Malachi 3:1-3 English Standard Version
1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 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. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.
As we return to these passages in Malachi let us extinguish the notion that soap is used in the forging process. A refiner’s fire is used on molten metal to remove impurities but the metal has not been formed into any usable shape. The association between the forge and the finished shape requires a fuller to be used in the blacksmithing process. Associating the term fuller here with that process is an error which is a mistake easily made.
The Hebrew word for fuller in Malachi is kâbaç, kaw-bas’; a primitive root; to trample.
The use of the word was in reference to the trade of washing clothes by stomping on with the feet, hence the need for soap. This is meant to illuminate the garments to be cleansed which are used to identify ones status within the community. It matters not your position, but rather the need for a clean wardrobe. No one should be ashamed.
This can take us back by way of remembrance to a comment about the trampling under of His feet.
Psalm 91:13 English Standard Version (ESV) You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.