Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Malachi 3

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

my messenger

Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27.

he shall prepare the way before me

Christ (First Advent). Mat 1:1, 23. (Gen 3:15; Acts 1:9.)

the Lord, whom ye seek

The f.c. [fieri curavit "caused to be made"] of Malachi 3:1 is quoted of John the Baptist (Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27), but the second clause, "the Lord whom ye seek," etc., is nowhere quoted in the N.T. The reason is obvious: in everything save the fact of Christ's first advent, the latter clause awaits fulfilment (Hab 2:20). Malachi 3:2-5 speak of judgment, not of grace. Malachi, in common with other O.T. prophets, saw both advents of Messiah blended in one horizon, but did not see the separating interval described in Mat 13 consequent upon the rejection of the King (Mat 13:16, 17). Still less was the Church-age in his vision (Eph 3:3-6; Col 1:25-27). "My messenger" (Mal 3:1) is John the Baptist; the "messenger of the covenant" is Christ in both of His advents, but with especial reference to the events which are to follow His return.

Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:

the day of his coming

Mal 4:1.

who shall stand

Rev 6:17.

he is like a refiner's fire

Isa 4:4; Mat 3:10-12.

Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

as a refiner and purifier

Isa 1:25; Zec 13:9.

that they may offer

1Pe 2:5.

Mal 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

against false swearers

Zec 5:4; Jas 5:4, 12.

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

I change not

Num 23:19; Rom 11:29; Jas 1:17.

Mal 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Return unto me

Zec 1:3.

Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

tithes and offerings

Neh 13:10, 12.

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Bring ye all the tithes

Pro 3:9, 10; 1Ch 26:20; 2Ch 31:11; Neh 10:38; 13:12.

Mal 3:15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

tempt

Temptation. Mat 4:1, 3, 7. (Gen 3:1; Jas 1:2.)

Mal 3:16 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.

they

Remnant. Mal 3:16-18. Romans 9:25-29. (Isa 1:9; Rom 11:5).

feared

Scofield Psalm 19:9, note.

Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

righteous

Righteousness. Luk 1:6. (Gen 6:9; Luk 2:25.)

God

Deity (names of). Genesis 1:1.

Summary of the O.T. revelation of Deity: God is revealed in the O.T., as follows:

Class

English Form

Hebrew Equivalent

Class

English Form

Hebrew Equivalent

Primary

God
LORD
Lord

El, Elah, or Elohim (Scofield Gen 1:1, note)
Jehovah (Scofield Gen 2:4, note)
Adon or Adonai (Scofield Gen 15:2, note)

Class

English Form

Hebrew Equivalent

Compound (with El = God)

Almighty God
Most High, or
most high God
everlasting God

El Shaddai (Scofield Gen 17:1, note)
El Elyon (Scofield Gen 14:18, note)
El Olam (Scofield Gen 21:33, note)

Class

English Form

Hebrew Equivalent

Compound (with Jehovah = LORD)

LORD God
Lord GOD
LORD of hosts

Jehovah Elohim (Scofield Gen 2:4, note)
Adonai Jehovah (Scofield Gen 15:2, note)
Jehovah Sabaoth (Scofield 1Sa 1:3, note)

1. God is revealed through His names. The trinity is suggested by the three times repeated groups of threes. This is not an arbitrary arrangement, but inheres in the O.T. itself.
   This revelation of God by His name is invariably made in connection with some particular need of His people, and there can be no need of man to which these names do not answer as showing that man's true resource is in God. Even human failure and sin but evoke new and fuller revelations of the divine fulness.
2. The O.T. Scriptures reveal the existence of a Supreme Being, the Creator of the universe and of man, the Source of all life and of all intelligence, who is to be worshipped and served by men and angels. This Supreme Being is One, but, in some sense not fully revealed in the O.T., is a unity in plurality. This is shown by the plural name, Elohim, by the use of the plural pronoun in the interrelation of Deity as evidenced in Gen 1:26; 3:22; Psa 110:1; Isa 6:8. That this plurality is really a Trinity is intimated in the three primary names of Deity, and in the threefold ascription of the Seraphim in Isa 6:3 That the interrelation of Deity is that of Father and Son is directly asserted in Psa 2:7 (with Heb 1:5); and the Spirit is distinctly recognized in His personality, and to Him are ascribed all the divine attributes (e.g. Gen 1:2; Num 11:25; 24:2; Jdg 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 2Sa 23:2; Job 26:13; 33:4; Psa 106:33; 139:7; Isa 40:7; 59:19; 63:10. See Scofield Malachi 2:15, note).
3. The future incarnation is intimated in the theophanies, or appearances of God in human form (e.g. Gen 18:1, 13, 17-22; 32:24-30), and distinctly predicted in the promises connected with redemption (e.g. Gen 3:15) and with the Davidic Covenant (e.g. Isa 7:13, 14; 9:6, 7; Jer 23:5, 6).
4. The revelation of Deity in the N.T. so illuminates that of the O.T. that the latter is seen to be, from Genesis to Malachi, the foreshadowing of the coming incarnation of God in Jesus the Christ. In promise, covenant, type, and prophecy the O.T. points forward to Him.
5. The revelation of God to man is one of authority and redemption. He requires righteousness from man, but saves the unrighteous through sacrifice; and in His redemptive dealings with man all the divine persons and attributes are brought into manifestation. The O.T. reveals the justice of God equally with His mercy, but never in opposition to His mercy. The flood, e.g., was an unspeakable mercy to unborn generations. From Genesis to Malachi He is revealed as the seeking God who has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and who heaps up before the sinner every possible motive to persuade to faith and obedience.
6. In the experience of the O.T. men of faith their God inspires reverence but never slavish fear; and they exhaust the resources of language to express their love and adoration in view of His loving-kindness and tender mercy. This adoring love of His saints is the triumphant answer to those who pretend to find the O.T. revelation of God cruel and repellent. It is in harmony, not contrast, with the N.T. revelation of God in Christ.
7. Those passages which attribute to God bodily parts and human emotions (e.g. Exo 33:11, 20; Deu 29:20; 2Ch 16:9; Gen 6:6, 7; Jer 15:6) are metaphorical and mean that in the infinite being of God exists that which answers to these things—eyes, a hand, feet, etc.; and the jealousy and anger attributed to Him are the emotions of perfect Love in view of the havoc of sin.
8. In the O.T. revelation there is a true sense in which, wholly apart from sin or infirmity, God is like His creature man (Gen 1:27), and the supreme and perfect revelation of God, toward which the O.T. points, is a revelation in and through a perfect Man.