Malachi 3:16-17 Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD listened, and heard it… Malachi gives in this book of prophecy a fivefold picture of God; a four fold picture of the sins of the priesthood; and a sevenfold picture of the sins of the people. God describes Himself as the sovereign God, who sees no reason beyond Himself for the bestowment of any blessing which He chooses to give, God is described as a God who makes Himself known as a master and as a father, to those who see Him as a sovereign, as the electing God. God commissions the prophet to hold Him up as a prayer-answering God. He was the maker of an eternal covenant. He is the God who more than repays the services of His servants. The first great sin of the priests is the offering of polluted bread, etc. They give to Him what they would be ashamed to give to their temporal rulers. Then they were desirous to enrich themselves by the profanation of God's religion. They would not do anything in God's service for nought. They wearied in God's service. They were not only going astray themselves, but causing others to go astray. The sins of the people are idolatry; impurity; a self-justifying spirit. Various dreadful crimes. Asking what profit shall we have if we serve God. Resisting an appealing God. In the text we have God's people in the midst of this apostasy of priests and people, in the midst of this neglect of God, God's people are here described — I. BY THEIR PRINCIPLES. "They feared the Lord." The wicked, or unconverted, are kept from sin by fear of punishment. The master-principle in the breast of a righteous man is not a slavish fear, but the fear that arises from the knowledge of God, as a forgiving God — that arises from a consciousness that he has received incalculable blessings from God. It is connected with the consciousness that God has pardoned your sins, and has accepted you in the Beloved. II. BY THEIR EMPLOYMENT. 1. Their external employment. "They are speaking to one another." What about? About the moral troubles of their times. In the darkness of this world, Christians are to be known by their speaking to each other. 2. Their internal employment. They thought on the name of their God. The saints spoke of what they had been thinking, and brought it out as the centre of their union, as the nucleus around which they erected themselves. III. THEIR PRIVILEGES. God hearkened and heard those that thought and spoke of Him. He drew nigh; and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared Him. It was the Lamb's book of life, in which the saints were written from the foundation of the world. And I do not think it was their names that were written, but the evidences of their faith were written. The book which contains their names is written in eternity; and the book which contains the evidence of their faith was written in time. We all love to be thought of; it is a holy ambition to desire to be thought of by God. IV. THEIR HOPE. "They shall be Mine, when I make up My jewels." The great distinction shall be made in the day when Jesus Christ shall come — then those who knew Christ, who loved Christ, who kept watch for His appearance, shall be saved, as jewels are saved, in the day of danger. (N. Armstrong.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. |
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