Malachi 3:4

Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. THEN SHALL THE OFFERING OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM BE PLEASANT UNTO THE LORD, AS IN THE DAYS OF OLD - (Malachi 1:11; Malachi 2:5). The "offering" ( minchaah (H4503), Hebrew) is not expiatory, but beneficence, alms, "the sacrifice of praise to God continually," prayer, thanksgiving, and self-dedication (Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15;...

This verse shows, that though he had just spoken of the sons of Levi, he yet had regard to the whole people. But he meant to confine to the elect what ought not to have been extended to all, for there were among the people, as we have seen and shall again presently see, many who were reprobates, nay, the greater part had fallen away; and this is the reason why the Prophet especially addresses the few remaining who had not fallen away. But he names _Judeah and Jerusalem_, for that tribe had returned to their own country, and sacrifices were offered at Jerusalem, though not with the splendor of ancient times, the state of things having become much deteriorated among those miserable exiles. Hence the Prophet, that he might encourage the faithful, says, that though the temple was then mean, and the worship of God as then performed was unadorned and abject, yet there was no reason for the Lev...

1-6 The first words of this chapter seem an answer to the scoffers of those days. Here is a prophecy of the appearing of John the Baptist. He is Christ's harbinger. He shall prepare the way before him, by calling men to repentance. The Messiah had been long called, "He that should come," and now shortly he will come. He is the Messenger of the covenant. Those who seek Jesus, shall find pleasure in him, often when not looked for. The Lord Jesus, prepares the sinner's heart to be his temple, by the ministry of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, and he enters it as the Messenger of peace and consolation. No hypocrite or formalist can endure his doctrine, or stand before his tribunal. Christ came to distinguish men, to separate between the precious and the vile. He shall sit as a Refiner. Christ, by his gospel, shall purify and reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it,...

THEN (AND) SHALL THE OFFERING OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM - The “law,” the new revelation of God, was to Isaiah 2:3. “go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Judah and Jerusalem then are here the Christian Church. “They shall be, pleasant (literally sweet) unto the Lord.” It is a reversal (using the self-same word) of what God had said of them in the time of their religious decay Hosea 9:4. “they shall not offer wine-offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be sweet unto Him; Jeremiah 6:20. your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto Me.” AS IN THE DAYS OF OLD - , before the days of degeneracy; as it stands in the anci

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 THE OFFERING OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM BE PLEASANT UNTO THE LORD,.... Or "sweet" b; grateful and well pleasing to him, as all spiritual sacrifices are acceptable to God through Christ, being offered up in the faith of his atoning sacrifice and righteousness, without which it is impossible to please God: AS IN THE DAYS OF OLD, AND AS IN FORMER YEARS: under the first temple, and when the tabernacle was set up by Moses, and in the times of the patriarchs; and even before the flood, and as early as Abel, who offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, Hebrews 11:4. b ערבה "dulcescet", Vatablus, Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "dulce", Piscator....

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,

4. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MESSENGER AND THE DAY OF THE LORD CHAPTER 3:1-6 In this chapter and in the next we have the prophecies of Malachi as to the Messiah and His forerunner. The last verse of the preceding chapter belongs rightly to this chapter. “Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied Him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?” It is this last bold question, produced by their arrogant pride and self security which opens the way for the prophetic message in this chapter. “Where is the God of judgment?” The answer is, “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of h...

MALACHI 2:17 TO MALACHI 3:6. THE COMING OF JUDGMENT. This passage is addressed to those of the prophet's contemporaries who were so perplexed by the state of things around them that they had become sceptical of God's justice. The times were out of joint, prosperity was the lot of the wicked instead of the righteous. Their querulousness became a burden to Yahweh, so that He announces His immediate intervention; the day of Yahweh, long regarded as the panacea for all Israel's ills, is about to dawn. Malachi, like Amos (Amos 5:18) and other prophets, stamps the popular conception with an ethical value. Yahweh is even now sending His forerunner, possibly to be identified with Elijah ...

THEN SHALL THE OFFERING OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM BE PLEASANT TO THE LORD. It will then be acceptable as in the old days when Israel was faithful. Malachi declares (chap. 1:7) that they were wont to offer polluted bread on the altar, and blind, lame and sick beasts for sacrifice, while the law required the best. The mean, stingy, dishonest motives that caused such offerings, made the sacrifices an abomination. The pure hearts of Christ's people will enable them to offer pleasant sacrifices....