Deeper Commentary
Malachi Chapter 4
Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness- The day or the sun comes, in judgment for these people. Yet the sun of righteousness will arise for the faithful. This is the day of final judgment just spoken of in Mal. 3:16-18. Note that pride is the epitome of wickedness. Likewise to the Lord, humility was the very epitome of righteousness (Mt. 5:5 cp. Ps. 37:29).
Will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up, says Yahweh of Armies- The burning of straw (s.w. stubble) is the language of condemnation at the harvest of the last day in Is. 10:17; 25:10; 1 Cor. 3:12.
That it shall leave them
neither root nor branch- Root nor branch may mean
'son or grandson'. Malachi is joined to
the Hebrew scroll of Zechariah as if as an appendix. So we should be
guided by Zechariah for the meaning of "root" and "branch". Root and branch were both words used of the
Messianic shoot and branch who could have arisen at the restoration; see
on Zech. 3:8; 6:12, the root and branch of David (Rev. 5:5). These
possibilities
would be removed,
but were finally fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, but His salvation
will not be available for the proud and wicked who shall be burnt up in
the last day.
Malachi 4:2 But to you who fear My name-
The imperfect but
repentant minority of Malachi's time of Mal. 3:16,17. It seems Malachi is
addressing them directly as his audience at this point. They
feared God's Name whereas the priests, their religious leadership, are
condemned for despising that Name. They had come to their relationship
with God quite without the teaching or example of their religious leaders;
their relationship was based solely on having heard and responded to God's
word personally. The priesthood had failed. There was now nobody standing
between God and man. Only a minority of the ordinary people, who responded
to God's word directly, were ready for the arising of the sun of
righteousness. And that is the situation we are in today. Organized
religious structures have failed. The church and its leadership are,
summing up and generalizing, a failure. We who await the Lord's coming are
the spiritual descendants of that small minority who repented at Malachi's
preaching.
Shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his rays- We noted on :1 that the salvation of the Lord Jesus will not be available for the wicked at the last day; but "to you", the faithful minority responding to Malachi, the coming of Messiah would be a time of healing and salvation [the two ideas are combined in the same Hebrew word]. We note that He returns to those in Israel who already fear the Name. Israelite repentance is a condition for the Lord’s return. He is the sun of righteousness in that He is the basis for the righteousness imputed to them; for we noted on Mal. 3:17 that even the repentant remnant are "spared" by grace, they are treated as totally obedient to the covenant (see on Mal. 3:17) when in fact they were not. We note that even at the Lord's coming, we will require 'healing'. This is tacit recognition that we die imperfect and "we shall be changed" at His coming.
But the healing in His rays or wings of His garment (Heb.) is of course true now. Understanding that leads to faith in His healing. The faith of the sick woman who grabbed the hem or wings of His garment is commended by the Lord (Mk. 5:34; Mt. 9:20)- when it was due to her understanding of the significance of the hem of the Lord's robe that she had touched Him. She had perceived the connection with the High Priest's hem; perhaps too she had added Job's comment about our touching but the hem of God's garment into the equation. And certainly she perceived that the sun of righteousness of Mal. 4 had healing in his hems / wings of his garment.Zacharias clearly understood the Elijah prophet to be his son, John the Baptist; and he interprets this arising of the sun of righteousness as the giving of knowledge of salvation in Jesus right now: "You will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Lk. 1:76-79). The sun of righteousness is for “the righteous” (Mal. 3:18). They already spread the rays of that sun. "Jesus Christ the righteous", "the righteous judge" may allude here (1 Jn. 2:1; 2 Tim. 4:8).
The "healing" of the sun of righteousness in Mal. 4:2 is that spoken of in the promise of the new covenant: "I will cure them [s.w.], and reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth" through knowing the Lord Jesus (Jer. 30:17; 33:6). Malachi's generation had refused that new covenant offered to them whilst still in exile. But the work of Elijah would lead a later generation to accept it. The Jews in exile had "looked for the time of healing, but behold, trouble" (Jer. 8:15; 14:19- this is twice emphasized)- because they didn't repent and accept the new covenant. "Healing" [s.w.] is a result of repentance (Is. 6:10; 57:19; Jer. 3:22; Hos. 6:1). This is why there was "no remedy", literally 'no healing', for the generation who went into exile (2 Chron. 36:16), and why Jeremiah's prophecies often lament the lack of healing for Judah's wounds; they had broken the old covenant, for which one of the curses was that there would be no healing (Dt. 28:27,35). Ultimately, "by his stripes we are healed" (Is. 53:5). It will only be by repentantly coming to the crucified Jesus as Lord and Saviour that He can be as the sun of righteousness giving healing. The priesthood had failed to heal (Zech. 11:16 and often in the prophets).
