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Malachi 4

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The Day of Judgment and Vindication 1–3

1
For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah 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 its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol 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 make, saith Jehovah of hosts. ​

Remember the Law; Elijah Will Come 4–6

4
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances. ​
5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. ​
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. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Malachi 4

Verse 1

all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly — These are the people of 3:15: 'we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up'. The 'oven' is tannur, a baking oven, and the 'stubble' (qash) is what the fire burns. 'Neither root nor branch' takes both what is below ground and what is above it. Obad 1:18 calls the house of Esau 'stubble'.

Verse 2

the Sun of righteousness — Shemesh tsedaqah, with 'healing' (marpe) in his 'wings'. Kanaph means a wing or the edge of a garment: Israel wore fringes on 'the borders of their garments' (Num 15:38), and the woman who touched 'the hem of his garment' was made whole (Matt 9:20–22). 'The dayspring from on high' is Luke 1:78. 'Grow up' is puts, rendered 'grown fat' in Jer 50:11.

Verse 3

ye shall tread down the wicked — 'Asas, to trample, and 'ashes' (epher) is what the fire of v.1 leaves. The sentence 'in the day that I shall do this' uses the verb 'asah of 3:17, 'in that day when I make up my jewels': the day that spares his own is the day the wicked are trodden. Paul writes that 'the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet' (Rom 16:20).

Verse 4

the law of Moses my servant — The LORD called Moses 'my servant' (Num 12:7). Horeb is the mountain of God (Ex 3:1), where 'the LORD our God made a covenant with us' (Deut 5:2). 'Statutes and judgments' is the pair of Deut 4:1. The law is named in v.4 and Elijah the prophet in v.5; Moses and Elijah are the two who appear 'talking with' Christ (Matt 17:3).

Verse 5

I will send you Elijah the prophet — 'The great and dreadful day of the LORD' echoes Joel 2:31, 'the great and the terrible day of the LORD', and 'dreadful' is the word of 1:14. Christ says of John the Baptist, 'if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come' (Matt 11:14), and the angel says of him that he 'shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias' (Luke 1:17).

Verse 6

turn the heart of the fathers to the children — Shub, to turn back, is the verb of 3:7, 'Return unto me', and 3:18. Luke 1:16–17 gives the work of John in these words: 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children'. 'Curse' is cherem, a thing devoted to destruction (Josh 6:17); Zechariah's last chapter has the opposite, 'there shall be no more utter destruction' (Zech 14:11).