Malachi 4 Commentary
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The scripture calls the day of the LORD ‘great and dreadful’. Great probably because the LORD starts His reign of justice, peace, and righteousness. Dreadful because the evildoers face punishment and banishment – scattering.
It is good news to the remnant. Their day of salvation has come. Let them not worry; let them rejoice.
Chapter 4 brings to a close the book of Malachi as well as the entire Old Testament. The storyline of the Bible continues into the New Testament but we have an important announcement in this closing chapter. The LORD is coming in person. But first, the Messenger must prepare the way – Elijah.
The mention of Moses and Elijah connects us to Horeb, the Mountain of the Covenant. At Mount Horeb, mankind experienced the physical manifestation of the glory of the LORD. Probably Malachi wants to close the Old Testament by pointing to yet another Horeb experience – the presence of the LORD in bodily form. Immanuel, ‘God with us’ and everything that Immanuel represents.
Repentance is a peace mission. We see it that way. Otherwise, the LORD God Almighty may “come and strike the land with total destruction.” It prepares the way for the LORD.
These past many, many days, we have read and imbibed the scripture day after day. What have we seen? What have we learned? What is the point of all this?
The journey started with Genesis recounting the story of creation. It did flow smoothly with the blessing of the LORD in Genesis 1 verse 28 – the triad blessing of multiplication, fruitfulness, and dominion becoming the mandate for existence, the essence.
We have a terrible interruption to normality in chapter 3 of Genesis when the serpent shows up. The triad blessing suffers reversals; it barely functions. But the LORD has a plan. We see the generosity of the LORD as He repeats the same blessing to Noah in Chapter 9. Abraham gets the same blessing in Chapter 12. It is passed on to Isaac. And from Isaac to Jacob who fathers the twelve patriarchs.
The mention of the Son with the government on His shoulders should remind the reader of the need for dominion. When it is done, we shall reign with Him! The blessing of dominion is fully restored!
Among the many threads of prophecy is Israel’s connection to the Promised Land. There is an inner desire to return to the place of our first love, a land of our creation and the ground from which we were formed. The Garden of Peace and Tranquility. Eden awaits the faithful!
And so the writings of the prophets have pointed us to the “great and dreadful day of the LORD”. We cannot wait!
Let the saint look back and see where we are. If salvation has happened to you, know something very big has happened. You can possibly sell everything you have for it. It means everything to you!
The Book of Malachi ends here and so does the Old Testament.
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