mh_parser/vol_split/39 - Malachi/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Mal.iv" n="iv" next="Mal.v" prev="Mal.iii" progress="98.97%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Mal.iv-p0.1">M A L A C H I.</h2>
<h3 id="Mal.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Mal.iv-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. A promise of the
coming of the Messiah, and of his forerunner; and the errand he
comes upon is here particularly described, both the comfort which
his coming brings to his church and people and the terror which it
will bring to the wicked, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.1-Mal.3.6" parsed="|Mal|3|1|3|6" passage="Mal 3:1-6">ver.
1-6</scripRef>. II. A reproof of the Jews for their corrupting
God's ordinances and sacrilegiously robbing him of his dues, with a
charge to them to amend this matter, and a promise that, if they
did, God would return in mercy to them, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.7-Mal.3.12" parsed="|Mal|3|7|3|12" passage="Mal 3:7-12">ver. 7-12</scripRef>. III. A description of the
wickedness of the wicked that speak against God (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.13-Mal.3.15" parsed="|Mal|3|13|3|15" passage="Mal 3:13-15">ver. 13-15</scripRef>), and of the righteousness of
the righteous that speak for him, with the precious promises made
to them, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.16-Mal.3.18" parsed="|Mal|3|16|3|18" passage="Mal 3:16-18">ver. 16-18</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Mal.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3" parsed="|Mal|3|0|0|0" passage="Mal 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Mal.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.1-Mal.3.6" parsed="|Mal|3|1|3|6" passage="Mal 3:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mal.iv-p1.7">
<h4 id="Mal.iv-p1.8">Evangelical Predictions; The Advent of
Christ Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p1.9">b. c.</span> 400.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mal.iv-p2" shownumber="no">1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p2.1">Lord</span> of hosts.   2 But who may abide the
day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he
<i>is</i> like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:   3
And he shall sit <i>as</i> a refiner and purifier of silver: and he
shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p2.2">Lord</span> an
offering in righteousness.   4 Then shall the offering of
Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p2.3">Lord</span>, as in the days of old, and as in former
years.   5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will
be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the
adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that
oppress the hireling in <i>his</i> wages, the widow, and the
fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger <i>from his right,</i>
and fear not me, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p2.4">Lord</span> of
hosts.   6 For I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p2.5">Lord</span>, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p3" shownumber="no">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: <i>Where is the God
of judgment?</i> 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, <i>For judgment have I come into this world,</i> 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 <i>the king
Messiah.</i> And the <i>beginning of the gospel of Christ</i> is
expressly said to be the accomplishment of this promise, with which
the Old Testament concludes, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Mark.1.1-Mark.1.2" parsed="|Mark|1|1|1|2" passage="Mk 1:1,2">Mark i.
1, 2</scripRef>. So that by this the two Testaments are, as it
were, tacked together, and made to answer one another. Now here we
have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p4" shownumber="no">I. A prophecy of the appearing of his
forerunner John the Baptist, which the prophet Isaiah had foretold
(<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.3" parsed="|Isa|40|3|0|0" passage="Isa 40:3"><i>ch.</i> xl. 3</scripRef>), as the
<i>preparing</i> of the <i>way of the Lord,</i> to which this seems
to have a reference, for the words of the latter prophets confirmed
those of the former: <i>Behold, I will send my messenger,</i> or
<i>I do send him,</i> or <i>I am sending</i> him. "I am determined
to send him; he will now shortly come, and will not come unsent,
though to a careless generation he comes unsent for." Observe, 1.
He is <i>God's messenger;</i> that is his office; he is
<i>Malachi</i> (so the word is), the same with the name of this
prophet; he is <i>my angel,</i> my <i>ambassador.</i> John Baptist
had his commission <i>from heaven, and not of men.</i> All held
John Baptist for a prophet, for he was God's messenger, as the
prophets were, and came on the same errand to the world that they
were sent upon—to call men to repentance and reformation. 2. He is
Christ's harbinger: He <i>shall prepare the way before me,</i> by
calling men to those duties which qualify them to receive the
comforts of the Messiah and his coming, and by taking them off from
a confidence in their relation to Abraham <i>as their father</i>
(which, they thought, would serve their turn without a saviour),
and by giving notice that the Messiah was now at hand, and so
raising men's expectations of him, and making them readily to go
into the measures he would take for the setting up of his kingdom
in the world. Note, God observes a method in his work, and, before
he comes, takes care to have his way prepared. This is like the
giving of a sign. The church was told, long before, that the
Messiah would come; and here it is added that, a little before he
appears, there shall be a signal given; a great prophet shall
arise, that shall give notice of his approach, and call to the
everlasting gates and doors to <i>lift up their heads</i> and give
him admission. The accomplishment of this is a proof that <i>Jesus
is the Christ,</i> is he that <i>should come,</i> and we are to
<i>look for no other;</i> for there was such a messenger sent
before him, who <i>made ready a people prepared for the Lord,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.17" parsed="|Luke|1|17|0|0" passage="Lu 1:17">Luke i. 17</scripRef>. The Jewish
writers run into gross absurdities to evade the conviction of this
evidence; some of them say that this messenger is the <i>angel of
death,</i> who shall take the wicked out of this life, to be sent
into hell torments; others of them say that it is Messiah the son
of Joseph, who shall appear before Messiah the son of David;
others, this prophet himself; others, an angel from heaven: such
mistakes do those run into that will not receive the truth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p5" shownumber="no">II. A prophecy of the appearing of the
Messiah himself: "<i>The Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come
to his temple,</i> even <i>the God of judgment,</i> who, you think,
has forsaken the earth, and you <i>wot not what has become of
him.</i> The Messiah has been long called <i>he that should
come,</i> and you may assure yourselves that now shortly he will
come." 1. He is <i>the Lord—Adonai,</i> the basis and foundation
on which the world is founded and fastened, the ruler and governor
of all, that one <i>Lord over all</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.10.36" parsed="|Acts|10|36|0|0" passage="Ac 10:36">Acts x. 36</scripRef>) that has all power committed to
him (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.28.18" parsed="|Matt|28|18|0|0" passage="Mt 28:18">Matt. xxviii. 18</scripRef>) and
is to <i>reign over the house of Jacob for ever,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.33" parsed="|Luke|1|33|0|0" passage="Lu 1:33">Luke i. 33</scripRef>. 2. He is the <i>Messenger
of the covenant,</i> or the <i>angel of the covenant,</i> that
<i>blessed one</i> that was <i>sent</i> from heaven to negotiate a
peace, and settle a correspondence, between God and man. He is the
<i>angel,</i> the <i>archangel,</i> the Lord of the angels, who
received commission from the Father to bring man home to God by a
covenant of grace, who had revolted from him by the violation of
the covenant of innocency. Christ is the <i>angel of this
covenant,</i> by whose mediation it is brought about and
established as God's covenant with Israel was made by the
<i>disposition of angels,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.7.53 Bible:Gal.3.19" parsed="|Acts|7|53|0|0;|Gal|3|19|0|0" passage="Ac 7:53,Ga 3:19">Acts vii. 53; Gal. iii. 19</scripRef>. Christ, as
a prophet, is the <i>messenger</i> and <i>mediator</i> of the
covenant; nay, he is <i>given for a covenant,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.49.8" parsed="|Isa|49|8|0|0" passage="Isa 49:8">Isa. xlix. 8</scripRef>. That covenant which is
all our <i>salvation began to be spoken by the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.3" parsed="|Heb|2|3|0|0" passage="Heb 2:3">Heb. ii. 3</scripRef>. Though he is the <i>prince
of the covenant</i> (as some read this) yet he condescended to be
the <i>messenger of it,</i> that we might have full assurance of
God's good-will towards man, upon his word. 3. He it is <i>whom you
seek, whom you delight in,</i> whom the pious Jews expect and
desire, and whose coming they think of with a great deal of
pleasure. In looking and waiting for him, they <i>looked for
redemption in Jerusalem</i> and <i>waited for the consolation of
Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.25 Bible:Luke.2.38" parsed="|Luke|2|25|0|0;|Luke|2|38|0|0" passage="Lu 2:25,38">Luke ii. 25,
38</scripRef>. Christ was to be the <i>desire of all nations,</i>
desirable to all (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Hag.2.7" parsed="|Hag|2|7|0|0" passage="Hag 2:7">Hag. ii.
