Malachi Sermon - 9

Malachi: Which Side are You On?

Malachi 4:1-6

1. Introduction – What we’re looking at this week is a continuation of what we looked at last week.

a. In fact, there is no real need for a chapter break here…the Hebrew bible doesn’t have one.

i. The subject matter is the same, the words are the same, the 2 groups of people are the same.

1. 4:1-6 is an elaboration of 3:18 – expanding on the distinction between the righteous and the wicked.

2. The major theme here is the ‘day’ when God will act decisively.

a. And we’re told here, and in other places in the Bible that on that day, God will act in favour of his people and he will punish those who oppose him.

b. Today we are wrapping up our study through the book of Malachi.

i. What a great book – small, 9 studies, but hard-hitting, convicting…and what we’ll see today is that this little book is also full of words of comfort and encouragement.

1. As we make our way through this last section, we’ll look at it verse by verse, we’ll study what the text says, what it means and how it applies to us today.

2. The Day – Verse 1 of chapter 4 picks up where 3:18 left off.

a. In that verse God was contradicting the prevalent attitude of the people of Malachi’s day.

i. There’s no difference between good and bad, righteous or wicked, God fearing or God denying – the people said.

1. But God said in verse 18 – they will see the distinction between these two groups of people.

a. And God goes on to say this in verse 1. God speaks about ‘the day’ coming.

i. It’s a familiar prophetic phrase. We learned a lot about the day of the Lord when we studied Revelation.

b. But I want you to dwell on this…the phrase ‘day of the Lord’ is used quite often throughout the prophets, and even into the NT… it always seems to be ‘at hand’ or ‘near.’

i. For 5 OT prophets living in 4 different centuries, this ‘day’ was near.

1. Obadiah and Joel pronounced the nearness of this day in the 9th century BC.

a. Isaiah pronounced it in the 8th century BC, Zephaniah in the 7th century BC,

i. Ezekiel in the 6th century BC.

1. For each one of them the saw a nearness and even a fulfillment of this day – if only a partial fulfillment of it.

2. In the 1st century AD, both John the Baptist and Jesus said he kingdom of God, the day of the Lord was near or at hand.

a. And at the end of the 1st century AD, John the Apostle writes in Revelation that the events described in his letter will soon take place.

c. The day that is spoken of in the prophets, but John in Revelation is what’s known as the Day of the Lord – the day when God will come in power and bring history to its God-ordained end.

i. And how that day is experienced depends on one thing and one thing only – your relationship with God when he comes.

1. We see this distinction throughout Scripture. Jesus describes it as separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the prepared bridesmaids and the unprepared ones.

a. John says it is those who have the name of Jesus stamped on them and those who have the name or mark of the beast.

ii. And here in Malachi, to keep in consistent with the previous text, familiar images are used. The text speaks of 2 groups people – the arrogant and evildoers – how will they experience the coming day of the Lord?

1. And those who fear God’s name – what will that day be like for them?

3. Arrogant – Let’s start where the text does. Look at verse 1.

a. In both cases we’ll look at this morning, God uses heat, the sun, to show the experience of that coming day.

i. For the arrogant, the day will be hot. Burning like an oven. They will be like stubble…set ablaze.

1. This is the 2nd time fire has been used an as example in Malachi.

a. Back at the beginning of chapter 3, god spoke of his refining fire.

ii. That fire didn’t destroy, but it purified. It heated the precious metal up in order to melt it down…to separate out the impurities from what was precious.

1. It wasn’t a consuming or destroying fire, but fire God’s people are put through so we will better reflect the image of the refiner.

b. But the metaphor changes here at the beginning of chapter 4. Fire is once again used, but this time it is not burning away the impurities leaving purer precious metal behind.

i. No, this time it is a consuming fire – consuming, punishing the arrogant and evildoers.

1. The people of Malachi’s day though the arrogant and evildoers were blessed…they thought they escaped punishment and judgment…

a. But here, God remind his people, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord.”

c. And look at how total and all-consuming this is – it will leave neither root nor branch.

i. At my parents house, the house I grew up in, there are fields out back.

