Malachi 3:13

“Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord, etc.] Hard and strong; they bore very hardly upon him, were exceeding impudent and insolent; murmuring at his providence; arraigning his justice and goodness; and despising his word, worship, and ordinances. Aben Ezra says, this is a prophecy concerning the time to come, that is, the times of the Messiah; and so it describes the Jews in his times. Yet ye say, what have we spoken [so much] against thee? or “what have we spoken against thee?” as if they were not guilty in any respect, and as if nothing could be proved against them; and as though the Lord did not know what they had said in their hearts, seeing they had not spoken it with…”

“He notices the complaint of the Jews that it is of no profit to serve Jehovah, for that the ungodly proud are happy; and declares He will soon bring the day when it shall be known that He puts an everlasting distinction between the godly and the ungodly. words . . . stout--Hebrew, "hard"; so "the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jde 1:15) [HENDERSON]. have we spoken--The Hebrew expresses at once their assiduity and habit of speaking against God [VATABLUS]. The niphal form of the verb implies that these things were said, not directly to God, but of God, to one another (Eze 33:20) [MOORE].”

“Your words have been stout against Me - , probably “oppressive to Me,” as it is said, the famine was strong upon the land. And ye have said, “What have we spoken among ourselves against Thee?” Again, the entire unconsciousness of self-ignorance and self-conceit! They had criticized God, and knew it not. “Before, he had said Malachi 2:17. ‘Ye have wearied the Lord with your words, and ye said, Wherein have we wearied Him? When ye said, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord’” etc. Now he repeats this more fully. For the people who returned from Babylon seemed to have a knowledge of God, and to observe the law, and to understand their sin, and to offer sacrifices for sin;…”

“3:13–4:3 Malachi’s final message contains two distinct but related speeches, the first emphasizing service to the Lord (3:13-18) and the second contrasting the fate of the wicked with that of the righteous (4:1-3). Each speech concludes with the messenger formula (see study note on 1:8). The prophet revisits themes from the fourth message (3:1-5) as he reiterates God’s desire for honesty and faithfulness in worship in view of coming judgment on the day of the Lord. If Malachi is a courtroom drama, this last disputation is the sentencing. While wickedness seems to triumph over righteousness and God seems delinquent in judging sin in the community, the coming day of the Lord will vindicate…”

“Your: Mal 2:17; Exo 5:2; Ch2 32:14-19; Job 34:7, Job 34:8; Psa 10:11; Isa 5:19, Isa 28:14, Isa 28:15; Isa 37:23; Th2 2:4 What: Mal 3:8, Mal 1:6-8, Mal 2:14, Mal 2:17; Job 40:8; Jer 8:12; Rom 9:20 Malachi 3:14”

“The impatient murmuring of the nation. - Mal 3:13. "Your words do violence to me, saith Jehovah; and ye say, What do we converse against Thee? Mal 3:14. Ye say, It is vain to serve God; and what gain is it, that we have kept His guard, and have gone about in deep mourning before Jehovah of hosts? Mal 3:15. And now we call the proud blessed: not only have the doers of wickedness been built up, but they have also tempted God and have been saved." After the Lord has disclosed to the people the cause of His withholding His blessing, He shows them still further, that their murmuring against Him is unjust, and that the coming day of judgment will bring to light the distinction between the wicked…”