Mal 3:7, Jam 4:8 | JFB | e4.org | 7-12. Reproof for the non-payment of tithes and offerings, which is the cause of their national calamities, and promise of prosperity on their paying them. from . . . days of your fathers —Ye live as your fathers did when they brought on themselves the Babylonian captivity, and ye wish to follow in their steps. This shows that nothing but God's unchanging long-suffering had prevented their being long ago "consumed" ( ). Return unto me —in penitence. I will return unto you —in blessings. Wherein, &c.— ( ). The same insensibility to their guilt continues: they speak in the tone of injured innocence, as if God calumniated them.

‏ Malachi 3:7

7-12. Reproof for the non-payment of tithes and offerings, which is the cause of their national calamities, and promise of prosperity on their paying them.

from . . . days of your fathers—Ye live as your fathers did when they brought on themselves the Babylonian captivity, and ye wish to follow in their steps. This shows that nothing but God's unchanging long-suffering had prevented their being long ago "consumed" (Mal 3:6).

Return unto me—in penitence.

I will return unto you—in blessings.

Wherein, &c.— (Mal 3:16). The same insensibility to their guilt continues: they speak in the tone of injured innocence, as if God calumniated them.

‏ James 4:8

8. Draw nigh to God—So "cleave unto Him," De 30:20, namely, by prayerfully (Jas 4:2, 3) "resisting Satan," who would oppose our access to God.

he will draw nigh—propitious.

Cleanse . . . hands—the outward instruments of action. None but the clean-handed can ascend into the hill of the Lord (justified through Christ, who alone was perfectly so, and as such "ascended" thither).

purify . . . hearts—literally "make chaste" of your spiritual adultery (Jas 4:4, that is, worldliness) "your hearts": the inward source of all impurity.

double-minded—divided between God and the world. The "double-minded" is at fault in heart; the sinner in his hands likewise.