Text: Malachi 4:4-6
4 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
This chapter not only concluded the book of Malachi, but also the entirety of the Old Testament. God said to the people "remember ye the law of Moses my servant" (v. 4). For there would come a time when no prophet would speak.
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33)
"The day cometh" is a prophetic phrase often associated with the coming of Christ or the end of the world. Elijah the prophet, or a forerunner, like John the Baptist, would be sent to restore or call the people to repentance. This would happen prior to the coming of Christ or some future judgment that would take place.
The law of Moses is the metric used to measure our 'rights' and 'wrongs' before God. The standard was perfection. Because we could not measure up to that standard, Jesus had to come. In His notable Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" (Matt. 5:17). His death was the ultimate sacrifice for our sin.
In Matthew 22:34-40, "the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
John encourages us to "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." (1 John 2:15-17)
Prayer: God, you are all powerful from generation to generation. I bow before your presence in repentance and humble submission. I will do your will in earnest – in expectation of your glorious return. Amen!