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Malachi 3:4
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2 “But who can endure athe day of His coming?
And bwho can stand when He appears?
For cHe is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap. 
3 aHe will sit as a refiner and1 a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may boffer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness. 
4 “Then athe offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be1 pleasant to the Lord,
As in the days of old,
As in former years. 
5 And I will come near you for judgment;
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. 
6 “For I am the Lord, aI do not change;
bTherefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 
7 Yet from the days of ayour fathers
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

8 “Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
aIn tithes and offerings. 
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
10 aBring all the tithes into the bstorehouse,
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. 
11 “And I will rebuke athe devourer for your sakes,
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; 
12 “And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be aa delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts. 

The People Complain Harshly

13 “Youra words have been harsh against Me,”
Says the Lord,
“Yet you say,
‘What have we spoken against You?’ 
14 aYou have said,
‘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? 
15 So now awe call the proud blessed,
For those who do wickedness are1 raised up;
They even btempt God and go free.’ ” 

A Book of Remembrance

16 Then those awho feared the Lord bspoke to one another,
And the Lord listened and heard them;
So ca book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the Lord
And who1 meditate on His name. 
17 “Theya shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts,
“On the day that I make them My bjewels.
And cI will spare them
As a man spares his own son who serves him.” 
18 aThen you shall again discern
Between the righteous and the wicked,
Between one who serves God
And one who does not serve Him. 
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?
<< Malachi 3:3   Malachi 3:5 >>

What Does Malachi 3:4 Mean?





Malachi 3:3-5

If we put this purging into a different metaphor, it means getting rid of the leaven (see I Corinthians 5:7); here people are being purged of sin. God shows that He will use persecution to purify His people through the testing of their loyalty. We know that our loyalty is being really tested all the time, but a time is coming when it will require a great deal more intense conviction about what we believe. This becomes very important because His purpose is to entrench these beliefs into our character.

If people are truly convicted regarding their beliefs, they will conduct themselves far differently than if they are unsure. It is right here that this point becomes important—super-important really—because the dross of cowardly believers is going to be removed. That is what Malachi 3:3 is about. It will either be removed or else. That is very sobering.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part Four)

Related Topics: | Cowardly Believers | Does Doctrine Really Matter? | Dross of Cowardly Believers | Entrenching Beliefs into Character | Persecution to Purify | Purged of Sin | Purging | Purpose of Persecution | Purpose of Tests | Purpose of Trials | Testing of Loyalty | Tests and Trials | Trials and Tests


 
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