Malachi 4
The Day of The Lord
The final section of Malachi’s prophecy is the continuation of God’s response to His people’s plea for justice in the world. A day would come when God would reveal the “difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him (3:18).”
This future time would begin with a messenger (3:1), a prophet “Elijah” whose ministry would jumpstart an era the biblical authors called “the day of the Lord” where God obviously intervenes in the course of human history to accomplish His redemptive purposes in the world.
The Coming Day
Discouraged by the apparent prosperity of the wicked and uselessness of serving the LORD, God’s people needed to be reminded that the day is coming. God still has eternity to right all wrongs and reward all goodness. - David Guzik
Wicked Destroyed
Vs. 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
God’s action in destroying the wicked in the day of judgment is pictured in the illustration of a farmer burning off his field after he has harvested his grain. - Don Fleming
Righteous Delivered
Vs. 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.
The righteous are likened to the farmer’s calves, which were previously tied up in the dark stalls but are now set free. They burst forth to go leaping and skipping over the recently burnt-off fields. - Don Fleming
Remember The Instruction
Vs. 4 - Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
Malachi began with an illustration from Genesis (Jacob and Esau) and spent most of the first half of the book reminding priests and people of the need to keep the Mosaic Law. Now, close to the end of his book, he gives another terse reminder of their continuing obligation to those laws. - Alder
The Prophet Elijah
Vs. 5 - I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
Why Elijah?
Most commentators agree that this promised prophet will have similar ministry to the prophet Elijah, and that is the reason for the comparison. He will be used by God to announce this day of justice.
The promise regards Elijah because he ministered in a time of crisis in Israel, when the nation was far from God, and a time that immediately preceded a terrible judgment. - David Guzik
John the Baptist?
Matthew, Luke, and John referenced Malachi’s sermons in their gospel records to connect Jesus’ cousin John to these “messenger” and “Elijah” prophecies.
The angel who announced John’s birth told his parents that their son’s ministry would be one of spiritual empowerment like that of the prophet Elijah:
Luke 1:16-17 - He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.
Jesus directly quoted Malachi 3:1 and 4:5 to describe His cousin:
Matthew 11:9-14 - What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence, and the violent have been seizing it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.
Matthew 17:10-13 - So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
“Elijah is coming and will restore everything,” he replied. “But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
John the Baptizer Himself denied being the Messiah or Malachi’s “Elijah” figure but accepted his role as Isaiah’s “voice in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3).”
John 1:19-23 - This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”
He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”
“What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?”
“I am not,” he said.
“Are you the Prophet?”
“No,” he answered.
“Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
It’s possible that John did not fully grasp the meaning of his ministry. Or perhaps we are to be looking for another “Elijah” yet to come.
Some commentators believe that Malachi’s prophecies, like many others, have a dual fulfillment. Because Israel did not receive her Messiah, another “messenger” or “Elijah” will come to announce the second advent of Christ.
Centuries of Silence
The intertestamental period, or the time "between the testaments," occurred between the end of the writing of Malachi in the Old Testament and the beginning of the events described in Matthew in the New Testament. This was a period of about 400 years and is also known by some as the "400 years of silence." During this time, the nation and people of Israel changed politically, religiously, and socially.
The changes culminated with the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, who declared that He was the Savior, One with God, and then backed up His claims by resurrecting from the dead after a horrific execution.
During the 400 years before Jesus, God was silent in the sense that He did not give a prophetic word to His people, but He was actively carrying out His plan to deliver a Messiah for all people.
Compelling Truth
