Will be1 pleasant to the Lord,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
aAgainst perjurers,
Against those who bexploit wage earners and cwidows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
bReturn to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
c“But you said,
‘In what way shall we return?’
Do Not Rob God
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
aIn tithes and offerings.
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the cwindows of heaven
And dpour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the Lord of hosts;
For you will be aa delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
The People Complain Harshly
Says the Lord,
“Yet you say,
‘What have we spoken against You?’
‘It is useless to serve God;
What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance,
And that we have walked as mourners
Before the Lord of hosts?
| << Malachi 3:5 | Malachi 3:7 >> |
What Does Malachi 3:6 Mean?
Malachi 3:6
The Bible identifies Jesus Christ as the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh Elohim. Therefore, when Jesus speaks, He is both the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New. Consider this fundamental characteristic of both:
» For I, Jehovah [Yahweh], change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6, American Standard Version)
» Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Considering this unchanging nature, why would many in Christianity paint such different pictures, in many cases literally, of Jesus Christ and the Old Testament God? Knowing that Yahweh Elohim is also Jesus Christ requires rethinking a core issue—the law. Because Yahweh Elohim and Jesus Christ are one and the same, a Being who does not change and is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it is inconceivable to believe that He came to do away with the very laws that He created to be obeyed by His people.
He said as much in Matthew 5:17: “Don't suppose that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning” (Contemporary English Version).
Contrary to Christ's warning, but true to human nature (Romans 8:7), many do suppose He did away with His laws. He proves how wrong that is by the verses that follow. As examples, in verses 21-22, about murder, and verses 27-28, about adultery, He explains that a full understanding covers not just the physical acts but also the thoughts and motivations that lead to those actions.
In each of these instances, rather than abolishing the law, He expands it, making it more sweeping than it ever was in the Old Testament. No longer is physical obedience sufficient. Our Savior adds the higher standard of spiritual compliance.
Because Israel was a physical nation without access to the Holy Spirit, only physical obedience was possible. Since the first Christian Pentecost in Acts 2, we have access to God's Spirit and a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27). With that Spirit, Yahweh Elohim, Jesus Christ, now charges us to accomplish His full intent by walking in His statutes, keeping His judgments, and doing all this from a new spiritual heart.
Because Christ made plain the spiritual intent of the law He created as Yahweh Elohim in the Old Testament, Paul could later write that the law is spiritual (Romans 7:14) and that “the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12).
For those who think and teach otherwise, Christ says to them:
» Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)
» Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:22-23)
Contrary to Christ's explicit warning, many do suppose and conjure up various reasons and explanations as to why the law is no longer in force. The unchanging Christ says to them what He said to the Jews of His day: “. . . making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do” (Mark 7:13).
Pat Higgins
The God of the Old Testament
Malachi 3:6
If God had changed His purpose, the sons of Jacob would indeed have been consumed. However, because God has a purpose that He has been working out from the very beginning, He looked beyond what these people were doing to destroy and remove themselves from His purpose. God, in a sense, overlooked what they were doing—all the way to the future, to the conclusion of His purpose for them. God says, "I change not." He has never altered His purpose from the beginning.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part One)
Malachi 3:6
God's mind is absolutely undivided. In practical application, this means that His sovereignty can never be separated from His love; His grace cannot be separated from His omniscience; His judgment cannot be separated from either His mercy or His wrath. God is absolutely constant because His faithful providence cannot be separated from any other of His attributes. God is whole and complete. Under every circumstance, He is never confused or uncertain about what to do. He is always headed in the same direction, which is to complete His purpose.
It is absolutely impossible for Him to do anything that is not wise and at the same time loving. It is He who tells us how to live and how to be like Him. What God is has awesome ramifications for us because we are so different, and He wants us to be like Him, to be one with Him, to be whole, to be complete, to be undivided in mind like Him.
There are problems here because becoming this way requires a measure of cooperation from us. Compared to God, our mind is all over the place, and thus we are so easily distracted from our focus.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Knowing God
| << Malachi 3:5 | Malachi 3:7 >> |
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Jesus Christ is identified as Yahweh Elohim, the God of the Old Testament, and remains "the same yesterday, today, and forever." Because He never changes, it is inconceivable that He would abolish the laws He created; instead, in Matthew 5:17, He expanded them, adding spiritual compliance to physical obedience. Those who suppose the law is no longer in force nullify God's word through tradition. God's mind is absolutely undivided, His attributes inseparable, always directed toward completing His purpose. Had He changed that purpose, the sons of Jacob would have been consumed; instead, He looked beyond their failures to His purpose's conclusion. His name, the I AM, signifies His unchanging, everlasting character. Because He is gracious, merciful, and covenant-keeping, Israel is not consumed but chosen for salvation.