COMMENTARY ON MALACHI


LESSON NUMBER 23


Mal 3:16 “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. 17 And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Malachi 3:16-18)

 

STANDING FAST IN DIFFICULT TIMES

 


INTRODUCTION

               Is it possible for a people to stand fast in the faith, even when the times are such as are not conducive to such a stance? Does a falling away justify spiritual retardation? Does the fact that the spiritual leaders are corrupt and inconsiderate mean that there is no hope for the people? Or, is faith sufficient to stand, even in the evil day? Our text will answer those questions, and there will be no ambiguity about what is said. God has spoken candidly about His response to both the leaders and those who followed them. “I have no pleasure in you . . . neither will I accept an offering at your hand . . . I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessing . . . I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces . . . I will come near to you to judgment”(Mal 1:8; 2:2; 3:5). When God is so indignant with those who have rejected His love, even questioning that it existed (1:2), does His indignation cause Him to forget the righteous, or to pass over them? Are they swallowed up in judgment leveled against the gainsaying and disobedient? These are matters about which men often choose to philosophize, representing God as being tolerant of the ungodly, and refusing to see the magnitude of Divine judgment. However, we will see that the flaming fire of God’s wrath does not devour the righteous with the unrighteous. Even if He is angry with the entire world, and destroys it with a flood, yet He will remember Noah (Gen 8:1). Even though Sodom has so incensed the Lord that they will suffer “the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7), yet He will deliver “righteous Lot” who was “oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men” NASB (2 Pet 2:7; Jude 1:17). That is the God to whom we will now be exposed. That marvelous exposure will encourage us to cleave unto the Lord with purpose of heart, and separate ourselves from the ungodly.


THEY SPOKE OFTEN TO ONE ANOTHER

               Malachi 3:16 “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name.”


               THEN. Other versions read, “at that time,” CSB and “in this vein.” TNK The word “then” refers to the time when others were speaking “stout words” against the Lord, and challenging the Divine statement that they were doing so (3:13). Others were speaking offensive words like, “It is vain to serve the Lord,” and “What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts.” Assessing those about them they had said,. “we call the proud happy,” “They that work wickedness are set up,” and “They that tempt God are even delivered” (3:14-15). While the stench of those words was rising into the heavens, there was a sweet incense that was also duly noted by the God of heaven. The prevalence of blasphemy did not smother this fragrant odor, nor cause it to diminish in any way.


               THEY THAT FEARED THE LORD. The priests did not fear the Lord,, nor did those who were following them (Mal 1:6; 3:5), but there were some who did, and now the Lord speaks of and to them. When Pharaoh issued an edict to kill all the Jewish male newborns, “the midwives feared God” (Ex 1:17). When Israel saw the destruction of Egypt’s army on the banks of the Read Sea, they “feared the Lord” (Ex 14:31). When Samuel prayed, and the Lord sent thunder and rain, “the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel” (1 Sam 12:18). When God sent a storm that jeopardized the boat on which Jonah was running from the Lord, “the men feared the Lord exceedingly” (Jonah 1:16). When Nehemiah placed his brother over Jerusalem, it was because he “feared God above many” (Neh 7:2). One of the dominant traits of Job was that he “feared God” (Job 1:1). Cornelius was a devout man who “feared God with all his house” (Acts 10:2). Peter admonishes those in Christ,. “Fear God” (1 Pet 2:17).


               Those who “fear God” are not carried away by the wickedness of the times. They are not among those whose love grows cold because iniquity is abounding (Matt 24:12). They fear Divine reprisals more the reactions of men. They are more eager to avoid offending God than their peers. They are more disoriented by the thought of God being displeased, than they are about men being dissatisfied or offended by what they say and do.


               SPAKE OFTEN TO ONE ANOTHER. And what did those who feared the Lord do? They “talked often one to another,” AMPLIFIED or “spoke among themselves.” Here is a group of people within a people, distinguished by different preferences and assessments. They chose different associates and spoke often with them. They preferred one another, and thus were found frequently talking together. While the priests and their followers were ignoring Malachi’s words, these people were listening to them and talking with one another about them. One person observes, “The more the ungodly spake against God, the more these spake among themselves for God,” BARNES which is the intended comparison. They were no doubt strengthening one another, preparing themselves for the time of judgment being chronicled by Malachi. This is one of the distinctions of those who fear God: they speak frequently with one another.


               THE LORD HEARKENED AND HEARD IT. Other verses read, “listened and heard,” NKJV and “gave attention and heard.” NASB The idea is that of God leaning forward with holy delight to listen. Just as surely as the Lord heard “stout words” the priests and people spoke against Him, so He heard the words of those who feared Him. The priests thought God was no longer looking and listening, but they were wrong in their assessment. The idea of an all-seeing all-hearing God is comforting to those who fear Him and are living by faith. You can tell how close or far a person is from the Lord by how they react to the declaration of His all-seeing eyes and all-hearing ears. Blessed is the person who draws the attention of God through their faithfulness and preference for holy company!


