ideal. " My fellow," t. e., m?/ cwt.voci'c (continued)
T!te Plague of Je-'usalem' s Enemiet. ZECHARIAH XIV. The Remnant shall Tarn to the Lord, viz., against the foe: not against Jerusalem, as Maurkb translates in variance with the context. As to the spoil gained from the foe, cf. Ezekiel 39. 10, 17. 15. The plague shall aft'ect tlie very beasts belonging to the foe. A typical foretaste of all this befell Autiochus Epiphaues and hig host at Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 13.49; 2 Maccabees 9. 5). 16. every one . . . left—(Lsalah 66. 19, 23.) God will conquer all the foes of the Cliurcli. .Some He will destroy, otliers He will bring into willing subjection, from year to year—lit., "from the sufficiency of a year in a year." feast of tabernacles—Tlie other two great yearly leasts, passover and pentecost, are not specified, because, tlieir antitypes having dome, the types are done away with. But the feast of tabernacles will be commemorative of the Jews' sojourn, not merely forty years in the wilderness, but for almost 2000 years of their dispersion. So it was kept on their return from the Babylonian dispersion (Nehemiah 8. 14-17). It was the feast on which Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem ( Matthew 21. 8); a pledge of His return to His capital to reign (cf. Leviticus teaches us to wait the lord's own time (Matthew 24. 30). not day, iior nJglit—answering to " not . . . clear nor . . .
' (u.6j; not altogether daylight, yet not the darkness tlurk of night, at evening . . . shall be light— towards the close of this twiliglitlike time of calamity "light" shall spring up (Psalm 97. 11; 112. i; Isaiah 30. 2U; GO. 19, 20). 8. lU-lng waters—(Ezekiel 47. 1 ; Joel 3. 18.) former sea— u e., the front, or east, which Orientalists face in taking the points of tlie compass; the Dead Sea. hinder scathe west or Mediterranean, summer . . . winter—neitiier dried up by heat, nor frozen by cold; ever flowing. 9. King over all . . . earth—Isaiah 54. 5 implies that tliis
Is to be the consequence of Israel being again recognized by God as His own people (Daniel 2. 44 ; Revelation 11. 15). one Lord . . . name one—Not that He is not so already, but He shall then be recognized by all unanimously as "One." Now there are "gods many and lords many." Then Jehovah alone shall be worshipped. The manijestation of the unity of the Godhead shall be simultaneous with that of the unity of the Church. Believers are one
23. 34, 39, 40, 42; Revelation 7. 9 ; 21. 3). A feast of peculiar joy (Psalm 118. 15; Hosea 12. 9). The feast on which Jesus gave the invitation to the living waters of salvation in spirit already, even as God is one (Ephesians 4. 3-6). But externally there are sad divisions. Not until these disappear, shall God reveal fully His unity to the world (John 17. 21, 23). Then shall there be "a pure language,
(" Hosanna," save us now, was tlie cry, Matthew 21. 9; cf. Psalm 118. 25. 26) (John 7. 2, 37). To the Gentiles, too, it will be significant of perfected salvation alter past wanderings in a moral wilderness, as it originallj' commemorated the ingathering of the harvest. The seed-time of tears shall then have issued in the harvest of joy. [Moore.] "All that all may call upon the name of the Lord witli one consent" (Zephaniah 3. 9). The Son too shall at last give up His mediatorial kingdom to the Father, when the purposes for which It was established shall have been accomplished, "that God maybe all in all" (1 Corinthians 15. 24). 10. turned—or, "ciiauged roundabout:" lit., to makeacirtlie nations" could not possibly in person go up to the feast, but they may do so by representatives. 17. no rain —including every calamity which usually follows in the East fi Kim want of rain, viz., scarcity of provisions, famine pestilence, <fec. Rain is the symbol also of God's favour (Hosea 6. 3). That there shall be unconverted men under the millennium appears from the outbreak of Gog and Magog at the end of it (Revelation 20. 7-9); but they, like Satan their master, shall be restrained during the thousand years. Note, too, from this verse that the Gentiles shall come up to Jerusalem, rather than tlie Jews go as mi-ssionaries to the Gentiles (Isaiah 2. 2 ; Micah 5. 7). However, Isaiah 66. 19 may imply the converse. 18. if . . . Egypt go not up—specified as Israel's ancient foe. If Egypt go not up, and so there be no rain on them (a judgment whicl Egypt would condemn, as depending on the Nile's overflow, not on rain), there shall be the plague, &c. Because the guilty are not alfected by one judgment, let them not think to escape, for God has other judgments which shall plague them. Maurer translates, "If Egypt go not up, upon them also there shall be none" (no rain). Psalm 105. 32 mentions " rain" in Egypt. But it is not cuit. The whole hilly land round Jerusalem, which would prevent the free passage of the living waters, shall be changed so as to be "as a (or the) plain" (Isaiah 40. 4). from Geba to Riiumon—Geba (2 Kings 23. 8) in Benjamin, the north border of Judah. Rimmon, in Simeon (Joshua 15.32), the south border of Judah; not the Rimmon north-east of Michmash. " The plain from Geba to Rimmon" (<. e., from one boundary to the other) is the Arabah or plain of the Jordan, extending from the Sea of Tiberias to the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea. it shall be lifted up-^iz., Jerusalem shall be exalted, the hills all round being lowered (Micah 4. 1). inhabited In her place—(Ch. 12. ti.) from Benjamin's gate—leading to tlie territory of Benjamin. The same as Ephraim's gate, the north boundary of the city (2 Kings 14. 13). the ftrst gate —west of the city. [Gkotius.] "The place of," &c., implies that the gate itself was then not in existence. " The old gate" (Nehemiah 3. 6). the corner gate—east of the city. [Grotius.] Or the "corner" joining the north and west parts of the wall. [Villalpandus.] Gbotius thinks "corners" refers to the towers there built (of. Margin, Zephaniah 8. (i). tower of Hananeel—south of the city, near the sheep-gate (Nehemiah 3.1; 12.39; Jeremiali tlieir main source of fertility. 19. punishment- /i7., «j7i;
1. e., punishment for sin. 30. shall there be upon the bells—W2., this inscription, " Holiness to the Lord," the same as was on the mitre of the liigh priest (Exodus 28.
31.38). [Gbotius.J king's winepresses — (Song of Solomon 8. 11.) In the interior of the city, at Zion. [Guo-
TIUS.J H. no more utter destruction—(Jeremiah 31. 40. >
30). This implies that all things, even tlie most common, shall be sacred to Jehovah, and not merely the things whicli under the law had peculiar sanctity attached to them. The "bells" were metal plates hanging from the necks of horses and camels as ornaments, which tinkled (as the Hebrew root means) by striking against each other. Bells are found represented on the walls of Sennacherib's palace at Koyunjik attached to horses, pots . . . like
Lit., no more curse (Revelation 22.3; cf. Malachi 4.6), for there will be no more sin. Temporal blessings and spiritual prosperity shall go together in the millennium: long life (Isaiah 65. 20-22), peace (Isaiali 2. 4), honour (Isaiah 60. 14-16), r.^hteous government (Isaiah W. 14; 60. 18). Judgment, as usual, begins at the house Of God, but then falls fatally on Antichrist, whereon the Church obtains perfect liberty. The last day will end everything evil (Romans 8. 21). [Auberlen.] 13. Punishment on the foe, the last Antichristian confederacy (Isaiah 59. 18 ; 66. 24 ; Ezekiel 38., 39. ; Revelation 19. 17-21). A living death : the corruption (Galatians 6. 8) of death combined in ghastly union with the conscious sensibility of life. .Sin will be felt by the sinner in all its loathsomeness, inseparably clinging to him as a festering, putrid body. 13. tumult—consternation (ch. 12. 4; 1 Samuel 14.
