The commentary on Malachi 4 emphasizes the impending day of judgment characterized by God's wrath on the wicked and the proud, equating their fate to stubble consumed by fire. It interprets historical events, such as the destruction of Jerusalem, as manifestations of this judgment, while contrasting the terror of the unrepentant with the hope and redemption for the faithful. Ultimately, the passage serves to warn the complacent and to comfort the righteous by highlighting the distinction between those who serve God and those who do not.

1. Malachi 4 Commentary
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
1. "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a
furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will
be stubble, and that day that is coming will set
them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "(ot a
root or a branch will be left to them.
1. God's patience does have a limit, and persistent rebellion against his will does
have severe consequences. When judgment is all that is left as an alternative to
God's endurance of evil, his wrath falls like a forest fire and consumes everything in
its path. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and 70 A. D. is
one of the most powerful demonstrations of his anger at Israel. The Roman army
destroyed the city of Jerusalem. They demolished the temple and killed masses of
people, and ended the sacrificial system of the Jews, which has never been recovered
to this day. Those not killed by the sword died in famine. Christians do not study
this day of judgment very much at all, and the result is, it is not very well known tha
Jesus came as a Judge as well as a Savior. He brought about the atonement for sin
that made salvation possible for all people who would believe and accept him as
Savior, but he also brought amazing judgment on the people of God that the
prophets warned continually was coming.
2. Gill points out that many, both Jewish and Christian, authors think this is the day
of Judgment at the end of history, but he sees it as the result of Christ's first
coming,".....to take vegeance on the Jewish nation, which burned like an oven, both
figuratively and literally; when the wrath of God, which is compared to fire, came
upon that people to the uttermost; and when their city and temple were burnt about
their ears, and they were surrounded with fire, as if they had been in a burning
oven: and this being so terrible, as can hardly be conceived and expressed, the word
"behold" is prefixed to it, not only to excite attention, but horror and terror at so
dreadful a calamity; which though future, when the prophet wrote, was certain: and
all the proud; yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; the proud Pharisees,
that boasted of their own righteousness, trusted in themselves, and despised others;
all workers of iniquity, in private or in public; all rejecters of Christ, contemners of
his Gospel and ordinances, and persecutors of his people; as well as such who were
guilty of the most flagitious crimes, as sedition, robbery, murder, &c. of which there
were notorious instances during the siege of Jerusalem; these were all like stubble
before devouring fire, weak and easily destroyed:"
3. Barnes, "Fire is ever spoken of, as accompanying the judgment Psa_50:3. “Our

2. God shall come, and shall not keep silence, a fire shall devour before Him Isa_66:15-
16. Behold the Lord will come with fire: for by fire and by the sword will the Lord
plead with all flesh: 1Co_3:13 every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every
man’s work, of what sort it is.” Peter tells us that fire will be of this burning world;
2Pe_3:7-10. “the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept
in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of’ ungodly
men; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.”The oven, or furnace, pictures the intensity of the heat, which is white
from its intensity, and darts forth, fiercely, shooting up like a living creature, and
destroying life, as the flame of the fire of (ebuchadnezzars Dan_3:22 “burning fiery
furnace slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” The
whole world shall be one burning furnace.
3B. Barnes goes on, "And all the proud and all that do wickedly - All those, whom
those complainers pronounced “blessed,” Mal_3:15, yea and all who should
thereafter be like them (he insists on the universality of the judgment), “every doer
of wickedness,” up to that day and those who should then be, shall be stubble.” The
proud and mighty, who in this life were strong as iron and brass, so that no one
dared resist them, but they dared to fight with God, these, in the Day of Judgment,
shall be most powerless, as stubble cannot resist the fire, in an ever-living death.”
That shall leave them neither root nor branch - “i. e. they shall have no hope of
shooting up again to life; that life, I mean, which is worthy of love, and in glory with
God, in holiness and bliss. For when the root has not been wholly cut away, nor the
shoot torn up as from the depth, some hope is retained, that it may again shoot up.
For, as it is written Job_10:4 :7, ‘There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will
sproul again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.’ But if it be wholly
torn up from below and from its very roots, and its shoots be fiercely cut away, all
hope, that it can again shoot up to life, will perish also. So, he saith, will all hope of
the lovers of sin perish. For so the divine Isaiah clearly announces Isa_66:24, “their
worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an
abhorring to all flesh."
4. Calvin says that in his day it was also common to think of this as the judgment of
the Second Coming, but he sees it as the judgment of his first coming. He
wrote,"There is however a question as to the day which he points out. The greater
part think that the Prophet speaks of the last coming of Christ, which seems not to
me probably. It is indeed true that these and similar expressions, which everywhere
occur in Scripture, have not their full accomplishment in this world; but God so
suspends his judgements, as yet never to withhold from giving evidences of them
that the godly may have some props to their faith: for if God gave no specimen or
proof of his providence, it would immediately occur to our minds, that there is to be
no judgement; but he sets before us some examples, that we may learn that he will
some time be the judge of the world. It seems then to me more probable, that the
Prophet speaks here of the renovation of the Church: for the wrath of God was then

3. at length more kindled against the Jews, when they had alienated themselves from
Christ; for their last hope and their last remedy in their evils was the aid of the
Redeemer, and it was for the rejection of his favor that the Jews had to feel the
dreadful punishment of their ingratitude. (o sin could have been more atrocious
than to have rejected the offered favor, in which their happiness and that of the
whole world consisted. When the Prophet then says, that the day would come, he
refers I think to the first coming of Christ; for the Jews made a confident boast of
the coming of a Redeemer, and he gives them this answer — that the day of the
Lord would come, such as they did not imagine, but a day which would wholly
consume them, according to a quotation we have made from another
Prophet,“What will be the day of the Lord to you? that day will not be light, but
darkness, a thick darkness and not brightness.” (Amos 5:18.) The day of the Lord
will be an unhappy event to you, as though one escaped from the jaws of a lion, and
fell at home on a serpent. So in this place he says that the day would come, which
would consume them like an oven."
5. Henry does not choose between the first and last coming, but says it refers to
both. He wrote, "The day cometh, that is, the Lord cometh, the day of the Lord; and
it has reference both to the first and to the second coming of Jesus Christ; the day of
both was fixed, and should answer the character here given of it. In both Christ is a
consuming fire to those that rebel against him. The day of his coming shall burn as
an oven; it shall be a day of wrath, of fiery indignation. This was foretold concerning
the Messiah, Psa_21:9, Thy hand shall find out all thy enemies, and shall make them
as a fiery oven in the time of thy anger. It will be a day of terror and destruction like
the burning of a city, or rather of a wood, the trees whereof are withered and dried,
for to that the allusion seems to be, as Isa_10:17, Isa_10:18, The light of Israel shall
be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it shall consume the glory of his forest
and of his fruitful field. (ow observe here, 1. Who shall be fuel to this fire - all the
proud in heart, whose words have been stout against God, and their necks stiff and
unapt to yield to the yoke of his commandments (all those that in the pride of their
countenances will not seek after God, nor submit to the grace and government of
Jesus Christ - all that proudly say they will not have Christ to reign over them), and
all those that do wickedly in their affections and conversations, that wilfully persist
in sin, in contempt of and contradiction to the law of God; they are such as do
wickedly against the covenant, as another prophet had lately expressed it,
Dan_11:32.
5B. Henry goes on, "God, that has perfect knowledge of every one's character,
knows who are the proud, and of every one's actions, knows who they are that do
wickedly; and they shall be as stubble to this fire; they shall be consumed by it, easily
consumed, utterly consumed, and it is wholly owing to themselves that they shall be
so, for they make themselves stubble, that is, combustible matter, to this fire. If they
were not stubble, it would not burn them; for the fire will be to every man according
as he and his works are found; if they be wood, hay, and stubble, they will be
consumed; but if they be gold, solver, and precious stones, they will abide the fire and
be purified by it, 1Co_3:13-15. Those that by their unbelief oppose Christ thereby

4. set themselves as briers and thorns before a devouring fire, Isa_27:4, Isa_27:5. 2.
What shall be the force and what the fruit of this fire: The day that cometh shall
burn them up, shall both terrify and ruin them, and shall leave them neither root nor
branch, neither son nor nephew (so the Chaldee paraphrase): neither they nor their
posterity shall be spared; they shall be wholly extirpated and cut off. Who knows the
power of God's anger? The proud and those that do wickedly will not fear it, but they
shall be made to feel it. Where are those now that called the proud happy, when thus
they are made completely miserable, when there remains no branch of their
happiness to be enjoyed for the present, nor any root of it out of which it might
again spring up?
5C. Henry continues, "(ow this was fulfilled, (1.) When Christ, in his doctrine,
spoke terror and condemnation to the proud Pharisees and the other Jews that did
wickedly, when he sent that fire on the earth which burnt up the chaff of the
traditions of the elders and the corrupt glosses they had put upon the law of God.
(2.) When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, and the nation of the Jews, as a
nation, quite blotted out from under heaven, and neither root nor branch left them.
This seems to be principally intended here; our Saviour says that those should be
the days of vengeance, when all the things that were written to that purport should
be fulfilled, Luk_21:22. Then the unbelieving Jews were as stubble to the devouring
fire of God's judgments, which gathered together to them as the eagles to the
carcase. (3.) It is certainly applicable, and is to be applied, to the day of judgment, to
the particular judgment at death (some of the Jewish doctors refer it the
punishment that seizes on the souls of the wicked immediately after they go out of the
body), but especially to the general judgment, at the end of time, when Christ shall
be revealed in flaming fire, to execute judgment on the proud, and all that do
wickedly. The whole world shall then burn as an oven, and all the children of this
world, that set their hearts upon it and choose their portion in it, shall take their
ruin with it, and the fire then kindled shall never be quenched.
6. Dr. Paul Choo, "This verse continues the warning of destruction to the wicked,
given in the previous verses. "The day' refers both to the first and the second
coming of the Lord. In both, the Lord is a consuming fire to those that rebel against
Him. Shortly after the Lord's first coming, the Romans, under Titus, burned
Jerusalem and the Temple completely, as an oven - and all the wicked, rebellious
Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah became "stubble," (ormally, when a tree. is
burned its toots are protected by the soil and give rise to a new plant. However,
Israel was so totally destroyed (ie, "root and branch"), that it disappeared from the
face of the earth for two thousand years. At Christ's second coming, the whole world
will "melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up" (2PE 3: 10)."
7. Steven Cole, "The skeptics looked at the seeming
prosperity of the wicked and concluded that there is no benefit in
serving God. They said that the arrogant seemed to be blessed and

5. to get away with their evil deeds. There did not appear to be a God
of justice, and so it is a waste of time to live according to His righteous
standards.To counter this scoffing, Malachi showed that God especially
remembers those who fear His name; in fact, they are His special
treasure (3:16-18). There is a huge difference between those who
serve God and those who do not. That difference will be unveiled
at the coming day that God has prepared, a day that will consume
the wicked like a furnace. But those who fear God need not fear
that coming awful day, because for them it will be a day of great
comfort and triumph. So our text is written to disturb the comfortable
and to comfort the disturbed."
8. Wolf: Hebrew Bibles divide Malachi into three chapters rather than four; 4:1-6
appears as 3:19-24. The advantage of this division is that it allows 3:13 to 4:6 to
remain intact, as it surely was intended to be. The division of the book into four
chapters was patterned after the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old
Testament. . .
2. But for you who revere my name, the sun of
righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.
And you will go out and leap like calves released
from the stall.
1. (o matter how bad things get, there is always good news for those who love and
honor the name of God. When the wicked are being destroyed they will be dancing
with joy instead. If you have ever seen a calf released from the stall, you know how
wild they can be with the joy of their freedom to run and leap. Being saved from the
destruction that comes upon the wicked is the most joyful experience of life, for we
only have this deliverance by the grace of God. It is such a great privilege to be
spared that the joy in us who love the Lord will be so overwhelming that we will act
like these crazy calves in their liberation from bondage.
1B. James Russell, "At the same time, while judgment and wrath are the
predominant elements of the prophecy, features of a different character are not
wholly absent. The day of wrath is also a day of redemption. There is a faithful
remnant, even among the apostate nation: there are gold and silver to be refined
and jewels to be gathered, as well as dross to be rejected, and stubble to be burned.
There are sons to be spared, as well as enemies to be destroyed; and the day which

6. brought dismay and darkness to the wicked, would see 'the Sun of righteousness
arise with healing in his wings' on the faithful. Even Malachi intimates that the door
of mercy is not yet shut. If the nation would return unto God, He would return unto
them. If they would make restitution of that which they had sacrilegiously withheld
from the service of the temple, He would repay them with blessings more than they
could receive. They might even yet be a 'delightsome land,' the envy of all nations.
At the eleventh hour, if the mission of the second Elijah should succeed in winning
the hearts of the people, the impending catastrophe might after all be averted (chap.
iii. 3, 16-18; iv. 2, 3, 5, 6)."
2. Clarke, "As the sun, by the rays of light and heat, revives, cheers, and fructifies
the whole creation, giving, through God, light and life everywhere; so Jesus Christ,
by the influences of his grace and Spirit, shall quicken, awaken, enlighten, warm,
invigorate heal, purify, and refine every soul that believes in him, and, by his wings
or rays, diffuse these blessings from one end of heaven to another; everywhere
invigorating the seeds of righteousness, and withering and drying up the seeds of
sin. The rays of this Sun are the truths of his Gospel, and the influences of his Spirit.
And at present these are universally diffused.
And ye shall go forth - Ye who believe on his name shall go forth out of Jerusalem
when the Romans shall come up against it. After Cestius Gallus had blockaded the
city for some days, he suddenly raised the siege. The Christians who were then in it,
knowing, by seeing Jerusalem encompassed with armies, that the day of its
destruction was come, when their Lord commanded them to flee into the mountains,
took this opportunity to escape from Jerusalem, and go to Pella, in Coelesyria; so
that no Christian life fell in the siege and destruction of this city."
2B. F. B. Meyer, "At the end of the Old Testament it is meet that the sun should
break out. The morning that broke on Paradise was clear enough. It was without
clouds. But the sky soon became darkened, and at last veiled, with only here and
there a chink of blue sky left. All through the dark succeeding centuries there have
been gleams of sunshine to let men know that the sun was shining still. Every
precious promise, every solemn type, every holy life, that was bathed in
supernatural beauty, was like a shining forth of the sun through the bars of human
darkness and sin. But evidently more was in store than Old Testament saints had
dreamed; and the time was coming when the reign of type, symbol, and parable,
would be succeeded by the clear vision of the face of God.
We live in the days of open vision. Let us go forth and exult. We are to rejoice in
every good thing He gives us. As the young calves of the early spring manifest their
exuberant life in their caperings and gambols in the pastures, so let us give
expression to our joy. Exult because of the clear shining of God’s love: exult because
the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth: exult because He is coming
again, as surely as He came once. Wake up, my soul, take psaltery and harp, and
sing. The Bridegroom is at hand. Hark! are those his chariot wheels reverberating

