Malachi 3:2

"But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap."

The coming of the "day of the Lord" is not the prophecy of any one-day event, except in the case of that day of the final judgment of all men, when God will judge in righteousness by that man whom he hath appointed ... even Jesus Christ; and, despite all the New Testament references to the final judgment being an apparent reference to a single, simultaneous event involving the totality of human kind, Christians should not imagine that they know all about what will occur then.

"The day of the Lord ..." refers to the Messianic age, from first to last; it referred to the Day of Pentecost; it referred to the destruction of Jerusalem; it referred to the first Advent of Christ; and it refers to the second Advent of Christ. That is why some prophecies must be applied to one event, or situation, and other prophecies to still other events, with some passages, such as the one here, having reference to a mighty principle dominating the whole Messianic age.

"Who can abide the day of his coming ...?" Israel could not abide the day of the coming of Jesus. They crucified him, incurring as a punishment the destruction of their city, state, and temple. The evil multitudes who did not accept Christ could not abide the day of his coming. But there is yet another application. At the final judgment, the New Testament prophet foretold that mighty men would hide in the caves and rocks of the mountains for terror, giving as the reason, "For the great day of their wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:17). In this connection, one should read again the startling prophecy of Amos 5:18-20. The notion that Malachi here refined and reduced the severity of Amos' prophecy is wrong. The passages are supplementary, not contradictory.

"Refiner's fire ..." The smelter must be applied to all men and all the institutions of men; only the pure shall stand. Only the just shall be saved; and, according to the Bible, the rest shall perish. This was the thing "Elijah" also referred to when John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Matthew 3 has an account of his message: "His fan is in his hand; and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12). This is exactly the thought behind the metaphor of the "refiner's fire."

"Malachi seems to blend, as Joel, the first and second coming of Christ. The first coming too was a time of sifting and severance, according as those, to whom he came, did or did not receive him."[10]