. . . bowls — the vessels used for boiling, for receiving ashes, Ac, shall be as holy as the bowls used for catching the blood of the sacriflcig,! victims {Note, ch. 9. 15; 1 Samuel
2. 14). The priesthood of Christ will be explained more fully both by the Mosaic types and by the New Testament in that temple of which Ezekiel speaks. Then the Song of Solomon, now obscure, will be understood, for tlie marriage feast of the Lamb will be celebrated in heaven (Revelation 19.), and on earth it will be a .Solomonic period, peaceful, glorious, and nuptial. There will be no king but a prince; the sabbatic period of the judges will return, but not with the Old Testament, but New Testament glory (Isaiah 1. 26 ; Ezekiel 45). [Roos.] 31. every pot—even in private houses, as in the temple, shall be deemed holy, so universal shall be the consecration of all things aud per-
15, 20). lay hold . . . on . . . hand of . . . neighbour Instinctively gra.sping It, as if thereby to be safer, but in vain. [Menochius.] Rather, in order to assail " liis neighbour ' [Calvin] (Ezekiel 38. 21). Sin is the cause of all quarrels on earth . 1*. will cause endless quarrels in liell (James 3. 15, 16). 14. Judah . . . fight at Jerusalem—
The Prophet Complaineth oj MALACHI 1. IsraeVs Irreligiousness and Profaneness.
Bons to Jehovah, take of tliem—as readily as they would take of the pots of the temple itself, wliatever number they wanted for sacrifice, no . . . Canaanite—no unclean or ungodly person (Isaiah 35. 8; 52. 1 ; Joel 3. 17). C;f. as to the final state subsequent to the millennium, Revelation
21. 27; 22. 15. Maurer not so weH translatex "merchant" here, as in Proverbs 31. 24. If a ni.an would have the beginnings of heaven, it must be by absolute consecration of everything to God on earth. Let his life be a liturgy, a holy service of acted worshtp. [Mooke.]
MALACHI.
INTRODUCTION.
Malachi forms the transition-link between the two dispensations, the Old and the New, " the skirt and boundarj of Christianity" [Tertullian], to which perhaps is due the abrupt earnestness which characterizes his prophecies. His very name is somewhat uncertain. Malachi is the name of an of Hce, rather than a person, " my messenger,"' and as such Is found, ch. 3. 1. LXX. favours this view in ch. 1. 1, translate, not " by Malachi," but "by the hand of His messenger" (cf. Haggai 1. 13). Malachi is the last inspired messenger of the Old Testament, announcing the advent of the Great Messenger of the New Testament. The Chaldee paraphrase identifies him with Ezra wrongly, as Ezra is never called a prophet but a scribe, and Malachi never a scribe but a prophet. Still it hence appears that Malachi was by some old authorities not regarded as a proper name. The analogy of the headings of other prophets, however, favours the common view that Malachi Is a proper name. As Haggai and Zechariah, the contemporary prophets, supported Joshua and Zerubbabel in the building of the temple, so he at a subsequent period supported the priest Ezra and the governor Nehemiah. Like that ruler, he presupposes the temple to have been already built (ch. 1. 10 ; 3. 1-10). Both alike censure the abuses still unreformed (Nehemiah 13. 5, 15-22, 23-30), the profane and mercenary character of the priests, the people's marriages contracted with foreigners, and the non-payment of the tithes, and want of sympathy towards the poor on the part of the rich. Nehemiah 6. 7 implies that Nehemiah was supported by prophets .n his work of reformation. The date thus will be about 420 b. c, or later. Both the periods after the captivity (that ol Haggai and Zechariah, and that of Malachi) were marked hy royal, priestly, and prophetic men at the head of God's people. The former period was that of the building of the temple; the latter, that of the restoration of the people and rebuilding of the city. It Is characteristic of the people of God that the first period after the restoration was exclusively devoted to the rebuilding of the temple; the political restoration came secondarily. Only a colony of 50,000 settled with Joshua and Zerubbabel In Palestine (Ezra 2. 64). Even these became intermingled with the heathen around during the sixty years passed over by Ezra in silence (Ezra 9. 6-15; Nehemiah 1. 3). Hence a second restoration was needed which should mould the national life into a Jewish form, re-establishing the holy law and the holy city—a work ef Tected by Ezra and Nehemiah, with the aid of Malachi, in a period of about half a century, ending with the deaths of Malachi and Nehemiah in the last ten years of the fifth century b. c. ; i. e., the "seven weeks" (Daniel 9.25) put in the beginning of the "seventy" by themselves, to mark the fundamental difl'erence between them, the last period of Old Testament revelation, and the period which followed without any revelation (the sixtytwo weeks), preceding the final week standing out in unrivalled dignity by itself as the time of Messiah's appearing. The seventy weeks thus begin with the seventh year of Artaxerxes, who allowed Ezra to go to Jerusalem, 457 b. c, in accordance with the commandment which then went forth from God. Ezra the priest performed the inner work of purifying the nation from heathenish elements and reintroducing the law; whilst Nehemiah did the outer work of rebuilding the city and restoring the national polity. [Aubkrlkn.] Vitrinqa makes the date of Malachi's prophecies to be about the second return of Nehemiah from Persia, not later than 424 b. c, the date of Artaxerxes' death (Nehemiah 13. 6). About this time Socrates was teaching the only approach to a pure morality which corrupt Athens ever knew. Mooke distinguishes six portions: (I.) Charge against Israel for insensibility to God's love, which so distinguished Israel above Edom (ch. 1. 1-6). (II.) The priests are reproved for neglect and profanation (ch. 1. 0 to ch.
2. 9). (III.) Mixed marriages, and the wrongs done to Jewish wives are reproved (ch. 2. 10-16). (IV.) Coming of Messiah and His forerunners (ch. 2. 17 to ch. 3. 6). (V.) Reproof for tithes withheld (ch. 3. 7-12). (VI.) Contrast between the godly and the ungodly at the present time, and in the future Judgment; exhortation, therefore, to return to the law (ch. 3. 13 to ch. 4. 6).
The style is animated, but less grand, and the rhythm less marked, than In some of the older prophets. The canonicity of the book is established by the references to it in the New Testament (Matthew 11. 10; 17. 12; Mark
1. 2; 9. 11, 12; Luke 1. 17; Romans 9. 13).
men ; nay, even above the other descendanlfi of Abraham and Isaac. Such gratuitous love on my part called for love on yours. But the return ye make is sin and dishonour to mo. This which is to be supplied is left unexpressed, sorrow as it were breaking off the sentence [Menochids] (Deuteronomy 7. 8; Hosea 11. 1). WUereln
CHAPTER I.
