Malachi 3:1-9

1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.

2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,

4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

5 “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.

9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.

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Malachi 3:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO MALACHI 3

This chapter begins with a prophecy of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ; and of the coming of Christ, and the effects and consequences of it, with respect both to the righteous and the wicked; and it contains accusations and charges of sin against the Jews, intermixed with exhortations to repentance. John the Baptist is promised to be sent, and is described by his office as a messenger, and by his work, to prepare the way of the Lord; and the Messiah is prophesied of, who is described by his characters; with respect to himself, the Lord and Messenger of the covenant; with respect to the truly godly among the Jews, as the object of their desire and delight; whose coming is spoken of as a certain thing, and which would be sudden; and the place is mentioned he should come into, Mal 3:1 and this his coming is represented as terrible to the wicked, and as trying and purifying to the righteous, expressed by the various similes of a refiner's fire, and fuller's soap; and the end answered by it, their offering a righteous offering to the Lord, Mal 3:2-4 but with respect to the wicked, he declares he should be a swift witness against them, whose characters are particularly given, and this assured from his immutability; the consequence of which to the saints is good, being their security from destruction, Mal 3:5,6 and next a charge is commenced against the wicked Jews, as that in general they had for a long time revolted from the Lord, and were guilty of sins of omission and commission, and are therefore exhorted to return to the Lord, with a promise that he will return to them, and yet they refuse, Mal 3:7 and, in particular, that they were guilty of sacrilege, and so accounted, even the whole nation, in withholding tithes and sacrifices, which they are exhorted to bring in; to which they are encouraged with promises of blessings of prosperity and protection, Mal 3:8-12 and that they had spoken impudent and blasphemous words against the Lord; which, though excepted to, is proved by producing their own words, Mal 3:13-15 and by the contrary behaviour of those that feared the Lord, who were taken notice of by him, and were dear unto him, Mal 3:16,17 wherefore it is suggested, that the time would come when there would be a manifest difference made between the one and the other, Mal 3:18.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 32

1. S Numbers 27:21; S 2 Chronicles 36:15
2. S Isaiah 40:3; S Matthew 3:3; Matthew 11:10*; Mark 1:2*; Luke 7:27*
3. Micah 5:2
4. S Isaiah 42:6
5. S 1 Samuel 9:20
6. S Ezekiel 22:14; Revelation 6:17
7. S Ezekiel 7:7; S Daniel 7:13; S Joel 2:31; S Matthew 16:27; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:4; S Revelation 1:7
8. S 1 Samuel 6:20
9. S Isaiah 1:31; S Isaiah 30:30; S Zechariah 13:9; Matthew 3:10-12
10. S Job 9:30
11. S Daniel 12:10; S 1 Corinthians 3:13
12. S 1 Chronicles 23:28; S Isaiah 1:25
13. S Job 28:1; S Psalms 12:6; 1 Peter 1:7; Revelation 3:18
14. S Psalms 132:9
15. 2 Chronicles 7:12; Psalms 51:19; Malachi 1:11
16. S 2 Chronicles 7:3; S Ezekiel 20:40
17. S Exodus 7:11; S Isaiah 47:9
18. Exodus 20:14; James 2:11; 2 Peter 2:12-14
19. Leviticus 19:11-12; S Jeremiah 7:9
20. S Leviticus 19:13; James 5:4
21. S Exodus 22:22
22. S Exodus 22:21; S Deuteronomy 24:19; S Ezekiel 22:7
23. S Deuteronomy 31:12; S Isaiah 1:2
24. S Numbers 23:19; S Hebrews 7:21; James 1:17
25. S Job 34:15; S Hosea 11:9
26. S Exodus 32:8; S Jeremiah 7:26; Acts 7:51
27. S Isaiah 44:22; S Ezekiel 18:32
28. S Zechariah 1:3; James 4:8
29. S Malachi 1:2
30. S Zechariah 5:3
31. S Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:21; S Nehemiah 13:10-12; Luke 18:12
32. S Deuteronomy 11:26; Deuteronomy 28:15-68; S Zechariah 5:3