You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall- As we struggle in our daily battle with the flesh, it is necessary to keep our eye on that split-second moment of total acceptance by our Lord. We will burst out, mentally and physically, like stalled calves given freedom for the first time. Currently we have changed masters, from sin to the Lord. But we are still slaves. There awaits what Paul calls the "glorious liberty of God's dear children". The slave who traded his master's talents well shall be given that which is his very own. Seeing he was faithful in that which was another man's. Ps. 68:1-3 speak of how the rejected will be chased away, but the righteous will "be glad" and "exult before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice", after the pattern of Israel's ecstasy after their deliverance at the Red Sea.
"Then shall thy light break forth as the morning [i.e. you'll have a
part in the Lord's glory, Mal. 4:2], and thine health shall spring forth
[cp. Mal. 4:2 springing forth as stalled calves]... and thy righteousness
shall go before thee [our good deeds recited by the Judge]... then [at the
judgment seat of Christ] thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer; thou
shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am" (Is. 58:6-9). If we show mercy to
the desperate now, we won't necessarily have our prayers automatically
heard in this life. But in the poverty and desperate need of the judgment,
our cries will be heard on account of our generous, forgiving response in
this life.
Malachi 4:3 You shall tread down the wicked- This is the language of God's treading upon the wicked Egyptians (Hab. 3:13). But "the wicked" in the context are the wicked amongst God's people (:1; Mal. 3:18). The faithful will then discern them for who they are (Mal. 3:18), whereas in this life, and particularly at Malachi's time, it must have been difficult to perceive who were genuine and who were not. Just as we cannot discern now between wheat and weeds. The destruction of the wicked abusers of God's people seems to be part of the same process as the destruction of the wicked amongst God's people. They will be "condemned with the world". This is one of the passages which imply that the rejected will be physically annihilated by the Lord. Given the terrible descriptions of the mental anguish of the condemned, this would essentially be a merciful act. It may be that many will die in the judgments which come upon the world. But it could be that others are simply put out of their agony by the Lord. Some now in the ecclesia will be dashed to pieces by Him (Rev. 2:27), and Malachi implies that the faithful will play a part in the destruction of their wicked brethren.
For they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, says Yahweh of Armies- The idea of burning feet turning the wicked to ashes is precisely that of the cherubim (s.w. Ez. 1:7). As often intimated in Zechariah, the faithful are to become identified with the cherubim.
Malachi 4:4 Remember the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded to him
in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances- This was so
that the curse for disobedience to the law would not come upon them (:7).
The faithful minority of Mal. 3:16,17 are bidden remember the actual law,
because the priests were teaching it wrongly (see on Mal. 2:8).
It was
"for all Israel", not just for an enthusiastic minority. And all of that
law was still binding upon Malachi's generation, every statute and
ordinance; whereas the priests were teaching that only some parts needed
to be attended to.
Usually we read of 'observing' or 'obeying' the law. Perhaps the idea of 'remembering' it is in the context of the way they have offered lame animals, paid only part of the tithes- they had kept the law of Moses as lip service, on a surface level. They were to "remember" what the law actually said and do it. Again we see the possibility of fulfilment of these words in Malachi's own time and in the lives of his immediate audience.
Jeremiah and Ezekiel had given the exiles the opportunity of accepting a new covenant. The old covenant was broken. But the people still hankered for that old covenant. And it seems God went along with that by still offering those in Malachi's time some future with Him even on the basis of the old covenant.
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great
and terrible day of Yahweh comes- As explained on Mal. 3:1, the
restored community could still have seen a Messiah figure arise if they
had responded to the messenger of the covenant preparing His way.
