REBUKE OF INFIDELITY. THE ADVENT OF THE LORD FORETOLD (MALACHI 2:17 TO MALACHI 3:18). (17) A new section of the prophecy begins with this verse. The prophet now directs his reproofs against the people for their discontent and their want of faith in the promises of God, because the expected manifest... [ Continue Reading ]
III. (1) I WILL SEND. — Or, _I send._ It is the participle used as the prophetic present. (Comp. Note on Malachi 1:11.) MY MESSENGER. — Heb., _Malachi, my angel,_ or _my messenger,_ with a play on the name of the prophet. In Malachi 2:7, he calls the priest the _angel_ or _messenger_ of the LORD. T... [ Continue Reading ]
This coming of the Lord to His temple acts as a crucial test (comp. Luke 2:35); the people ought, therefore, seriously to have considered how far they were prepared for that advent before they desired it so eagerly and impatiently.... [ Continue Reading ]
SONS OF LEVI. — Meaning especially the priests, the sons of Aaron, son of Amram, son of Kohath, son of Levi (Exodus 6:16); 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... [ Continue Reading ]
DAYS OF OLD... FORMER YEARS. — Perhaps, if we must define the period, from the time of Moses to the first year of the reign of Solomon. But we cannot be certain on this point. It seems to be one of the characteristics of Malachi to be somewhat of a _laudator temporis acti._ (Comp. Malachi 2:5.)... [ Continue Reading ]
All these crimes were explicitly forbidden by the Law. Sorcery (Exodus 22:18), adultery (Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22), false-swearing (Leviticus 19:12), defrauding, or withholding of wages (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14), oppressing the widow and orphan ... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT. — Better, _For I Jehovah change not._ Because it is the Eternal’s unchangeable will that the sons of Jacob, His chosen people, should not perish as a nation, He will purify them by the eradication of the wicked among them, that the remnant (the superior part; see Not... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN FROM... FATHERS. — Throughout the whole course of their history they had been a people (Exodus 32:9, &c.); and now, when exhorted to repent, they ask in feigned innocence: — WHEREIN SHALL WE RETURN?... RETURN UNTO ME... UNTO YOU. — Comp. Zechariah 1:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
ROBBED ME. — Because the tithes are said to be offered to Jehovah, and then He gives them to the Levites in place of an inheritance (Numbers 18:24). IN TITHES AND OFFERINGS. — See Notes on Exodus 23:19; Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:12; Numbers 18:21; Deuteronomy 18:4; Leviticus 3:1;... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Malachi 2:2; Malachi 3:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
The emphasis is on the word “all.” STOREHOUSE. — From the time of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:11) there were at the Sanctuary special storehouses built for this purpose; so, too, in the second Temple (Nehemiah 10:38; Nehemiah 12:44; Nehemiah 13:12). MEAT — _i.e.,_ food for the priests and Levites. O... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YOUR SAKES. — The same word as in Malachi 2:3 : here in a good sense, there in a bad. THE DEVOURER — _i.e.,_ the locust, &c. REBUKE. — Better, _corrupt._ The same word is used as in Malachi 2:3, but in a different construction. (With this verse comp. Haggai 1:6.)... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Zechariah 7:14; Zechariah 8:13; also Isaiah 62:4; Daniel 11:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
YOUR WORDS... AGAINST ME. — Better, _your words put a constraint on me_: viz., to prove myself to you to be “the God of judgment.” SPOKEN. — Or rather, _conversed together._ (Comp. Malachi 3:16.) They seem to have been in the habit of conversing together, and comparing the promises of God towards t... [ Continue Reading ]
MOURNFULLY — _i.e.,_ with all outward signs of fasting. (Comp. Matthew 6:16.) The fasting referred to is not that of the Day of Atonement, but of voluntary fasts. We see here, in already a somewhat developed form, that disposition to attribute merit to observances of outward forms of religion for th... [ Continue Reading ]
And now means _and so, consequently._ In this verse the prophet gives the words of the murmurers. (See Note on Malachi 3:13.) The statements of Malachi 3:13 show that they were of a very different character from such faithful servants of Jehovah as were at times sorely tempted against their will to... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN. — As a consequence of the unbelieving conversation of the wicked. What “they that feared the Lord” said is not recorded; but it is implied, by His approval of them, that they strengthened one another in their faith and reliance on the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord, in spite of the pres... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL BE... MY JEWELS. — Better, _And they shall be to_ me, _saith the Lord of hosts, a special possession, on the day that I am about to make._ “Special possession” (Exodus 19:5). DAY... MAKE. — The same expression occurs in Malachi 4:3. (Comp. Psalms 118:24.)... [ Continue Reading ]