7. through the air? Even so! Lord Jesus, come quickly!"
2C. Spurgeon, "YES, when the sun shines, the sick quit their chambers, and walk
abroad to breathe the fresh air. When the sun brings spring and summer, the cattle
quit their stalls and seek pasture on the higher Alps. Even thus, when we have
conscious fellowship with our Lord, we leave the stall of despondency, and walk
abroad in the fields of holy confidence. We ascend to the mountains of joy and feed
on sweet pasturage which grows nearer heaven than the provender of carnal men.
To "go forth?” and to “?grow up?” is a double promise. O my soul, be thou eager to
enjoy both blessings! Why shouldst thou be a prisoner? Arise, and walk at liberty.
Jesus saith that His sheep shall go in and out and find pasture; go forth, then, and
feed in the rich meadows of boundless love. Why remain a babe in grace? Grow up.
Young calves grow fast, especially if they are stall-fed; and thou hast the choice care
of thy Redeemer. Grow, then, in grace and in knowledge of thy Lord and Savior. Be
neither straitened nor stunted. The Sun of Righteousness has risen upon thee.
Answer to His beams, as the buds to the natural sun. Open thine heart, expand and
grow up into Him in all things."
Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear,
It is not night if Thou be near;
O may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes. --Keble
3. Gill goes into great detail to show that Jesus is this sun of righteousness. "Those
are undoubtedly in the right who understand these words figuratively of the
Messiah; who is compared to the "sun", because, as the sun is a luminous body, the
light of the whole world, so is Christ of the world of men, and of the world of saints;
particularly of the Gentiles, often called the world; and of the (ew Jerusalem
church state, and of the world to come: and as the sun is the fountain of light, so is
Christ the fountain of natural and moral light, as well as of the light of grace, and of
the light of glory: as the sun communicates light to all the celestial bodies, so Christ
to the moon, the church; to the stars, the ministers of the word; to the morning
stars, the angels: as the sun dispels the darkness of the night, and makes the day, so
Christ dispelled the darkness of the ceremonial law, and made the Gospel day; and
he dispels the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, and makes the day of grace; and
will dispel the darkness of imperfection, and will make the day of glory; as the sun is
a pure, clear, and lucid body, so is Christ, without the least spot of sin; and so are
his people, as they are clothed with his righteousness: as the sun is a glorious body,
so is Christ both his natures, divine and human; in his office as Mediator; and will
be in his second coming: as the sun is superior to all the celestial bodies, so is Christ
to angels and saints: as the sun is but one, so there is but one Son of God; one
Mediator between God and man; one Saviour and Redeemer; one Lord and Head of
the church: its properties and effects are many; it lays things open and manifest,
which before were hid; communicates heat as well as light; make the earth fruitful;

8. is very exhilarating; has its risings and settings, and of great duration: so Christ
declares the mind and will of his Father, the hidden mysteries of grace; lays open
the thoughts of men's hearts in conversion; and will at the last day bring to light the
hidden things of darkness: he warms the hearts of his people with his love, and
causes them to burn within them, while they hear his Gospel, and he makes them
fervent in spirit while they serve the Lord; he fills them with the fruits of
righteousness, and with joy unspeakable, and full of glory; but he is not always seen,
is sometimes under a cloud, and withdraws himself; yet his name is as the sun
before the Lord, and wilt abide for ever.
3B. Gill goes on, "He is called "the sun of righteousness", because of the glory of his
essential righteousness as God; and because of the purity and perfection of his
righteousness as man, which appeared in all his actions, and in the administration of
all his offices; and because of the display of the righteousness of God in him, in his
sufferings and death, in atonement, pardon, and justification by him; and because
he is the author and bringer in of righteousness to his people, the glory of which
outshines all others, is pure and spotless like the sun, and is everlasting; those who
have it are said to be clothed with the sun, and on such he shines in his beams of
divine love, grace, and mercy, which righteousness sometimes signifies; and his rays
of grace transform men into righteousness and true holiness. The "arising" of this
sun may denote the appearance of Christ in our nature; under the former
dispensation this sun was not risen, it was then night with the world; John the
Baptist was the morning star, the forerunner of it: Christ the sun is now risen; the
dayspring from on high hath visited mankind, and has spread its light and heat, its
benign influences, by the ministration of the Gospel, the grace of God, which has
appeared and shone out, both in Judea, and in the Gentile world: it may be
accommodated to his spiritual appearance: this sun is sometimes under a cloud, or
seems to be set, which occasions trouble, and is for wise ends, but will and does arise
again to them that fear the Lord.
3C. Gill also refers to the Christians escaping the destruction that came upon
Jerusalem in 70 A. D. He wrote, "..and ye shall go forth; not out of the world, or out
of their graves, as some think; but either out of Jerusalem, as the Christians did a
little before its destruction, being warned so to do, whereby they were preserved
from that calamity; or it intends a going forth with liberty in the exercise of grace
and duty, in the exercise of faith on Christ, love to him, hope in him, repentance,
humility, self-denial, &c.; and in a cheerful obedience to his will; or else walking on
in his ways; having health and strength, with great pleasure and comfort; and, as
Aben Ezra says, by the light of this sun.
4. Calvin, "There is to be noticed here a contrast; for the body of the people were
infected as it were with a general contagion, but God had preserved a few
uncontaminated. As then he had been hitherto contending with the greatest part of
the people, so he now gathers as it were apart the chosen few, and promises to them
Christ as the author of salvation. For the godly, we know, trembled at threatenings,

9. and would have almost fainted, had not God mitigated them. Whenever he
denounced vengeance on sinners, the greater part either mocked, or became angry,
at least were not duly impressed. Thus it happens that while God is thundering, the
ungodly go on securely in their sinful courses; but the godly tremble at a word, and
would be altogether cast down, were not God to apply a remedy.
4B. Calvin goes on,"Hence our Prophet softens the severity of the threatening which
we have observed; as though he had said, that he had not announced the coming of
Christ as terrible for the purpose of filling pious souls with fear, (for it was not
spoken to them,) but only of terrifying the ungodly. The sum of the whole is briefly
this — “Hearken ye,” he says, “who fear God; for I have a different word for you,
and that is, that the Sun of righteousness shall arise, which will bring healing in its
wings. Let those despisers of God then perish, who, though they carry on war with
him, yet seek to have him as it were bound to them; but raise ye up your heads, and
patiently look for that day, and with the hope of it calmly bear your troubles.”
4C. Calvin continues, "There is indeed no doubt but that Malachi calls Christ the
Sun of righteousness; and a most suitable term it is, when we consider how the
condition of the fathers differed from ours. God has always given light to his
Church, but Christ brought the full light, according to what Isaiah teaches us,
“On thee shall Jehovah arise,
and the glory of God shall be seen in thee.” (Isaiah 60:1.)
This can be applied to none but to Christ. Again he says, “Behold darkness shall
cover the earth,” etc.; “shine on thee shall Jehovah;” and farther,
“There shall be now no sun by day nor moon by night; but God alone shall give
thee light.” (Isaiah 60:19.)
All these words show that Sun is a name appropriate to Christ; for God the Father
has given a much clearer light in the person of Christ than formerly by the law, and
by all the appendages of the law. And for this reason also is Christ called the light of
the world; not that the fathers wandered as the blind in darkness, but that they
were content with the dawn only, or with the moon and stars. We indeed know how
obscure was the doctrine of the law, so that it may truly be said to be shadowy.
When therefore the heavens became at length opened and clear by means of the
gospel, it was through the rising of the Sun, which brought the full day; and hence it
is the peculiar office of Christ to illuminate. And on this account it is said in the first
chapter of John, that he was from the beginning the true light, which illuminates
every man that cometh into the world, and yet that it was a light shining in
darkness; for some sparks of reason continue in men, however blinded they are
become through the fall of Adam and the corruption of nature. But Christ is
peculiarly called light with regard to the faithful, whom he delivers from the

10. blindness in which all are involved by nature, and whom he undertakes to guide by
his Spirit.
4D. Calvin continues, "The meaning then of the word sun, when metaphorically
applied to Christ, is this, — that he is called a sun, because without him we cannot
but wander and go astray, but that by his guidance we shall keep in the right way;
and hence he says,
“He who follows me walks not in darkness.” (John 8:12.)
But we must observe that this is not to be confined to the person of Christ, but
extended to the gospel. Hence Paul says,
“Awake thou who sleepest, and rise from darkness,
and Christ shall illuminate thee.” (Ephesians 5:14)
Christ then daily illuminates us by his doctrine and his Spirit; and though we see
him not with our eyes, yet we find by experience that he is a sun.
4E. Calvin continues, " He is called the sun of righteousness, either because of his
perfect rectitude, in whom there is nothing defective, or because the righteousness of
God is conspicuous in him: and yet, that we may know the light, derived from him,
which proceeds from him to us and irradiates us, we are not to regard the transient
concerns of this life, but what belongs to the spiritual life. The first thing is, that
Christ performs towards us the office of a sun, not to guide our feet and hands as to
what is earthly, but that he brings light to us, to show the way to heaven, and that by
its means we may come to the enjoyment of a blessed and eternal life. We must
secondly observe, that this spiritual light cannot be separated from righteousness;
for how does Christ become our sun? It is by regenerating us by his Spirit into
righteousness, by delivering us from the pollutions of the world, by renewing us
after the image of God. We now then see the import of the word righteousness.
4F. Calvin continues, "He adds, And healing in its wings. He gives the name of
wings to the rays of the sun; and this comparison has much beauty, for it is taken
from nature, and most fitly applied to Christ. There is nothing, we know, more
cheering and healing than the rays of the sun; for ill-savor would soon overwhelm
us, even within a day, were not the sun to purge the earth from its dregs; and
without the sun there would be no respiration. We also feel a sort of relief at the
rising of the sun; for the night is a kind of burden. When the sun sets, we feel as it
were a heaviness in all our members; and the sick are exhilarated in the morning
and experience a change from the influence of the sun; for it brings to us healing in
its wing. But the Prophet has expressed what is still more, — that a clear sun in a
serene sky brings healing; for there is an implied opposition between a cloudy or

11. stormy time and a clear and bright season. During time of serenity we are far more
cheerful, whether we be in health or in sickness; and there is no one who does not
derive some cheerfulness from the serenity of the heavens: but when it is cloudy,
even the most healthy feels some inconvenience.
4G. Calvin concludes, "According to this view Malachi now says, that there would
be healing in the wings of Christ, inasmuch as many evils were to be borne by the
true servants of God; for if we consider the history of those times, it will appear that
the condition of that people was most grievous. He now promises a change to them;
for the restoration of the Church would bring them joy. See then in what way he
meant there would be healing in the wings of Christ; for the darkness would be
dissipated, and the heavens would be free from clouds, so as to exhilarate the minds
of the godly. By calling the godly those who fear God, he adopts the common
language of Scripture; for we have said that the chief part of righteousness and
holiness consists in the true worship of God: but something new is here expressed;
for this fear is what peculiarly belongs to true religion, so that men submit to God,
though he is invisible, though he does not address them face to face, though he does
not openly show his hand armed with scourges. When therefore men of their own
accord reverence the glory of God, and acknowledge that the world is governed by
him, and that they are under his authority, this is a real evidence of true religion:
and this is what the Prophet means by name. Hence they who fear the name of God,
desire not to draw him down from heaven, nor seek manifest signs of his presence,
but suffer their faith to be thus tried, so that they adore and worship God, though
they see him not face to face, but only through a mirror and that darkly, and also
through the displays of his power, justice, and other attributes, which are evident
before our eyes."
5. Henry, "The day that comes, as it will be a stormy day to the wicked, a day in
which God will rain upon them fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, as he did
on Sodom (Psa_11:6), a day of clouds and thick darkness (Amo_5:18, Amo_5:20), so
it will be a fair and bright day to those who fear God, and reviving as the rising sun
is to the earth; and particular notice is taken of the rising of the sun upon Zoar
when that was mercifully distinguished from the cities of the plain, which the fire
consumed; see Gen_19:23. So to those that fear God is comfort spoken. When the
hearts of others fail for fear let them lift up their heads for joy, for their redemption
draws nigh, Luk_21:28. But by the Sun of righteousness here we are certainly to
understand Jesus Christ, who would undertake to secure the believing remnant, in
the day of the general destruction of the Jews, from falling with the rest, and to
comfort them in that day of distress and perplexity with his consolations; he
directed those that were in Judea to flee to the mountains (Mat_24:16), and they did
so, and were all safe and easy in Pella. But it is to be applied more generally, (1.) To
the coming of Christ in the flesh to seek and save those that were lost; then the Sun
of righteousness arose upon this dark world. Christ is the light of the world, the true
light, the great light that makes day and rules the day (Joh_8:12), as the sun. He is
the light of men (Joh_1:4), is to men's souls as the sun is to the visible world, which
without the sun would be a dungeon; so would mankind be darkness itself without

12. the light of the glory of God shining in the face of Christ. Christ is the Sun that has
light in himself, and is the fountain of light (Psa_19:4-6); he is the Sun of
righteousness, for he is himself a righteous Saviour. Righteousness is both the light
and the heat of this Sun; the word of his righteousness is so; it guides, instructs, and
quickens; so is the everlasting righteousness he has brought in. He is made of God to
us righteousness; he is the Lord our righteousness, and therefore is fitly called the
Sun of righteousness. Through him we are justified and sanctified, and so are
brought to see light. This Sun of righteousness, in the fulness of time, arose upon the
world, and with him light came into the world (Joh_3:19), a great light, Mat_4:16. In
him the day-spring from on high visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness,
Luk_1:78, Luk_1:79. Righteousness sometimes signifies mercy or benignity, and it
was in Christ that the tender mercy of our God visited us. (2.) It is applicable to the
graces and comforts of the Holy Spirit, brought into the souls of men. Grotius
understands it of Christ's giving the Spirit to those that are his, to shine in their
hearts, and to be a comforter to them, a sun and a shield. Those that are possessed
and governed by a holy fear of God and a dread of his majesty shall have his love
also shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost; and then the sun may be said to
arise there, and to bring both a delightful day and a fruitful spring along with it. (3.)
Christ's second coming will be a glorious and welcome sun-rising to all that fear his
name; it will be that morning of the resurrection in which the upright shall have
dominion, Psa_49:14. That day which to the wicked will burn as an oven will to the
righteous be bright as the morning; and it is what they wait for, more than those that
wait for the morning.
5B. Henry continues, "What this mercy and comfort shall bring to them: He shall
arise with healing under his wings, or in his rays or beams, which are as the wings of
the sun. Christ came, as the sun, to bring not only light to a dark world, but health
to a diseased distempered world. The Jews (says Dr. Pocock) have a proverbial
saying, As the sun riseth, infirmities decrease; the flowers which drooped and
languished all night revive in the morning. Christ came into the world to be the
great physician, yea, and the great medicine too, both the balm in Gilead and the
physician there. When he was upon earth, he went about as the sun in his circuit,
doing this good; he healed all manner of sicknesses and diseases among the people; he
healed by wholesale, as the sun does. He shall arise with healing in his skirts; so some
read it, and they apply it to the story of the woman's touching the hem of his
garment, and being thereby made whole, and his finding that virtue went out of him,
Mar_5:28-30. But his healing bodily diseases was a specimen of his great design in
coming into the world to heal the diseases of men's souls, and to put them into a
good state of health, that they may serve and enjoy both God and themselves.
5C. Henry goes on, "What good effect it shall have upon them. (1.) It shall make
them vigorous in themselves: “You shall go forth, as those that are healed go abroad
and return to their business.” The souls shall go forth out of their bodies at death,
and the bodies out of their graves at the resurrection, as prisoners out of their
dungeons, and both to see the light and be set at liberty. “You shall go forth as plants
out of the earth, when in the spring the sun returns.” Some make it to mean the

