Malachi 2:17-3:6
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
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1 “Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of armies.
2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap.
3 And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5 “Then I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, those who oppress the wage earner in his wages or the widow or the orphan, and those who turn away the stranger from justice and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of armies.
6 “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.
The Coming of the Messenger of the Covenant (1)
Dialogical format
This passage prophesies the coming of the Messenger of the Covenant (the Messiah). In summary, Malachi 3:1 prophesies the Messiah’s First Coming, while Malachi 3:2-6 prophesies His Second Coming. (1) God says, “You have wearied the Lord with your words” (2:17). (2) The people respond, “How have we wearied Him?” (2:17). (3) Furthermore, with biting sarcasm they were saying, “‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,’ or, ‘Where is the God of justice?’” The Lord’s answer to this defiant question, “Where is the God of justice?” is found in Malachi 3:1-6. Judgment was about to come upon the unfaithful people, but before that judgment, a period of grace would be provided.
The First Coming of the Messiah
“‘Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of armies” (v 3:1). (1) The speaker is God the Father. “My messenger” refers to the forerunner of the Messiah, and that person is John the Baptist (Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 1:76). Furthermore, “the Lord, whom you are seeking” is the Messiah. He is the same person as “the Messenger of the Covenant.” (2) The word translated “Lord” in the phrase “the Lord, whom you are seeking” is the Hebrew word “Adon.” This term can be used of either a human master or of God. However, here it appears with the definite article as “ha-Adon” (“the Lord”), indicating that it refers to God Himself. In other words, this expression points to the deity of the Messiah. (3) “His temple” is the temple to which the Messiah would come, which is the Second Temple that was expanded by Herod the Great. That temple belongs to the Messiah. Jesus said to the merchants there, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers” (Matt. 21:13). (4) He is “the Messenger of the Covenant.” That is, He is the Messiah who comes to establish the New Covenant (Isa. 42:6). Let us take note that before judgment comes, a “time of grace” is provided. “For He says, ‘At a favorable time I listened to you, and on a day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is ‘a favorable time,’ behold, now is ‘a day of salvation’” (2 Cor. 6:2). Let us also place our trust in the grace of God.
Today's prayer
Father God of Jesus Christ, thank You for providing an opportunity for repentance. Please help me not to receive Your grace in vain. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.