3 And he hath sat, a refiner and purifier of silver, And he hath purified the sons of Levi, And hath refined them as gold and as silver, And they have been to Jehovah bringing nigh a present in righteousness.
And I turn back My hand upon thee, And I refine as purity thy dross, And I turn aside all thy tin,
Purify themselves, yea, make themselves white, yea, refined are many: and the wicked have done wickedly, and none of the wicked understand, and those acting wisely do understand;
Sacrifice ye sacrifices of righteousness, And trust ye unto Jehovah.
And I have brought the third into fire, And refined them like a refining of silver, And have tried them like a trying of gold, It doth call in My name, and I answer it, I have said, `My people it `is',' And it saith, `Jehovah `is' my God!'
but, there cometh an hour, and it now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also doth seek such to worship him; God `is' a Spirit, and those worshipping Him, in spirit and truth it doth behove to worship.'
I call upon you, therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice -- living, sanctified, acceptable to God -- your intelligent service;
that he might sanctify it, having cleansed `it' with the bathing of the water in the saying, that he might present it to himself the assembly in glory, not having spot or wrinkle, or any of such things, but that it may be holy and unblemished;
for they, indeed, for a few days, according to what seemed good to them, were chastening, but He for profit, to be partakers of His separation;
and ye yourselves, as living stones, are built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
for my being a servant of Jesus Christ to the nations, acting as priest in the good news of God, that the offering up of the nations may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
I counsel thee to buy from me gold fired by fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white garments that thou mayest be arrayed, and the shame of thy nakedness may not be manifest, and with eye-salve anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.
Beloved, think it not strange at the fiery suffering among you that is coming to try you, as if a strange thing were happening to you, but, according as ye have fellowship with the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice ye, that also in the revelation of his glory ye may rejoice -- exulting;
that the proof of your faith -- much more precious than of gold that is perishing, and through fire being approved -- may be found to praise, and honour, and glory, in the revelation of Jesus Christ,
for I am already being poured out, and the time of my release hath arrived;
and I have all things, and abound; I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things from you -- an odour of a sweet smell -- a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God:
Lo, I have refined thee, and not with silver, I have chosen thee in a furnace of affliction.
Sacrifice to God confession, And complete to the Most High thy vows.
For Thou hast tried us, O God, Thou hast refined us as the refining of silver.
I praise the name of God with a song, And I magnify Him with thanksgiving, And it is better to Jehovah than an ox, A bullock -- horned -- hoofed.
To Thee I sacrifice a sacrifice of thanks, And in the name of Jehovah I call.
A Psalm, by David. O Jehovah, I have called Thee, haste to me, Give ear `to' my voice when I call to Thee. My prayer is prepared -- incense before Thee, The lifting up of my hands -- the evening present.
Take away dross from silver, And a vessel for the refiner goeth forth,
And ye are called `Priests of Jehovah,' `Ministers of our God,' is said of you, The strength of nations ye consume, And in their honour ye do boast yourselves.
And I have set among them a sign, And have sent out of them those escaping unto the nations, (Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, drawing bow, Tubal and Javan, the isles that are far off,) Who have not heard My fame, nor seen Mine honour, And they have declared Mine honour among nations. And they have brought all your brethren out of all the nations, A present to Jehovah, On horses, and on chariot, and on litters, And on mules, and on dromedaries, Unto My holy mountain Jerusalem, said Jehovah, As the sons of Israel bring the present in a clean vessel, Into the house of Jehovah. And also of them I take for priests, For Levites, said Jehovah.
All of them are turned aside by apostates, Walking slanderously -- brass and iron, All of them are corrupters. The bellows have been burnt, By fire hath the lead been consumed, In vain hath a refiner refined, And the wicked have not been drawn away. `Silver rejected,' they have called to them, For Jehovah hath kicked against them!
And to the priests -- the Levites, Not cut off from before Me is one, Causing a burnt-offering to ascend, And perfuming a present, and making sacrifice -- all the days.' And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying, `Thus said Jehovah: If ye do break My covenant of the day, And My covenant of the night, So that they are not daily and nightly in their season, Also My covenant is broken with David My servant, So that he hath not a son reigning on his throne, And with the Levites the priests, My ministers. As the host of the heavens is not numbered, Nor the sand of the sea measured, So I multiply the seed of David My servant, And the Levites My ministers.'
