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Malachi Chapter
Four
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO MALACHI 4
This
chapter contains an account of the destruction of the wicked Jews
and the
happiness of the righteous by the coming of the Messiah; an exhortation to
regard the law of Moses; and a description of John the Baptist and his work.
The day of Christ's coming
reaching to Jerusalem's destruction
is compared to
a burning oven; the wicked Jews to stubble
whose ruin would be utter and
complete
Malachi 4:1 the
appearance of Christ is signified by the arising of him
the sun of
righteousness; the manner
with healing in his wings; the effects of which are
going forth in the exercise of grace
and the discharge of duty
and spiritual
growth and triumph over their enemies
in which will lie the happiness of them
that fear God
Malachi 4:2 who are
put in mind of the law of Moses on Horeb
Malachi 4:4 the
sending of John the Baptist under the name of Elijah
before the coming of
Christ is prophesied of
Malachi 4:5 and his
work pointed out
with the end of it
Malachi 4:6.
Malachi 4:1 “For behold
the
day is coming
Burning like an oven
And all the proud
yes
all who do wickedly
will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up
” Says the Lord of hosts
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.
YLT
1For
lo
the day hath come
burning as a furnace
And all the proud
and every wicked doer
have been stubble
And burnt them hath the day that came
Said Jehovah of Hosts
That there is not
left to them root or branch
For
behold
the day cometh that shall burn as an oven
.... Not the
day of judgment
as Kimchi and other interpreters
both Jewish and Christian
think; but the day of Christ's coming in his kingdom and power
to take
vengeance 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:
and the day that cometh shall burn them up
saith the Lord of
hosts: which is repeated
to show the certainty of it
and to apply it
to the persons before described:
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch: which
signifies an entire and complete destruction; the city and temple so utterly
destroyed
that not one stone shall be left on another; both magistrates and
subjects shall perish
priests and people
so that there shall be no form of
government
civil nor ecclesiastical; tribes and families lost
they and their
posterity: and so the Targum
"which
shall not leave them son and nephew:'
and
indeed
the numbers cut off were so many
and the destruction so general
that
it may be wondered at that any remained: it is a proverbial expression
setting
forth the greatness of the calamity; see Matthew 3:10.
Malachi 4:2 2 But
to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in
His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
YLT
2And risen to you
ye who
fear My name
Hath the sun of righteousness -- and healing in its wings
And ye
have gone forth
and have increased as calves of a stall.
But unto you that fear my name
.... The few that were of
this character among that wicked nation; See Gill on Malachi 3:16
shall the Sun of righteousness arise; not the Holy
Ghost
who enlightens sinners
convinces of righteousness
and gives joy
peace
and comfort to the saints
but Christ: and thus it is interpreted of him by the
ancient Jews
in one of their Midrashes or expositionsF1Shemot
Rabba
sect. 31. fol. 134. 2. ; they say
Moses says not they shall be for ever
pledged
that is
the clothes of a neighbour
but until the sun comes
until
the Messiah comes
as it is said
"unto you that fear my name shall the
sun of righteousness arise"
&c.; and Philo the JewF2De
Somniis
p. 578. not only observes
that God
figuratively speaking
is the sun;
but the divine "Logos" or Word of God
the image of the heavenly
Being
is called the sun; who
coming to our earthly system
helps the kindred
and followers of virtue
and affords ample refuge and salvation to them;
referring
as it seems; to this passage: indeed
they generally interpret it of
the sun
literally taken
which they suppose
at the end of the world
will
have different effects on good and bad men; they sayF3T. Bab.
Nedarim
fol. 8. 2. & Avoda Zara
fol. 3. 2.
"in
the world to come
God will bring the sun out of its sheath
and burn the
wicked; they will be judged by it
and the righteous will be healed by it:'
for
the proof of the former
they produce the words in the first verse of this
chapter
"behold
the day cometh that shall burn as an oven"; and of
the latter these words
"but unto you that fear my name &c."; and
a very ridiculous notion they have
that Abraham their father had a precious
stone or pearl hanging about his neck
and every sick person that saw it was
healed by it immediately; and
when he departed out of the world
God took it
and fixed it to the orb of the sun; hence the proverb
the sun rises
and
sickness decreasesF4T. Bab. Bava Bathra
fol. 16. 2. ; and as it is
elsewhere quotedF5Apud Yalkut in loc.
this passage is added to
confirm it
as it is said
"to you that fear my name shall the sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings": unless this fable should
be intended to mean
as AbarbinelF6Comment. in Mal. i. 11.
