THE DAY IS COMING
Malachi 4:1-6 CSB.
1 “For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. 3 You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Armies. 4 “Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
This final chapter in the Old Testament is a very important one because it hints at a lot of the themes that will be explained more clearly in the New Testament. There is at least a four-hundred-year gap between these last words of Malachi and the first words written by Matthew. Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he predicts that another prophet is going to come, who will introduce Israel to its Messiah. That prophet was John the Baptist, who is called Elijah in today’s text.
The best way to understand the words in this chapter is to look at the context in which it was given. The prophecy of Malachi is presented like a court case in which God is the defendant. The people present their charges against God, and he responds to those charges.
The charge that chapter four addresses is found in 3:14. The people are saying that it is useless to serve God. They looked around at all the arrogant happy successful people who do not serve God and ask why they should obey him. In his defense, God tells the people that he has prepared a scroll and put the names of all the people who have respected and honored him on that scroll. He tells them that once more they will see that He makes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.
It is in that context that we read the words of Malachi 4. Malachi tells them that …
The day is coming when the wicked will be destroyed (1).
Malachi was prophesying to a people who said that obeying God made no difference in their lives. They had looked around and noted that people all around them were rebelling against God and his law and God had done nothing about it. They concluded that it was useless to repent of their sins and obey God’s commands. But Malachi tells them not to give up on God yet. Just you wait because God’s is not finished yet. He has a day coming that will take care of the wicked once and for all.
Malachi describes how God will take care of the wicked. He pictures them as a forest that God is going to clear-cut and put in a furnace. They will be burned up, reduced to ashes. Nothing will survive that destruction. The fire will consume them – all of them – not leaving roots or branches.
Of course, Malachi is not the only Old Testament book to talk about the coming destruction of the wicked.
Genesis records the fact that God destroyed the ungodly with a flood, and the New Testament says he’s going to do it again – this time with fire. 2 Peter 3:7 speaks of “the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” Now, where did Peter get that idea? Malachi says the day is coming.
Zephaniah spoke of that day as well. He said “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s angry judgment. The whole earth will be consumed by his fiery wrath. Indeed, he will bring terrifying destruction on all who live on the earth” (Zephaniah 1:18).
The Old Testament poets looked forward to that coming day. The psalmist wrote, “May sinners disappear from the earth, and the wicked vanish!” (Psalm 104:35).
David, in one of his psalms, told the evil strong man that God was going to uproot him from the land of the living, and make him into a permanent heap of ruins (Psalm 52:5). David knew about that coming day.
Asaph was also aware of this reality. He said that God will destroy everyone who is unfaithful to him (Psalm 73:27). Asaph knew about that coming day.
Isaiah said that when God looks for his opponents, he will find them. Then he will reduce them to absolutely nothing (Isaiah 41:11-12). Isaiah knew about that coming day.
The New Testament affirms the same fact. John the Baptist warned sinners that “the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). John the Baptist knew about that coming day.
Jesus spoke of that same day when he warned that “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19). He said we should fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in that fire (Matthew 10:28). Jesus knew about that coming day.
Paul called the ungodly “objects of wrath prepared for destruction” (Romans 9:22). He said that they will undergo the penalty of permanent destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Paul knew about that coming day.
But unless we despair, we need to go on to talk about the rest of Malachi’s message. Destruction is not the only thing that will happen on that coming day.
The day is coming when the righteous will overcome (2-3).
The good news of Malachi 4 is that the same day that will bring the destruction of the ungodly will bring restoration, healing, and vindication for the godly. They will be restored by means of the resurrection. The New Testament tells us this. Jesus says that when he returns, he will raise the righteous dead and restore them to permanent life.
Malachi describes this event from a broader perspective. He uses the imagery of a “sun of righteousness” that shines on the dark world and heals it of all it imperfections. The wings of the sun are the rays it emits. The picture is that of a warm sun that comes out and cleans up all the impurities in the atmosphere.
Malachi also mentions the joy that the godly will have. He describes them as trampling on the ashes of all the destroyed enemies of God and playfully jumping like calves from the stall. The godly will be finally vindicated, and this world set right again.
So far, Malachi has told us about the bad news for God’s enemies. They will be destroyed on the coming day. He has also told us the good news about what awaits the godly. They will be restored, purified, and will experience joy. What next?
The day is coming, so get ready (4-6).
It will be 400 years before the world sees the first advent of Christ. We are still waiting for his second advent. What does Malachi tell us we need to do until then? First, there will be no more prophets until John the Baptist appears. So, Malachi directs the attention of his people back to the word of God they had already received through Moses. He tells them to remember what Moses taught them and not to stray away from it.
For you and me, we need to be careful not to stray from God’s revealed word as well. You cannot be obedient to God if you ignore his word. To get ready for God’s coming day, you need to choose to obey him this day.
Malachi’s second word of instruction is his prophecy that God is going to send Elijah to restore the hearts of the fathers to the children and restore the hearts of the children to the fathers. This means more than mending the generation gap. What Malachi is talking about is the responsibility that fathers have in raising their children according to the covenant, and the responsibility that children have in adopting the covenant and passing it on.
The purpose of John the Baptist’s ministry was to lead his nation to Christ as their Messiah. But it was supposed to be more than that. The whole nation should have repented and turned back to the covenant and welcomed Jesus as their king. They did not do that. Malachi warned that if Israel did not do that, God would strike the land with a curse. He did.
Now, what happened to the land of Israel in 70 AD is mostly lost to us. But we should learn the lesson from that historical event. The reason is that God has given us only one king. Any land that denies the right of King Jesus to rule over it will suffer the same curse.
Getting ready for the coming day means becoming a part of the coming kingdom. If you are not part of the kingdom now, you will not survive the coming day of destruction. God has always offered the world one choice with two possible destinations based on that choice.
Moses told his people “I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore, choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Jesus told his listeners “”I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
John wrote “The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life” (1 John 5:12).
Malachi predicted that a prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah was going to come and tell people who the Messiah is. John the Baptist was that prophet. John saw Jesus and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Getting ready for the coming day means becoming part of the kingdom of the coming king.
jeffersonvann 