Malachi 3:3

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Dottiepo

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I was listening to Handel’s Messiah and was wondering about one of the sections based on Malachi 3:3.

"He will sit refining and purifying (silver), and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. "

Could someone give me a correct understanding of who are the “sons of Levi.”

I understand the the decendents of Levi were the priest in the Temple. Just need a bit more…
 
Malachi 3 begins with the promise that the Lord himself will come to the Temple. Of course, it was meant for the time in which it was written, but it also spoke to the future, when the Messiah would appear.

With the Messianic prophecy in mind, the priesthood would be refined to offer “right offerings” (RSV). This right offering is the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, the unbloody, pure sacrifice Christ instituted at the Last Supper.
 
You may find the article on “Levites” in the Catholic Encyclopedia helpful.

By the way, this verse always makes me think of the purifying fires of Purgatory… The Latin for “he will purify” is purgabit, which has the same root word (purge) as Purgatory.
 
Todd_Easton said:
You may find the article on “Levites” in the Catholic Encyclopedia helpful.

By the way, this verse always makes me think of the purifying fires of Purgatory… The Latin for “he will purify” is purgabit, which has the same root word (purge) as Purgatory.
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Ditto.
 
Dottiepo said:
I was listening to Handel’s Messiah and was wondering about one of the sections based on Malachi 3:3.

"He will sit refining and purifying (silver), and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. "

Could someone give me a correct understanding of who are the “sons of Levi.”

I understand the the decendents of Levi were the priest in the Temple. Just need a bit more…
Click to expand...
I remember something similar to this in Reveltions

Reveltions 3:18
I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.
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And the gold is grace from the treasury of the Church.
 
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