13. going forth of the Christians from Jerusalem, and the escape they thereby made
from its destruction. And thus the souls on whom the Sun of righteousness arises go
forth out of the world, go forth out of Babylon, as those that are made free indeed.
“You shall likewise grow up; being restored to health and liberty, you shall increase
in knowledge, and grace, and spiritual strength.” The souls on which the Sun of
righteousness arises are growing up towards the perfect man; those that by the grace
of God are made wise and good are by the same grace made wiser and better; and
their path, like that of the rising sun, shines more and more to the perfect day,
Pro_4:18. Their growth is compared to that of the calves of the stall, which is a
quick, strong, and useful growth. “You shall grow up, not as the flower of the field,
which is slender, and weak, and of little use, and withers soon after it has grown up,
but as the calves of the stall,” that, as one of the rabbin expounds it, grow great in
flesh and fatness, with which both God's altars and men's tables are replenished; so
the growth of the saints, on whom the Sun of righteousness arises, honours both
God and man. Some read it, instead of You shall grow up, You shall move yourselves,
or leap for joy, shall be as frolicsome as calves of the stall, when they are let loose in
the open field; it denotes the joy of the saints, who rejoice in Christ Jesus; they shall
even leap for joy; they are always caused to triumph."
6. Barnes sees this as primarily dealing with the last judgment, and the entrance
into heaven for the righteous. "The Old Testament exhibits the opposite lots of the
righteous and the wicked, so here the prophet speaks of the Day of Judgment, in
reference to the two opposite classes, of which he had before spoken, the proud and
evil doers, and the fearers of God. The title, “the Sun of Righteousness,” belongs to
both comings , “in the first, lie diffused rays of righteousness, whereby He justified
and daily justifies any sinners whatever, who will look to Him, i. e., believe in Him
and obey Him, as the sun imparts light; joy and life to all who turn toward it.” In
the second, the righteousness which He gave, lie will own and exhibit, cleared from
all the misjudgment of the world, before men and Angels. Yet more, healing is,
throughout Holy Scripture, used of the removal of sickness or curing of wounds, in
the individual or state or Church, and, as to the individual, bodily or spiritual.
6B. Barnes continues, "So David thanks God, first for the forgiveness Psa_103:3-5,
“Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;” then for healing of his soul, “Who healeth all
thy diseases;” then for salvation, “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;” then
for the crown laid up for him, “Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender
mercies;” then, with the abiding sustenance and satisfying joy, “Who satisfieth thy
mouth with good things.” Healing then primarily belongs to thin life, in which we
are still encompassed with infirmities, and even His elect and His saints have still,
whereof to be healed. The full then and complete healing of the soul, the integrity of
all its powers will be in the life to come. There, will be “understanding without
error, memory without forgetfulness, thought without distraction, love without
simulation, sensation without offence, satisfying without satiety, universal health
without sickness.” “For through Adam’s sin the soul was wounded in
understanding, through obscurity and ignorance; in will, through the leaning to
perishing goods; as concupiscent, through infirmity and manifold concupiscence. In

14. heaven Christ will heal all these, giving to the understanding light and knowledge;
to the will, constancy in good; to the desire, that it should desire nothing but what is
right and good. Then too the healing of the seal will be the light of glory, the vision
and fruition of God, and the glorious endowments consequent thereon,
overstreaming all the powers of the soul and therefrom to the body.” “God has
made the soul of a nature so mighty, that from its most full beatitude, which at the
end of time is promised to the saints, there shall overflow to the inferior nature, the
body, not bliss, which belongs to the soul as intelligent and capable of fruition, but
the fullness of health that is, the vigorousness of incorruption.”
7. PIPER, Jesus Christ is a rising sun.
That means at least four things. I'll mention only two (omitting: warmth where
there was cold, and growth where there was atrophy).
(a) He brings light where there was darkness. And when you have light you can see.
Jesus helps us see things like they really are. He makes sense out of things. He said
to Pilate, "For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear
witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." And Pilate
mocked him and said, as though he lived in the twentieth century, "What is truth?"
That is the tragic and cynical cry of or age: What is truth! (ot because there's a
passion for truth, but because there is so much skepticism that any such thing exists.
And the effect of this skepticism and relativism is moral and intellectual and
personal and family bankruptcy. Why do many families come apart? Because they
have no anchor of truth. The husband and father has no clear vision of why he or
his children exist. And so all he can do is pass on a few tips for how not to make
more money or stay healthy. And the emptiness gets deeper and deeper with each
unbelieving generation.
But Jesus is the light of the world. He brings sense and meaning our of absurdity.
(b) The second thing implied by his being a rising sun is that he brings security
where there was danger. When it is dark there is more danger because you can't see
the path in front of you. You might fall off a cliff or trip over a log or bang your
head against a branch.
When the sun finally rises you can move with security. That's the way it is with
Jesus. He points the way to go again and again. He shows up the danger and the
foolishness of many choices before we make them. He guards us from many evil
forces that only have power in the dark.
So when Jesus comes into the world, he comes as a sun: he is light in the darkness of
confusion and ignorance and skepticism. He gives a fixed point of truth in a world

15. where every standard seems to have come unglued. And in doing this he guards us
from destroying our lives and keeps us safe.
2. The sun is a sun with beams of righteousness.
Which means that Jesus makes things right. He makes man right with God through
reconciliation. He makes man right with man through grace and humility and
patience and love. And in the end, he will make right all the wrongs that his people
have suffered, so that we don't have to carry the burden of indignation and revenge.
If you look at the incredible injustices in the world today, and see people suffering
when they seem innocent and prospering when they seem wicked, Jesus gives an
answer: where he is trusted he can reconcile and restore; where he's not, he will
have the last word in the judgment.
3. This sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings.
I can remember the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean nineteen years ago this week.
(oel and I were on our honeymoon. We were up early one morning and saw how it
happens on the rim of the ocean.
A thin line of orange and red appears along the water. Then it intensifies, brighter
and brighter, and you see the brightness focusing more and more on the center of
the line, until the flaming ball surges up out of the water. And then you watch it rise
up, and in a sense it brings that whole red line on the rim of the rim of the water up
into the air as though the sun had wings.
When Malachi saw that, God told him: the coming of the Messiah will be like that
and the effect of his beauty will be healing. And Jesus was a great healer. All I have
time to say now is that though Jesus does not heal every disease in this life, he will
heal every disease in the resurrection. In other words Jesus meets the tremendous
need we all feel for hope beyond the grave -- that all sickness and pain and sorrow
and crying will be gone for ever.
4. One effect of all this for those who fear the Lord (and this is the fourth image
from verse 2) will be a going forth from the stall -- "You shall go forth from the
stall."
The coming of Jesus means freedom not bondage. I remember talking to a
thoughtful young woman a few years ago about my sermons on Christian Hedonism
and whether I really believed joy was what all people were really after. I asked her
what made her tick. And she said, "For me freedom seems more basic."

16. I wouldn't want to minimize that deep longing in our hearts for freedom. It is real
and it is essential to all joy. And Jesus promises to give it. Until he comes we are all
in a real sense trapped and bound in the stall. We might party all day long; but we
will never know the freedom for which we were made as long as we are in the stall --
until Jesus sets us free.
5. But I stand by my the Christian Hedonism of those days because the fifth image
from verse 2 is that when the sun of righteousness rises with healing in his wings
and we are set free from the stall of bondage, we will not merely walk, or run; we
will leap like calves.
In other words freedom is the necessary condition of leaping joy. Jesus said once
(Luke 6:22-23), "Blessed are you when men hate you. . . Rejoice in that day, and
leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven."
Some of you think that others are disabled in this regard because of inherited
personalities. You think they could no more leap like a calf than speak Russian. But
I have suspicion we do not know each other very well.
I remember once in seminary going out with people from the adult Sunday School I
was teaching. We came out of the pizza place and I commenced to demonstrate the
high step of a drum major in the Greenville S. C. Christmas parade. Well the
mouths of those folks fell open. And they stared in disbelief. They didn't know I
have a calf in me.
But I want tell you a secret: There is a calf in every believer in this room. And given
the right setting it will leap. And we would do well to give it some room. Otherwise
we will look very out of character in heaven when Jesus takes us running through
the fields.
8. Steven Cole, "Some scholars do not interpret this as a reference to Jesus, but
rather to the conditions that will exist in the millennium. But I think it is a reference
to Jesus Christ. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, seemed to pick up the
language of this verse when he prophesied that John would prepare the Lord’s
ways, “to give 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” (Luke 1:77-79). Because of the link between John the
Baptist in Malachi 3:1 & 4:5, and because of Zecharias’ similar language about
the Sunrise from on high, I believe that our text is messianic. It has at least five
implications:

17. 1) The sun of righteousness brings light where there was darkness. These verses
refer to the blessings of our salvation that begin at the moment we trust in Jesus, but
grow brighter and brighter until that glorious moment when He comes again and
we shall be caught up to be always with the Lord. Outside of Christ, the world
lives in spiritual darkness, blinded to the truth of God’s Word (Acts 26:18). Only
Christ can open blind eyes. By His power, God delivered us from the domain of
darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col. 1:13). Jesus
made the bold claim, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not
walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). When Jesus Christ
shines into your darkness, suddenly you see. As Charles Wesley put it, “Long my
imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night. Thine eye diffused a
quickening ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.”
2) The sun of righteousness brings healing where there was disease and brokenness.
The darkness of the evil one’s domain brings spiritual sickness and death to the
human race. The warm rays of the sun of righteousness bring restoration and
healing. (“Wings” is poetic language for the rays of the sun.) One of the devil’s lies is
to get us to think that sin brings satisfaction, whereas righteousness is restrictive.
But the truth is, sin always brings disease and death, whereas righteousness heals
and restores. Have you ever had the flu, where your bones ache? If it’s gloomy and
damp outside, it only seems to add to your misery. But then the sun breaks through
the clouds and you find a chair in the sunlight streaming through a window. Those
warm rays of the sun feel so good on your aching bones! That is an earthly
illustration of the spiritual truth of the gospel. When you repent of your sins and
begin to live in the warm rays of God’s righteousness, He brings healing from the
wounds of sin in your life.
3) The sun of righteousness brings comfort and hope where there had been despair.
I think that we who live in Arizona, where the sun shines over 300 days a year, don’t
appreciate how wonderful the sunlight is. When Marla and I traveled in Eastern
Europe, we learned that sunshine in the winter there is a rare thing. Studies have
shown that people who live in the extreme north suffer from what is called
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). They get depressed because they live in the dark
for months during the long, cold winters. When the first rays of the sun appear over
the horizon, they throw a party! The sunlight brings them hope. Outside of Jesus
Christ and the salvation that He brings, there is no hope. One of the most depressing
phrases in the Bible is Paul’s description of unbelievers, that they have “no hope
and [are] without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). But when the sun of righteousness
rises in your heart, He brings the wonderful hope of eternal life!
4) The sun of righteousness brings great joy where there was sadness. “You will go
forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” Perhaps many of you who are city-borne
and bred have not seen this, although I have. After being cooped up in a stall,
calves will literally jump as if for joy. Part of this for the believer is the great joy of
being freed from the bondage of sin and judgment. The angel announced the birth
of Christ to the shepherds by saying, “I bring you good news of a great joy” (Luke

18. 2:10). There is simply no greater joy than the news that God has sent a Savior to set
us free from the penalty and power of sin, so that we may dwell with Him in the
glory of His presence forever! So, the sun of righteousness brings light where there
was darkness; healing where there was disease; hope where there was despair; and,
joy where there was sadness. Finally,
5) The sun of righteousness brings right where there was wrong. “You will tread
down the wicked, for they will be ashes under your feet….” In this evil world, God
permits the wicked often to triumph over the godly. There are many injustices,
where the innocent suffer and their tormentors often literally get away with murder.
But when the sun of righteousness rises in that final day that God is preparing, all
wrongs will be righted. Perfect justice will prevail. Every sinner will be judged
according to his works, and the righteous will rejoice. You may wonder, “I thought
that vengeance is wrong. How can the righteous rejoice over treading the wicked
underfoot like ashes?” While personal vengeance is wrong, it is not wrong to long
for the day when God will exercise His perfect justice. In Revelation 6:9-11, John
looks into heaven and sees the souls of those who have been slain because of their
testimony for Christ. They cry out, asking God how long it will be until He avenges
their blood. God tells them to rest for a bit longer, until the number of martyrs is
complete. Then, in Revelation 18, when wicked Babylon has finally fallen, the angel
proclaims, “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets,
because God has pronounced judgment for you against her” (18:20). God’s final
answer to the problem of the prosperity of the wicked and the unjust suffering of
the righteous is the coming day of judgment. His promise of that day should bring
great comfort to all of God’s elect."
9. MY God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights!
2 In darkest shades, if thou appear,
My dawning is begun;
Thou art my souls bright morning star,
And thou my rising sun.
3 The opening heavens around me shine
With beams of sacred bliss,
If Jesus shows his mercy mine,
And whispers I am his.
4 My soul would leave this heavy clay

19. At that transporting word;
Run up with joy the shining way,
To see and praise my Lord.
5 Fearless of hell and ghastly death,
I'd break through every foe,
The wings of love, and arms of faith,
Would bear me conqueror through.
10. O SU( of righteousness, arise,
With healing in thy wing!
To my diseased, my fainting soul,
Life and salvation bring.
2 These clouds of pride and sin dispel,
By thy all-piercing beam;
Lighten my eyes with faith, my heart
With holy hope inflame.
3 My mind, by thy all-quickening power,
From low desires set free;
Unite my scattered thoughts, and fix
My love entire on thee.
4 Father, thy long-lost son receive;
Saviour, thy purchase own;
Blest Comforter, with peace and joy
Thy new-made creature crown.
5 Eternal, undivided Lord,
Co-equal One and Three,
On Thee, all faith, all hope be placed;
All love be paid to Thee!
11. Some interesting thoughts on this text:
A. The late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, called upon a friend just as he had
received a letter from his son, who was surgeon on board a vessel then lying off
Smyrna. The son mentioned to his father that every morning, about sunrise, a fresh
gale of air blew from the sea across the land, and, from its wholesomeness and

