have walked mournfully before the Lords of hosts." Thou promisest great gain, if we do this. We have done it, and what have we gained? The same question still retains its force, "where is the God of righteousness?"

The

The prophet then proceeds, after quoting these replies, which testify of the deepest blindness, to notice first of all the conduct of those who truly fear God, and under the form of a historical statement to warn them against taking part in expressions, which are dictated by feelings entirely opposed to their own. truly pious, hearing the words of those who have the form of godliness, but deny its power, express to one another their abhorrence of their conduct. The Lord will bless them abundantly, when his judgments, which are about to break forth, shall fall upon the ungodly. The prophecy closes with an exhortation to adhere steadfastly to the law of God; with a promise that God will send Elias the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, to revive the spirit of the law in the midst of the nation; and with a threat that he will smite the land with the curse, if it does not hearken to the voice of the messenger of God.

We will now proceed to an exposition of the two sections, chap. ii. 17-iii. 6 and chap. iii. 13—24.

CHAP. 11. 17-III. 6.

PRELIMINARY EXPOSITION OF ISAIAH XL. 3-5.

Before proceeding to the interpretation of this section in Malachi, and especially of chap. iii. 1, we must enter into a fuller explanation of Is. xl. 3-5, which we merely touched upon in a very cursory manner before. The answer, which Malachi gives to those who have ventured to impugn the justice of God, rests upon this passage. And it is of the greater importance that we should examine it here, since the New Testament citations emphatically show that it is closely connected with the subject of the present section.

"A voice crying: in the desert: prepare ye the way of the Lord! level in the desert a road for our God. Let every valley exalt itself, and every mountain and hill sink down, and the sleep become a plain and the rugged a valley. And the glory of the Lord is revealed, and all flesh seeth together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken."

Vers. 3 and 4 form an introduction to the coming of the Lord; ver. 5 describes the coming itself.

בערבה

Are we to connect (in the desert) with the preceding words, as the translators of the Septuagint and the Evangelists after them have done (φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· ἑτοιμάσατε Tǹv ódòv kupiov), or with the next clause, as modern commentators for the most part suppose? The decision of this question is of no great importance so far as the subject itself is concerned. For even if we connect the word with the following clause, the voice must be understood as sounding in the place in which the command itself was to be carried out. There are difficulties connected with both explanations. The parallel term favours the connection with the words which follow, whilst the situation of 7 at the commencement, before the verb, favours the connection with the previous clause. It is in any case a very unusual thing for a subordinate idea to be placed first, in such a way as this. But here there is the less room to suppose that it is merely accidental, since is placed after the verb. If corresponded exactly to many, the order of the words would evidently be faulty. The arguments adduced in support of both connections retain their force, if we place in a kind of independent position, between the two clauses, as Vitringa, Rückert, and Stier have done, so that it shall belong equally to both "a voice crying: in the desert: prepare,” &c., equivalent to, "a voice crieth in the desert, prepare in the desert," &c. Again ipp is not an independent sentence, but must be explained as a fragmentary expression arising from strong emotion, as the translators of the Septuagint perceived. We must supply in thought some such expression as this, "hark! what do I hear ?"

To whom does the voice crying in the desert belong, and to whom is it directed? Modern commentators, for the most part,

maintain that the speaker is God, and that the persons addressed are the prophets. The words, "the way of Jehovah," instead of "my way," naturally excite suspicion; at the same time the

in ver.2 might be adduced on the other side, though the change to the third person is not so harsh in this instance, on account of y preceding. The question is decided, however, by, our God. This shows that the voice, which calls, must proceed from the covenant-nation itself. Gesenius refers to ver. 6, as a proof that the voice must be the voice of God. But even there this explanation is inadmissible; as we may see from ver. 8, "the word of our God endureth for ever," (compare also in ver. 7). For, if God were introduced as the speaker in vers. 3-8, how could we account for the fact, that He is invariably referred to in the third person? The only explanation that remains, therefore, is that, in ver. 6, one servant of God addresses another, according to the dramatic character of the whole representation.