7</scripRef>); but he was <i>the desire</i> of the Jewish nation
actually, because they had the promise of his coming made to them.
Note, Those that seek Jesus shall find pleasure in him. If he be
our heart's desire he will be our heart's delight; and we have
reason to delight in him who is the <i>messenger of the
covenant,</i> and to bid him welcome who came to us on so kind an
errand. 4. He <i>shall suddenly come;</i> his coming draws nigh,
and we see it not at so great a distance as the patriarchs saw it
at. Or, He shall come immediately after the appearing of John
Baptist, shall even tread on the heels of his forerunner; when that
<i>morning-star</i> appears, believe that the <i>Sun of
righteousness</i> is not far off. Or, He <i>shall come
suddenly,</i> that is, he shall come when by many he is not looked
for; as his second coming will be, so his first coming was, <i>at
midnight,</i> when some had done looking for him, for <i>shall he
find faith on the earth?</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Luke.18.8" parsed="|Luke|18|8|0|0" passage="Lu 18:8">Luke
xviii. 8</scripRef>. The Jews reckon the Messiah among the things
that come <i>unawares;</i> so Dr. Pocock. And the coming of the Son
of man in his day is said to be <i>as the lightning,</i> which is
very surprising, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Luke.17.24" parsed="|Luke|17|24|0|0" passage="Lu 17:24">Luke xvii.
24</scripRef>. 5. He <i>shall come to his temple,</i> this temple
at Jerusalem, which was lately built, that <i>latter house</i>
which he was to be the glory of. It is his temple, for it is <i>his
Father's house,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:John.2.16" parsed="|John|2|16|0|0" passage="Joh 2:16">John ii.
16</scripRef>. Christ, at forty days old, was presented in the
temple, and thither Simeon went <i>by the Spirit,</i> according to
the direction of this prophecy, to see him, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.27" parsed="|Luke|2|27|0|0" passage="Lu 2:27">Luke ii. 27</scripRef>. At twelve years old he was in the
temple <i>about his Father's business,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.49" parsed="|Luke|2|49|0|0" passage="Lu 2:49">Luke ii. 49</scripRef>. When he rode in triumph into
Jerusalem, it should seem that he went directly <i>to the
temple</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.12" parsed="|Matt|21|12|0|0" passage="Mt 21:12">Matt. xxi. 12</scripRef>),
and (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p5.15" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.14" parsed="|Mal|3|14|0|0" passage="Mal 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>) thither
the <i>blind and the lame came to him to be healed;</i> there he
often preached, and often disputed, and often wrought miracles. By
this it appears that the Messiah was to come while <i>that
temple</i> was standing; that, therefore, being long since
destroyed, we must conclude that he has come, and we are to look
for no other. Note, Those that would be acquainted with Christ and
obtain his favour must meet him in his temple, for there he
<i>records his name</i> and there he will bless his people. There
we must receive his oracles and there we must pay our homage. 6.
The promise of this coming is repeated and ratified: <i>Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts;</i> you may depend upon his
word, who cannot lie, he <i>shall come,</i> he <i>will come,</i> he
<i>will not tarry.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p6" shownumber="no">III. An account given of the great ends and
intentions of his coming, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.2" parsed="|Mal|3|2|0|0" passage="Mal 3:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. He is one whom they seek, and one whom they delight
in; and yet <i>who may abide the day of his coming?</i> It is a
thing to be thought of with great seriousness, and with a holy awe
and reverence; for who <i>shall stand when he appears,</i> though
he comes not to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might have life? This may refer,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p7" shownumber="no">1. To the terrors of his appearance. Even
in the days of his flesh there were some emanations of his glory
and power, such as none could stand before, witness his
transfiguration, and the prodigies that attended his death; and we
read of some that trembled before him, as <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Mark.5.33" parsed="|Mark|5|33|0|0" passage="Mk 5:33">Mark v. 33</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p8" shownumber="no">2. To the troublous times that should
follow soon after. The Jewish doctors speak of the <i>pangs</i> or
<i>griefs</i> of the Messiah, meaning (they say) the great
afflictions that should be to Israel at the time of his coming; he
himself speaks of great tribulation then approaching, <i>such as
was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.21" parsed="|Matt|24|21|0|0" passage="Mt 24:21">Matt. xxiv. 21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p9" shownumber="no">3. To the trial which his coming would make
of the children of men. <i>He shall be like a refiner's fire,</i>
which separates between the gold and the dross by melting the ore,
or <i>like fuller's soap,</i> which with much rubbing fetches the
spots out of the cloth. Christ came to discover men, <i>that the
thoughts of many hearts might be revealed</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.35" parsed="|Luke|2|35|0|0" passage="Lu 2:35">Luke ii. 35</scripRef>), to distinguish men, to separate
between the precious and the vile, for <i>his fan in his hand</i>
(<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.12" parsed="|Matt|3|12|0|0" passage="Mt 3:12">Matt. iii. 12</scripRef>), to <i>send
fire on the earth, not peace, but rather division</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.49 Bible:Luke.12.51" parsed="|Luke|12|49|0|0;|Luke|12|51|0|0" passage="Lu 12:49,51">Luke xii. 49, 51</scripRef>), to <i>shake
heaven and earth,</i> that the <i>wicked</i> might be <i>shaken
out</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.13" parsed="|Job|38|13|0|0" passage="Job 38:13">Job xxxviii. 13</scripRef>)
and <i>that the things which cannot be shaken might remain,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.27" parsed="|Heb|12|27|0|0" passage="Heb 12:27">Heb. xii. 27</scripRef>. See what the
effect of the trial will be that shall be made by the gospel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p10" shownumber="no">(1.) The gospel shall work good upon those
that are disposed to be good, to them it shall be a savour of life
unto life (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.3" parsed="|Mal|3|3|0|0" passage="Mal 3:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>):
<i>He shall sit as a refiner.</i> Christ by his gospel shall purify
and reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it shall
regenerate and cleanse particular souls; for to this end he gave
himself for the church, <i>that he might sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water by the word</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.5.26" parsed="|Eph|5|26|0|0" passage="Eph 5:26">Eph. v. 26</scripRef>) and <i>purify to himself a
peculiar people,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Titus.2.14" parsed="|Titus|2|14|0|0" passage="Tit 2:14">Tit. ii.
14</scripRef>. Christ is the great refiner. Observe, [1.] Who they
are that he will purify—<i>the sons of Levi,</i> all those that
are devoted to his praise and employed in his service, as the tribe
of Levi was, and whom he designs to make unto our God spiritual
priests (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.6" parsed="|Rev|1|6|0|0" passage="Re 1:6">Rev. i. 6</scripRef>), a
<i>holy priesthood,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.5" parsed="|1Pet|2|5|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:5">1 Pet. ii.