               A BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE. Other versions read, “a book to be kept in mind,” BBE “a record book,” CJB “ written in His presence.” GWN This is parabolic language signifying that God would recall these people at the most critical times, considering them, and exempting them from the judgments coming upon those who did not fear Him. After every living thing and person had been destroyed by the flood, “God remembered Noah,” and “made a wind” that caused the waters to assuage(Gen 8:1).When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, He “remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out” (Gen 19:29). This is a way of saying God thought upon the people “for good” (Neh 5:19).


               THEY THOUGHT UPON HIS NAME. Other versions read, “meditate on His name,” NKJV “esteem His name,” NASB “honored His name,” NIV and “loved to think about Him.” LIVING While others were thinking and speaking in a demeaning manner about the Lord, these people were considering His goodness, faithfulness, and righteousness. Their speech honored Him, bringing joy to their hearts and to God as well. It is not right for those professing to know God to come together and talk about themselves. Their word should center in the name of the Lord – His character, His will, and His Person. For us, His name is embodied in Jesus Christ.


THEY SHALL BE MINE

               3:17 “ And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”


               Those who fear the Lord and think upon His name are hated by the world (John 15:18; 17:14). They are also despised by those who embrace a false view of God and His will. This is why the Jewish leaders hated Jesus (Lk 19:14), and persecuted His followers (Acts 8:1; 11:19; 13:50; 22:4). This is one of the besetting marks of spiritual Babylon: it is responsible of “the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Rev 17:6). Now, however, God gives His assessment of those who feared Him,, even when it was unpopular and out of vogue to do so.


               THEY SHALL BE MINE. Other versions read, “they shall be My special possession,” DOUAY “belong to Me,” NET and “will be My people.” NLT There is a people with whom God is not ashamed to identity Himself (Heb 11:16). Others may shun them, but God does not. One of the grievous experiences of those who fear the Lord and speak frequently with one another about Him, is the rejection of their peers. They are not rejected because of any vice found in them, but because of singularity of their devotion to the Lord. Here, however, God makes a public proclamation: “They shall be Mine!” It is the nature of God to remember the righteous at the same time He is judging the unrighteous. When He makes known His rejection of some, He also makes known His acceptance of others. On the very night the first born were slain in all of the houses of Egypt, God’s people marched out of the “iron furnace” (Deut 4:20) with all of their firstborn. He made known that Israel belonged to Him, just as He had told Pharaoh in the beginning, referring to them as His “people,” His “Son,” and His “firstborn” (Ex 4:22; 5:1)


               WHEN I MAKE UP MY JEWELS. Other versions read, “My own possession,” NASB “My treasured possession,” NIV “My special possession,” NRSV “a peculiar treasure,” ERV and “My most prized possession.” NJB The word translated “jewels” means “valued property, peculiar treasure, jewel.” STRONG’S The picture is that of a great and destructive calamity looming on the horizon. Insightful people, knowing they must vacate their homes to save their lives, search out their most prized possessions – the things that mean the most, and have the greatest value to them. That is what they choose to salvage. So it is with God. He notes and values the people who fear Him, and upon whom He has placed a value, likening them to “jewels.” These are the ones He spares.


               Those who insist on saying God has the same regard for everyone must explain why God calls some people “jewels.” They must explain to us why the Lord says of some, “He will joy over them with singing” (Zeph 3:17). Why does He choose to attend the gatherings of some (Matt 18:20), while refusing to be with others (Num 14:42; Deut 1:42). Why are some called “sons and daughters” (2 Cor 6:18), while others are viewed as “bastards” (Heb 12:8). Why are some referred to as “the people of God,” while others are “not a people” (1 Pet 2:10). Why are some people vessels “to honor,” and some to “dishonor” (2 Tim 2:20).


               There is such a thing as holy discrimination, and there is a time when that discrimination will be made known – when God “makes up His jewels.” These “jewels” are the wheat, as compared with the chaff (Matt 3:12), the “accepted” (Eph 1:6) as compared with the “rejected” (Jer 6:30; Heb 6:8; 12:17). Before God, there is such a thing as a people who are appropriately described as “precious stones,” while other are nothing more than “stubble” (1 Cor 3:12).


               I WILL SPARE THEM. Other versions read, “have mercy on them,” BBE “have compassion on them,” CSB “make choice of them,” SEPTUAGINT “be tender toward them,” TNK and “have had pity on them.” YLT Here the idea is that of exempting them from the judgment to be sent upon the unfaithful. When the wave of judgment comes, He will consider them as He promised the faithful in the church at Philadelphia: “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev 3:10). And why will the Lord do this? Because these people feared Him, spoke often with one another about Him, and thought upon His name!


