All this leads to his great declaration concerning the coming day. This day he described in its twofold effect. Toward the wicked it would be a day of burning and of destruction. Toward the righteous it would be a day of healing and of salvation.
The closing words of the prophet called on the people to remember the law of Moses, promised that a herald would come before the day of the Lord, and ended with a solemn suggestion of judgment.
So the word ends. Malachi's voice ceases. He had described the people's condition and told them of God's infinite love; and he makes this final announcement, that God is not abandoning them nor the world, that the day is coming when the Sun will rise. He declares to them the different results produced on two conditions of life, and then with pathos in every tone of his voice he utters the divine words, "I will send you Elijah before that day, to turn your heart to the fathers, and the heart of the fathers to the children, lest God smite the earth with a curse."