Malachi 3
PATxxxi. 1. 2 Cor. vi. IS.) and by consequence idolaters bear the same relation to the gods whom they worship. This and the next chapter, which are not divided in some translations, contain a prophecy of the coming of the Mcssias, and his forerunner John Baptist, under the name of Elias; and the terrible judgments which shall come upon the Jews for their rejecting the gospel. in.] The person whose coming is so solemnly proclaimed, is first described by the name of the Lord; Aclon in the Hebrew, the same whom David called his Lord, (Psal. ex. 1.) and who is Lord of the temple, where he will make his appearance. He is farther described as the messenger, or ■ angel of the covenant: the same who is called the angel of God’s presence, Isa. lxiii. 9. the angel that delivered the law upon Mount Sinai, as St Stephen speaks, expressing the sense of the Jews of his time, (Acts vii. 38.) and is appointed to be the Mediator of the new covenant, which the prophets foretold should take place under the Messias, (Isa. xlii. 6. Iv. 3. Jer. xxxi. 31.) Another character given of him is, that he is the person ye delight in, whose coming is so much desired, the time of it being the subject of your search and inquiry, and the expectation of it your comfort and delight. This great person, saith the prophet, shall come to his temple, which ye have despised and profaned, (i. 7, &c.) and make the glory of the latter house greater than that of the former, Hag. ii. 9. (see the note there.) He shall choose this place to publish his doctrine, and do several of his miracles. (See Matt. xxi. 12. 14, Luke xix. 47. xxi. 38.. John xviii. 10, 11. 15, 16.)
Malachi 3:1
JlSeHOLD, I ivill send my messenger, andhe shall prepare the way before me. To silence the cavils of unbelievers, mentioned in the last verse of the foregoing chapter, the prophet here foretells the coming of the Messias, who should set all things right; and of his harbinger, who should prepare men for his reception. Whoever compares this verse with Isa. xl. 2, &c. may easily discern that they both speak of the same event. The messenger, whose office it is to prepare the way before the Lord, who is said here to be coming suddenly after this his forerunner, is described in Isaiah as preparing the way of the Lord, who is spoken of as coming, and his glory just ready to be revealed. (Ver. 5. 9.) This proves that this prophecy is justly applied by all the evangelists to John Baptist, who is described under the person of Elias, in the following chapter, whom all the Jews, both ancient and modern, expected should come as a forerunner of the Messias. (See the note there.) The messenger, or prophet, (see the note upon ii. 7.) here foretold to be the Lord’s harbinger, was to be as much inferior to the Lord himself, as servants arefo a great person, of whose arrival they give notice. This John Baptist often confessed, (Matt. iii. 11. John i. 26. iii. 28.) and so much appears by the following words. And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight
Malachi 3:2
But who may abide the day of his coming? who shall stand when he appeareth?. The coming of Christ here, and in several other places, comprehends all the effects and consequents of his coming; and denotes not only a time of mercy to those that embrace the gospel, but likewise a time of judgment upon the disobedient. In the same manner, John Baptist describes the coming of Christ, (Matt. iii. 7. 12.) Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? His fan is in his hand, and he tvill throughly purge his floor, and burn vp the chaff with unquenchable fire. To the same purpose are the words of St. Paul, (Rom. i. 18.) The wrath of God is revealed by the gospel against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The day of God’s judgment, whether general or particular, is here described to be so terrible, that if he should be extreme to mark what is done amiss, not only the wicked, but even the righteous themselves, could not stand or abide so severe a trial. The words do probably point out the destruction of the Jewish nation by the Romans, upon their crucifying the Messias, and rejecting his gospel; when those words of Christ were fulfilled, (Luke xix. 27.) Those mine enemies that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me. For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers* soap.] The Divine judgments arc often called a fiery trial, such as separates the pure metal from the dross, purifies the former, and consumes the latter. (See Isa. i. 25. iv. 2. Zech. xiii. 9.) The word borith is translated soap here, and Jer. ii. 22. St. Jerome informs us, it was an herb the fullers used to take spots out of clothes.
