Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Malachi 4:2

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

2. the Sun of righteousness ] The capital letter with which “Sun” is printed in A.V. is of the nature of a comment. It suggests at once to the reader the personal and Messianic reference of the word. But it is better to print “sun” with R.V.; not as denying or obscuring the ultimate and designed reference to Christ, but as exhibiting it in a manner more agreeable to the genius of Old Testament prophecy and to the requirements of the context. The key-thought of this whole paragraph is righteousness. God’s righteousness has been proudly and defiantly called in question by “the wicked”: it has been humbly trusted in and waited for by “the righteous” ( Mal 3:18). The day of its manifestation is at hand. That discriminating day shall award to each their righteous recompense. To the wicked it shall come as a burning furnace to consume them: upon the righteous it shall dawn as a day of which the very sun that makes it is righteousness. Just as in the material world the shadows and distortions and illusions of night vanish before the light of the rising sun, which shows all things as they really are, so in the moral world the sun of righteousness shall put to flight the difficulties and perplexities, the inequalities and anomalies, which have been the trial of the faithful and the weapon of the scoffer. No place for them shall be found, when the sun of righteousness shall dawn from new heavens upon a new earth, “wherein dwelleth righteousness”.

But this explanation of the phrase only prepares the way for the personal and Messianic reference. To every Jew the thought of God Himself as a Sun was familiar (Psa 84:11 [Hebrews 12 ]; Isa 60:19). His religion taught him to look for deliverance and blessing, not from the diffusion of a quality or attribute, but from the manifestation of a Personal God. And it no less plainly taught him that that manifestation would be consummated in “the righteous Branch” who should “execute judgment and justice in the land” (Jer 23:5). For us the Sun of righteousness is none other than “Jesus Christ, the righteous” (1Jn 2:1), “the Lord, the righteous Judge, who shall give at that day a crown of righteousness unto all them that love His appearing” (2Ti 4:8).

with healing in his wings ] Comp. “the wings of the morning”, Psa 139:9. In both cases the rising of the sun is compared, not to the use of the wings in flight, but to lifting them up, or spreading them out. In the Psalm the suddenness and rapidity with which this is done, when the sun “flares up from behind the mountain-wall of Moab,” is the point of comparison (Comp. “the morning spread upon the mountains,” Joe 2:2; and the swift travelling of the light across the landscape in our own country, when the sun emerges from a cloud on a windy day). Here the healing virtue of the outstretched wings is in view. “A pleasant”, and a wholesome, “thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Ecc 11:7.

In Syria “the Sun god was the central object of worship. It was here too that his special symbol was the solar disk with wings issuing from either side to denote his omnipresent energy. The winged solar disk may have been originally of Babylonian invention, but it passed at an early time to the other Semitic populations of the East. We find it above the figure of a king on a monolith from Birejik now in the British Museum, and it is specially characteristic of the monuments of the Hittites.” Prof. Sayce, Annual Address (1889) to the Victoria Institute on the Cuneiform Inscriptions at Tel El-Amarna, p. 2.

grow up ] Rather gambol, R.V. , LXX. Comp. Jer 1:11, “ye are wanton”, R.V.

calves of the stall ] , LXX.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

But (And) unto you, who fear My Name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise – It is said of God Psa 84:11, The Lord God is a sun and a shield, and Isa 60:19-20, The Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory; thy sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light; and Zacharias, speaking of the office of John the Baptist in the words of Malachi, thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His way, speaks of Luk 1:76, Luk 1:78-79. the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness. He who is often called Lord and God, and Angel and Captain of the Lords host, and Christ and priest and Word and Wisdom of God and Image, is now called the Sun of Righteousness. He, the Father promises, will arise, not to all, but to those only who fear His Name, giving them the light of the Sun of Righteousness, as the reward of their fear toward Him. This is God the Word Who saith, I am the Light of the world, Who was the Light of every one who cometh into the world. Primarily, Malachi speaks of our Lords second Coming, when Heb 9:28. to them that look for Him shall He appear, a second time unto salvation.