Ver. 1-14. God's Love: Israel's Ingratitude: Tub Priests' Mercenary Spirit: A Gentile Spiritual Priesthood shall Supersede them. 1. bnrden— heavy sentence, to Israel—represented now hy tl)e two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with Individuals of the ten tribes who had returned with the Jews from Babylon. So "Israel" is used, Ezra 7. 10. Cf. 2 Chronicles 21. 2, ".Tehoshaphat king of Israel," where Judali, rather than the ten tribes, is regarded as the truest representative of Israel (cf. 2 Chronicles 12. 6; 28. 19). Malaclil—see Introduc-
Iiiast thou loved ust—In painful contrast to the tearful tenderness of God's love stands their insolent challenge. The root of their sin was Insensiljility to God's love, and to their own wickedness. Having had prosperity taken from them, they imply they have no tokens of God's love; they look at what God had taken, not at what God had left. God's love is often least acknowledged where it tion. God sent no prophet after him till John Baptist, tlie forerunner of Christ, in order to enfiame His people with the more ardent desire for Him, the great antitype and is most manifested. We must not infer God does not love us because He afflicts us. Men, instead of referring their sufi%rlugs to their proper cause, their own sin, impiously
I'ulIUler of prophecy, ft. I have loved you—above other 730
MALACni II.
IsraeFa Irreligiouness and Proja/tieneu.
The Prophet Complaineth of offered by you the oirerlng with which ye put off QoH (see Leviticus 22.22,21). Is It not evil T-^Mauker tran»- lates, "There is no evil," in your opinion, in such an ottering; it is quite good enough for sucli a purpose. 9. now . . . beseech God that he will be gracious—Ironical. Think you that God will be persuaded by such polluted gifts to be gracious to you ? Far from it. this hath been by your means lit., hand. These contemptible ofl'erings are your doing, as being the priests mediating between God and the people; and think you, will God pay any regard to you (cf. v. 8, 10)? "Accept thy person" accuse God of indifference to their welfare. [Moobb.] Thus the four first verses form a fit introductiou to the whole prophecy. Was not Esau .Tacob's brother 1 and so, fis far as dignity went, as much entitled to God's favour as Jacob. My adoption of Jacob, therefore, was altogether by gratuitous favour (Romans 9. 13). So God has passed by our elder brethren, the angels who kept not their first estate, and yet has provided salvation for man. The perpetual rejection of the fallen angels, like the perpetual desolations of Edom, attests God's severity to the lost, and goodness to those gratuitously saved. The sovereign eternal purpose of God Is the only ground on which He bestows on one favours withheld from another. There are difficulties in referring salvation to the election of God, there are greater in referring it to the election of man. [Mooke.] Jehovah illustrates His condescension and patience in arguing the case with them. 3. bated not positively, but relatively ; f. e., did not clioose him out to be the object of gratuitous favor, as I did Jacob
(" face"), r. 8. answers to "regard your persons," in this verse. 10. Who . . . for naught—Not one even of the least priestly functions (as shutting the doors, or kindling a fire on the altar) would ye exercise without pay, therefore ye ought to fulfil them faithfully (1 Corinthians 9. 13). Drusius and Maurer translate, "Would that there were absolutely some one of you who would shut the doors of the temple (f. e., of the inner court, in wliich was the altar of burnt offerings), and that ye would not kindle fire on my altar in vain !" Better no sacrifices tlian vain ones (Isaiah 1. 11-15). It was the duty of some of the priests to stand at the doors of the court of the altar of burnt offerings, and to have excluded blemished victims. [Calvin.] II. For—Since ye Jewisli priests and people "despise my name" (v. 6), I shall find others who will magnify it (Matthew 3. 9). Do not think I shall have no worshippers because I have not you; for from the east to the west my name shall be great among the Gentiles (Isaiah 66. 19, 20), those very peoples whom ye look down upon as abomin-
(of. Luke 14. 26, with Matthew 10. 37; Genesis 29. 30, 31; Deuteronomy 21. 15, 16). laid hla mountains . . . -vraste i. e., his territory which was generally mountainous. Israel was, it is true, punished by the Clialdeans, but Edom has been utterly destroyed; viz., either by Nebuchadnezzar [Rosenstuller], or by the neighbouring peoples, Egypt, Ammon, and Moab [Josephus, Anliquilies, 10.9, 7; Maurkb] (Jeremiah 49. 18). dragonsjackals [MooRE] (cf. Isaiah 13). Maurer translates, "Abodes of the wilderness," from an Arabic root to stop, or abide. English Version is better. 4-. Whereas But if Edom say. [Maurer.] Edom may strive as she may to recover herself, but it shall be in vain, for I doom her to perpetual desolation, whereas I restore Israel. This Jehovah states, to illustrate his gratuitous love to Israel, rather than to Edom. border of wlcltednes*—a region given over to the curse of reprobation. [Calvin.] For a time Judea seemed as desolate as Idumea; but though the latter was once the highway of Eastern commerce, now the lonely rock-houses of Petra attest the fulfilment of the prophecy. It is still " the border of wickedness," being the resort of the marauding tribes of the desert. Judea's restoration, though delayed, is yet certain, the Lord hath Indignation—" the people of my curse" (Isaiah .34. 5). 5. from the border of Israel—Ye, restored to your own "borders" in Israel, "from" them shall raise your voices to " magnify the Lord," acknowledging that Jehovali has shown to you a gratuitous favour not 6hown to Edom, and so ought to be especially "magnified from the borders of Israel." 6. Turning from the people to the priests, Jehovah asks, whereas His love to the people was so great, where was their love towards Him ? If the priests, as they profess, regard Him as their Father (Isaiah 63. 16) and Master, let them show the reali ty of their profession by love and reverential fear (Exodus 20.
able, pure offering—not "the blind, the lame, and the sick," such as ye offer (v. 8). "In every place." implies the catholicity of the Christian Church (John 4. 21, 23; 1 Timothy 2. 8). The "incense" is figurative of prayers (Psalm
141. 2; Revelation 8.3). "Sacrifice" is used metaphorically (Psalm 51. 17 ; Hebrews 13. 10, 15, 16 ; 1 Peter 2. 5, 12). In this sense the reference to the Lord's Supper, maintained by many of the fathers, may be admitted ; it, like prayer, la a spiritual offering, accepted through the literal offering of the " Lamb without blemish," once for all slain. 12. Renewal of the charge in v. 7. fruit . . . meat—the offerings of the people. The "fruit" is the produce of the altar, on which the priests subsisted. They did not literally say. The Lord's table is contemptible; but their acts virtually said so. They did not act so as to lead t he people to reverence, and to offer their best to the Lord on it. The people were poor, and put off God with the worst offerings. The priests let them do so, for fear of offending the people, and so losing all gains from them. 13» what a weariness Is It I—Ye regard God's service as irksome, and therefore try to get it over by presenting .the most worthless offerings. Cf. Micah 6. 3, where God challenges His people to show wherein is the "weariness" or hardship of His service. Also Isaiah 43. 22-24, wherein He shows that it is they who have "wearied" Him, not He who has wearied them, snuffed at—despised. Itthe table of the Lord, and the meat on it (y. 12). tom-^i2., by beasts, whicli it was not lawful to eat, much less to offer (Exodus 22. 31). thus . . . ofterlrt^—Hebrew, "mincha;" Vae unbloody offering of fiour, &c. Though this may have been of ordinary ingredients, yet the sacrifices of blemished animals accompanying it rendered it unacceptable. 141. deceiverhypocrite. Not poverty, but avarice was the cause of their mean offerings, male—required by law (Leviticus
12; Luke 6.46). He addresses the priests, because they ought to be leaders in piety to the rest of the people, whereas they are foremost in "despising His name." Wherein have we despised? (So.—The same captious spirit of self-satisfled insensibility as prompted their question (v. 2), " Wlierein hast thou loved us 7" Tliey are blind alike to God's love and their own guilt. 7. yc offer, &c.—God's answer to their challenge («. 6), " 'Wherein have we despised ?" &c. polluted bread viz., blemished sacrifices (v. 8, 13, 14 ; Deuteronomy 15. 21). So " the bread of thy God" is used for "sacrifices to God" (Leviticus 21.8). polluted thee— J. e., offered to thee "polluted bread." table of the Lortl—1. e., the altar (Ezekiel 41. 22) (not the table of shewbread). Just as the sacrificial flesh is called "bread." contemptible (v. 12, 13.) Ye sanction tlie niggardly and blemished offerings of the people on the altar, to gain favour with them. Darius, and probably his suc-
1. 3, 10). great King—(Psalm 48. 2; Matthew 5. 35.) my name . . . dreadful among . . . heathen — Even the heathen dread me because of my judginents ; what a reproach this is to you, my people, who fear me not {v. 6) I Also it may be translated, "shall be feared among," &c.; agreeing with the prophecy of the call of the Gentiles cessors, had liberally supplied them with victims for
CHAPTER II.
