who is the God of all grace, and hath called them to his eternal glory, will, after they have suffered awhile in his furnace, or refining pot, of afflictions, "make them perfect, establish, strengthen, settle them," 1 Peter 5:10, yea, make all grace to abound toward them; "that they always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work," 2 Corinthians 9:8. For which holy purpose Christ, our refiner, hath his fire in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem, Isaiah 31:9, his conflatories and his crucibles, wherein his third part being brought through the fire, shall be refined as silver is refined, and tried as gold is tried, Zechariah 13:9 "that the trial of their faith" (who have glorified him in the very fires, Isaiah 24:15), "being much more precious than that of gold that perisheth, may be found to praise and honour and glory," 1 Peter 1:7. True gold will undergo the trial of the seventh fire, which alchemy gold will not. Christ Jesus, after that he hath been to his people as a refiner’ s fire and fuller’ s soap, that is, after that he hath justified and sanctified them also in some part, will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, that is, he will be serious, accurate, and assiduous in scouring them from corruption by correption, in purging out the remnants of sin by affliction sanctified. "For by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin," Isaiah 27:9. Christ hath bought off all her corruptions, redeemed us from all iniquity, Titus 2:14, and God will have the price of Christ’ s blood out; what the word purgeth not the rod must: like as what evil humours summer purgeth not out by sweating, winter concocts by driving in the heat. And as winter is of use for mellowing the ground, and for killing worms and weeds, &c., so is the cross sanctified for quelling and killing fleshly lusts that fight against the soul. He that holds the winds in his fist, stays his rough wind, Isaiah 27:8, and lets out of his treasury such a wind as shall make his young plants fruitful, and blow away their unkindly blossoms and leaves. Black soap makes white clothes, if God set in and set it on with his battle door, as that martyr phrased it.

(3) Sons of Levi.—Meaning especially the priests, the sons of Aaron, son of Amram, son of Kohath, son of Levi (Exodus 6:16-20); for judgment must begin at the house of God. (Comp. Jeremiah 25:29; Ezekiel 9:6; 1 Peter 4:17.) In righteousness refers rather to the moral character of the offerer than to the nature of the sacrifices, as being such as were prescribed by the Law. This and the following verse do not, of course, imply that there are to be material sacrifices in Messianic times. The prophet speaks in such language as was suitable to the age in which he lived. (See Note on Malachi 1:11.)

Verse 3. He shall sit as a refiner] Alluding to the case of a refiner of metals, sitting at his fire; increasing it when he sees necessary, and watching the process of his work. The sons of Levi] Those who minister in their stead under the NEW covenant, for the OLD Levitical institutions shall be abolished; yet, under the preaching of our Lord, a great number of the priests became obedient to the faith, Acts 6:7; and, as to the others that did not believe, this great Refiner threw them as dross into the Roman fire, that consumed both Jerusalem and the temple.

3. he shall sit] The expression gives “pictorial effect” (Hengst.) to the description. Comp. “He shall stand and feed” &c., Micah 5:4, for a similar “pictorial effect”. The figure of the fuller is dropped and the idea, common to both figures, prosecuted under this alone. the sons of Levi] “Judgment must begin at the house of God.” 1 Peter 4:17. Those who had been first in offending (Malachi 1:6 to Malachi 2:9) shall first be dealt with. The judgment of the people at large as offenders also (Malachi 2:10-17) shall follow (Malachi 3:5). purge them] The word is used of “straining” wine, Isaiah 25:6; but more frequently, as here, of refining precious metals. Job 28:1; 1 Chronicles 28:18; 1 Chronicles 29:4; Psalms 12:7. The accumulation of words, refine, purify, purge, gives force to the description. that they may offer … an offering] More exactly, and they shall offer … offerings, R.V.; the plural being doubtless adopted to denote, what the Hebrew expresses, the continuous act of offering. in righteousness] Not only in outward conformity with the Law, as contrasted with “the lame and the sick” (Malachi 1:8; Malachi 1:13) but in pure affection of heart and holiness of life. Comp. Luke 1:6. On the similar expression “sacrifices of righteousness”, Psalms 4:5 [Hebrews 6], Dean Perowne observes, “The phrase occurs first in Deuteronomy 33:19, and denotes either (a) sacrifices that God will accept, because they are offered not merely according to the ritual of the Law, but with clean hands and pure hearts (Isaiah 29:13); or (b) fitting sacrifices, such as past sin requires, in order to put it away.” In the first of these senses it is used here.

And He shall sit - o as a King and Judge on His throne, with authority, yet also to try accurately the cause of each, separating seeming virtues from real graces; hypocrites, more or less consciously, from His true servants.

3, 4. The first task of the Lord will be to purge the priests, that he may have once more (compare Malachi 2:5-6) a pure priesthood. Here as everywhere in the book the priests stand in the foreground.