1. Kinda like my house now, except there’s also a lot of grass and brush.

a. And inevitably, every summer, there would be a grass fire back there, some bigger than others.

2. And in the days after, we’d go walking back there and see the damage the fire caused – black charred out grass and brush.

a. But you know what…grass would always grow back…and before long all evidence of the fire was gone and new life was produced.

i. That’s because the fire didn’t penetrate into the ground and burn up the roots. The life source was still intact.

ii. But look here…for those who don’t serve God, for the arrogant and evildoer, there’s no hope for re-growth…no hope for a second chance.

1. Because on the day of the Lord, on the day of judgment, the fire of judgment will be all-consuming…penetrating into the ground, burning up even the root system.

a. It’s like what we looked at in Revelation – all that is evil will be undone, sent away to suffer eternally in hell, with no hope of relief.

4. But – And in passages like this, there’s always a ‘but.’ God first described the experience of the arrogant and evildoers.

a. “Blessed? You think those people are blessed and escape punishment??? Let me show you otherwise!”

i. Then there’s a ‘but’ in v.2 and immediately the tone and focus changes.

1. Again, the sun is used this is imagery, but with a vastly difference experience.

b. God says, to those who fear my name…the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

i. This sentence is tapping into the ancient image where the sun is pictured as a disk and its rays are pictured as 2 wings…which bring healing.

1. For those who fear God, the sun will not be scorching or destructive, but it will be full or righteousness, it will bring healing.

c. Healing…that’s always been God’s promise. Total and complete healing – spiritual, physical, emotional.

i. The curse of sin and all its ugly side effects will be undone.

1. All that was brought into creation because of Adam and Eve’s sin, will be undone.

a. God promised that if his people humble themselves, turn form their wicked ways and pray, God will hear them from heaven, he will turn to them, and he will what???

i. Heal their land.

ii. Isaiah tells us that the promised healing will total and permanent – death will be swallowed up forever.

1. God will wipe tears from faces and all the disgrace experienced by god’s people will be removed.

a. And Isaiah also tells us the source of this healing – Isaiah says in ch.53 by his wounds we are healed.

i. By the wounds of the Suffering Servant, by the wounds of Jesus – God’s people are brought healing.

iii. And we get a foretaste of this healing in the life and ministry of Jesus – he healed physical ailments, he brought spiritual healing and restoration to his people, he healed emotional scars…

1. And all of this healing is echoed in the book of Revelation when the day of the Lord is described in detail.

d. For those who fear God’s name, the sun of righteousness will rise, not a sun of destruction, but of restoration and healing.

i. Charles Wesley equated the sun of righteousness to Jesus when he wrote in his great Christmas Carol – v.3 of Hark the Herald Angels Sing…Hail the heaven born…

5. Results - For those who fear the Lord, the day of his coming will be a day of healing. And the last half of v.2 and all of v.3 these describe the results of that healing.

a. First, v 2 says, because of the healing of the sun of righteousness, you will go out leaping like calves.

i. The image is of a calf’s first experience in open pasture.

1. After a winter of being cooped up in a stall, imagine the joy and freedom and calf experiences in seeing all that open field.

b. And God says that instead of being trampled on BY the ungodly – the people of God will be leaping and walk and frolic about unobstructed.

i. I can’t think of a better to describe the joy of God’s people.

1. Think of what we will experience if we fear God’s name and come to him through the healing wounds of Jesus.

ii. Think about it…no more death, pain, sorrow, tears…no more cancer, no broken bones, no anxiety, depression or worry of emotional distress.

1. That’s what is being promised here…risen with healing in his its wings.

a. We haven’t experienced it fully yet, but isn’t the thought of it enough to make you want to frolic about with joy!? Who wants to demonstrate?!

c. Two wildly different experiences. God is showing his people that it will pay eternal dividends to serve him now.

i. Sure, there will be times of refining, times of pressure and persecution from others.