interprets it
that Abraham
while he lived
clearly proved the unity of God
and his perfections; and that
after his death
the same truth was taught by
the wonderful motion of the sun: but
be this as it will
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 New
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. 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. The
manner is
with healing in his wings; by which are meant its
rays and beams
which are to the sun as wings to a bird
by which it swiftly
spreads its light and heat; so we read of the wings of the morning
Psalm 139:9. Christ
came as a physician
to heal the diseases of men; he healed the bodily diseases
of the Jews
and he heals the soul diseases of his people
their sins; which
healing he has procured by his blood and stripes: pardon of sin by the blood of
Christ is meant by healing
which is universal
infallible
and free
Psalm 103:3 it may
denote all that preservation
protection
prosperity
and happiness
inward and
outward
which they that feared the Lord enjoyed through Christ
when the
unbelieving Jews were destroyed; and which is further expressed by what
follows:
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 doF7Euseb.
Hist. l. 3. c. 5.
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.
And grow up as calves of the stall; such as are fat
being
put up there for that purpose; see Amos 6:4. BochartF8Hierozoic.
par. 1. l. 2. c. 31. col. 303. has proved
from many passages out of the TalmudF9T.
Bab. Gittin
fol. 53. 1. Bava Metzia
fol. 30. 1. Pesachim
fol. 26. 1. Eruvin
fol. 17. 2.
that the word which the Targum here makes use of
and answers to
that in the Hebrew text
which is rendered "stall"
signifies a yoke
or collar
with which oxen or heifers were bound together
while they were
threshing or treading out of corn; so that the calves or heifers here referred
to were such as were not put up in a stall
but were yoked together
and
employed in treading out the corn; now as there was a law that such should not
be muzzled while they were thus employed
but might eat of the corn on the
floor freely and plentifully
Deuteronomy 25:4
these usually grew fat
and so were the choicest and most desirable
to which
the allusion may be here
and in Jeremiah 46:21 Amos 6:4 and are a
fit emblem of saints joined together in holy fellowship
walking together in
all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord; where they get spiritual food
for their souls
and are in thriving circumstances; where they meet with the
corn of heaven
with that corn which makes the young men cheerful
and that
bread which nourishes up to everlasting life. The apostle alludes to the custom
of oxen yoked together
either in ploughing
or in treading out the corn
when
he says
speaking of church fellowship and communion in the ordinances of the
Gospel
"be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers"
2 Corinthians 6:14
for this hinders spiritual edification
as well as the promotion of the glory
of God; but where they are equally yoked
and go hand in hand together in the
work and ways of the Lord
they grow and flourish; they are comfortable in
their souls
and lively in the exercise of grace; and they are the most
thriving Christians
generally speaking
who are in church communion
and most
constantly attend the means of grace
and keep closest to the word and
ordinances: for the metaphor here used is designed to express a spiritual
increase in all grace
and in the knowledge of Christ
and a growing up into
him in all things
through the use of means
the word and ordinances; whereby
saints become fat and flourishing
being fed with the milk of the word
and the
breasts of ordinances
and having fellowship with one another; and
above all
this spiritual growth is owing to the dews of the grace of God
the shining of
the Sun of righteousness
and the comfortable gales of the south wind of the
Spirit of God
which cause the spices to flow out. The Septuagint version
and
those that follow it
render it
"ye shall leap" or "skip as
calves loosed from bonds"; as such creatures well fed do when at liberty;
and may denote the spiritual joy of the saints upon their being healed
or
because of their secure
safe
and prosperous estate: and so the word is
explained in the TalmudF11T. Bab. Avoda Zara
fol. 4. 1. Nedarim
fol.
8. 2.
they shall delight themselves in it; and where the Rabbins interpret
this and the preceding verse Malachi 4:1 of the
natural sun in the firmament
which will be the hellF12A notion they
elsewhere frequently inculcate
and is not improbable; and which has been of
late advanced and defended by a very learned man of our own country
Mr. Tobias
Swinden
in a Treatise called "An Inquirer into the Nature and Place of
Hell." in the world to come
and which will burn the wicked
and heal the
righteous.
Malachi 4:3 3 You
shall trample the wicked
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On
the day that I do this
” Says the Lord of hosts.
YLT
3And ye have trodden down
the wicked
For they are ashes under the soles of your feet
In the day that I
am appointing
Said Jehovah of Hosts.
