The Sun of Righteousness

Malachi 4v1-6, Part 1

12^th November 2021

These are the last words that God spoke through the prophet Malachi, and also the final words in the entire Old Testament. No more scripture would be given until the days of John the Baptist and Jesus. This final word is both a word of judgement and a word of warning. The nation of Israel was going to be judged, but individuals who repented would be saved.

Malachi 4v1-6
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the Lord Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the Lord Almighty.
"Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
"See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

Some people think this passage is talking about the first coming of Jesus 2,000 years ago, and others think it's about the second coming of Jesus at the end of history. I believe it's about Jesus's first coming. I believe this firstly because most Old Testament prophecy about Jesus is about His first coming, and there's no reason to think this is different, and secondly because we know that its prediction of the coming of Elijah was fulfilled in John the Baptist.

Matthew 11:11-15
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear.

There is no Biblical reason to believe that Elijah will appear again before the second coming of Jesus.

Although this passage is, then, primarily about the first coming of Jesus, it nonetheless has important lessons for us, and it says some things that will also apply at His second coming.

First the bad news

This final prophecy of Malachi begins:

Malachi 4v1
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the Lord Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them."

The imagery is clear. Fire is a purifying agent. Heating metal removes the impurities. After a crop is harvested, farmers would sometimes burn the stubble, the vegetation which remains after harvesting, as a quick and inexpensive way to prepare the ground for sowing the next crop. These days, it's considered bad for the environment, but it used to be widespread practice. Malachi was predicting that, on the day that God would judge His people, all the arrogant and every evildoer would be stubble. They'd be what's left after the valuable crop has been taken, and they'd be set on fire.

This came true, of course. All the evildoers who refused to repent at the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus were judged. All those who rejected Jesus, who objected to His teaching, who rejected His claim to be God, who felt threatened by His holiness, were judged. As we saw when we studied Chapter 3, Verses 1-5. Jesus pronounced judgement on the Jews who wouldn't listen, and within a generation, they were sent in to exile and their temple was destroyed. Literally, not a root or a branch was left to them.

When God comes, when God speaks, we really should respond, and there is a penalty if we don't.

Now the good news

Malachi 4v2
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

When John the Baptist preached, some people responded and were baptised as a sign of repentance. When Jesus preached, some people responded and became His followers. Some even left their homes, their families, their jobs, and became His disciples.

In every generation, there are some who truly revere God, who really mean it when they say "Hallowed be Thy Name", and there are many who don't. But for those who do truly love God, His ways, His laws, His kingship, His Name, here is a truly beautiful promise: for you, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

Although "sun" is spelt with a "u" and not with an "o" here, most people believe this prophesy is about Jesus Himself. Jesus is our sun – the source of light and life. In those dark days, when the few who truly loved God were exploited by the high priests and temple authorities, and oppressed by the Romans who occupied the land, and cheated by the tax collectors, the sun of righteousness rose. Jesus, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, became visible to them. He walked their streets, healed their sick and shared their lives. It was like the sun rising in the east on a spring morning. There was pure light where before there had been so much darkness.

And we've known our share of darkness, one way or another. We've experienced sickness, bereavement, depression, loneliness, poverty, confusion, disappointment, rejection and injustice. And Jesus, the sun of righteousness, rises over us. Can you see Him in your mind's eye? Will you lift your eyes above the mundane and boring and dirty and cruel, and look instead at Jesus? Paul said:

2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And then:

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Can you see Jesus, the sun of righteousness? He rises over you with healing in His wings. The new NIV says "healing in its rays". The warmth, the power, of the King of Kings shines upon you. Remember:

Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."

The Lord makes His face shine on you. And when God turns His face towards you, He gives you peace, shalom, healing.

Some people claim to have a healing ministry. I'm one of them. But none of us ever healed anybody. It's God who heals. God loves you. God makes His face shine upon you. God gives you peace. God heals. God can heal you.

The healing God offers is far, far more than physical healing. Physical healing does happen. Many Christian people can tell you stories about how God healed them. Physical healing is wonderful. But physical healing is not as valuable as spiritual healing, emotional healing and mental healing. These are sometimes less dramatic than physical healing, but they're even more profound, even more wonderful. God wants to make you whole, body soul and spirit. But physical healing is only temporary. You'll get a perfect new body in glory. Your spiritual and emotional healing will last for eternity.

Perhaps you've been disappointed because God hasn't yet healed you in all the ways you want. But don't give up. God loves you, God is omnipotent, and God's timing is perfect, even though it doesn't seem that way to us. Let God do whatever He wants to do in you. Get on His agenda, don't stay our your own agenda.

God promises, "And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall." The ancient Jews who truly loved God believed in Jesus and were born again. They were freed from the religion of the Pharisees, who wanted to regulate their lives down to how far they could walk and what they could eat. They were freed from sin and guilt. They became Christians.

There is no joy like the joy of salvation. For many of us the day we first realise that Jesus really did pay for our sins, that God really has accepted us as His children and given us His Holy Spirit, that we're saved, was a day like no other. Many of us wept or danced for joy like we never had before.

Perhaps you've lost the joy of your salvation. Perhaps it was a long time ago and a lot has happened since you first believed. I pray that you will rediscover that joy, and I'm confident that God wants to restore it to you. You're His beloved child.