Malachi 3

Malachi 3:1

Child Mortality

Of the children who have already been born, they will not enjoy for long. God Himself will see to it that they will die, perhaps because of a disease. The generation of people to whom Hosea addresses will be completely eradicated. There will be no succession. The way in which God will carry out this judgment is simple, but painful: He will depart from them. When God departs from someone, it is truly a “woe”. Outside of God, no life is possible. Everything that someone creates without God will perish.

Malachi 3:2

Ephraim Like Tyre

Tyre stands for strength and wealth, but also for pride and self-assurance. This is how Israel has developed. Unfortunately, they used all their prosperity for themselves and forgot from Whom they received all their blessings. Just as Tyre boasts of his own efforts, so has Israel (Deuteronomy 32:15). Those who raise their children in that spirit seek their doom. That doom is that they are slaughtered by someone who takes the life of the child.

The ‘slaughter’ can also happen by the circumstances we create ourselves that will make our children totally unwilling to live with God. This can happen when they see the character traits of Tyre in our lives as well. To see a child perish is bad, but it is even worse when we have to realize that it happened because of our own fault, because we searched for the things of the world and did not listen to God’s voice.

Malachi 3:3

The Prayer of the Prophet

Hosea asks God to judge His people. With this he clearly chooses God’s side against the unfaithfulness of the people. Thus, Elijah prays for drought (James 5:17). This may seem harsh, but only in this way can the people be reached and hopefully come to repentance. Hosea leaves the punishment to the LORD. The proposal he makes is the worst he can think of. He knows no worse judgment than death by miscarriage and lack of maternal nutrition.

It seems that he prays with bumps and knocks. He wants to ask something, but does not really know what. He leaves it to God, God must know. In that surrender he expresses what is necessary to strike God’s people. You feel how he struggles to save his people, to bring them back to God.

Malachi 3:4

What God Cannot Love

God cannot tolerate sin in His house. His house here is the people of Israel. God can no longer say anything in favor of them, therefore He can no longer love them. God can never approach rebellion against His authority with love. It is good to think of that, especially in our time, when the love of God is so light-heartedly talked about. Someone can say: ‘He accepts us with our sins because He knows how we mean it.’

Malachi 3:5

No Fruit For God

Ephraim is compared to a sick plant. It will be similar to the cursed fig tree (Mark 11:12-14; 20-25). The miracle in which the Lord Jesus curses the fig tree so that it withers from its roots is His only miracle of judgment. The meaning of this miracle is, that of the people who live in their own righteousness, there will never be any fruit for God. Ephraim, that is Israel, has proven this clearly in his history: all his descendants have shown the same rebellion. They have presented this rebellion to their children, raised them in it. God has no choice but to judge them.

Malachi 3:6

Rejected

Hosea here speaks of “my God”. With this he indicates that he fully agrees with God in His dealings with the people. He also indicates that He is no longer the God of Israel when the people will have been taken away. The reason for their removal and scattering among the people is clear, namely that they did not listen to God. Also, the first king of Israel, Saul, is rejected because he did not listen to God (1 Chronicles 10:13; 1 Samuel 15:23). This clearly indicates the importance God attaches to how we deal with His Word and what we do with it. But God never speaks like that.

Malachi 3:8

Introduction

Prosperity, also now, is a matter that separates man from God. Instead of honoring God for the prosperity obtained, the people practice idolatry. For the dangers that threaten from outside, the people seek support from Assyria. The prophet brings to light the cause of the alienation from God: the sin of Gibea is still alive. The evil done in the past has not been judged in its origin. God gives the people a new chance by summoning them to break up fallow ground (Hosea 10:12). Unfortunately, they do not seize that opportunity. That is why the judgment cannot fail.

For Whom Is Our Fruit?

This verse points to the prosperity that is in Israel, especially in the days of Jeroboam II. But the more God blesses them, the more zealous they become in their sinful worship: altar after altar appears. And the fruit is for themselves (Hosea 9:4). How do we use what the Lord has given us? Our mind, memory, strength, health, possessions? To satisfy our own desires or for Him?

Israel is the vine and vineyard of the LORD (Psalms 80:8; Isaiah 5:7). But he brings forth bad fruits (Isaiah 5:2). Then the Lord Jesus comes as “the true vine” (John 15:1). Everything He does is perfect fruit for the Father. Everyone who remains in Him also brings forth much and good fruit for the Father. Without the Lord Jesus, which is apart from Him, we cannot do anything that means fruit for the Father (John 15:5).

For that prosperity the people do not thank God, but the idols. More and more altars are being built. An altar is a symbol for worship. Building all those altars means nothing other than that they seek the sources of prosperity more and more outside of God. Possibly they have an altar for the sun, and one for the rain, another one for trade, and another one for health. Each time a new altar is invented, is for fear that an idol will be forgotten.