sacrifice, yet they presented none but the worst. A cheap
"Ver. 1-17. Reproof of the Priests fob "Violatinq THE Covenant; and the People also for Mixed MabRiAGES AND UNFAITHFULNE.S3. 1. for you—The priests religion, costing little, is rejected by God, and so is worth nothing. It costs more than It Is worth, for it is worth nothing, and so proves really dear. Qod despises not the widow's mite, but he does despise the miser's mite. [MooBE.] 8. Your earthly raler tronld feel insulted, if in particular are reproved, as their part was to have led the people aright, and reproved sin, whereas thay encoor-
Priests Reproved/or Neglect, MALACHI II. and the People fo: Idolatry, etc.'
13.29). 9. Because ye do not keep tiie condition of the covenant, I will not fulfil the promise, partial in th« law—iaving respect to persons rather than to truth in the interpretation and administration of the law (Leviticus aged and led them Into sin. Ministers cannot sin or suffer aloue. Tliey drag down others with tliem if they fall. [Moore.] 2. lay ... to heart—my commands, send a curse—rather, as Hebrew, " the curse ;" viz., that denounced in Deuteronomy 27. 15-26 ; 28. 15-68. curse your blessings —turn the blessings you enjoy into curses (Psalm lOli. lo). cursetl them Hebrew, them severally ; i.e.,1 have cursed each one of your blessings. 3. corrupt, &c. lit., "rebuke," answering to the opposite prophecy of blessing
19. 15). 10-16. Reproof of those who contracted marriages with foreigners and repudiated their Jewisli wives. 10. Have we not all one father J—Why, seeing we all have one common origin, " do we deal treacherously against one anot?ier" ("His brother" being a general expression implying that all are " brethren" and sisters as children of the same Father above (1 Thessalonians 4. 6), and so including the wives so injured)? viz., hy putting away our Jewi.sh wives, and taking foreign women to wife (cf. v. 14 and V. 11; Ezra 9. 1-9), and so violating "the covenant" made by Jehovah with " our fathers," by wliicli it was or» dained that we should be a people separated from the other peoples of the world (Exodus 19. 5; Leviticus 20. 24,
(eh. 3. 11), "I will rebuke the devourer." To rebuke the seed is to forbid its growing, your—^iZ., "/or you ;" i. e., to j'Our hurt, diuig of . . . solemn feasts—The dung in the maw of the victims sacrificed on the feast-days ; the maw was the perquisite of the priests (Deuteronomy 18. 3), which gives peculiar point to the threat here. You shall get the dung of the maw as your perquisite, instead of the maw. one sliall take you away with It i. e., ye shall be taken away with it; it shall cleave to you wherever ye
26; Deuteronomy 7. 3). To intermarry with tlie heathen would defeat this purpose of Jehovah, who was the common Father of the Israelites in a peculiar sense in which He was not Father of tlie heathen. The "one Father" is Jehovah (Job 31. 15; I Corinthians 8. 6; Ephesians 4. 6). "Created us:" not merely physical creation, bat "created us" to be His peculiar and chosen people (Psalm 102. 18; Isaiah 43. 1; 45. 8; 60. 21; Ephesians 2. 10). [Calvix.] How marked the contrast between the honour here done to the female sex, and the degradation to which Oriental females are generally subjected ! 11. dealt treaclierously —viz., in respect to the Jewish wives who were put away go. [MooKE.] Dung shall be thrown on your faces, and ye shall be taken away as dung would be, dung-begrimed as ye shall be (1 Kings 14. 10; of. Jeremiah 16. 4; 22. 19). 4. ye shall know—by bitter experience of consequences, that it was with this design I admonished you, in order "that my covenant with Levi might be" maintained ; i. e., that it was for your own good (which would be ensured by your maintaining the Levitical command) I admonished you, that ye should return to your duty [Maurer] (cf. v. 5, (>). Malachi's function was that of a reformer, leading back the priests and people to the law (ch. 4. 4). 5-9. He describes the promises, and also the conditions of the covenant; Levi's observance of the conditions and reward (cf. Numbers 25. 11-13, Pliinehas' zeal); and on the other hand the violation of the conditions, and consequent punishment of the present priests. "Life" here includes the perpetuity implied in Numbers 25. 13, " everlasting priesthood." "Peace" is specified both here and there. Matjeer thus explains it; the Hebrew is, lit., "My covenant was with him, life and peace (to be given him on my part), and I gave them to him : (and on his part) fear (i. e., reverence), and he did fear me," &c. The former portion of the verse expresses the promise, and Jehovah's fulfilment of it; tlie
{v. 14 ; also v. 10, 15, 16). profaned the holiness of . ."
Lord— by ill-treating the Israelites (viz., the wives), who were set apart as a people holy unto the Lord: "the holy seed" (Ezra 9. 2; cf. Jeremiah 2. 3). Or, " tlie holiness of tlie Lord" means His holy ordinance and covenant (Deuteronomy 7. 3). But " which He loved," seems to refer to the holy people, Israel, whom God so gratuitously loved (cli. 1.2), without merit on their part (Psalm 47. 4). married, &c. — (Ezra 9. 1, 2; 10. 2; Nehemiah Vi.2S, &c.) daughter of a strange god—women wor.sbipping idols: as the worshipper in Scripture is regarded in the relation of a child to a father (Jeremiah 2. 27). 13. master and . .*. scholar—;«.," him that watcheth and him tliat answereth." So " wakeneth" is used of the teacheror " master" (Isaiah 50. 4); masters are watchful in guarding their scholars. The reference is to the priests, wlio ought to Iiave tauglit the people piety, but who led them into evil. "Him tliat answereth" is the scholar who has to answer the questions of his teacher (Luke 2. 47). [Grotius.] The Arabs have a proverb, " None calling and none an.'swering," i. e., there being not one alive. So Gesenius explains latter, the condition, and Levi's steadfastness to it (Deuteronomy 33. 8, 9). The Jewish priests self-deceivingly claimed the privileges of the covenant, whilst neglecting the conditions of it, as if God were bound by it to bless them, whilst they were free from all the obligation which
It imposed to serve Him. The covenant is said to be not merely "of life and peace," but "life and peace;" for the keeping of God's law is its own reward (Psalm 19. 11). 6. law of truth was In his mouth—He taught the people the truths of the law in all Its fulness (Deuteronomy 33. 10). The priest was the ordinary expounder of the law; the prophets were so only on special occasions, iniquity . .