5</scripRef>. Note, All true Christians are sons of Levi, set apart
for God, to do the service of his sanctuary, and to <i>war the good
warfare.</i> [2.] How he will purify them; he will <i>purge them as
gold and silver,</i> that is, he will sanctify them inwardly; he
will not only wash away the spots they have contracted from
without, but will take away the dross that is found in them; he
will separate from them their indwelling corruptions, which
rendered their faculties worthless and useless, and so make them
like gold refined, both valuable and serviceable. <i>He will purge
them</i> with fire, <i>as gold and silver are purged,</i> for <i>he
baptizes with the Holy Ghost and with fire</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.11" parsed="|Matt|3|11|0|0" passage="Mt 3:11">Matt. iii. 11</scripRef>), with the Holy Ghost working
like fire. He will purge them by <i>afflictions and manifold
temptations,</i> that the <i>trial of their faith</i> may be
<i>found to praise and honour,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.6-1Pet.1.7" parsed="|1Pet|1|6|1|7" passage="1Pe 1:6,7">1
Pet. i. 6, 7</scripRef>. He will purge them so as to make them a
precious people to himself. [3.] What will be the effect of it:
<i>That they may offer unto the Lord an offering in
righteousness,</i> that is, that they may be in sincerity converted
to God and consecrated to his praise (hence we read of the
<i>offering up,</i> or <i>sacrificing, of the Gentiles</i> to God,
when they were <i>sanctified by the holy Ghost,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:Rom.15.16" parsed="|Rom|15|16|0|0" passage="Ro 15:16">Rom. xv. 16</scripRef>), and that they may in a
spiritual manner worship God according to his will, may <i>offer
the sacrifices of righteousness,</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.5" parsed="|Ps|4|5|0|0" passage="Ps 4:5">Ps. iv. 5</scripRef>), the offering of prayer, and praise,
and holy love, that they may be the <i>true worshippers,</i> who
<i>worship the Father in spirit and in truth,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.10" osisRef="Bible:John.4.23-John.4.24" parsed="|John|4|23|4|24" passage="Joh 4:23,24">John iv. 23, 24</scripRef>. Note, We cannot
offer unto the Lord any right performances in religion unless our
persons be justified and sanctified. Till we ourselves be refined
and purified by the grace of God, we cannot do any thing that will
redound to the glory of God. God had respect to Abel first, and
then to his offering; and <i>therefore</i> God purges his people,
that they may offer their offerings to him in righteousness,
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.11" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.3.9" parsed="|Zeph|3|9|0|0" passage="Zep 3:9">Zeph. iii. 9</scripRef>. He makes the
tree good that the fruit may be good. And then it follows
(<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.12" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.4" parsed="|Mal|3|4|0|0" passage="Mal 3:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), <i>The
offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant unto the
Lord.</i> It shall no longer be offensive, as it has been, when, in
the former days, they worshipped other gods with the God of Israel,
or when, in the present days, they brought the torn, and the lame,
and the sick, for sacrifice; but it shall be <i>acceptable;</i> he
will be pleased with the offerers, and their offerings, <i>as in
the days of old and as in former years,</i> as in the primitive
times of the church, as when God had respect to Abel's sacrifice
and smelled a savour of rest from Noah's, and when he kindled
Aaron's sacrifice with fire from heaven. When the Messiah comes,
<i>First,</i> He will, by his grace in them, make them acceptable;
when he has purified and refined them, then they shall offer such
sacrifices as God requires and will accept. <i>Secondly,</i> He
will, by his intercession for them, make them accepted; he will
recommend them and their performances to God, so that their
prayers, being perfumed with the incense of his intercession, shall
be pleasant unto the Lord; for he has <i>made us accepted in the
Beloved,</i> and in him is well pleased with those that are in him
(<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p10.13" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.17" parsed="|Matt|3|17|0|0" passage="Mt 3:17">Matt. iii. 17</scripRef>) and bring
forth fruit in him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p11" shownumber="no">(2.) It shall turn for a testimony against
those that are resolved to go on in their wickedness, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.5" parsed="|Mal|3|5|0|0" passage="Mal 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. This is the direct answer
to their challenge, "<i>Where is the God of judgment?</i> You shall
know where he is, and shall know it to your terror and confusion,
for <i>I will come near to you to judgment;</i> to you that set
divine justice at defiance." To them the gospel of Christ will be a
<i>savour of death unto death;</i> it will bind them over to
condemnation and will judge them in the great day, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:John.12.48" parsed="|John|12|48|0|0" passage="Joh 12:48">John xii. 48</scripRef>. Let us see here, [1.]
Who the sinners are that must appear to be judged by the gospel of
Christ. They are the <i>sorcerers,</i> who died in spiritual
wickedness, that forsake the oracles of the God of truth to consult
the father of lies; and the <i>adulterers,</i> who wallow in the
lusts of the flesh, those adulterers who were charged with
<i>dealing treacherously</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.15" parsed="|Mal|2|15|0|0" passage="Mal 2:15"><i>ch.</i> ii. 15</scripRef>); and the <i>false
swearers,</i> who profane God's name and affront his justice, by
calling him to witness to a lie; and the oppressors, who
barbarously injure and trample upon those who lie at their mercy,
and are not able to help themselves: they <i>defraud the hireling
in his wages</i> and will not give him what he agreed for; they
crush <i>the widow and fatherless,</i> and will not pay them their
just debts, because they cannot prove them, or have not wherewithal
to sue for them; the poor <i>stranger</i> too, who has no friend to
stand by him and is ignorant of the laws of the country, they
<i>turn aside from his right,</i> so that he cannot keep or cannot
recover his own. That which is at the bottom of all this is,
<i>They fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.</i> The
<i>transgression of the wicked</i> plainly declares <i>that there
is no fear of God before his eyes.</i> Where no fear of God is no
good is to be expected. [2.] Who will appear against them: <i>I
will come near,</i> says God, <i>and will be a swift witness
against</i> them. They justify themselves, and, their sins having
been artfully concealed, hope to escape punishment for want of
proof; but God, who sees and knows all things, will himself be
witness against them, and his omniscience is instead of a thousand
witnesses, for to it the sinner's own conscience shall be made to
subscribe, and so <i>every mouth shall be stopped.</i> He will be a
swift witness; though they reflect upon him as slow and dilatory,
and ask, <i>Where is the God of judgment,</i> and where the promise
of his coming? they will find that <i>he is not slack</i>
concerning his threatenings any more than he is concerning his
promises. Judgment against those sinners shall not be put off for
want of evidence, for he will be a swift witness. His judgment
shall overtake them, and it shall be impossible for them to outrun
it. <i>Evil pursues sinners.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p12" shownumber="no">IV. The ratification of all this (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.6" parsed="|Mal|3|6|0|0" passage="Mal 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>For I am the Lord; I
change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.</i> Here
we have, 1. God's immutability asserted by Himself, and glorified
in: "<i>I am the Lord; I change not;</i> and therefore no word that
I have spoken shall fall to the ground." Is God a just revenger of
those that rebel against him? Is he the bountiful rewarder of those
that diligently seek him? In both these he is unchangeable. Though
the sentence passed against evil works (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.5" parsed="|Mal|3|5|0|0" passage="Mal 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) be not executed speedily, yet it
will be executed, for he is <i>the Lord;</i> he <i>changes not;</i>
he is as much an enemy to sin as ever he was, and impenitent
sinners will find him so. There needs no <i>scire facias—a writ
calling one to show cause,</i> to revive God's judgment, for it is
never antiquated, or out of date, but against those that go on
still in their trespasses the curse of his law still remains <i>in
full force, power, and virtue.</i> 2. A particular proof of it,
from the comfortable experience which the people of Israel had had
of it. They had reason to say that he was an unchangeable God, for
