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The Daily Word of Righteousness
I Will Come to You, #14
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. 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: 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. (Malachi 3:1-3)
Let us consider carefully the preceding passage: the Lord will come suddenly to His temple; His coming will judge and refine His people until they are able to worship the Lord in righteousness and holiness.
When will this coming of the Lord take place? How does the New Testament explain the vision of Malachi?
John the Baptist proclaimed:
. . . he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:11,12)
It is our opinion that Malachi 3:1-3 and Matthew 3:11,12 are speaking of the same event.
But when will this coming of the Lord take place? When will the Lord sit and purify silver? When will He "throughly purge His floor"?
Is the Lord interested in silver and gold? Is the Lord interested in wheat?
Yes, He is! But not the silver and wheat of the world.
Silver is used in the Scriptures to symbolize redemption. The redeemed saints are the Lord's "silver." But that silver must be purified in the trials and afflictions that come upon us in the world. There is much dross, much that is worthless, in the saints. We must be heated, and heated, and heated again before the work of God in us is pure enough to meet His standards.
Malachi refers to the period of purification as "the day of his coming."
Was the vision fulfilled during the Lord's three years of ministry on earth? We do not think so. He did not baptize His people with the Holy Spirit and with fire while He was on the earth.
Will the vision be fulfilled after the Lord returns from Heaven with the saints and holy angels? This is not reasonable. Would the Lord Jesus raise His people from the dead and after that burn up the chaff in their lives? Would we be raised and revealed in glory with Christ and then be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire?
Is Malachi 3:1-3 speaking of the coming of the Lord in visible glory, the time of the raising of the dead and the ascending of the saints to meet the Lord in the air?
From our point of view, Malachi 3:1-3 does not fit the description of the Lord's return given to us by the Apostles.
To be continued.