it of the Lovite watches in the temple (Psalm 134. 1), one watchman calling and another answering. But the scholar is rather the people, the pupils of the priests " in doing this," viz., forming unions with foreign wives. " Out of the tabernacles of Jacob" proves it Is not the priesis alone. God will spare neither priests nor people who act so. him tltat oflfereth—His offerings will not avail to shield him from the penalty of his sin in repudiating his .lewisli wife and taking a foreign one. 13. done again "a second time:" an aggravation of your offence (Nehemiah 13. 23-31), in that it is a relapse into the sin already cheeked once under Ezra (Ezra 9. 10). [Henderson.] Or, "the second time" means this: Your first sin was your blemished offerings to the Lord: now "again" is added your sin towards your wives. [Calvin.] covering . . . altar . . . with tears—slied by your unofl'endiug wives, repudiated by you that ye might take foreign wives. Calvin makes the "tears" to be those of all the people oa perceiving their sacrifices to be sternly rejected by God. 14. Wherefore I — Why does God 1-eject our olleringsf Lord . . . witness between tliee and . . . wife—(so Genesis 31. 49, 50.) of tliy youth—The Jews still marry vei-y young, the husband often being but thirteen years of agev the wife younger (Proverbs 5. 18 ; Isaiah 51. 6). »vife of thy covenant—not merely Joined to thee by the marriage covenant generally, but by the covetumt between God andt Israel, the covenant people, whereby a sin against a wife, a daughter of Israel, is a sin agalust God. [Mookis.]
not found—no injustice in his Judicial functions (Deuteronomy 17.8, 9; 19.17). walked with me—by fuitli and obedience (Genesis 5.22). in peace— viz., the "peace" which was the fruit of obeying the covenant (v. 5). Peace with God, man, and one's own conscience, is the result of " walking with God" (of. Job 22. 21 ; Isaiah 27. 5; James 3.
18). turn many . . . from Iniquity— both by positive precept and by tacit example "walking with God" (Jeremiah 23. 22; Daniel 12. 3; James 5. 20). t. In doing so (u. G) he did liis duty as a priest, " for," &c. knowledge—of l lie law, its doctrines, and positive and negative precepts (Leviticus 10.10, 11; Deuteronomy 24.8; Jeremiah 18. 18; Haggai 2. 11). the law—t. e., its true sense, messenger of . . . liord—the interpreter of His will; cf. as to tlie prophets, Iliiggal 1.13. So ministers are called "ambassadors of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5.20); and the blsliops of the seven churches in Revelation, "angels" or messengers (cf. Galatians 4. 14). 8. out of the way— i. e., from the covenant, caused many to stunible—by scandiilaus example, tlie worse Inasmuch as tlie people looli up to you as ministers of religion (1 Samuel 2. 17; Jeremlali 18.
15; Matthew 18. 0; Luke 17. 1). at the law— i. e., In respect to the observances of the law. corrupted . . . covenant —made it of none effect, by not fulfilling its conditions, Rud 80 forfeiting Its promises (Zecharlah 11. 10; Nehemlah
Heproof of the People for Adultery, etc. MALACHI III. The Coming of Christ Foretold, unbelief will not prevent my keeping my covenant, and bringing to pass in due time that which ye say will never be fulfilled. I wll! send ... he shall come—The Father sends the Son: the Son comes. Proving the distinctness of personality between the Fatlier and the Son. my messenger—John the Baptist; as Matthew 3.3; 11.10; Mark 1. 2, 3; Luke 1. 76; 3. 4; 7. 26, 27; John 1. 23, prove. This passage of Malachi evidently rests on that of Isaiah his predecessor (Isaiah 40. 8-5). Perhaps also, as IIenoSTENBERG thluks, "messenger " Includes the long line of prophets headed by Elijah (whence his name is put in ch.
' the covenant of God" (Proverbs
Marriage also Is called
2.17), and to it tlie reference may be (Genesis 2. 2i; Matthew 19.6; 1 Corinthians 7.10). 15. Maurek and Heng8TEXBEKO explain the verse thus: The Jews had defended their conduct by the precedent of Abraham, who had taken Hagar to the injury of Sarah, his lawful wife; to this JIalachi says now, "No one (ever) did so in whom there was a residue of Intelligence (discriminating between good and evil); and what did the one (Abraham, to whom you appeal for support) do, seeking a godly seed?" His object {viz., not to gratify passion, but to obtain the seed promised by God) makes the case wholly inapplicable to defend your position. Mooke (from Fairbairn) better explains, in accordance with u. 10, "Did not He make (us Israelites) one? Yet He had the residue of the Spirit (t. e., His isolating us from other nations was not because thei-e was no residue of the Spirit left for the restof the world). And wherefore (t. e., why then did He thus iso-
4. 5 as a representative name), and terminating in John, the last and greatest of the prophets (Matthew 11. 9-11). John as the representative prophet (the forerunner of Messiah the representative God-man) gathered in liimself all the scattered lineaments of previous prophecj' (hence Christ terms him "much more tlian a prophet," Luke 7. 26), reproducing all its awful and yet inspiriting utterances: his coarse garb, like that of the old prophets, being a visible exhortation to repentance ; the wilderness in which he preached symbolizing the lifeless, barren state of the Jews at that time politically and spiritually; his topics sin, repentance, and salvation, presenting for the last time the condensed epitome of all previous teachings of God by His prophets; so that he is called pre-eminently God's " messenger." Hence the oldest and true reading of Mark 1. 2 is, "as it is written in Isaiah the prophet;" the difficulty of which is. How can the prophecy of Malachi be referred to Isaiah ? The explanation is, the passage in Malachi rests on that in Isaiah 40. 3, and therefore the original source of the prophecy is referred to in order to mark this dependency and connection, the Lord Ha- ^do)i In Hebrew. The article inarlis that it is Jehova (Exodus 23. 17; 34. 23; cf. Joshua 3. 11, 13). Cf. Daniel 9. 17, where the Divine Son is meant by " for the Lord's sake." God the speaker makes "the Lord," the "messenger of the covenant," one with Himself: "I will send . . . before me," adding, "the Lord . . . shall . . . come;" so that the Lord must be one with the " me," i. e.. He must be God, "6e/ore" whom John was sent. As the divinity of the Son and His oneness with the Father are thus proved, so the distinctness of personality is proved by "I send" and He "shall come," as distinguished from one aiiotiier. He also comes to the temple as "His temple:" marking His Divine lordship owr it, as contrasted with all creatures, who are but " servants in" i t (Hiiggai 2. 7 ; Hebrews late us as) the one (people ; the Hebrew is ' the one ') ? In order that He might seek a godly seed;" i. e., that He mighthave "aseed of God," a nation the repository of the covenant, and the stock of the Messiah, and the witness fortheoue God amidst thesurroundingpolytheisms. Marriage with foreign women, and repudiation of the wives wedded in the Jewish covenant, utterly set aside this Divine purpose. Calvin thinks " the one " to refer to the conjugal one body formed by the original pair (Genesis 2). God might have joined many wives as one with the one husband, for He had no lack of spiritual Ijeing to impart td others besides Eve; the design of the restriction was to Becure a pious offspring: but cf. Ifale, v. 10. One object of the marriage relation is to raise a seed for God and for eternity. IG. putting away—i. e., divorce, foronecoveretU violence with . . . garment Maurer translates, "And (Jehovah hateth him who) covereth his garment
(t. e., his wi/e, in Arabic idiom ; cf. Genesis 20. 16, ' He is to thee a covering of thy eyes;' the husband was so to the wife, and the wife to the husband ; also Deuteronomy 22.
