The People’s Court

First, we witnessed the people’s interrogation of God. Next, we were reminded of God’s promise to send His messenger. Now, we see the need for purification of the priesthood. God does not commence by judging and cleansing the common Israelite; He starts by purifying the once-holy priesthood.

Malachi 3:2-3 cannot be about Jesus’ first coming, since Jesus did not come to refine, but to redeem. Jesus came to give His life up as a sacrifice for all of mankind. He came to emancipate sinners and establish His kingdom. At His second coming, though, He will act as judge and purifier. Martin Luther said, “There are only two days on my calendar. This day and that day.” For the Israelites, there were only two days on the calendar: today and the Day of the Lord. In the same manner, there are only two days that should matter to believers: today and the day Jesus returns to test our worth.

The passage is not a warning of destruction but a promise of purification. Malachi assures the people that the Messiah brings with Him the refiner’s fire. What is a refiner’s fire? It is a fire used to refine precious metals. Gold, silver, copper, and other metals are heated until they liquefy. The dross (i.e., impurities) floats to the top where the refiner can skim it off. Once the process is complete, the metal is free of impurities and, therefore, of greater worth and usefulness.

For Christians there are two forms of purification. The first takes place while we are on earth. Did you know that God’s divine instrument for molding and making us into the image of Christ is pain and suffering? He disciplines those whom He loves. Hebrews 12:5-6 and 11 explain it this way:

And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives. . . . No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

We are being purged here on earth from impurities, but we will finally be purified at the mercy seat. Every believer will experience testing, as through fire, before glorification. Read 1 Corinthians 3:11-15:

For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.

Only that which glorifies our Lord will stand the test of divine fire. The sin nature with which we have been cursed will be destroyed and we will be conformed to the image of Christ.

It is important, therefore, to examine daily the landscape of our spiritual lives. Scripture consistently reminds readers to examine themselves. Examination of works today is better than elimination of blessings tomorrow. So praise God for purging us through suffering. The goal of God is to conform us into the image of His Son. It is not to make us happy. It is not to keep us healthy. It is not to make us wealthy. It is to conform us into the image of His Son (Rom 8:29).

There is a final aspect to the text. We have seen the interrogation of God, the promise of the messenger’s coming, and the purification of the priest of God, but now we see the examination of Israel by God, the Judge. When judgment comes, the people will begin offering pleasing sacrifices in Jerusalem.

God expands the purification from the priests to the Israelites as a whole. God summons a star witness: Himself. He is the only one who can be trusted to act as an honest and discerning witness to the transgressions of His people. He is charging the nation for participating in four prohibited acts, each of which stems from not fearing the Lord: sorcery, adultery, lying, and oppressing vulnerable members of society.

Sorcery refers to when the people look to other places, whether to foreign gods or simple magic, for power and might. The people desire something or someone other than God, which exposes their lack of fear toward Him. Like sorcery, both adultery and lying were explicitly prohibited in the Ten Commandments. The covenant people, marked by the fear of the Lord, were to remain faithful to their partner and honest before God. In these sins, the people’s heart was revealed.

By oppressing the most vulnerable in society, Israel betrayed that they had forgotten their history. Throughout the Old Testament, God reminded Israel to care for the helpless because Israel had been a helpless nation in Egypt, yet the Lord set His heart to care for her (Exod 22:21). In oppressing the weak, the Israelites displayed conscious amnesia of the grace the Lord had extended to them.

You see, the fear of the Lord preserves us for the Day of Judgment. It teaches us to live in light of God’s grace and mercy. Without this proper fear, we are prone to forget the radical nature of the good news of the gospel and to wander from our covenant God. If we lack fear, we may be judged through fire to be lacking worth, showing that we had never truly surrendered to God in the first place.

The good news of Malachi 2:17–3:5 is that there was a “Messenger of the Covenant” who would come. He upheld the covenant between God and Israel in His life, and He sealed the covenant in His blood at the cross. Every time Christians take the Lord’s Supper they proclaim that the messenger has come and He will come again. We look back at His faithfulness, resting in the promise of His grace. In the courtroom of heaven, Jesus’ blood will be our plea. And by His power, looking forward to His return, we live with a reverential fear of the Lord, doing good works that will be tested and approved, fully pleasing to God, just like our King Jesus.