The Pulpit Commentary — Malachi — Section 57

Veni, 16, 17.-'l'M list of the wyal 0,11,.,, "A book of remembrance w11,s written l,efore him . . . . They shall be mine . . . in that day when I make up my jewels." Reference is t-0 thCll!e persons who "by their pious discourse confirmed 1'11ch othor In gtX>dne!'II, and nrmed themselves against the impressions which wicked aud doubting imggest.ions might make upon their minds." "God took specie.I notloe of what these piom persons did e.nd 88.id : it was as safely faid up in his memory e.e if it 1111d been entered int-0 a register, in order t-0 be produced at the day of judgment, to their pre.ise and honour." It. is possible that the reference of these verses may be to II the growth of something like a brotherhood or order, not claiming or professing the inspir11,tion of the older schools of the prophets, not entering, 1\8 they he.d done, on any vigorous effort at oorrecting the corruptions that were eating into the nation's life, hut bearing a silent witness by lives of holiness and devotion, associated by the bonds of prayet- and mutual love, handing down from generation to generation the tradition of higher truths and better hopes." Illnstration may be taken from the Chasidim, or Brothers of Mercy, in the time of Judas Maccabeus, or the Essenes of the New Testament period. L Gon's LOYA.L ONES ARE THEY WHO KEEP ms HONOUR IN Illl'EBILLED TIMES. Compare the seven thousand in Elijah's day who had not bowed the knee to Baal. 1. The loyal ones may have no public spheres. But the truest work for God is done in the private spheres of home and social intercourse. 2. The loyal ones may h11,ve no voice with which to testify. But the mightiest of all arguments is 11, godly life; the strongest of all persuasions is the winsomeness of a sanctified character. Our witness may have to be rendered in our simply standing aloof, and that may be the very holiest reproach. It me.y be ours thus simply, but persistently, to keep the honour of God's (1) Name, (2) claims, (3) Word, as these are imperilled by the self- seeking of our times. li. GoD'S PREIIEIIVING HAND 1B EVER UPON RIB LOYA.L AND FAITHFUL ONES, He is even represented as keeping a list of them before him, so that by no possibility shall the interests of any one of them be forgotten. And his personal concern is intimated by bis speaking of them as his "jewels." The term suggests : 1. Their value in his sight. 2. Their variety; they are of dilJerent colours and qualities and tints. 8. '!'heir safety. They are all there in that day. Jesus said of his disciples, "None of them is lost."-R. T. Vers. 1--4.-0hrist as a spiritf./,(1,l Reformer. "Behold, I will send my messenger," etc. This passage seems to be an answer to the question of the sceptic in the last verse of the preceding chapter, " Where is the God of judgment?" It informs us that he will come, but that a preparatory work is necessary. It points to the advent of John the Baptist, the herald of that great Messiah predicted by ancient prophets, and who was the" Desire of all nations" (Hag. ii. 7, Authorized Version). The passage points to Obrist as the great spiritual Reformer of the world, and teaches that as a Reformer- !. HE IS GLORIOUS. This appears : 1. From the fact that a Divine 1T11J1Jsenger wa, Bent to prepare the way /or him. This messenger who did the preparatory work was John the Baptist, to whom Isaiah (xl. 3-5) referred when he spoke of a voice crying in the wilderness. Thie man was not only the greatest of all the prophets, but Christ tells us he was more than a prophet. He presented to his age, on the hanks of the Jordan, in words of flame and a voice of thunder, an epitome of all the teaching of the previous prophets. He denounced sin, he urged repentance. But this man, great 11,11 he was, only prepared the way for the true Reformer. 2. From the description that is here given of him. He is here represented as the Proprietor of the temple, and as the "Messenger of the covenant." Christ is the world's spiritual Reformer. Hs revolutionizes the thoughts, the emotions, the aims, and habits of mankind. No one else has ever done this, and no one else ever can do it. IL HE 1s AWE-INSPIRING. "Who may abide the day of hie coming, and who shall ~tand when he appeareth ?" In the presence of this Reformer, :whose eye wlll penetrate into the depths of every soul, unrenewed men everywhere will stand a11:hast and tremble at their own moral enormities. When he appeared to them he would not flatter their theocratic natiou's prejudice, but he would subject their principles to the tit,ry 11:st of his heart-searchi.Ilg truth. Listen to what John the Bapti11t, his herald. dlJ. lit. 1-1B.j THl: BOCHr OF MALACHI. 67