The following commentary covers Chapters 1 through 4.
The
importance of Malachi's prophecy
The prophecy of Malachi deals with
the people brought back from the captivity of Babylon,
and is most important as shewing the moral condition of
the people consequent upon their return. Its last verses
evidently close the testimony of Jehovah to the people,
till the coming of him who should prepare the way of
Jehovah, in a word, till John the Baptist. The law and
the prophets were until John, and Malachi is professedly,
and from the nature of his testimony, the last. The great
moral principle unfolded in the book, is the
insensibility of the people to that which Jehovah was for
them, and to their own iniquity with respect to
Jehovah—their want of reverence for God, their
despisal of Jehovah.
The people's
insensibility to, and want of reverence for, God
Alas! this insensibility
had reached such a point that, when the very actions that
proved their contempt were laid before their consciences,
they saw no harm in them. Nevertheless this did not alter
the purposes and counsels of God, although it brought
judgment on those who were guilty of it (see chap. 1: 2,
6; 2: 14; 3: 7, 13).
The remnant: God's
call to them
Malachi also distinguishes
the remnant and that which characterised them, while
proclaiming the punishment of the wicked, and the call of
God to those who had ears to hear to bring them back to
repentance—a ministry which would restore moral
order in the hearts of parents and children—that
relationship, from the maintenance and exercise of which,
all earthly peaceful order according to God flows; and
that order is what God is considering here.
Jehovah's love
proved by Israel's election: His purposes
At the commencement of the
prophecy Jehovah sets forth His love to Israel, slighted
alas! by an ungrateful people, yet proved by their
election from the beginning. Even while exhibiting the
sad ingratitude of the people, Jehovah adheres to His own
thoughts toward them. He will bless Israel, and He will
judge Edom, in spite of the pride of the latter.
Israel's
indifference and sin; mercy towards the Gentiles; the
sins of the priests
The sin of Israel, and
their offensive indifference in the service of their God,
is shewn (v. 6-10). This gives occasion to another
expression of grace—the revelation of the name of
Jehovah among all nations. Thus, the election of Israel,
and mercy towards the Gentiles, are established amidst,
and even on occasion of, the sin of the restored people.
Verses 12-14 also display their offences against Jehovah
and their contempt of His majesty. Chapter 2: 1-9
proclaims the fallen condition of the priests, who ought
to have been the faithful depositaries of the mind and
ways of God; verses 10-12, their misconduct towards their
brethren, and their intimate relationship with idolaters,
are pointed out; verses 13-16, the lightness with which
they were in the habit of divorcing at their pleasure.
But Jehovah was coming.
John the Baptist
anounced
Here again we find the
Lord's [1] first coming connected with the
full result of the second. John the Baptist is announced
as His messenger to prepare the way before Him; and then,
the Angel of the covenant, whom they so earnestly
desired, should come; but it would be in judgment, to
purge the people and take away all their dross. Then
should their offering in Jerusalem be acceptable to
Jehovah, an offering in righteousness. But all the
evil-doers should be judged; for God was unchangeable,
both in righteousness and grace. It was this which, after
all, secured the existence of Israel, happen what might.
Let Israel then return unto Jehovah, and Jehovah would
return unto them. But the pride of Israel is excited by
this, and they say, "Wherein shall we return?"
Their sins with respect to the offerings and the
ordinances are then shewn. But grace again displays
itself in prospect of the people's return from their
practical alienation from God. They had but to return and
prove the goodness of God.
