The Pulpit Commentary — Malachi — Section 40

EXPOSITION. OHAPTER III. The Vnlgate Version,Quis •tabit ad virlendum eum? points to the brightness of his pre- Vor. 1.-Behold, I will send (I Bend) my sence, which eye of man cannot endure. messenger. God answers th11t he is coming Like a refiner's ftre, which separates the to show himsoH the God of judgment 11ncl precious metal from the refuse. So the justice. Aro they ready to meet him e.nd to Lord at his coming shall sever the good benr his sentenoe? Who this "meBBenger" among men from the evil (Isa. i. 25; J er. is is disputed. '.fho.t no angel or heavenly vi. 29; Zech. xiii. 9). Like fullers' soap ; Yisite.nt is meant is clear from historical con- Septuagint,&, ,ro,ilc ,r/\vv&vrwv, "a.~ tile grass sitlerntions, ns uo such eveut took place of washers ; " Vulgate, quaBi herba fullonum. immediately before the Lord came to his What is to ho under.tood exactly by the temple. Nor can Malachi himself be in- "soap" (borilh), washing-herb, is not known. tended, e.s his message was delivered nearly Probably the ashes of s•,me plant yielclin~ four hundred years before Messiah came. a. lye, like carbonate of soda, are meant. The announcement is donbtless founded Snch plants are met with on the shores of upon Isa. xl. 3, and refers to the ea.me person the Mediterranean and Dead Seas, and at e.s the older prophet mentions, who is gene- this day large quantities of i.lkalies a.re ra.Uy allowed to be John the Baptist, the extracted from them and exported in differ- herald of Christ's advent (Matt: xi.10; John ent directions (see Tristram, •Nat. Hist. of i. G). Prepare the way before me. The the Bible,' p. 480, ete.; comp. Isa. iv. 4; Jer. expression is borrowed from Isaiah, loc. cit. ii. 22). The Lord shall wash away o.11 (comp. also lvii. 14; lxii. 10). He prepares that is filthy (comp. Matt. iii. 10, 12). the way by preaching repentance, and thus Ver. 3.-He shall sit. As a judge. The retnoving the ob;tacle of sin which stood be- prophet confines himself to the first of the tween God and his people. Whom ye seek. two images presented in the preceding verse. When ye ask, "Where is the God of jndg- The sons of Levi. Especially the priests, ment?" Shall BUddenly come to his temple. who ought to set an e:i:ample,and teach holi- The Lord (ha-Adon) is Jehovah, e.s in ness and obedience. Thus judgment should Exod. xxiii.17; Isa. i. 2'.I:; iii. I, etc. There begin at the house of God (Ezek. ix. 6 ; is 11 change· of persons here, as frequently. 1 Pet. iv. 17). The pnrifying consists not Jehovah ·shall unexpectedly come to bis only in exterminating the evil, bnt also in temple (-rbv vabv fov-rov) as King and God correcting and improving all who are not ·of Israel (comp.· Ezek. xliii. 7). Tb'ere was wholly incorrigible. We may call to mind a literal fulfilment of this prophecy when Christ's purging of the temple, and his Obrist was p1·eseuted in the temple as an denunciations of the teaching body e.cnong infant_ (Luke ii. 22, etc.). Even the mes- the Jews, and see herein his way of trying senger of the covenant. He is identified bis ministers in nil ages, that they rno.y with the Lord; and he is the covenant shine like lights in the world, and adorn f .e angel who· guided the Israelites to the doctrine of God in all things. That they promi~ed land, nnd who is se_en in the may o1fer (and they shall be offering) unto various tbeopbanies of the Old Testament. the Lord an o1fering (minchah) in righteous- 'l'he Divinity of Messiah is thus unequivo- ness. The pure sacrifice shall then be cally asserted. In him are fulfilled all the offered with a pnrc hem·t. As firstfruits promises made under the old covenant, and of this improved condition, we read in Acts ]10 is called (Heh. ix. 15) "the Mediator of vi. 7, "A !,'Teat company of the priests were the new covenant." Some render," and the obedient to the faith." Messenger," etc., thus distinguishing the Ver. 4.-The offering of Judah and Jeru- Angel of the covenant from the forerunner salem. When the purification has ta.ken who' prepares the· way. Bu,t this is already place, and the priests otter pure worship, done by the expressions, " My Messenger,'' then the sacrifices of the whole nation will and "the Lord:" • Whom ye delight in, be acceptable. Judah and Jerusalem repre- Whose advent ye expect with eager desire. sent the kingdom .,f the c\Iessiah; for snlva- Ver. 2.-Who me.y abide the day of his tion is of the ,Tews, and the gospel was fir:;t ooming 1 They lrn.d expected him to come prenched at Jerusalem. As in former and judge the heathen ; the prophet warns (anc,'ent) years. As in the days of Moses, them that they· themselves shall be first David, and Solomon, or still earlier in the )!fdg!l\l (omnp. ~mos v. 18). "l\'lnlnchi, li~e cnse of Abel, Noah, Abraham, and the patri- ,John tho Bopllst, sees the future Judge m archs. (See the acconnt of the ideal priest- the present Saviour" (Wor(lsm>rLh); Joel hood, eh. ii. 5, cto,) The prophet ,loes not ii. 11. Who shall stand 1 Who co.n stuud uecessnrily expect that tt.e Mosaic ritual up under the burden of this juclgment? is to last for ever 11nd to be ruaintuinetl  40 THE BOOK OF MALACHI. [on. nt. 1-18.