Charles Spurgeon Commentary Malachi 3
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Malachi 3
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Malachi 3
"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts." — Malachi 3:1 (ASV)
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.
And the Lord, whom you 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 you 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 hosts.
Christ was the great messenger of the covenant, the messenger of mercy; and the Lord's own people, even in that ancient time, delighted in anticipating the coming of the Christ of God, the anointed and appointed messenger of the Lord of hosts.
"But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner`s fire, and like fuller`s soap:" — Malachi 3:2 (ASV)
All that only looked like religion, but was not real and genuine, was purged away at his coming. He was like a refiner's fire, consuming the false pretensions of the Pharisees, and the vain boastings of the Scribes. There is, in the religion of Jesus Christ, a power that is a great purgative and a great refiner.
"and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness." — Malachi 3:3 (ASV)
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:
Christ comes suddenly, but he comes to stay: He shall sit. If he comes into our heart at this moment, – and he may come there suddenly, – he will come to stay there, and he will sit there as a refiner and purifier of silver.
And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Those men, called to holy service, shall offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness after he has cleansed and purified them.
You cannot worship God rightly until you have been cleansed by Christ. Until then, you are like priests with defiled feet, unfit to come into the sanctuary of God; but when Christ has purified you, do not fail to draw near to God, and to present your thanks-offering to him.
"Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner [from his right], and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts." — Malachi 3:4-5 (ASV)
See how hard taskmasters are put, by divine inspiration, with sorcerers, adulterers, and false swearers. They do not think badly of themselves, but the Lord thinks badly of them, and His judgment is always just.
"For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." — Malachi 3:6 (ASV)
This is their comfort; even the immutability of God is on the side of his people. He is just, and always just; he hates sin, and always hates sin; yet that unchangeableness of his is always on the side of the people of his choice.
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