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DONALD e. POLASKI

The CollegeofWilliam& Mary

Williamsburg,Virginia

THIS PASSAGE CONTAINS THE MOST FAMILIAR MATERIALfrom Malachi, a book that seldom

gets attention in Christian worship. Malachi 3:1-4 is read at the Feast of the Presentation of

the Lord, not exactly a high attendance event in the church year. These verses also appear

on the Second Sunday of Advent in Year C, and are heard frequently in that season because

of their use in Handel'sMessiah.But in the First Baptist Church of Ozona-Palm Harbor,

where I grew up, Malachi meant one thing: tithing. Yet this passage covers a great deal of

ground: eschatological speculation, ethical admonition, specific instruction concerning

temple practice. What can we do with such varied messages? In myview,by attempting to

hold this passage together, we can learn something vital concerning the nature of God.

THE EXPECTATION: MALACHI 3 :1 -4

"TheLORDwhom you seek will suddenly come into his temple." This expectation

involves an audience, a crowd gathered for a performance. The audience both seeks the

Lord and delights in either the covenant or its messenger. But in the previous verse (2:17),

the audience has exhibited a strikingly different set ofvalues:

You havewearied theLORDwith yourwords.Yetyou say, "Howhave weweariedhim?"Bysaying,

"Allwho do evil are good in the sight oftheLORD,and he delights in them." Or by asking,"Where is the God of justice?"

Calling these people"cynics,"Paul Redditt(Haggai, Zechariah, and Mafochi,NCB

[Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995] 176) sees two different groups here. The group in 2:17

suffers under Malachia withering attack, while those in 3:1 are the pious community of a

later editor. I wonder whether this solution does justice to the final shape of the text.

Perhaps Malachi is sarcastically attacking the cynics' delight in the covenant, viewing their

pleas for justice as sure to receive a swift, ironic answer. Malachi may be kin to Oscar Wilde

here:"When the gods wish to punishus,they answer our prayers" ("An Ideal Husband," act ii).

I think however that the question of the presence of the God of justice is well-raised

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READING THE BIBLE TODAY Interpretation 417

This passage also mixes together blessing and curse. Malachi uses language characteris

tic of Second Isaiah, echoing its powerful benedictions and doxologies. God's sending a

messenger to prepare the way reflects the cry to "prepare a way" (Isa 40:3). The sudden

appearance of God's messenger is matched by the sudden fall of Babylon (Isa 47:11) andthe fulfillment ofthe"former things" (Isa 48:3). And the delight ofthepeople in the

covenant corresponds to God's delight in God's own teaching (Isa42:21;55:11).

But this text bends more toward judgment. JuliaO'Brien(PriestandLvite inMafochi,

SBLDS 121 [Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990] 73-75) finds in this passage a covenant lawsuit in

which the people stand accused by God. In this context of judgment, the covenant means

purification oftheLvites to ensure pure offerings. As David Petersen(Zechariah9-14 and

Malachi,OTL [Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995] 211) points out, this is not entire

lynegative:"The change is, however, not total, as the similes themselves suggest. Silver is

present in the ore, sometimes even visible, and is there as precious metal. The same fabric is

there, whether dirty or clean."Still,judgment forms the ground against which the highlights

of blessing are to be seen.

The focus here is on offerings for the temple. It is, perhaps, a disturbing end to the sec

tion.Weare drawn down from the heights oftheAdvent proclamation ofGod'simminent

rule into the abyss ofthestewardship campaign. The tuxedo-clad bass stands before the

choir and begins to recitewith harpsichord continuothe budget for the church's next

fiscal year. But, despite our protest, the purity oftheofferings is essential to the covenant.

This emphasis recurs in the final section of the passage.

THE ACCOUNTING: MALACHI 3:7b-12

Here the language thickens beyond the mention of offerings in v. 4. Thefirstsection

spoke the language of Second Isaiah; this section speaks with the voice of Leviticus. And the

text raises questions that can only be answered there, ifatall. In addition, we see here the

role that economics playspriests are securing their own existence in the face ofatroubled

economy. All ofthismay tempt us to throw up our hands and fall back on Matthew: "Woe

to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have

neglected the weightier matters ofthelaw: justice and mercy and faith" (23:23). To do so,

however, is to enter Malachi's argument on the "anti-God" side. And to do so places us

under a curse (v. 9).

Yet the curse here becomes quickly blurred by the prospect of blessing. Malachi cleverly

deploys the language of judgment within the context of blessing. It is from the windows ofheaven that blessings will flow (v. 10). But these same windows were instruments in the

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418 Interpretation OCTOBER 2000

ing (3:15), while Psalm 95 speaks of the Israelites putting God to the test at Massah and

Meribah, hardly occasions for blessing!

Although it may strike us as odd, it is only over tithing that God offers to be tested, not

any other act of piety. This testing, insisted upon by God, points to the complicated natureof obedience. Obedience to the covenant may seem straightforward: tithe because God tells

youto!Or obedience could simply be self-preservation writ large, as in a flyer I received

recently which claimed, based on Mai 3:10, that God would help me purchase a car, provid

ing a handy list of cars for which I could ask. If you give,you will receive, and the amount

of your blessing depends only on how much you ask for (would anyone ask for Geo with

Jaguars available?). What prevents a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" understanding

of our covenant with God? An answer is found at the center of this passage.

THE CENTER: MALACHI 3:5-7a

The middle section of this passage is easy to skip over. The focus of the first and last

sections on offerings is lacking. But here we find answers to the questions raised in the

other sections. In the face of the audience's delight in the covenant, yet disappointment

with God's justice, this section proclaims that covenant means an unstinting demand for

justice. God is, as promised, drawing near for judgment. This judgment will fall on those

who violate familiar precepts of life in covenant, such as are found in the Decalogue (adulterers,false witnesses) and in Deuteronomy (oppressors of the widow, orphan, and alien).

Those who do not wish to live in covenant with God fail to reverence God. The job of the

covenant community is to reverence God and thus to oppose such conduct. The communi

ty is to work for justice even as it may complain that the divine realm is not yet fully mani

fest. The imminence of God's reign does not mean that justice is a question for later.

Also in this section, God claims to be immutable: God does not change. Because of

this,God's relationship to Jacob is stable. Despite the community's constant violation of

God's statutes, God has remained faithful, allowing them to survive. It is in this context of

immutability that God raises the question of the community's return. The community will

return to God when it ceases robbing God in regard to tithes and offerings.

The discussion of tithing and its attendant blessings is set in the context of God's faith

ful devotion to an unfailing covenant. God's purposes are larger than temporary arrange

ments for mutual benefit; there is no quid pro quo involved. These temporary arrange

ments aim at securing our identities, our possessions, and our status in an unfixed world.

To understand the covenant with God as such is to miss the mark. God's unchanging purposes are not designed for the rapid, effortless production of automobiles or, more to the

i t f j ti Th l t t th f d li ht d t d t

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