he had been faithful to his covenant with them and their fathers;
if he had not adhered to that, they would have been consumed long
ago and cut off from being a people; they had been false and fickle
in their conduct to him, and he might justly have abandoned them,
and then they would soon have been consumed and ruined; but because
he <i>remembered his covenant,</i> and would not violate that, nor
alter the thing that had gone forth out of his lips, they were
preserved from ruin and recovered from the brink of it. It was
purely because he would be as good as his word, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.8 Bible:Lev.26.42" parsed="|Deut|7|8|0|0;|Lev|26|42|0|0" passage="De 7:8,Le 26:42">Deut. vii. 8; Lev. xxvi. 42</scripRef>. Now as
God had kept them from ruin, while the covenant of peculiarity
remained in force, purely because he would be faithful to that
covenant, and would show that <i>he is not a man that he should
lie</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.23.19" parsed="|Num|23|19|0|0" passage="Nu 23:19">Num. xxiii. 19</scripRef>),
so, when that covenant should be superseded and set aside by the
New Testament, and they, by rejecting the blessings of it, lay
themselves open to the curses, he will show that in the
determinations of his wrath, as well as in those of his mercy,
<i>he is not a man, that he should repent,</i> but will then be as
true to his threatenings as hitherto he had been to his promises;
see <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.15.29" parsed="|1Sam|15|29|0|0" passage="1Sa 15:29">1 Sam. xv. 29</scripRef>. We may
all apply this very sensibly to ourselves; because we have to do
with a God that <i>changes not,</i> therefore it is that <i>we are
not consumed,</i> even <i>because his compassions fail not; they
are new every morning; great is his faithfulness,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.22-Lam.3.23" parsed="|Lam|3|22|3|23" passage="La 3:22,23">Lam. iii. 22, 23</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Mal.iv-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.7-Mal.3.12" parsed="|Mal|3|7|3|12" passage="Mal 3:7-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mal.iv-p12.8">
<h4 id="Mal.iv-p12.9">The Sins of the People; Encouragements to
Repentance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p12.10">b. c.</span> 400.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mal.iv-p13" shownumber="no">7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone
away from mine ordinances, and have not kept <i>them.</i> Return
unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p13.1">Lord</span> of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we
return?   8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye
say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.   9
Ye <i>are</i> cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me,
<i>even</i> this whole nation.   10 Bring ye all the tithes
into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now herewith, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p13.2">Lord</span> of hosts, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that <i>there
shall</i> not <i>be room</i> enough <i>to receive it.</i>   11
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her
fruit before the time in the field, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p13.3">Lord</span> of hosts.   12 And all nations shall
call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p13.4">Lord</span> of hosts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p14" shownumber="no">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p15" shownumber="no">I. They had run away from their Master, and
quitted the work he gave them to do (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.7" parsed="|Mal|3|7|0|0" passage="Mal 3:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>You have gone away from my
ordinances and have not kept them.</i> The ordinances of God's
worship were the business which as servants they must mind, the
talents which they must trade with, and the trust which was
committed to them to keep; but they went away from them, grew weary
of them, and withdrew their neck from that yoke; they deviated from
the rule that God had prescribed to them, and betrayed the trust
lodged with them. They had revolted from God, not only in worship,
but in conversation; they had not <i>kept his ordinances.</i> This
disobedience they were chargeable with, and had been guilty of,
even <i>from the days of their fathers;</i> either as in the days
of their fathers of old, who were sent into captivity for their
disobedience, or, "Now, for some generations past, you have fallen
off from what you were, when first you came back out of captivity."
Ezra owns it in one particular instance: <i>Since the days of our
fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.9.7" parsed="|Ezra|9|7|0|0" passage="Ezr 9:7">Ezra ix. 7</scripRef>. Now observe, 1.
What a gracious invitation God gives them to return and repent:
"<i>Return unto me,</i> and to your duty, return to your service,
return to your allegiance, return as a traveller that has missed
his way, as a soldier that has run his colours, as a treacherous
wife that has gone away from her husband; return, thou backsliding
Israel, return to me; and then <i>I will return unto you</i> and be
reconciled, will remove the judgments you are under and prevent
those you fear." This had been of old the burden of the song
(<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.3" parsed="|Zech|1|3|0|0" passage="Zec 1:3">Zech. i. 3</scripRef>), and is still.
2. What a peevish answer they return to this gracious invitation:
"<i>But you said</i> with disdain, said it to the prophets that
called you, said it to one another, said it to your own hearts, to
stifle the convictions you were under; you said, <i>Wherein shall
we return?</i>" Note, God takes notice what returns our hearts make
to the calls of his word, what we say and what we think when we
have heard a sermon, what answer we give to the message sent us.
When God calls us to <i>return,</i> we should answer as those did
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.22" parsed="|Jer|3|22|0|0" passage="Jer 3:22">Jer. iii. 22</scripRef>, <i>Behold, we
come.</i> But not as these here, <i>Wherein shall we return?</i>
(1.) They take it as an affront to be <i>told of their faults,</i>
and called upon to amend them; they are ready to say, "What ado do
these prophets make about returning and repenting; why are we
disgraced and disturbed thus, our own consciences and our
neighbours stirred up against us?" It is ill with those who thus
count reproofs reproaches, and <i>kick against the pricks.</i> (2.)
They are so ignorant of themselves, and of the strictness, extent,
and spiritual nature, of the divine law, that they see nothing in
themselves to be repented of, or reformed; they are pure in their
own eyes, and think they need no repentance. (3.) They are so
firmly resolved to go on in sin that they will find a thousand
foolish frivolous excuses to shift off their repentance, and turn
away the calls that are given them to repent. They seem to speak
only as those that wanted something to say; it is a mere evasion, a
banter upon the prophet, and a challenge to him to descend to
particulars. Note, Many ruin their own souls by baffling the calls
that are given them to repent of their sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p16" shownumber="no">II. They had robbed their Master, and
embezzled his goods. They had asked, "<i>Wherein shall we
return?</i> What have we done amiss?" And he soon tells them.
Observe, 1. The prophet's high charge exhibited, in God's name,
against the people. They stand indicted for robbery, for sacrilege,
the worst of robberies: <i>You have robbed me.</i> He expostulates
with them upon it: <i>Will a man</i> be so daringly impudent as to
<i>rob God?</i> Man, who is a weak creature, and cannot contend
with God's power, will he think to rob him <i>vi et
armis—forcibly?</i> Man, who lies open to God's knowledge, and
cannot conceal himself from that, will he think to rob him <i>clam
et secreto</i>—<i>privily?</i> Man, who depends upon God, and
derives his all from him, will he rob him that is his benefactor?
This is ungrateful, unjust, and unkind, indeed; and it is very
unwise thus to provoke him from whom our judgment proceeds. <i>Will
a man do violence to God?</i> so some read it. <i>Will a man do
violence to God?</i> so some read it. <i>Will a man stint or
straiten him?</i> so others read it. Robbing God is a heinous
crime. 2. The people's high challenge in answer to that charge:
<i>But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee?</i> They plead <i>Not
guilty,</i> and put God upon the proof of it. Note, Robbing God is
such a heinous crime that those who are guilty of it are not
willing to own themselves guilty. They rob God, and know not what
they do. They rob him of his honour, rob him of that which is
devoted to him, to be employed in his service, rob him of
themselves, rob him of sabbath-time, rob him of that which is given
for the support of religion, and give him not his dues out of their
estates; and yet they ask, <i>Wherein have we robbed thee?</i> 3.
