Bible Commentaries

Will A Man Rob God?

- Malachi Three -

God's prophets had powerful messages for the people of their days. They also gave information concerning the coming of the Messiah and His work. Malachi does exactly that in this chapter. He tells of the forerunner who prepared the way for the coming of Christ and then he wrote of the Christ, Himself. God's terrible judgment will come against sinners that were not purified by the cleansing blood of Jesus. Strong rebukes were given against the Jews for their unfaithfulness in giving. They had robbed God. If they would repent and do right God would bless them abundantly. Malachi rebuked the people for their hard speech against God. There will one day be a final judgment of separation between the righteous and wicked. Let us prepare now for eternity with Christ.

The messenger and the Messiah -- Malachi 3:1-5 : Messiah would come. However, before His coming there would be one to prepare His way. Malachi wrote, "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 LORD of hosts." (Malachi 3:1) In Matthew 11:10 Jesus made it clear that this was a reference to John the Baptist. Isaiah also prophesied of John as "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3) John's work was to prepare the people to receive the Messiah. John preached that the people should repent and prepare for the coming of the Savior. He announced that the Messiah would appear in a surprising manner and He would come to His Temple. He would give a New Covenant for the people through His death on the cross. No one will be able to stand God's final judgment. When Jesus came He came as Redeemer. His second coming will be with fire and judgment. When Jesus read Isaiah's prophecy in the Temple He stopped reading before the announcement of God judgment. (Luke 4:17-20, Isaiah 61) He was then speaking of the beginning of His ministry, not the end of the world. Malachi spoke of both the beginning and the end of Jesus" work. There was first the purifying and then the judgment. The Jews had many sins either to be forgiven in Jesus or to face in judgment. They had (1) Practiced sorcerers, (2) Committed adulterers, (3) Been false sweaters, (4) Taken advantage of people that they hired to work, (5) Abused the widow, and the fatherless, (6) Refused to help strangers, and (7) Failed to fear God.

The sin of ingratitude -- Malachi 3:6-12 : The people did not see that they had any need to repent. Malachi moved to discuss in more details two specific sins of the Jews. The first was that they were robbing God with their giving. The people denied this, yet they were very guilty of this sin. When the people held back part of their giving or gave inferior products they were robbing God. Many are guilty of the same sin today. Ingratitude is an ugly sin that shows itself in our giving. The Jews had not given as they should so the entire land was under a curse. Christians today struggle with giving 10 % and the Jews likely gave from 20 to 25 % when you consider all their tithes and offerings. Let us remember that everything belongs to God and give as if we believed that! If we refuse to show our loyalty and faithfulness to God in our giving we will miss many blessings! Malachi even called upon the people to put God to the test and give and observe how blessed they would be.

The sin of speaking against God -- Malachi 3:13-15 : The Jews denied that they were doing anything wrong. This amounted to saying that God was making false charges against them. The attitude of these Jews was terrible. They felt that God was wrong in His dealings with them. They said very disrespectful things to God. They even denied that it is worthwhile to obey the will of God. God said,"Your words have been (insolent) harsh against Me," Says the LORD." These people thought that God owed them something for living under His law. They even said the arrogant were blessed by the Lord and that the wicked prospered. We do well to remember that God always looks at the hearts of those who come before Him.

The Book of remembrance -- Malachi 3:16-18 : The message of this chapter ends with God reminding the people that He would remember those who serve him in righteousness. This book of remembrance contains deeds of the Christian age. Christians are people that "Fear the Lord" and honor Him. Christians reverence the Lord, love Him and are devoted to His service. Those who fear the Lord and serve Him are set in contrast with the insolate and rebellious. Words of the righteous were words of faith and reverence. God remembers! Let us fear the Lord and think on His name. There are major differences between those who are saved and those who are not and God has a book of remembrance.