Malachi 4To: Malachi Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page It should be noted that in the Hebrew Bible there is no chapter break after verse 18 of chapter 3. In other words, there is no chapter 4. The verses continue from 3:19 to 24, rather than 4:1 through 4:6. Malachi 4:1,2"'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. 'Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 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."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. It can be understood to include the Eternal State, however, this state is more properly contained in the phrase, "the day of God." And the two terms "arrogant" and "evildoer" refer to the self-sufficient unbelievers, and their sins and human righteousness, respectively. In other words, these "arrogant" unbelievers make sin and self-sufficiency from their sin natures. And they expect to stand upon their own merits at the judgment. Matthew 3:10,11 and 12 provide an expanded view of this judgment of unbelievers. "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." John the Baptist is speaking here. And the "root of the tree" is the unbeliever at the Second Advent; the "fire" is the Lake of Fire. And John baptized with water because of repentance, i.e., because of a change of thinking regarding Christ; in other words, they believed on Christ. John ministered at the beginning of the Church Age, the First Advent of our Lord. The "fire," then, refers to the Second Advent. The "barn" is the final storage place for believers after the Second Advent, that is, the Millennium. Thus, the "stubble" refers to unbelievers. And "not a root or a branch will be left to them." This phrase reflects that used in Matt. 3:11, and is a reference to total destruction; no root (unbeliever) is left. However, in verse 2, those who "revere" or fear God's name, i.e., believers, "the sun of righteousness will rise." "The sun of righteousness" is a title of our Lord Jesus Christ and is found in Jeremiah 23:5-6: "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.'" And He will have "healing in his wings." The term for "healing" means "to heal wounds by outward application, and binding or sewing." [165] This, then, is the bringing together of two sides of an open, gaping wound. And this is a reference to salvation; for Christ reconciled mankind to God through the Cross. In the Hebrew, the term for "wings" is BANAPH, which is "a wing of a fowl; metaph. the wings of God, the defence and protection of his people." [166] And this is a reference to the wings of the Cherubim embroidered overhead in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle; and the Shekinah glory, Christ Himself, resided therein. This, then, is JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, "the God that is there." And the two Cherubim represented the perfect justice and the perfect righteousness of God which had to be satisfied, i.e., the Law (Virtue); while the Shekinah glory represented the Love of God finding a way to express itself and save those He loved: the coming of Christ and the Cross. Thus, believers will avoid the judgment because of the "healing," "the security, the salvation, and deliverance" found in Christ. [167] And this "healing" is for the Jews, specifically. They wait for the "sun of righteousness," while we, the Church, wait for "the Son of the Morning Star." And "the calves released from the stall" refers to the "special calves which were fat and sleek," [168] which depict the great spiritual and tangible prosperity of the Jews when Christ returns to restore His people. Malachi 4:3"'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."This verse, begins with the qal perfect second masculine plural of the verb ASAS, which is defined as "trampling, to tread down, to tread in pieces." [169] And the term refers to trampling on grapes to obtain the juice for wine. And the "you" which is denoted by the second person plural is the Jews of Zechariah 14:1-4, i.e., those Jews who select to stand fast against the 'King of the North' at the end of the Tribulation, just before the Second Advent of our Lord. That this is a description of the armies of the King of the North as they descend upon the tribulational Jerusalem is found in the word "wicked," which is fwarA, rasha', and is rendered precise as "ungodly; the internal state of the wicked." [170] And these 'ungodly ones' or "wicked ones" are the armies of the King of the North as described in Daniel 11:40-45 and Zechariah 12 and 14. And verse 3, furthermore, describes these armies of the King of the North after our Lord returns: "ashes under the soles of your feet." This is a picture of complete destruction by fire/judgment. And the Jews will trod upon the ashes of their former oppressors. "When I do these things," is the next phrase; and the verb ASAH, is the term for "do." And according to Robert Thieme and William Wilson, ASAH means "to make something out of something," or "to produce by labour." Thus, this verb speaks of our Lord producing victory out of what was inevitable defeat. Malachi 4:4,5"Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes."These two verses present the two heralds of the Second Advent of our Lord, Jesus the Christ. The two heralds are Moses and Elijah. And the Jews are to "remember," ZAKAR, i.e., "remember that which they have forgotten," the word of God as found in the Old Testament, specifically, the Pentateuch. And this presents an interesting analogy between the 400 years of the Egyptian Bondage and the 400 years from Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, to the succeeding prophet, John the Baptist. In other words, for the 400 years of the bondage