For as, in so many places (As Psa 1:6; Psa 2:12; Psa 3:7-8; Psa 5:10-12; Psa 6:8-10; Psa 7:16-17; Psa 9:17-20; Psa 10:16-18; Psa 11:6-7; Psa 17:13-15; Psa 20:8; Psa 26:9-12; Psa 31:23; Psa 32:10-11; Psa 34:21-22; Psa 35:26-28; Psa 36:10-12; Psa 37:38-40; Psa 40:15-17; Psa 50:22-23; Psa 52:5-9; Psa 55:22-23; Psa 58:10-11; Psa 63:10-11; Psa 64:9-10; Psa 73:27-28; Psa 104:33-35; Psa 112:9-10; Psa 126:5; Psa 149:9.) the Old Testament exhibits the opposite lots of the righteous and the wicked, so here the prophet speaks of the Day of Judgment, in reference to the two opposite classes, of which he had before spoken, the proud and evil doers, and the fearers of God. The title, the Sun of Righteousness, belongs to both comings , in the first, lie diffused rays of righteousness, whereby He justified and daily justifies any sinners whatever, who will look to Him, i. e., believe in Him and obey Him, as the sun imparts light; joy and life to all who turn toward it. In the second, the righteousness which He gave, lie will own and exhibit, cleared from all the misjudgment of the world, before men and Angels. Yet more, healing is, throughout Holy Scripture, used of the removal of sickness or curing of wounds, in the individual or state or Church, and, as to the individual, bodily or spiritual.

So David thanks God, first for the forgiveness Psa 103:3-5, Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; then for healing of his soul, Who healeth all thy diseases; then for salvation, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; then for the crown laid up for him, Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies; then, with the abiding sustenance and satisfying joy, Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things. Healing then primarily belongs to thin life, in which we are still encompassed with infirmities, and even His elect and His saints have still, whereof to be healed. The full then and complete healing of the soul, the integrity of all its powers will be in the life to come. There, will be understanding without error, memory without forgetfulness, thought without distraction, love without simulation, sensation without offence, satisfying without satiety, universal health without sickness. For through Adams sin the soul was wounded in understanding, through obscurity and ignorance; in will, through the leaning to perishing goods; as concupiscent, through infirmity and manifold concupiscence. In heaven Christ will heal all these, giving to the understanding light and knowledge; to the will, constancy in good; to the desire, that it should desire nothing but what is right and good. Then too the healing of the seal will be the light of glory, the vision and fruition of God, and the glorious endowments consequent thereon, overstreaming all the powers of the soul and therefrom to the body. God has made the soul of a nature so mighty, that from its most full beatitude, which at the end of time is promised to the saints, there shall overflow to the inferior nature, the body, not bliss, which belongs to the soul as intelligent and capable of fruition, but the fullness of health that is, the vigorousness of incorruption.

And ye shall go forth – , as from a prison-house, from the miseries of this lifeless life, and grow up, or perhaps more probably, bound as the animal, which has been confined, exults in its regained freedom, itself full of life and exuberance of delight. So the Psalmist Psa 149:5, The saints shall exult in glory. And our Lord uses the like word , as to the way, with which they should greet persecution to the utmost, for His Names sake. Swiftness of motion is one of the endowments of the spiritual body, after the resurrection; as the angels, to whom the righteous shall be like, Luk 20:36, Eze 1:14 ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mal 4:2

Shall the Sun of Righteousness arise.

Sun-rising

There is only one sun in our system: and there is one Mediator between God and man. The vastness of the sun is surprising, but Jesus is the Lord of all. His greatness is unsearchable. The beauty and glory of the sun are such that we cannot wonder at its being made the subject of adoration. But He is fairer than the children of men. And all the angels of God worship Him. Consider the inestimable usefulness of this luminary. How he enlightens, warms, fructifies, adorns, blesses. What changes does he produce in garden, wood, and meadow! The sun that ripened Isaacs corn ripens ours, and though he has shone for so many ages, he is undiminished, and as all-sufficient as ever. What an image of Him who is the same yesterday, today, and for ever! He that seeth the Sun of Righteousness, and believeth on Jesus, hath everlasting life. The rising of the sun is the finest spectacle in the creation. But when and how does the Sun of Righteousness arise? His coming was announced immediately after the Fall. His approach obscurely appeared in the types and services of the ceremonial law. In the clearer discoveries of the prophets, the morning was beginning to spread upon the mountains. At length He actually arose–God sent forth His Son. He rises in the dispensation of the Gospel–in spiritual illumination–in renewed manifestations–in ordinances. But how will He arise in the irradiations of heaven!–in the morning of immortality; making a day to be sullied with no cloud, and followed with no evening shade! Then their sun shall no more go down. (William Jay.)

