CHAPTER 3 Dec. 31 
Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, He comes! says Yahweh of Armies. 2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap; 3and He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. 5I will come near to you in judgment; and I will be an alert witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear Me, says Yahweh of Armies.
Will a Man Rob God? 
 6For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says Yahweh of Armies. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’. 8Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’. In tithes and offerings. 9You are cursed with the curse; for you rob Me, even this whole nation. 10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says Yahweh of Armies, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for. 11I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field, says Yahweh of Armies. 12All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says Yahweh of Armies.  13Your words have been stout against Me, says Yahweh. Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’. 14You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed His instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies? 15Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they put God to the test and escape’. 16Then those who feared Yahweh spoke frequently one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before Him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honoured His name. 17They shall be Mine, says Yahweh of Armies, My very own possession in the day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve Him.

Commentary

3:6 God does change, as witnessed by men like Moses changing His stated intentions through prayer and intercession. What is unchangeable about Him is His grace to His sinful people.
3:14 Nehemiah, seeking for Israel’s obedience to Ezekiel’s temple vision, tried to get them to ‘follow His instructions’ (s.w. Neh. 7:3; 12:9,45; 13:20). For Ezekiel had prophesied that in the restored temple, God’s instructions would be followed (Ez. 40:46; 44:8,14-16). But now, Judah complained that there was no benefit to them from having kept the charges (Mal. 3:14 s.w.). Partial obedience discouraged them from any further effort, because the fullness of blessing can only come from a way of life conformed to God’s Kingdom vision and life. This is why people get disillusioned with religion and lose the faith- because they seek for immediate benefit as a result of keeping a few highly specific aspects of God’s law, rather than willingly devoting their whole way of life to the realisation of His vision.
3:16 If we truly love God, we will naturally want to find and communicate with others who also do.
3:17 We are so very valuable to God- His jewels, His “very own”. We can take comfort that we are not alone in this world, He is so intensely with us.