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| 1 Behold me! sending my messenger, who will prepare a way before me,–and, suddenly, shall come to his temple The Lord whom ye are seeking, even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye are delighting, Lo! he cometh! saith Yahweh of hosts. |
Messenger of the covenant – Christ - at His second advent.
Notice how well this description fits with Revelation 10:1. |
| 2 But who may endure the day of his coming? And who is he that can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' alkali; |
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| 3 Therefore will he sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and will purify the sons of Levi, and will smelt them, as gold and as silver; so shall they belong to Yahweh, offering a gift in righteousness. |
Purifier of silver – He will purify the Truth (silver) and will use this purified Truth to cleanse the Sons of Levi.
The sons of Levi – The spirit begotten.
As gold and silver – As Little Flock (gold) and Great Company (silver). |
| 4 Then shall the gift of Judah and Jerusalem, be pleasant to Yahweh,–as in the days of age-past times, and as in the ancient years. |
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| 5 Therefore will I draw near unto you for judgment, and will become a swift witness against the mutterers of incantations, and against the adulterers, and against them that swear to a falsehood,–and against them who rob the hire of the hireling, the widow and the fatherless, and that drive away the sojourner, and do not revere me, saith Yahweh of hosts. |
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| 6 Because, I, Yahweh, have not changed, therefore, ye, the sons of Jacob, have not been utterly consumed. |
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| 7 From the days of your fathers, have ye departed from my statutes, and not observed them, Return ye unto me, that I may return unto you, saith Yahweh of hosts. And yet ye say, Wherein shall we return? |
Days of your fathers – While this applied to natural Israel, we clearly see this also applies to nominal spiritual Israel. Your fathers would refer to the early church leaders.
Ye are gone away from mine ordinances – These 'fathers' began to bring in false doctrines which lead away from the truth and true consecration.
Wherein shall we return – So complete was this move away from the truth that the nominal church members had no idea how to return to the Truth of God's word. |
| 8 Will, a son of earth, defraud, God? Nevertheless, ye, have been defrauding me, and yet ye say, Wherein have we defrauded thee? In the tithe and the offering. |
Will a man rob God – The worldly minded nominal church says How is such a thing even possible? "Wherein have we robbed thee?"
In tithes and offerings – The tithe was not only a command from God, but it represented the hearts desire to fully serve Him. In other words: it represents full and complete consecration to do His will.
Consider the first two places where the tithe (tenth) is mentioned in Genesis. The first is where Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek and received a blessing from him. Gen. 14:18-20. Remember the argument made by the Apostle Paul in Heb. 7:15-17 concerning the importance of the Melchisedec priesthood, a kingly priesthood.
The second is what is generally spoken of as the dream of "Jacob's ladder" Gen. 28:10-22. In this dream God affirms his promise to Jacob "in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." The stone he had used as a pillow he then anointed with oil. It is there he promises that he will give the tenth (tithe) to the LORD. It is worth paying attention to the fact that there was no command from God that he do this. It was entirely voluntary, just like our consecration to serve Him! |
| 9 With a curse, have ye been cursing, and yet, me, have ye been defrauding,–the whole nation. |
Ye are cursed with a curse – Their time of trouble. Jerusalem fell (69-70 A.D.) and eventually in 135 A.D. the Romans made it illegal for Jews to own land in the land of promise. Not only that but they renamed the land after the name of Israel's traditional enemy, the Philistines, calling it Palestine.
Ye have robbed me – Natural Israel said "all that the LORD hath said will we do and be obedient." (Exo. 24:3,7) Because they continued over long years to disobey God they eventually received the curse.
This whole nation – First to the nation of Israel. Eventually to its antitype, nominal Spiritual Israel. The nominal church continued to bring in worldly teachings and practices throughout its long history until they finally were hit with the great time of trouble (the curse) in 1914 A.D. |
| 10 Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, Yea, I pray you, put me to the proof hereby, saith Yahweh of hosts, whether I will not open to you the sluices of the heavens, and pour out for you blessing, until there be no room. |
All the tithes – Complete consecration to God. The tithe being a symbol for consecration. Here was a special invitation to the nominal house to fulfill their covenant. Of course it was only a few individuals, the saints, who took advantage of their privileges.
Prove me – We are to prove the Lord because this is what He wants us to do. Not in the sense of doubting Him but in the sense of validating that all of His promises are as sure as the universe itself for when The Almighty is put to the test, He NEVER fails to deliver on His word!
Open the windows of heaven – This is exactly what happened at our Lord's baptism when He received the holy spirit! (Matt. 3:16)
Pour you out a blessing – The blessing of the Holy Spirit. |
| 11 Then will I rebuke, for you, the devourer that he spoil not, for you, the fruit of the ground,–neither shall the vine in the field, be barren to you, saith Yahweh of hosts. |
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| 12 So shall all the nations, pronounce you happy,–for, ye, shall become, a land of delight, saith Yahweh of hosts. |
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| 13 Stout against me, have been your words, saith Yahweh,–and yet ye say, What have we spoken, one to another, against thee? |
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| 14 Ye have said, Vain is it to serve God,–and, What profit when we have kept his charge, or when we have walked gloomily before Yahweh of hosts? |
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| 15 Now, therefore, we are pronouncing happy–the proud,–and, the doers of lawlessness have, even been built up, and, they who have put God to the proof, have even been delivered.
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| 16 Then, they who revered Yahweh, conversed, one with another,–and Yahweh hearkened, and heard, and there was written a book of remembrance before him, for them who revered Yahweh, and for such as thought of his Name. |
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| 17 Therefore shall they be mine, saith Yahweh of hosts, in the day for which, I, am preparing treasure,–and I will deal tenderly with them, just as a man, dealeth tenderly, with his own son who is serving him. |
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| 18 So shall ye return, and see the difference, between the righteous and the lawless,–between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not. |
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