CRITICAL NOTES.] The ungodly admonished for the day] of judgment. Results to the wicked awful. Burn] as an oven] or furnace (cf. Matthew 6:30). “A fire burns more fiercely in a furnace than in the open air” [Hengs.]. The proud] called happy (ch. Malachi 3:15), and all the wicked] like stubble] fit for fire: destroyed “root and branch,” i.e. utterly. 2]. To the righteous, the day an advent of justice and salvation. Sun] The Messiah set forth as most glorious and beneficent. What the sun is to the natural, he is to the moral world; the source of light, life, and beauty. Wings] i.e. beams, “on account of the velocity and expansion with which they spread over the earth” (cf. Psalms 139:9) [Henderson]. Go forth] as from the prison of darkness and misery. Grow up] Lit. leap in joy and freedom, like calves let loose from the stall. “The simile is designed to convey the ideas of freedom from outward restraint and the enjoyment of self-conscious liberty” [Henderson].
Malachi 4:3. Tread] The wicked, who were said to prosper, will be overcome: destroyed by the fire of judgment, they will lie like ashes on the ground. The condition of the godly reversed then.
HOMILETICS
THE APPROACH OF THE JUDGMENT DAY.—Malachi 4:1-5
The prophet confirms the preceding truth, awakens sinners in their slumber, and encourages saints in their faith by the prospect of a day of judgment: to punish some, reward others, and vindicate the ways of God.
I. A day of retribution to the wicked. To the ungodly “the day cometh that shall burn as an oven.” Those who are called blessed will then be cursed, and like stubble consumed by the fire.
1. Utter destruction. “It shall leave them neither root nor branch.” “There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again;” but if torn up by the roots there is no hope, no chance of life. So there will be no escape nor mitigation of punishment.
2. Universal destruction. “All the proud” and “all that do wickedly” will be unable to resist when God reveals his justice. That day will test every man’s character and condition. “Wood and hay will be consumed, gold and silver will abide and be purified. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it (lay it open) because it shall be revealed by fire (judgment); and the fire shall try (prove) every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:13).
II. A day of salvation to the godly. The day will be as an oven to the wicked, but a source of joy, a sun to the righteous. “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise.” The sceptical complained that judgment did not fall upon the ungodly, and that justice was not given to the godly. But health, light, and everlasting salvation are promised.
1. The light of life. Darkness and disease shall be scattered away; warmth and gladness shall shine in Divine effulgence “Thy sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light.”
2. The joy of freedom. “Ye shall go forth” from darkness and captivity; become free and active, frisky and playful “as calves of the stall.” This freshness of first love is only a foretaste of “the joy unspeakable, and full of glory.”
3. The conquest of foes. Not mere freedom from oppression, but complete triumph over enemies. The wicked often prosper and trample upon the godly; but a reversal shall come to both classes. “He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
III. A day of warning to all. “For, behold, the day cometh,” and lest any, even sinners, should be surprised, the trumpet-blast warns every one.
1. By teachers commissioned from God. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet.” Ministers and messengers announce the coming King, are sent to prepare the way, and call upon proud scoffers and wicked priests to heed the word.
2. By the written word of God. Prophecy and preaching may be temporary and uncertain, but the law of God is never suspended. The Scriptures warn and invite, encourage and threaten. If men forget the living voice, they must remember the written law.
3. By the corrective providences of God. Compassionate judgments come before the final judgment—providences which correct and do not destroy. God seeks to separate and purify men now, before the final separation and settlement, “to bring the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.” Heed the warning now, lest you be smitten “with a curse” hereafter.
THE SUN OF RIGHTROUSNESS.—Malachi 4:2
There can be no doubt with respect to the application. Our Lord is elsewhere called Light, which in Hebrew poetry is used of the sun, as the source of light. What the sun is to the natural world, that the Messiah is to the moral. The invaluable spiritual blessings which he dispenses are all comprehended under the two heads here specified—righteousness and moral health (cf. Isaiah 57:19). Both of these are indispensably requisite to the happiness of our guilty and depraved race, and from no other quarter can they be obtained than from him “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” [Henderson]. In this image we have many truths suggested.
1. Christ is the source of light. Whatever be the radiance of other lights, they borrow from him. The moon in her beauty and the stars in their brilliance only shed reflected lustre upon the world. Amid ignorance, error, and sin, he is the light of truth, holiness, and God, in person, doctrine, and work. “I am the light of the world.”
