“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
So as Christ comes to usher in the New Covenant, he does so with judgment and purity. These two cleansing actions not only convicts the people of His time, but all people for all-time. ‘The day is coming’ is a term that isn’t only a warning to the wicked and the oppositional to God, but an eschatology term that we see echoed in the prophets (Isaiah 13:6, Joel 2:11, Zephaniah 1:14). So we can tell Malachi’s words just aren’t about Christ’s earthly mission (which it is) but also a nod to the final judgment.
When we see terms like ‘burning’ or ‘fire’ in scripture, typically we are reading about judgment. Do in this context we see the day (of the Lord) coming, during like an over (judgment), when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. Stubble is the unusable part of the grain. So when Malachi is speaking to a society who would know this, it hits a little harder. The arrogant and the evil doers will be reduced to the unusable part of the grain, which, when thrown into a fire, immediately burns up.
The stubble, when thrown into the fire and burned, will be total. This will eliminate the root or branch, the way a plant can regrow. Malachi is eluding to the final judgment, the time when the unrepentant will be cast into the fire, with no hope of rebirth.
2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
Even though that sounds terrible, there is hope for the those who do follow, are responsive to God, and desire relationship through obedience. Those who fear (are reverent to) my name will experience blessing. How? Through the sun of righteousness.
What is the sun of righteousness? First, the ‘sun’ is warm and light. And we see from the text the sun has a healing power. The healing is not physical healing, but a joyous heart, a wholeness. Righteousness is the act of living right, living in a constant path toward God. So this healing and wholeness that comes from the light can mean only one thing: Christ. The prophet Jeremiah predicts the same Messiah coming in Jeremiah 23:5-6:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.
If we remember Malachi 3, earlier the prophet introduced us to the messenger who will pave the way for the Messiah. Here he is telling us that Christ, the Messiah, is the one who provides the warmth and healing, the whole life, that sinners crave. This is why it so important to repent. Because Christ offers a new life in him, one that provides that warmth and healing from the very sin that has caused sickness. In the same way Isaiah tells us this in Isaiah 53:4-6:
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53 is a very powerful chapter that tells on Christ’s rise and subsequent crucifixion a good 400 years before Christ’s birth. Verses 4-6 tell us about the healing, but also about what that healing is for and from. He was pierced for our transgressions (sins), he was crushed for our iniquities (perversions), the punishment that brought us peace was on him (crucifixion) and by his wounds we are healed (from our sin and perversions). We all like sheep have gone astray (wandered away), each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him (Christ), the iniquity (collected sin) of us all. This is important because once again, the prophets of old (here Isaiah, Jeremiah and Malachi), are all pointing to Christ who wasn’t born in their time but much later. And they all see Christ, the Messiah, as the point of healing for humankind. You’ll also note that these prophets don’t see the messiah as the mighty man who will swoop in and rescue the Israelites from Rome. They see Him as He was intended to be seen: as the one who came to heal His people, to forgive their sins, to provide a way into His kingdom.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
A final call to remember the word of God. The priests wandered away from the truth and people, governed by the priests, were further led astray. The decrees of God were meant to always be turned to throughout the ages. Kings were meant to read from the scripture. This law, the Mosaic Law, was meant to be followed and understood, and in that His people would understand the heart of God.
5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
The prophet Elijah was an amazing prophet during the time of Israel’s most evil days (1 Kings 17). His message was one of reconciliation and challenge to those who opposed God. John the Baptist was a type of Elijah. This is the type of messenger God will send in the last days. Someone who will pave the way for the king of kings. A man of reconciliation, a man who desires to save people before the day of the Lord comes. As we see in Christ’s time, John the Baptist readied people for Jesus’ arrival. He turned those hearts of those who were willing, just as it will be in the future when ‘Elijah’ will return to pave the way for Jesus’ second coming.
