When the prophet asked, “Who can endure the day of his coming?” he intended to shake the false confidence of the Jews. They expected the Lord to rain down curses and destruction upon the ungodly nations, and they expected to vindicate the Jews of wrong committed against them, and to reward the Jews for their goodness and faithfulness in serving the Lord. But things will not turn out as they foolishly expected. The prophet intimates that the Jews will not be able to endure his coming. For when he comes to punish the wicked, he will begin with his own people who thought themselves so pious and righteous, but who were guilty of grievous transgressions of God’s covenant. They would find that the messenger of the covenant would dispense not the blessings of the covenant upon the faithful but the curses of the covenant upon the unfaithful.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.