Christ, the Sun of Righteousness

1“For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2But 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. 3You 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“Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 6He 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.”

This is the last of our studies in Malachi. So far we have seen the choices and decisions Israel made. Whenever God helped them out of hardship and life grew comfortable, they promptly forsook him and chased after the world. Yet God remained patient to the very end, so that fallen Israel might return to him. Even so, they did not return until judgment fell on them.

God called Israel so that his chosen people would make him known to the Gentile nations. But Israel cast off God’s love and defiled his name, and so instead they suffered the humiliation of being trampled by the Gentiles. To bring the people he had chosen to repentance, God used Babylon as his rod and made them endure the anguish of seventy years in captivity.

Only when Israel realized what great grace it is to be under God’s protection did they call on his name and cry out to him. When Israel seemed to repent, the merciful God had compassion on them and graciously brought them home to their land. But once life grew comfortable, they again forgot to give thanks and sinned by offering hollow sacrifices and offerings that were spotted and blemished. Seeing how corrupt their faith had become, God would no longer accept the sacrifices they offered only for form’s sake.

To restore our relationship with God, the problem of sin must first be dealt with. But the sacrifices they offered could not win forgiveness, and so Jesus became flesh to deal with sin. If after death people are divided between heaven and hell, between eternal life and eternal punishment, there must be a sure standard that divides them. That standard is faith in the blood of Jesus, who bore the cross. God has already accomplished everything needed for the saving of souls, so now our faith will decide our salvation. Because Jesus has rescued us from the curse, Satan can no longer stop the salvation of God’s people. Even so, Satan is at work until the last day to make one more person stumble, so we must be in Christ.

Friends, even those who attend church can fall into temptation, or lose heart because they cannot bear their trials, if they do not rely on the Holy Spirit. But if we believe that the Holy Spirit leads us and obey him, we can stand on the rock of faith without turning to the right or to the left. Those who believe that Christ has paid for their sins will always have their right conduct written in the book of memory.

Malachi 4:5

5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.

The prophet Malachi introduced John the Baptist as the last prophet who would bear witness to Jesus at his first coming, and said that John would declare God’s will as Elijah did. John the Baptist rebuked the hollow religion of a people who did not serve God fully, and cried out to them to repent. From then on, whoever heard the gospel John preached and returned to God would escape the curse, and whoever heard it and would not return would be cursed. Through John, God gave them the opportunity to turn back, so now the decision lies with those who have heard the gospel, and they must answer for it themselves.

Malachi 4:4

4“Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.

Because their hearts were full of idols, the people of Israel now ignored the law and did not live by its ordinances. Had Israel known God’s greatness and feared him, they would have kept the law strictly so as not to sin. God told Israel again and again to remember his statutes and ordinances, for only by striving to keep the law would they keep from sinning. If they had truly kept the law, they would have known how blessed a spiritual life is and come to understand what it means to live as human beings should. Sadly, though, the law has no power to take away sin forever. Under the law every sin had to be forgiven through the blood of an animal, so forgiveness could not be received once for all. What is more, since God would no longer accept their sacrifices, not even the blood of animals could obtain forgiveness, and for that reason Jesus himself took on the flesh of sinners and came to this earth. The sinless Jesus bore the sins of humanity in his own body and became the atoning sacrifice, and therefore he forgave sin once for all.

Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set everyone who has confessed faith free from the law of sin and death. Those who try to keep the law by their own works can never keep it perfectly however hard they try, so in the end they cannot be anything but sinners. No one can meet the law’s demand to keep every commandment, but Jesus, who made the law, fulfilled all that it requires.

Now that Christ has conquered death and risen, only people’s choice remains. If they follow the flesh, they will think only of the things of the flesh and fall into death; if they follow the Spirit, they will enjoy new life and rest.

When Jesus came into the world, Satan, who until then had held the power of the air, lost his strength, and a world where sin had run rampant was itself judged. Yet sadly, those who ought to be saved do not fully believe in Christ; they stand halfway between Jesus and the world, wavering. They doubt that Christ is the Savior and presume to judge God’s mighty work by the knowledge of the world. But the Bible records that God had already appointed Jesus as the atoning sacrifice, and had chosen his people, before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:4-7

4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love; 5having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, 6to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, 7in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

This passage is like a summary of the whole Bible. The Bible tells us that the cross was no invented story; it was Jesus fulfilling what God had planned before the foundation of the world. Yet people still cannot believe it and go on doubting.

