Malachi 3:18

Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? He notices the complaint of the Jews, that it is of no profit to serve Yahweh, for that the ungodly-proud are happy; and declares he will soon bring the day when it shall be known that He puts an everlasting distinction between the godly and the ungodly. YOUR WORDS HAVE BEEN STOUT - Hebrew [chaazquw], 'hard:' so "the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 1:15). (Henderson.) YET YE SAY, WHAT HAVE WE SPOKEN SO MUCH AGAINST THEE? The Hebrew [ nidbarnuw (H1696)] expresses at once their assiduity and habit of speaking God (Vatablus). The Niphal form of the verb implies that these things were said, not directly...

This verse at the first view seems to be addressed to the faithful; for there never has been a turning as to the reprobate: but as the word has a wide meaning, the passage may be suitably applied to the whole people, according to what we find in Zechariah, “They shall see him whom they have pierced;” for we have said that this might be understood both of the good and of the bad. So also the whole people might be viewed as addressed in these words. But when we more minutely examine all circumstances, it seems that Malachi more particularly addressed the ungodly, and checked again their furious blasphemies; for we find almost the same sentiment expressed here, as when he said, “The Lord whom ye expect shall come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant whom ye seek;” and at the same time he showed that the coming of Christ, which they said was advancing too slowly, would not be such as...

13-18 Among the Jews at this time, some plainly discovered themselves to be children of the wicked one. The yoke of Christ is easy. But those who work wickedness, tempt God by presumptuous sins. Judge of things as they will appear when the doom of these proud sinners comes to be executed. Those that feared the Lord, spake kindly, for preserving and promoting mutual love, when sin thus abounded. They spake one to another, in the language of those that fear the Lord, and think on his name. As evil communications corrupt good minds and manners, so good communications confirm them. A book of remembrance was written before God. He will take care that his children perish not with those that believe not. They shall be vessels of mercy and honour, when the rest are made vessels of wrath and dishonour. The saints are God's jewels; they are dear to him. He will preserve them as his jewels, when t...

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 unprofitable to you. _AND HIM THAT SERVETH HIM NOT._] Of whom ye said, his disobedience would be no prejudice to him. You will find the former received into the kingdom of glory; and the latter, with yourselves, thrust down into the bitter pains of an eternal death. Reader, ponder these things. In the great day of the Lord, at least, if not long before, it will be fully discovered who have been the truly wise people; those who took up their cross and followed Christ; or those who sat

THEN SHALL YE RETURN, OR TURN - , not, “return” in the sense of returning to God, for in that day will be the time of judgment, not of repentance; nor yet, “then shall ye again see;” for this is what they denied; and, if they had ceased to deny it, they would have been converted, not in that day, but before, when God gave them grace to see it. They shall turn, so as to have other convictions than before; but, as Judas. The Day of Judgment will make a great change in earthly judgment. Last shall be first and first last; this world’s sorrow shall end in joy, and worldly joy in sorrow; afflictions shall be seen to be God’s love: Psalms 119:75, “Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me;” and the unclouded prosperity of the ungodly to be God’s abandonment of them. The picture of the surprise of the wicked in the Day of Judgment, in the Wisdom of Solomon, is a c

EXPOSITION MALACHI 3:1 BEHOLD, I WILL SEND (_I send_) MY MESSENGER. God answers that he is coming to show himself the God of judgment and justice. Are they ready to meet him and to bear his sentence? Who this "messenger" is is disputed. That no angel or heavenly visitant is meant is clear from historical considerations, as no such event took place immediately before the Lord came to his temple. Nor can Malachi himself be intended, as his message was delivered nearly four, hundred years before Messiah came. The announcement is doubtless founded upon Isaiah 40:3, and refers to the same person as the older prophet mentions, who is generally allowed to be John the Baptist, the herald of Christ's advent ...

THEN SHALL YE RETURN,.... Either the wicked, who will be "converted" z, as some render the word, and will have a different view of things, and change their minds and language; or they that feared the Lord, who at the time before spoken of will have a new turn of thought, and another and clear discerning of persons and things, and better judge of the dispensations of Providence: some that refer this to the resurrection of the dead, and the last judgment, understand it, as Abarbinel does, of the returning of souls to their bodies, when indeed the difference between persons after described will be very discernible; but it seems to refer to the time of Christ's first coming, and Jerusalem's destruction: AND DISCERN BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED; the difference between such who are really and truly righteous, who are here meant, even such who believe in Christ, and are justified by hi...

Malachi 3:1. _Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:_ The name Malachi means «my messenger.» The reference here is, of course, to John the Baptist, who was to prepare the way of the Lord. Malachi 3:1. _And the lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,_ Now, the temple at Jerusalem is utterly destroyed, so how can the Jews still think the Lord, whom they profess to seek, will suddenly come to his temple? He must have come there already, so we know he did, for there is not one stone of the temple left standing upon another: «The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,» Malachi 3:1. Even the messenger of the covenant,

GOD Summary of the Old Testament Revelation of Deity: God is revealed in the Old Testament. (1) through His names, as follows: English Form Hebrew Equivalent Primary God LORD Lord El, Elah, or Elohim (Genesis 1:1) note) Jehovah (Genesis 2:4); note) Adon or Adonai (Genesis 15:2); note) Compound (with El = God) Almighty God Most High, or most high God everlasting God El Shaddai (Genesis 17:1); note) El Elyon (Genesis 14:18); note) El Olam (Genesi

THE REMNANT AND THE CONCLUDING PROPHECY CHAPTER 3:16-4:6 In the midst of all these moral conditions, the apostasy of the masses, we find a pleasing picture of a godly portion, whom the Lord mentions in a special manner. There were those who feared the Lord. They had no sympathy with the wicked practices of their brethren; they did not share the contempt and unbelief manifested by the rank and file of the people. They were drawn together by the Spirit of God; they had fellowship one with another. They came together to think upon His Name, to honor Him, to read His Word, to call unto the Lord. And the Lord heard; He was pleased with them, and He is represented as recording their names in the Book of Remembrance, the bookkeeping in glory Psalms 56:8. He has a special promise for such. “And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spa