Love messages are not always accompanied by beautiful words, and that’s what Malachi 3:6 demonstrates, a verse with a lot of love that will make you think about life in a very different way. Do you want to see it?
Malachi 3:6 of the King James Bible
“I, the Lord, do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob have not been exterminated.” (Malachi 3:6 NIV)
Although it may not seem like the most beautiful verse in the world, there is a lot we can learn from it and you will see how deep down inside its meaning is precious beyond the appearance that it may present at first glance.
Malachi 3:6 of the Bible opens our eyes to a reality, the love of the Lord; and gives us details about it that we could not understand with a simple beautiful message of love. But to see this, it is first necessary to know more about Malachi and the context in which he lived.
To warm up your engines, we leave you here the full chapter of complete chapter of Malachi 3 in a nice video, where you can get to know the verses surrounding the one we are going to study today and begin to understand its meaning.
The Word of God always enters better if you are in a disposition to listen to it, with an open heart and a rested mind. You’ll see how much better you’ll feel!
Explanation and Meaning of Malachi 3 6
After this extensive introduction to the contents of Malachi, you are probably beginning to understand the tone in which Malachi 3:6 is written.
At a time when God’s people had almost definitely turned away from Him, they could not express his love with words of praise with words of praise, for otherwise their behavior would even be rewarded.
In this verse we see something that defines the Lord very well: He is good and no matter how much mankind’s faith increases and decreases over time, His love for us is the same, infinite and unchanging. We can see a version of this verse in Hebrews 13:8 of the New Testament, further emphasizing this eternal constancy of God.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:9 NIV).
This is really the message that Malachi wants to convey in this verse, to which is added a little reminder that enters better into human minds. This is the fact that God, with his infinite power He could have destroyed us if he really wanted to.
These words, although written at that time for the Jews who returned from Babylon, also transcend to us, since we all sinned, and we all have sinned. We all sin in our lives and it is God’s grace that allows us to recognize our sins and come near again.
The only requirement is that one must have faith. With faith the Lord will always wait for us and thus we will return to the path of truth, love and goodness.
Malachi 3 in English and large print
Once you have listened to the text, now you can read it as many times as you need, because we leave below its version extracted from the Bible. Enjoy reading Malachi 3 in English!
1 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, and the angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he cometh, saith the LORD of hosts.
2 And who will be able to endure the time of his coming? Or who will be able to stand when he manifests himself? For he is like a cleansing fire, and like a washers’ soap.
3 And he shall sit to refine and cleanse the silver; for he shall cleanse the sons of Levi, he shall refine them like gold and like silver, and they shall bring an offering in righteousness unto the LORD.
4 And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be acceptable unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in the years of old.
5 And I will come to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and adulterers, and against them that swear lies, and against them that defraud the hired servant, the widow, and the fatherless, and them that do injustice to the stranger, having no fear of me, saith the LORD of hosts.
Payment of tithes
6 For I the LORD change not: therefore, ye sons of Jacob, ye are not consumed.
7 From the days of your fathers you have departed from my laws, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we turn?
8 Will man rob God? Well, you have robbed me. And ye said, Wherein have we robbed thee? In your tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, for you, the whole nation, have robbed me.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and let there be meat in mine house: and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 I will also rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruit of your ground, neither shall your vine in the field be barren, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a land to be desired, saith the LORD of hosts.
Difference between the righteous and the wicked
13 Your words against me have been violent, says the LORD. And ye said, What have we spoken against thee?
14 You have said: It is not enough to serve God. What profit is it if we keep his law, and walk in affliction before the LORD of hosts?
15 Now therefore we say: Blessed are the proud, and those who do wickedness are not only prospered, but they have tempted God and escaped.
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke each one to his companion; and the LORD listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the LORD, and for those who think on his name.
17 And they shall be a special treasure to me, saith the LORD of hosts, in the day that I shall act; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him.
18 Then you will turn and discern the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him.
Meaning and Malachi 3 commentary
Now, let’s go into understanding all that is necessary to bring to light the meaning of Malachi 3:6. meaning of Malachi 3:6 that we would like to discuss today. To do this, we will first analyze the character of Malachi, starting with his name.
Malachi comes from the original Hebrew and means, no more and no less than. “My messenger”. Therefore, Malachi is a messenger of God and his mission is to bring a message to the people of Israel at that time but also to all of us.
Unlike other prophets who actively participated in biblical history, Malachi is an intermediary between God and the people only through words, transmitting the important message that the Lord wants to deliver to them.
But why is this so? We will see it next.
Book of Malachi
Right at the end of all the Old Testament we find the Book of Malachi, which, although it serves as a closure for this great volume, also has much transcendence as we have been seeing, since it is a transition between the Old and the New Testament.
The main objective of the book is to expose the seemingly irresolvable confrontation between the Jewish people and God after the return from Babylon. It is, therefore, a rather sad book, where the following are revealed the frailties of humanity.
It also includes the prophecy that a savior will come to the world and the covenant between humanity and God will be renewed, thus putting an end to that era of betrayal and little faith that had settled in the population.
Malachi strives to make the goodness of God the goodness of God to a people who have strayed so far from him that they do not even think about coming closer to him again. And this is where we see the meaning of Malachi’s name: he can only deliver a message and not take action to change things, since nothing can be changed without the Messiah.
Below is a video that summarizes very well the content of the Book of Malachi You will see how it makes you want to read it and learn more about our religion and why Jesus had to come to the world.
Who was Malachi in the Bible?
Little is known of Malachi’s life beyond what is told in his book found in the Bible. He was a prophet, the last before the New Testament and since his book is rather short, he is placed in the group of minor prophets.
There are several theories about this prophet and his life, the most accepted of which is that he was a Levite. These were the ancient priests of Jerusalem, who saw to it that the law of Moses was kept and that the worship of the Lord was followed.
It is usually placed one hundred years after the Jewish captivity in Babylon, when the exiles were able to return to their homes and rebuild Jerusalem and its temple. It is not entirely known whether he lived with Ezra and Nehemiah, although it was probably later.
So, you must place this story around 450 B.C., in a historical context that we are going to tell you about right now.
Historical context of Malachi 3:6
Around the time Malachi lived, the great empires of the classical era were beginning to rise in Europe and the Middle East, one of the first to do so being the great Babylonian empire.
In its expansion, Babylon carried off the kingdom of Judah the kingdom of Judah the only remaining territory at that time following the Word of God that Moses had given to his people with the books of the Pentateuch.
This invasion drove many Jews into exile Jews into exile and Jerusalem and its temple of David’s time were destroyed. All this had been caused by the vanity of the Jewish people, for they had turned away from God and faith had departed from their hearts.
After years of captivity in Babylon The Assyrian empire of Cyrus the Great freed them and, although they lived under his reign, Jerusalem and its surroundings were able to enjoy a certain freedom and autonomy that allowed them to rebuild.
The most important leaders of this return were Ezra and Nehemiah The people, who were to restore the worship of God to a people who had been punished for their blindness. However, little changed and it is in Malachi that the Lord sends them a final message.
So, this is what the Book of Malachi is about; explaining to a millennial people that their behavior has no solution and that they can only wait for the arrival of a new Elijah, to renew their faith. Christians firmly believe that Malachi was speaking of John the Baptist, who arrived almost half a century later.
Now you have seen that Malachi 3:6 is not a verse of fear, but a verse of love that can make us learn a lot about how to face life. This is what the Bible is all about, giving us a different way of living, as close as possible to what God wants from life.
With this, we close today’s article and wish you the best for you and yours. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!