1Samuel 28:3
Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

THE DAY OF HIS COMING
MALACHAI 2:17; 3:1-5

You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”    3. ¹ Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. ² “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. ³ And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lordofferings in righteousness. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years.⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages,  the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.

Vs. 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?” These Jews should have it fresh in their memory, their fathers had undergone 70 years of captivity for not being obedient to the Lord, now are graciously warned that they have wearied the Lord with words. But they have their own opinion, yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” The people were questioning God’ justice. They claimed that God was blessing the wicked that they felt should undergo punishment for their sins, while blessings were being withheld from them that they felt were deserved. That is the basis for the people’s erroneous theology, their spiritual apathy and sinful ways. When you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them, “or, “Where is the God of justice?” The “people’s thoughts approved of their own sinful behavior because God was not dealing with the sins of others. They reasoned,” If God is blessing the wicked, then why bother serving the Lord?” “Or what profit is it to serve God when unrighteousness goes unanswered?”

Ch. 3 vs. 1 Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. First, this prophecy, Behold, I am going to send My messenger which was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah (And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come) Matthew 11:14. John the Baptist denied that he was the re-incarnation of Elijah, or the promised Prophet (Deuteronomy 17:15-18) who was identical with the Christ. John was not literally Elijah, but was the fulfillment of the prophecy, he came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Second, John is preparing the way before Messiah He will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. Almost immediately after the appearing of John the Baptist, the Lord Messiah, whom you seek or the Messenger (or Angel) of the Covenant, that Blessed One that was sent from heaven to negotiate a peace and settle a means of communication between God and man. Christ came to His Temple and cleansed it at the very beginning of His earthly ministry and again at the end of His earthly ministry. Notice—it was His Temple.

Vs. 2 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. The people had been complaining that God had been unjust in withholding what they considered their proper measure of material blessings. As we have seen they accused God of favoring evildoers, where is the God of justice? God asks, who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears? Notice, He is like a refiner’s fire. Messiah will be like a refiner of silver; the silver ore is placed in a crucible and heated until it becomes molten metal. The dross must be removed, and more ore added, until the refiner can see his face plainly in the silver, like a mirror. Then the silver is ready for use. The fullers’ soap is thought to be an herb which fullers use to take out spots, it signifies something by which filth is washed away, it is a long and arduous task. So, there is the heat of the refiner’s fire and the hard work of the fullers cleansing. It is well asked who can endure the day of His coming? It appears the question may be who is going to be able to stand in that day of His coming?

Vs. 3 And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lordofferings in righteousness. The priests have been soundly warned, first they are going to suffer with the refuse of their offerings smeared upon their faces. Now the Lord speaks of purifying silver by the smeltering process, For Thou hast tried us, O. God; Thou hast refined us as silver is refined (Psalm 66:10) Old Testament Scriptures make reference to the Lord testing His own as with fire and refining process. Of course, there was the bleaching of the fuller’s process, attempting to remove the filth contacted here on earth. When Messiah came, the religious hypocrites of the day could not stand His preaching and doctrine. They were the fault finders, and these Pharisees and scribes kept asking Jesus why His disciples did not order their way of living according to the tradition handed down by our forefathers to be observed?  But He commented, in vain—fruitlessly and without profit—do they worship Me, ordering and teaching to be obeyed as doctrines the commandments and precepts of men. You disregard and give up and bid depart from you the commandment of God, and cling to the tradition of men—keeping it carefully and faithfully; you have a way of rejecting and nullifying and doing away with the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition—your human regulations. The Lord sought these priests to go through a purifying process so that they may present to the Lordofferings in righteousness, for these priests this is pure underserved grace.

Vs. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years. The lord is looking back on the earlier days, the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord   for those offerings were sweet, grateful and pleasing to the Lord as all spiritual sacrifices are pleasing to the Father through the Son. Notice it was back when Moses had set up the tabernacle of congregation followed by the first temple being completed and as in the days of old Israel was a beloved son for a season.

Vs. 5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.  Christ, According to Dr. John Gill, this will manifestly appear to be the God of judgment they asked for in chapter 2:17; this is not to be understood of Christ’s coming to judgment at the last day, but of His coming to judge and punish the wicked Jews at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction by the Roman Army. In between the coming to His people in the Person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, an immediate judgment on sin did not occur. It was after the crucifixion of Christ that God’s own gracious work of redemption was being made known. The Holy Spirit would come to seek and save the lost, Pentecost saw thousands saved, healing, took place on His elect people and the church was established, judgment would come later.  The Lord Jesus taught this when he eventually came—four hundred years after the age of Malachi. Jesus had returned to Nazareth after His baptism by John and His temptation by Satan, to begin His ministry, and He went into the synagogue of Nazareth on the Sabbath. He was asked to take part in the service and was given the scroll of Isaiah from which He was to read the days lesson. He unrolled it, found the sixty-first chapter and read: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recover of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’ And He rolled back the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luke: 4:17-21). Jesus announced this remarkable prophecy had been fulfilled in Himself. He was the one who had come to do these things, as God had promised. But the most remarkable thing about Jesus handling of this passage is what He did not read. In Isaiah 61, you will find that the very next line of the prophecy, indeed the completion of the sentence with which Jesus stopped, says: And the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:2). Vengeance, or judgment is part of Isaiah’s great prophecy. One day it will come. But it did not come with Jesus first appearing. Indeed, by His very citation of this prophecy he indicated that a day of grace would precede the final judgment. We are in that day of grace now, and we should be thankful that it is so. Today is a day for repentance and salvation. Oh, use this day of grace before the final judgment comes. (The material given in Vs. 5 regarding the day of grace was taken in part from James Montgomery Boice’s Book of the Minor Prophets.)

Catechism Question 51
Q: What is required in the first commandment?
A:  The first commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God , and our God, and to worship and glorify Him accordingly.

1 Chronicles 28:9
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.