Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
MALACHI 3
1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
5 “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.
Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes
6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God
13 “You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ”
The Faithful Remnant
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
Application Notes
3:1 This verse mentions two messengers. The first is understood to be John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10; Luke 7:27). The second is Jesus, the Messiah, for whom both Malachi and John the Baptist prepared the way.
3:2-3 In the process of refining metals, the raw metal ore is heated with fire until the metal melts. The impurities separate from the liquid metal and rise to the surface. They are skimmed off, leaving the pure metal. Without this heating and melting, no purifying would occur. As the impurities are skimmed off the top, the reflection of the worker appears in the smooth, pure surface. The “launderer's soap” was alkali, used to whiten cloth. The washing and bleaching of cloth is used here as an additional symbol for the purifying process.
As we are purified by God, his reflection in our lives will become more and more clear to those around us. But this purifying process can be painful. God says that leaders (here the Levites) should be especially open to his purification process in their lives. Are you open to enduring God's refining process?
3:5 God would bring the people of Judah to trial in his purification process. They would be judged for witchcraft and adultery, and in the same breath they would be judged for abusing their neighbors. Cheating employees, oppressing widows and orphans, and depriving foreigners of justice were sins of the same importance. Are we quick to point out heresy and sexual immorality but slow to speak for those who have no voice and for mistreated refugees? Loving God and helping neighbors go together.
3:6-12 God's next dispute with the people was that they had become dishonest in their faith and in giving their money. Throughout history, God's people have disobeyed and even scorned his laws, but he has always been willing to accept them back. Here, however, the people had the nerve to imply that they had never disobeyed him (“How are we to return?”). Many people have turned their backs on forgiveness and restoration because they have refused to admit their sin. Don't follow their example. God will always accept and forgive us when we humbly return to him.
3:8-12 Malachi urged the people to stop holding back their tithes, to stop keeping from God what he deserved. 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), so this was how the people supported them. During Malachi's day, the people had stopped giving tithes, so the Levites had to work other jobs to earn a living, thereby neglecting their God-given responsibilities to care for the temple, the service of worship, and the spiritual instruction of the people. Everything we have is from God; when we refuse to return to him a part of what he has given us, we rob him. Do you feel entitled to keep 100 percent of what God has given you, or are you willing to return at least 10 percent for helping to advance God's kingdom?
3:8-12 The 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 it will be given to you” he said (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.
3:10 The storehouse was a place in the temple for storing grain and other food given as tithes. The priests lived off these gifts. Today, we 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.
3:13-15 These verses describe the people's arrogant attitude toward God. When we ask, “What good does it do to serve God?” we are really asking, “What good does it do for me” We offend God with this selfcentered attitude. We may not immediately see the benefits of serving. God, but the long-term value comes from our relationship with him. Our motivation should be love, not our own benefit.
3:16 The “scroll of remembrance” may or may not be an actual scroll. The point is that God will remember those who remain faithful to him and who love, fear, honor, and respect him.
3:17-18 God's “treasured possession” is those who are faithful to him. While all this sin and corruption went on, God still considered Israel to be his special people who were supposed to love him, honor him, and serve him. This fulfills the promise he had made in his covenant with his people (Exodus 19:5). According to 1 Peter 2;9, all believers are God's very own treasured possession. Even on your worst day, you can be assured that God knows who you are and that he loves you. He treasures his relationship with you.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)