Malachi 2:17-3:7

IV.      Israel “wearied” the LORD, 2:17-3:15.
The charge in 2:17 is connected to the issue of robbing God in 3:8-12 and the harsh complaints against God in 3:13-15. The long term answer to the charge in 2:17 is given in 3:1-7 and ends with a call to return to Me. Then the question is, In what way shall we return and the answer is to quit robbing God (3:8-15).

Also note that Malachi is still addressing issues of worship. They were robbing God by withholding what was to be brought to the temple to sustain the worship. As with the marriage issues, so this was a problem in post-exile Israel, Neh. 10:28-39; 12:44-47; 13:4-14. Nehemiah gives insight into the establishment of the storerooms for the temple and of the “politics” that entered into the picture resulting in fraud and failure to use the offerings for their intended purposes.

The setting for Malachi is that the people were struggling financially and were withholding from the temple service the required offerings. The charge in 2:17 seems to be that they were saying God was not keeping His end of the bargain (harsh words, 2:13-15), and that they were right to withhold from God in caring for their personal needs. God’s answer through Malachi was that they were not, in fact, living righteous lives.

·        2:17: The principle at stake is justice.  The people were blurring the lines, saying that what was evil was in fact good, that the LORD delighted in what they were doing.  Do not miss the fact that this wearied God!  God becomes tired of our constant failure to live up to His word, and then our grumblings when our needs our not met, grumblings that in effect are a means by which we blame God.  Israel did this with regularity in the wilderness; apparently it was happening in the post-exile time too.  Perhaps it is common to man.

·        3:1: God’s answer is truly amazing.  First He says He is going to come to them.  My messenger is a reference to the forerunner of the Messiah.  John the Baptist was God’s messenger who prepared the way.  Then the Messenger of the covenant is clearly said to be the Lord Himself.  It is, of course, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!  Remember again: Malachi is the last of the OT prophets.  The next prophet will be John and he will introduce Christ.  This is the one the people delight it; they were perhaps grumbling, demanding that the Messiah come and fix things.  God says, He is coming!

·        3:2-3: But then God says, you might not be so happy when He comes because His first act will be to refine you.  This was what Simeon had in mind, in the temple area, when Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus.  First Simeon noted the hope of the Messiah, being a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel (Lk. 2:29-32).  But then he also noted that the Child would be the reason for the rise and fall of many and that He would reveal the thoughts of many hearts (Lk. 2:34-35).  The Revealer of hearts is the Refiner of Malachi.

·        3:4-7: This refining work of Messiah may not be what the people delight in, but it will make the people pleasant to the LORD.  God is saying: the problem is not that I am unjust/unfair to you; I have never changed, which is the reason you have not been completely destroyed (v6).  But you are the problem and have been since the days of your fathers (v7).

This is for us too! Are we not susceptible to calling into question God’s integrity when we feel we are suffering too much? These are harsh words. God does not change. He is ever the God of grace and mercy, of great love for sinners. Let us be open to Jesus as He reveals our hearts through the affliction.