Malachi 4
Big idea: The book — and the Old Testament — closes on the coming day. It burns like a furnace for the proud and wicked, leaving them neither root nor branch; but for those who fear Yahweh's name, 'the sun of righteousness' rises 'with healing in its wings,' and they go out leaping like freed calves, treading down the wicked (vv. 1–3). The final charge looks both backward and forward: remember the law of Moses, and watch for Elijah the prophet, who will come before the great and terrible day to turn the hearts of parents and children to each other — lest God strike the land with a curse (vv. 4–6).
Chapter 4 completes the distinction promised in 3:18: the same day is furnace to the proud and dawn to the faithful. Ending on 'Elijah' and 'the great and terrible day of Yahweh' leaves the Old Testament in expectation — a forward-pointing silence the New Testament opens by identifying John the Baptist with this Elijah (Matthew 11:14).
4:1–3 — The furnace and the sun of righteousness
The day comes 'burning like a furnace': the proud and all who do wickedness will be stubble, burned up root and branch. But for those who fear Yahweh's name, the same day dawns differently — 'the sun of righteousness' will rise 'with healing in its wings,' and they will go out and leap like calves released from the stall, treading down the wicked who are now ashes underfoot.
1 “For behold, the day comes, burning like a furnace, when all the proud and all who work wickedness will be stubble. The day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out and leap like calves of the stall. 3 You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.
4:4–6 — Remember Moses; Elijah will come
The book's closing charge. First, look back: 'Remember the law of Moses my servant,' the statutes given at Horeb for all Israel. Then, look ahead: 'I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.' He will 'turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers' — reconciliation and repentance — lest God come and strike the land with a curse. So the Old Testament ends: on a command to remember and a promise to expect.
4 “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).