“Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?”
Malachi 3:2–6
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
“A gracious God, who does all things well and is Himself all powerful, all wise, and all knowing, reveals His mind and will to men so they can advance and progress and become like Him. He gives His doctrines to men so they will know what to believe and what to do to gain eternal life. All doctrine—all gospel concepts of every sort and nature—all are revealed and preached to prepare men for celestial rest. And we have no better illustration of this than the doctrine of the second coming of the Son of Man. One of the chief reasons this doctrine is revealed is to teach us what we must do, whether in life or in death, to abide the day. . . .
“We have in holy writ many illustrations of the people and the works that will abide the day, and what works, and of whom, will be burned at His coming. Perhaps no prophet has surpassed Malachi in discoursing on these matters. He announces that the Lord will come in the last days and then asks: ‘But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?’ The reason some will not abide the day is given in these words: ‘He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver.’ Their evil works shall be burned, and they themselves shall be cleansed and saved, as Paul’s exposition assures us.
“Then Malachi sets forth the words of the Lord Jehovah, who is the Lord Jesus, as He speaks in the first person. ‘And I will come near to you to judgment,’ He says. The Second Coming is the day of judgment. ‘And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.’ The works here named, together with those who do them, shall be burned at His coming. None who live in this worldly way shall abide the day. Then comes the promise that the faithful in Israel shall be saved. ‘Ye sons of Jacob are not consumed,’ saith the Lord. Those who are not consumed abide the day.”
(The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [1982], 538, 544–45.)