The remnant known
to Jehovah; the rising of the Sun of Righteousness
In the midst of the pride
of the wicked in their apparent success, the remnant are
distinguished as being drawn together by their common
spiritual wants and feelings, founded on the fear of
Jehovah which governed them all. In their affliction they
spake often one to another of these things; [2] and Jehovah hearkened and heard
and wrote it down in His book. And they shall be His in
the day when He maketh up His jewels. After this they
should discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between those that served God and those that served Him
not. For the day was coming which should burn as an oven,
and the proud and the wicked should be as stubble. But to
those that feared the name of Jehovah, the Sun of
Righteousness should rise. It should be no longer the
sorrowful night of darkness and affliction and of the
enemy's dominion, but a day which God would cause to
shine by the presence of His Son, by the reign of His
Beloved One on the earth. The righteous would have
dominion over them in the morning, for the time is a time
of judgment, and the wicked would be as ashes under the
soles of their feet.
Jehovah's
authority and Israel's national conduct after the
captivity
It will be remarked here,
that all is in connection with the authority of Jehovah
and His dispensations towards Israel, and with the
conduct of Israel, as a nation, towards their God. That
which belongs to the first coming of Christ, and its
consequences to Israel, is not brought in here. John the
Baptist is presented as the forerunner of Jehovah, who
without doubt is Christ Himself, but who here comes as
the Angel of the covenant, coming suddenly to His temple,
and trying everything in Israel by fire and by His
judgment, in order that the offering of Judah may be
pleasant to Jehovah as in the days of old. The
transgressions here spoken of are those of the people
brought back from Babylon against Jehovah. The Gentiles,
and their empire, are not seen here. All takes place
between Israel only and Jehovah, the God of their
fathers, as in former days between the people loved of
God and Jehovah who loved them. A strange god is that
which Jehovah will not endure. It is Levi, with whom His
covenant had been; it was the priests, whose lips should
have kept the true knowledge of Jehovah.
There is even no king here
spoken of; except that Jehovah, whose name is terrible
among the heathen, is their king. Finally the people
(Israel) are commanded to return to the law of Moses
given at Horeb for all Israel.
Jehovah's
unchangeable love; Israel awaiting God's judgment
Thus we have here Jehovah's
unchangeable love for the people whom He gathered to
Himself at Horeb, His controversy with them on account of
their sins, the marking out of a faithful remnant, and
the sending of a messenger before the execution of the
judgment. Israel is looked at nationally, in their own
relationship with Jehovah, as returned from captivity and
awaiting the judgment of their God, who sends His
messenger to forewarn them.
All was prepared to put
the people morally to the proof, with respect to the
accomplishment of this, at the time when John the Baptist
was sent; but Israel had not ears to hear, and all was
lost.
The perfect and entire
fulfilment will take place at the end, after that other
glorious work of God with regard to the assembly shall
have been accomplished.
The rejected
message sent to Israel after the Saviour's death
The longsuffering of God
towards Israel had been great; for, when they had
rejected His Son, He sent them—through the
intercession of that same well-beloved Saviour on the
cross—the message by the mouth of Peter, that, if
they repented, the Christ whom they had slain would
return. But their leaders were more than deaf to this
grace on the part of God, and their house still remains
empty and desolate.
Elias and John the
Baptist
At the time of the end,
Elias—whose mission was to call back an apostate
Israel who had forsaken Jehovah to own Him in truth, and
that, by the sovereign grace of God, although in
connection with the law, and that Mount Horeb, whither he
went to lay down the burden of his prophetic office, when
rendered useless by the unbelief of the people—Elias
shall effectually accomplish his mission before the great
and terrible day of Jehovah; in order that the curse of
God may not fall upon the land of His delight in that day
when He will definitively execute His judgments. It is on
this account that John the Baptist is spoken of as being
Elias, if Israel could receive it; for he answered to
verse 1 of chapter 3, whilst, at the same time, he said
he was not Elias; for in fact he did not at all fulfil
verses 5, 6 of chapter 4 (compare Luke 1: 17, 76).
The object of the
prophecy: its future application
The prophecy speaks to the
conscience of those who lived at the time it was
delivered (chap. 3: 10); and passes on—shewing that
at the end of those times Israel would be put on trial by
the mission of grace—to the last days, in which God
would display His unchangeable love for His people, and
His righteous judgment against evil, by separating a
remnant unto Himself for blessing, and by executing
judgment on the rebellious.