Man is still like that, even today. He seeks his salvation in all kinds of forms of spirituality. Amulets are worn more and more, rings, necklaces, piercings, you name it. As a result, one expects to get prosperity, protection or a safe feeling. God is completely excluded.

The more and larger the fruit, the more there is for the altars, the more there is to worship the idols. There is much religiosity perceptible through the many altars, but none of it can be accepted by God. The denunciation here is that the people have failed because they seek their own benefits instead of fulfilling God’s intentions. The altars are centers of their own interest instead of symbols and centers of holy offerings.

This is a great contrast with Christ, Who never sought His own interest. It is also a great contrast with Timothy, of whom Paul can testify that he does not seek his own interest, but that of others (Philippians 2:19-21). In this he resembles Christ. This is the calling of every Christian.

True service to God takes place on only two altars: the bronze burnt offering altar and the golden altar of incense. The first altar is more connected with the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross as a burnt offering to God; the second altar is more connected with the glory of His Person, with all the features of Him Who is God and Man in one Person. God wants to hear from us what we think of His Son. Worship is: to tell God Who the Lord Jesus is for Him and for us.

When He disappears from our worship, that place is taken by something of creation or something of ourselves and God cannot accept that. Then we lower the standard, the content and the object of worship to the level of creation and bring honor to the demons (1 Corinthians 10:19-20). God can only accept what is in connection with the Person and the work of His Son and He desires to share it with us.

Malachi 3:9

One Thing

They have a faithless heart, which is divided and deceitful, because they still serve the LORD outwardly, but have also erected more and more altars for the idols. The prayer of the faithful Israelite is: “Unite my heart to fear Your name” (Psalms 86:11b; Jeremiah 32:39; 1 Kings 18:21). A faithless, divided heart gives trouble. If we allow something else besides God to take precedence over our desires, it is certain that we will add a new chapter to the history of our failures.

It is about only one thing (Mark 10:21; Luke 10:42; Philippians 3:14; Psalms 27:4). There are people who do not want to be someone with merely just one object that is important. They want more. They are not satisfied with only ‘one thing’, that is too limited for them. But why should we want more than that ‘one thing’? It all depends on the value that that one thing has for us. If it is great enough, there is no room for anything else. If we do add something to it, that one thing turns out not to be great enough for us. We will also see that the value of that one thing decreases further and further if we take another thing next to that one thing.

The difficulty with us is that the desire for diversity puts God on one list with other things. That should not be the case. God must be everything. He does not give His honor to someone else and cannot share it with someone else. The people stand guilty before Him, just as we stand guilty when we worship something instead of Him or next to Him. God will judge with which we have loaded guilt on us and have not confessed. As far as Israel is concerned: God will judge their idols Himself.

Malachi 3:10

Intellectual Acknowledgment Is Not Repentance

They do have a king, but he is of no use to them. It seems that he is not there. At least that is their experience. It is with their king, just like with many other things: if he brings them an advantage, they accept him; if he does nothing for them, they rather get rid of him. But also the kings think only of themselves. Nor do such kings contribute anything to turning the impending doom.

Moreover, the people are aware that the appeal to a man is in vain, however powerful that man may be (cf. 2 Kings 6:27). Unfortunately, that realization does not bring him to his knees to beg God for an outcome. It is an intellectual realization; heart and conscience do not get into unrest.

Malachi 3:11

Hollow, False Words; Acting Wrongly

Their acknowledgment of Hos 10:3 is one of hollow, empty words. Their words mean nothing, they have no content. Therefore, you cannot rely on them. This is evidenced by the swearing of worthless oaths. This means that they are consciously deceiving others with words. For example, King Hosea acts against the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:3-4), with whom a previous king, Menahem, made a covenant (2 Kings 15:19).

Such words and such actions are unacceptable to God. His judgment is as quick and deadly as a poisonous plant in the furrows of the field. It is sown in the furrows and that is where the fruit must appear. But the poison plant has corrupted the harvest. This judgment is finally carried out by the king of Assyria, who deports Israel.

Malachi 3:12

The Downfall of the Idols

The inhabitants of Samaria are not worried by the approaching judgment that sprouts like a poisonous plant. Samaria means the inhabitants of the ten tribes realm that is named here after the capital. Rather, their concern is for the loss of their prosperity, which they believe is due to the calves in Bethel, which is again called Beth-aven here (Hosea 4:15).

The calves, who bear witness to material prosperity, are at the same time their idols. The thought of losing the calves with their ornaments makes them sad and miserable. Instead of idols caring for them, they are caring for their idols.

