Commentary - Malachi 4:4

Bird's-eye view

As the Old Testament canon draws to a close, the prophet Malachi delivers a final, weighty charge from the Lord. This is not a new revelation, but a command to return to the foundations. After a series of disputations that have exposed Israel's covenantal unfaithfulness, their cheap worship, and their cynical hearts, God's concluding word is not a sentimental platitude but a summons to objective truth. He points them backward so they might be prepared for what is coming forward. The command to "Remember the law of Moses" is a call to anchor themselves in the concrete, historical revelation given at Horeb. This law, encompassing both broad statutes and specific judgments, was not a temporary set of suggestions but the very constitution of their life with God. It defined holiness, justice, and mercy. To forget this law was to forget who they were and who God was. This verse serves as the necessary anchor for the prophecy that immediately follows, the coming of Elijah before the great and awesome day of the Lord. Without the law, they would have no categories to understand the Messiah or His forerunner; they would have no grid for recognizing sin, righteousness, or judgment.

In essence, God is telling His people that the way forward into the new covenant realities is not by discarding the old, but by understanding it rightly. The law of Moses, in all its particularity, was the schoolmaster that revealed the character of God and the sinfulness of man, thus making the gospel a necessary and glorious solution. This final injunction of the Old Testament is therefore a guard against antinomianism on the one hand and legalism on the other. We are to remember the law not as a means of self-salvation, but as the enduring standard of righteousness that Christ would perfectly fulfill and write on the hearts of His people.

Outline

Context In Malachi

Malachi 4:4 comes at the very end of the prophetic book and, in the Christian ordering of the canon, at the end of the entire Old Testament. The book has been a series of six covenant lawsuits or "disputations" where God confronts a post-exilic Israel that has grown weary, cynical, and disobedient. They are going through the motions of religion, but their hearts are far from God. They offer polluted sacrifices (Mal 1:6-14), their priests are corrupt (Mal 2:1-9), they are unfaithful in their marriages (Mal 2:10-16), and they question God's justice (Mal 2:17). After promising the coming of the Messenger of the Covenant who will purify His people like a refiner's fire (Mal 3:1-5), and calling them to repent of robbing Him in their tithes (Mal 3:6-12), God sets a great contrast. He distinguishes between the arrogant who prosper and the righteous who fear His name (Mal 3:13-18). This leads to the final chapter, which describes the coming day of the Lord as a day of fiery judgment for the wicked and healing for the righteous (Mal 4:1-3). It is in this immediate context, as the final word before the prophecy of Elijah's coming (Mal 4:5-6), that God gives this command. It is the necessary preparation for the dawning of the new era. To be ready for the Christ, they must be grounded in the Torah.

Key Issues

The Hinge of Redemptive History

This verse, together with the two that follow, functions as the great hinge upon which the Old Testament closes and the New Testament opens. It is a profound summary of the entire Old Covenant economy. Notice the two great representative figures mentioned here and in the next verse: Moses and Elijah. The Law and the Prophets. And who do we see with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration? Moses and Elijah. The law and the prophets find their fulfillment, their telos, in Christ.

So, as the curtain falls on the Old Testament, God gives His people their marching orders for the four hundred years of prophetic silence that are to follow. What are they to do? They are to immerse themselves in the Scriptures they have. They are to remember. The command is not to innovate, not to speculate, not to generate new religious experiences. The command is to be faithful stewards of the revelation already given. The path to recognizing the Messiah when He came was not going to be through mystical visions or political maneuvering, but through a deep and abiding familiarity with the law given to Moses. This is a permanent principle. Faithfulness in any era is always tied to a faithful remembrance and application of God's revealed Word.

Verse by Verse Commentary

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

Remember the law of Moses My servant... The first word is the key: Remember. In Scripture, remembering is not a passive mental exercise. It is not simply recalling information. To remember is to act upon what is known, to bring it from the back of your mind to the forefront of your actions. It is a covenantal action. When God "remembers" His covenant, He acts in history to save His people. When Israel is commanded to "remember" the law, they are being commanded to re-center their entire existence upon it. The object of this remembrance is "the law of Moses." Notice the personal connection. It is not an abstract legal code; it is the law given through a specific man, whom God calls "My servant." This identifies Moses as God's authorized agent. To obey this law is to obey the God who sent the servant.

even the statutes and judgments... This phrase clarifies what "the law" entails. It is not just the Ten Commandments, though it certainly includes them. It is the whole body of legislation. Statutes (chuqqim) often refers to the positive commands, the established ordinances that regulate worship and community life. Judgments (mishpatim) typically refers to the case law, the application of God's principles of justice to specific situations. The two together indicate the comprehensive nature of the Torah. It provides both the overarching principles and the practical, on-the-ground applications. God is concerned with both our worship and our work, our relationship with Him and our relationships with our neighbors. Malachi is telling the people that they cannot pick and choose. They must remember the whole counsel of God given through Moses.

which I commanded him in Horeb... This anchors the law in a specific time and place. Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. This is where God descended in fire and glory, where the covenant with Israel was formally ratified. By pointing back to Horeb, God is reminding them of the awesome authority and divine origin of this law. This was not Moses's good idea. These were not the suggestions of a wise political theorist. These were the direct commands of Yahweh, the Creator of heaven and earth, delivered in the context of a terrifying and glorious theophany. To forget the law is to forget the thunder and lightning of Sinai. It is to domesticate the holy God who gave it.

for all Israel. This last phrase establishes the scope of the law's authority. It was not just for the priests or the leaders. It was not just for a particular tribe or a pious elite. It was the constitution for all Israel. Every man, woman, and child was under its authority and was to benefit from its wisdom. It was the glue that held the nation together as a people belonging to God. This command at the end of the Old Testament reaffirms the corporate nature of the covenant. Their faithfulness was a shared responsibility, and their unfaithfulness, as the book of Malachi has shown, was a shared failure. The solution, therefore, must also be corporate: a return, all together, to the law of God.

Application

The command to "remember the law of Moses" is as relevant for the Christian today as it was for the Jews awaiting their Messiah. We do not remember it in the same way, of course. We are not under the Mosaic covenant as a legal system that can justify us. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe. But Christ did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. The law, therefore, still has a great deal to teach us.

First, we remember the law to understand the character of God. The statutes and judgments reveal what God loves and what He hates. They show us His holiness, His justice, His mercy, and His wisdom. To neglect the Old Testament law is to neglect a primary source of revelation about the God we claim to worship.

Second, we remember the law to understand our sin and our need for a Savior. The law is the perfect mirror. It shows us our failure. It diagnoses our disease. When we read the demands for perfect obedience, we are driven out of ourselves and our own efforts and are forced to cling to Christ, who is our only righteousness. The law, rightly understood, is a great evangelist.

Finally, we remember the law as a guide for our sanctification. Having been saved by grace, we now delight in the law of God in our inner being. The moral principles undergirding the statutes and judgments of Israel are not arbitrary. They reflect the grain of the universe. They teach us how to love God and how to love our neighbor. As the people of God, indwelt by His Spirit, we are to look to His whole Word, including the law of Moses, to learn how to live lives that are pleasing to Him. We are not to forget Horeb, but rather to see it as the foundation upon which the much greater glory of Mount Zion is built.