The Gentiles are not
mentioned, nor even the connection of His people with
Christ, coming down as man to the earth.
The subject of
Haggai's prophecy
We have thus in these
three post-captivity prophets, three distinct subjects,
but which make a whole of the three. In Haggai it is
grace toward the returned remnant, God's Spirit still
among them, and in connection with the house and worship
of Jehovah, the temple. Its latter glory should be
greater than its former. The kingdoms of the heathen
should be cast down, and Zerubbabel (Christ) as a signet
on Jehovah's hand. Peace would be given in Jerusalem.
Zechariah's
prophecy summarized
Zechariah takes up two
points: first the empires of the heathen and God's
providential ways with Israel—the times of the
Gentiles—Jerusalem is owned, but judged of God and
stamped as Babylonish in its true character; but at the
end the Branch, the Lord Jesus, sets crowns instead of
fasting for the faithful—Babylon being already
judged—and strangers should come and build in the
temple of the Lord.
From chapter 7 to the end,
it is the relation of Israel with Christ, and His
rejection and its consequences in the last judgment of
Jerusalem; but for all that Jehovah, as we have often
seen, would judge definitively all the nations assembled
against her. The remnant would be brought to repentance,
and Jerusalem be holiness to the Lord, nor should
strangers defile it.
Malachi's
testimony to the Jews' moral state: the coming of the
Lord in judgment and deliverance
Finally we have Malachi
shewing us, the state the Jews soon got into, slighting
all that was agreeable to God, and indifferent and
insensible to their violating every righteous feeling;
the practical separation of those that feared the Lord,
and the coming of the Lord in judgment and deliverance:
meanwhile their recall to the authority of the law, and
the coming of Elias before the great and terrible day of
the Lord, to turn their hearts in grace into the way of
peace.
[2] See the lovely picture of this in
the first two chapters of Luke's Gospel, before he begins
the general subject of it. Only then the Saviour was
rejected, and the remnant passed into the assembly, the
deliverance of Israel being deferred to the coming of the
Lord in power. Here it is looked at as the remnant in
Israel connected with that deliverance.
Malachi 1 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
The importance of Malachi's prophecy
The prophecy of Malachi deals with the people brought back from the captivity of Babylon, and is most important as shewing the moral condition of the people consequent upon their return. Its last verses evidently close the testimony of Jehovah to the people, till the coming of him who should prepare the way of Jehovah, in a word, till John the Baptist. The law and the prophets were until John, and Malachi is professedly, and from the nature of his testimony, the last. The great moral principle unfolded in the book, is the insensibility of the people to that which Jehovah was for them, and to their own iniquity with respect to Jehovah—their want of reverence for God, their despisal of Jehovah.
The people's insensibility to, and want of reverence for, God
Alas! this insensibility had reached such a point that, when the very actions that proved their contempt were laid before their consciences, they saw no harm in them. Nevertheless this did not alter the purposes and counsels of God, although it brought judgment on those who were guilty of it (see chap. 1: 2, 6; 2: 14; 3: 7, 13).
The remnant: God's call to them
Malachi also distinguishes the remnant and that which characterised them, while proclaiming the punishment of the wicked, and the call of God to those who had ears to hear to bring them back to repentance—a ministry which would restore moral order in the hearts of parents and children—that relationship, from the maintenance and exercise of which, all earthly peaceful order according to God flows; and that order is what God is considering here.
Jehovah's love proved by Israel's election: His purposes
At the commencement of the prophecy Jehovah sets forth His love to Israel, slighted alas! by an ungrateful people, yet proved by their election from the beginning. Even while exhibiting the sad ingratitude of the people, Jehovah adheres to His own thoughts toward them. He will bless Israel, and He will judge Edom, in spite of the pride of the latter.