The plain proof of the charge, in answer to this challenge; it is
<i>in tithes and offerings.</i> Out of these the priests and
Levites had maintenance for themselves and their families; but they
detained them, defrauded the priests of them, would not pay their
tithes, or not in full, or not of the best; they brought not the
offerings which God required, or brought the torn, and lame, and
sick, which were not fit for use. They were all guilty of this sin,
even <i>the whole nation,</i> as if they were in confederacy
against God, and all combined to rob him of his dues and to stand
by one another in it when they had done. For this they were
<i>cursed with a curse,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.9" parsed="|Mal|3|9|0|0" passage="Mal 3:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. God punished them with famine and scarcity, through
unseasonable weather, or insects that ate up the fruits of the
earth. God had thus punished them for neglecting to build the
temple (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.10-Hag.1.11" parsed="|Hag|1|10|1|11" passage="Hag 1:10,11">Hag. i. 10, 11</scripRef>),
and now for not maintaining the temple-service. Note, Those that
deny God his part of their estates may justly expect a curse upon
their own part of them: <i>"You are cursed with a curse</i> for
robbing me, and yet you go on to do it." Note, It is a great
aggravation of sin when men persist in it notwithstanding the
rebukes of Providence which they are under for it. Nay, it should
seem, because God had punished them with scarcity of bread, they
made that a pretence for robbing him-that now, being impoverished,
they could not afford to bring their tithes and offerings, but must
save them, that they might have bread for their families. Note, It
argues great perverseness in sin when men make those afflictions
excuses for sin which are sent to part between them and their sins.
When they had but little they should have done the more good with
that little, and that would have been the way to make it more; but
it is ill with the patient when that which should cure the disease
serves only to palliate it, and prevent its being searched into. 4.
An earnest exhortation to reform in this matter, with a promise
that if they did the judgments they were under should be quickly
removed. (1.) Let them take care to do their duty (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.10" parsed="|Mal|3|10|0|0" passage="Mal 3:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>Bring you all the
tithes into the storehouse.</i> They had brought some; but, like
Ananias and Sapphira, had <i>kept back part of the price,</i>
pretending they could not spare so much as was required, and
<i>necessity has no law;</i> but even necessity must have this law,
and it would redress the grievance of their necessity: "Bring in
the full tithes to the utmost that the law requires, <i>that there
may be meat in God's house</i> for those that serve at the altar,
whether there be meat in your houses or no." Note, God must be
served in the first place, and our quota must be contributed for
the support of religion in the place where we live, that God's name
may be sanctified, and his kingdom may come, and his will be done,
even before we provide our daily bread; for the interests of our
souls ought to be preferred before those of our bodies. (2.) Let
them then trust God to provide for them and their comfort "Let God
be first served, and then <i>prove me herewith, saith the Lord of
hosts, whether I will not open the windows of heaven.</i>" They
said, "Let God give us our plenty again, as formerly, and try us
whether we will not then bring him his tithes and offerings, as we
did formerly." "No," says God, "do you first bring in all your
tithes as they become due, and all the arrears of what is past, and
try me, whether I will not then restore you your plenty." Note,
Those that will deal with God must deal upon trust; and we may all
venture to do so, for, though many have been losers for him, never
any were losers by him in the end. It is fit that we should venture
first, for <i>his reward</i> is <i>with him,</i> but <i>his work is
before him;</i> we must first do the work which is our part, and
then try him and trust him for the reward. Elijah put the widow of
Zarephath into this method when he said (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.17.13" parsed="|1Kgs|17|13|0|0" passage="1Ki 17:13">1 Kings xvii. 13</scripRef>), "<i>Make me a little cake
first,</i> and then prove me whether there shall not be enough
afterwards <i>for thee and thy son.</i>" That which discourages
people from the expenses of charity is the weakness of their faith
concerning the gains and advantages of charity; they cannot think
that they shall get by it. But it is a reasonable demand that God
here makes: "<i>Prove me now;</i> is any thing to be got by
charity? <i>Come and see;</i>" Nothing venture, nothing win. Trust
upon honour, "And you shall find," [1.] "That, whereas the heavens
have been shut up, and there has been no rain, now God will
<i>open</i> to you <i>the windows of heaven,</i> for in his hand
the key of the clouds is, and you shall have seasonable rain." Or
the expression is figurative; every good gift coming from above,
thence God will plentifully pour out upon them the bounties of his
providence. Very sudden plenty is expressed by <i>opening the
windows of heaven,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.7.2" parsed="|2Kgs|7|2|0|0" passage="2Ki 7:2">2 Kings vii.
2</scripRef>. We find the <i>windows of heaven opened,</i> to pour
down a deluge of wrath, in Noah's flood, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.7.11" parsed="|Gen|7|11|0|0" passage="Ge 7:11">Gen. vii. 11</scripRef>. But here they are opened to
<i>pour down blessings,</i> to such a degree that there should not
be <i>room enough to receive</i> them. So plentifully shall their
ground bring forth that they shall be tempted to <i>pull down their
barns and build greater,</i> for want of room, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.18" parsed="|Luke|12|18|0|0" passage="Lu 12:18">Luke xii. 18</scripRef>. Or, as Dr. Pocock explains it,
"I will pour out on you such a blessing as shall be not <i>enough
only,</i> and such as shall be sufficient, but <i>more and more
than enough;</i>" that is, a great addition. The oil that is
multiplied shall not be stayed as long as there are vessels to
receive it, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.4.6" parsed="|2Kgs|4|6|0|0" passage="2Ki 4:6">2 Kings iv. 6</scripRef>.
Note, God will not only be reconciled to sinners that repent and
reform, but he will be a benefactor, a bountiful benefactor, to
them. We are never straitened in him, but often straitened in our
own bosoms. God has blessings ready to bestow upon us, but, through
the weakness of our faith and narrowness of our desires, we have
not room to receive them. [2.] That, whereas the fruits of their
ground had been eaten up by locusts and caterpillars God would now
remove that judgment (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.9" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.11" parsed="|Mal|3|11|0|0" passage="Mal 3:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <i>"I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,</i>
and will check the progress of those destroying animals, that they
shall no more destroy the products of the earth and the fruits of
the trees." God has all creatures at his beck, can command them and
remand them at his pleasure. <i>Neither shall the vine cast her
fruit before the time;</i> it shall not be blasted or blown off.
Or, as some read it, <i>Neither shall the devourer make your vine
barren,</i> as the locusts did, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.10" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.7" parsed="|Joel|1|7|0|0" passage="Joe 1:7">Joel i.
7</scripRef>. [3.] That, whereas their neighbours had upbraided
them with their scarcity, and they had lain under the <i>reproach
of famine,</i> which was the more grievous because their country
used to be boasted of for its plenty, now <i>all nations shall call
them blessed,</i> shall speak honourably of them, and own them to
be a happy people. [4.] That whereas their sin had made their land
unpleasing to God (even their temple, and altars, and offerings
were so, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.11" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.13" parsed="|Mal|2|13|0|0" passage="Mal 2:13"><i>ch.</i> ii.
13</scripRef>), and whereas his judgments had made their land
unpleasant to them, and very melancholy, "Now <i>you shall be a
delightsome land,</i> your country shall be acceptable to God and
comfortable to yourselves." Note, The reviving of religion in a
land will make it indeed a delightsome land both to God and to all
good people; he will say, It is <i>my rest for ever; here will I
dwell;</i> and they will say the same, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.62.4 Bible:Deut.11.12" parsed="|Isa|62|4|0|0;|Deut|11|12|0|0" passage="Isa 62:4,De 11:12">Isa. lxii. 4; Deut. xi. 12</scripRef>. It
should seem that this charge to bring in the tithes had its good
effect, for we find (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p16.13" osisRef="Bible:Neh.13.12" parsed="|Neh|13|12|0|0" passage="Ne 13:12">Neh. xiii.