The Sun of Righteousness

As for the godly, He promises to send Christ unto them, bringing illumination, righteousness, healing, protection, and increase of grace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

1. An infallible character of the truly godly is their reverence and holy fear (presumption being very contrary unto piety), and that not only of Gods justice and terrible judgments, which the wicked may tremble at, but also of His name and whatsoever He reveals Himself by; His word being enough to make them tremble, and His goodness to make them fear.

2. Christ is the substance of the encouragement of the godly, as being unto His Church and children in a super-excellent manner, what the sun is to this inferior world, in enlightening all their darkness, illuminating all the inferior lights that shine in any measure, making all hid things patent, rejoicing, warning, cherishing, and ripening all fruits. Unto you that fear My name, shall the sun arise.

3. Not only is every man by nature and without Christ, in a dark, disconsolate condition till He come to them, but His manifestation of Himself under the law was far inferior to that under the Gospel, which is far more clear, glorious, and comfortable, than the legal shadows were: for where Christ comes, the sun ariseth after a dark night; and this especially relates to His incarnation, which is sunlight in comparison of the Old Testament, which had but, as it were, moonlight.

4. That which makes Christ especially comfortable to the godly is, that He brings glorious righteousness to them, whereby they who durst not appear before God, become glorious and beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. He is the Sun of Righteousness–glorious righteousness–to them.

5. As these who get good of Christ will have many sores, and be made to feel the deadly wounds and diseases which every one by nature hath; so Christ is the only Physician to cure such sores, and deliver His people from all sickness of sin and misery. He arises with healing. (George Hutcheson.)

The Sun of Righteousness

From the most glorious creature, the sun, He expresses the most glorious Creator, Christ Jesus, taking occasion to help our understandings in grace by natural things, and teaching us thereby to make a double use of the creatures, corporal and spiritual. Christ is compared to the sun–

1. Because, as all light was gathered into the body of the sun, and from it derived to us, so it pleased God that in Him should the fulness of all excellency dwell.

2. As there is but one sun, so there is but one Sun of Righteousness.

3. As the sun is above the firmament, so Christ is exalted up on high, to convey His graces and virtues to all His creatures here below.

4. As the sun works largely in all things here below, so doth Christ.

5. As the sun is the fountain of light, and the eye of the world, so Christ is the fountain of all spiritual light.

6. As the sun directeth us whither to go and which way, so doth Christ teach us to go to heaven, and by what means; what duties to perform, what things to avoid, and what things to bear.

7. As the sun is pleasant, and darkness is terrible, so Christ is comfortable; for He makes all at peace where He comes; and He sends the Spirit the Comforter.

8. By the beams of the sun is conveyed influence to make things grow, and to distinguish between times and seasons. Thus Christ, by His power, makes all things cheerful, for He quickens the dead and dark soul.

9. The sun works these effects not by coming down to us, but by influence.

10. As the sun doth work freely, drawing up vapours to dissolve them into rain upon the earth, so doth Christ. He freely draws up our hearts to heaven.

11. As the sun shines upon all, but doth not heat all, so Christ is offered to all.

12. As the sun quickens and puts life into dead creatures, so shall Christ, by His power, quicken our dead bodies, and raise them up again. How shall we know whether Christ be to us a sun or not? If we find that we feel the heat and comfort of a Christian, it is a sign that Christ hath effectually shined on us. If Christ have shined upon any effectually, they will walk comely, as children of the light. Uses of this doctrine–

(1) We should pity their estate that are still in darkness.

(2) We should repair to Him, and conceive of Him as one having excellences suitable to our wants.

The text describes this Sun as with healing in His wings, or beams. In these beams there is a healing nature. Naturally, we are all sick and wounded. We should take notice of our diseases in time, and go to the healing God. Christ hath a medicine of His own, able to cure any disease, though never so desperate, any person, though never so sick. Then why are we not healed? What means this that we are subject to these infirmities of ours? Some of Christs works are all at once perfected, and some by degrees, by little and little. The text also promises, Ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. You shall leap forth. Both expressions signify a cheerful moving. We need to grow up. What are means thereunto?

