Naravist

The Prophets · Old Testament

Malachi 4

Malachi 4: a day burning as an oven, and Elijah sent before it

General context

The day is coming that will burn as an oven, when all the proud and all who do wickedly will be stubble and the day will burn them up, leaving them neither root nor branch. To those who fear the Lord's name the Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings, and they will go out and grow up as calves of the stall. They will tread down the wicked, who will be ashes under the soles of their feet in the day the Lord of hosts acts. The hearers are told to remember the law of Moses, the Lord's servant, which was commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. The Lord says he will send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and that Elijah will turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest the Lord come and smite the earth with a curse.

Cited passages: Malachi 4:1, Malachi 4:2, Malachi 4:3, Malachi 4:4, Malachi 4:5, Malachi 4:6

Malachi 4 (KJV)

1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

4Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Only two people are named in these six verses: Moses, called "my servant," with the law commanded to him "in Horeb for all Israel," and Elijah, called "the prophet," whom the Lord says he will send. The chapter gives no date for the day it describes and no account of either man beyond those phrases. It does not say whether the Elijah to be sent is the same figure as "my messenger" or "the messenger of the covenant" in 3:1, and it does not describe how he will be sent. Later books cite the promise: Matthew 11:14 reads, "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come," and Luke 1:17 speaks of one going "in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children." Those are later citations, and Malachi's own verses make no identification. "The Sun of righteousness" in verse 2 is named only by that phrase, with healing in his wings, and is not further described. The chapter, and the book, ends on the word curse.

Cited passages: Malachi 4:4, Malachi 4:5, Malachi 4:6, Malachi 4:2, Malachi 3:1, Matthew 11:14, Luke 1:17, Malachi 4:1

Literary context

Six verses hold a fire, a sunrise and a family. The burning day and the rising sun are set against each other in consecutive verses, stubble with neither root nor branch on one side and calves let out of a stall on the other, so growth and destruction use the same daylight. The command to remember Moses and Horeb is the only backward look in the chapter and it arrives without transition, between the trodden ashes and the promised prophet. The last promise is deliberately small in scale after the burning: not a battle or a throne but hearts turned between fathers and children, stated twice in both directions. The final clause gives the reason as a threat held off, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse, which leaves the book's closing word as the thing being avoided rather than the thing announced.

Cited passages: Malachi 4:1, Malachi 4:2, Malachi 4:3, Malachi 4:4, Malachi 4:5, Malachi 4:6

Key moments

  1. A day burning as an oven (Malachi 4:1). The proud and the wicked are said to become stubble with neither root nor branch.
  2. The Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2). Those who fear the Lord’s name are promised healing and growth.
  3. Ashes underfoot (Malachi 4:3). The wicked are trodden down in the day the Lord of hosts acts.
  4. Remember the law of Moses (Malachi 4:4). The hearers are told to keep the statutes commanded in Horeb.
  5. Elijah sent (Malachi 4:5). The Lord promises to send Elijah before the great and dreadful day.
  6. Hearts turned (Malachi 4:6). Fathers and children are to be turned toward each other, lest a curse come.

For reflection

After a day that burns like an oven, the last thing promised is that hearts of fathers and children will be turned toward each other. Why might that be the sign the book chooses to end on?

People in this chapter