Malachi 3:3
He shall sit as a refiner— and he shall purify the sans of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. He shall perform the office of a refiner and purifier; and whereas the miscarriages of the sons of Levi have been very great (particularly those which arc taken notice of, and reproved, in the foregoing chapters), the Messias, when he comes, will reform these abuses, and purify the worship of God from such corruptions. The sense of the verse, as applied to the Christian church is, that all Christians being made a vol. iv. holy priesthood, shall offer up with pure hearts and minds spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, (1 Pet. ii. 5.) And as all that profess the religion of Christ are commanded to be holy in all manner of conversation, (ibid. i. 15.) so a blameless behaviour is more strictly required in the Christian priesthood.
Malachi 3:4
Tlien shall the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem bepleasant to the Lord. . The prophet describes the Christian worship by an expression taken from the Jewish service, being what they were acquainted with. (See i. 11.) As in the days of old, and as in former years.] As in the days of David and Solomon, before idolatry prevailed, and withdrew a great part of the people from God’s worship. The reign of David and Solomon, was a proverbial speech for happy days. (See 2 Chron. xxx. 26.)
Malachi 3:5
And I will come near to judgment. In answer to their demand, Wliere is the God of judgment? (ii. 17.) God tells them, he will hasten the time of judgment, and it shall come speedily upon those sins that are epidemical among them; and if they repent not upon the preaching of the gospel, he will proceed to the utter excision of the nation. And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, &c] God will be both the witness and the judge, he will convict them of their guilt, as having been present when they committed these sins, though they were acted never so secretly: and then he will condemn them, and punish them accordingly. (Sec iv. 1.) The sins here mentioned, seem to have been commonly practised in Malachi’s time. Diviners, dreamers, and such as consulted oracles at the idols’ temples, are reproved, Zech.x. 2. as arc the false pretenders to prophecy, Nehem. vi. 12 — 14. False swearing and oppression are complained of, Zech. v. 4. Nehem. v. 3, &c. Their marrying strange women, and putting away their former wives to make room for them, was no better than adultery, (sec Mai. ii. 11. 14. compared with Nehem. xiii. 23. 29.) and a breach. of that solemn oath with which they had bound themselves, Nehem. x. 29, 30. The same sins were as frequently committed from the time of our Saviour’s appearance till the destruction of Jerusalem. No nation was more given to charms, divinations, and fortune-telling, than the Jews about that time, as Dr. Lightfoot shews out of their own authors, upon Matt. xxiv. 24. Adulteries were then so common, that the Sanhedrin ordained, that the trial of an adulteress, prescribed Numb. v. should be no longer put in practice, as the same author observes out of the Talmud, vol. ii. of his Works, p. 10S0. 1111. Joscphus informs us, that magicians swarmed in Judca under the government of Felix, and afterward: (Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 2. 6, 7. 11.) such was Theudas, the Egyptian sorcerer, the impostor under Festus, and others, foretold by the name of false Christs and false prophets. (Matt. xxiv. 24.)
Malachi 3:6
For J am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye so?is of Jacob are not consumed. Or, Because I am the Lord, I change not, &c. Because I am the same yesterday, to-day, andfor ever, as my. name Jehovah imports, and am true to my former promises, (see Exod. vi. 3, 4. 6.) therefore you still continue a people, and are not consumed, as your iniquities deserve. And I will still preserve a remnant of you, to make good to them the promises I made to your fathers. (See Horn. xi. 29.)
Malachi 3:7
Return to me and I will return to you. I am ready to be reconciled to you upon your repentance. (See Zech. i. 3.) But ye said, Wherein shall toe return?’] You persist in your own justification; and your words, or at least your actions, shew that you hare no remorse for your former sins, nor any purpose of forsaking thbm. (Compare i. 6.)
Malachi 3:8
Will a man rob God? yet ije have Yobbed me. One might reasonably think such a presumption could hot enter into any man’s thoughts, fcS to rob God of thdse things which are dedicated to his service; wheh he’cofcsideVs that he hath received all things from him, ani therefore Aught in gratitude to set apart some share 6’f his substance for the maintaining his worship, and the public exercises of religion. Yet ye have been guilty of this sin, which heathens have dreaded to commit, as being apprehensive of the Divine vengeance Which commonly foll6ws it. (See the note upon Dan. v. 5.) But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.] Because they pleaded ignorance of this sin charged upon them, God instructs them ivherein their guilt lay: viz. in detaining their tithes, the first-fruits of their ground and cattle, tmd other offerings, expressly set fcpart for God’s use in the law of Moses, and which they Tiad lately entered into a solemn engagements observe. (See’ Nehcm. x. 32, &c.)