1. Purge and cleanse the soul of weakening matter. Practise the duty of repentance daily.

2. Come at good food. Digest comfortable truths.

3. Use exercise of holy duties.

Take heed not to lightly esteem Gods ordinance; but in reverence use all means for the strengthening of our faith; by the Word, sacraments, and prayer. How shall we know whether we are grown? If we relish the food of our souls, the Word of God; are able to bear great burdens of the infirmities of our brethren; able, like Samson, to break the green cords of pleasure and profits. Our growth in grace is seen in our Performance of duties: if they be strongly, readily, and cheerfully performed. Text says, Ye shall tread down the wicked. While the Jews obeyed God, they were a terror to the whole earth. The Church treadeth, etc., in regard of true judgment and discerning of the estates of the wicked. The Church tramples on all things that rule wicked men. The promise of the text is finally accomplished at the day of judgment. (R. Sibbes.)

Sunrise

I. Who is this Sun of Righteousness?

1. Jesus Christ, who is spoken of as a light to lighten the Gentiles.

2. Light, a frequent Scrip ture symbol. The sun possesses some excellent properties above other luminaries.

3. The sun possesses the property of communicating light to all the other heavenly bodies. All men are indebted to the light of the world for everything that is good. Good men are called lights of the world. The Sun of Righteousness is the great source of light and heat to the soul.

4. Similar effects are produced on the moral world on the rising of the Sun of Righteousness, as are produced on the face of the earth by the rising of the natural sun. Darkness is dispersed, and mists and vapour give way before his powerful rays. When Christ, the true light, shines, moral darkness is dissipated, and in proportion as the true light is received, superstition, error, and ignorance die away.

II. When may this Sun of Righteousness be said to arise?

1. When the prophet says shall arise, we are not to infer that He had never arisen before, but that a more abundant outbeaming of His light should be reflected upon the faithful.

2. In the fulness of time, God sent forth His Son.

3. He arose from the dead.

4. He may be said to arise when He visits any place by His Gospel.

5. When He visits the souls of the children of men by His Spirit.

III. The manner in which He is said to arise. With healing in His wings.

1. Only upon those who fear the Lord: by penitents, and by His own children.

2. Penitents fear God, and seek His face. They shall be made whole, and saved from the guilt and power of sin.

3. The Lords children serve Him with reverence and godly fear, and they too shall be saved from the pollution and indwelling of sin. (B. Bailey.)

The Sun of Righteousness

Nature is replete with types, shadows, or symbols of spiritual things. Our Lord is Himself called the Sun of Righteousness, because, in many respects, He bears the same relation to the moral universe which the sun sustains to the solar system. In this image, or symbol, there is a depth of meaning which does not at once strike the mind; and which, from age to age, continually deepens and expands, as science reveals more and more the intrinsic grandeur and glory of the sun. Plato says, Light is the shadow of God. Scripture says, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. An apostle says, God is love. But yet is the brightness of this light and love so veiled and obscured to mortal vision that blessing, not blasting, everywhere follows in the track of their influence. The more we study the symbolism of Scripture the more are we lost in admiration of its richness, its fulness, its grandeur, and its beauty.

1. The sun is the central body of our system, by whose attractive influence all the planetary worlds are held in their orbits, and so kept from wandering into the outer darkness of infinite space. By Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, all worlds are kept in society with God, the great central light of the universe. For the Hebrew mind, this little earth of ours was the universe, around which the sun, moon, and stars revolved as the appendages and ornaments of its beauty.

2. The sun is the life of the natural world. Blot out the great luminary and all the beautiful forms of nature, both in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, would sink into one mass of universal decay and death The Sun of Righteousness is the life of the spiritual world. He lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

3. The sun is the only self-luminous body in our system; from which all others derive their light of life. So it is a symbol of Him who is the light of the world, the moral world. It is given to Christ, and to Christ alone, to have light in Himself.

4. The natural sun is, like the Sun of Righteousness, limited in the beneficent effects of its influence. It is often made an objection to the religion of Jesus, that it does not save all men. The same objection might be urged against the natural sun. Behold the arid wastes and barren rocks, on which its light-giving rays fall in vain. So the Sun of Righteousness shines in vain upon all whose sins have rendered their hearts more than stony hard. But for all this He is the life-giving power of the moral world.

