Between Law and Judgment

Malachi 4:1 (ESV) “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

What does the word "for" refer to? If we turn back the page to Malachi 3:15, where they considered serving the Lord to be of no profit since the wicked evildoers seem to prosper. 

Malachi 3:15 (ESV) And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’ ”

But the prophet is clear in this chapter that though judgment is not yet apparent, it does not mean it will not soon be seen. This is one of the challenges of faith for every generation. How can the wicked continue to prosper if God is just and good? The reason is both simple and hard to hear: no one deserves God's grace; judgment belongs to all of us. Yet in mercy, God spares sinners every moment of every day, giving them a chance to repent. It is fitting that the last chapter of the Old Testament draws this out. The end of the Old Testament is commensurate with that of the New Testament - judgment will come, and when it does, it is final. "Neither root nor branch" will be left. 

In the next verse, the prophet returns to those who repent and fear the Lord. 

Malachi 4:2–3 (ESV) But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

Here is a picture of Messiah's work. First, he will heal. And that healing will produce both exuberance and energy in those who belong to him. Moreover, they will not simply be healed and empowered; they themselves will overcome their enemies through the Messiah's final judgment. He will set them ablaze (verse 1), and the righteous will tread over them. 

What is our responsibility as we wait?

Malachi 4:4 (ESV) “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

Malachi calls on Israel to remember the law, the statutes, and rules given through His servant Moses. Three words that mean subtly different things. The Law refers to the moral and religious principles; the statutes are the ceremonial regulations; and the judgments refer to how Israel was to mediate justice within their community. They were to come back to His first offering to them as a people. Before the land, before the kings, before the prosperity and establishment of their nation, Israel was given God's Word. All of life flows from it. Today, we still live on every word. 

We stand in the middle of the Law and Judgment of God. Both are His sovereign acts in relating to mankind. He shows us the way through the law and warns of what He will do to those who break it. 

The problem? We all fail. We need healing from the Lord God. We need something more; we need a substitution for sins. The prophet Malachi passionately called God's people back to the very law they were NEVER able to obey. His final chapter turns our hearts toward the hope that is only found in Christ. In Christ, the fully man, fully God, and Son of God, we have a perfect solution to the problem of law, judgment, and sin. We have one who took them upon Himself for us. 

And in His merciful grace, we have access to the presence of God.