Israel's indifference and sin; mercy towards the Gentiles; the sins of the priests
The sin of Israel, and their offensive indifference in the service of their God, is shewn (v. 6-10). This gives occasion to another expression of grace—the revelation of the name of Jehovah among all nations. Thus, the election of Israel, and mercy towards the Gentiles, are established amidst, and even on occasion of, the sin of the restored people. Verses 12-14 also display their offences against Jehovah and their contempt of His majesty. Chapter 2: 1-9 proclaims the fallen condition of the priests, who ought to have been the faithful depositaries of the mind and ways of God; verses 10-12, their misconduct towards their brethren, and their intimate relationship with idolaters, are pointed out; verses 13-16, the lightness with which they were in the habit of divorcing at their pleasure. But Jehovah was coming.
John the Baptist anounced
Here again we find the Lord's [1] first coming connected with the full result of the second. John the Baptist is announced as His messenger to prepare the way before Him; and then, the Angel of the covenant, whom they so earnestly desired, should come; but it would be in judgment, to purge the people and take away all their dross. Then should their offering in Jerusalem be acceptable to Jehovah, an offering in righteousness. But all the evil-doers should be judged; for God was unchangeable, both in righteousness and grace. It was this which, after all, secured the existence of Israel, happen what might. Let Israel then return unto Jehovah, and Jehovah would return unto them. But the pride of Israel is excited by this, and they say, "Wherein shall we return?" Their sins with respect to the offerings and the ordinances are then shewn. But grace again displays itself in prospect of the people's return from their practical alienation from God. They had but to return and prove the goodness of God.
The remnant known to Jehovah; the rising of the Sun of Righteousness
In the midst of the pride of the wicked in their apparent success, the remnant are distinguished as being drawn together by their common spiritual wants and feelings, founded on the fear of Jehovah which governed them all. In their affliction they spake often one to another of these things; [2] and Jehovah hearkened and heard and wrote it down in His book. And they shall be His in the day when He maketh up His jewels. After this they should discern between the righteous and the wicked, between those that served God and those that served Him not. For the day was coming which should burn as an oven, and the proud and the wicked should be as stubble. But to those that feared the name of Jehovah, the Sun of Righteousness should rise. It should be no longer the sorrowful night of darkness and affliction and of the enemy's dominion, but a day which God would cause to shine by the presence of His Son, by the reign of His Beloved One on the earth. The righteous would have dominion over them in the morning, for the time is a time of judgment, and the wicked would be as ashes under the soles of their feet.
Jehovah's authority and Israel's national conduct after the captivity
It will be remarked here, that all is in connection with the authority of Jehovah and His dispensations towards Israel, and with the conduct of Israel, as a nation, towards their God. That which belongs to the first coming of Christ, and its consequences to Israel, is not brought in here. John the Baptist is presented as the forerunner of Jehovah, who without doubt is Christ Himself, but who here comes as the Angel of the covenant, coming suddenly to His temple, and trying everything in Israel by fire and by His judgment, in order that the offering of Judah may be pleasant to Jehovah as in the days of old. The transgressions here spoken of are those of the people brought back from Babylon against Jehovah. The Gentiles, and their empire, are not seen here. All takes place between Israel only and Jehovah, the God of their fathers, as in former days between the people loved of God and Jehovah who loved them. A strange god is that which Jehovah will not endure. It is Levi, with whom His covenant had been; it was the priests, whose lips should have kept the true knowledge of Jehovah.
There is even no king here spoken of; except that Jehovah, whose name is terrible among the heathen, is their king. Finally the people (Israel) are commanded to return to the law of Moses given at Horeb for all Israel.
Jehovah's unchangeable love; Israel awaiting God's judgment
Thus we have here Jehovah's unchangeable love for the people whom He gathered to Himself at Horeb, His controversy with them on account of their sins, the marking out of a faithful remnant, and the sending of a messenger before the execution of the judgment. Israel is looked at nationally, in their own relationship with Jehovah, as returned from captivity and awaiting the judgment of their God, who sends His messenger to forewarn them.