20. utility in clearing the infected air, this wind is always called the Doctor. "(ow," says
Mr. Robinson, "it strikes me that the prophet Malachi, who lived in that quarter of
the world, might allude to this circumstance when he says that 'the Sun of
righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.' The Psalmist mentions 'the
wings of the wind; and it appears to me that this salubrious breeze, which attends
the rising of the sun, may be properly enough considered as the wings of the sun,
which contain such healing influences, rather than the beams of the sun, as the
passage has been commonly understood." — Burder's "Oriental Customs"
B. There is a beautiful fable of the ancient mythology, to the effect that Apollo, who
represents the sun, killed a huge poisonous serpent by arrows surely aimed, and
shot from afar. It intimates that sunbeams, darted straight from heaven, destroy
many deadly things that crawl upon the ground, and so make the world a safer
habitation. The parable is, in this respect, a stroke of truth, and it coincides with a
feature of the eternal covenant. Light from the face of Jesus, when it is permitted to
stream right into a human heart, destroys the noisome things that haunt it, as
Apollo's arrows slew the snake. — W. Arnot
C. In all the departments of vegetable, animal, moral, and spiritual life, light stands
out as the foremost blessing and benefit which God confers. In physical existence
this is especially true. Thousands die for lack of light. (o vigorous vegetable life, no
healthy animal life, can long exist without light. The pestilence "walketh in
darkness".... Sir James Wylie, late physician to the Emperor of Russia, attentively
studied the effects of light as a curative agent in the hospital of St. Petersburg, and
he discovered that the number of patients who were cured in rooms properly lighted
was four times that of those confined in dark rooms. These different results are due
to the agency of light, without a full supply of which plants and animals maintain
but a sickly and feeble existence. Light is the cheapest and best of all medicines.
(ervous ailments yield to the power of sunshine. Pallid faces grow fresh and ruddy
beneath its glow. The sun's rays have wonderful purifying power. — H. L. Hastings
3. Then you will trample down the wicked; they
will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the
day when I do these things," says the LORD
Almighty.
1. The righteous will join in the celebration of judgment over the wicked. When you
watch a television program where the criminal is extremely evil and brutal in his
killing and damaging the lives of others, you know you cannot wait until the good
guy finally outwits this terrible human being. You can't stand it that he is so clever

21. that he gets by with it time and time again as he kills and robs and destroys the lives
of innocent people. When it finally happens that the good guy gets the best of him,
and either kills him or has him cuffed and on his way to jail, you feel a sense of relief
and joy. (o death is too horrible for this godless person. If he falls into a machine
that crushes him, or if he slips and takes a plunge off a mountain cliff to his death on
the rocks below, or whatever way his life is ended, you feel no pity, but only pleasure
that his wicked life has come to and end. Justice has finally triumphed, and you
could gladly dance on the grave of such a satanic inspired scumbag. This is what
this verse is all about. It is about the celebration of justice, and the final overthrow
of those who make life miserable for others by all their wicked corruption and
defiance of the will of God.
2. Clarke wrote, "This may be the commission given to the Romans: Tread down
the wicked people, tread down the wicked place; set it on fire, and let the ashes be
trodden down under your feet."
2B. Dr. Paul Choo, "The righteous who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem,
returned to view the ruins of Jerusalem and, in so doing, tread on the ashes of the
wicked who were burned during the Roman destruction."
3. Gill, "This refers to the burning of them, Mal_4:1 and may be literally
understood of their being burnt with the city and temple; when afterwards, as
Grotius observes, the city of Jerusalem being in some measure rebuilt, and called
Aelia, there was a Christian church in it, governed by bishops, who were converted
Jews; and so might be literally said to trample upon the ashes of the wicked, who
had persecuted them in times past, they being upon the very spot where these men
were destroyed by fire:"
4. Jamison sees this as the triumph of the saints with Christ in the final judgment.
He wrote, "Solving the difficulty (Mal_3:15) that the wicked often now prosper.
Their prosperity and the adversity of the godly shall soon be reversed. Yea, the
righteous shall be the army attending Christ in His final destruction of the ungodly
(2Sa_22:43; Psa_49:14; Psa_47:3; Mic_7:10; Zec_10:5; 1Co_6:2; Rev_2:26,
Rev_2:27; Rev_19:14, Rev_19:15)."
5. Barnes, "And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the
soles of your feet. It shall be a great reversal. He that exalteth himself shall be
abased, and he, that humbleth himself shall be exalted - Here the wicked often have
the pre-eminence. This was the complaint of the murmurers among the Jews; in the
morning of the Resurrection Psa_49:14, “the upright shall have dominion over
them.” The wicked, he had said, shall be as stubble, and that day Psa_4:1, “shall
burn them up;” here, then, they are as the ashes, the only remnant of the stubble, as
the dust under the feet. “The elect shall rejoice, that they have, in mercy, escaped
such misery. Therefore they shall be kindled inconceivably with the divine love, and
shall from their inmost heart give thanks unto God.” And being thus of one mind
with God, and seeing all things as He seeth, they will rejoice in His judgments,

22. because they are His. For they cannot have one slightest velleity, other than the all-perfect
Will of God. So Isaiah closes his prophecy Isa_66:24, “And they shall go
forth, and look upon the carcases of the men, that have transgressed against Me, for
their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an
abhorring to all flesh. So Psa_58:10. The righteous shall rejoice, when he seeth the
vengeance;” and another Psalmist Psa_107:42, “The righteous shall see and rejoice;
and all wickedness shall stop her mouth; and Job Job_22:19. The righteous see and
are glad, and the innocent laugh them to scorn."
6. Henry, "It shall make them victorious over their enemies (Mal_4:3): You shall
tread down the wicked. Time was when the wicked trod them down, said to their
souls, Bow down, that we may go over; but the day will come when they shall tread
down the wicked. The wicked, being made Christ's footstool, are made theirs also
(Psa_110:1), and come and worship before the feet of the church, Rev_3:9. The elder
shall serve the younger. When believers by faith overcome the world, when they
suppress their own corrupt appetites and passions, when the God of peace bruises
Satan under their feet, then they tread down the wicked. When it came to the turn of
the Christians to triumph over the Jews that had insulted over them, then this
promise was fulfilled: They shall be ashes under the soles of your feet; they shall not
only be trodden down, but trodden to dirt. When the day that comes shall have burnt
them up, they shall trample upon them as ashes. When the righteous shall rise to
everlasting life, the wicked shall rise to everlasting contempt; and, though they shall
not triumph over them, they shall triumph in that God whose justice is glorified in
their destruction. The saints in glory are said to have power given them over the
nations, to rule them with a rod of iron, Rev_2:26, Rev_2:27. This you shall do, in the
day that I shall do this. (ote, The saints' triumphs are all owing to God's victories; it
is not they that do this, but God that does it for them, that says, Come set your feet
on the necks of these kings. Some read it, “In the day that I make, or shall make, the
great day that I shall make remarkable, of which you will say with joy, This is the
day which the Lord has made.” The day of the destruction of Jerusalem is called the
great and notable day of the Lord (Act_2:20), and our Saviour in foretelling that
destruction made use of such expressions as, like these, might be applied likewise to
the end of the world and the last judgment; for it was such a terrible revelation of the
wrath of God from heaven, and caused such a scene of horror upon this earth, that
it might fitly serve for a type of that glorious transaction which will be an outlet to
the days of time and an inlet to the days of eternity. By the accomplishment of these
prophecies in the ruin of the Jewish nation, we should have our faith confirmed in
the assurances Christ has given us concerning the dissolution of all things. Surely I
come quickly; so says Christ, the Lord of hosts, to whom all power in heaven and
earth is committed."
4. "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the
decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all

23. Israel.
1. The key to pleasing God is to simply to remember what you already know and do
it. Israel went astray time and time again by forgetting what God gave them
through Moses. They had all they needed to be God pleasing people, but they would
forget the laws of Moses and go off on their own and develop a lifestyle that ignored
these laws. The end result was wicked lives. You just cannot live a good and
righteous life without obedience to the laws God gave through Moses. We are not
under the law today, but under grace, but the fact remains that we still cannot live a
godly life apart from obedience to the moral laws of God, which are basically the
Ten Commandments. The Jews forgot how vital these laws were to godliness, and
God is calling them to remember from what they have fallen and return.
1B. A. W. Pink said, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law and not
from the command of it; he has saved us from the wrath of God, but not from his
government." Ryrie added, There was grace under law, and there is law under
grace." Spurgeon said, "The needle of the law precedes the thread of the Gospel."
2. Barnes says this is a call to the people of Malachi's day to cease living in ignorance
of the law of Moses, and to remember the old days of obedience and get back to it.
He wrote, “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.” They then who
were most faithful to the law, would be most prepared for Christ. But for those of
his own day, too, who were negligent both of the ceremonial and moral law, he says
“Since the judgment of God will be so fearful, remember now unceasingly and
observe the law of God given by Moses.” " (ot Moses commanded them, but God
by His servant Moses; therefore He “would in the day of judgment take strict
account of each, whether they had or had not kept them. He would glorify those who
obeyed, He would condemn those who disobeyed them.” They had asked, “Where is
the God of judgment? What profit, that we have kept the ordinance?” He tells them
of the judgment to come, and bids them take heed, that they did indeed keep them,
for there was a day of account to be held for all.
2B. Barnes continues, "Moses exhorted to the keeping of the law, under these same
words: Deu_4:1-2, Deu_4:5, Deu_4:8, Deu_4:14, “(ow, therefore hearken, O Israel,
unto the statutes and judgments which I teach you, to do them, that ye may live. Ye
shall not add unto the word that I command you, neither shall ye diminish it.
Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God
commanded me. What nation so great, that hath statutes and judgments, righteous
as all this law, which I set before you this day? The Lord commanded me at that
time, to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land,
whither ye go to possess it."
3. Gill, " Remember ye the law of Moses my servant,.... Who was faithful as such in
the house of God, in delivering the law to the children of Israel, which was given
him; and who are called upon to remember it, its precepts and its penalties, which

24. they were apt to forget: and particularly this exhortation is given now, because no
other prophet after Malachi would be sent unto them, this is what they should have
and use as their rule and directory; and because that Christ, now prophesied of,
would be the end of this law; and this, and the prophets, were to be until the days of
John the Baptist, spoken of in the next verse Mal_4:5; and the rather, because in
this period of time, between Malachi and the coming of Christ, the traditions of the
elders were invented and obtained, which greatly set aside the law, and made it of
no effect:
which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel; for though the law came by
Moses, and is therefore called his, yet God was the author and efficient cause of it;
Moses was only a servant and minister; and this was given in Horeb, the same with
Sinai: these are names of one and the same mountain, at least of the parts of it; one
part of it was called Horeb, from its being a dry desert and desolate place; and the
other Sinai, from its bushes and brambles. So Jerom says.."
4. Calvin, " This passage has not been clearly and fully explained, because
interpreters did not understand the design of Malachi nor consider the time. We
know that before the coming of Christ there was a kind of silence on the part of
God, for by not sending Prophets for a time, he designed to stimulate as it were the
Jews, so that they might with greater ardor seek Christ. Our Prophet was amongst
the very last. As then the Jews were without Prophets, they ought more diligently to
have attended to the law, and to have taken a more careful heed to the doctrine of
religion contained in it. This is the reason why he now bids them to remember the
law of Moses; as though he had said, “Hereafter shall come the time when ye shall
be without Prophets, but your remedy shall be the law; attend then carefully to it,
and beware lest you should forget it.” For men, as soon as God ceases to speak to
them even for the shortest time, are carried away after their own inventions, and are
ever inclined to vanity, as we abundantly find by experience. Hence Malachi, in
order to keep the Jews from wandering, and from thus departing from the pure
doctrine of the law, reminds them that they were faithfully and constantly to
remember it until the Redeemer came.
4B. Calvin continues, "If it be asked why he mentions the law only, the answer is
obvious, because that saying of Christ is true, that the law and the Prophets were
until John. (Matthew 3:13.) It must yet be observed, that the prophetic office was
not separated from the law, for all the prophecies which followed the law were as it
were its appendages; so that they included nothing new, but were given that the
people might be more fully retained in their obedience to the law. Hence as the
Prophets were the interpreters of Moses, it is no wonder that their doctrine was
subjected, or as they commonly say, subordinated to the law. The object of the
Prophet was to make the Jews attentive to that doctrine which had been delivered to
them from above by Moses and the Prophets, so as not to depart from it even in the
least degree; as though he had said, “God will not now send to you different
teachers in succession; there is enough for your instruction in the law: there is no
reason on this account that you should change anything in the discipline of the

25. Church. Though God by ceasing to speak to you, may seem to let loose the reins, so
as to allow every one to stray and wander in uncertainty after his own imaginations,
it is yet not so; for the law is sufficient to guide us, provided we shake not off its
yoke, nor through our ingratitude bury the light by which it directs us."
5. Henry, "This is doubtless intended for a solemn conclusion, not only of this
prophecy, but of the canon of the Old Testament, and is a plain information that
they were not to expect any more sayings nor writing by divine inspiration, any
more of the dictates of the Spirit of prophecy, till the beginning of the gospel of the
Messiah, which sets aside the Apocrypha as no part of holy writ, and which
therefore the Jews never received. (ow that prophecy ceases, and is about to be
sealed up, there are two things required of the people of God, that lived then: -
I. They must keep up an obedient veneration for the law of Moses (Mal_4:4):
Remember the law of Moses my servant, and observe to do according to it, even that
law which I commanded unto him in Horeb, that fiery law which was intended for all
Israel, with the statutes and judgments, not only the law of the ten commandments,
but all the other appointments, ceremonial and judicial, then and there given.
Observe here, 1. The honourable mention that is made of Moses, the first writer of
the Old Testament, in Malachi, the last writer. God by him calls him Moses my
servant; for the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. See how the
penmen of scripture, though they lived in several ages at a great distance from each
other (it was above 1200 years from Moses to Malachi), all concurred in the same
thing, and supported one another, being all actuated and guided by one and the
same Spirit. 2. The honourable mention that is made of the law of Moses; it was
what God himself commanded; he owns it for his law, and he commanded it for all
Israel, as the municipal law of their kingdom. Thus will God magnify his law and
make it honourable.
5B. Henry continues, "(ote, We are concerned to keep the law because God has
commanded it and commanded it for us, for we are the spiritual Israel; and, if we
expect the benefit of the covenant with Israel (Heb_8:10), we must observe the
commands given to Israel, those of them that were intended to be of perpetual
obligation. 3. The summary of our duty, with reference to the law. We must
remember it. Forgetfulness of the law is at the bottom of all our transgressions of it;
if we would rightly remember it, we could not but conform to it. We should
remember it when we have occasion to use it, remember both the commands
themselves and the sanctions wherewith they are enforced. The office of conscience
is to bid us remember the law. But how does this charge to remember the law of
Moses come in here? (1.) This prophet had reproved them for many gross
corruptions and irregularities both in worship and conversation, and now, for the
reforming and amending of what was amiss, he only charges them to remember the
law of Moses: “Keep to that rule, and you will do all you should do.” He will lay
upon them no other burden than what they have received; hold that fast, Rev_2:24,
Rev_2:25.