12</scripRef>) that <i>all Judah did bring in their tithe into the
treasuries,</i> and, no doubt, they had the benefit of these
promises, in the return of their plenty, immediately upon their
return to their duty, that they might plainly discern for what
cause the evil had been upon them (for when the cause was removed
the evil was removed), and that they might see how perfectly
reconciled God was to them upon their repentance, and how their
transgression was remembered no more, for the curse was not only
taken away, but turned into an abundant blessing.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Mal.iv-p16.14" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.13-Mal.3.18" parsed="|Mal|3|13|3|18" passage="Mal 3:13-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mal.iv-p16.15">
<h4 id="Mal.iv-p16.16">Wicked Conversation Reproved; Evil Maxims of
Sinners; Pious Converse Commended; Promises to the
Godly. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p16.17">b.
c.</span> 400.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mal.iv-p17" shownumber="no">13 Your words have been stout against me, saith
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p17.1">Lord</span>. Yet ye say, What have we
spoken <i>so much</i> against thee?   14 Ye have said, It
<i>is</i> vain to serve God: and what profit <i>is it</i> that we
have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p17.2">Lord</span> of hosts?   15 And now
we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up;
yea, <i>they that</i> tempt God are even delivered.   16 Then
they that feared the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p17.3">Lord</span> spake
often one to another: and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p17.4">Lord</span>
hearkened, and heard <i>it,</i> and a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p17.5">Lord</span>, and that thought upon his name.   17
And they shall be mine, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iv-p17.6">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p18" shownumber="no">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p19" shownumber="no">I. Here is the angry notice God takes of
the impudent blasphemous talk of the sinners in Zion and his just
resentments of it. Probably there was a club of them that were in
league against religion, that set up for wits, and set their wits
on work to run it down and ridicule it, and herein strengthened one
another's hands. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p20" shownumber="no">1. An indictment found against them, for
treasonable words spoken against the King of kings: <i>Your words
have been stout against me, saith the Lord.</i> They spoke
<i>against God,</i> in reflection upon him, in contradiction to
him, as their fathers <i>in the wilderness</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.70.19" parsed="|Ps|70|19|0|0" passage="Ps 70:19">Ps. lxx. 19</scripRef>); <i>yea, they spoke against
God.</i> What he said, and what he designed, they opposed, as if
they had been retained of counsel against him and his cause. Their
words against God were <i>stout;</i> they came from their pride,
and haughtiness, and contempt of God. What they said against God
they spoke loudly, as if they cared not who heard them; they were
not themselves ashamed to say it, and they desired to propagate
their atheistical notions and to infect the minds of others with
them. They spoke it boldly, as those that were resolved to stand to
it, and were in no fear of being called to an account. They spoke
it proudly, and with insolence and disdain, scorning to be under
the divine check and government. They <i>strengthened
themselves;</i> they would be valiant <i>against the Almighty,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.15.25" parsed="|Job|15|25|0|0" passage="Job 15:25">Job xv. 25</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p21" shownumber="no">2. Their plea to this indictment. They
said, <i>What have we spoken so much against thee?</i> They deny
the words, and put the prophet to prove them; or, if they spoke the
words, they did not design them against God, and therefore will not
own there was any harm in them; at least they extenuate the matter:
<i>What have we spoken so much against thee,</i> so much that there
needs all this ado about it? They cannot deny that they have spoken
against God, but they make a light matter of it, and wonder it
should be taken notice of: "<i>Words</i>" (say they) "<i>are but
wind;</i> others have said more and done worse; if we are not so
good as we should be, yet we hope we are not so bad as we are
represented to be." Note, It is common for sinners that are
unconvinced and unhumbled to deny or extenuate the faults they are
justly charged with, and to insist upon their own justification,
against the reproofs of the word and of their own consciences. But
it will be to no purpose.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p22" shownumber="no">3. The words themselves which they are
charged with. God keeps an account of what men say, as well as of
what they do, and will let them know that he does so. We quickly
forget what we have said, and are ready to deny what we have said
amiss; but God can say, <i>You have said</i> so and so. They had
said it as their deliberate judgment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p23" shownumber="no">(1.) That there is nothing to be got in the
service of God, thought it is a service that subjects men to labour
and sorrow. They said, <i>It is vain to serve God,</i> or, "<i>He
is vain that serves God,</i> that is, he labours in vain and to no
purpose; he has his labour for his pains, and therefore is a fool
for his labour. <i>What profit is it that we have kept his
ordinance,</i> or <i>his observation,</i> that we have observed
what he has appointed us to observe?" <i>What mammon,</i> or
<i>wealth,</i> have we gained, says the Chaldee, intimating (says
Dr. Pocock) that it was for mammon's sake only that they served
God, and so indeed not God at all, but mammon. "We have walked
<i>mournfully,</i> or <i>in black,</i> with great gravity and great
grief, <i>before the Lord of hosts,</i> have afflicted our souls at
the times appointed for that purpose, and yet we are never the
better." Perhaps this comes in as a reason why they would not trust
God to prosper them upon their <i>bringing in the tithes</i>
(<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.10" parsed="|Mal|3|10|0|0" passage="Mal 3:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>); "For," say
they, "we have tried him in other things, and have lost by him."
This is a very unjust and unreasonable reflection upon the service
of God, and we can call witnesses enough to confront the slander.
[1.] They would have it thought that they had served God and had
kept his ordinances, whereas it was only the external observance of
them that they had kept up, while they were perfect strangers to
the inward part of the duty, and therefore might say, It is <i>in
vain.</i> God says so (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.9" parsed="|Matt|15|9|0|0" passage="Mt 15:9">Matt. xv.
9</scripRef>), <i>In vain do those worship me</i> whose <i>hearts
are far from me</i> while they <i>draw near with their mouth;</i>
but whose fault is that? Not God's, who is the rewarder of those
that seek him diligently, but theirs who seek him carelessly. [2.]
They insisted much upon it that they had <i>walked mournfully</i>
before God, whereas God had required them to serve him with
gladness, and to walk cheerfully before him. They by their own
superstitions made the service of God a task and drudgery to
themselves, and then complained of it as a hard service. The yoke
of Christ is easy; it is the yoke of antichrist that is heavy. [3.]
They complained that they had got nothing by their religion; they
were still in poverty and affliction, and behindhand in the world.
This is an old piece of impiety. <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.14-Job.21.15" parsed="|Job|21|14|21|15" passage="Job 21:14,15">Job xxi. 14, 15</scripRef>, <i>What profit shall we
have if we pray unto him?</i> Elihu charges Job with saying
something like this. <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.9" parsed="|Job|34|9|0|0" passage="Job 34:9">Job xxxiv.
9</scripRef>, <i>It profits a man nothing that he should delight
himself with God.</i> The enemies of religion do but set up against
it the old cavils that have been long since answered and exploded.
Perhaps this refers to the errors of the sect of the Sadducees,
which was the scandal of the Jewish church in its latter days; they
denied a future state, and then said, It is <i>vain to serve
God,</i> which has indeed some colour in it, for, <i>if in this
life only we had hope in Christ, we were of all men most
miserable,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.19" parsed="|1Cor|15|19|0|0" passage="1Co 15:19">1 Cor. xv.
19</scripRef>. Note, Those do a great deal of wrong to God's honour
who say that religion is either an unprofitable or an unpleasant
thing; for the matter is not so: wisdom's <i>ways are
pleasantness,</i> and wisdom's gains better than that of <i>fine
gold.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p24" shownumber="no">(2.) They maintained that wickedness was
the way to prosperity, for they had observed that the <i>workers of
wickedness</i> were set up in the world, and those that <i>tempted
God</i> were <i>delivered,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.15" parsed="|Mal|3|15|0|0" passage="Mal 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. The outward prosperity of
sinners in their sins, as it has weakened the hands of the godly in
their godliness (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.13" parsed="|Ps|73|13|0|0" passage="Ps 73:13">Ps. lxxiii.
