Bible Study on Malachi - Part 8, Malachi 3:1-4, 4:1-6

In this study, we come to the final two sections of Malachi that we have not yet studied: Malachi 3:1-4 and 4:1-6. These two passages fit together and are most important, in that they predict the future of God’s plans for His people and the great hope in what God was going to do for them and for us.

The other things we have heard in Malachi are also important (all of God’s Word is); but much has been the Law, showing both the priests and the people their many sins and the real need for repentance.

God has been very patient with His people, but He does not want them to take His mercy and love for granted. See what is said in Psalm 50:19-23. God is not like us, and He is serious about His will, even if He seems to be silent and doing nothing about evil at times. He always wants to bring people to repentance and faith and salvation. See also Romans 2:3-4. Don’t take God’s kindness for granted. It is meant to lead you to repentance and to draw you closer to Him. That is what much of Malachi has been about.

Martin Luther included in his 95 Theses, at the beginning of the Reformation: “The whole life of a Christian is to be one of repentance.” Again and again we hear the Law of God and recognize our sins. We bring them to the Lord and repent of them, wanting to be better, and we put our trust in God’s mercy, by His grace.

And there is mercy from God, as we hear from Malachi 3:1-4. “Behold!” - Pay attention. Something really important is happening. Another “messenger" (not Malachi) is coming to “prepare the way before Me,” God says, through Malachi. For the Lord Himself will also then come suddenly to His temple. The messenger will bring in a time of refining and purifying, in preparation for Him, and He will then continue this purifying.

The picture images are of gold and silver, whose impurities must be melted out with fire, and of newly shorn wool or woven cloth, which is washed by a fuller with a strong and biting alkali soap. David used this image, after he had done great evil, and repents and prays, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow”(Psalm 51:7).

Who needs to be cleansed in this way? It is not the enemies here, but God’s own people - the sons of Levi and the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Then they can be righteous and more pleasing to God. If they are not cleansed and reject this, then judgment and trouble are coming for them, v.5 says.

What is all of this referring to? The New Testament makes it clear. Mark 1:2, Matthew 11:10, and Luke 7:37 all quote directly from Malachi 3:1 in saying that John the Baptist is this messenger; and John’s Gospel speaks about him, too, with his strong calls for repentance and a cleansing baptism for forgiveness. He was getting people ready for the coming Lord, Who was Jesus Himself.

Go back to Malachi 4:1-5. Again it begins with “Behold” in verses 1 and 5. Pay attention! This is important! A time of judgment is coming when the arrogant and evildoers (who do not repent) will burn like stubble. But for those who fear the Name of the Lord, who fear, love, and trust in Him, “the Sun of Righteousness will come” bringing righteousness and healing and  joy (like a calf set free from a pen) and victory over evil, “when I act, says the Lord.” Again it will be the Lord Himself Who will come, bringing these blessings to His people, as in Chapter 3.

But again, also, someone else will prepare the way for the Lord. In Malachi 4:5, it is Elijah who will prepare for “the great and awesome day of the Lord.” And what will this Elijah do? He will help change the hearts of people, and draw them together, the fathers and the children, and get them ready for the Lord and help them escape “utter destruction” for their sins.

Again, the New Testament identifies this not as the literal Old Testament prophet, Elijah, who does come to Jesus along with Moses at His Transfiguration. (See Matthew 17:1-3). This Elijah, predicted by Malachi, is John the Baptist. Look at Luke 1, when an angel appears to Zechariah and announces that he and his wife will have a son, John, who will, in verses 16-17, do exactly what Malachi predicts. He will turn hearts “in the spirit and power of Elijah" and get people ready for the Lord’s coming.       

Read also Luke 1:67-79, where Zechariah himself predicts the coming of the Lord (Jesus) to make people holy and righteous before Him, and says of his own son, John, “And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, and you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways.” It is exactly what Malachi predicted. And with the coming of the Lord Jesus, as described in Luke 1-2, will also come salvation, forgiveness, the mercy of God, and even “the sunrise shall visit from on high” bringing great light and peace. Jesus is the “sun of righteousness” predicted by Malachi, coming from heaven, Who will bring healing to this troubled world.

Later on in Luke 2, the infant Jesus suddenly comes one day to the temple, brought by Mary and Joseph, and both Simeon and Anna realize that He is the promised Savior they have been waiting for, for so long (Luke 2:22-38). When Jesus is 12, He goes the the temple again and astounds the religious authorities with His knowledge, in His Father’s house (Luke 2:41-49). Early in His public ministry, Jesus comes and cleanses His Father’s house, the temple, from improper things happening there; and he does it again during the last week of His life (Matthew 21:12-13). He is the Lord coming suddenly to His temple, just as Malachi predicted (Malachi 3:1); and John the Baptist has prepared the way for Him, in his own ministry.

Go back to Malachi 4 one more time. These are likely the last words spoken by a prophet in the whole Old Testament, spoken by Malachi. By God’s inspiration, he tells the people in verse 4 to look back to the Law of Moses, which was crucial to the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, and to seek to follow that word and will of God, in repentance and faith. That Word would guide and guard them until the coming of Jesus. (See Galatians 3:23-29.)

But he also tells them to look forward to John the Baptist and above all to Jesus, the Light of the world (John 8:12) and “the bright Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16). As the sun is the star for our world, Jesus is the “sun of righteousness” for our lives and our eternal future, as we trust in Him. The Lord gives a very fitting link between the Old and New Testaments, in Malachi. It is all God’s Word for us.