Malachi 3

I Will Send My Messenger// Matthew 11:7–19; Luke 7:24–35

¹“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says Yahweh of Hosts.

• MAL 3:1[PROPHECY]A messenger would prepare His way → MT 11:10; MK 1:2-4; LK 7:27
• MAL 3:1[PROPHECY]Sudden appearance at the Temple → LK 2:22-32; JN 2:13-17; MT 21:12-13
• MAL 3:1[PROPHECY]Messenger of the New Covenant → LK 22:20; HEB 8:6MEDIUM
• MAL 3:1[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → MT 11:10
• MAL 3:1[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → MK 1:2-3
• MAL 3:1[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → LK 7:27
• MAL 3:1[NOTE]TWO MESSENGERS. My messenger prepares the way, and then the Lord Himself comes, the Messenger of the covenant. Mark opens his gospel with this verse, Mark 1:2, and Jesus said John the Baptist was this messenger, Matthew 11:10.

²But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.

• MAL 3:2[PROPHECY]The Lord would come like a refiner's fire to purify His people → MT 3:11-12MEDIUM
• MAL 3:2[NOTE]THE REFINER. A silver refiner heats the metal until the trash floats off. These verses talk about God as He, outside His quote, so they print black.

³And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to Yahweh in righteousness.

⁴Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please Yahweh, as in days of old and years gone by.

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says Yahweh of Hosts.

• MAL 3:5[DEMONIC]God will be a swift witness against sorcerers

Robbing God

⁶“Because I, Yahweh, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. ⁷Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of Hosts.

• MAL 3:6[NOTABLE]The people kept breaking their promises, but God kept His. They were still alive only because He is always the same.

“But you ask, ‘How can we return?’

• MAL 3:7[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → JAS 4:8

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!

But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’

In tithes and offerings. ⁹You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. ¹⁰Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says Yahweh of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure. ¹¹I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says Yahweh of Hosts.

• MAL 3:8[DEMONIC]You are cursed because you rob God
• MAL 3:8[NOTE]ROBBERY. See Robbing God?, and for every view on tithing today, Does the Tithe Still Apply?, Leviticus.

¹²“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says Yahweh of Hosts.

The Book of Remembrance

¹³“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says Yahweh. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’

¹⁴You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before Yahweh of Hosts? ¹⁵So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

¹⁶At that time those who feared Yahweh spoke with one another, and Yahweh listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared Yahweh and honored His name.

• MAL 3:16[NOTABLE]When most people had stopped caring, a few friends kept talking about God. He was listening, and He wrote their names down.
• MAL 3:16[NOTE]A SCROLL OF REMEMBRANCE. Persian kings kept books of memorable deeds, Esther 6:1 to 2. God keeps one too. This verse is the narrator speaking, so it prints black.

¹⁷“They will be Mine,” says Yahweh of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. ¹⁸So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”