The Book of Malachi

Hebrew Study

Explanation

To the cynical who asked "Where is the God of judgment?", God answers: He is coming. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me", John the Baptist, "and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant", the Lord Jesus. But His coming is no small thing: "who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap." He comes to purify, sitting "as a refiner... of silver," purging His people "as gold and silver" so they may offer "an offering in righteousness."

His coming also brings judgment on evildoers: "a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling... the widow, and the fatherless." Then comes the anchor of it all: "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." The God who is coming to refine and judge is the unchanging God, and His very unchangeableness is the reason His covenant people are preserved rather than destroyed. His faithfulness, not theirs, keeps them.

Gospel Focus

This passage is a window onto Christ. The One who prepares the way is John the Baptist, and "the Lord... the messenger of the covenant" who comes suddenly to His temple is Jesus, in whom the LORD Himself came to His people. God said, "prepare the way before me," and then "the Lord shall come", the coming Lord is God, "God... manifest in the flesh." When Jesus entered the temple, the prophecy was fulfilled. And His coming refines: He purifies His people "as gold and silver." The gospel is not only pardon but purification; Christ comes to make us clean, "that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26). If His refining fire is at work in you through trials and conviction, it is His love making you an "offering in righteousness."

And rest your whole soul on "I am the LORD, I change not." Everything about you changes, your feelings, your faithfulness, your circumstances, but God does not. His love does not cool, His promises do not lapse, His purposes do not fail. And the sweetest part is the "therefore": because He does not change, "ye... are not consumed." Your salvation does not hang on your shaky constancy but on His unshakable faithfulness. When you have failed and fear you have exhausted His patience, remember: "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed." The unchanging God, the same "yesterday, and to day, and for ever" in Jesus Christ, holds His people fast. Build your life on the Rock that does not move.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

God diagnoses the root: "ye are gone away from mine ordinances." Then comes the gracious call and promise: "Return unto me, and I will return unto you." Their cynical reply, "Wherein shall we return?", shows they did not even see their sin. So God names one glaring form of it: they had robbed Him. "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me... In tithes and offerings." By withholding what belonged to God, they had brought a curse on themselves, "ye are cursed with a curse."

Then God issues His remarkable challenge: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse... and prove me now herewith... if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Honor Me, He says, and test whether I will not flood you with blessing. He promises to "rebuke the devourer" so their crops are protected, and to make them "a delightsome land" that "all nations shall call... blessed." The path from robbing God to overflowing blessing is simply to return and honor Him with what is His.

Gospel Focus

"Return unto me, and I will return unto you" is the heartbeat of the gospel. God does not wait for us to fix ourselves; He calls us to turn back, and pledges to meet us. This is the good news for every wanderer: the way home is open, and God Himself comes to meet the returning heart, as the father ran to the prodigal. If you have "gone away from mine ordinances," you do not have to stay away; return, and He will return to you. The saddest thing in this chapter is not their sin but their blindness, "Wherein shall we return?" Do not be blind to your own need to come home; hear the call, "return," and take the step.

And consider the God who says "prove me now herewith." He is so generous that He invites His stingy people to test His generosity. Honoring God with our substance, giving, tithing, openhandedness, is not loss but the doorway to blessing, for God is no man's debtor. "Give, and it shall be given unto you." This is not a formula for getting rich (the abuse of this verse dishonors it), but a revelation of God's openhanded heart toward those who honor Him. He delights to "open... the windows of heaven" over the generous. The gospel takes it further, for God "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all," and with Him will "freely give us all things" (Romans 8:32). The God who gave His Son will not be outgiven. Return to Him, honor Him with your all, and prove for yourself the overflowing generosity of the God who cannot be a debtor.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

God exposes the cynicism of the people: their "words have been stout against" Him. They had said, "It is vain to serve God... what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance?" Seeing the proud and wicked prosper, they concluded that godliness did not pay, "they that work wickedness are set up." It is the old complaint that the wicked flourish and the faithful gain nothing.

But against that dark backdrop shines a faithful remnant: "they that feared the LORD spake often one to another." They did not join the cynics; they encouraged each other, "and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him." God noticed and recorded their faithfulness. And He makes them a promise: "they shall be mine... in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." The faithful are God's treasured jewels, whom He will gather and spare. And in that day the difference the cynics could not see will be plain: "then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked." Serving God is never vain; it is written in His book and rewarded in His day.

Gospel Focus

This passage speaks to everyone tempted to think that following God "is vain." When the wicked prosper and the faithful struggle, it can seem that godliness gains nothing. But God answers that lie decisively. He keeps "a book of remembrance" for those who fear Him; nothing done in faith is forgotten, "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love." And He calls His faithful ones His "jewels," His treasured possession, whom He will gather and spare "as a man spareth his own son." Far from being overlooked, the faithful are God's precious treasure, and their reward is certain. "Your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Notice, too, the simple thing the faithful did: they "spake often one to another." In a cynical age, they encouraged each other to keep fearing God, and heaven recorded it. This is a picture of the fellowship of God's people, "exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). When the world mocks godliness, the faithful strengthen one another to hold fast, and God hears every such conversation. So do not grow weary in well-doing, and do not let the prospering of the wicked make you cynical. God is keeping His book, He treasures you as His jewel, and in the day He gathers His treasure, He will say of you, "they shall be mine." Serving God is never in vain; it is remembered, rewarded, and treasured forever.