Malachi 3:2

“But who may abide the day of his coming? etc.] When he should be manifest in Israel, and come preaching the Gospel of the kingdom; who could bear the doctrines delivered by him, concerning his deity and equality with God the Father; concerning his character and mission as the Messiah, and his kingdom not being a temporal, but a spiritual one; concerning his giving his flesh for the life of the world, and eating that by faith; concerning distinguishing and efficacious grace; and all such that so severely struck at the wickedness of the Scribes and Pharisees, and their self-righteous principles; and especially since for judgment he came, that they might not see? nor could they bear the light…”

“(Mal 4:1; Rev 6:16-17). The Messiah would come, not, as they expected, to flatter the theocratic nation's prejudices, but to subject their principles to the fiery test of His heart-searching truth (Mat 3:10-12), and to destroy Jerusalem and the theocracy after they had rejected Him. His mission is here regarded as a whole from the first to the second advent: the process of refining and separating the godly from the ungodly beginning during Christ's stay on earth, going on ever since, and about to continue till the final separation (Mat. 25:31-46). The refining process, whereby a third of the Jews is refined as silver of its dross, while two-thirds perish, is described, Zac 13:8-9 (compare…”

“And who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? - The implied answer is, “No one;” as in the Psalm Psalms 130:3, “If Thou, Lord, wilt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Joel had asked the same , “The day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” “How can the weakness of man endure such might; his blindness, such light; his frailty, such power; his uncleanness, such holiness; the chaff, such a fire? For He is like a refine’s fire. Who would not fail through stupefaction, fear, horror, shrinking reverence, from such majesty?” Malachi seems to blend, as Joel, the first and second coming of our Lord. The first coming too was a time of…”

“Abide - Who shall be able to stand under the weight of those crosses which in that day, will fall on all sorts of men? The day - This day was from his preaching, 'till the utter destruction of Jerusalem, about seventy years after the birth of Christ. A refiner's fire - Some are like metals, which nothing but a fierce fire can purge, such fire shall the troubles of these days be. Fuller's soap - As boiling waters, into which, spotted cloaths are thrown, and as the rubbing of them with soap; so that day will prove to all, a day of great trial, to purge and refine. Malachi 3:3”

“3:2 blazing fire: The dross of the people’s wickedness must be burned away by the fires of divine testing and chastisement (Isa 1:25; Jer 6:29; Ezek 22:22). • strong soap: An alkaline detergent was made from plants (see Jer 2:22). The blazing fire and strong soap signify the testing (by smelting) and cleansing (by laundering) that would restore Israel’s faithfulness to its covenant with the Lord.”

“who may abide: Mal 4:1; Amo 5:18-20; Mat 3:7-12, Mat 21:31-44, 23:13-35, Mat 25:10; Luk 2:34; Luk 3:9, Luk 3:17, Luk 7:23, Luk 11:37-47, Luk 11:52-54, Luk 21:36; Joh 6:42-44, Joh 8:41-48, Joh 8:55, Joh 9:39-41, Joh 15:22-24; Act 7:52-54; Rom 9:31-33; Rom 11:5-10; Heb 10:28, Heb 10:29, Heb 12:25; Pe1 2:7, Pe1 2:8; Rev 1:6, Rev 1:7, Rev 6:17 for: Isa 4:4; Zac 13:9; Mat 3:10-12; Co1 3:13-15; Rev 2:23 like fullers': Psa 2:7; Isa 1:18; Jer 2:22; Mar 9:3; Rev 1:5, Rev 7:14, Rev 19:8 Malachi 3:3”

“With the coming of the Lord the judgment will also begin; not the judgment upon the heathen, however, for which the ungodly nation was longing, but the judgment upon the godless members of the covenant nation. Mal 3:2. "And who endures the day of His coming? and who can stand at His appearing? for He is like the smelter's fire, and like washers' lye: Mal 3:3. And will sit smelting and purifying silver, and will purify the children of Levi, and refine like gold and silver, that they may be offering to Jehovah His sacrifice in righteousness. Mal 3:4. And the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant, as in the days of the olden time, and as in the years of the past." The question "who…”