26. 5C. Henry goes on, " (ote, Corrupt churches are to be reformed by the written
word, and reduced into order by being reduced to the standard of the law and the
testimony, see 1Co_11:23. (2.) The church had long enjoyed the benefit of prophets,
extraordinary messengers from God, and now they had a whole book of their
prophecies put together, and it was a finished piece; but they must not think that
hereby the law of Moses was superseded, and had become as an almanac out of date,
as if now they were advanced to a higher form and might forget that. (o; the
prophets do but confirm and apply the law, and press the observance of that; and
therefore still Remember the law. (ote, Even when we have made considerable
advances in knowledge we must still retain the first principles of practical religion
and resolve to abide by them. Those that study the writings of the prophets, and the
apocalypse, must still remember the law of Moses and the four gospels. (3.)
Prophecy was now to cease in the church for some ages, and the Spirit of prophecy
not to return till the beginning of the gospel, and now they are told to remember the
law of Moses; let them live by the rules of that, and live upon the promises of that.
5D. Henry continues, " (ote, We need not complain for want of visions and
revelations as long as we have the written word, and the canon of scripture
complete, to be our guide; for that is the most sure word of prophecy, and the
touchstone by which we are to try the spirits. Though we have not prophets, yet, as
long as we have Bibles, we may keep our communion with God, and keep ourselves
in his way. (4.) They were to expect the coming of the Messiah, the preaching of his
gospel, and the setting up of his kingdom, and in that expectation they must
remember the law of Moses, and live in obedience to that, and then they might expect
the comforts that the Messiah would bring to the willing and obedient. Let them
observe the law of Moses, and live up to the light which that gave them, and then
they might expect the benefit of the gospel of Christ, for to him that has, and uses
what he has well, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance."
6. Brian Bill, "God points them back to the basics. The decrees and laws that he
gave Moses on Horeb (or Sinai) formed the foundation of their culture and His
covenant with them. Malachi issues a call to remember. This involves so much more
than just being able to recall Bible verses to impress friends. The word "remember"
implies obedience. It means to "Put it into practice", or as we would say in our day,
"walk your talk." As D.L. Moody once said, "The Bible was not given to increase
our knowledge but to change our lives."
6B. Bill goes on, "During what we can the Intertestimental Time, those 400 years
that God was silent, there was a group of people that took this call from Malachi
very seriously. They tried to keep the commandments and the decrees of God. These
were sincere men who truly wanted to bring God glory by obeying Him to the best
of their ability. They were called the Pharisees. In the Gospels, the Pharisees are
given a bad rap, and rightly so. They had become more interested in the Law than
in the Law-Giver. Jesus calls them hypocrites because they cal follow all the right
rules but they did not understand God's mercy and love for lost souls.

27. 6C. Bill continues, "Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because
you lead people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will
not lift one finger to help them." (Luke 11:46)Though the Pharisees took it too far,
we can not fault them for their desire to be obedient. We sing a song around here
called "Trading my Sorrows." In the bridge we sing, "yes Lord." God wants our
yeses. He calls us to obey Him and promises to bless us if we do. To a scared and
insecure Joshua, God states:"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all
the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,
that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart
from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Josh 1:6-8)
Over a hundred and fifty times in Scripture God says obey me and I will bless you.
John said that our obedience is the outward manifestation of our love for God.
"This is love for God: to obey his commands." (1 John 5:3) "Jesus replied, "If
anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and we will
come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey
my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who
sent me." (John 14:23-24)"
5. "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before
that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.
1. This is a strange promise, for Elijah has been in heaven with God for many
centuries, and now God is saying he will send him back into history before the day
of judgment comes. A lot of Christian theology of the end times hinges on the
interpretation of this verse. Those who say this dreadful day of judgment refers to
the 70 A. D destruction of Jerusalem and the temple interpret the prophet Elijah as
John the Baptist, and him only. Those who feel this refers to the final judgment see
John the Baptist as only a partial fulfillment, and a third Elijah will come before the
final judgment at the end of history. The evidence leans strongly toward the first
interpretation, for the second is built on a great deal of speculation with no strong
Biblical base for bypassing the horror of 70 A. D. as adequate to fulfill this
prophecy. There will indeed be great and final judgment, but it is hard to link this
passage to that ultimate event.
1B. One who holds to that view wrote, "Verses 1 and 2 treat the subject of the
Baptism of Fire. And the "day" referred to is the day of the Lord, which in context,
encompasses the Second Advent, the Baptism of Fire, the Millennial state, the Great
White Throne Judgment, and the destruction of the universe." That is reading a
great deal into what he calls this context with no Scripture to support that Malachi

28. had all of this in mind. Another author of this futuristic view totally ignores the
realilty of 70 A. D. as if there was no judgment on Israel. He wrote, "Of course,
John the Baptist did not precede the "great and dreadful day of the Lord", the
outworking of God’s wrath, but rather, the great and wonderful day of the Lord,
when He came to earth to bring salvation to all who believe in Him. Perhaps (if I
may speculate), the phrase "great and dreadful day of the Lord" refers to the two
comings: the first coming of the Lord was a "great" day, in that He brought
salvation; the second coming will be a "dreadful" day, when He will execute the
wrath of God."
1C. Dr. Paul Choo, "This prophecy is fulfilled partially by the coming of John the
Baptist (MAT 17:10-13, MAR 9:11-13), but will probably be completely fulfilled in
the future by Elijah's coming as one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11." I like
Dr. Choo's honesty in using the word probably, for it tells us he knew it was just a
possible interpretion, or speculation with no real evidence to support it. There is not
a single text in the Bible that links Elijah to the final judgment, and yet many ignore
the judgment that Malachi points to that came after John the Baptist preached, and
deal with the final day of the Lord exclusively. It make you think that they have a
theology to support that means more to them than the clear Word of God, and this
is a form of idolatry. Dr. Choo wants this theory to be true, but he cannot declare it
to be so, and so he honestly says probably it will be so. But with no text to hint at it,
it probably will not be so. Most who think so are not as honest as Dr. Choo.
Stedman was, however, and he said, "Many identify the two witnesses of Revelation
11 as Elijah and Moses, though it is difficult to be dogmatic about that point."
1D. "The term "the day of the Lord" is used 25 times in 23 verses in the Bible by
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zachariah, our friend Malachi,
Luke in the book of Acts, by Paul in I and II Thessalonians, and Peter in I and II
Peter."
1E. The most satisfying way to see the day of the Lord is the way Steven Cole
describes it in quoting Walter Kaiser. He wrote, "Malachi mentions this coming day
four times in the closingverses of his prophecy (3:17; 4:1, 3, 5). Walter Kaiser points
out(Malachi: God's Unchanging Love [Baker], p. 102) that this “day of the Lord”
was both “near” and “at hand” for each of five Old Testament prophets working in
four separate centuries: Obadiah (15)and Joel (1:15; 2:1) in the ninth century;
Isaiah (13:6) in the eighth;Zephaniah (1:7, 14) in the seventh; and Ezekiel (30:3) in
the sixth.Each of these prophets saw fulfillments in specific events of his own times,
and yet each of these prophecies has a still yet unfulfilled future nuance. Thus
Kaiser concludes that “the day of the Lord” encompasses a number of successive
judgment events throughout history, all of which depict some aspect of the final
climatic fulfillment at the culmination of history. In other words, there have been a
number of precursor days of the Lord (such as the destruction of Jerusalem under
(ebuchadnezzar and again under Titus) that point ahead to the final great and
terrible day of the Lord at the end of history (Mal. 4:5)." Here is an honest
recognition of the reality of the day of the Lord as both past and future. The

29. problem is, people want to choose one and ignore the other, and that is why their is
controversy. People tend to take a part of the truth and make it the whole truth, and
that is what causes meaningless controversy among Christians. What I am saying
here is that this text is referring specifically to the time of John the Baptist and the
Messiah, and any use of it to point to the final judgment is valid, but it is not the
focus of Malachi, and to make that the focus, as so many do, and ignore 70 A. D., as
so many do, is an abuse of the text.
2. Most every commentator agrees that this Elijah is none other than John the
Baptist. Gill put it this way, " (ot the Tishbite, as the Septuagint version wrongly
inserts instead of prophet; not Elijah in person, who lived in the times of Ahab; but
John the Baptist, who was to come in the power and spirit of Elijah, Luk_1:17
between whom there was a great likeness in their temper and disposition; in their
manner of clothing, and austere way of living; in their courage and integrity in
reproving vice; and in their zeal and usefulness in the cause of God and true
religion; and in their famous piety and holiness of life; and in being both prophets;
see Mat_11:11 and that he is intended is clear from Mat_17:10. It is a notion of the
Jews, as Kimchi and others, that the very Elijah, the same that lived in the days of
Ahab, shall come in person before the coming of their Messiah they vainly expect,
and often speak of difficult things to be left till Elijah comes and solves them; but
for such a notion there is no foundation, either in this text or elsewhere. And as
groundless is that of some of the ancient Christian fathers, and of the Papists, as
Lyra and others, that Elijah with Enoch will come before the day of judgment, and
restore the church of God ruined by antichrist, which they suppose is meant in the
next clause.
2B. Gill continues, "Before the coming of the great and, dreadful day of the Lord;
that is, before the coming of Christ the son of David, as the Jews themselves own;
and which is to be understood, not of the second coming of Christ to judgment,
though that is sometimes called the great day, and will be dreadful to Christless
sinners; but of the first coming of Christ, reaching to the destruction of Jerusalem:
John the Baptist, his forerunner, the Elijah here spoken of, came proclaiming wrath
and terror to impenitent sinners; Christ foretold and denounced ruin and
destruction to the Jewish nation, city, and temple; and the time of Jerusalem's
destruction was a dreadful day indeed, such a time of affliction as had not been
from the creation, Mat_24:21 and the Talmud interprets this of the sorrows of the
Messiah, or which shall be in the days of the Messiah."
3. Gill saw the focus on the first coming of Christ, but Jamison sees this as a focus
on the second coming as well. He wrote, "...not “the Tishbite”; for it is in his official,
not his personal capacity, that his coming is here predicted. In this sense, John the
Baptist was an Elijah in spirit (Luk_1:16, Luk_1:17), but not the literal Elijah;
whence when asked, “Art thou Elias?” (Joh_1:21), He answered, “I am not.” “Art
thou that prophet?” “(o.” This implies that John, though knowing from the angel’s
announcement to his father that he was referred to by Mal_4:5 (Luk_1:17), whence
he wore the costume of Elijah, yet knew by inspiration that he did not exhaustively

30. fulfil all that is included in this prophecy: that there is a further fulfillment
(compare 2ote, see on Mal_3:1). As Moses in Mal_4:4 represents the law, so Elijah
represents the prophets. The Jews always understood it of the literal Elijah. Their
saying is, “Messiah must be anointed by Elijah.” As there is another consummating
advent of Messiah Himself, so also of His forerunner Elijah; perhaps in person, as at
the transfiguration (Mat_17:3; compare Mat_17:11). He in his appearance at the
transfiguration in that body on which death had never passed is the forerunner of
the saints who shall be found alive at the Lord’s second coming. Rev_11:3 may refer
to the same witnesses as at the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah; Rev_11:6
identifies the latter (compare 1Ki_17:1; Jam_5:17). Even after the transfiguration
Jesus (Mat_17:11) speaks of Elijah’s coming “to restore all things” as still future,
though He adds that Elijah (in the person of John the Baptist) is come already in a
sense (compare Act_3:21). However, the future forerunner of Messiah at His second
coming may be a prophet or number of prophets clothed with Elijah’s power, who,
with zealous upholders of “the law” clothed in the spirit of “Moses,” may be the
forerunning witnesses alluded to here and in Rev_11:2-12. The words “before the ...
dreadful day of the Lord,” show that John cannot be exclusively meant; for he came
before the day of Christ’s coming in grace, not before His coming in terror, of which
last the destruction of Jerusalem was the earnest (Mal_4:1; Joe_2:31)."
4. Henry, "Who this prophet is that shall be sent; it is Elijah. The Jewish doctors
will have it to be the same Elijah that prophesied in Israel in the days of Ahab - that
he shall come again to be the forerunner of the Messiah; yet others of them say not
the same person, but another of the same spirit. It should seem, those different
sentiments they had when they asked John, “Art thou Elias, or that prophet that
should bear his name?” Joh_1:19-21. But we Christians know very well that John
Baptist was the Elias that was to come, Mat_17:10-13; and very expressly,
Mat_11:14, This is Elias that was to come; and v. 10, the same of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger, Mal_3:1. Elijah was a man of great austerity and
mortification, zealous for God, bold in reproving sin, and active to reduce an
apostate people to God and their duty; John Baptist was animated by the same
spirit and power, and preached repentance and reformation, as Elias had done; and
all held him for a prophet, as they did Elijah in his day, and that his baptism was
from heaven, and not of men. (ote, When God has such work to do as was formerly
to be done he can raise up such men to do it as he formerly raised up, and can put
into a John Baptist the spirit of an Elias.
4B. Henry continues, "When he shall be sent - before the appearing of the Messiah,
which, because it was the judgment of this world, and introduced the ruin of the
Jewish church and nation, is here called the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the Lord. John Baptist gave them fair warning of this when he told them of the
wrath to come (that wrath to the uttermost which was hastening upon them) and put
them into a way of escape from it, and when he told them of the fan in Christ's hand,
with which Christ would thoroughly purge his floor; see Mat_3:7, Mat_3:10,
Mat_3:12. That day of Christ, when he came first, was as that day will be when he
comes again - though a great and joyful day to those that embrace him, yet a great