5. The Sun of Righteousness is, like the natural sun, the source, or rather the occasion, of many incidental evils. The natural sun, for example, in acting on the corruptions of the earth, often breeds those noxious vapours, or effluvia, which spread pestilence in the air we breathe. But is this the fault of the sun, or of the corruptions on which it acts? It is only in relation to Christ that men blame the physician for the disease He came to cure, and for the evil and malignant passions He came to eradicate or subdue.

6. For many weary, countless ages men sought an answer to this question: What is the foundation of the earth? After all their searching, it was discovered that the earth rested on nothing: it was suspended from the sun. Men have been seeking the foundation of society, but the everlasting, foolish search is all in vain, for the foundation of the moral world is nowhere. It is suspended from above. The Sun of Righteousness is its only point of support and rest. All the planetary worlds are like a magnificent chandelier, suspended from the sun; so are all social states, nay, all moral worlds, upheld and sustained by the Sun of Righteousness.

7. The sun is, by virtue of its transforming power, a magnificent type or symbol of Christ. The Divine power of Christ, working silently and unseen through all the ages, is fitly symbolised only by those stupendous agencies which, with such inconceivable grandeur, are ever at work on the magnificent theatre of the material universe.

(1) It is no task for suns to shine. And yet, by the pervasive force of the suns rays, all the mighty changes of the earth are wrought, and all the wondrous harmonies produced.

(2) The suns rays are indeed His ministering angels, sent forth to minister to all things on earth.

(3) Nor is the solid globe itself exempt from the transforming power of the suns rays. All the stupendous coal strata of the globe are but so many entombed vegetable kingdoms of the past, all of which were reared and ruled by the mighty sun. It is not without significance that the great Reformer, or rather the great Trans former, of the moral world is called the Sun of Righteousness.

8. The power of the sun, by which all natural things are progressively developed, symbolises the corresponding power or influence of Christ in the development and progress of the moral world. The progress of Christianity is the progress of man. All real progress has been confined to Christian nations.

9. The Sun of Righteousness, like the natural sun, works silently, but efficiently, in the depths of His dominion, and acts on the secret springs or principles of its inner life. And a glance at the past is sufficient to inspire us with hope for the future. The kingdom of Christ, though once the least of all seeds, is now the greatest of all trees. Having its roots in faith, its vital principle is love, its blossoms are immortal hopes, and its fruit eternal life. (R. Bledsoe.)

The rising of the Sun of Righteousness

I. The persons to whom the promise is made. Those that fear the name of the Lord. By the name of God is meant the character of God. We have, in ourselves, no knowledge of the nature and character of God, and therefore cannot fear His name until He send forth the Spirit of truth into our hearts, to lead us into all truth. All the notions which we form of Him, before the Spirit of truth is in us, are as contrary to His true character as darkness is to light. While we are in this state of blindness we can have no real fear of God according to His Word. The true fear springs up with faith, and arises chiefly from the soul believing some part of Gods Word, which the Holy Spirit carries home to the sinners conscience to awaken him. This fear will be marked by a growing desire to know the true character of God. And this is not a feeling which passes away. The text does not speak of those that have feared the name of God, but of those that do fear it, i.e., continue to do so. It is not a passing fright, but a holy abiding fear. The marks of it are an abiding sense of sin, a desire to be taught of God, by searching the Word of God in order to know His name, or true character, and by praying for the teaching of the Spirit of truth.

II. The promise itself. The Sun of Righteousness shall arise upon them with healing in His wings. Jesus Christ is to the soul what the natural sun is to the earth. The sun gives light and warmth to the earth, by which its various fruits are brought forth and ripened. Jesus is especially the Sun of Righteousness, as being the fountain of all righteousness; of that perfect righteousness by which believers are testified in the sight of God. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness in His own person when manifest in the flesh, and was perfectly obedient to the will of God, even unto death. This perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed, or reckoned to believers, through faith, as if they had entirely fulfilled it themselves; and thus they are justified or made righteous in the sight of God. Jesus is also the fountain of the righteousness of sanctification. The mode in which the Sun of Righteousness arises upon the soul of His people is, by pouring into them more and more of the light of the Holy Spirit strengthening their faith, and enabling them to see that Christ, with all His blessings, and all His promises, is theirs. He thus also rises with healing in His wings, to heal the broken hearts of His people.

