Malachi

Chapter 3
{Answer to Question 'Where is the God of Judgment'?
  from Chapter 2:17}
{Preservation of a Nation Through Evangelism}
{Verses 1-6: Plan of God is Centered in the Coming Messiah}
1a~~"Behold/Concentrate {shalach - listen to this public message},
'My messenger'/Malachi {malaki},
and he {includes John the Baptist}
shall prepare/clear {panah} the Way/Road {derek} before Me
  {means John the Herald prophetically will clear the way for the
  coming of the Messiah - and he did clearly present the issue when
  Christ did come 400 plus years later}."

1b~~"And the 'Adown/Lord, whom you seek,
shall suddenly come {probably John 2:13-25} to His temple
  {this is the second temple, sometimes known as Zerubbabel's
  temple},
even the messenger of the covenant/contract . . .
Who {the Messiah/Christ}
'is precious'/'is of top value'/'holds 1st place in your life'
  {chaphets - top value in your scale of values - Christ 1st in your
  life}."

1c~~"Behold, He shall come,"
said the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts
{God the Father as author of the plan is communicating here}.

{Note: Malak is the Hebrew word meaning 'messenger' with the possessive suffix, it means 'My messenger'. The Old Testament writers had a current day message to give and a message for future generations. Malachi is warning his people of the danger coming. He is also prophesizing about the coming of the Lord. In Matthew 3:3 John the Baptist/Herald is called the 'messenger of the Lord' (see also Matthew 11:10; Luke 1:76; Mark 1:2,3; Luke 3:4; 76:26,27; John 1:23). So we have two factors in the word 'messenger'. 'Behold' means concentrate, to concentrate in a public speaking situation - to the prophet who was living in 420 BC and later on when the herald of the King would be sent. The King is Jesus Christ. The herald comes first and announces Him and then the King will come - both 1st and 2nd Advents. }

{Note: See John 2: 13-25 for the sudden coming of the messenger. The 'contract' was when Jesus Christ went to the cross. He became our substitute, our sins were poured out upon Him and judged, and He took our place. In a contract you have two parties. Party of the first part: the members of the Godhead; party of the second part: man. And in the contract or the covenant, God the Father is propitiated by the work of God the Son. That means He is satisfied; man is reconciled. Man expresses his free will choice in a non-meritorious manner: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" .So we have a contract. And the messenger of the contract is Jesus Christ Who announced to His generation that He would go to the cross and die for the sins of the world and to declare the principle that the cross must come before the crown.}

{Response to question 'How can Israel Get out of Current Problems?'
  and also a Prophecy of the 2nd Coming of Christ}
{Verse 2 - Back to Chapter 1:17 Question: Where is the God of
 Judgement?}
2a~~"Who can 'endure {pressure} with happiness' {kuwl - Piel stem}
the day of His coming?" {2nd Advent of Jesus Christ in view}

{Note: To give us an example of the Hebrew stems and their effect on meanings: Kuwl
  Qal stem - to endure
  Niphal stem - object of endurance - someone loves you
  Hithpael stem - reflexive - you endure yourself - good opinion of
  yourself
  Piel stem - intensive - to be in a difficult situation and enjoy it.}

2b~~"Who 'will be able 'to stand up under judgment'/'be acquitted'
when He is seen {this will be a time of judgment}?"

{How Jesus will Appear and the Prophecy of 'Baptism of Fire'}
2c~~"For He is like a refiner's fire
  {separate impurities/unbelievers from gold/believers},
and like fullers' 'lye soap'
  {the 'dry-cleaner' of the day - the 'dirt'/unbelievers will be
  removed}."

{Note: Here in 420 BC we have the Jews about to go out under the fifth cycle of discipline so the Malachi says, "Focus your attention now on the 2nd Advent - the Millennium." Jesus Christ is going to return and when He returns there are certain things He will do. He will set up perfect environment, and in doing so will release the divine institutions from their shackles, from such things as socialism. He is going to take the concept of free enterprise and economy and free it from the controls of sincere but misguided government and government agencies. He is going to take these things and release them so that a perfect prosperity can exist. And if that is going to be the situation when Israel reaches its peak, even in the devil's world right now, in 420 BC, we could have these things. In that day they will have them by the personal reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. We can have them now through Bible doctrine. See also Revelation 6:17.}

3a~~"And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

3b~~"And He shall purify the sons of Levi
  {spiritual leaders in 420BC},
and purge/refine them as gold and silver . . .
  {removal of non-descendents of Aaron and unbelievers
  from the ranks of Levitical priests}
for the purpose that they
  {remaining true and qualified Levitical Priests}
may offer unto Jehovah/God
an offering in righteousness {ts@daqah}."

{Note: Fine metals are heated and the slag rises to the top and is scooped away leaving only the pure metal. This is another analogy that only believers will go into the Millennium with Christ.}

{Note: Why does he mention the sons of Levi? Because in 420 BC the sons of Levi were the priests and theoretically the spiritual leaders. The unbelievers are about to be removed by judgement and the believers will go on to the prosperity of the nation. This will occur not only in Malachi's day, but RBT says this will occur at the 2nd Advent. At the 2nd Advent the tribe of Levi will be well represented among the survivors at the end of the Tribulation. The believers of the tribe of Levi will go into the Millennium and will act as priests in Israel. The unbelievers of Levi will be cast off and identified with fire. Attitude toward Christ makes the difference.}

{Stability Returns with the Purge of the Unbelievers}
4~~"Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
be acceptable/pleasant unto Jehovah/God,
as in the days of old,
and as in former years."