80; Ruth .3. 9; Ezekiel 16. 8) with injury." The Hebrew favours "garment," being accusative of the t?iing covered.
Cf. with Englisli Version, Psalm 73. 6, "violence covereth them as a garment." Their "violence" is the putting away of their wives; the "garment" with which tliey try to cover it is the plea of Moses' permission (Deuteronomy
21. 1 ; cf. Matthew 19. 6-9). 17. wearied . . . Lord—(Isaiah
13.24.) This verse forms the transition to ch. 3. 1, &c. The Jewish skeptics of that day said virtually, God delighteth In evil-doers (inferring this from the prosperity of the Burrouuding heathen, whilst they, the Jews, were comparatively not prosperous: forgetting that their attend Bnce to minor and external duties did not make up for their neglect of the weightier duties of the law ; e. g., the duty they owed their wives, just before handled); or (if aot) Where (is the proof that He is) the God ofjudgment? To this the reply (ch. 3. 1) is, "The Lord whom ye seek, and whom as messenger of the covenant (i. e., Divine rat-
3. 2, 6, 6). whom ye seek . . . whom ye delight in—(See Note, ch. 2. 17.) At His first coming they "souglit" and "delighted in" the hope of a temporal Saviour: not in what He then was. In the case of those wliom Jtalachi in his time addresses, " whom ye seek . . . deliglit in," Is Ironical. They unbelievingly asked. When will He come at last? Ch. 2. 17, " Where is the God ofjudgment" (Isaiah
5. 19 ; Amos 5. 18 ; 2 Peter 3. 3, 4) ? In the case of the godly, the desire for Messiah was sincere (Luke 2. 25, 28). He is called "Angel of God's presence " (Isaiah 03. 9), al.so Angel of Jehovah. Cf. His appearances to Abraham (Genesis 18.
Ifler of God's covenant with Israel) ye delight in (thinking He will restore Israel to its proper place as first of the uations), shall suddenly come," not as a Uestorer of Israel temporally, but as a consuming Judge against Jerusalem (Amos 5. 18, 19,20). The "suddenly" implies the unprepareduess of the Jews, who, to the last of the siege, were expecting a temporal deliverer, whereas a destructive j udgment was about to destroy them. So skepticism shall be rife before Christ's second coming. He shall suddenly and unexpectedly come then also as a consuming Judge to unbelievers (2 Peter 3. 3, 4). Then, too, they shall affect to seek His coming, whilst really denying it (Isaiah
1, 2, 17, 33), to Jacob (Genesis 31. 11 ; 48. 15, 16), to Moses in the bush (Exodus 3. 2-6); He went before Israel as the Shekinah (Exodus 14. 19), and delivered the law at Sinai (Acts 7. 38). suddenly—This t?pithet marks the second coming, rather than the first ; the earnest of that unexpected coming (Luke 12. 38-46; Revelation 10. 15) to judgment was given in the judicial expulsion of the moneychanging profaners from the temple by Messiah (Jlalthew
21. 12, 13), where also as here He calls the temple His ternpie. Also in the destruction of Jerusalem, most unexpected by the Jews, who to the last deceived themselves with the expectation that Messiah would suddenly appear as a temporal Saviour. Cf. the use of " suddenly " in Numbers 12. 4-10, where He appeared in wrath, mt ssenger of the covenant viz., of tlie ancient covenant willi Israel (Isaiah 03. 9) and Abraham, in which llie promise to the Gentiles is ultimately include<l (Galatians 4. 16, 17). The gospel at the first advent liejan with Israel, then embraced the Gentile world : so also it shall be at the second advent. All the manifestations of God in the Old Testament, the Shekinah and human appearances, wer«
5. 19; Jeremiah 17. 15; Ezekiel 12. 22, 27).
CHAPTER III.
Ver. 1-18. Mrssiah's Coming, preceded by His Forkbunker. TO Punish the Guilty for various Sins, and TO llEWARD THOSE WHO Fear God. 1. Behold—Calling especial attention to the momentous truths which follow. Ve ly .bellevlngly ask. Where is the God of Judgment (ch. 2 7J? " Behold," therefore, " I send," (Sc. Yonr
The Chming of the Messiah MALACHI III. to Punish the Guilty People, made m tne person of tne lilvine Son (Exodus 23.
changeableness of God is the sheet-anchor of the Cliurch, • The perseverance of the saints is guaranteed, not by their unchangeable love to God, but by His unchangeable love to them, and His eternal purpose and promise in Christ Jesus. [MooRK.] He upbraids their ingratitude that they turn His very long-suffering (Lamentations 3. 22) into a ground for skeptical denial of Hisconiing as a Judge at all (Psalm 50.1,3, 4, 21; Ecclesiasles 8.11,12; Isaiah 57.11; Romans 2. 4-10). 7-Vi. Reproof for the non-payment of tithes and offerings, which is the cause of their national calamities, and promise of prosperity on their paying tliem. 7. from . . . days of your fathers—Ye live aa your fathers did when they brought on themselves tlie Babylonian captivity, and ye wish to follow in their steps. This shows that nothing but God's unchanging lohg-sutfering had prevented tlieir being long ago "consumed" (1'. (i). Return unto me—in penitence. I will return unto you—in blessings. Wherein, &c.—(F. 16.) The same insensibility to tlieir guilt continues: they speak in the tone of injured innocence, as if God calumniated them. 8. roll lit., cover: hence, defraud. Do ye call delrauiling God no sin to be "returned" from (u. 7)? Yet ye have done so to me in respect to the tithes due to me, viz., the tenth of all tlie remainder after the firstfruits were paid, which tenth was paid to the Levites for their support (Leviticus 27.30-33): a tenth paid by the Levites to the priests (Numbers 18.26-28): a second tenth paid by the people for the entertainment of the Levites, and their own families, at the tabernacle (Deuteronomy 12.18): another tithe every third year for the poor, &c. (Deuteronomy 14. 28, 29). ofl Vrings—the first-lruits, not less than one-sixtieth part of llie corn, wine, and oil (Deuteronomy IS. 4; Nehemiah 13. 10, 12). . The priests had this perquisite also, the tenth of the tithes which were the Levites' perquisite. But they appropriated all the tithes, robbing the Levites of their due nine-tenths; as they did also, according to Josephus, before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Thus doubly God was defrauded, the priests not discharging aright their sacrificial duties, and robbing God of the services of the Levites, who were driven away by destitution. [Gkotius.] 9. cni-sed—(Ch. 2. 2.) As ye despoil me, so I despoil you, as I threatened I would, if ye continued to disregard me. In trying to defraud God we only defraud ourselves. The eagle who robbed the altar set fire to her nest from the burning coal that adhered to the stolen flesh. So men who retain God's money in their treasuries will find it a losing possession. No man ever yet lost by serving God with a whole heart, nor gained by serving Him with a half one. We may compromise with conscience for half the price, but God will not endorse the compromise; and, like Ananias and Sappliira, we shall lose not only what we thought we had purchased so cheaply, but also the price we paid for it. If we would have God "open" His treasury, we must open ours. One cause of the barrenness of the Church is the parsimony of its members. [Moore.] 10. (Proverbs 3. 9, 10.) storehouse [Margin, 2 Chronicles 31.
