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great among the heathen, points to manifestations of a glorious description on the part of God. The words, "in every place," form a contrast to the temple, mentioned in the previous verse. The wish, which is there expressed, that some one would shut the temple, seeing that it is no longer a house of God, contains at the same time a prophecy. The pure gifts of those, among whom the name of God is great, are contrasted with the impure gifts of the despisers of God, in which he will not accept (ver. 6), because he has no pleasure in the givers. What a wondrous insight into futurity, in the case of the prophet whose prophecies form the top-stone of the Old Testament! To any one who had correctly interpreted them, there could be nothing surprising in the words, "the kingdom of God is taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof." The only thing that could cause him surprise must have been the long-suffering of God, which suffered the barren tree to stand for so many years. This passage is necessary to complete the following threat of the judgment which is to fall upon Israel. It shows that the kingdom of God does not perish, when the Lord comes and smites the land with a curse (chap. iii. 24), but that this apparent death is the pathway to true life. We have here the Old Testament foundation of the words spoken by the Lord in John iv. 21 sqq., and Matt. viii. 11. In the latter of the two passages ("many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down," &c.), even the expressions point back to this passage.

Hitzig, Maurer, and Ewald have endeavoured to rob this section of its prophetic character, and maintain that it relates to circumstances which existed in the time of the prophet himself. But the simple fact that there were no such circumstances in existence in the prophet's days, is a sufficient proof that the present is merely ideal, and that he is actually treating of a future, which he anticipates by faith. At that time the name of the Lord was not great among the heathen "from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same" (a standing phrase for "over the whole earth"), and incense and a pure offering were not offered to his name "in every place." Moreover the intimate

1 Michaelis: "In omni loco, in Assyria et Aegypto, Ezra xix. 18 sqq., sicut olim in uno loco, Deut. xii. 5, 6."

connection between this prophecy and other Messianic announcements, (e.g., Zeph. ii. 11, " and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen;” Is. xi. 10, and Zech. ix. 10) is too obvious to be overlooked, and it is only by suppressing the exegetical evidence altogether, that the passage can be severed from this connection.-Reinke (die Weissagung Mal. i. 11 in the Beiträge zur Erklärung des A. T., vol. ii.) agrees with us in our Messianic interpretation, but understands the passage as referring to "the bloodless sacrifice of the New Testament, the holy sacrifice of the mass." He takes a false position, however, especially as he has given a spiritual interpretation to the incense connected with the pure offering. This he supposes to relate to prayer (p. 503); and at the same time he even observes," that Malachi could not refer to literal incense is evident from the fact, that the offering and burning of incense could only take place in the holy temple," a rule which was quite as applicable to the meat-offering. The use of the terms relating to sacrifice in a spiritual sense, is very common in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament; in fact it could not be otherwise, on account of the transparent character and symbolical meaning of the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Compare, for example, Ps. 1. 23, li. 19; Hosea xiv. 3; Is. lxvi. 20 (where the presentation of a spiritual meat-offering on the part of the heathen is especially mentioned, just as in the passage before us); Rom. xii. 1; Heb. xiii. 15; and 1 Pet. ii. 5. Incense and meat-offering, the intimate connexion of which is attested by Lev. ii. 15 (compare also Is. i. 13), are both employed in a spiritual sense to denote prayer1 and good works. In this connexion the emphasis is evidently laid, not upon the outward form, but upon the spirit of the sacrifice. The spiritless meat-offerings of the Jews, the Lord had just before declared that he would not accept. The outward sacrifice was intimately and inseparably connected with the national sanctuary under the Old Testament (vid. Lev. xvii. 3-9, and Deut. xii.); and therefore the expression, "in every place," coupled with the allusion to the closing of the temple in ver. 10, and with the threat of the ban in chap. iii. 24, lead to the conclusion that it is not to incense and meat-offering in the

1 On incense as a symbol of prayer see the remarks on this passage, and also the commentary on Rev. v. 8, and viii. 3, 4.

ordinary sense that the prophet here refers. The abolition of the Old Testament form of worship had been expressly announced even by the earlier prophets (compare Jer. iii. 16 and Dan. ix. 27). It is the more apparent that there can be no reference here to the "bloodless sacrifice of the New Testament," since the resemblance on which Reinke lays stress, namely, "that they are both composed of fine and pure wheaten flour with a mixture of wine," is a purely material one, and there is no essential connexion between the two. The meat-offering, the food to be offered to the Lord by his people, was a symbolical representation of good works (see the Dissertation on the Pentateuch, vol. ii. p. 530; and "The Lord's Day," p. 24 translation). But according to the doctrine of the Catholics, the "holy sacrifice of the mass" has a very different meaning.