We see the same behavior in the story of Elijah. Facing 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah, Elijah told the people to decide once and for all which god they would choose and to stand on that side, but they could not make up their minds. Perhaps they meant to side with Elijah if he won and with the false prophets if they won. God holds people responsible for the decisions they think through and make for themselves. That the people still wavered in the middle shows they had no faith in God and no conviction.

When the false prophets could get no answer from their god however hard they tried, Elijah immediately repaired the altar that had been thrown down, then poured still more water on the soaked wood, deliberately making things as unfavorable as he could. When Elijah prayed for fire to fall on an altar brimming with water, God answered and burned up the wood and the water alike. Elijah pointed the people to the God who had sent fire from heaven and rebuked them, telling them to judge for themselves who it is that lives and works. If God had not sent the fire, Elijah could have been killed by the very people he cherished. Since the people’s salvation and his own life hung on this one contest, he must have been afraid until the moment the answer came, even as he trusted that God would act. God saw the faith of Elijah, who stood there knowing he might die, and sent fire from heaven. Only when the people saw that miracle did they confess that Yahweh is God.

It is a mercy indeed when the people repent, however late. But if Israel, who had seen so many miracles, had trusted and relied on God from the start, there would have been no need for such a spiritual battle. Just as Elijah risked his life to fight the false prophets, John the Baptist also had to stake his life to proclaim Jesus at his first coming. The Jews thought sacrifice was the whole of faith, and so they could not accept the truth that they must believe in Jesus instead of offering sacrifices.

Like Elijah and John the Baptist, who were ready to die to make God known, we too must offer ourselves as living sacrifices in order to bring Jesus Christ to others. They boldly declared the living God before those who sought to kill them, and like them we must preach Christ with genuine faith.

There is no more time to waver in the middle. If God’s people waver between God and the world, their lives become like the bat that belongs to neither side, and because of that they will fall again under the curse from which Christ shielded them by his death.

Malachi 4:2

2But 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.

Those who fear Jesus Christ will surely be saved. Salvation is not a blessing enjoyed for a moment; it is living forever in God’s glory, safe and full of joy. Because Elijah knew this, he displayed God’s work to the end, and he was blessed to be taken up into the Kingdom of God without seeing bodily death. Elijah, who feared God alone, laid down every burden of this world like a calf let loose from the stall and went up to the Kingdom of God, where there is no death, no evil one, and no evil spirit. How happy he must be now, in the arms of the God he always longed for!

Those who were held down under the power of death, too, the moment they receive Jesus Christ, have the chains of sin broken and enjoy true freedom, like a calf freed from its tether.

Friends, the freedom the world offers is not true freedom. There are many religions in the world, and we can take different roads as we choose, but there is only one way to heaven: to believe in Jesus Christ.

If, like the people who stood wavering in the middle, a person has no assurance of faith, then even though Jesus has accomplished salvation, that person cannot be saved. If you hesitate now, unsure whether to believe in Christ, there will be no opportunity left once your own life ends or Jesus returns. Only those who rely on God with the faith that says, “If I perish, I perish,” are protected in this world and can enter the eternal world. This will come to pass, whatever people decide, whether they refuse to believe in Christ or doubt him.

Those who obey and fear God the Creator, Christ, and the Holy Spirit can enjoy true freedom, as when the sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings. May you who believe in Christ stand unshaken, even in hard circumstances or when you meet evil people and evil spirits, and keep your faith.

Leviticus 11:3-4

3Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat. 4“‘Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, he is unclean to you.

God told his people to eat only animals that part the hoof and chew the cud. They were not to eat those that chew the cud but do not part the hoof, nor those that part the hoof but do not chew the cud.

What is God telling us here? The parted hoof means that good and evil must be clearly divided. It is a call, as Elijah said, to make it plain whether we stand on God’s side or the world’s. And chewing the cud means having a patient faith that meditates on the word continually and perseveres in order to live by what it has understood. A faith that parts the hoof but does not chew the cud goes to church as a formality but never ponders the word and does not live by it. Because such people never dwell deeply on the word, they easily change their minds when trouble comes and quickly fall when Satan tempts them. On the other hand, those who chew the cud but do not part the hoof study the Bible diligently and give their offerings and their service, yet their lives do not change, since they do not truly believe in Christ. Such people think of Christianity as a religion, so they boast of their zeal and sin by constantly judging others.