'Malachi' was that messenger, as was the priesthood. But they failed to
respond, and so the prophecies were rescheduled and reapplied to another
priest, John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the true and full
Messiah. So if Israel would receive it, John the Baptist was the Elijah
prophet. The course of fulfilment of prophecy was conditional upon whether
John succeeded in turning the hearts of Israel back to the fathers or not;
on preparing them for the great and terrible day of the Lord. Brethren as
varied as John Knowles and Harry Whittaker have all recognized in their
expositions that the Kingdom could have come in the first century had Israel received John
as Elijah. But they would not. And so another Elijah prophet is to come in
the last days and prepare Israel for her Messiah. “If ye are willing to
receive him, this is Elijah which is to come” (Mt. 11:14 RVmg.) says it
all. More details about him are noted on Rev. 11. He need not be the
literal resurrected Elijah, although that is possible; recall how the Lord
Jesus is called "David", when He is not David but in the spirit and line
of David (Hos. 3:5; Ez. 34:23 etc.). The Elijah prophet who was to herald
the Messianic Kingdom
could have
been John the Baptist- if Israel had received him. But they
didn’t, and so the prophecy went down another avenue of fulfilment. It
could be that :6 implies that there is still the possibility that even the
latter day Elijah mission could fail.
Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and
the hearts of the children to their fathers-
The tragedy of "You didn't turn to Me" in Hag. 2:17 is that God has repeatedly tried to comfort the returned exiles that "I am with you" (Hag. 2:4; 1:13)... "My Spirit dwelt [and dwells] among you" (Hag. 2:5). But they didn't want to be with Him, to realize the presence of His Spirit amongst them, just as the Corinthians were not spiritual although they had been richly given the Spirit. The returnees were preoccupied by the immediate, and their desire to live their petty dreams. And so it is oftentimes with man. Haggai's call echoes to us- not to be preoccupied with life and material things. The final restoration prophet concluded with the promise that God would have to send the Elijah prophet to turn their hearts to God: "He will turn the hearts..." (Mal. 4:6). Literally, to return [s.w. 'repent'] their hearts. He would bring about their repentance; in the latter day context, this would refer to their repentance for crucifying their Messiah.
Despite the religious system developed by the returnees and their exclusion of others, they didn't obey Haggai's call to turn their hearts to their God. And so through the Elijah prophet it was God's plan to almost forcibly turn their hearts to Him. But even the fulfilment in John the Baptist and the appearance of God's Son only achieved this in a minority. The problem was [and still is] preoccupation with man's immediate agendas, be they religious or secular.
Mal. 3:7 offered a "return" of God to the people if they returned / repented to Him. But they argued they had nothing to repent of, no distance over which to return to Him. Now God says, as He does in the offers of the new covenant in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, that He will make them return to Him- so desperate is He for continued relationship with them. No longer is His return to them contingent upon their freewill return to Him. He will force them back to Him.
Reconcilliation with God will produce or be associated with reconcilliation within personal relationships. The LXX speaks of this involving also turning the hearts of the people to their neighbours. As discussed on Mal. 2:10, breaking covenant with others was related to breaking covenant with God. They were all at sixes and sevens with each other because their relationship with God was broken. This was now to be forcibly ended. And we discussed on Mal. 2:14-16 how the priests had abandoned their children and Hebrew wives. The results of this would potentially be undone by the Elijah prophet, the messenger of the covenant of Mal. 3:1. But he failed... so it was reapplied to John the Baptist, who likewise failed to convert all Israel. And so the success of the latter day Elijah ministry, in removing the stumbling stone of Christ crucified, will result in restored and enhanced human relationships. For that has to be the result of no longer stumbling over the Lord Jesus.
"The hearts of the children to the fathers" is interpreted for
us in Lk. 1:17, at least insofar as John the Baptist was a fulfilment of
the Elijah prophet: "And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him
in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the
fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the
righteous [GNB "back to the way of thinking of the righteous"]; so as to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord”. "The children" are "the
disobedient" and their fathers are "the righteous". The question is how
these righteous fathers are turned towards the children, thanks to the
work of the Elijah prophet. The account of John's 'Elijah' ministry in Mt.