31. and dreadful day to those that oppose him. John Baptist was sent before the coming
of this day, to give people notice of it, that they might get ready for it, and go forth
to meet it."
5. Barnes sees another coming of Elijah at the end of history, and he has gone to
great pains to support his view by quoting Christian authors all through early
Christian history to support this view. It is a long series of quotes, but for those
interested in the idea of Elijah coming again before the Second Coming, I quote it
all in Appendix A.
6. Calvin, "There is an emphatic import in the use of the future tense. So also in this
passage, the Prophet declares that prophetic teaching would be again renewed, that
when God showed mercy to his people, he would open his mouth, and show that he
had been silent, not because he intended to forsake his people, but as we have said,
for another end. At the same time he shows that the time would come, when his
purpose was to confirm and seal all the prophecies by his only-begotten Son.
6B. Calvin goes on, "This passage has fascinated the Jews so as to think that men
rise again; and their resurrection is, — that the souls of men pass into various
bodies three or four times. There is indeed such a delirious notion as this held by
that nation! We hence see how great is the sottishness of men, when they become
alienated from Christ, who is the light of the world and the Sun of Righteousness, as
we have lately seen. There is no need to disprove an error so palpable.
6C. Calvin continues, "But Christ himself took away all doubt on this point, when
he said, that John the Baptist was the Elijah, who had been promised; (Matthew
11:10:) and the thing itself proves this, had not Christ spoken on the subject. And
why John the Baptist is called Elijah, I shall explain in a few words. What some say
of zeal, I shall say nothing of; and many have sought other likenesses, whom I shall
neither follow nor blame. But this likeness seems to me the most suitable of all, —
that God intended to raise up John the Baptist for the purpose of restoring his
worship, as formerly he had raised up Elijah: for at the time of Elijah, we know,
that not only the truth was corrupted and the worship of God vitiated, but that also
all religion was almost extinct, so that nothing pure and sound remained. At the
coming of Christ, though the Jews did not worship idols, but retained some outward
form of religion, yet the whole of their religion was spurious, so that that time may
truly be compared, on account of its multiplied pollutions, to the age of Elijah. John
then was a true successor of Elijah, nor were any of the Prophets so much like John
as Elijah: hence justly might his name be transferred to him.
6D. Calvin continues, "But someone may object and say, that he is here called a
prophet, while he yet denied that he was a prophet: to this the answer is obvious, —
that John renounced the title of a prophet, that he might not hinder the progress of
Christ’s teaching: hence he means not in those words that he ran presumptuously
without a call, but that he was content to be counted the herald of Christ, so that his
teaching might not prevent Christ from being heard alone. Yet Christ declares that

32. he was a prophet, and more than a prophet, and that because his ministry was more
excellent than that of a prophet. He says, Before shall come the day, great and
terrible. The Prophet seems not here to speak very suitably of Christ’s coming; but
he now addresses the whole people; and as there were many slothful and tardy, who
even despised the favor of God, and others insolent and profane, he speaks not so
kindly, but mixes these threatenings. We hence perceive why the Prophet describes
the coming of Christ as terrible; he does this, not because Christ was to come to
terrify men, but on the contrary, according to what Isaiah says, “The smoking flax
he will not extinguish, the shaken reed he will not break; not heard will his voice be
in the streets, nor will he raise a clamor.” (<234203>Isaiah 42:3.)
6E. Calvin concludes, "Though then Christ calmly presents himself, as we have
before observed, and as soon as he appears to us, he brings an abundant reason for
joy; yet the perverseness of that people was such as to constrain the Prophet to use a
severe language, according to the manner in which God deals daily with us; when he
sees that we have a tasteless palate, he gives us some bitter medicine, so that we may
have some relish for his favor. Whenever then we meet with any thing in Scripture
tending to fill us with terror, let us remember that such thing is announced, because
we are either deaf or slothful, or even rebellious, when God kindly invites us to
himself."
7. Keil, "Malachi thus closes by showing to the people what it is their duty to do, if
on the day of judgment they would escape the curse with which transgressors are
threatened in the law, and participate in the salvation so generally desired, and
promised to those who fear God. ...The whole of the admonition forms an antithesis
to the rebuke in Mal_4:4, that from the days of their fathers they went away from
the ordinances of Jehovah. These they are to be mindful to observe, that the Lord
when He comes may not smite the land with the ban.
7B. Keil goes on, "In order to avert this curse from Israel, the Lord would send the
prophet Elijah before His coming, for the purpose of promoting a change of heart in
the nation. The identity of the prophet Elijah with the messenger mentioned in
Mal_4:1, whom the Lord would send before Him, is universally acknowledged. But
there is a difference of opinion as to the question, who is the Elijah mentioned here?
The notion was a very ancient one, and one very widely spread among the rabbins
and fathers, that the prophet Elijah, who was caught up to heaven, would reappear
(compare the history of the exposition of our verse in Hengstenberg's Christology,
vol. iv. p. 217 translation). The lxx thought of him, and rendered so also did Sirach
(48:10) and the Jews in the time of Christ (Joh_1:21; Mat_17:10); and so have
Hitzig, Maurer, and Ewald in the most recent times. But this view is proved to be
erroneous by such passages as Hos_3:5; Eze_34:23; Eze_37:24, and Jer_30:9, where
the sending of David the king as the true shepherd of Israel is promised. Just as in
these passages we cannot think of the return or resurrection of the David who had
long been dead; but a king is meant who will reign over the nation of God in the
mind and spirit of David; so the Elijah to be sent can only be a prophet with the

33. spirit or power of Elijah the Tishbite. The second David was indeed to spring from
the family of David, because to the seed of David there had been promised the
eternal possession of the throne. The prophetic calling, on the other hand, was not
hereditary in the prophet's house, but rested solely upon divine choice and
endowment with the Spirit of God; and consequently by Elijah we are not to
understand a lineal descendant of the Tishbite, but simply a prophet in whom the
spirit and power of Elijah are revived, as Ephr. Syr., Luther, Calvin, and most of
the Protestant commentators have maintained. But the reason why this prophet
Elijah is named is to be sought for, not merely in the fact that Elijah was called to
his work as a reformer in Israel at a period which was destitute of faith and of the
true fear of Jehovah, and which immediately preceded a terrible judgment
(Koehler), but also and more especially in the power and energy with which Elijah
rose up to lead back the ungodly generation of his own time to the God of the
fathers. The one does not exclude but rather includes the other. The greater the
apostasy, the greater must be the power which is to stem it, so as to rescue those who
suffer themselves to be rescued, before the judgment bursts over such as are
hardened. For Mal_4:5, compare Joe_3:4. This Elijah, according to Mal_4:6, is to
lead back the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their
fathers. The meaning of this is not that he will settle disputes in families, or restore
peace between parents and children; for the leading sin of the nation at the time of
our prophet was not family quarrels, but estrangement from God. The fathers are
rather the ancestors of the Israelitish nation, the patriarchs, and generally the pious
forefathers, such as David and the godly men of his time. The sons or children are
the degenerate descendants of Malachi's own time and the succeeding ages. “The
hearts of the godly fathers and the ungodly sons are estranged from one another.
The bond of union, viz., common love to God, is wanting. The fathers are ashamed
of their children, the children of their fathers” (Hengstenberg). This chasm between
them Elijah is to fill up. Turning the heart of the fathers to the sons does not mean
merely directing the love of the fathers to the sons once more, but also restoring the
heart of the fathers, in the sons, or giving to the sons the fathers' disposition and
affections. Then will the heart of the sons also return to their fathers, turn itself
towards them, so that they will be like-minded with the pious fathers. Elijah will
thereby prepare the way of the Lord to His people, that at His coming He may not
smite the land with the ban. The ban involves extermination. Whoever and
whatever was laid under the ban was destroyed (cf. Lev_27:28-29; Deu_13:16-17;
and my Bibl. Archäol. i. §70). This threat recals to mind the fate of the Canaanites
who were smitten with the ban (Deu_20:17-18). If Israel resembles the Canaanites in
character, it will also necessarily share the fate of that people (cf. Deu_12:29).
7C. Keil continues, "The (ew Testament gives us a sufficient explanation of the
historical allusion or fulfilment of our prophecy. The prophet Elijah, whom the
Lord would send before His own coming, was sent in the person of John the Baptist.
Even before his birth he was announced to his father by the angel Gabriel as the
promised Elijah, by the declaration that he would turn many of the children of
Israel to the Lord their God, and go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the unbelieving to the wisdom of

34. the just (Luk_1:16-17). This address of the angel gives at the same time an authentic
explanation of Mal_4:5 and Mal_4:6 of our prophecy: the words “and the heart of
the children to their fathers” being omitted, as implied in the turning of the heart of
the fathers to the sons, and the explanatory words “and the unbelieving to the
wisdom of the just” being introduced in their place; and the whole of the work of
John, who was to go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, being
described as “making ready a prepared people for the Lord.” The appearance and
ministry of John the Baptist answered to this announcement of the angel, and is so
described in Mat_3:1-12, Mar_1:2-8; Luke 3:2-18, that the allusion to our prophecy
and the original passage (Isa_40:3) is obvious at once. Even by his outward
appearance and his dress John announced himself as the promised prophet Elijah,
who by the preaching of repentance and baptism was preparing the way for the
Lord, who would come after him with the winnowing shovel to winnow His floor,
and gather the wheat into His granary, but who would burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire. Christ Himself also not only assured the people (in Mat_11:10.,
Luk_7:27.) that John was the messenger announced by Malachi and the Elijah who
was to come, but also told His disciples (Mat_17:1.; Mar_9:1.) that Elijah, who was
to come first and restore all things, had already come, though the people had not
acknowledged him. And even Joh_1:21 is not at variance with these statements.
When the messengers of the Sanhedrim came to John the Baptist to ask whether he
was Elias, and he answered, “I am not,” he simply gave a negative reply to their
question, interpreted in the sense of a personal reappearance of Elijah the Tishbite,
which was the sense in which they meant it, but he also declared himself to be the
promised forerunner of the Lord by applying to his own labours the prophecy
contained in Isa_40:3.
7D. Keil continues, "And as the prophet Elijah predicted by Malachi appeared in
John the Baptist, so did the Lord come to His temple in the appearing of Jesus
Christ. The opinion, which was very widely spread among the fathers and Catholic
commentators, and which has also been adopted by many of the more modern
Protestant theologians (e.g., Menken and H. Olshausen), viz., that our prophecy was
only provisionally fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist and the incarnation of
the Son of God in Jesus Christ, and that its true fulfilment will only take place at the
second coming of Christ to judge the world, in the actual appearance of the risen
Elijah by which it will be preceded, is not only at variance with the statements of the
Lord concerning John the Baptist, which have been already quoted, but as no
tenable foundation in our prophecy itself. The prophets of the Old Testament
throughout make no allusion to any second coming of the Lord to His people. The
day of the Lord, which they announce as the day of judgment, commenced with the
appearance on earth of Christ, the incarnate Logos; and Christ Himself declared
that He had come into the world for judgment (Joh_9:39, cf. Joh_3:19 and
Joh_12:40), viz., for the judgment of separating the believing from the ungodly, to
give eternal life to those who believe on His name, and to bring death and
condemnation to unbelievers. This judgment burst upon the Jewish nation not long
after the ascension of Christ. Israel rejected its Saviour, and was smitten with the
ban at the destruction of Jerusalem in the Roman war; and both people and land lie

35. under this ban to the present day. And just as the judgment commenced at that time
so far as Israel was concerned, so does it also begin in relation to all peoples and
kingdoms of this earth with the first preaching of Christ among them, and will
continue throughout all the centuries during which the kingdom spreads upon
earth, until it shall be ultimately completed in the universal judgment at the visible
second coming of the Lord at the last day.
7E. Keil concludes, "With this calling to remembrance of the law of Moses, and this
prediction that the prophet Elijah will be sent before the coming of the Lord
Himself, the prophecy of the Old Testament is brought to a close. After Malachi, no
other prophet arose in Israel until the time was fulfilled when the Elijah predicted
by him appeared in John the Baptist, and immediately afterwards the Lord came to
His temple, that is to say, the incarnate Son of God to His own possession, to make
all who received Him children of God, the segullâh of the Lord. Law and prophets
bore witness of Christ, and Christ came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but
to fulfil them. Upon the Mount of Christ's Transfiguration, therefore, there
appeared both Moses, the founder of the law and mediator of the old covenant, and
Elijah the prophet, as the restorer of the law in Israel, to talk with Jesus of His
decease which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem (Mat_17:1.; Mar_9:1.;
Luk_9:28.), for a practical testimony to the apostles and to us all, that Jesus Christ,
who laid down His life for us, to bear our sin and redeem us from the curse of the
law, was the beloved Son of the Father, whom we are to hear, that by believing in
His name we may become children of God and heirs of everlasting life."
8. A man known only by the name of Virgil gives us more details than the
commentators above. He wrote, "When this prophecy was recorded (c. 460 B.C.),
Elijah had been dead for about four centuries. So, the Elijah in this passage would
have to be referring to someone else. During the four centuries before the first
coming of Jesus, there was probably much speculation over who this second Elijah
might be and when he might arrive on the scene. Suddenly, near the end of the first
century B.C., the archangel Gabriel appeared in the temple before a priest named
Zechariah and gave him a message. Here's what the angel said: "…Your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John...he will be
great in the sight of the Lord…And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and
power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous -- to make ready a people prepared for
the Lord." (Luke 1:13-17) Gabriel was speaking of John the Baptist. The archangel
quoted Malachi and made it perfectly clear that there was no longer any need to
wonder who the Elijah to come would be. It would be John the Baptist.
8B. The gospel of Mark confirms the identity of the prophesied Elijah. Mark quotes
Isaiah 40:3: "It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of
you, who will prepare your way -- a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the
way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" And so John came, baptizing in
the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

36. (Mark 1:2-4) John's ministry was over and he was murdered early in the first
century. The "great and dreadful day of the LORD," the destruction of Judea,
including Jerusalem and the temple, took place soon after. So far, we have relied on
confirmation from Gabriel and Mark. Finally, we appeal to Jesus: "For all the
Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he
is the Elijah who was to come." (Matthew.11:13-14)
9. What we have here is a great controversy among Christian Bible teachers. Many
believe that the day of the Lord, or the day of judgment came with the destruction
of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. It seems to fulfill all of the prophecies of that great day, and
they quote Luke 21:22 that seems to confirm it. "For this is the time of punishment
in fulfillment of all that has been written." Other Bible teachers refuse to believe
that it was great enough judgment to be the Day of the Lord that the Bible speaks
of, and so they are convinced that it was just an example of the real day of judgment
yet to come. So we have what are called preterists, and what are called futurists.
One says all or most is in the past, and the other say all of most is in the future. It is
not easy to choose sides in this controversy, for both have powerful arguments with
Scripture to back them up. For my part I accept both as Biblically based, and so I
need to accept all of the Scripture involved, and by so doing recognize that both are
valid, but just not complete without the other. But in terms of this prophecy and its
fulfillment in John the Baptist, the evidence supports the most obvious fulfillment in
the Roman destruction of the temple in 70 A. D.
10. James Stuart Russell wrote, "That this is no vague and unmeaning threat is
evident from the distinct and definite terms in which it is announced. Everything
points to an approaching crisis in the history of the nation, when God would inflict
judgment upon His rebellious people. 'The day, was coming - 'the day that shall
burn as a furnace;, 'the great and terrible day of the Lord., That this 'day' refers to
a certain period, and a specific event, does not admit of question. It had already
been foretold in precisely the same words by the Prophet Joel (ii. 31): 'The great and
terrible day of the Lord;, and we shall meet with a distinct reference to it in the
address of the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 20). But the period is
further more precisely defined by the remarkable statement of Malachi in chap. iv.
5: 'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
terrible day of the Lord.' The explicit declaration of our Lord that the predicted
Elijah was no other than His own forerunner, John the Baptist (Matt. xi. 14),
enables us to determine the time and the event referred to as 'the great and terrible
day of the Lord., It must be sought at no great distance from the period of John the
Baptist. That is to say, the allusion is to the judgment of the Jewish nation, when
their city and temple were destroyed, and the entire fabric of the Mosaic polity was
dissolved." God's patience was amazing in that he held back this day for 400 years,
but if we try to make this the judgment day at the end of history, we are putting it
off for 2000 and who knows how many more years. This is making the prophecy
almost meaningless, and so logic alone tells us that it must refer to the time Jesus
talked about when not one stone would be left upon another, so great would be the
destruction of the temple shortly after his death and resurrection."

