Malachi 4 commentary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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;

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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."

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:

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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