At first sight

The third section embraces chap. ii. 10-16. it appears as if the prophet is reproving one particular crime, which has an immediate connexion with the corrupt state of mind to which all the rest is directed, namely, severity and unfaithfulness towards women. But the appearance vanishes on closer examination. The prophet traces this crime to its original cause, to the darkening of the religious consciousness, which must always take place, where the punishment of sin is inflicted, whilst the confession of sin is wanting; he who does not murmur against this sin will necessarily murmur against God (Lam. iii. 39). This is evident from ver. 10, which determines the genus to which the particular crime belongs. "Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why then is brother faithless towards brother, to profane the covenant of our fathers ?" The Israelites are children of God, spiritual brethren. Hence every violation of the duties arising out of their fraternal relationship, such as the unfaithfulness of which the men have been guilty towards their Israelitish wives, is at the same time a sin against God, and a profanation of his covenant. "He who loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how shall he love God whom he hath not seen." Whoever abolishes the distinction between an Israelitish and a heathen woman, shows by that very fact, that he must, first of all, have ceased to recognise the distinction between the God of Israel and the idols of the heathen. This is expressly declared

in the opening clause of the following verse, "Judah hath dealt treacherously." Unfaithfulness in connexion with their earthly marriage is represented here, as the symptom and consequence of unfaithfulness in connexion with their heavenly marriage. And the latter, viz., the profanation of the sanctuary of the Lord which he loveth, that is of his kingdom in Israel, is mentioned as the chief cause; injustice to their neighbour is described in ver. 13 as merely the second.

In the fourth section, chap. ii. 17-iii. 6, the fundamental disposition, against which the prophet is contending, is very conspicuous. They say, "Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment ?" From their own stand-point they are But the pro

quite right in their conclusions respecting God. phet tells them in his reply that their stand-point is a false one. God is and will continue to be the righteous One, and will show himself to be so; not, however, on those whom they regard as the sole objects of his righteous judgments, but on those who are so more than any others, namely on themselves, who in their infatuation and blindness are longing for the coming of God to judgment. He, first of all, sends his messenger, to warn them and lead them to repentance. And then, the divine angel of the covenant, whom they are eagerly looking for as the supposed destroyer of the heathen, suddenly appears to punish the transgressors of the covenant. His appearance is destructive to the wicked members of the Church of God, but to the Church itself it is a most salutary event, a fulfilment of the promises it has received from God.

In the fifth section (chap. iii. 7—12), the prophet charges the people with neglecting to bring the tithes and heave-offerings, a neglect which bears witness to their inward apostasy from God. He points out the folly of such conduct. Imagining that they are deceiving God, they are really deceiving themselves. The curse is already resting upon them; and yet they persist in the sin, of which it is the consequence. If they will only do their duty, the curse will soon be turned into a blessing.

This section is closely connected with the one which precedes it. What could be more adapted to put to shame those who

murmured impatiently against God, and maintained that the continued afflictions of the covenant-nation were a practical proof of the want of righteousness on His part, than the declaration. which forms the theme of this section, "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." The very thing which appears to them to be at variance with divine righteousness, affords a striking proof of its existence. We have here the second part of the reply to the question which provoked it, "where is the God of righteousness?" The first reply we find in the previous section, “he will quickly appear, but to your destruction;" the second we have here, "he is appearing already in your present circumstances." You are already acquainted with one side, namely, the judicial side of his righteousness; it depends entirely upon yourselves whether you shall also become acquainted with the other side.

This section is also closely connected with the sixth or last. The words of the murmurers against God, who are introduced as speaking in vers. 13-15, are so directly related, often verbally, to the prophet's own words in the foregoing section, that they can only be regarded as intended for a reply. "Prove me now herewith (namely, by a faithful performance of your duties towards me), saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out blessings in immeasurable abundance" (ver. 10). In ver. 15 the opponents reply, "they (the heathen) prove God, and are delivered." What need then is there of proving, in the manner to which thou invitest us? Even the proving of the heathen is sufficient. If he has not shown himself to be the God of righteousness, when this test is applied, what are we to expect from this fresh proof? In ver. 12 they are told, "all the heathen call you blessed, for ye will be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts ;" and the murmurers reply in ver. 15, “and now we call the wicked happy." It is the heathen who congratulate us, the faithful servants of God; but we, on the contrary, who congratulate those who have forgotten God. In ver. 7 the prophet says to them, "ye have gone away from mine ordinances, and have not observed them." In ver. 14 the murmurers answer, we have observed him, and

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