13</scripRef>), so it has strengthened the hands of the wicked in
their wickedness. Note, [1.] Those that work wickedness tempt God
by presumptuous sins; they do, as it were, try God, whether he can
and will punish them as he has said in his word, and, in effect,
challenge him to do his worst, by provoking him in the highest
degree. [2.] Those that tempt God by their wicked works are many
times both delivered out of the adversity into which they were
justly brought and advanced to the prosperity which they were
utterly unworthy of. They are not only set up once, but when we
thought their day had come to fall, and they were in trouble, they
were delivered and set up again; so strangely did Providence seem
to smile upon them. [3.] Though it be thus, yet it will not warrant
us to <i>call the proud happy.</i> For they may be delivered and
set up for a while, but it will appear that God resists them, and
that their pride is a preface to their fall; and, if so, they are
truly miserable, and it is folly to call them happy, and to bless
those whom the Lord abhors. Wait awhile, and you shall see <i>those
that work wickedness set up</i> as a mark to the arrows of God's
vengeance, and <i>those that tempt God delivered</i> to the
tormentors. Judge of things as they will appear shortly, when the
doom of these proud sinners (which follows here, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.1" parsed="|Mal|4|1|0|0" passage="Mal 4:1"><i>ch.</i> iv. 1</scripRef>) comes to be executed to the
utmost.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p25" shownumber="no">II. Here is the gracious notice God takes
of the pious talk of the saints in Zion, and the gracious
recompence of it. Even in this corrupt and degenerate age, when
there was so great a decay, nay, so great a contempt, of serious
godliness, there were yet some that retained their integrity and
zeal for God; and let us see,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p26" shownumber="no">1. How they distinguished themselves, and
what their character was; it was the reverse of theirs that spoke
so much against God; for, (1.) They <i>feared the Lord</i>—that is
the beginning of wisdom and the root of all religion; they
reverenced the majesty of God, submitted to his authority, and had
a dread of his wrath in all they thought and said; they humbly
complied with God, and never spoke any stout words against him. In
every age there has been a remnant that feared the Lord, though
sometimes but a little remnant. (2.) They <i>thought upon his
name;</i> they seriously considered and frequently mediated upon
the discoveries God has made of himself in his word and by his
providences, and their <i>mediation of him</i> was <i>sweet</i> to
them and influenced them. They <i>thought on his name;</i> they
consulted the honour of God and aimed at that as their ultimate end
in all they did. Note, Those that know the name of God should often
think of it and dwell upon it in their thoughts; it is a copious
curious subject, and frequent thoughts of it will contribute very
much to our communion with God and the stirring up of our devout
affections to him. (3.) They <i>spoke often one to another</i>
concerning the God they feared, and that name of his which they
thought so much of; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
will speak, and a good man, out of a <i>good treasure</i> there,
will <i>bring forth good things. Those that feared the Lord</i>
kept together as those that were company for each other; they spoke
kindly and endearingly one to another, for the preserving and
promoting of mutual love, that that might not <i>wax cold</i> when
<i>iniquity</i> did thus <i>abound.</i> They spoke intelligently
and edifyingly to one another, for the increasing and improving of
faith and holiness; they <i>spoke one to another</i> in the
language of those that fear the Lord and think on his name—the
language of Canaan. When profaneness had come to so great a height
as to trample upon all that is sacred, <i>then</i> those that
feared the Lord <i>spoke often one to another.</i> [1.] Then, when
iniquity was bold and barefaced, the people of God took courage,
and stirred up themselves, <i>the innocent against the
hypocrite,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.17.8" parsed="|Job|17|8|0|0" passage="Job 17:8">Job xvii. 8</scripRef>.
The worse others are the better we should be; when vice is daring,
let not virtue be sneaking. [2.] Then, when religion was reproached
and misrepresented, its friends did all they could to support the
credit of it and to keep it in countenance. It had been suggested
that the ways of God are melancholy unpleasant ways, solitary and
sorrowful; and therefore then those that feared God studied to
evince the contrary by their cheerfulness in mutual love and
converse, that they might <i>put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men.</i> [3.] Then, when seducers were busy to deceive and
to possess unwary souls with prejudices against religion, those
that feared God were industrious to arm themselves and one another
against the contagion by mutual instructions, excitements, and
encouragements, and to strengthen one another's hands. As evil
communication corrupts good minds and manners, so good
communication confirms them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p27" shownumber="no">2. How God dignified them, and what further
honour and favour he intended for them. Those who spoke stoutly
against God, no doubt looked with disdain and displeasure upon
those that feared him, hectored and bantered them; but they had
little reason to regard that, or be disturbed at it, when God
countenanced them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p28" shownumber="no">(1.) He took notice of their pious
discourses, and was graciously present at their conferences: <i>The
Lord hearkened and heard it,</i> and was well pleased with it. God
says (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.8.6" parsed="|Jer|8|6|0|0" passage="Jer 8:6">Jer. viii. 6</scripRef>) that he
<i>hearkened and heard</i> what bad men would say, and they
<i>spoke not aright;</i> here he hearkened and heard what good men
did say, for they spoke aright. Note, The gracious God observes all
the gracious words that proceed out of the mouths of his people;
they need not desire that men may hear them, and commend them; let
them not seek praise from men by them, nor affect to be taken
notice of by them; but let it satisfy them that, be the conference
ever so private, God sees and hears in secret and will <i>reward
openly.</i> When the two disciples, going to Emmaus, were
discoursing concerning Christ, he hearkened and heard, and joined
himself to them, and made a third, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.24.15" parsed="|Luke|24|15|0|0" passage="Lu 24:15">Luke xxiv. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p29" shownumber="no">(2.) He kept an account of them: <i>A book
of remembrance was written before him.</i> Not that the Eternal
Mind needs to be reminded of things by books and writings, but it
is an expression after the manner of men, intimating that their
pious affections and performances are kept in remembrance as
punctually and particularly as if they were written in a book, as
if journals were kept of all their conferences. Great kings had
books of remembrance written, and read before them, in which were
entered all the services done them, when, and by whom, as <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.2.23" parsed="|Esth|2|23|0|0" passage="Es 2:23">Esther ii. 23</scripRef>. God, in like manner,
remembers the services of his people, that, in the review of them,
he may say, <i>Well done; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.</i>
God has a book for the sighs and tears of his mourners (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.8" parsed="|Ps|56|8|0|0" passage="Ps 56:8">Ps. lvi. 8</scripRef>), much more for the
pleadings of his advocates. Never was any good word spoken of God,
or for God, from an honest heart, but it was registered, that it
might be recompensed in the resurrection of the just, and in no
wise lose its reward.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p30" shownumber="no">(3.) He promises them a share in his glory
hereafter (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.17" parsed="|Mal|3|17|0|0" passage="Mal 3:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>):
<i>They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I
make up my jewels.</i> When God utterly cuts off the Jewish church
and nation for their infidelity, the remnant among them, that
believed his word, and, having waited for the consolation of
Israel, welcome him when he comes, shall be admitted into the
Christian church, and shall become a peculiar people to God; God
will take care of them, that they <i>perish not with those that
believe not;</i> but that they be <i>hidden in the day of the
Lord's anger</i> against that nation. <i>They shall be my
segullah—my peculiar treasure</i> (it is the word used, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.19.5" parsed="|Exod|19|5|0|0" passage="Ex 19:5">Exod. xix. 5</scripRef>), <i>in the day when I
make</i> or <i>do</i> what I have said and designed to do; so some
read it. These pious ones shall have all the glorious privileges of
God's Israel appropriated to them and centering in them; they shall
now be his peculiar treasure, when the rest are rejected; they
shall now be the vessels of mercy and honour, when the rest are
made vessels of wrath and dishonour, vessels in which is no
pleasure. This may be applied to all the faithful people of God,
and the distinction he will put between them and others in the
great day. Note, [1.] The saints are God's jewels; they are highly
esteemed by him and are dear to him; they are comely with the
comeliness that he puts upon them, and he is pleased to glory in
them; they are a <i>royal diadem</i> in his hand, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p30.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.62.3" parsed="|Isa|62|3|0|0" passage="Isa 62:3">Isa. lxii. 3</scripRef>. He looks upon them as
his own proper goods, his choice goods, his treasure, laid up in
his cabinet, and the furniture of his closet, <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p30.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.135.4" parsed="|Ps|135|4|0|0" passage="Ps 135:4">Ps. cxxxv. 4</scripRef>. The rest of the world is but
lumber, in comparison with them. [2.] There is a day coming when
God will <i>make up his jewels.</i> They shall be gathered up out
of the dirt into which they are now thrown, and gathered together
from all places to which they are now scattered; he shall <i>send
forth his angels</i> to <i>gather his elect,</i> who are his
jewels, <i>from the four winds of heaven</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p30.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.31" parsed="|Matt|24|31|0|0" passage="Mt 24:31">Matt. xxiv. 31</scripRef>), to gather his jewels into
his jewel-house, as the wheat from several fields into the barn.