All was prepared to put the people morally to the proof, with respect to the accomplishment of this, at the time when John the Baptist was sent; but Israel had not ears to hear, and all was lost.
The perfect and entire fulfilment will take place at the end, after that other glorious work of God with regard to the assembly shall have been accomplished.
The rejected message sent to Israel after the Saviour's death
The longsuffering of God towards Israel had been great; for, when they had rejected His Son, He sent them—through the intercession of that same well-beloved Saviour on the cross—the message by the mouth of Peter, that, if they repented, the Christ whom they had slain would return. But their leaders were more than deaf to this grace on the part of God, and their house still remains empty and desolate.
Elias and John the Baptist
At the time of the end, Elias—whose mission was to call back an apostate Israel who had forsaken Jehovah to own Him in truth, and that, by the sovereign grace of God, although in connection with the law, and that Mount Horeb, whither he went to lay down the burden of his prophetic office, when rendered useless by the unbelief of the people—Elias shall effectually accomplish his mission before the great and terrible day of Jehovah; in order that the curse of God may not fall upon the land of His delight in that day when He will definitively execute His judgments. It is on this account that John the Baptist is spoken of as being Elias, if Israel could receive it; for he answered to verse 1 of chapter 3, whilst, at the same time, he said he was not Elias; for in fact he did not at all fulfil verses 5, 6 of chapter 4 (compare Luke 1: 17, 76).
The object of the prophecy: its future application
The prophecy speaks to the conscience of those who lived at the time it was delivered (chap. 3: 10); and passes on—shewing that at the end of those times Israel would be put on trial by the mission of grace—to the last days, in which God would display His unchangeable love for His people, and His righteous judgment against evil, by separating a remnant unto Himself for blessing, and by executing judgment on the rebellious.
The Gentiles are not mentioned, nor even the connection of His people with Christ, coming down as man to the earth.
The subject of Haggai's prophecy
We have thus in these three post-captivity prophets, three distinct subjects, but which make a whole of the three. In Haggai it is grace toward the returned remnant, God's Spirit still among them, and in connection with the house and worship of Jehovah, the temple. Its latter glory should be greater than its former. The kingdoms of the heathen should be cast down, and Zerubbabel (Christ) as a signet on Jehovah's hand. Peace would be given in Jerusalem.
Zechariah's prophecy summarized
Zechariah takes up two points: first the empires of the heathen and God's providential ways with Israel—the times of the Gentiles—Jerusalem is owned, but judged of God and stamped as Babylonish in its true character; but at the end the Branch, the Lord Jesus, sets crowns instead of fasting for the faithful—Babylon being already judged—and strangers should come and build in the temple of the Lord.
From chapter 7 to the end, it is the relation of Israel with Christ, and His rejection and its consequences in the last judgment of Jerusalem; but for all that Jehovah, as we have often seen, would judge definitively all the nations assembled against her. The remnant would be brought to repentance, and Jerusalem be holiness to the Lord, nor should strangers defile it.
Malachi's testimony to the Jews' moral state: the coming of the Lord in judgment and deliverance
Finally we have Malachi shewing us, the state the Jews soon got into, slighting all that was agreeable to God, and indifferent and insensible to their violating every righteous feeling; the practical separation of those that feared the Lord, and the coming of the Lord in judgment and deliverance: meanwhile their recall to the authority of the law, and the coming of Elias before the great and terrible day of the Lord, to turn their hearts in grace into the way of peace.
[1] It is, note distinctly, Jehovah's.
[2] See the lovely picture of this in the first two chapters of Luke's Gospel, before he begins the general subject of it. Only then the Saviour was rejected, and the remnant passed into the assembly, the deliverance of Israel being deferred to the coming of the Lord in power. Here it is looked at as the remnant in Israel connected with that deliverance.