CHAPTER III _In allusion to the custom of sending pioneers to prepare the_ _way for the march of an eastern monarch, the coming of_ _Christ's forerunner is described, and then the coming of_ _Christ himself_, 1; _with the terrible judgments which were to accompany that event,_ _in order to ref... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:2. _BUT WHO MAY ABIDE THE DAY OF HIS COMING?_] Only they who shall believe on his name; for they that _will_ not, shall be blinded, and the unbelieving nations shall be destroyed by the Romans. _LIKE FULLER'S SOAP_] כברית _keborith_, from ברר _barar_, to _cleanse_, any thing that de... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:3. _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 ins... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:5. _I WILL COME NEAR TO YOU TO JUDGMENT_] And what fearful cases does he get to judge! _Sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers,_ _defrauders of the wages_ of the _hireling, oppressors_ of _widows_ and _orphans_, and _perverters_ of the _stranger_ and such as _do not_ _fear the Lord_:... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:6. _I_ am _the Lord, I change not_] The new dispensation of grace and goodness, which is _now_ about to be introduced, is not the effect of any _change_ in my _counsels_; it is, on the contrary, the fulfilment of my everlasting purposes; as is also the throwing aside of the Mosaic ri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:7. _GONE AWAY FROM MINE ORDINANCES_] Never acting according to their spirit and design. _RETURN UNTO ME_] There is still space to repent. _WHEREIN SHALL WE RETURN?_] Their consciences were _seared_, and they knew not that they were _sinners_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:8. _WILL A MAN ROB GOD?_] Here is one point on which ye are guilty; ye withhold the _tithes_ and _offerings_ from the temple of God, so that the Divine worship is neglected.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:9. _YE_ ARE _CURSED WITH A CURSE_] The whole nation is under my displeasure. The curse of God is upon you.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:10. _BRING YE ALL THE TITHES_] They had so withheld these that the priests had not food enough to support life, and the sacred service was interrupted. See Nehemiah 13:10. _AND PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH_] What ye give to God shall never lessen your store. Give as ye _should_, and see wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:11. _I WILL REBUKE THE DEVOURER_] The _locusts_, c., shall not come on your crops and those that are in the country I will disperse and destroy. _NEITHER SHALL YOUR VINE CAST HER FRUIT_] Every _blossom_ shall bear _fruit_, and every _bunch of grapes_ come to _maturity_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:12. _ALL NATIONS SHALL CALL YOU BLESSED_] They shall see that a peculiar blessing of God rests upon you, and your _land_ _shall be delightsome_; like _Paradise_, the _garden of the Lord_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:13. _YOUR WORDS HAVE BEEN STOUT AGAINST ME_] He speaks here to _open infidels_ and _revilers_. _WHAT HAVE WE SPOKEN_] They are ready either to deny the whole, or impudently to maintain and defend what they had spoken!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:14. _YE HAVE SAID, IT IS VAIN TO SERVE GOD_] They strove to destroy the Divine worship; they asserted that it was _vanity_; that, if they performed acts of worship, they should be nothing the better; and if they abstained, they should be nothing the worse. This was their teaching to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:15. _AND NOW WE CALL THE PROUD HAPPY_] Proud and insolent men are the only happy people, for they domineer everywhere, and none dares to resist them. _THEY THAT WORK WICKEDNESS ARE SET UP_] The _humble_ and _holy_ are depressed and miserable; the _proud_ and _wicked_ are in places o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:16. _THEY THAT FEARED THE LORD_] There were a few godly in the land, who, hearing the language and seeing the profligacy of the rebels above, concluded that some signal mark of God's vengeance must fall upon them; they, therefore, as the corruption increased, cleaved the closer to th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:17. _THEY SHALL BE MINE_] I will acknowledge them as _my_ _subjects and followers_; in _the day_, especially, when I come to punish the wicked and reward the righteous. _WHEN I MAKE UP MY JEWELS_] סגלה _segullah_, my _peculium_, my _proper treasure_; that which is _a man's own_, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 3:18. _THEN SHALL YE RETURN_] To your _senses_, when perhaps _too_ _late_; and _discern_-see the difference which God makes, _between the_ _righteous and the wicked_, which will be most _marked_ and _awful_. _BETWEEN HIM THAT SERVETH GOD_] Your obedience to whom, ye said, would be unp... [ Continue Reading ]