MA!CHI: GOD’S COVENANT FAITHFULNESS Small Group Discussion Guide

Text: 4:1-6

Theme/ Big Idea: A distinction is being made between the characteristics of those who accuse God and those who fear God in :13-18. Malachi 4:1-6 presents a distinction between their final destinies. The focus of Malachi 4:1-6 is on the ultimate outcome of those who reject covenant faithfulness and those who remain true with a final call to remember and return to the Lord.

Context/ Background Information: The Lord of Hosts has been accused of making no distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous. He has been accused of condoning evil and ignoring righteousness. However, as the concludes we see this is clearly not true. He is, in fact, making a clear distinction between two groups in Malachi 3:13-18. He distinguishes between those who spoke “harsh against” him and despised his name and those who “feared the Lord” and “esteemed his name.” These groups have distinctly different character traits and Malachi 4:1-6 shows us that they will also have distinctly different destinies.

God’s accusers have argued that the arrogant and evildoers get away with evil and God does nothing about it. Therefore, the accusers conclude, the arrogant and evildoers are actually better off. In Malachi 4:1, the Lord of Hosts proves this is not true. They may temporarily benefit from his delayed justice and grace, but this will not carry on forever. The Lord of Hosts warns that, “the day is coming.” This day, also referred to as “the day of the Lord,” is referenced 16 times in the and is mentioned 4 times in the closing verses of Malachi. In Malachi we learn that the day is coming (4:1), when the Lord will come (4:5), in decisive victory over his enemies (4:1 & 3), and his treasured ones will be called out and rescued (3:17).

Malachi 3:13-18 outlined two distinct groups of Israelites. Those who accuse God and despise his name and those who fear God and esteem his name. Now in Malachi 4:1-3 the Lord of Hosts makes a distinction between the final destinies of these two groups. On the God accusers will come complete, total, and final judgement. The text of Malachi 4:1 emphasizes that, “all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble” and “the day that is coming will set them ablaze.” Stubble, or “chaff,” is the dry worthless husk around the seed that falls to the ground at the time of harvest. It is something that is extremely flammable and will be set “ablaze” in the day of the Lord (4:1b). The language of Malachi 4 goes even further saying the arrogant and wicked will not even have a “root nor branch” remaining. This phrase is used in Job 18:16-21 and Amos 2:9 to refer to one who is cut off forever from the land without memory or descendants. In 2 Kings 19:30, Psalm 80:10, and Is 37:31 it is used in the opposite manner suggesting that one who takes root downward and bears fruit upward is one who is blessed and growing in prosperity. The imagery and imperative, therefore, in Malachi 4:1 is that those who continue to reject the Lord of Hosts will face utter, final, and complete destruction. Memory of them and their posterity will be wiped from the land. The God-fearers, however, will experience a radically different final destiny. Malachi 4:2 says this second group will experience something far different from the scorching heat of the furnace. They will experience God’s righteousness rising upon them like the bright morning sun and with it will come healing, joy, and victory. This verse is packed with symbolism. First, the coming day of the Lord will result in the righteousness of God being fully revealed as bright and clear as the rising of the sun. Psalm 37:6 and Isaiah 58:8 communicate similar concepts. Namely, that God’s righteousness will burst forth in clarity “like dawn” and “like the noonday sun.”

Secondly, when the Lord’s righteousness appears it will bring with it “healing in its wings.” The Hebrew word can be translated peace or healing. It is the opposite of disease, disaster, chaos, and trouble. The healing that will come when God’s righteousness appears will be complete and comprehensive. It is the opposite of the complete and comprehensive destruction of the arrogant and evildoers.

Third, God’s righteousness will result in exceedingly great joy and celebration. When his righteousness appears those who fear God’s name will “go out leaping like calves from the stall.” The text can literally be translated “playfully paw the ground”1 For the God-fearers the day of the Lord will not be cause for alarm but cause for celebration and great joy. It will be similar to young calves being let loose on the first warm spring day after having been cooped up in a stall through a long harsh winter.

Finally, when God’s righteousness appears the arrogant and evildoers will be crushed under foot while the God-fearers will be victorious. The emphasis is on the reversal of all things. That which is evil and has seemingly been victorious will be reduced to ash and trampled under the foot of righteousness. That which is righteous and seemingly crushed will be victorious over evil. Samwise Gamgee, in Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings, asks “Is everything sad going to come untrue in the end?” The answer is “Yes!” for those who fear the Lord.

As the book of Malachi ends the two primary themes of Malachi, the covenant and the coming day of judgment, are reiterated and on display. There is first a backward look at the covenant relationship established by God and a call to remember. There is then a look forward in anticipation of one whose coming will result in great repentance and returning. The imperative of Malachi 4:4 is to “remember the law of my servant .” As Peter Verhoef notes, “‘To ‘remember’ something is to ‘do’ it (Num 15:39, 40; Ps 103:18), to ‘keep’ it (Ps 119:55), to ‘observe’ it (Ps 119:56). At the same time to ‘remember’ is ‘not to turn away’ (Ps 119:51), and ‘not to forget’ (Ps 119:61; Deut 9:7).2 The reference to Mt. Horeb gives clarity to the imperative. While Horeb and Sinai are used interchangeably to reference the giving of the law and “the Lord’s words and ordinances,” Horeb is likely an allusion to Deuteronomy 4-5. There is told no less than 18 times to remember the covenant that the Lord God entered “lest they forget” when they enter the land of promise and prosperity. Therefore, the call to remember in Malachi 4:4 is a call to remember the covenant relationship with God and persist in obedience and covenant faithfulness to the Lord.

