The Pulpit Commentary — Malachi — Section 59

tic>n (If sinners on tlm earth. He is essentfolly Love, and a olumgo in him ~uld be a change from love, and a change from love would be the rui'b. of sinne1;s, When he ~ays, "I change not," it means, "I am as full of love as ever." "As I live snith the Lord God, I have no pleusnre in the death of a sinner,"-D .. T. ' Vers. 7-12.-A Divine complaint and a Divine invitation. "Even from the days (If your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances," eto. In,these \Vords W<' have two things--11 DiYine complaint and a Divine invitation; and both'kteaddressed to ~i nncrs. :Notice- , ,, , . I. A Drvn-E OOMPLAINT AGAINST srNNElls. The complaint involves three ohe.rges. 1. The charge of apostasy. "Even from t-he days of your fathers ye, ;are· g<;>ne away from mme ordmances." Your fathers who ocought on themselves the: Babylonia11 captivity departed from my ordinances, and you are doing what they· did. , All sin i!i :m apostasy, a departure from_ God's "ordinances" both moral nn,d positive.. ''. My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the Fountain of liviP.g'.w.at~rs, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold nQ. waterl', (Jei·,,ii,,13), Like the prodigal son, we have all gone away from our l?ather into, tl;le "fe.i-, country" o! practical atheism and sin. 2. T/1$ charge of dishonesty. '.' WUl a man ,rob God~ let he have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we,robbed, thee?, Jn, tith,es. and offerings." Their dishonesty consisted in withholding from. him, his cla}rµ,s. Thus. they robbed or defrauded him. "Ye have robbed me." "Ye have done sq. to,,me iu respect to the tithes due to me ; viz. the tenth of all the remainder after tl;ie ,first- fruits were paid, which tenth was paid to the Levites for their support (Lev. xxvii. 30-33), a tenth paid by the Levites to the priests (Numb. xviii. 26-28), a second tenth paid by the people for the entertainment of the. Levites and the\r Q\Vn families at the tabernnc.le (Deut. x:ii. 18); another tithe every. third year ,for the poor, etc, (Deut. xiv. 28, 29). • Offerings.' Not less than one~sixth part, of _corn, wine, a.nd oil (Deut. xviii. 4). The priests had this perquisite; also th,e tenth _of the .tith11s v,hich were the Levites' perquisite. But they appropriated a.ll the t\thel!,,robbing the Levi~e11 of their due nine-tenths ; as the_v did also, according to J osepbus, before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.· '1'h11S doubtless was God .defrauded-,th11 •prj~s.ts..not .discharg- ing aright their sacrificial duties, and robbing God of the. services .of the .Levites who were driven away by de.stitution" (Fausset). Thus- men rob qod no~; .t];ieyi keep back what belongs to him. They cannot take anything from_ him, and thus make him poorer, as in the case of man robbing man, but they can rob him by aJ>propriating ~ their own use that w~ch he demands, by acting like ,.A.nania,s and Sapphira:.- ..3.•, Th,e cl,argt; of insensibility. " Ye say, Wherein have we robp_ed thee 2" Tl;i,ey 1:iad lost !Ill sense of their ob~i:ration in relation to these tithes, a.nd become µtterly in.d.iffllrent to tqEI Divine claims. "Wherein have we robbed thee?" As if they did n9t know. their fraud on God. Thns men go on keeping from Gqd wh~t is h_is due,~thout any sense of wrong. Sinful ha.bits blind and deaden a man's consc\enpe, to,,h.is ~9:rnentqqs \iqtiej!; II. A DIVINE D."VITATION TO SINt."ERS. Here is, an invitation to return: 1, TQ Divine friendshp. " B.etlll'Il unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts." Return to mll by rendering to me my dues, ~nd working lovingly and loyally in my service. " Return to me "-this has been God's voice to!sinners in all ages; this was the invitation of Christ: "Come unto me," etc. The return is in a se~se mu~1.1iµ_. God i;ays, " I will return unto . you." This does. not, of course, mean that God .com- promises, cha.ages·; but it expresses his readiness to receive them, as the f,ather of the prodigal was ready to receive his lost son. He waits t,o be gracioqs. 2. T~ ,ho~~st aervice. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat 1n mJne house." Nehemiah calla the "storehouse" (x:iii. 5) a great chamber w\lere they lai4 the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels. To put this to its proper use is what .Jehovah would have them to do, .and he.promise,s, if they accede: (1) 'l'o give them good in ablUf,dance,. "Prove me now herewith, saitb the Lord of hosts, i( I _will not open you the windows of; heaive:p, a,nd pour y-91,1 out ;i. blessing, tha~ there shall not be room enough to receive it." FroJD. heaven _all good comes. Sometimes,the windows 1,etrn so clobed up that blessing~ de!mend not to some men. When God ~YB, ".I will open you the windows," it meami good shall come pouring down in a bun dance. (2) T9 glvt; them good i111, ccmnectwn with t/.e produoo of tl,e earth. "And I will rel:!1.1k:ll, the Olt. UI. 1-18.] THE BOOK OF MALACHI. 59