Malachi 3:9
Ye are cursed with tt curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. The scarcity you complain of, ver. 11. is a just judgment upon you, for detaining the tithes and offerings appropriated to God’s service.
Malachi 3:10
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house. *Muko good your solemn engagement, (Nehcm. x. 29, &c.) of bringing in all the tithes of your increase into the storehouses appointed for that purpose, (sec Nehcm. xii. 44. xiii.5.12.) that there may be a sufficient ^provision for the 1 meat-offerings, sacrifices, and other religious services to be performed in my temple, (see Nehem. x. 33.) and for the maintenance of the priests andLevitcs, who attend there, that they may not be tempted to forsake my service. (See Nehem. xiii. 10.) And prove me now herewith— if I will not open the windows of heaven, &c.] You complain of dearth and scarcity (see the following verse), “but I would have you try the experiment, and see whether your plenty will not be in proportion to the free will, wherewith you bring in your tithes and offerings. (See 2 Chron.xxxi. 10.) To open the windows of heaven, expresses God’s showering down plenty; (see 2 Kings vii. 2.) as the shutting tip heaven denotes scarcity, (Dcut. xi. 17. Hag. i. 10.) Tliat there shall not be room enough to receive it.] Or, Till there be enough; or, Till you shall say there is enough, as Noldius translates the phrase, in his Concordance, p. 673.
Malachi 3:11
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, &c. Whereas you complain of great dearth, (see Nehem. v. 3.) which I sent as a punishment of your sacrilege (ver. 9. of this chapter), I will promise upon your amendment no more to destroy the fruits of the earth by locusts, and suchlike devouring insects: (compare Amos iv. 9.) neither shall your fruit-trees be blasted with blighting winds, and cast their fruit before the time.
Malachi 3:12
The mttster and scholar out of the tabernacle of Jacob. He that persuades or instructs others that these marriages are lawful, and he that follows such advice: the expression seems to comprehend both the priest and the people. 9 The words may relate to one of the priests of Joiada’s family, who had contracted such a marriage, and by his example given encouragement to that wicked practice. (Nchem. xiii. 28, 29.) The Hebrew reads, He that wakes, and he that answers: it seems to be a proverbial speech, denoting a master and scholar, as cur interpreters render it: an instructor is described as one that wakeneth the ear of his disciple. (Isa. 1. 4.) And him that offereth an offering to the Lord of hosts.] This is a particular threatening to the priests, who were guilty of this crime: such a one was Joiada’s son. (Nehem. xiii. 23, 20.) For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.] Your country shall bo again known by the name of the pleasant land, as it v as formerly called. (Sec the note upon Dan. viii. 9.)
Malachi 3:13
And this have ye done again. The words should be translated, This second thing have ye done: the prophet proceeds to reprove them for another crime added to the former; viz. to shew how much greater affection they had for strangers, they divorced ^themselves from their Jewish wives. (See the following verse.) Covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying.] This injurious treatment of your wives has made them fill the courts of the temple, even as far as the altar itself, with their lamentations, and importuning heaven for relief against your oppressions: so that God will no more accept the sacrifices there offered by those that shew so little regard for common justice and humanity. Your tcords have been stout against me, saith the Lord.] Impudent, or blasphemous; void of all reverence and duty. Yet ye say, fVhat have we spoken so much against thee?] They impudently denied the charge, (see ver. 8.) therefore th6 prophet renews it against them in the following words.
Malachi 3:14
And yet ye say, Wlierefore?. Ye impudently persist in justifying yourselves. (See i. 6.) Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously.] The wife whom you now divorce, was one whom you made choice of when you were in the prime of your age, and you promised to live with her in true love and affection: but now you cast her off without any regard to that solemn contract and covenant between you, of which you called God to be a witness. (Compare Prov. ii. 17.) Ye have said, It is vain to serve God, &c.] The prosperity of the wicked made them conclude, that it was to no purpose to govern their lives by the laws of God, or to humble themselves for their offences against him. (Sec Psal. lx*iii. 13.)
