Malachi 4:1-6 the Coming Day of the Lord

The Coming Day of the Lord

Malachi 4:1-6 The Coming Day of the Lord

• Malachi is organized around six disputations or debates between God and the people of Israel. The Coming Day of the Lord

• In each of these disputations: – God makes a statement. – The people disagree with God’s statement. – God responds by giving supporting evidence for His original statement. The Coming Day of the Lord

• The first disputation had to do with God’s love for His people (Malachi 1:2-5). • This first disputation was foundational for all the succeeding disputations. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Proverbs 3:12—For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. • Proverbs 3:12—because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. (NIV) The Coming Day of the Lord

• God loves His people. • Therefore, He disciplines them. • Proverbs 12:1—Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid. • Those who are wise will receive God’s discipline and allow it to change them. The Coming Day of the Lord

• In the second disputation, God addresses the priests and chastises them for their worthless pseudo-worship (Malachi 1:6- 2:9). • In the third disputation, God tells the people that they have been unfaithful in their relationships (Malachi 2:10-16). The Coming Day of the Lord

• In the fourth disputation, found in Malachi 2:17-3:5, God stated that the people had wearied Him with their words. • They had accused God of being unjust, because they were suffering, while the wicked prospered. The Coming Day of the Lord

• In the fifth disputation, found in Malachi 3:6-12, God stated that the people had turned away from His commands, they were robbing Him, and they needed to return to Him. The Coming Day of the Lord

• The final disputation runs from Malachi 3:13 to Malachi 4:3. • The final disputation is based on God’s claim that the people had been arrogant toward Him. • Their arrogance was seen in the false accusations they had made about God. The Coming Day of the Lord

• However, there was a group who feared the Lord and agreed with Him. • God told that group that He would remember them and spare them from the coming judgment. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Malachi 4:1-3—1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• 2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” 3 “You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Malachi 4:1—…the day is coming, burning like a furnace… • Malachi 4:1—…the day that is coming will set them ablaze… • Malachi 4:3—…for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing… The Coming Day of the Lord

• This is a clear reference to the coming day of judgment, or the second coming of Christ. • The first part of Malachi chapter 2 talked about both the first and second the coming of Christ. The Coming Day of the Lord

• The gospel writers clearly indicated that the messenger of Malachi 2:1 was John the Baptist. • Malachi 3:5 is a reference to the judgment that will take place at the second coming of Christ. The Coming Day of the Lord

• “The day” God talks about in Malachi chapter 4 will include both disaster and deliverance. • God assures His people that justice would ultimately prevail. • God’s primary rewards are spiritual in nature. The Coming Day of the Lord

• God’s judgment will be universal and permanent. • Malachi 4:1—“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• Malachi 4:2— “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• Everyone who has ever lived is in one of two groups. • Either they are arrogant evildoers, or they fear the Lord. • To “fear” God is to have a healthy reverence and respect for Him. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Verse 1 stated that all the arrogant evildoers will be consumed, like chaff. • However, “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” for those who fear the Lord. • And, they “will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• We should never measure God’s justice by what happens in this life. • Malachi 4:3— “You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Those who fear the Lord will be eternally victorious over the unrighteous. • We should always remember the eternal blessings of Christ and desire to share those blessings with others. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Malachi 4:4—“Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• Malachi 4:5-6—5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• God tells the people to “remember the law of Moses.” • The issue with the Israelites was that they had hearts that were far from God. • And, that heart issue was manifested in a lack of obedience to God’s Law. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Deuteronomy 28:1—Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. The Coming Day of the Lord

• John 14:21—He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him. The Coming Day of the Lord

• This was the point in Israel’s history that gave rise to the Pharisees. • The Pharisees sought to build a hedge of protection around the Law, by creating a system of rules and regulations that essentially extended the Law. The Coming Day of the Lord

• True obedience needs to begin with a heart that has given itself to God. • We need to have both a heart that is turned toward God and a genuine desire to obey Him. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Malachi 3:1 said that God was going to send a forerunner to the Messiah. • The forerunner was John the Baptist. • John came in the spirit and power of Elijah. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Luke 1:16-17—16 “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• Matthew 11:14—And if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come. The Coming Day of the Lord

• Matthew 17:10-12—10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” The Coming Day of the Lord

• Jesus is the coming of Elijah who will “restore all things.” • John is “Elijah (who had) already came.” • John prepared the way for Jesus. • Jesus came as the living embodiment of the gospel and died to restore the relationship between God and man. The Coming Day of the Lord

• John prepared the way for Jesus. • Jesus came as the living embodiment of the gospel and died to restore the relationship between God and man.