Malachi 4

Malachi 4:3

3. Andy shall tread down the wicked; &c.] The righteous shall triumph in the destruction of the ungodly, as conquerors trample on the carcasses of those that are slain in battle. Compare 2 Sam. xxii. 43; Mic. vii. 10; Zech. x. 5. W. Lowth.

Malachi 4:4

4. Remember ye the law of Moses &c.] Ye are not to expect any Prophets for the time to come, till the forerunner of the Messiah appears: so your chief care must be to attend to the instructions which Moses has given in his law, the most solemn part of which was delivered to him in an audible manner upon mount Horeb. Exod. xix. 9; Deut. iv. 10. This your lawgiver plainly speaks of the Messiah, and instructs you to expect his coming, and to obey his commands, Deut. xviii. 15. W. Lowth.

Malachi 4:5

5. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet] The same person who is called the “messenger” or forerunner of the Messiah, chap. iii. 1. It was the unanimous sense of the Jews, that “Elias should first come and restore all things,” Mark ix. 12; John i. 21. This they understood of the coming of Elias in person; see Ecclus.

Malachi 4:6

6. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, &c.] The passage may be translated, “He shall turn the heart of the fathers with the children,” &c.; that is, he shall do his part to cause a national reformation, to convert fathers and children, all together, from their evil practices, and restore a true sense of religion, which was then dwindled into form, and so remove “the curse,” the utter excision, denounced upon this land; namely, Judea. In Scripture he is said to do a thing, who does every thing proper and likely to effect it, though the effect be not produced. The real Elijah in Ahab’s days did no more; nor were his endeavours followed with success. Bp. Chandler.

The Messiah is now come, and the Jews would not know Him, but rejected Him, and despitefully used Him: for which their obstinacy, that “great and dreadful day of the Lord” is also come upon them, and He “hath smitten the earth,” that is, them and their land, with such a curse, so terrible a destruction, as makes good all that is here spoken, and shews that not one word of this prophecy is fallen to the ground. They now remain an ensample to all others, who shall despise or neglect, as they did, the offered means of grace. All the admonitions addressed to them, and all God’s methods for preparing them for the day of his coming here mentioned, equally concern us in respect of that other day of his coming typified by the former; and it will be necessary for us to apply them to our own concerns, and to make use of them for our benefit, without expecting another Elias, to forewarn and convert us. We have no promise of any such, and it would be to no purpose if we had. We have Moses and the Prophets; we have the admonitions of John the Baptist, and of Christ Himself: and we have the example of the Jews, who were punished for not hearkening to them: and if we will not hear and be warned by them, neither will we be persuaded though Elias or John the Baptist should rise from the dead, or Christ should come again in the flesh to convert us. Sufficient to induce us to prepare ourselves, or to leave us without excuse if we do not, are those admonitions of his, extending to all generations, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come;” and again, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh,” Matt. xxiv. 42. 44. Dr. Pocock.

The following are the Chapters from Malachi appointed for Proper Lessons, or as the portion of Scripture for an Epistle, on Holydays:

CHAP. III. ver. 1—5…Purification …For the Epistle, | CHAP. III…St. John Baptist…Morning.

CHAP. IV…St. John Baptist…Evening. THE END OF THE PROPHETS.