               When the plagues descended upon Egypt, the Israelites in Goshen were exempted. When the flood came, Noah and his family were spared. When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Lot was spared. When believers were driven out of Jerusalem, the apostles stayed and were spared (Acts 8:1). Daniel was spared in the lion’s den, and the three Hebrew children in the furnace of fire. These are sterling examples of Divine sparing.


               AS HIS OWN SON THAT SERVES HIM. Here is a tender expression of the way in which the Lord views those who fear Him, speak of Him often with one another, and think upon His name. Jesus spoke of a certain man who had two sons. When told to go and work in His vineyard, one said he would not go, but later repented and did go. The other said he would go, yet “went not” (Matt 21:28-31). The one who serves the Lord as a “son” is the one who does His bidding. It is not the one who invents, so to speak, what he wants to do for the Lord, but the one who does what he is commanded to do – as Jesus did (John 10:18). That commandment was summarized in Jesus laying down His life, then taking it up again. So it is with those who serve the Lord, they lay down their lives, then take them up again, living for the Lord with His interests in mind.


THEN YOU WILL DISCERN

               3:18 “ Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.


               THEN SHALL YOU RETURN. Other versions read, “you shall again,” NKJV “once more you will,” NRSV and “you shall come to.” TNK The “then” is the time of Divine judgment, when the Lord will do as He has promised, “I will even send a curse upon you” (Mal 2:2).


               This word has a wide meaning, including both those who feared the Lord and those who did not. Earlier, God said He would judge the nation. At that time, He said, “ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts” (Mal 2:4). It will become apparent at that time who the Lord was against, and who was favored by Him. This is something like Zechariah’s word concerning the awakening of Israel to Christ: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zech 12:10). There are defining moments when truth is most clearly seen, and the lie is publically exposed for what it really is. The ultimate time when this will occur is the appearing of the Lord when everything will be made manifest (1 Cor 4:5). But there are times of judgment during which truth is clarified as well, like the earth opening and swallowing Korah and his rebels (Num 16:32), and the death of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10). Even those who have been faithful behold such judgments and fear, as they did when Ananias and Sapphira died (Acts 5:5,11).


               YOU WILL DISCERN BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED. Other versions read, “distinguish,” NASB “see the distinction,”NIV “see the difference,” NRSV “see that I make a distinction,” BBE “see the difference between God’s treatment of.” LIVING


               The point here is that God does not view the righteous and the wicked in the same way. That is because they are not the same. Whatever men may say about commonality found in them, or how God considers them all the same, is nothing more than idle prattle. When it comes to the mind of the Lord toward people, he has left no room for the opinions and philosophies of men. It is written that the Lord “trieth the righteous,” but His soul hates the “wicked and him that loveth violence” (Psa 11:5). Again, it is written that the eyes of the Lord are “upon the righteous,” but His face is “against them that do evil” (Psa 34:15). The Lord “upholdeth the righteous,” but the arms of the wicked “shall be broken” (Psa 37:17). Froward people are “an abomination to the Lord, but His secret is with the righteous” (Prov 3:32). The Lord “will not suffer the righteous to famish,: but He casteth away the substance of the wicked” (Prov 10:3). Again, “the Lord is far from the wicked, but He heareth the prayer of the righteous” (Prov 15:29). Confirming that God has not changed, Peter writes, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Pet 3:12). This, then, is an area of thought that has been made quite clear.


               Religious men often have great difficulty with the truth proclaimed in these sayings – but it is only because of their abysmal ignorance of the Word of the Lord. God has spoken plainly on this subject, and has worked in such a manner as to clarify the exactness of these statements. In the flood, the wicked perished and the righteous were spared. In the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah the ungodly perished and the godly were delivered. When there were objections to Aaron being the high priest, he and his sons were exonerated by the destruction of their foes. There are appointed times when Divine distinctions are confirmed, and the foolishness of human speculations are exposed. There are undisputed advantages to perceiving this distinction before the judgment, for there is no guarantee that all of the ungodly will respond appropriately to harsh, but temporary, judgments. Thus the Revelation speaks of those who perceived and felt the judgment of the Almighty, “yet repented not to give Him glory” (Rev 16:9). In fact, in their affliction they “blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds” (Rev 16:11).


               Those who corrupt the minds of men with their “damnable heresies” (2 Pet 2:1), teaching them that there are no distinctions between the righteous and the wicked, are culturing a people who will not be able to turn to the Lord – even when harsh judgments are poured out upon them. Such men are not to be tolerated among the righteous, but are to be avoided (Rom 16:17).


               BETWEEN HIM THAT SERVES GOD AND HIM THAT DOES NOT. The service of God is not defined by men. Those who truly serve the Lord do so according to the revelation of God. They are the ones who align themselves with the revealed purpose of God, and serve Him as those willingly subjected to that purpose. God is “served” with the human spirit (Rom 1:9) – in “newness of Spirit,” according to the nature of the New Covenant, as compared to the Law (Rom 7:6). He is served with fervency (Rom 12:11), and in righteous, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17-18). There is a distinction between these people and those who do not serve the Lord.