All the saints will then be gathered to Christ, and none but
saints, and saints made perfect; then God's jewels will be made up,
as stones into a crown, as stars into a constellation. [3.] Those
who now own God for theirs, he will then own for his, will publicly
confess them before angels and men: "<i>They shall be mine;</i>
their sanctification shall be completed, and so they shall be
perfectly and entirely mine, without any remaining interests of the
world and the flesh." Their relation to God shall be acknowledged,
and his property in them. He will separate them from those that are
not his, and give them their portion with those that are his; for
to them it shall be said, <i>Come, you blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you.</i> They were in doubt,
sometimes, whether they were belonging to God or no; but the matter
shall then be put out of doubt. God himself will say unto them,
<i>You are mine. Now</i> their relation to God is what they are
reproached with, but it will then be gloried in; God himself will
glory in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p31" shownumber="no">(4.) He promises them a share in his grace
now: <i>I will spare them as a man spares his own son that serves
him.</i> God had promised to own them as his and take them to be
with him; but it might be a discouragement to them to think that
they had offended God, and that he might justly disown them, and
cast them off; but, as to that, he says, "<i>I will spare them;</i>
I will not deal with them as they deserve. <i>I will rejoice over
them</i>" (so some expound it) "as the bridegroom over his bride,"
<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.62.5 Bible:Zeph.3.17" parsed="|Isa|62|5|0|0;|Zeph|3|17|0|0" passage="Isa 62:5,Zep 3:17">Isa. lxii. 5; Zeph. iii.
17</scripRef>. But the word usually signifies to spare with
commiseration and compassion, <i>as a father pities his
children,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p31.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.103.13" parsed="|Ps|103|13|0|0" passage="Ps 103:13">Ps. ciii.
13</scripRef>. Note, [1.] It is our duty to serve God with the
disposition of children. We must be his sons, must by a new birth
partake of a divine nature, must consent to the covenant of
adoption and partake of the spirit of adoption. And we must be his
servants; God will not have his children trained up in idleness;
they must do him service, and they must do it from a principle of
love, with cheerfulness and delight, and as those that are therein
serving their own true interest, and this is serving as <i>a son
with the father,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p31.3" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.22" parsed="|Phil|2|22|0|0" passage="Php 2:22">Phil. ii.
22</scripRef>. [2.] If we serve God with the disposition of
children, he will spare us with the tenderness and compassion of a
Father. Even God's children that serve him stand in need of sparing
mercy, that mercy to which we owe it that we are not consumed, that
mercy which keeps us out of hell. Nehemiah, when he had done much
good, yet, knowing there is not a <i>just man on earth,</i> that
<i>does good and sins not,</i> and that every sin deserves God's
wrath, prays, <i>Lord, spare me according to the greatness of thy
mercy;</i> see <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p31.4" osisRef="Bible:Neh.13.22" parsed="|Neh|13|22|0|0" passage="Ne 13:22">Neh. xiii.
22</scripRef>. And God, as a Father, will show them this mercy. He
will not be extreme to mark what we do amiss, but will make the
best of us and our poor performances; he will mitigate the
afflictions his children are exercised with, and save them from the
ruin they deserve. The father continues to spare the son, and does
it with complacency, because he is his own; thus God will spare
humble penitents and petitioners, <i>as a man spares his son that
serves him,</i> though we do him so little service, nay, though we
do him so much disservice.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iv-p32" shownumber="no">3. How they will thus be distinguished from
the children of this world (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p32.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.18" parsed="|Mal|3|18|0|0" passage="Mal 3:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>): "<i>Then shall you return, and discern between the
righteous and the wicked,</i> between sinners and saints, between
those that <i>serve God</i> and make conscience of their duty to
him and those that <i>serve him not,</i> but put contempt upon his
service. You that now speak against God as making no difference
between good and bad, and therefore say, <i>It is in vain to serve
him</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iv-p32.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.14" parsed="|Mal|3|14|0|0" passage="Mal 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), you
shall be made to see your error; you that would speak for God, but
know not what to say as to this, that there seems to be <i>one
event to the righteous and to the wicked,</i> and <i>all things
come alike to all,</i> will then have the matter set in a true
light, and will see, to your everlasting satisfaction, the
difference between the righteous and the wicked. Then <i>you shall
return,</i> that is, you shall <i>change you mind,</i> and come to
a right understanding of the thing." This primarily respects the
manifest difference that was made by the divine Providence between
the believing Jews and those that persisted in their infidelity, at
the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish church
and nation, by the Romans. But it is to have its full
accomplishment at the second coming of Jesus Christ, and on that
great discriminating day when it shall be easy enough to <i>discern
between the righteous</i> and <i>the wicked.</i> Note, (1.) All the
children of men are either righteous or wicked, either such as
serve God or such as serve him not. This is that division of the
children of men which will last for ever, and by which their
eternal state will be determined; all are going either to heaven or
to hell. (2.) In this world it is often hard to <i>discern between
the righteous and the wicked.</i> They are mingled together, good
fish and bad in the same net. The righteous are so distempered, and
the wicked so disguised, that we are often deceived in our opinions
concerning both the one and the other. There are many who, we
think, serve God, who, having not their hearts right with him, will
be found none of his servants; and, on the other hand, many will be
found his faithful servants, who, because they followed not with
us, did not, as we thought, serve him. But that which especially
raised the difficulty here was that the divine Providence seemed to
make no difference between the righteous and the wicked; you could
not know wicked men by God's frowning upon them, for they commonly
prospered in the world, nor righteous men by his smiling upon them,
for they were involved with others in the same common calamity.
None now knows God's <i>love or hatred</i> by <i>all that is before
him,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iv-p32.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.9.1" parsed="|Eccl|9|1|0|0" passage="Ec 9:1">Eccl. ix. 1</scripRef>. (3.) At
the bar of Christ, in the last judgment, it will be easy to
<i>discern between the righteous and the wicked;</i> for then every
man's character will be both perfected and perfectly discovered,
every man will then appear in his true colours, and his disguises
will be taken off. Some men's sins indeed go beforehand, and you
may now tell who is wicked, but others follow after; however, in
the great day, we shall see who was righteous and who wicked. Every
man's condition likewise will be both perfected and everlastingly
determined; the righteous will then be perfectly happy and the
wicked perfectly miserable, without mixture or allay. When the
righteous are all set on the right hand of Christ, and invited to
come for a blessing, and all the wicked on his left hand, and are
told to depart with a curse, then it will be easy to discern
between them. As to ourselves, therefore, we are concerned to think
among which we shall have our lot, and, as to others, we must
<i>judge nothing before the time.</i></p>
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