Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Malachi 3:1 - 3:6

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Malachi 3:1 - 3:6


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The Great Day of the Lord.

Jehovah's Messenger and the Angel of the Covenant.

v. 1. Behold, I will send My messenger,
the special prophet spoken of Isa_40:3, the passage upon which the present statement is evidently founded, and he shall prepare the way before Me, Mar_1:3; and the Lord whom ye seek, for whose coming they were so anxiously waiting, shall suddenly come to His Temple, to dwell in the midst of His people, of His Church, even the Messenger of the Covenant, the great Angel of the Lord, the Son of God Himself, whom ye delight in, namely, all those who still desire the covenant of the Lord with His people to he fulfilled. Behold, so the announcement is once more made with impressive solemnity, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. This is the preaching of repentance in order to prepare the hearts for the great advent of Jehovah.

v. 2. But who may abide the day of His coming?
be able to endure that Day of Judgment upon the disobedient and secure? Cf Mat_3:8-12; Luk_3:9. And who shall stand when He appeareth? Cf Joe_2:11. For He is like a refiner's fire, which separates the dross from the pure metal, and like fullers' soap, thoroughly to cleanse the garment of His Church from all impurities;

v. 3. and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,
the entire Messianic period being a time of testing and of judgment, Joh_9:39, culminating in the day of the final Judgment; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, for the judgment begins at the house of God, and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, so that all the members of the New Testament priesthood, in fact, might serve Him in holiness and righteousness.

v. 4. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord,
the entire Church worshiping Him in spirit and in truth, as in the days of old, when the children of Israel were still in truth His Church, and. as in former years. Cf Tit_2:14; 1Pe_2:5.

v. 5. And I will come near to you to judgment,
namely, the judgment of wrath upon the wicked; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the transgressors of the First and Second Commandments, and against the adulterers, those disregarding the Sixth Commandment, and against false swearers, with reference both to the Second and the Eighth Commandments, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, by withholding them altogether or by underpaying him, the widow, and the fatherless, as being without a natural protector, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, Cf Deu_27:19, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts, this last point indicating the source of all iniquity—lack of the fear of the Lord.

v. 6. For I am the Lord, I change not,
the name Jehovah itself indicating that He is the same from everlasting to everlasting; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed, literally, "and ye, the Sons of Jacob, ye are not yet consumed," that is, the Lord will keep the true spiritual Israel safe while He sends His judgment upon the wicked in their midst. Even so the Church of Christ in the New Testament is preserved in the midst of hypocrisy and deceit, and the wicked will finally be destroyed.