37. 6. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers; or else I will come and strike the land
with a curse."
1. God is saying that this Elijah who will come must succeed in turning the hearts of
people back to God, or the consequences will be that the land of Israel will be struck
with a curse. We know that John did his best, and there was a number of people
who repented and were baptized, but we know that the leaders of Israel paid him no
attention but to reject him. The end result was the destruction of the land and the
temple in 70 A. D.
2. John preached a strong message of condemntion. We read in Luke 3:7-8, "John
said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with
repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our
father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for
Abraham.'" He was blunt is demanding more than words to demonstrate their faith
in God. Just boasting of their heritage from Abraham would not cut it. They had to
domonstrate faith by works of else. But they were content to mostly depend on their
blood line as enough, and that was a fatal flaw.
3. Clarke, " So we find that, had the Jews turned to God, and received the Messiah
at the preaching of John the Baptist and that of Christ and his apostles, the awful
cherem of final excision and execration would not have been executed upon them.
However, they filled up the cup of their iniquity, and were reprobated, and the
Gentiles elected in their stead. Thus, the last was first, and the first was last. Glory
to God for his unspeakable gift!
There are three remarkable predictions in this chapter: -
1. The advent of John Baptist, in the spirit and authority of Elijah.
2. The manifestation of Christ in the flesh, under the emblem of the Sun of
righteousness.
3. The final destruction of Jerusalem, represented under the emblem of a
burning oven, consuming every thing cast into it.
These three prophecies, relating to the most important facts that have ever taken
place in the history of the world, announced here nearly four hundred years before

38. their occurrence, have been most circumstantially fulfilled.
3B. Clarke has this interesting note, "In most of the Masoretic Bibles the fifth verse
is repeated after the sixth - “Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the
great and terrible day of Jehovah come;” for the Jews do not like to let their sacred
book end with a curse; and hence, in reading, they immediately subjoin the above
verse, or else the fourth - “Remembering ye the law of Moses my servant.”
3C. Clarke continues, "In one of my oldest MSS. the fifth verse is repeated, and
written at full length: “Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” In another, only these words are added:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah.” It is on this ground that the Jews expect the
reappearance of Elijah the prophet, and at their marriage-feast always set a chair
and knife and fork for this prophet, whom they suppose to be invisibly present. But
we have already seen that John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, was the
person designed; for he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, (see on Mal_3:1
(note)), and has fulfilled this prophetic promise. John is come, and the Lord Jesus
has come also; he has shed his blood for the salvation of a lost world; he has
ascended on high; he has sent forth his Holy Spirit; he has commissioned his
ministers to proclaim to all mankind redemption in his blood; and he is ever present
with them, and is filling the earth with righteousness and true holiness."
4. Jamison, "turn ... heart of ... fathers to ... children, etc. — Explained by some,
that John’s preaching should restore harmony in families. But Luk_1:16, Luk_1:17
substitutes for “the heart of the children to the fathers,” “the disobedient to the
wisdom of the just,” implying that the reconciliation to be effected was that between
the unbelieving disobedient children and the believing ancestors, Jacob, Levi,
“Moses,” and “Elijah” (just mentioned) (compare Mal_1:2; Mal_2:4, Mal_2:6;
Mal_3:3, Mal_3:4). The threat here is that, if this restoration were not effected,
Messiah’s coming would prove “a curse” to the “earth,” not a blessing. It proved so
to guilty Jerusalem and the “earth,” that is, the land of Judea when it rejected
Messiah at His first advent, though He brought blessings (Gen_12:3) to those who
accepted Him (Joh_1:11-13). Many were delivered from the common destruction of
the nation through John’s preaching (Rom_9:29; Rom_11:5). It will prove so to the
disobedient at His second advent, though He comes to be glorified in His saints
(2Th_1:6-10).
4B. Jamison continues, "curse — Hebrew, Cherem, “a ban”; the fearful term
applied by the Jews to the extermination of the guilty Canaanites. Under this ban
Judea has long lain. Similar is the awful curse on all of Gentile churches who love
not the Lord Jesus now (1Co_16:22). For if God spare not the natural branches, the
Jews, much less will He spare unbelieving professors of the Gentiles (Rom_11:20,
Rom_11:21). It is deeply suggestive that the last utterance from heaven for four
hundred years before Messiah was the awful word “curse.” Messiah’s first word on
the mount was “Blessed” (Mat_5:3). The law speaks wrath; the Gospel, blessing.

39. Judea is now under the “curse” because it rejects Messiah; when the spirit of Elijah,
or a literal Elijah, shall bring the Jewish children back to the Hope of their
“fathers,” blessing shall be theirs, whereas the apostate “earth” shall be “smitten
with the curse” previous to the coming restoration of all things (Zec_12:13,
Zec_12:14).
5. Gill, "..and the heart of the children to their fathers; or "with" their fathers; that
is, both fathers and children: the meaning is, that John the Baptist should be an
instrument of converting many of the Jews, both fathers and children, and bringing
them to the knowledge and faith of the true Messiah; and reconcile them together
who were divided by the schools of Hillell and Shammai, and by the sects of the
Sadducees and Pharisees, and bring them to be of one mind, judgment, and faith,
and to have a hearty love to one another, and the Lord Christ; see Mat_3:5;"
5B. Gill goes on, "Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse; the land of Judea;
which, because the greater part of the inhabitants of it were not converted to the
Lord, did not believe in the Messiah, but rejected him, notwithstanding the
preaching and testimony of John the Baptist, and the ministry and miracles of
Christ, it was smitten with a curse, was made desolate, and destroyed by the Roman
emperors, Vespasian and Adrian, as instruments doing what God here threatened
he would do; for not the whole earth is intended, as the Targum and Abarbinel
suggest; but only that land, and the people of it, are intended, to whom the law of
Moses was given; and to whom Elias, or John the Baptist, was to be sent; and to
whom he was sent, and did come; and by whom he was rejected, and also the
Messiah he pointed at; for which that country was smitten with a curse, and
remains under it to this day."
6. An author named Virgil wrote, "Gabriel told Zechariah, "he will go on before the
Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous" (Luke 1:17). This is
referring to a figurative reconciliation between those of the first-century "wicked
generation" (Matthew 12:45; Luke 11:29) and their faithful, obedient ancestors --
their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.The word "fathers" appears seven times in
the gospels, but only once does it clearly refer to a direct father/son relationship
(Luke 11:11). More often than not, it refers to ancient ancestors. Abraham is
referred to as the "father" of people who were not his immediate offspring
numerous times in the (ew Testament (Matthew 3:9; Luke 1:73; 3:8; 16:24, 30;
John 8:39, 53, 56; Acts 7:2; Romans 4:12, 16, 18).
6B. Virgil goes on, "From John's words above (Luke 3:7-8), we see that some felt
they didn't need any reconciliation with Abraham. They depended totally on their
lineage for their security, but John indicated that a claim to direct lineage would not
help them because their hearts were not right. Ultimately, most did not see the need
for reconciliation and in the spring of A.D. 67, the LORD finally did come (through
his agent the Roman army) to "strike the land with a curse" [utter destruction, Heb.

40. cherem, -- a 3½-year period of intense tribulation that culminated in the
devastation of Judea.
6C. Virgil rejects the view that John was trying to reconcile fathers and son. He
wrote, "It's inconsistent to suggest that John the Baptist came to "restore families"
when Jesus clearly came to divide families:"Do not suppose that I have come to
bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have
come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-
law against her mother-in-law -- a man's enemies will be the members of his own
household.'" (Matthew 10:34-36) Mat_10:21, “the brother shall deliver up the
brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against
their parents, and cause them to be put to death.”
7. Barnes, "After the glad tidings, Malachi, and the Old Testament in him, ends
with words of awe, telling us of the consequence of the final hardening of the heart;
the eternal severance, when the unending end of the everlasting Gospel itself shall be
accomplished, and its last grain shall be gathered into the garner of the Lord. The
Jews, who would be wiser than the prophet, repeat the previous verse , because
Malachi closes so awfully. The Maker of the heart of man knew better the hearts
which He had made, and taught their authors to end the books of Isaiah and
Ecclesiastes with words of awe, from which man’s heart so struggles to escape. To
turn to God here, or everlasting destruction from His presence there, is the only
choice open to thee.” “Think of this, when lust goads thee, or ambition solicits thee,
or anger convulses thee, or the flesh blandishes thee, or the world allures thee, or the
devil displays his deceitful pomp and enticement. In thy hand and thy choice are life
and death, heaven and hell, salvation and damnation, bliss or misery everlasting.
Choose which thou willest. Think, ‘A moment which delighteth, eternity which
tortureth;’ on the other hand, ‘a moment which tortureth, eternity which
delighteth.’"
8. Calvin, "This verse may be viewed as containing a simple promise; but I prefer to
regard it as including what is between an exhortation and a promise. The first thing
is, that God reminds the Jews for what purpose he would send John, even to turn
the hearts of men and to restore them to a holy unity of faith. It must therefore be
noticed, that not only the Redeemer would come, but that after some intermission,
as it has been said, had taken place, the doctrine of salvation would again have its
own course, and would be commenced by John.
9. Steven Cole, "Many commentators interpret “fathers” in verse 6 to refer to
the Jewish patriarchs, and “children” to refer to the disobedient people of Malachi’s
day. I reject that interpretation for two reasons. First, in 2:10-16, we have already
seen that the people in Malachi’s day were intermarrying with unbelievers and
experiencing fractured families. Second, Malachi here does not just refer to the
children being reconciled to their fathers, but also the fathers to the children.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob didn’t need to be reconciled to the people of Malachi’s

41. day. So I interpret it in the normal sense, to refer to literal fathers and children
being reconciled. There is a progression here: First, there was personal alienation
from God due to neglecting His Word (4:4). (ext, there was family alienation (4:6a).
If that were not corrected, the final step would be national deterioration (4:6b).
God’s remedy for the nation was to send Elijah the prophet to call the people to
repentance before the day of judgment (4:5). God only sends judgment if we reject
His offer of mercy. These people were indifferent to God’s great love (1:2). So they
needed first to get right with God by obedience to His Word and then to get right
with one another. These are the two great commandments that sum up all of the
Law and Prophets."
10. Morgan disagrees with the above view, and so there is dividsion as to how to
understand Malachi as he ends his prophecy. It is a very serious issue, for the
success or failure of John the Baptist in turning the hearts of people to one another
or to the ancient fathers of their people determines if there will be a curse or a
blessing on the nation. Morgan points out that the O T ends with a curse threatned,
but not yet done and so there is a chapter of hope yet to come when the curse can be
avoided. The fathers are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and if they return to them and
their ways the curse will be averted. Others say it is the reconciliation of families so
they are united in their worship to the Lord that is the key to blessings. It is obvious
that both goals are crucial to a godly nation worthy of God's blessing, and so there is
no need to choose one and reject the other. Both failed to avoid the curse and
judgment anyway, for God's wrath fell on Israel in 70. A. D.
11. (obody likes to end on a negative note, but Malachi ends with a curse, and this
is the last word in the Old Testament. It is not a pleasant ending, but it does reveal
that there has to be a better chapter ahead to deal with this bad news, and the (ew
Testament has that good news of being delivered from the curse of the law.
12. An unknown author wrote, "It is significant that the final word in the book of
last Old Testament prophet is "curse". For those who don’t accept the (ew
Testament revelation as the Word of God, this is a harsh ending for the Bible. "The
book of Genesis shows how the curse entered the human race, and Malachi indicates
the curse still threatens" [Feinberg, 269]. "From early times attempts have been
made to avoid the harsh ending of the book. Greek manuscripts placed verse 4 after
verse 6, while Hebrew liturgical use led to the repetition of verse 5 after verse 6.
Hebrew Bibles continue to print verse 5 a second time at the end of the chapter"
[Baldwin, 251]. It would indeed be sad news for mankind if the last word in the
Bible was "curse". A better solution than rearranging verses to avoiding this harsh
ending is to read on! Open up the book of Matthew and read the good news of the
coming of Jesus. See how God has provided a way for us to escape the curse of
death! In fact, to counteract the last word from the Lord ("curse") to the last Old
Testament prophet, Jesus begins His ministry with the word, "Blessed" (see Matt.
5:3)."
13. I want to close this study of Malachi with the words of James Stuart Russell who

42. wrote about the interval between Malachi and John the Baptist. He wrote, "The
four centuries which intervene between the conclusion of the Old Testament and the
commencement of the (ew are a blank in Scripture history. We know, however,
from the Books of the Maccabees and the writings of Josephus, that it was an
eventful period in the Jewish annals. Judea was by turns the vassal of the great
monarchies by which it was surrounded - Persia, Greece, Egypt, Syria, and Rome, -
with an interval of independence under the Maccabean princes. But though the
nation during this period passed through great suffering, and produced some
illustrious examples of patriotism and of piety, we look in vain for any divine oracle,
or any inspired messenger, to declare the word of the Lord. Israel might truly say:
'We see not our signs, there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any
that knoweth how long' (Psa. lxxiv. 9). Yet those four centuries were not without a
powerful influence on the character of the nation. During this period, synagogues
were established throughout the land, and the knowledge of the Scriptures was
widely extended. The great religious schools of the Pharisees and Sadducees arose,
both professing to be expounders and defenders of the law of Moses. Vast numbers
of Jews settled in the great cities of Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, carrying
with them everywhere the worship of the synagogue and the Septuagint translation
of the Old Testament.
Above all, the nation cherished in its inmost heart the hope of a coming deliverer, a
scion of the royal house of David, who should be the theocratic king, the liberator of
Israel from Gentile domination, whose reign was to be so happy and glorious that it
might deserve to be called 'the kingdom of heaven.' But, for the most part, the
popular conception of the coming king was earthly and carnal. There had not in
four hundred years been any improvement in the moral condition of the people,
and, between the formalism of the Pharisees and the scepticism of the Sadducees,
true religion had sunk to its lowest ebb. There was still, however, a faithful remnant
who had truer conceptions of the kingdom of heaven, and 'who looked for
redemption in Israel.' As the time drew near, there were indications of the return of
the prophetic spirit, and premonitions that the promised deliverer was at hand.
Simeon received assurance that before his death ho should see 'the Lord's anointed;'
a like intimation appears to have been made to the aged prophetess Anna. Such
revelations, it is reasonable to suppose, must have awakened eager expectation in
the hearts of many, and prepared them for the cry which soon after was heard in
the wilderness of Judea: 'Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand !' A prophet
had again risen up in Israel, and 'the Lord had visited His people.'"
14. As we reflect back on the message of Malachi the following outline by an
unknown author is an excellent review of the book:
OUTLI(E OF THE BOOK OF MALACHI
I. God’s Love Doubted Chapter 1:1-5