But as Christ’s mission did not create a great societal repentance, the final coming will. But in contrast to that, there is a caveat: if that doesn’t happen, whole sections of the earth, those places that aren’t in reconciliation to Christ, will experience a complete destruction. This is a curse to those who choose to wander, to those who are defiant and to those who are in opposition. Christ will come and in a whisper destroy those who wage war against Him:
Revelation 19:11-21
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
So as Christ comes to usher in the New Covenant, he does so with judgment and purity. These two cleansing actions not only convicts the people of His time, but all people for all-time. ‘The day is coming’ is a term that isn’t only a warning to the wicked and the oppositional to God, but an eschatology term that we see echoed in the prophets (Isaiah 13:6, Joel 2:11, Zephaniah 1:14). So we can tell Malachi’s words just aren’t about Christ’s earthly mission (which it is) but also a nod to the final judgment.
When we see terms like ‘burning’ or ‘fire’ in scripture, typically we are reading about judgment. Do in this context we see the day (of the Lord) coming, during like an over (judgment), when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. Stubble is the unusable part of the grain. So when Malachi is speaking to a society who would know this, it hits a little harder. The arrogant and the evil doers will be reduced to the unusable part of the grain, which, when thrown into a fire, immediately burns up.
The stubble, when thrown into the fire and burned, will be total. This will eliminate the root or branch, the way a plant can regrow. Malachi is eluding to the final judgment, the time when the unrepentant will be cast into the fire, with no hope of rebirth.
2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
Even though that sounds terrible, there is hope for the those who do follow, are responsive to God, and desire relationship through obedience. Those who fear (are reverent to) my name will experience blessing. How? Through the sun of righteousness.
What is the sun of righteousness? First, the ‘sun’ is warm and light. And we see from the text the sun has a healing power. The healing is not physical healing, but a joyous heart, a wholeness. Righteousness is the act of living right, living in a constant path toward God. So this healing and wholeness that comes from the light can mean only one thing: Christ. The prophet Jeremiah predicts the same Messiah coming in Jeremiah 23:5-6:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.
If we remember Malachi 3, earlier the prophet introduced us to the messenger who will pave the way for the Messiah. Here he is telling us that Christ, the Messiah, is the one who provides the warmth and healing, the whole life, that sinners crave. This is why it so important to repent. Because Christ offers a new life in him, one that provides that warmth and healing from the very sin that has caused sickness. In the same way Isaiah tells us this in Isaiah 53:4-6:
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53 is a very powerful chapter that tells on Christ’s rise and subsequent crucifixion a good 400 years before Christ’s birth. Verses 4-6 tell us about the healing, but also about what that healing is for and from. He was pierced for our transgressions (sins), he was crushed for our iniquities (perversions), the punishment that brought us peace was on him (crucifixion) and by his wounds we are healed (from our sin and perversions). We all like sheep have gone astray (wandered away), each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him (Christ), the iniquity (collected sin) of us all. This is important because once again, the prophets of old (here Isaiah, Jeremiah and Malachi), are all pointing to Christ who wasn’t born in their time but much later. And they all see Christ, the Messiah, as the point of healing for humankind. You’ll also note that these prophets don’t see the messiah as the mighty man who will swoop in and rescue the Israelites from Rome. They see Him as He was intended to be seen: as the one who came to heal His people, to forgive their sins, to provide a way into His kingdom.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
A final call to remember the word of God. The priests wandered away from the truth and people, governed by the priests, were further led astray. The decrees of God were meant to always be turned to throughout the ages. Kings were meant to read from the scripture. This law, the Mosaic Law, was meant to be followed and understood, and in that His people would understand the heart of God.
5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
The prophet Elijah was an amazing prophet during the time of Israel’s most evil days (1 Kings 17). His message was one of reconciliation and challenge to those who opposed God. John the Baptist was a type of Elijah. This is the type of messenger God will send in the last days. Someone who will pave the way for the king of kings. A man of reconciliation, a man who desires to save people before the day of the Lord comes. As we see in Christ’s time, John the Baptist readied people for Jesus’ arrival. He turned those hearts of those who were willing, just as it will be in the future when ‘Elijah’ will return to pave the way for Jesus’ second coming.
But as Christ’s mission did not create a great societal repentance, the final coming will. But in contrast to that, there is a caveat: if that doesn’t happen, whole sections of the earth, those places that aren’t in reconciliation to Christ, will experience a complete destruction. This is a curse to those who choose to wander, to those who are defiant and to those who are in opposition. Christ will come and in a whisper destroy those who wage war against Him:
Revelation 19:11-21
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.