COMMENTARY ON MALACHI
LESSON NUMBER 3
Mal 1:4 “Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever. 5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.” (Malachi 3:4-5)
GOD WILL NOT LET EDOM BUILD
INTRODUCTION
God has affirmed that He has loved Israel, even though they have not been able to see it. Throughout their history, the care if God for this people has been affirmed by those with faith. Sarah saw it when she gave birth to Isaac and said, “God hath made me to laugh” (Gen 21:6). Rachel, herself once barren like Sarah, said, “God hath . . . heard my voice, and hath given me a son” (Gen 30:6). Leah said, “God hath taken away my reproach” (Gen 30:23). Jacob said, “God hath dealt graciously with me” (Gen 33:11). Joseph said, “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Gen 41:52). Moses told Israel, “the Lord hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand” (Deut. 2:7). God’s attitude toward Abraham’s offspring has always been apparent to those with faith. Yet, the people to whom Malachi prophesied had not perceived Divine care and beneficence. However, not willing to excuse their obtuseness, the Lord shows the consistency of His love for the people He created and chose, comparing them with those of Esau’s lineage – the Edomites. Without human provocation, He had loved Jacob and hated Esau. He had also laid Edom’s heritage waste, while He blessed the land given to Israel (1:3). Now the Lord will confirm further the distinction between Esau’s heritage and that of Jacob, or Israel. There were things He would not allow Edom to do, yet did allow Israel to do. Basically, this had to do with rebuilding, recovering, and re-establishment in the land of their heritage. Here, the Lord will confirm that Divine love is what enables moral recovery.
THE DETERMINATION OF WILLPOWER
Malachi 1:4a “Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places . . . ”
Throughout human history, there has been an overstatement of the power of the human will. Even though there have been repeated confirmations of its impotence, men continue to think that they will be able to do what they want to do. This is a reflection of the manner in which the devil himself thinks, who is also the author of such imaginations in men. Scripture depicts him as saying in his heart, “I WILL ascend into heaven, I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God: I WILL sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I WILL ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL be like the most High” (Isa 14:13-14). That is the lisp of pride, that overestimates the power of self. For some, it is a misinterpretation of being made in the image of God. In our time, there are many professed Christians who speak of the human will in such a way, affirming that we can will or speak things into existence, even framing our own future. This text dashes that vain notion to the ground, pulling it down from its place of prominence. It is true that the Scriptures affirm the power of life and death are “in the tongue” (Prov 18:21) – but that is not the tongue driven by self-will. Jesus did say to the Syrophenician woman, “be it unto thee as thou wilt” (Matt 15:28) – but that was not self-will. Man’s will is significant only when it is in synch with the will of God. Only then is it recognized in heaven (1 John 5:14).
The shackling of the human will is not a simplistic accomplishment. The Psalmist indicated this when he prophesied, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power” (Psa 110:3). In this text, willingness is strictly defined within the parameter of God’s good pleasure. Isaiah spoke of willingness in the same manner: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isa 1:19). This is a willingness that is focused upon God, not self. Expressions of the will that center in the flesh and self are not valid, and therefore will not be ultimately honored by the God who made and redeemed men.
WE ARE IMPOVERISHED. Other versions read, “have been impoverished,” NKJV “have been beaten down,” NASB “have been crushed,” NIV and “are shattered.” NRSV The word “impoverished” means “to be beat down, shattered.” STRONG’S This is not the result of natural deterioration that comes with time. It is not a natural process, but one that is imposed upon the people. The impoverishment was not self-administered, but was performed from outside the people involved. This was something that was done to Edom, and they knew it. Even though they might have attempted to resist it, the impoverishment came anyway. They could not stop it. What they did not see is that this was a judgment from God. There is, after all, only One “who is able to save and to destroy” (James 4:12). If destruction comes, it comes from the Lord, who is the “Governor among the nations” (Psa 22:28). Jesus said men ought to fear God, for He is “able to destroy both body and soul in hell” (Matt10:28).
When Israel was returning to the Lord in the days of Nehemiah, he properly assessed their past: “Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath” (Neh 13:18). God said of Himself, “I create calamity” NKJV (Isa 45:7). The prophet Amos reminded the people that if there was “evil,” or “calamity” NKJV in the city, it was the Lord who had done it (Amos 3:6). If “the Kingdom is the Lord’s” (Psa 22:28), it cannot be otherwise.
Edom’s transgression was that they knew very well they had been brought down. They did not view their condition as a brief setback, but knew they had been “impoverished.” Yet, their pride had not yet been brought down. From the ashes of utter collapse, pride rose with more determination than ever, fully confident that the people could recover form this collapse.
BUT WE WILL RETURN. The land was desolate, but they said they would return to it – fully confident that they were capable of doing so. They would go back to the place from, which they were driven. They would occupy their land again, simply because they were willing to do so. Many a poor soul still operates under the delusion that they can return to their former days simply by being willing to do so. When they want to, they reason, they will be able to. But that is a miserable delusion. Only the God who casts out is capable of enabling a return!
