25th Sunday after Pentecost
Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier
Malachi 4:1-6
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
After the return from Babylon, the Israelites rebuilt the Temple in the late 6th century B.C. About one hundred years later, the prophet Malachi rebuked the negligence of the priests and promised the coming of the Messiah. Malachi is the last of the writing prophets. He foretells the ministry of John the Baptizer who will prepare the way for the Messiah. After the ministry of Malachi, the people of God waited four hundred years for a prophet of God.
Verses five and six of today’s Old Testament text states,“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6, ESV) In our English Bibles, the book of Malachi closes the Old Testament books with the last words on the coming Messiah. Sequentially the next book is the Gospel According to St. Matthew which tells of the fulfillment of the words of Malachi and all of the prophets regarding the Christ.
In our day, we wait for the Second coming of the Messiah. As we come to the close of another church year, we look toward the close of the church age. On these last two Sundays, we focus on the End of Time and the Final Judgment. As we confess in the Creed, “Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead.” With this in mind, note that our Old Testament text opens with these words,“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” (Malachi 4:1-6 ESV) In typical fashion, the prophet Malachi calls us to repentance and to realize that the day of the Lord is coming. Christ has come and Christ will come again.
This day will be a day of judgment. In particular, all the arrogant and all the evildoers will be judged guilty. They will be like stubble in a burning oven. They will not stand. They will not have root or branch. They will be ashes. Thus, we are taught to repent from our sinful desires to do evil things and to be arrogant toward the Lord. As those who name the name of the Lord, we are called to depart from iniquity.
Like the prophets before him, Malachi points us back to books of Moses. He writes, “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.” (Malachi 4:4 ESV) The Torah of Moses was the instruction that God gave to us to teach us repentance and faith in the promises of the Messiah. In the days of Malachi, the priests had failed to do their duty. They failed to correctly teach God’s word in its purity. Therefore, the book of Malachi rebukes the priests.
In the Torah of Moses, we are instructed to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. The LORD instructs us as His people on what is prohibited and what is forbidden to us. Because of our corrupted nature, we are unholy and have an unhealthy desire for that which is prohibited and forbidden. In Deuteronomy chapter four, Moses writes, "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." (Deuteronomy 4:24, ESV) This is bad news for the arrogant who think they know better than God and the evildoers who devote themselves to evil. Like a pine needle, they are quickly consumed in the presence of fire.
Likewise the five books of Moses instruct us in the promise of the coming Messiah who will make all things right. Christ came into the world to save sinners. The commandments show us our sin and the promises show us our Savior. Moses writes in Deuteronomy chapter nine, "Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you." (Deuteronomy 9:3, ESV) The LORD in His infinite mercy established a covenant with His people promising to dwell in the midst of His unholy people making them holy in His presence. He then instituted the Divine Service at the tabernacle with Holy fire upon the altar. This is good news for the humble that hear the word of God and cling to it. For us who believe in the promises of God fulfilled in Jesus, God is a consuming fire who purifies us.
As St. Paul sums it up in Titus chapter two, Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14, ESV) So that we are not ruled by sin being arrogant and evildoers before God, we are instructed to set our eyes on the one who frees us from captivity and makes us pure. In verse two of today’s text, Malachi writes, “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” (Malachi 4:3, ESV)
In today’s passage we are given two groups. Those who refuse to hear the word of God and those who hear the word of the LORD and rejoice in it. On the one hand, they will be consumed on that day… …but… …for you… on the other hand… …the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. They do not fear the name of the LORD and they shall be set ablaze left with no root or branch. But… …you who fear the name of the LORD… …shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
Here the LORD makes the contrast between those who are ruled by sin and those who are given the kingdom of God. We have an assertion. The day is coming and it will be bad news for the arrogant and evil doers. Then we have the contrast starting with the word, “but.” The day of the LORD is coming and it will be good news for those who fear God because of Jesus.
By nature we cannot properly fear, love, or trust in God above all things. Thus, the Holy Spirit uses His word to instruct us. In Proverbs chapter one, we learn that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:7, ESV) Later in Proverbs chapter two we are taught, “For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov. 2:6, ESV) When we fear God, there is nothing else to be afraid of. As His holy people we are learning to be reverent in His presence. We are learning to put to death our irreverent and arrogant attitudes toward God. Malachi and all of the prophets teach us to trust in the LORD with all of our hearts and lean not on our own understanding.
In order to connect with us, He uses images of the rising sun, healing wings, and leaping calves. As darkness is overcome by light, we set our eyes on the horizon looking to Jesus as the Sun of Righteousness. As the sun shines in the day giving warmth and light to all creation, Jesus bestows His light and life upon us. He is the Light of the World. As the Sun of Righteousness, He shines forth His righteousness upon us. As the gospel is preached the sun rises in our own hearts.
As we believe the promises of Christ, we hide in the shelter of His wings. Like little chicks fleeing from a hawk, we seek refuge under the protection of His wings. He has compassion upon us like a mother hen. In addition, there is healing in His wings. In this life, we are being healed by Christ. We are being healed of our evil desires and arrogant attitudes. Through the power of the gospel, He is creating godly desires and humble attitudes in our hearts.
As sadness is replaced by joy, we leap like calves that have been released from the stalls and tread down all of our enemies under foot. I’ve never seen a calf leap out of a stall, but I can image the joy. When I was a child, I had a broken leg confined to a cast. I can remember the great joy that I had when that cast was removed. I was released and I could jump, run, and leap around. How much more, should we rejoice in the release that we have from the captivity of sin?
In today’s text as we follow the flow of the verses, we quickly move from joy to despair. The ending note of the book of Malachi ends with “utter destruction.” Understand that this phrase is like a cliff hanger. God’s will is not that the end will be utter destruction for us. The book of Malachi opened with the assertion of God’s love. “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?”" (Malachi 1:2, ESV) God’s love can be traced throughout the whole of the Bible. He shows us how He has loved us.
In Genesis chapter one, God shows His love through the act of creation. Even after the fall into sin, God shows His love in the promise of the seed born of the Virgin who would defeat the devil. Throughout the history of Israel, God showed His love through His mercy and faithfulness to the sons of Abraham. In the New Testament scriptures we are told that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) In Ephesians chapter five, St. Paul teaches us, “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2 ESV) Through Christ’s sacrifice we have access in one Spirit to the Father. God’s love is poured out from the cross. Amen.
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