20,21; Hebrews 11.26; 12. 2G). He was the messenger of the old covenant, as well as of the new. 8. (Cli. 4. 1
Kevelation 6. 16,17.) The Messiah would come, not, as they expected, to flatter the theocratic nation's prejudices, but to subject their principles to the fiery test of His heart-searching truth (Matthew 3. 10-12), and to destroy Jerusalem and the theocracy after they had rejected Him. His mission is here regarded as a whole from the first to the second advent; tlie process a efining and separating the godly from the ungodly bt-ginning during Christ's stay on earth, going on ever since, and about to continue till the final separation (Matthew 25. 31-
46). The refining process, whereby a third of the Jews is refined as silver of Us dross, whilst two-thirds perish, is described, Zechariah 13. 8, 9 (cf. Isaiah 1. 2-5). 3. sit—The purifier sits before the crucible, fixing his eye on the metal, and taking care that the fire be not too hot, and keeping the metal In, only until he knows the dross to be completely removed by his seeing his own image reflected (Romans 8. 29) in the glowing mass. So the Lord In the case of His elect (Job 23. 10; Psalm 66. 10; Proverbs
17.3; Isaiah 48. 10; Hebrews 12. 10; 1 Peter 1. 7). He will git down to tlie work, not perfunctorily, but wltli patient love and unflinching justice. Tlie Angel of the Covenant, as in leading His people out of Egypt by the pillar of cloud and fire, has an aspect of terror to His foes, of love to His friends. The same separating process goes on in the world as in each Christian. Wlien the godly are completely separated from the ungodly, the world will end. When the dross is taken from the gold of the Christian, he will be for ever delivered from the furnace of trial. The purer the gold, the hotter tlie fire now; the whiter the garment, the harder the washing. [Moore.] purify, . . sons of lievi—of the sins specified above. The very Levites, tlie ministers of God, then needed cleansing, so universal was the depravity, that tliey may offer . . . In rig Uteousness—as originally (ch. 2. 6), not as latterly
(ch. 1. 7-14). So believers, the spiritual priesthood (1 Peter
2.5). 4:. as ill the days of old—(Ch. 1. 11 ; 2.5, 6.) The " ofl Tering" {Mincha, Hebreiv) is not expiatory, but prayer, thanksgiving, and self-dedication (Romans 12. 1 ; Hebrews
13. 15; 1 Peter 2. 5). 5. I . . . come near . . . to Judgment —/ whom ye challenged, saying, "Where is the God of Judgment" (ch. 2. 17)? I whom ye think far off', and to be slow in judgment, am "near," and will come as a "swift witness;" not only a judge, but also an eye-tviiness against sorcerers; for mine eyes see every sin, thougli ye think I take no heed. Earthly judges need witnesses to enable them to decide arigiit : I alone need none (Psalm 10. 11 ; 73.
11; 94. 7, &c.>. sorcerers—a sin into which the Jews were led In connection with their foreign idolatrous wives. The Jews of Clirist's time also practised sorcery (Acts 8. 9;
13. 6 ; Galatians 5. 20 ; Josephus, Antiquities, 20. 6 ; B. Jud.
2.; 12.23). It shall be a characteristic of the last Antichristian confederacy, about to be consumed by the brightness of glirist's coming (Matthew 21. 24 ; 2 Thessalonians 2. 9; Revelation 13. 13, 14; 16. 13, 14; also 9. 21 ; 18. 23;
11; cf.l Chronicles 26. 20; Nehemiah 10.38; 13. 5, 12). prove me . . . hercwitli—with this; by doing so. Test me whether I will keep my promise of blessing you, on condition of your doing your part (2 Chronicles 31. 10.) pour . . . o»»t—/i7., empty out: image from a vessel completely emptied of its contents : no blessing being kept back, tvinflo Avs of Iieavcn— (2 Kings 2. 7.) that . . . not . . . room enough, ite. lit., even tonot . . . sufflciency, i. e., either, as English Version. Or, even so as that there should be "no€ merely" "sullicienoy," but superabundance. [Jerome, MatjBER.] GESKNiusnot.so wel Urans/a/es, "Even toafallure of sufflelency," which in the caseof God could never arise, and therefore for ever, perpetually ; so Psalm 72.5, "as long as the sun ai\d moon endure;" lU., until a failure of t/ie sun and moo7i, which Is never to be; and therefore means, /or ci'cr. 11. I will rebuke {Note, ch. 2. S.) I will no longer " rebuke {Knylish Version, ' corrupt') the seed," but will rebuke every agency that could hurt it (Aniosl.
Jl. 8; 22. 15). Romanism has practised It; an order of exorcists exists in tliat Church, adulterers—(Ch. 2. 15, 16.) fear not mc—the source of all sins. G. tlie Lord—Jeliovah: a name implying His immutable faithfulness in fulfilling His promises: the covenant-name of God to the Jews (Exodus 6. 3), called here " the sons of Jacob," in reference to God's covenant with that patriarch. I change not—Ye are mistaken In inferring that, because I have not yet executed Judgment on the wicked, 1 am changed from what I once was, viz., a God of judgment, therefore ye . . . are not consumed—Ye yourselves being "not consumed," as ye have long ago deserved, are a signal proof of my unchangeableness. Romans 11.29: cf. the whole chapter, In which God's mercy in store for Israel is made wholly to flow from God's unchanging faithfulness to His own covenant of love. So here, as is implied by the phrase "sons of Jacob" (Genesis 28. 13; 35. 12). They are spared because I am Jehovah, and they.so>i.» of Jacob; while I spare them, I will also punish them; and while I punish them, I will not wholly consume them. The un740
Vi. Kullllling the blessing (Deuteronomy !i3. 29; Zechariah 8 13>. delightsome land—(Daniel 8.9.) 13-18. He notices the comi)laint of the Jews that it is of no profit to
MALACIH IV.
GocTs Judgment on the WickedL
rromises to the Bighleous.
sltion to trust m QA in spite of peiplexing appearances, and in order to make your service less mercenary, that the present blended state is allowed ; but at last all ("ye," both godly and ungodly) shall see the eternal difference therf; really is " between him tliat serveth God and him that serveth Him not" (Psalm 58. 11). return-ye sliall turn to a better state of mind on this point.
eerve Jehovah, for that the ungodly proud are happy; and declares He will soon bring the day when it shall be known that He puts an everlasting distinction between the godly and the ungodly, words . . . atoixt—Hebrew, "hard;" so "the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spolien against Him" (Jude 15). [Hendekson.] have we spoken—The Hebrew expresses at once their assiduity and liabit of speaking against God. [Vatablus.] The niplial form of the verb implies that these things were said, not directly to God, but of God, to one another (Kzekiel 33. 20). [Moobe.] 14. what profit . . . tliat we
CHAPTER IV.
