Malachi Chapter Four, The Last Word

 

Christ’s ministry, immediately following John’s, terminates 69 of Daniel’s 70 weeks, to be taken up again when the Great Tribulation begins and the final momentous seven year period brings this chapter of human history to an end. I make mention of this because Elijah’s ministry, by Malachi’s reckoning in both chapters 3 and 4 is followed abruptly or suddenly by the visible coming of Messiah in glory. Verse 6 states, “lest I come…” The Lord will come to strike the earth with a curse. 

However, Malachi did not know of the church age between Daniel’s 69^th and 70^th weeks. The Day of the Lord is the Day of God’s vengeance, from which the saints prior to its inception will be spared because Christ took our payment for sin; believers are spared prior to the Tribulation, being raptured to meet the Lord in the air because God is doling out judgment on a world that rejected His Son, not His own children who have already accepted Jesus as their Savior. To the nation of Israel His coming will bring a mixture of intense joy and grief; to the Gentile nations that harassed Israel and served the Antichrist He visits judgment upon them, Psalm 2:4, 5, Zechariah 12:3, 4, 9. There is much to be said concerning the Day of the Lord still, but I would like to relegate the topic to what is pertinent to Malachi’s burden.

 

Summarizing the points found specifically in Malachi we find differing and concurrent manifestations of, “the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

 

We know from Malachi 1:11 (and verse 14) that the Gentiles the world over will worship the covenant God of Israel in days to come. The knowledge of the Lord will proliferate from shore to shore until the entire world bows the knee to the Lord.

 

Malachi 3:1-5 focuses on Israel’s position in the day of the Lord. The messenger (identified as Elijah in Malachi 4:5) will precede Messiah. His ministry will be to turn the hearts of Israel back to the Lord to prepare them for Messiah the Prince, Malachi 4:6. God’s arrival in His temple when He walks among His people will result in a purifying of the Levites so that in sincerity of heart they once again offer unto Yahweh offerings that please Him. He will also sit in His temple (Malachi 3:1) judging sin once Israel has been properly restored.

 

Malachi 4:1-3 reveals the burning fire of Messiah’s coming that will reduce the proud and wicked to ash. In that same moment, and for the same reason, He will set Israel at liberty from their oppressors. He will heal them and let them out of their stalls, indicating that His people were penned or otherwise trapped or contained. This will occur on “the day that I do this,” which is a reference to the “great and dreadful day of the Lord,” Malachi mentions 2 verses later. The Jews set free must then enter into the state of cleansing described in chapter 3, verses 1-4 (see also Zechariah 13:8, 9), followed by Messiah reigning from His temple and judging in Malachi 3:5.

 

Malachi 4:5-6 generously names the forerunner of Messiah: Elijah. His purposive arrival will entail ministry to make Israel ready to be reconciled to their God. This indicates that prior to Elijah’s coming the majority of the Jews are in need of this ministry. In short, they live in a state of estranged unbelief. The curse that follows and concludes Malachi (being literally the final word) is poised to strike the whole world. The curse uses terminology similar to banned things, which are devoted or set apart for destruction. This being the case, the Day of the Lord seems to find its conclusion or its termination point with the earth’s destruction.

 

The messenger fulfills his ministry. The Day of the Lord begins. The Lord Israel seeks comes, and His coming brings fiery ruin to the wicked and salvation to His imprisoned or oppressed people. Upon saving them He will purge them of all lingering sin to prepare them for service. He will sit in His temple, judging as Sovereign, a King-Priest. The Day of the Lord concludes when the earth is struck with a curse, seemingly resulting in its destruction. Israel’s final prophet truly had much to say in a short amount of time, as it were. But we know that God, who is faithful, will make all things He has declared come to pass in their own time.

 

This final passage promises that Israel will always have a faithful remnant, obedient to God’s voice. When He sends His messenger, they comply from the heart. Their faith is accounted for righteousness. The Torah taught them. Elijah prepared them. The Christ will lead them, reign over them, and shepherd them after overthrowing the earthly and Satanic powers arrayed against His people. So which people do we belong to? The proud who are stubble? Scoffers that question God’s word, heckle His patience and mercy, and resist the Holy Spirit? Or are we like the stall-fed calves, skipping with joy over the ashes of Christ’s enemies, having subdued them for us and set us at liberty to delight in the presence of our King and Maker forever? My prayer for everyone reading is that you will, like the Jewish remnant, are the latter.