in Egypt the Jews had no prophet, only the word of God to sustain them. And that they had the word of God in written form is so stated in Genesis 15:13,18, and Genesis 50:24ff. Then came Moses, who was the first prophet for 400 years. And subsequent to Malachi, the Jews again had no prophet for 400 years. But they, too, had the word of God to sustain them. Then came John the Baptist, who was the first prophet for 400 years, and who was the herald of the First Advent of our Lord. The HeraldsThe heralds of the Second Advent will be Moses and Elijah. The herald of the First Advent was John the Baptist. Indeed, at both advents there were both angelic heralds and human heralds. At the First Advent the angelic heralds are discussed in Luke 2:1-15, and the human herald was John. At the Second Advent there will also be an angelic herald, i.e., the "mighty angel" of Revelation 10, and there will be two human heralds, Moses and Elijah, according to Matt. 16:1-23. Both Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 4:5 anticipate the rejection of our Lord in His First Advent. Thus, heralds for the Second Advent will become necessary. Isa. 40:3 reads, "A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God." Thus, if our Lord had been accepted as the Christ in His First Advent, then Elijah and not John would have been the herald of the First Advent. But, of course, He was not accepted. And this supposition is reported in Matt. 11:11-14. And remember, that John stated that he was not Elijah, and thus he was not the herald referred to in Mal. 4:5 and Isa. 40:3. According to Luke 1:16 and 17, John the Baptist had the power of the Spirit, and so will Elijah and Moses. Acts 3:21 and 22 confirm that Moses will be one of the heralds of the Second Advent, and Matt. 17:11 confirms that Elijah will be the other. Enoch is dismissed as a candidate for heraldry because he was a Gentile. [171] In Malachi 4:5, the "day of the Lord" is called both "great and dreadful." In other words, to the believer that day is wonderful; to the unbeliever that day is horrible. For one, victory and blessing ensue, for the other, judgment and death ensue. Malachi 4:6"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."Here is conclusive evidence that the heraldic ministries of Moses and Elijah, during the Tribulation, result in a great revival. And the clause "the hearts of the fathers....to their fathers" refers to Matt. 10:35,36. However, in Malachi the order is reversed, i.e., because of the revival and salvation, the Jews of the Tribulation will not betray each other. Whereas, if the two heralds had not been sent, and the revival had not taken place, family members would have surely abandoned each other. Cherem, or The CurseThe last word in the Old Testament is found in Malachi 4:6, and it is CHEREM. And CHEREM is defined as "a devoted thing; that which is separated or appointed to destruction." Thus, the term carries a double sense, like the Latin sacer. And the New Testament Greek equivalent is found in I Cor. 16:22, which reads, "If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." The term, then, connotes an essential proscription that cannot be removed. A thing or person so cursed is devoted to destruction. [172] And all unbelievers are under this proscription at the Second Advent. "The word is used of the accursed (i.e. devoted) city and substance of Jericho in the sixth and seventh chapters of Joshua, and in the reference to Achan's conduct in Josh. 22:20 and I Chron. 2:7. The idols and their silver and gold are also described as cursed (i.e. devoted) in Deut. 7:26,13,17. In Isa. 34:5 the Edomites are described as 'the people of God's curse,' i.e. devoted to destruction by God; and this accounts for the use of the word in 2 Chron. 20:23. In Isa. 43:28 God says, 'I have given Jacob [unbelieving Jews] to the curse,' i.e. I have devoted the people to destruction. This was in consequence to their idolatry and rebellion." [173] The exception in Jericho was Rahab the prostitute, and this was because she was a believer. Thus, the Cross and faith in Him who hung upon it, is the only formula for avoiding the cherem curse. The Old Testament, then, ends with a curse; the New Testament ends with a blessing: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." (Rev. 22:21) Thus, the design of the revival of the two witnesses of the Tribulation is to escape cherem, the curse associated with unbelief. Moreover, those who reject Christ during the Tribulation are under two curses: the Baptism of Fire at the Judgment Seat (Second Advent Judgment Seat, not the Judgment Seat of Christ at the Rapture of the Church), and the Great White Throne Judgment at the conclusion of the Millennial State. These unbelievers, then, do not enjoy the perfect environment of the Millennium, nor do they enter the Eternal State. [174] "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." So states Acts 10:43. "Through him alone can guilty men, who own their lost estate and trust His grace, be delivered from the 'curse'." [175] Amen. Notes: [165] Wilson, William. Old Testament Word Studies; page 210. [166] Ibid.; page 484. [167] Thieme, Robert. Malachi; from notes. [168] Ibid. [169] Wilson, William. Ibid.; page 452. [170] Ibid.; page 481. [171] This discussion of the two heralds and the 400 years is based upon the scholarship of Robert Thieme, Malachi; from notes. [172] Wilson, William. Ibid.; page 105. [173] Girdlestone, Robert B. Old Testament Synonyms; page 279. [174] Thieme, Robert. Malachi; from notes. [175] Ironside, H.A. Notes On The Minor Prophets; page 463. There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. 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