And ye shall tread down the wicked
.... As grapes in the
winepress
as Christ did before them
Isaiah 63:2 and
they by virtue of him; who makes them more than conquerors through himself
over all their enemies
spiritual and temporal:
for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet; this refers
to the burning of them
Malachi 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:
in the day that I shall do this
saith the Lord of hosts: or "in
the day which I make"F13ביום אשר אני עשה
"eo die
quem ego facio"
Cocceius. ; that is
by the rising of the
sun of righteousness
the Gospel day. The TalmudF14T. Bab.
Roshhashanah
fol. 17. 1. interprets this verse of the bodies of the wicked in
hell
which after twelve months will be consumed
and the wind will scatter
them under the soles of the feet of the righteous.
Malachi 4:4 4 “Remember
the Law of Moses
My servant
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel
With
the statutes and judgments.
YLT
4Remember ye the law of
Moses My servant
That I did command him in Horeb
For all Israel -- statutes
and judgments.
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 Malachi 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 JeromF15De locis Hebr. fol. 92. E. says
"Horeb
the mountain of God
is in the land of Midian
by Mount Sinai
above Arabia in
the wilderness
to which are joined the mountain and wilderness of the
Saracens
called Pharan; but to me it seems the same mountain is called by two
names
sometimes Sinai
and sometimes Horeb;'
see
Exodus 31:18.
Agreeably to which JosephusF16Antiqu. l. 2. c. 12. calls Horeb
where Moses fed his flock
and saw the vision of the burning bush
Mount Sinai;
and says
it was the highest of the mountains in those parts
very convenient
for pasture
and abounded with excellent herbage. Some sayF17Vid.
Adrichomii Theatrum Terrae Sanctae
p. 122. Well's Geography of the Old
Testament
vol. 2. p. 118. the eastern part of it was called Sinai
and the
western part Horeb; it is very likely they joined together at the bottom of the
mountain
and were the two tops of it. This being mentioned shows
that the
law
strictly taken
and not the prophets
is here designed
for no other was
commanded
ordered
or delivered in Horeb; and that was for all the children of
Israel in successive ages
until the coming of the Messiah
and for them only
as to the ministration of it by Moses.
With the statutes
and judgments; the laws ceremonial and judicial
which were given to Moses
at
the same time the law of the decalogue was
to be observed by the children of
Israel
and which were shadows of things to come; namely
those of them that
were of a ceremonial nature
and therefore to be remembered and attended to as
leading to Christ
and the things of the Gospel.
Malachi 4:5 5 Behold
I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the Lord.
YLT
5Lo
I am sending to you
Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the day of Jehovah
The great and the
fearful.
Behold
I will send you Elijah the prophet
.... Not 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
Luke 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 Matthew 11:11 and
that he is intended is clear from Matthew 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.
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 JewsF18T. Bab.
Eruvin
fol. 43. 2. & Gloss. in ib. 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
Matthew 24:21 and
the Talmud interpretsF19T. Bab. Sabbat
fol 118. 1. this of the
sorrows of the Messiah
or which shall be in the days of the Messiah.
Malachi 4:6 6 And
he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children
And the hearts of the
children to their fathers
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
YLT
6And he hath turned back the
heart of fathers to sons
And the heart of sons to their fathers
Before I come
and have utterly smitten the land!
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children
.... Or
"with" the children
as Kimchi; and Ben Melech observes
that על is put for עם
and so in the
next clause:
and the heart of the children to their fathers; or
"with" their fathers; that is
both fathers and children: the meaning
is
that John the Baptist should be an instrument of converting many of the
Jews
both fathers and children
and bringing them to the knowledge and faith
of the true Messiah; and reconcile them together who were divided by the
schools of Hillell and Shammai
and by the sects of the Sadducees and
Pharisees
and bring them to be of one mind
judgment
and faith
and to have a
hearty love to one another
and the Lord Christ; see Matthew 3:5; see
Gill on Luke 1:17. The
TalmudistsF20Massachet Ediot
c. 8. sect. 7. interpret this of
composing differences
and making peace.
Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse; the land of
Judea; which
because the greater part of the inhabitants of it were not
converted to the Lord
did not believe in the Messiah
but rejected him
notwithstanding the preaching and testimony of John the Baptist
and the ministry
and miracles of Christ
it was smitten with a curse
was made desolate
and
destroyed by the Roman emperors
Vespasian and Adrian
as instruments doing
what God here threatened he would do; for not the whole earth is intended
as
the Targum and Abarbinel suggest; but only that land
and the people of it
are
intended
to whom the law of Moses was given; and to whom Elias
or John the
Baptist
was to be sent; and to whom he was sent
and did come; and by whom he
was rejected
and also the Messiah he pointed at; for which that country was
smitten with a curse
and remains under it to this day.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》