Malachi 3:17 And they shall be mine, said the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them… 1. This title shows the estimation in which God holds His people. In the Bible, God avails Himself of one good or beautiful thing to describe another. The Christian is like a cedar in Lebanon, the most majestic and beautiful tree in the forest. Heaven is a city of golden walls and gates of pearl. So here, in like manner, He calls His people "jewels." The emerald, the ruby, and the diamond, are the most precious and costly things in nature. These are the things which God takes to illustrate the estimation in which He holds the good. He knows the Capabilities of these immortal souls, that they can be "equal to the angels," through the redemption of His Son Jesus Christ. 2. This title, "jewels," suggests a reason why God's people are sometimes so exercised by the providences of God. When diamonds and other gems are first found, they are usually covered with a dark, rusty coating, every particle of which must be removed. This process is long and expensive. Their brilliancy cannot be fairly seen without it. The famous Koh-i-noor diamond was subjected to repolishing with the help of a steam-engine for twenty-three days and twelve hours each day. So it was with Job, and Joseph, and Jacob, and many others whom God chose as His jewels. This disciplinary process is still going on in the present age, in innumerable ways, by disease, loss of property, family afflictions, etc. Ill-treatment at the hand of one we have been accustomed to esteem is especially hard to endure. But it is needed. There is nothing that can polish the diamond like the diamond itself. Two diamonds are rubbed, the one upon the other, and the dust thus obtained is used for polishing. So, by the natural constitution of the soul, and the providence of God, there may be nothing so good for polishing as afflictions sent upon us by others. They may seem to have an opposite effect for a time; may seem to ruffle our temper, and make us rebellious and antagonistic; but, by and by, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, like the vegetable oil that is mixed with the diamond dust to polish the diamond, — the Holy Spirit working with these afflictions, — our tempers will be subdued, and the ' peaceable fruits of righteousness " will be worked out thereby. 3. This name which the Lord applies to His people warrants us in the belief that God will never lose sight of any one of them. To say that God would surrender one of His people, permit him to fall away and be lost, is to declare a thing which is inconsistent for God to do. But does any one say, "Good! that just suits me; I am going to live just as I please, for I shall get home to heaven at last anyhow." Then be sure that you are one of His jewels. If you are not, the result may be terribly and eternally disastrous. The truth is, that no true child of God will make any such resolution, or entertain such a thought. There are some who do wander away from God; not, however, with a deliberate purpose so to do, but because they have been led captive by the enemy. But God will never lose sight of His "jewel," but will follow him by His Spirit and His providences, making use of those things that are best calculated to bring a rational soul back again to the fold from whence it had wandered away. (Homer M'Vay.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. |
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