nce of Jehovah and their shrinking terror when He does come.
He is 'the Lord whom ye seek'; the Messenger of the covenant is He 'whom
ye delight in.' But all that superficial and partially insincere longing
will turn into dread and unwillingness to abide His scrutiny. The images
of the refiner's fire and the fullers' soap imply painful processes, of
which the intention is to burn out the dross and beat out the filth. It
sounds like a prolongation of Malachi's voice when John the Baptist
peals out his herald cry of one whose 'fan was in His hand,' and who
should plunge men into a fiery baptism, and consume with fire that
destroyed what would not submit to be cast into the fire that cleansed.
Nor should we forget that our Lord has said, 'For judgment am I come
into the world.' He came to 'purify'; but if men would not let Him do
what He came for, He could not but be their bane instead of their
blessing.

The stone is laid. If we build on it, it is a sure foundation; if we
stumble over it, we are broken. The double aspect and effect of the
gospel, which was meant only to have the single operation of blessing,
are clearly set forth in this prophecy, which first promises purging
from sin, so that not only the 'sons of Levi' shall offer in
righteousness, but that the 'offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be
pleasant,' and then passes immediately to foretell that God will come in
judgment and witness against evil-doers. Judgment is the shadow of
salvation, and constantly attends on it. Neither Malachi nor the Baptist
gives a complete view of Messiah's work, but still less do they give an
erroneous one; for the central portion of both prophecies is His
purifying energy which both liken to cleansing fire.

That real and inward cleansing is the great work of Christ. It was
wrought on as many of His contemporaries as believed on Him, and for
such as did not He was a swift Witness against them. Nor are we to
forget that the prophecy is not exhausted yet; for there remains another
'day of His coming' for judgment. The prophets did not see the
perspective of the future, and often bring together events widely
separated in time, just as, to a spectator on a mountain, distances
between points far away towards the horizon are not measurable. We have
to allow for foreshortening.

This blending of events historically widely apart is to be kept in view
in interpreting Malachi's prediction that the coming would result in
Judah's and Isr