43. A. The Statement 1:1-2a
B. The Question 1:2b
C. The Answer 1:2c-5
II.God’s Word Disobeyed Chapters 1:6-3:18
A. By the Priests 1:6 - 2:9
1. Defiled His Worship 1:6 - 2:2
2. Distorted His Word 2:3-9
B. By the People 2:10 - 3:18
1. Intermarriage 2:10-14
2. Immorality 2:15-17
3. Indebtedness 3:1-18
III.God’s Warning Delivered Chapter 4
A. The Judgment of the Sinful 4:1a
B. The Joy of the Saved 4:1b-6
APPE(DIX A
Barnes wrote, "The Archangel Gabriel interprets this for us, to include the sending
of John the Immerser. For he not only says Luk_1:17. that he shall “go before” the
Lord “in the spirit and power of Elias,” but describes his mission in the
characteristic words of Malachi, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children:”
and those other words also, “and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,” perhaps
represent the sequel in Malachi, “and the hearts of the children to the fathers;” for
their hearts could only be so turned by conversion to God, whom the fathers,
patriarchs and prophets, knew, loved and served; and whom they served in name
only. John the Immerser, in denying that he was Elias, Joh_1:21 denied only, that he
was that great prophet himself. Our Lord, in saying Mat_11:14, “This is Elias,
which was for to come Mat_17:12 that Elias is come already and they knew him not,
but have done unto him whatsoever they listed,” met the error of the scribes, that
He could not be the Christ, because Elias was not yet come. When He says

44. Mat_17:11, “Elias truly shall first come and restore all things,” He implies a coming
of Elijah, other than that of John the Immerser, since he was already martyred, and
all things were not yet restored. This must also be the fullest fulfillment. “For the
great and terrible Day of the Lord” is the Day of Judgment, of which all earthly
judgments, however desolating, (as the destruction of Jerusalem) are but shadows
and earnests. Before our Lord’s coming all things looked on to His first coming,
and, since that coming, all looks on to the second, which is the completion of the first
and of all things in time.
5B. Barnes continues, "Our Lord’s words, “Elias truly shall first come and restore
all things,” seem to me to leave no question, that, as John the Immerser came, in the
spirit and power of Elias, before His first coming, so, before the second coming,
Elijah should come in person, as Jews and Christians have alike expected. This has
been the Christian expectation from the first. Justin Martyr asked his opponent
“Shall we not conceive that the Word of God has proclaimed Elias to be the
forerunner of the great and terrible day of His second Coming?” “Certainly,” was
Trypho’s reply. Justin continues, “Our Lord Himself taught us in His own teaching
that this very thing shall be, when the said that ‘Elias also shall come;’ and we know
that this shall be fulfilled, when He is about to come from heaven in glory.”
Tertullian says “Elias is to come again, not after a departure from life, but after a
translation; not to be restored to the body, from which he was never taken; but to be
restored to the world, from which he was translated; not by way of restoration to
life, but for the completion of prophecy; one and the same in name and in person.”
“Enoch and Elias were translated, and their death is not recorded, as being
deferred; but they are reserved as to die, that they may vanquish Antichrist by their
blood.”
5C. Barnes continues, "And, in proof that the end was not yet , “(o one has yet
received Elias; no one has yet fled from Antichrist.” And the ancient author of the
verses against Marcion; , “Elias who has not yet tasted the debt of death, because he
is again to come into the world.” Origen says simply in one place, that the Saviour
answered the question as to the objection of the Scribes, “not annulling what had
been handed down concerning Elias, but affirming that there was another coming of
Elias before Christ, unknown to the scribes, according to which, not knowing him,
and, being in a manner, accomplices in his being cast into prison by Herod and slain
by him, they had done to him what they listed.” Hippolytus has , “As two Comings
of our Lord and Saviour were indicated by the Scriptures, the first in the flesh, in
dishonor, that He might be set at naught - the second in glory, when He shall come
from heaven with the heavenly host and the glory of the Father - so two forerunners
were pointed out, the first, John, the son of Zacharias, and again - since He is
manifested as Judge at the end of the world, His forerunners must first appear, as
He says through Malachi, ‘I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the great and
terrible day of the Lord shall come. ‘“
5D. Barnes continues, "Hilary , “The Apostles inquire in anxiety about the times of
Elias. To whom He answereth, that “Elias will come and restore all things,” that is,

45. will recall to the knowledge of God, what he shall find of Israel; but he signifies that
John came “in the spirit and power of Elias,” to whom they had shown all severe
and harsh dealings, that, foreannouncing the Coming of the Lord, he might be a
forerunner of the Passion also by an example of wrong and harass.” “We
understand that those same prophets (Moses and Elias) will come before His
Coming, who, the Apocalypse of John says, will be slain by Antichrist, although
there are various opinions of very many, as to Enoch or Jeremiah, that one of them
is to die, as Elias.”
5E. Barnes goes on, "Hilary the Deacon, 355 a.d., has on the words, “I suppose God
hath set forth us the Apostles last;” “He therefore applies these to his own person,
because he was always in distress, suffering, beyond the rest, persecutions and
distresses, as Enoch and Elias will suffer, who will be Apostles at the last time. For
they have to be sent before Christ, to make ready the people of God, and fortify all
the Churches to resist Antichrist, of whom the Apocalypse attests, that they will
suffer persecutions and be slain.” “When the faithless shall be secure of the
kingdom of the devil, the saints, i. e., Enoch and Elias being slain, rejoicing in the
victory, and ‘sending gifts, one to another’ as the Apocalypse says Rev_11:10
sudden destruction shall come upon them. For Christ at His Coming, shall destroy
them all.” Gregory of (yssa quotes the prophecy under the heading, that “before
the second Coming of our Lord, Elias should come.” "Ambrose , “Because the Lord
was to come down from heaven, and to ascend to heaven, He raised Elias to heaven,
to bring him back to the earth at the time He should please.” “The beast,
Antichrist, ascends from the abyss to fight against Elias and Enoch and John, who
are restored to the earth for the testimony to the Lord Jesus, as we read in the
Apocalypse of John.”
5F. Jerome gives here the mystical meaning; “God will send, in Elias (which is
interpreted ‘My God’ and wire is of the town Thisbe, which signifies ‘conversion’ or
‘penitence’) the whole choir of the prophets, “to convert the heart of the fathers to
the sons,” namely, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the patriarchs, that their
posterity may believe in the Lord the Saviour, in whom themselves believed: ‘for
Abraham saw the day of the Lord and was glad.’” Here, he speaks of the “coming of
Elias before their anointed,” as a supposition of Jews and Judaizing heretics. But in
commenting on our Lord’s words in Matthew, he adheres twice to the literal
meaning. On Mat_11:14-15, “Some think that John is therefore called Elias,
because, as, according to Malachi, at the second coming of the Saviour. On
Mat_17:11-12, Elias will precede and announce the Judge to come, so did John at
His first coming, and each is a messenger, of the first or second coming of the
Lord:” and again concisely, On Mat_17:11-12, “He who is to come in the second
Coining of the Saviour in the actual body, now comes through John in spirit and
power;” and he speaks of Enoch and Elias as “the two witnesses in the Revelation,
since, according to the Apocalypse of John, Enoch and Elias are spoken of, as
having to die.”

46. 5G. Barnes continues, "Chrysostom , “When He saith that Elias “cometh and shall
restore all things,” He means Elias himself, and the conversion of the Jews, which
shall then be; but when He saith, “which was to come,” He calls John, Elias,
according to the manner of his ministry.”In Augustine’s time it was the universal
belief. , “When he (Malachi) had admonished them to remember the law of Moses,
because he foresaw, that they would for a long time not receive it spiritually, as it
ought, he added immediately; “And I will send you Elias the Thisbite” etc. That
when, through this Elias, the great and wonderful prophet, at the last time before
the judgment, the law shall have been expounded to them, the Jews shall believe in
the true Christ, i. e., in our Christ, is everywhere in the mouths and hearts of the
faithful. For not without reason is it hoped, that he shall come before the Coming of
the Saviour, as Judge, because not without reason is it believed that he still lives. For
he was carried in a chariot of fire from things below; which Scripture most
evidently attests. When he shall come then, by expounding the law spiritually, which
the Jews now understand carnally, he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the
children.”
5H. Barnes continues, "Cyril of Alexandria, his antagonist “Theodoret, and
Theodore” of Mopsuestia, who was loose from all tradition, had the same clear
belief. Cyril; “It is demonstrative of the gentleness and long-suffering of God, that
Elias also the Tishbite shall shine upon us, to foreannounce when the Judge shall
come to those in the whole world. For the Son shall come down, as Judge, in the
glory of the Father, attended by the angels, and shall ‘sit on the throne of His glory,
judging the world in righteousness, and shall reward every man according to his
works.’ But since we are in many sins, well is it for us, that the divine prophet goes
before Him, bringing all those on earth to one mind; that all, being brought to the
unity through the faith, and ceasing from evil intents, may fulfill that which is good,
and so be saved when the Judge cometh down. The blessed John the Baptist came
before Him “in the spirit and power of Elias.” But, as he preached saying, ‘Prepare
ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight,’ so also the divine Elias proclaims
His then being near and all-but-present, that He may ‘judge the world in
righteousness.’” Theodoret; , “Malachi teaches us how, when Antichrist shall
presume on these things, the great Elias shall appear, preaching to the Jews the
coming of Christ: and he shall convert many, for this is the meaning of, “he shall
turn the heart of the fathers to the children,” i. e., the Jews (for these he calls
fathers, as being older in knowledge) to those who believed from the Gentiles. They
who shall believe through the preaching of the great Elias, and shall join themselves
to the Gentiles who seized the salvation sent to them, shall become one church.
5I. Barnes goes on, "He hints, how when these things are done by Antichrist,
Michael the Archangel will set all in motion, that Elias should come and
foreannounce the coming of the Lord that the then Jews may obtain salvation.” And
on this place, “Knowing well, that they would neither obey the law, nor receive Him
when He came, but would deliver Him to be crucified, He promises them, in His
unspeakable love for man, that He will again send Elias as a herald of salvation, ‘Lo,
I will send you Elias the Tishbite.’ And signifying the time, He added, ‘Before the

47. great and terrible day of the Lord shall come:’ He named the Day of His Second
Coming. But He teaches us, what the great Elias shall do, when he comes, ‘Who
shall bring back the heart of the father to the son’ etc. And pointing out the end, for
which Elias should first come, ‘Lest I come and smite the earth utterly.’ For lest,
finding you all in unbelief, I send you all to that endless punishment, Elias will first
come, and will persuade you, O Jews, to unite you indissolubly with those, who from
the Gentiles believe in Me, and to be united to My one Church.”
5J. Barnes continues, "Theodore of Mopsuestia paraphrases: “In addition to all
which I have said, I give you this last commandment, to remember My law, which I
gave to all Israel through Moses, plainly declaring what they ought to do in each
thing, and as the first token of obedience, to receive the Lord Christ when He
cometh, appearing for the salvation of all men: Who will end the law, but show His
own perfection. It had been well, had you immediately believed Him when He came,
and known Him, as He whom Moses and all the prophets signified, Who should put
an end to the law, and reveal the common salvation of all men, so that it should be
manifest to all, that this is the sum and chief good of the whole dispensation of the
law, to bring all men to the Lord Christ, Who, for those great goods, should be
manifested in His own time. But since, when He manifested Himself, ye manifested
your own ungainliness, the blessed Elias shall be sent to you before the second
Coming of Christ, when He will come from heaven, to unite those who, for religion,
are separated from each other, and, through the knowledge of religion, to bring the
fathers to one-mindedness with the children, and in a word, to bring all men to one
and the same harmony, when those, then found in ungodliness, shall receive from
him the knowledge of the truth in the communion with the godly thence ensuing.”
5K. Barnes continues, “The African author of the work on the promises and
predictions of God.” (between 450 and 455 a.d.)“Against Antichrist shall be sent two
witnesses, the prophets Enoch and Elijah, against whom shall arise three false
prophets of Antichrist. Isidore of Seville 595 a.d.; , “Elias, borne in a chariot of fire,
ascended to heaven, to come according to the prophet Malachi at the end of the
world, and to precede Christ, to announce His last coming, with great deeds and
wondrous signs, so that, on earth too, Antichrist will war against him, be against
him, or him who is to come with him, and will slay them; their bodies also will lie
unburied in the streets. Then, raised by the Lord, they will smite the kingdom of
Antichrist with a great blow. After this, the Lord will come, and will slay Antichrist
with the word of His mouth, and those who worshiped him.” , “This will be in the
last times, when, on the preaching of Elias, Judah will be converted to Christ.”
5L. Barnes continues,"To add one more, for his great gifts, Gregory the Great. , “It
is promised, that when Elias shall come, he shall bring back the hearts of the sons to
their fathers, that the doctrine of the old, which is now taken from the hearts of the
Jews, may, in the mercy of God, return, when the sons shall begin to understand of
the Lord God, what the fathers taught.” , “Although Elias is related to have been
carried to heaven, he deferred, he did not escape, death. For it is said of him by the

48. mouth of the Truth Himself, ‘Elias shall come and restore all things.’ He shall come
to ‘restore all things;’ for to this end is he restored to this world, that he may both
fulfill the office of preaching, and pay the debt of the flesh.” , “The holy Church,
although it now loses many through the shock of temptation, yet, at the end of the
world, it receives its own double, when, having received the Gentiles to the full, all
Judaea too, which shall then be, agrees to hasten to its faith. For hence it is written,
“Until the fullness of the Gentiles shall come, and so all Israel shall be saved.”
5M. Barnes goes on, "Hence, in the Gospel the Truth says, “Elias shall come and
shall restore all things.” For now the Church has lost the Israelites, whom it could
not convert by preaching; but then, at the preaching of Elias, while it collects all
which it shall find, it receives in a manner more fully what it has lost.” , “John is
spoken of as to come in the spirit and power of Elias, because, as Elias shall precede
the second Coming of the Lord, so John preceded His first. For as Elias will come,
as precursor of the Judge, so John was made the precursor of the Redeemer. John
then was Elias in spirit; he was not Elias in person. What then the Lord owned as to
spirit, that John denies as to the person.”
5(. Barnes concludes, "Whether Elijah is one of the two witnesses spoken of in the
Apocalypse, is obviously a distinct question. Of commentators on the Apocalypse,
Arethas remarks that as to Elijah, there is clear testimony from Holy Scripture, this
of Malachi; but that, with regard to Enoch, we have only the fact of his being freed
from death by translation, and the tradition of the Church. John Damascene fixed
the belief in the Eastern Church. In the West, Bede e. g., who speaks of the belief
that the two witnesses were Elijah and Enoch, as what was said by “some doctors,”
takes our Lord’s declaration, that Elijah shall return, in its simple meaning. (on
Mat_17:11; Mark 9.) Yet it was no matter of faith. When the belief as to a personal
Antichrist was changed by Luther and Calvin, the belief of a personal forerunner of
Christ gave way also.