It is sad to see how people can mourn the loss of external prosperity when they are not at all concerned about their relationship with God or what happens to their souls.

Malachi 3:13

Shame on the People of God

If Assyria leads Israel into the scattering, the calf will be brought to their king as a trophy. This shows once again how foolish it is to rely on something that can just be taken away from you. Ephraim, that is Israel, will be ashamed for the surrounding nations.

The prophet insists that the people should not put their trust in anything or anyone other than God. If they do, they will be ashamed. All their cleverly conceived political plans only lead to disappointment.

We too may ask ourselves to what extent we expect help from non-believers. Do we sometimes deliberate in a way they do? That would be contrary to what we should do: expect our salvation only from God and submit our deliberations to Him.

Malachi 3:14

Like a Stick on the Water

The idols are useless, as are the people and the priests. Could some help then be found in the king? The comparison of the king with a stick leaves no doubt that no outcome can be expected from that side either. A stick on the surface of the water is a plaything of the wind and the waves. It has no foundation, possesses no strength in itself and around it finds no hold whatsoever. Insignificant and defenseless it is carried away by the current.

It is a telling picture of the king of Samaria and of what is going to happen to him and his subjects. Without any grip he will become a plaything of violent events. He has no defense against whom by whom he will be deported and who will make him disappear.

Malachi 3:15

Destruction, Withering, Fear

The great sin of Israel referred to here is the high places of Aven, that is the calf service at Bethel. Possibly there are more idols there, because there are “high places”, plural. God will destroy the places where idolatry is committed. He will make those places overgrown by thorn and thistle. In this way they will become a permanent reminder of His judgment on that terrible sin of idolatry.

Thorns and thistles entered creation after Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3:18). That is a lesson for us. If we have to remove something from our lives because it has come in the place of or beside God, we should always see it as sin. Otherwise there is a great danger that we will start longing for it again. However, if we recognize that what used to take us away from God is covered with thorns and thistles, we would not soon give it a place in our lives again. After all, thorns and thistles are not attractive at all.

Israel, if it has got into desperate fear and hopeless despair during the judgments that God will bring upon the people through the Assyrians’ invasion, will wish for quick death and destruction. Speaking to the mountains and hills is more than just the desire for shelter. It expresses the desire to be buried under the collapsing mountains and hills to no longer have to endure the distress and horrors of judgment. It is an example of the judgments that will come over Israel and the rest of the world in the end times (Revelation 6:16-17; Luke 23:30; Isaiah 2:19).

Malachi 3:16

Again the Sin of Gibea

The sin of Gibea (Judges 19-21) is still practiced. It is referred to here again (Hosea 5:8; Hosea 9:9) as a typical low point of their iniquity. However, it is not just a historical low point, after which the people are doing better. No, the iniquity that characterizes the days of Gibea is also present in the days of the prophet Hosea.

They fought sin, but they did not remove it from their hearts. They did not really say goodbye to the sin of Gibea. They will therefore be judged by God. Above all, they should not think that He will not be able to reach them. Just as in Hosea 7, they simply do not think that no one can escape God’s arm (Hosea 7:2).

Malachi 3:17

God’s Desire for Holiness

This verse begins with the desire of God to chastise His people. For that chastisement He will use other nations. That desire of God to chastise them has a purpose, of course. God wants Israel to truly become His people again. That is only possible if they get rid of what He has to condemn.

By “double guilt” can be meant the two golden calves, one of which is in Dan and one in Bethel. It also can mean: leaving the LORD and deviating from the government of the house of David under Jeroboam I. It can also refer to the literal, physical fornication and the spiritual fornication, the connection with the idolatrous nations (Jeremiah 2:13).

Malachi 3:18

No More Threshing, but Ploughing and Harrowing

Threshing is an easy and pleasant activity for an ox. While threshing, he may also eat (Deuteronomy 25:4). Thus, it has always been God’s intention that His people, while serving Him, can freely enjoy the products that the land of Canaan provides. But through their unfaithfulness, they have forfeited this privilege. Now God will have to force Ephraim to plow and harrow much heavier. To do this, He must impose a yoke on them.

“Her fair neck” shows Ephraim’s own fame. The LORD will come in judgment, that is to say, He will impose the yoke of submission to foreign rulers on Ephraim for that reason. They will become slaves to strangers and will be forced to cultivate the foreign land, so that the inhabitants of that land may have a good harvest (cf. Exodus 1:11). In this way they will have to be touched in heart and conscience and then return to the LORD.

Regarding their sins, there is no distinction between Judah and Ephraim (= Israel). Both realms will fall under this judgment. “Jacob” represents the entire former Israel of the twelve tribes.