3:7-12 is full of allusion to Malachi 4; and one of those connections is
with the comment that that generation could not truly say that Abraham was
their father (Mt. 3:9). This leads us to understand the righteous fathers
as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That would have been the natural
interpretation of "the fathers" in first century Israelite society. It
could be that in the latter day, ultimate fulfilment, the Lord Jesus
returns, resurrects the dead, including the Jewish fathers Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob; and there is then a process of work by the Elijah prophet which
brings about repentance in Israel, whereby the resurrected Jewish fathers
turn towards the children of that last generation, and those children
likewise turn to those fathers. The righteous fathers are turned to the
once disobedient children- by the work of "Elijah". But how and when this
happens is a stubborn exegetical problem.
One possibility is that the language of fathers and children forms an inclusion with how Malachi opens: "Children honour their parents... I am your father— why don't you honour Me?" (Mal. 1:6). In this case, the "fathers" would be an intensive plural referring to their great Father, God. Just as the plural elohim is used for the one singular God; and just as in fact Mal. 1:6 uses the plural for "master" with reference to God, as if "masters", the one great master, God. And His heart would be turned to His children by the Elijah prophet converting the "children" to Him in repentance. Is. 63:16 speaks of the repentant remnant saying "Doubtless You are our father". Thus the children are reconciled to God. Most references to the people 'returning', especially in Malachi, Haggai and Zechariah, are to the children of Israel returning / repenting to God, and His returning to them. "Return unto Me … and I will return unto you" (Mal. 3:7; Zech. 1:3). Another possibility is to accept the interpretation of Rashi and the rabbis, that the hearts of the fathers are turned "onto" the children and vice versa- meaning that fathers and children are united in heart by their common experience of repentance before God. This message would then be relevant to Malachi's earlier observations of social and family breakdown amongst the returned exiles. And he closes his prophecy with this thought, because it is the reconcilliation between people, as a result of their individual reconcilliation with God, which is the ultimate achievement of God's grace in practice.
Through the preaching of John, he turned men’s hearts- the idea of repentance, being brought about by the preacher (Mal. 4:6). Such is the power of our preaching, the possibility which our words of witness give to our hearers. We have such power invested in us! If we are slack to use it, the Lord’s glory is limited, and the salvation of others disabled.
Israel were out of step with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob, Levi, Moses and "Elijah" have just been mentioned (Mal. 1:2; 2:4,6; 3:3-4). The appeal of the latter day Elijah is to return to the promises made to the fathers, which are the essence of the new covenant. The turning of the fathers' hearts to the children need not imply that the fathers are still alive; the idiom of the passage means that the hearts of the children and the fathers will be at one with each other. Lk. 1:16,17 interprets "the heart of the children to the fathers" as meaning "the disobedient to the wisdom of the just".
Elijah was only interested in demonstrating Yahweh's
superiority over Baal, but it is questionable whether he made any lasting
converts from Baal worship to Yahweh. Because he wasn't interested in
people- at least initially. He was removed from his post after his
shameful intercession against Israel in 1 Kings 19. But we must
square this against Malachi's apparently strange comment that
Elijah in
future will turn the heart of the fathers to the children and vice versa.
This makes sense once we understand that Baal worship involved child
sacrifice, as the preceding section in 1 Kings 16 makes clear. This
created tension and no "heart" between fathers and children, and vice
versa. After his demotion, Elijah carried on believing- and we can assume
that he "got it". His future work will therefore involve caring for
people, and turning fathers and children towards each other in that they
have quit Baal. Elijah will finally learn from his immaturity, and become
people focused. LXX has "(who shall turn again) the heart of a man to his
neighbour".
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse- The ultimate salvation of the earth / land of Israel and its people is still conditional, upon their response to the Elijah prophet. There is no automatic salvation just because a day on the calendar has arrived. Salvation is intensely personal and human response is absolutely essential; and that is the appropriate finale of the prophecy. And yet if the last word of the Old Testament is "curse", the first recorded word of the Lord Jesus is "Blessed". But that blessing was upon individuals who responded to Him. It could be argued that the work of John the Baptist as the Elijah prophet failed to reform Israel [as did Elijah and Malachi]- and so in AD70 the land was indeed struck with a curse, "with a decree of utter destruction" (ESV). Is. 43:28 had said the same: "Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse". But Zech. 14:11 had foreseen this, and yet prophesied that through the return of the Lord Jesus, "Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse [s.w. Mal. 4:6]; but Jerusalem will dwell safely". This suggests that indeed all but the final Elijah ministry would fail. The land would be cursed. But this will be lifted at the Lord's return.
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