Mal. 3:1-7, 16-18; 4:1-2 - THE DAY IS COMING
LAST WEEK: In Mal. 2:10-14, we heard the prophet warn the Israelite people of Judah of three serious violations of their covenant with the LORD GOD of Israel (YHWH): (1) They were violating it by treating their Israelite brothers and sisters with "treachery," as if they were enemies. The point was that people who belong to the family of God should never treat one another as adversaries, but should always show love and respect and be willing to go out of our way to resolve conflicts peaceably. (2) The Jewish men were marrying pagan spouses. The same principle applies today to Christians who marry non-Christians, because they are entering into the closest of human relationships with someone who doesn't share his or her love for Jesus Christ as Savior. (3) God hates divorce for good reasons. God hates it when people destroy their marriages for two significant reasons: (a) He knows the pain and sorrow it will cause within the entire family and (b) the long-term effect it will have on those families.
THIS WEEK: In Mal. 3:1-7, 16-18; 4:1-2, we'll finish our Malachi study and hear the prophet's final message, which concludes the OT with 400 years of silence. We know from previous lessons that the spiritual condition of Israel has reached an all-time low: the Temple and the Walls around Jerusalem had been rebuilt and the priests were going through the motions of offering sacrifices and prayers, but the people, in general, no longer felt the need to live by the moral and worship standards required by the Mosaic Law. Instead of repenting and returning to faithful worship and living, they blamed God for their lack of prosperity and the fact that they were just a political province ruled a foreign power. The book ends with a final warning of a forthcoming judgment in the Day of the Lord (end-times). There will be no more prophetic light for four centuries, until John the Baptist appears and announces the arrival of the Messiah.
Read Mal. 1:1-7 - I AM SENDING MY MESSENGER
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. 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. 3 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. 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. 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. 6 "For I, the LORD , do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 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?'
v. 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." - YHWH's response to the negative Israelites was to point them to the future. There is no question that "My messenger" refers to John the Baptist as confirmed by Jesus in all three synoptic gospels (Mt. 11:10; Mk. 1:2; Lk. 7:27). This future messenger would prepare the way for "Me," who is clearly YHWH in the flesh, Jesus Christ. Though Jesus appeared in the temple during His earthly ministry, His coming to the "temple" here, will occur when He returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom. The "messenger of the covenant" identifies Christ, who as the divine Messiah will come after the first messenger.
v. 2-3: "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. 3 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." - This is a further description of Jesus' return as the end-time Messiah. The covenant-breaking Jews as well unbelieving Gentiles will experience the Day of the Lord as a day of severe judgment. The "sons of Levi" refers to priests who would undergo a purification process compared to going through "a refiner's fire" and being washed with "fullers' soap." The use of all the cleansing terms underlines the finality of the change the Lord's messenger would bring; and Christ's atoning death on the cross would signify that the entire sacrificial system had been fulfilled.
v. 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." - The "offering" isn't animal sacrifice but the purified hearts of the people.
v. 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." - This is doubled-edged: The Messiah King will not only bring judgment to the priests but to the people. He will judge all types of activity forbidden to His people: sorcery, adultery, lying, the oppression of workers, widows, and orphans, and mistreatment of aliens. This is the LORD's reply to the people's claim that He was unjust (Mal. 2:17, last week).
v. 6: "For I, the LORD , do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." - The LORD concludes by reaffirming His character: God never changes. And this is why they, as a people, would not be annihilated completely. Because God is faithful to His covenants to Abraham and Moses, He would never destroy the "sons of Jacob" completely but would chasten them and finally bless them.
v. 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?' - The LORD GOD promised if the people would repent, He would return to them; however, their response, "How shall we return?," was a hypocritical way of saying that "we never departed from You-we're innocent." They were like the clueless husband who refuses to recognize how he's allowed his relationship with his wife to become a farce, a joke.
APPLICATION 1: Jesus Christ, "the messenger of the covenant" (v. 1), is the answer to our need for forgiveness and salvation. Christ is the answer to our need for personal spiritual peace; He is the answer for the world's need for lasting peace; and He is the answer to the world's need for justice and judgment of the wicked, all of which will be established by Christ in His Eternal Kingdom.
Read Mal. 3:16-18 - A BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE
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. 17 "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." 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
v. 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." - Despite the denial of the faithless people in v. 7, there were still some true believers in Israel who feared God and agreed with Malachi's message. Their names would be recorded in, "a book of remembrance," which was written in heaven.
v. 17: "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 refers to the end-time Day of the Lord, when Christ, as the Messiah King, returns to dispense justice. Those listed in God's book of remembrance will be spared when Christ separates the sheep from the goats (Mt. 25:31-36).
v. 18: "So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." - This answers the allegation of Jews who complained, "where is justice?" (2:17 last week), claiming that God made no distinction between the righteous and the wicked. Here, the prophet informs them that a day Is coming when the distinction between the righteousness and the wicked will be made crystal clear-no mistake about it.
APPLICATION 2: Faithfulness to God does not go unnoticed or unrewarded. The "book of remembrance" (v. 16) is simply the assurance that God uses to encourage His faithful followers that their love and service is appreciated and recorded in heaven. It promised faithful Israelites that when His judgment comes, His faithful OT saints will be spared; for Christians, it means that our names are recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life (Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5).
Read Mal. 4:1-2 - THE DAY IS COMING, BURNING LIKE A FURNACE
Note: There was no chapter break in original manuscript; v. 1 here was originally v. 19.
1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of armies, 2 But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and frolic like calves from the stall.
v. 1a: "For behold, the day is coming," - Through the prophet, the LORD now elaborates on "the day," the end-time event that will bring Judgment to the guilty and deliverance to the faithful.
v. 1b: "burning like a furnace;" - Fire language is common in connection with divine judgment and God's anger and destruction by fire is a type of covanental curse. The phrase, "burning like a furnace" described the hottest type of fire people knew in those days.
v. 1c: "and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the Lord of armies, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branches." - The evildoers will be instantly incinerated like chaff.
v. 2: "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and frolic like calves from the stall." - By contrast, the Israelites who had been faithful to God would experience a reign of righteousness likened, metaphorically, to the rising sun. This righteous day would have a healing effect on the inhabitants of the earth, healing them and the earth from the past millennia of sin (Isa. 53:5). They will be so healthy that they will be nimble and energetic like calves comings out of a stall. They will feel like happy children once again.
APPLICATION 3: If we fear God now, we do not need to fear His judgment that is coming on a terrible day. The coming day of judgment should be a source of great fear to all those who ridicule and reject God; however, that day should bring great comfort to all who fear and call on His name.