The house of Israel hath been to Me for dross, All of them `are' brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace -- dross hath silver been, Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your all becoming dross, Therefore, lo, I am gathering you unto the midst of Jerusalem, A gathering of silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, Unto the midst of a furnace -- to blow on it fire, to melt it, So do I gather in Mine anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted you. And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And ye have been melted in its midst. As the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are ye melted in its midst, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, I have poured out My fury upon you.'
`And the priests, the Levites, sons of Zadok, who have kept the charge of My sanctuary in the wandering of the sons of Israel from off Me, they draw near unto Me to serve Me, and have stood before Me, to bring near to Me fat and blood -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah: they come in unto My sanctuary, and they draw near unto My table to serve Me, and they have kept My charge.
Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah, Say ye unto Him: `Take away all iniquity, and give good, And we do render the fruit of our lips.
A son honoureth a father, and a servant his master. And if I `am' a father, where `is' Mine honour? And if I `am' a master, where `is' My fear? Said Jehovah of Hosts to you, O priests, despising My name! And ye have said: `In what have we despised Thy name?' Ye are bringing nigh on Mine altar polluted bread, And ye have said: `In what have we polluted Thee?' In your saying: `The table of Jehovah -- it `is' despicable,' And when ye bring nigh the blind for sacrifice, `There is no evil,' And when ye bring nigh the lame and sick, `There is no evil;' Bring it near, I pray thee, to thy governor -- Doth he accept thee? or doth he lift up thy face? Said Jehovah of Hosts. And now, appease, I pray thee, the face of God, And He doth favour us; From your own hand hath this been, Doth He accept of you appearances? Said Jehovah of Hosts. Who `is' even among you, And he shutteth the two-leaved doors? Yea, ye do not kindle Mine altar for nought, I have no pleasure in you, said Jehovah of Hosts, And a present I do not accept of your hand. For, from the rising of the sun to its going in, Great `is' My name among nations, And in every place perfume is brought nigh to My name, and a pure present, For great `is' My name among nations, Said Jehovah of Hosts.
And now, to you `is' this charge, O priests, If ye hearken not, and if ye lay `it' not to heart, To give honour to My name, said Jehovah of Hosts, I have sent against you the curse, And I have cursed your blessings, Yea, I have also cursed it, Because ye are not laying `it' to heart. Lo, I am pushing away before you the seed, And have scattered dung before your faces, Dung of your festivals, And it hath taken you away with it. And ye have known that I have sent unto you this charge, For My covenant being with Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts. My covenant hath been with him of life and of peace, And I make them to him a fear, and he doth fear Me, And because of My name he hath been affrighted. The law of truth hath been in his mouth, And perverseness hath not been found in his lips, In peace and in uprightness he walked with Me, And many he brought back from iniquity. For the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, And law they do seek from his mouth, For a messenger of Jehovah of Hosts he `is'. And ye, ye have turned from the way, Ye have caused many to stumble in the law, Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Malachi 3
Commentary on Malachi 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
In this chapter we have,
Mal 3:1-6
The first words of this chapter seem a direct answer to the profane atheistical demand of the scoffers of those days which closed the foregoing chapter: Where is the God of judgment? To which it is readily answered, "Here he is; he is just at the door; the long-expected Messiah is ready to appear; and he says, For judgment have I come into this world, for that judgment which you have so impudently bid defiance to.' One of the rabbin says that the meaning of this is, That God will raise up a righteous King, to set things in order, even the king Messiah. And the beginning of the gospel of Christ is expressly said to be the accomplishment of this promise, with which the Old Testament concludes, Mk. 1:1, 2. So that by this the two Testaments are, as it were, tacked together, and made to answer one another. Now here we have,
Mal 3:7-12
We have here God's controversy with the men of that generation, for deserting his service and robbing him-wicked servants indeed, that not only run away from their Master, but run away with their Master's goods.
Mal 3:13-18
Among the people of the Jews at this time, though they all enjoyed the same privileges and advantages, there were men of very different characters (as ever were, and ever will be, in the world and in the church), like Jeremiah's figs, some very good and others very bad, some that plainly appeared to be the children of God and others that as plainly discovered themselves to be the children of the wicked one. There are tares and wheat in the same field, chaff and corn in the same floor; and here we have an account of both.