Not only is there a backward look at the covenant established by God, there is a forward look towards one to come who will call for repentance and returning. In Malachi 3:1 the Lord of Hosts announced that a messenger, or emissary, would precede the final messenger of the covenant. The emissary’s role was to announce the coming king, prepare the people, and lead them to repent and prepare themselves for his arrival. It was one last gracious opportunity for a town to prepare for the coming king. Now in Malachi 4:5 the Lord of Hosts announces that is the forerunner that will come before the Messiah appears and the Day of the Lord arrives. Why Elijah? Remember Elijah’s role? Elijah was a prophet to a rebellious nation. His purpose was to call them to repent and return to the Lord. It was on Mt. Horeb that Elijah encountered the presence of God and was sent to call God’s people to repentance and to restore covenant faithfulness (1 Kings 19:8-18). The result of this Elijah like figure coming in the future will be a great repentance and returning to covenant relationship with God (Malachi 4:6). In this way, the coming Elijah is not merely bringing judgment but offering one last opportunity to repent and return. If this Elijah figure does not come, if he does not prepare the people, and if the people do not respond, repent, and return then there will be a striking of the land and total, utter loss.

The writers all suggest that this Elijah forerunner is . In :17, before John is born, we are told by an angel of the Lord that John would go before the Messiah “in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” When ’ disciples asked him about Elijah and why Elijah must precede the coming of the Messiah, Jesus said he comes to bring restoration (Matt 17:11). According to Matt 17:13 “the disciples understood that [Jesus] was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” Regarding John, Jesus clearly said to his disciples, “he is Elijah who is to come” (Matt 11:14). And remember John’s role? He was an emissary of the king to prepare the people, awaken them from their stupor, and lead them to repent and return.

Despite the last words of Malachi, the book ends on a remarkable note of grace. Contextually, the people of Israel have been broken and crushed by adversity and trials, yet they are told to remain faithful, remember the covenant, and persist in obedience for healing is coming. The people of Israel have also been walking through dark and dreary days as a nation, yet they are given remarkably good news. God has not forsaken them or his plan to use them in his redemptive plan. Instead, God’s righteousness is rising and those who fear and esteem his name will soon leap with exuberant joy like calves in spring. Lastly, the God fearing people of Israel have been oppressed by the arrogant and evildoers, yet they are told to hold true to the covenant for victory is near.

There is good news for us today as well! We too experience the same everyday realities of pain, oppression, suffering, and despair the people of Israel experienced. And we are all too familiar with the temptation to measure God’s faithfulness by our circumstances. Yet, in and through Jesus we are offered the greater reality of spiritual healing, spiritual joy, and spiritual victory. How, then, do we understand this passage in light of the New Testament and the gospel? First, there is a great and final day of the Lord that is coming. It was inaugurated with Jesus’ first coming and will be culminated with his return. On that day there will be a final distinction made. Only those who have submitted to God’s righteous one will be spared. Where Malachi says that one day the righteousness of God will burst forth and be made clear as the noon day sun, the New Testament, especially Paul, says Jesus came bright and shining like the noonday sun as “the righteousness of God…manifested” or made known (Rom 3:21). Jesus is God’s righteousness. Where Malachi says that God’s righteousness will appear and bring healing in its wings, the New Testament shows us Jesus with more than mere physical healing in his wings, but spiritual soul-deep healing (Matt 9:20). Jesus is the one with healing in his wings. Where Malachi says that God’s righteousness will lead to exuberant joy we know that in Jesus we receive more than mere happiness. We receive everlasting life. In Jesus we move from death to life and from darkness to light (Eph 2:1-4; 5:8; 2 Cor 4:4). Jesus is our joy. And lastly, where Malachi says our enemies will be reduced to ashes to be tread under our feet, we know that Jesus came to liberate us from our greater enemy of sin. How? By crushing Satan under his foot (Gen 3:15). Jesus is our hope.

But there is more to the right here right now reality of Jesus’ coming. There is also a future, final day of the Lord. The pain, oppression, and adversity we are currently experiencing is not all there is. There is a future day of the Lord. On that great and awesome final day those who are in Christ will experience total, complete, and final healing. There will be no more pain, nor tear, nor mourning (Rev 21:4). Furthermore, those in Christ will experience unprecedented, unending joy and pleasures forever more (Psalm 16:11) as we celebrate the glory of the Lord of Hosts. And lastly, we will experience final, total, and complete victory over the greater enemies of sin and death (Rev 21:4)

Discussion Questions: 1. Malachi 4:1-3 presents two different destinies for the God accusers and the God fearers. 1. What are the benefits and final rewards for those who persist in rejecting God and instead trust in themselves? 2. What are the benefits and final rewards for those who fear the Lord, esteem his name, and remain true to the covenant? 2. How does the promise of a final day of judgment actually give hope for a believer? 3. What confession is the woman of Matt 9:20-23 making by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment? 4. What is the significance of Moses and Elijah being paired in this text? Can you think of any other place where Moses and Elijah are seen together in the New Testament? What are they doing? 5. So what? How does studying Malachi 4:1-6 challenge you, change you, lead you to greater worship? What does it teach you about God, about man, and about the gospel?

Footnotes: Pieter A. Verhoef, The Books of Haggai and Malachi, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987), 331. Ibid., 338.