Malachi 3:1-4 Notes
Cyrus, King of Persia, has permitted the people of Israel to return to Palestine. The Temple, gutted in 586 BC, has been restored, but Israel is still a Persian province. People expected that their fidelity to God would be rewarded by (material) prosperity, but life has continued to be hard, so after several decades, they have lapsed into waywardness. It is the ungodly who prosper. In the old days, the king was God’s agent, but now (there being no king), the priests have assumed this role. In previous chapters, the prophet has condemned the priests for despising God, corrupting worship and misleading the people.
A “messenger” (v. 1) or angel, God’s agent, will come to prepare a way for him. God, long expected, will come to “his temple”, to the priests. God’s “covenant” with Israel was summed up in the priests. His arrival will be sudden, unannounced. V. 2 imply that when God comes, he will judge the people. (The accused stands to hear judgment.) A refiner used the heat of a fire to separate ore into pure metal and slag; a fuller cared for newly shorn wool or woven garments by cleaning them, purifying them, with lye. The messenger will “purify … and refine” ( v. 3) the priests (“the descendants of Levi”) until they hold him in proper respect. Their offerings, on behalf of the people, will then again be “pleasing to the Lord” (v. 4). God will judge adversely those who deviate from proper moral behavior and from his ways (v. 5). He will bless all who return to his ways, for he still cares for his people. 4:5 identifies the messenger as Elijah (who ascended to heaven without dying: see 2 Kings 2:10-12); hence the popular belief in Jesus’ day that Elijah would return: see, for example, Luke 9:7-8.