Malachi 4

Malachi closes the Old Testament with a promise and a warning. The coming Day of the LORD will burn up the proud and wicked, but it will bring healing and joy to those who fear God. The people are told to remember Moses’ law, and God promises to send Elijah before that great day.

Malachi 4:1

The Day of the LORD comes like a blazing oven. The proud and every evildoer will be like dry stubble in a field fire. Nothing will remain of them, no root or branch. The picture is of total judgment, and it is a sober warning.

BSA: arrogant (“proud, haughty”): Pride that sets itself above God is the root sin this judgment falls on. stubble (“chaff, dry grass”): The wicked look solid now but are as light and flammable as dry straw before God’s fire.

See also: Malachi 3:2; Matthew 3:12.

Malachi 4:2

The same day that burns the wicked rises like a sunrise for those who revere God’s name. Righteousness shines, and healing comes with it. The picture is of full restoration after a long night of waiting.

BSA: fear (“revere, honor”): This is not terror but respectful awe that takes God seriously and honors Him. healing (“restoration, wholeness”): The healing is more than physical cure. It is the making whole of the whole person.

Hebrew: שֶׁמֶשׁ צְדָקָה (shemesh tsedaqah, H8121) — “sun of righteousness.” The sun gives light and warmth. The picture is that God’s righteousness itself comes up over the world, with wings of light spreading out like the rays at dawn.

See also: Luke 1:78-79; Isaiah 60:1-3.

Malachi 4:3

The righteous, once pressed down, will see the wicked reduced to ashes beneath their feet. This shows how completely things will be reversed. God Himself has appointed this day and is preparing it, so it is certain.

BSA: trample (“tread down, crush”): The oppressed share in the victory as evil is finally put down.

See also: Romans 16:20.

Malachi 4:4

While waiting, God’s people are told to remember the law given through Moses at Horeb, another name for Sinai. Faithfulness to God’s revealed word is how they are to live until the promised day arrives.

BSA: Remember (“keep in mind, recall”): To remember in the Bible means to hold on to something and live by it, not merely to recall it.

See also: Deuteronomy 4:9-10.

Malachi 4:5

God promises to send Elijah the prophet before the great Day of the LORD. Elijah was the bold prophet who called Israel back to God. The promise points to a messenger who prepares the people before judgment comes.

BSA: awesome (“fearful, terrifying”): The Day is so holy and powerful that it fills people with awe and dread.

See also: Matthew 11:13-14; Luke 1:17.

Malachi 4:6

Elijah’s work is to turn hearts back, mending families and bringing the people back to God. Where hearts stay hard, a curse is the alternative. The Old Testament ends with a call to repent so that judgment may be avoided and blessing received.

BSA: turn (“restore, bring back”): The turning is a real restoring of broken bonds between generations, and with God. curse (“judgment, ban”): The word means something set apart for destruction, a grave warning to those who refuse to turn.

Hebrew: חֵרֶם (cherem, H2764) — “a thing devoted to destruction; a ban.” This word was used for things placed under God’s ban. The last word of the Old Testament in Hebrew is a sharp warning, which makes the call to turn back all the more urgent.

See also: Luke 1:16-17.