רוּחַ יְהוָה

אמר

The voice, then, must issue from the covenant-nation. The question arises here, whether the person crying can be more precisely determined. Gesenius and others reply, both here and in other places, that it cannot be any one but the prophets. It is to them, they say, that the appeal is made in ver. 1; we cannot think of any but a prophet, who has received the directions from God, in connection with in ver. 6; and, lastly, Zion and Jerusalem, the bringers of good tidings in ver. 9, must be altered into bringers of good tidings to Zion and Jerusalem, and these again must be the prophets. But the false materialism, which is apparent in this explanation, stands out even more prominently in chap. lii. 7, 8, where and the messengers who bring good tidings, and the watchmen who stand upon the walls, and witness their arrival with joy, are both said to be prophets. If this method of interpretation be adopted, what are we to do with the expression in ver. 9, "break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem." But the confession reaches its highest point in chap. lxii. 6, "I have set a watchman upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night," on which this comment is made, "the prophet who had made intercession

himself according to ver. 1, has placed other watchmen upon the ruins of Jerusalem, who are to importune Jehovah with unceasing supplications on behalf of the city."

In ver. 1 it is the whole company of the servants and heralds of God, to which the divine command is issued, and it is they who here begin to carry out the instructions. As a matter of fact, the prophets occupy a very important position in this company. But this is not the point which the prophet at present has in view. In vers. 1, 3, and 6, just as in ver. 9, it is with an ideal person, the messenger of the Lord (Mal. iii. 1), that he has to do, and the real individuals take part in his utterances, only so far as the idea is realised in them.

When the question is once determined to whom the voice crying in the desert belongs; we can no longer have any doubt as to the persons who are addressed. Members of the covenantnation, furnished by God with the gifts of his Spirit, appointed as his heralds, address the covenant-nation itself. This is evident from the use of the expression, "our God," in a connection in which allusion is made to the God of Israel.

Having determined so much, we can no longer feel any perplexity as to what we are to understand by preparing the way. The expression itself is a very common one. It denotes the removal of everything that can hinder the manifestation of the Lord. But it is more precisely defined by the fact that the nation itself is summoned to prepare a way. All the outward preparations for the entrance of salvation belong to the Lord himself; the people can only remove the inward obstacles out of the way by obtaining help of the Lord, and turning to him with true repentance. It is this alone, and not something external, to which Malachi refers; and it was this which the Saviour himself, as well as John the Baptist and the Evangelist, discovered in the passage.

The people are

The meaning of the desert is obvious now. in a state of distress, both mental and bodily; and the latter of the two is to be regarded as merely the reflection of the former. This condition is figuratively represented as a desert, and the figure itself is borrowed from the circumstance, that at a former period the nation had been in precisely the same condition in a literal desert, not as a matter of accident, but by the appoint

ment of God, who selected the outward dwelling place as a true symbol of its real condition. The Lord is now about to bring deliverance, but in order that this may be effected, the people must first of all perform their part. The Lord cannot prepare a way through the desert, till such a way has been prepared by the nation itself, and it is this that he sends his servants to exhort it to do.

The connection between vers. 3-5 and vers. 1, 2, is also obvious now. In vers. 1 and 2 it is announced to the nation, that the Lord has resolved to have mercy upon it, and to bestow upon it the fulness of his salvation. This promise is accompanied with an exhortation to the nation, to remove everything out of the way that can obstruct the course of the coming salvation. John says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;" the prophet on the other hand, though with precisely the same meaning, says, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent therefore." Every exhortation to repent necessarily presupposes the grace of God; and from every promise of salvation there follows an exhortation to repent. For there is no purely outward deliverance for the covenant nation. There is a perfectly analogous passage, for example, in Jer. xxxi. 22. Apostate Israel is urged to return to her lawful husband, for he is now preparing an entirely new state of things, and is willing to receive her back, though he formerly put her away on account of her unfaithfulness.

Different opinions have been entertained as to the meaning of the closing words of ver. 5. In the Septuagint and the gospel of Luke they are separated from the previous clause, and an object is supplied to Nη: καὶ ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ το σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ. On the other hand, Gesenius and others explain it thus, "that the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken: namely, that it came from God, when the prophets predicted the deliverance from captivity." Vitringa and Stier understand the expression, “that the Lord speaketh," as intended to represent the coming of God in Christ as primarily "a speaking." The first is the correct view. "For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken" is a standing phrase with the prophet, who uses it to strengthen any previous announcement which appears incredible; "it will assuredly be fulfilled, for it does not