WE WILL REBUILD THE DESOLATE PLACES. Other versions read, “build up the ruins,” NASB and“build the waste places.” AMPLIFIED They made no appeal to the God of heaven, who can truly enable people to rebuild waste places and make a full recovery (Isa 61:4). Instead, they placed confidence in their “own arm.” Even though their own arm could not save them from being impoverished, yet they imagined that it would enable them to rebuild the desolate places. They imagined that being willing to do this equated with the actual doing of it.
In my judgment, many of the recovery programs extant in the Christian community are of the “We will rebuilt the desolate places” mentality. They have been spawned by a failure to see God has the One who has brought their world crashing down, as well as a tragic overestimnation of their own aptitude, which failed them when they came tumbling down.
GOD WILL THROW DOWN THEIR WORK
1:4b “ . . .thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.”
The prophet has revealed how Edom responded to the judgment of the Lord. Now he will declare the Divine response to their self-determination.
THE LORD OF HOSTS. Here the Lord refers to Himself as “the Lord of hosts,” an expression He frequently uses. Nine times it is written, “the Lord of hosts is His name” (Isa 47:4; 48:2; 51:15; 54:5; Jer 10:16; 31:35; 32:18; 50:34; 51:19). 198 times He is referred to as “the Lord of hosts” – 29 times in Malachi (1:4,8,9,10,12; 2:4,7,8,12,16; 3:1,5,7,10,11,12,14,17; 4:1,3). The word “hosts” speaks of a large army that carries out the will of the Lord. Daniel 4:35 refers to “the army of heaven.” Revelation 19:14 refers to “the armies which were in heaven.” 2 Chronicles 14:13 refers to “the Lord and His army.” NKJV Joel 2:11 mentions the Lord uttering “His voice before His army.” Hildad the Shuhite asked this probing question: “Is there any number of His armies?” or, “Can His forces be numbered?” NIV (Job 26:3).
When a person or persons sets themselves against God, it is a hopeless situation. Mind you, God does not need an army. His word alone can overthrow any foe, create any circumstance, and establish anyone He pleases. However, by referring to “hosts” the Lord expands our thinking to be more considerate of the vast moral arena in which we operate. Insightful men can view an impressive army of foes surrounding them and shout, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them!” (2 Kgs 6:16). There is no continent, no region, no city, and no home where these hosts do not operate. They can tear down or build up, destroy or save, root out or establish – and they operate instantly and effectively at the word of the Lord. Daniel saw the throne of the Almighty from which all issues proceed. Before the Lord he saw that “thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him,” ready to instantly do His will(Dan 7:10). He saw “the Lord of hosts.”
In view of this circumstance, it is quite possible for everything to work against someone as well as for them. It is possible for everything to fail as well as to prosper. Godly men are prone to ponder this reality, and adjust their lives accordingly.
THEY WILL, BUT I WILL ALSO! It would appear for a brief time as though the will of the Edomite was being carried out. Their efforts would look successful: “They shall build.” It will look as though recovery was taking place, and Edom would again be prominent. That is the Divine manner, to allow the enemies of His people to regroup, establishing themselves again after they have been overthrown.
However, this is not the end of the matter. The Lord of hosts adds, “but I will throw down.” Other versions read, “tear down,” NASB and “demolish.” NIV In the days of the flood, God told Noah, “I will destroy men whom I have created” (Gen 6:7). Concerning Sodom, the angel of the Lord said, “the Lord will destroy this city” (Gen 19:14). The Lord told Israel, “I will destroy these nations before thee” (Deut 31:3). Solomon wrote, “The Lord will destroy the house of the proud” (Prov 15:25). God can throw down anything that men build up, regardless of the seeming expertise they employ.
History bears out that Edom never did recover from this destruction. “Edom never recovered its power; it became the prey of the Per starts, the Nabatheans, the Jews under the Maccabees, the Macedonians, the Romans; and finally the Mohammedan conquest effected its utter ruin.” PULPIT COMMENTARY Like the cities decimated by the Israelites “it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again” (Deut 13:16). Thus their wills and their intentions came crashing to the ground, and there was nothing they do could about it. This will be the ultimate outcome for all to resist the Lord. In the end, He will “shake all things,” and there will not be single thing built by men that will remain (Hag 1:21-22; Heb 12:26-27).
THE BORDER OF WICKEDNESS. The Edomites would be called “the border of wickedness,” “the Territory of wickedness,” NKJV “the wicked territory,” NASB “the wicked land,” NIV and “the wicked country.” AMPLIFIED The idea here is that theirs was a wicked kingdom from one end to the other. The whole land was full of sin, so the whole land was impoverished by God. That is, the outward appearance of their territory would match their spiritual poverty. It would obvious that they had been desolated because of their wickedness. Men would be able to correlate the condition of their domain with their iniquitous ways. It would be said of them as was said of Jerusalem: “And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?” (Jer 22:8-9). The answer is found in the next clause.