Ver. 1-6. God's Comiug Judgment: Triumph of tub Godly: Return to the Law the Best Preparation FOB Jehovah's Coming: Elijah's Preparatory Mission OF Reformation. 1. tlie day cometii . . . burn. . . kept, &o.—(iVote, ch. 2. 17.) They here resume the same murmur against God. Job 21. 1-1, 15; 22. 17 describe a further stage of the same skeptical spirit, when the skeptic has actually ceased to keep God's service. Psalm
(cli. 3. 2; 2 Peter 3.7). Primarily is meant the judg:iient coming on Jerusalem; but as this will not exliaust the meaning, without supposing what is inadmissible iu Scripture, exaggeration, the final and full accomplishment, of wliich the former was the earnest, is tlie day of general judgment. Tliis principle of interpretation is not double, but successive fulfilment. The language is abrupt, " Beliold, the day cometli ! It burns like a furnace." The abruptness imparts terrible reality to the picture, as if it suddenly burst on the propliet's view, all the proud in opposition to tlie cavil above (ch. 3. 15j, "now we call the proud (haughty despisers of God) happy." stubble (Obadiah 18; Matthew 3. 12). As Canaan, the inlieritance of the Israelites, was prepared for their jjossession by purging out the lieathen, so judgment on tlie apostates
73.1-14 describes the temptation to a like feeling in tlie saint when .seeing the really godly suffer and the ungodly prosper in worldly goods now. The Jews here mistake utterly the nature of God's servloe, converting it into a mercenary bargain ; tliey attended to outward observances, not from love to God, but in the hope of being well paid for in outward prosperity; when this was witliheld, they charged God wltli being unjust, forgetting alilte tliat God requires very different motives from theirs to accompany outward observances, and that God rewards even the true worshipper not so much in this life, as in the life to come, his ordinance lit., what He requires to be kept. His observances." walked monmfully in mournful garb, .sackcloth and ashes, the emblems of penitence ; they forget Isaiah 58.3-8, where God, by showing what is true sliall usher iu tlie entrance of the saints upon the Lord's inheritance, of wliich Canaan is tlie type—not lieaven, but earth to its utmost bounds (Psalm 2. 8) purged of all things tliat ot Tend (Matttiewl3. 41), wliich are to be "gathered out of His kingdom," the scene of the judgment being that also of the kingdom. Tlie present dispensation is a spiritual kingdom, parentlietical between the Jews' literal kingdom and its antitype, the coming litei'al kingdom of the Lord Jesus, neither root nor branch—proverbial {or utter destruction (Amos 2. 9). H, The eflect of the judgment on the righteous, as contrasted with its eflfect on the wicked {v. 1). To the wicked it shall be as an oven that consumes the stubble (Matthew 6. 30) ; to the righteous it shall be the advent of the gladdening Sun, not of condemnation, but "of righteousness;" not destroying, but "healing" (Jeremiah 23. 6). you that fear my name —The same as those in ch. 3. 16, who confessed God amidst abounding blasphemy (Isaiah 66. 5; Matthew 10. 32). The spiritual blessings brought by Him are summed up in the two, " righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1. 30) and spiritual "healing" (Psalm 103.3; Isaiah 57. 19). Those who walk in the dark now may take comfort in the certainty that they sliall walk hereafter iu eternal light (Isaiah 50.10). in liis wings—implying the winged swiftness with which He shall appear (cf. "suddenly," ch. 3.1) for the relief of His people. The beams of the Sun are his "wings."
fasting, similarly rebukes those who then also said, Wherefore have we fasted and thou seest not? &c. They mistook the outward show for real humiliation. 15. And now—Since we are not prosperous who serve Jeliovah, and " the proud" heathen flourish in prosperity, we must pronounce them the favourites of God (ch. 2. 17 ; Psalm 73.
12). set up lit,, built up: metaphor from arcliitecture (Proverbs 24.3; cf. Margin, Genesis 16.2; Margin, 30.3). tempt God—dare God to punish them, by breaking His laws (Psalm 95.9). 16. "Then," when the ungodly utter such blasphemies against God, the godly hold mutual converse, defending God's righteous dealings against those blasphemers (Hebrews 3. 13). The " often" of English
Version is not in the Hebrew. There has been always in the darkest times a remnant that feared God (1 Kings 19.
18; Romans 11. 4). feared the Liord—reverential and loving fear, not slavish terror. When the tire of religion burns low, true believers should draw the nearer togetlier, to keep the holy flame alive. Coals separated soon go out. book ofremembrance . . . forthem—for tlieir advantage, against the day wlie*i those found faitliful among the faithless sliall receive their final reward. Tiie kings of Persia kept a record of those who had rendered services to the king, that they might be suitably rewarded (Estlier 6.1,2; cf. Esther 2. 23; Ezra 4. 15; Psalm 56.8; Isaiah 65.6; Daniel 7. 10 ; Revelation 20. 12). Calvin makes the fearers of God to be those awakened from among the ungodly mass (before described) to true repentance ; the ivriling of the book thus will imply that some were reclaiinable among the blasphemers, and that the godly should be assured that, though no hope appeared, tliere would be a door of penitence opened for them before God. But tliere
Cf. "wings of the morning," Psalm 139.9. The "Sun" gladdening the righteous is suggested by the previous "day" of terror consuming tiie wicked. Cf. as to Christ, 2 Samuel 23. 4 ; Psalm 84. 11 ; Luke 1. 78 ; John
1. 9; 8. 12; Ephesians 5. 14; and in His second coming, 2 Peter 1. 19. The Church is the moon reflecting His light (Revelation 12. 1). The righteous shall by His righteousness "shine as the Sun in the kingdom of the Father" (Matthew 13. 43). ye shall go fortli—from the straits in which you were, as it were, held captive. An earnest of this was given in the escape of the Christians from Pella before the destruction of Jerusalem, grow up-rather, " leap" as frisking calves [Calvin] ; lit., spread, takt a wide range, as calves of tlie stall—which when set free from the stall disport with joy (Acts 8. 8; 13. 52; 20. 24; Romans 14.17;Galatians5.22; PhilemonL4; lPeterl.8). Especially
Is notliing in the context to support this view. 17. jewels —(Isaiah 62.3.) IM., my peculiar treasure (Exodus 19.5; Deuteronomy 7.6; 14.2; 26.18; Psalm 135.4; Titus 2. 14;
1 Peter 2. 9 ; cf. Ecclesiastes 2. 8). Calvim translates more In accordance with Hebrew idiom, "They shall be ray peculiar lrea.s\XT&inthe day inwhich Iwill do it" (i. e., fulfil my promise of gathering my completed Church ; or, " make" tliose things come to pass foretold in v. 5 above [Gboti us]) ; so in cli. 4.3 "do" is used aljsolutely, "in tlie day that I shall do this." Maukeu, not so well, translates, "in tlie day which I shall make," t. e., appoint; as Psalm 118.24. as . . . man spareth . . . son—(Psalm 103. 18.) 18. Then hall ye . . . discern—Then sliall ye see the falseness of your calumny against God's government (v. 15), tliat the "proud" and wicked prosper. Do notjudge before the time tlie godly shall rejoice at their final deliverance at Christ's second coming (Isaiah 61. 10). 3. Solving the difficulty
(ch. 3. 15) that the wicked often now prosper. Their prosperity and the adversity of the godly shall soon be reversed. Yea, the righteous shall be the army attending Christ in His final destruction of the ungodly (2 Samuel till my work Is complete. It is lu part to test your dlspo-
22. 43; Psalm 49. 14; 47. 3; Micah 7. 10; Zecharlah 10.6; 1 741