1. Sure, it may look for a time that evildoers are prospering.

a. But God gives them a glimpse of the future – to offer them encouragement and to spur on change and renewal in the present.

d. On the day of God’s coming, the wicked will be punished while the righteous will be healed.

i. It’s a reminder for us today too – we struggle with the same thoughts, attitudes, actions and tendencies of the people of Malachi’s day…but in the end, if we fear God’s name and come to him in faith…we will receive healing.

1. It’s a reminder to us that we need to make sure we are right with God in order to experience the joy and healing of that day.

a. And we need to make sure we are spreading the gospel so as many people as possible experience the joy and healing that this day will bring…not the punishment.

6. Moses & Elijah – And in the close 2 verses we are introduced to 2 key biblical figures – Moses and Elijah.

a. Both men played a prominent role in Israel’s history.

i. Moses the recipient of God’s Law on Mount Sinai, Elijah the quintessential prophet of God, calling his people back to that Law.

1. Both men were present on the mount of Jesus’ Transfiguration, their work, figures like them are mentioned in Revelation 11 as the work of the two witnesses.

a. Whey do they show up here?

i. Well, their presence helps to answer the implication ‘so what’ question.

b. Verse 4 is a command – Remember the law of Moses. Here is a good place to remind us of the major themes in this book.

i. The Israelites had a waning faith, they disrespected God’s name, they had an empty religion full of dead rituals.

1. They had self-seeking betrayals of their marriage vows, they failed to provide for the most vulnerable, they were greedy, materialistic…and against these are things we struggle with today…

a. So what’s the solution?

c. 4:4 spells it out for us…Remember God’s Word. It’s a reminder that if we want to know God, if we want to know God’s will, if we want to follow his commands and live a life following…

i. If we want to understand the world the way god intended it, then we have to know God’s Word.

1. God and God’s Word are inextricably bound together.

a. To fight apathy, indifference, dead religious rituals, materialism and greed…self help books aren’t the answer.

i. This is a reminder that life isn’t guided by human wisdom, ambition, or societal expectations – life is guided by the thoughtful study and application of God’s Word.

2. It is only in hiding God’s Word in our hearts that we don’t sin against him…it’s in having God’s Word as lamp to our feet and a light to our path that we are able to guard against the feelings and actions mentioned earlier.

a. So what do we do now? How do we combat apathy, indifference, careless worship and materialism??? By diving deeper into God’s Word. Knowing it more, applying it more.

d. And the last image of the book if that of Elijah – the quintessential prophet – calling God’s people to repentance.

i. And if v.4 talks about what humans are to do in the meantime – know God’s word and act accordingly – vv.5-6 tell us what God is up to in the meantime.

1. What will God do? He will send a prophet…God will continue to call people to himself.

a. And we know that 400 or so years later, God did send another prophet – John the Baptist.

i. He came in the spirit of Elijah, he lived in the desert, at locusts and wild honey, wore camel skin clothes.

2. And the angel Gabriel told Zechariah, John’s father, that John would turn the hearts of fathers to their children.

a. Zechariah was a priest; he knew God’s Word…and Gabe told Zechariah that his son would fulfill this prophecy from Malachi.

e. And this verse reminds us of a major theme we looked at in Revelation…Delay.

i. God talked about the day of his judgment, but before judgment comes a prophet.

1. Before judgment comes a warning. Before judgment comes a call – Come back to me!

a. God promised and Elijah, and John fulfilled that promise.

i. God has promised judgment, but in his grace and mercy God has delayed that promised.

f. He delayed it, so Jesus come die and rise against for the sins of the world. His judgment is delayed so that his church could be established on earth.

i. He’d delayed his judgment so many could receive the power to be called children of God.

1. He’s delayed his judgment so YOU could get to know him, and so YOU could go about spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth.

g. But judgment will come, and when the promised day of Lord does arrive, how will you experience it?

i. Will it be like an oven for you? Will you be scorched by the burning heat of God’s judgment?

1. Or will it be a day of healing and joy for you?

h. I pray that you will experience it as a day of freedom, free from pain, sorrow sickness and death.

i. And I pray that you will frolic about like a calf in the spring sunshine. – reveling in the fullness and completeness of your salvation in Jesus.