{Note: This means that believers in the nation are blessed and because of the number of believers in the national entity, the nation is stabilized and God blesses the nation also. The believers become double blessed! Personal and national blessings.}

{The Cleansing of Israel of Unbelievers - Sins Incompatible With Perfect Environment in the Millennium are Given as Examples of Classes of Sins}
5a~~"And I will come near to you to judgment."
  {Baptism of Fire at the 2nd Advent}

5b~~"And I will be a swift witness against:
  {list of traits of unbelievers follows - all sins are incompatible with
  the perfect environment of the 2nd Advent - thousands more sins
  could be mentioned}
the sorcerers {kashaph - to intensively mutter magic formulas}
  {represents class of idolatry and demon possession of unbelievers},
and against the adulterers
  {represents class of immorality of unbelievers - attacks on divine
  institutions attack on #2 (the family) as an example},
and against false witnesses/swearers {in courts of law}
  {represents class of attack on laws of unbelievers - attacks on
  divine institutions attack on #4 (the common laws of a nation) as
  an example},

5c~~"And against those that oppress:
{who oppress} the hireling in his wages,
  {represents class of unbelievers who attack divine institutions -
  attack on fair dealing in business as an example},
{who oppress} the widow
  {represents class of attack on divine institution of caring for
  widows by unbelievers},
{who oppress} and the fatherless
  {represents class of attack on divine institution of caring for
  orphans by unbelievers}."

5d~~"And those who were caused to turn away from 'the stranger'
  {represents class of unbelievers who ignore God's commandment to
  evangelist - means negative to the gospel message}."

5e~~"And {those who} revere/love/respect not Me
  {no 'Occupation with Christ'; no desire to get to know the Lord
  no interest in His Word - all reflect the negative volition of
  unbelievers},"
said the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts.

{The Real Sons of Jacob - Believers - Survive the 'Baptism of Fire'}
6a~~"For I . . . {am} Jehovah/God,
I change not."

6b~~"Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed."

7a~~"Even from the days of your fathers
  {referring to when the Jews were positive to God and His Word}
you have turned away from My ordinances
  {do not study and metabolize in their souls knowledge of the
  Word},
and have not guarded them
  {application of God's Word in your soul to experience}."

{Note: RBT says the Law was broken into three parts - Codex I, II and III. Codex I contained the morality code for believers and unbelievers alike - the Ten Commandments. Codex II was the ordinances of God and was the spiritual doctrine and theology. Codex III was the code of how to live again for believers and unbelievers. Here is Codex II in view from which the believers have turned away.}

7b~~"Return {double meaning - 'come to salvation' for unbelievers
  and rebound into fellowship for believers}
unto Me {God},
and I will return unto you,"
said the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts.

7c~~"But you keep on saying,
"How can we manifest our return?"
  {meaning how can they show this - they want illustrations}

{Note: "The days of your fathers" is a reference to the Jews who have returned under Zechariah, Joshua the high priest, and Zerubbabel the political leader. That took place in 516 BC. From then until about 420 BC everything went fine . . . but apostasy set in.}

{Verses 8-10 Answer to Question - How to manifest Repenting? Verse 8 Principal}
8a~~"Will a man defraud/rob {qaba`} God?"

{Note: There are different types of words for stealing. This is the white collar guy who all of a sudden gets you to contribute to charity and then takes the money and runs. He is not a life long criminal.}

8b~~"Yet you have constantly defrauded/robbed Me."

8c~~But you say,
'How have we robbed/defrauded You?'

8d~~"In tithes {income taxes}
and offerings {gifts based on grace giving}."

{Note: The people generally have not paid their income tax, an indication of internal problems. And, believers are not making their offerings because they have rejected Bible doctrine.} 	

{Indictment}
9~~"Being cursed,
you are constantly being cursed
with a execration {to the maximum} . . .
for you are defrauding Me . . .
even this entire nation."

{Note: The entire nation was in reversionism and defrauded God.}

{Illustration and Solution}
10a~~ "Be caused/motivated to bring the entire tithes {taxes}
into the house of the treasury
  {national treasure located near temple but not spiritual giving},
for the purpose that there may be food/provisions in My house
  {the Levitical priests at this time were so disrespected for not
  teaching doctrine that there were very little tithes and offerings
  so they were starving or working elsewhere instead of studying
  and teaching},
and 'test My quality'
  {assayer's term - here test the Character of God and see how Pure
  it is}
now in this thing. "
said the Jehovah/God of the Army/hosts.

10b~~"See if I will not open to you
the windows {flood gates} of heaven,
and pour out to you a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

{Note: Principal all giving must be from pure motivation. Give as you are blessed by God, not some predetermined amount - that is legalism and not acceptable to God. You give freely by GRACE . . . and see what Grace with which God rewards your faithfulness.}

Continued

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