3:1There are two messengers in this verse. The first is usually understood to be John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10; Luke 7:27). The second messenger is Jesus, the Messiah, for whom both Malachi and John the Baptist prepared the way.
Life Application Study BibleMalachiChapter 3
Malachi 3
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1522, 1523, 1524
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
3Malachi 3
The Coming Day of Judgment
13 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the LORD you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 2“But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. $He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lor. 5Then once more the LORD will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past. 6“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
A Call to Repentance
8“T am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. 7Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’ 8“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.* Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 12“Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 13"You have said terrible things about me,” says the LORD. “But you say, ‘What do you mean? What have we said against you?’ 14"You have said, ‘What's the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the LORD of Heaven's Armies that we are sorry for our sins? 'SFrom now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.’”
3. The faithful few
The LorRp’s Promise of Mercy
1616Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what 3:16... they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name. 17" They will be my people,” says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. “On the day when I act in 317 13:22 judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them asa father spares an obedi- 1 Pet 2:9 ent child. 18Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, 3:18 between those who serve God and those who do not.” Ps 58:41
The Coming Day of Judgment
4 1*The LORD of Heaven's Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning likea 4:1__ furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will Isa 6:24
Textual footnotes
- Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
- LORD make us and preserve our life and breath? or Didn't the one LORD make her, both flesh and spirit? The meaning
- of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 3:11 Hebrew from the devourer.
Life Application Notes 7 notes
3:2,3In the process of refining metals, the raw metal is heated with fire until it melts. The impurities separate from it and rise to the surface. They are skimmed off, leaving the pure metal. Without this heating and meting, there could be no purifying. As the impurities are skimmed off the top, the reflection of the worker appears in the clear, pure surface. As we are purified by God, his reflection in our life will become more and more clear to those around us. God says that the Levites (Israel's leaders) should be especially open to his purification process in their lives. The strong soap was alkali used to whiten cloth, also used here as a symbol of the purifying process.
3:7God's patience seems endless! Throughout history, his people have disobeyed, even scorned, his laws, but he has always been willing to accept them back. Here, however, the people have the nerve to imply that they never disobeyed (“How can we return when we have never gone away?”)! Many people have turned their backs on forgiveness and restoration because they have refused to admit their sin. Don’t follow their example. God is ready to return to us if we are willing to return to him.
3:8-12Malachi urged the people to stop holding back their tithes, to stop cheating God. The tithing system began during the time of Moses (Leviticus 27:30-34; Deuteronomy 14:22). The Levites received some of the tithe because they could not possess land of their own (Numbers 18:20. 21). During Malachi’s day, the people were not giving tithes, so the Levites went to work to earna living, thereby neglecting their God-given responsibilities to care for the Temple and for the service of worship. Everything we have is from God; so when we refuse to return to him a part of what he has given, we rob him. Do you selfishly want to keep 100 percent of what God gives, or are you willing to return at least 10 percent to help advance God's Kingdom?
3:8-12The people of Malachi’s day ignored God's command to give a tithe of their income to his Temple. They may have feared losing what they had worked so hard to get, but in this they misjudged God. “Give, and you will receive,” he says (Luke 6:38). When we give, we must remember that the blessings God promises are not always material and may not be experienced completely here on earth, but we will certainly receive them in our future life with him.
3:10The “storehouse” was a place in the Temple for storing grain and other food given as tithes. The priests lived off these gifts. We also need to give from the plenty that God has given us in order to support those who serve God by ministering to the spiritual needs of others.
3:13-15These verses describe the people’s arrogant attitude toward God. When we ask, “What's the use of serving God?” we are really asking, “What good does it do for me?” Our focus is selfish. Qur real question should be, “What good does it do for God?” We must serve God just because he is God and deserves to be served.
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Leviticus 27:30-32 Numbers 18:21, 24 Numbers 18:26-29; Nehemiah 10:39 Deuteronomy 12:5-7, 11-19; 14:22-29; 26:12-15
GIVING A TENTH Many ancient peoples observed the practice of tithing—that is, giving a tenth of their earnings (or produce, harvest, etc.) back to a leader or a god. Malachi reminded the people of God's command to tithe. The first instance is Abraham’s tithe to Meichizedek.
The Israelites were required to tithe of their crops, fruit, and herds.
The tithe was received by the Levites to support them. The Levites, in turn, gave “a tithe of the tithe” to support the priests. The Israelites were to bring their tithes to Jerusalem, and offering them came in the form of a ritual meal in which Levites were invited to share. If Jerusalem was too far for a person to transport the tithe, he could take the tithe there in the form of money. Every third year the tithe could be offered in one’s local area, but the person was still to go to Jerusalem to worship.
God promises blessings for those who faithfully tithe, and he says that refusing to tithe is like robbing him. Tithing, without love for or obedience to God, amounts to nothing more than a meaningless ritual.
Malachi 3:8-12 Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42