See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight – indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?  For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.  Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.  Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.  For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.  Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”  

Malachi 3:1-7

Through Christ Jesus, God cleanses and purifies His people, enabling them to enjoy communion with Him.  He also promises that He judges, particularly, He judges against people who do not fear Him.  Considering these truths, He urges His people to return to Him and He calls His people to be out in the world declaring the good news of Christ Jesus, proclaiming the One who saves from darkness and bathes people in His light.  He urges His people to act with diligence and not delay based on comfort we might feel from the age of grace, mercy and patience we have enjoyed.  

We might read Malachi 3:1, consider its similarity with Isaiah 40:3 foretelling a voice in the wilderness paving the way for God, see a prophecy fulfilled by John the Baptist, and dismiss the remainder of the prophecy.  God sends His messenger to prepare the way before Him, and John the Baptist prepared the way for the introduction of Christ Jesus, but the prophecy continues asking who can endure our Lord’s appearance and explaining that He will purify His priests. During His first earthly ministry, everyone endured His coming except Jesus Himself, and while He rebuked religious leaders, grieved the crowd’s inability to see, offered the path to purification, and healed and cleansed many, He did not actively purify the priests or the priesthood.  In fact, religious leaders were responsible for His death.

With this in mind, does the prophecy refer to His second coming, the Parousia described in Revelation 19 when Jesus Christ the warrior returns striking down nations? Jesus our Lord will return and when He does, who will be able to stand and endure that day?  If so, who is preparing the way?  

Or does it refer to the era of grace, mercy and patience we currently enjoy?  The Holy Spirit blows like the wind, going where He chooses, lighting on hearts of His choosing, and who can stand when He appears?  Even the mightiest souls crumble in His presence, and He refines, purifies, makes holy, sanctifies those who receive Him.

The Lord purifies, cleans and makes people righteous, like a professional laundry service cleaning with high-powered soap and chemicals to render garments as white as possible.  Malachi refers to “fullers’ soap.”  According to HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, fullers were fabric experts who dyed, cleaned and worked with fabric.  Their cleaning process involved soaking fabric and clothing in a mixture of water, soap and lye, stomping on them with their feet, rinsing and then spreading them to dry and be bleached by the sun. 

The Lord purifies like a processor of metal ore delivering the purest metal possible.  I recall meeting with my brother-in-law at his workplace at the time.  The company handled powdered titanium at various levels of purity, and its warehouse shelves were stacked with large, clear plastic bags filled with white powder and labeled indicating purity.  99% titanium is pure, but not nearly as pure as 99.9%, and each incremental 9 represents an exponential increase in value because achieving the next level of purity requires considerable focus, time, energy and capital.

Through Malachi, God says He will purify “the descendants of Levi,” His priests, so that their offerings will be pleasing to the Lord, and at that time, He will “draw near to you for judgment” (Malachi 3:3 & 5).  He will purify His priests and then enact judgment.

Who are His priests?  In the time of Moses, God named Aaron, his descendants, and the tribe of Levi as priests (see Numbers 3:5-13).  His holy word also calls those who believe in and follow Christ Jesus a holy and royal priesthood, and He urges followers to allow themselves to be made holy and transformed into a spiritual house.  Peter urges believers dispersed across Asia Minor, writing,

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the very head of the corner,”

and

“A stone that makes them stumble,
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  1 Peter 2:4-9

He urges followers of Christ to allow themselves to be transformed into a holy priesthood offering acceptable sacrifices to God through Christ Jesus (1 Peter 2:5-6), and then he proclaims, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,[c]in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).  The body of believers is a royal priesthood and in the process of being made holy through Him because sanctification is a process requiring the rest of our lives.

Perhaps Malachi foresaw the current era of God’s grace, mercy and patience, this time when the Holy Spirit lights on, in and through individual souls, transforming us through Christ Jesus into a holy priesthood, so that our offerings are acceptable to God and we each proclaim the One who calls us out of darkness and into His “marvelous light.”  Or perhaps He saw the time coming when the descendants of Levi join the holy and royal priesthood through Christ Jesus, and the offering of Judah and Jerusalem are once again pleasing to the Lord.  Or maybe it’s both.

The prophecy continues proclaiming an era of judgment on people who do not fear God.  God says, “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against … those who … do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:5).  We live in a time and place characterized by self-worship, where people fail to even consider God, much less fear Him, and God’s holy word proclaims that His judgment will happen after the purification of the priests.  We do not know what time that is, but we are called to proclaim the good news of Christ Jesus.  We are called to tell everyone about how He pulled us out of darkness and into His “marvelous light.”  We are called to serve as His servants fulfilling His great mission here on earth.  We are called to act while we are able, while there is still time.

God urges His people to return to Him and He uses His holy priesthood to serve as leaders.  You are a royal priesthood.  May you allow Christ Jesus to transform you into His holy priesthood, sanctifying you day by day as you continue seeking Him, growing in Him and serving Him.  Amen.