Anyone who goes to church only to get to heaven, with no gratitude that Jesus Christ has forgiven their sins, is not one of the saints. A merely formal faith brings down God’s wrath, so we must repent of it from the heart.

As God’s people, we must discern good from evil, believe in Christ, and live by the word. If we walk with the Holy Spirit, Christ will shine on us like the sun of righteousness with healing in its wings and restore us.

The apostle John said that those who have part in the first resurrection are blessed and holy, that the second death has no power over them, and that they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Christ for a thousand years. If we fear God truly and honestly, there will be no second death for us, no falling into the eternal lake of fire. Because Jesus Christ, who conquered death, has given us new life, we can live as those who have been raised, even while we still live on this earth. The Bible records that in the last days there will be a great tribulation such as has never been suffered before. But it also says that before the great tribulation, the saints will be given a time to preach the gospel first, with great power. This is how God always offers the opportunity to be saved before judgment. Even now, in some places, the miracle is happening of people hearing the gospel in the midst of fierce persecution, repenting, and receiving Christ. Satan, on the other hand, uses the wicked as his tools to block salvation. The book of Acts goes on as missionaries carry the gospel deep into remote places and suffer persecution and death, and in spite of Satan’s opposition the number of those who hear the gospel and are saved keeps growing. Even if we cannot lay down our lives as these missionaries do, we must do our very best when we have the chance to share the gospel. The word never falls to the ground. So may you preach the gospel boldly.

Once the season of mighty gospel preaching by the work of the Holy Spirit has passed, a time of suffering will come when the gospel cannot be preached. It will be a time of anguish, when people are persecuted and killed simply for believing in Christ.

Revelation 11:7 says that when the saints have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, overcome them, and kill them, and that their dead bodies will lie here and there in the street of the great city. The people of the world saw lying dead in the street the saints who had pointed out their sins and proclaimed Christ to them until they were sick of hearing it. Seeing the saints dead, they were so overjoyed and so drunk with victory that for three and a half days they exchanged gifts and raised their glasses. God said that three and a half days after the saints were martyred, he would give the breath of life to the dead and show the miracle of raising them. The Bible says that the dead saints would rise to their feet, and that while the onlookers stood gaping, a loud voice would suddenly be heard from heaven, calling the saints to come up here. Those who dwell on the earth will stand and watch as the saints, hearing God’s voice, go up to heaven in the cloud. It may sound like a made-up story, but if you see the world you live in now unfolding just as the Bible says, you will know that this prophecy too will be fulfilled.

This scene of the saints hearing God’s voice and going up to heaven is what Malachi 4:3 means: you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make. While the saints who kept their faith to the end are raised and share the joy of the wedding feast of the Lamb, the world will undergo a judgment as agonizing as firewood burning in a raging furnace. The Antichrist and Satan, who cruelly tormented the saints, and those who would not believe in Christ will burn up like stubble in the fire of wrath that God pours out.

Those of us who believe that the Bible was written by the inspiration of God must endure until the day we take our place at our wedding with Christ. Jesus’ coming into the world is in itself the fulfillment of both judgment and salvation, so if you do not believe in Christ now, there will be no further opportunity to be saved.

Like John the Baptist and Elijah, may you now live for your faith. And I hope you will boldly urge the people of the world to repent and receive Christ now, since there may be no other opportunity to return to God, and will hand them an invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

After Malachi, God raised up no prophet for some four hundred years, until John the Baptist, and so people could not know his will. This shows that unless God pours out his grace, no one can hear the word or proclaim it.

Today we can hear the word, read the Bible, and share it whenever we wish, and we must understand what a great blessing that is.

Now I bring these studies in Malachi to a close. Through them you will have seen how ardently the prophet Malachi declared the will of God. We who are living in the last days must hear his voice, crying out to us to keep God’s law and live by his word.

This world may look as if it will last forever, but it has an end; the powers of this world have an end, and so does every human life. You know this. So may you serve Christ as King and be God’s people, longing for the eternal Kingdom.