THE PEOPLE WHOM GOD IS AGAINST. “ . . . they shall call them . . .The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.” God referred to Edom (also Idumea) as “the people of My curse” (Isa 34:5). Jeremy told this people, “O daughter of Edom, He will discover thy sins!” (Lam 4:22). They had once called for the thorough razing of Jerusalem (Psa 137:7). Ezekiel said God would lay His vengeance upon Edom “by the hand of My people Israel” (Ezek 25:14). This took place during the period following Malachi’s writing. The overthrow was so apparent, on watchers deduced that God Himself had been against Edom.
THEY WILL SEE AND SAY
1:5 “ And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.”
Remember, the point that God is establishing is that He had loved Israel (1:2). Because of their retrogression, Israel had questioned that love. Therefore, God is reasoning with them by way of comparison with Esau and his lineage. God loved Jacob – not theoretically, but in practice, blessing and prospering his lineage. But this was not the case with the lineage of Esau. Instead of blessing their land, God cursed it, making it desolate. Instead if allowing them to rebuild the land, as He had allowed Israel to do following the Babylonian captivity, He pledged to tear down what they built, making their land perpetually desolate. And why did the Lord react in such different ways to these twin sons of Isaac? It was because He chose to love Jacob and hate Esau. Then, He had blessed Israel for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is why they could recover and rebuild after they had been made desolate. God loved them.
YOUR EYES SHALL SEE. Other versions read, “your eyes will see this,” NASB and “You will see it with your own eyes,” NIV Even as God said through Isaiah concerning the release of His people from, and his judgment upon Babylon, “I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it” (Isa 46:11). At the time, it looked to this Israelites as though they were locked into vanity. It was surely because of their sins and lethargic responses to God that this had come to pass. All the while, Edom appeared to be flourishing, as though they were loved by God, and Israel had been altogether excluded from that love. However, for the sake of His servant Abraham, ands because of the covenant He had made with him, God’s love would again focus on Israel, and His wrath would be focused on their enemies. The Lord reminds Israel through Malachi that this was not an empty promise. Their eyes would see the fulfillment of it!
God frequently spoke to Israel in this hope-awakening manner. After He had poured out the spirit of deep sleep upon Israel, and rendered their prophets blind and insensitive, He promised: “yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers” (Isa 30:20). When they were exiled from their homeland God promised, “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off” (Isa 33:17). When Jerusalem was troubled and desolate He promised, “thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken” (Isa 33:20).
It is God’s manner to declare ahead of time what He is going to do, and then assure the people that they will see it done. He knows that faith and hope will sustain the people. It is no different with us. The Lord holds out to us the destruction of the wicked (Matt 13:41), the removal of the devil (Rev 20:10), and the time when “the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father” (Matt 13:43). He also assures us that this will all be “seen” by His people (Matt 24:30; 1 John 3:2; Rev 1:7; 18:9). This is to be constantly held before the people.
YE SHALL SAY, “THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED.” Other versions read, “The Lord is magnified,” NKJV “Great is the Lord,” NIV and “the Lord is great and will be magnified.” AMPLIFIED The word “magnified” reflects an increased perception of the working of the Lord. In such a case, He is not only seen above the circumstance, but as the manager of the circumstance itself. What was formerly credited to men, or to some other cause, is now credited to the Lord Himself.
There are blessed times when men have confessed that God “hast magnified Thy mercy” (Heb 19:19). That is, His mercy was prominently seen in what was being done. David confessed to God, “Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psa 138:2). In other words, what God had said overshadowed everything else, so that David anchored His hope in God’s word. Confirming the purity of his heart David prayed to God, “Let Thy name be magnified for ever” (2 Sam 7:26). That is, may there never be a time when men fail to see His absolute and unquestionable prominence in all things. Those who love the salvation of God are admonished to “say continually, The Lord be magnified” (Psa 40:16; 70:4).
The point here is that the desolation of Edom and the recovery of Israel would be perceived as coming from the Lord. When the people saw it, they would call for the magnification of the Lord Himself, refusing tom account for either event by pointing to other imagined causes. There is a great need in our time for such vision and speech.
FROM THE BORDER OF ISRAEL. Other versions read, “beyond the border,” NKJV and “beyond the borders.” NIV While the “border” of Edom would be associated with wickedness and Divine wrath, the call to magnify the Lord would go forth from the borders of Israel. Thus the glory of the Lord would not be confined to Israel, but would rather go out from it to other regions. Isaiah spoke of this kind of thing when he revealed the words of the Seraphim: “the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa 6:3). This is also involved in the knowledge of the Lord covering the earth as the waters cover the Sea (Isa 11:9; Hag 2:14). That is, the Lord would work in such a way as would bring glory to Himself. It would be evident that He was working, and men would not credit it to other things. God has pledged Himself to do this.