II. Christ is the source of life. “With healing in his wings.” Sin brought death into the world. Christ quickens the dead in trespasses and sins. As the sun in spring rouses dormant energies of nature, and clothes trees and fields with beauty, so Christ is the essential principle and primal source of spiritual life. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
III. Christ is the source of beauty. To the sun we owe the bright colours which delight our eyes, and the golden beams which gladden our hearts. He tints the sky, paints the flowers, and adorns all nature. Beauty “is the fringe of the garment of God.” Christ blesses the soul and beautifies the life with purity and praise. His grace removes moral deformity, and prepares for eternal perfection.
IV. Christ is the source of joy. When the sun bursts through the clouds, and pours floods of light over the earth, the birds begin to sing, and children shout for joy. It smiles upon the cottage of the poor, cheers and brings new life to the fainting heart. Joy in Christ may be overcast, but will break out again with greater sweetness and splendour. “And as the morning light he shall arise—a sun” (2 Samuel 23:4).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Malachi 4:1. The oven, the fuel, the intensity of the heat. The throne (of the Ancient of days) was a fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him.
Malachi 4:2. Sun of righteousness.
1. As asserting and vindicating the righteousness of God, called in question by blasphemers.
2. As bestowing upon his people a double righteousness (imputed and imparted), as the sun doth light (John 1:16). It is further said that he shall arise, that is, he shall appear and show himself on earth, who now lieth hid, as it were, in heaven, as the material sun doth under the horizon.
1. He was manifest in the flesh, out of the bosom of the Father, out of the types of the law.
2. In the whole course of his life he enlightened and warmed the dark and dry hearts of men, and filled them with fruits of righteousness (John 15:5).
3. He is still in continual motion for the good of the Church, as the sun in heaven for the good of the world. Under a cloud in his passion, he broke forth again in his resurrection. From heaven he daily darts forth his beams of righteousness, and showers down all spiritual blessings in heavenly privileges (Ephesians 1:3). Lastly, at the great day he will show himself in a special manner a “Sun of righteousness;” clearing all obscurities, bringing to light the hidden things of darkness, causing his people’s most holy faith, that now lies hid in great part, to be found to praise, honour, and glory, cheering up their spirits after manifold tribulations, and healing all their spiritual maladies [Trapp].
Healing in his wings.
1. Moral sickness of men.
2. Christ the great Physician.
3. Faith the method of cure. Trust, rest under his wings, for shelter and salvation.
Go forth and grow up as calves. The figure sets forth—
1. Slavery.
2. Freedom.
3. Activity.
4. Growth.
5. Joy. “Grow up; more probably bound, as the animal which has been confined exults in its regained freedom, itself full of life and exuberance of delight” [Pusey]. They were before in darkness and disease, both of which confine. But the Sun of righteousness arises, health is restored, they become free and active. They go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. No creatures, perhaps, increase so rapidly and observedly as these, when, as here, they are well attended and fed, for the very purpose of fattening [Jay].
Malachi 4:3. The great reversal. The wicked overcome, trampled upon as ashes. Victory visible and complete to the saints (Micah 4:12-13; Joel 3:14; Romans 16:20).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
Malachi 4:1. Proud. Heaven often regulates effects by their causes, and pays the wicked what they have deserved [Corneille].
Malachi 4:2. Sun. The self-same sun that shines upon his court hides not his visage from our cottage, but looks on both alike [Shakespeare].
“O sun! of this great world both eye and soul” [Milton].
Malachi 4:4. Law. Prize the word of God by the worth of it, that you may not come to prize it by the want of it [Dyer]. There never was found, in any age of the world, either religion or law that did so highly exalt the public good as the Bible [Bacon]. Remember. Memory, like books which remain a long time shut up in the dust, needs to be opened from time to time; it is necessary, so to speak, to open its leaves, that it may be ready in time of need [Seneca].
Malachi 4:5. Elijah. Since the days that John began to preach, since he began to call the world to repentance, there has been a rush into the kingdom of God. Men, roused from their spiritual slumbers, startled by a sense of their own sin and ruin, have earnestly applied for pardon and salvation. The echo of the words he proclaimed on the Jordan still lingers and rings in the souls of men, and the result is a pressing every day into the empire of redemptive truth [Dr. Thomas].