Malachi 3:15
And did riot he make one? Yet had he the residue oftheSpirit. And wherefore one? Tliathemight seek a godly seed. Among various interpretations of the words, this seems most probable, That the prophet puts the Jews in mind of the first institution of marriage in Paradise, (as Christ did afterward upon a like occasion, Matt. xix. 5.) and tells them, God made but one man at first, and made the woman out of him, when he could have created more women, if he had pleased; to instruct men that this was the true pattern of marriage, ordained for true love and undivided affection, and best serving the chief end of matrimony, viz. the religious education of children: whereas in polygamy the children are brought up with more or less care, in proportion to the affection men bear to their wives. Therefore take heed to your spirit.] Do not give way to an inordinate and irregular passion. And now we call the proud happy.] This makes us, say they, think and call those men happiest, who live in open defiance to God and his laws. (Compare iv. 1. Psal. x. 4.) Yea, they that work wickedness are set tip.] The Hebrew reads, are built: which word sometimes signifies the advancing men and their families to riches and honour. (See *£rov. xiv. 1. xxiv. 3.) Yea, they that tempt God, are even delivered.] They! that are Resolved to try God’s patience by their provocations, (^fee Psal. xOv. 9.) arc delivered out of those dangers and calamities wherein better men are involved.
Malachi 3:16
For the Lord God of Israel saith, that he hateth jmtting away. He allowed the Jews the liberty of divorce only for the hardness of their hearts, (Matt. xix. 8.) not that it was a thing pleasing to him. Some render the words, If he hate (her), let him put her away: i. e. rather than use her ill. But the former sense is more agreeable to the scope of the place. For one covereth violence with his garment.] Or, And when one puts violence upon his garment, or, covers his garment with violence, as Dr. Pocock translates it; who hath given the clearest sense of this phrase, and shewed out of several eastern writers, that they usually call a wife by the name of a garment; the expression of Moses, Dcut. xxii. 30. agreeing with this way of speaking. According to this interpretation, the sense of the text will be, that God hates divorcing a former wife to take in one of a strange nation; and he hates that any should bring into his family an illegitimate wife over and above one that he had legally married before. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to anothtr.] Or, Spake to one another: the word often is not in the Hebrew. By their pious discourses they confirmed each other in goodness, and armed themselves against the impressions such wicked suggestions might make upon their minds. And the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him, &c] God took especialnotice of what these pious persons did and said: it was as safely laid up in his memory, as if it had been entered into a register, in order to be produced at the day of judgment, to their praise and honour. (Compare Psal. Ivi. 8. Isa. Ixv. 6. Dan. vii. 10. Rev. xx. 12.)
Malachi 3:17
Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. You have tired his patience by your blasphemous speeches, charging his providence with injustice. (Compare Isa. xliii. 24. Amos ii. 13.) The words begin a new discourse, and more’properly belong to the next chapter, where an answer is given to the objection proposed, ver. 2, 3. 5. 18. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him?] See i. G. When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of God,&c] A repetition of the old objection against providence, taken from the prosperity of the wicked, which implied, as they thought, cither that their works were pleasing to God, or else that he disregarded human affairs, and would never call men to account for their actions. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in the • day that I make up my jewels.] It shall appear how dear they arc to me, when the time comes that I separate the precious from the vile, the vessels of honour from those of dishonour. (2 Tim. ii. 20.) But the words may more properly be translated thus, Tliey shall be to me a peculiar treasure, in the day that I shall make or appoint for that purpose. (Compare iv. 3.) At which time I will set a mark of distinction upon those my favourites. The word -Segullah, in its primary sense, denotes that privilege and pre-eminence which the Jews had abovoall other nations, of being God’s peculiarpeople: so it is used, Exod. xix. 5. Deut. vii. 6. Psal. exxxv. 4. expressed in the Greek by Xaoc irtpipovm, from whence it is applied to. Christians by St. Peter, 1 Epist. ii. 9. and St. Paul, Titus ii. 14. all the privileges of the Jewish church being, in an eminent manner, transferred upon the Christians. And I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him,] I will preserve them from those calamities which shall fall upon the unbelievers, (iv. 1.) with the same tenderness which a father shews to a dutiful son. •
Malachi 3:18
Then shall ye return and discern between the