Bird's-eye view
Malachi concludes his prophecy not with a whimper, but with a great blast of the trumpet. This final chapter draws a stark, unbendable line between two kinds of people, and two kinds of destinies. The prophet has been dealing with a cynical and compromised people, a people who were asking where the God of justice had gone (Mal. 2:17). Here is the answer. God’s justice is coming, and it will be like a fire. For those who have built with wood, hay, and stubble, this fire is a terror. For those who have built with gold, silver, and precious stones, it is a glorious purification. The Day of Yahweh is a day of reckoning that separates the arrogant from the humble, the wicked from the righteous. But this is not simply a future event to be feared or longed for; it is the historical arrival of Jesus Christ, the Sun of righteousness. His coming is both judgment and salvation, a consuming fire for His enemies and a healing light for His people.
This passage is a hinge. It closes the Old Testament with a promise of fiery judgment and glorious deliverance, and it points directly to the New Testament realities fulfilled in Christ. The furnace of God’s wrath and the rising of the healing sun are two sides of the same coin: the advent of the Messiah. For those who fear God's name, this is the best news imaginable. For those who persist in arrogant wickedness, it is the end of the line. The triumph of the righteous is not a petty revenge, but a participation in the final, decisive victory of God over all that is evil.
Outline
- 1. The Consuming Fire of Judgment (v. 1)
- a. The Coming Day as a Furnace (v. 1a)
- b. The Arrogant and Wicked as Chaff (v. 1b)
- c. The Utter Destruction of the Wicked (v. 1c)
- 2. The Healing Light of Salvation (v. 2)
- a. The Promise to Those Who Fear God's Name (v. 2a)
- b. The Rising of the Sun of Righteousness (v. 2b)
- c. The Joyful Freedom of the Redeemed (v. 2c)
- 3. The Final Victory of the Saints (v. 3)
- a. The Saints Treading Down the Wicked (v. 3a)
- b. The Wicked Reduced to Ashes (v. 3b)
- c. The Appointed Day of God's Action (v. 3c)
The Great Day of Yahweh
1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them aflame,” says Yahweh of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”
For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace. The prophet opens with a summons to pay attention. "Behold" is a sharp poke in the ribs. Wake up. Look. Something is on the horizon. This is not just any day; it is the day. Throughout the prophets, the "day of the Lord" is a time of divine intervention, a day when God steps into history to settle accounts. Malachi describes this day as "burning like a furnace." This is not a cozy fireplace. A furnace is for refining metal or for utter consumption. The imagery is one of intense, inescapable, and purifying heat. This is the day when God’s patience with sin runs out, and His holiness is unleashed upon the world. This is not primarily about the final, end-of-the-world judgment, but rather about the coming of Christ in judgment upon apostate Israel in 70 A.D., which is a type and a foreshadowing of the final judgment.
and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff. Who is the fuel for this fire? Two groups are named, and they are really two descriptions of the same people. First, "the arrogant." This is the root sin. Pride is the native language of the fallen heart. It is the refusal to bow the knee, the stiff-necked insistence on being one's own god. Second, "every worker of wickedness." This is what arrogance does. It works wickedness. Sin is not a passive state; it is an activity. Notice the totality: "all" the arrogant and "every" worker. No one gets a pass. They will be like chaff, or stubble. Chaff is the light, worthless husk that is separated from the wheat. It is utterly flammable and good for nothing but to be burned. This is God's valuation of a life lived in proud rebellion.
and the day that is coming will set them aflame,” says Yahweh of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” The certainty of this judgment is underscored by the speaker: "says Yahweh of hosts." This is the Lord of the armies of heaven speaking. This is not a threat from a petty despot; it is a declaration from the sovereign ruler of the cosmos. The coming day will not just singe them; it will "set them aflame." The result is total annihilation. "Neither root nor branch" is a proverbial expression for complete destruction. If you leave the root, it can sprout again. If you leave a branch, there is still some sign of life. But this judgment is final. For the wicked, as wicked, there is no future. Their enterprise, their name, their rebellion, all of it will be utterly consumed.
2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”
But for you who fear My name. Here is the great pivot. The word "But" is one of the most beautiful words in Scripture. The furnace is not for everyone. There is a remnant, a people distinguished by one thing: they "fear My name." The fear of the Lord is not the cowering dread of a slave before a tyrant. It is the reverent awe, the loving submission, the worshipful obedience of a child before a holy and good Father. It is the beginning of wisdom. It is the central characteristic of the righteous. They take God seriously. They honor His name, which represents His character and authority.
the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. For this remnant, the coming day is not a furnace but a sunrise. And what a sun! It is the "sun of righteousness." This is a magnificent messianic title. Jesus Christ is this sun. He brings the righteousness that we lack. He is the light of the world, and His rising dispels the darkness of sin and ignorance. This sun rises "with healing in its wings." The "wings" of the sun are its rays, its beams. As the sun's rays spread across the land, they bring healing. Christ’s coming brings healing from the disease of sin. It is a spiritual, moral, and ultimately physical restoration. This is the gospel. The same event, the coming of Christ, that is a consuming fire for the proud is a healing sunrise for those who fear God.
and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. The result of this healing is exuberant, unrestrained joy. The image is of calves, cooped up in a dark stall all winter, being let out into a green pasture on a bright spring morning. They leap, they skip, they kick up their heels. This is not a picture of somber, grim-faced religion. This is the joy of liberation. This is what salvation feels like. It is freedom from the penalty and power of sin, freedom to delight in God. The Christian life is to be characterized by this kind of robust, joyful vitality.
3 “And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says Yahweh of hosts.
And you will tread down the wicked. This is not a call for personal vengeance. This is a promise of ultimate victory and vindication. The people of God will participate in Christ’s triumph. In the ancient world, conquerors would place their feet on the necks of their defeated enemies as a sign of total subjugation. Here, the victory is so complete that the righteous are not treading on necks, but on ashes. This is a picture of the church’s role in history. As the gospel advances, the kingdom of darkness is pushed back. The institutions, philosophies, and strongholds of wickedness are dismantled and turned to dust under the feet of the advancing church, which is the body of Christ.
for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet. The wicked, who were once arrogant and threatening, are now reduced to nothing. They are ashes. The fire has done its work. This is the final state of all rebellion against God. It has no substance, no permanence. It is a puff of smoke, a pile of ash. The righteous walk over it, not with triumphalist glee, but as a simple matter of fact. The victory is that decisive. Evil is not an eternal, competing principle with good. It is a parasite that, once dealt with by the fire of God's judgment, ceases to be.
on the day which I am preparing,” says Yahweh of hosts. Once again, the promise is underwritten by the highest authority: "says Yahweh of hosts." And He is not reacting to events; He is orchestrating them. This is a day that He is "preparing" or "making." History is not a random series of events. It is a story being written by a sovereign God, and it is moving toward this appointed day of reckoning and restoration. This gives the believer immense confidence. Our hope is not in our own strength, but in the God who prepares the day of victory. The sun has risen, the healing has begun, and the final triumph is as certain as the God who has promised it.