III. The happy effect of the fulfilment of the promises. They shall grow up, as calves in the stall. The believer is enabled to go forth with peace and joy on his way to Zion. The blessed effect will be manifested both by the peace and shed into the believers soul, and by his growth in holiness. The rising of the Son of Righteousness will also greatly promote the believers growth in grace. The growth in size of calves, when fed in the stall, is very great; so shall the growth of believers be great. Apply subject to ourselves. Are there not too many amongst you who are entirely strangers to the fear of the name or character of God? Perhaps you have hitherto been brought only to fear God, and you walk in dark ness. You should apply to yourselves this text: let the Sun of Righteousness rise on your souls with healing in His wings. If He rises on your soul you will have peace with God. (H. Gipps, LL. D.)

The Sun of Righteousness

This passage seems to refer principally to the second coming of our Lord; the text itself may be safely understood of His first coming in the flesh. It points out, primarily at least, the judgments to be brought upon the unbelieving and impenitent Jews.

I. The coming of Christ, as the Sun of Righteousness rising upon the world. The most glorious object in creation is the fittest to represent the King of Glory. The sun is the great source of heat and life and light; of everything that is beautiful and beneficial. The Sun of Righteous ness here is the Lord and Saviour Christ; the Lord and giver of life to His servants: a never-failing source of spiritual health and comfort to His servants. Whatever the sun is in the material world, that, and much more, in a spiritual sense, is the Lord to His Church. Sun of Righteousness may mean that He is perfectly just and righteous in Himself, and therefore discovers and rebukes sin, brings to light the hidden things of darkness and vice, and affords in Him self a perfect example of light and virtue, by which others may see and avoid their errors and failings. Or it may mean that, by His own righteousness, He justifies many. This Sun arose when our Lord came into the world. He again rose in His resurrection. He will again rise when He comes in glory. And He may be said to rise upon each of us when by faith we receive Him into our souls.

II. The salvation which the Sun of Righteousness brings with him. With healing in His wings. The Son of God came to earth as a Saviour. This character He maintained through the course of His ministry upon earth, during which He went about doing good. How did this Sun of Righteousness bring healing in His wings (or, as we should rather say, in His beams and rays) at His rising?

1. The most natural interpretation is, of the cures which He wrought upon the bodies of men.

2. The great act of salvation was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. By His stripes we are healed. This healing procured the pardon of our sins, and the grace of the Spirit of God, to enable us to fulfil the conditions required of us. Only by joining these two together can the salvation be regarded as complete. Notice how great is His mercy in administering comfort to the penitent.

III. The qualifications required of those to whom the Son of God will prove a Saviour. You that fear My name. Religious fear of God is necessary to qualify a man to receive the healing grace of Christ. To the soul which has no fear Christ brings no healing. This is the state of the true Christian; in which his terrors are never so great as to extinguish his hopes, and his hopes never prevail so much as to make him confident and secure. (T. Bowdler, A. M.)

Sun of Righteousness

I. Illustrate the comparison of our Lord Jesus Christ to a sun.

1. His unapproachable pre-eminence.

2. His benign influence.

3. His relation to the whole world.

II. Describe His restorative or remedial efficacy. In the world; in a country; in an individual.

III. Consider the persons to whom His efficacy is confined. Who are they? And why are they the sole recipients of the promised blessing? Consider Christ–as the centre of the spiritual world; as the source of light; as the source of heat; as the object of attraction. (O. Brooks.)

Parallel between Christ and the sun

A parallel is drawn between Jesus Christ and the natural sun.

1. Before the rising of the natural sun there is darkness; until Jesus Christ arise or is apprehended there is darkness–moral and spiritual darkness. Look to the world before the coming of Christ: the heathen; the multitudes around us; any one of the unconverted; the place of outer darkness.

2. Jesus Christ, as the natural sun does, arose gradually.

(1) He arose in the Scriptures, through the prophecies and promises, the types and sacrifices, until, in the development of Gods providence, He appeared above the horizon.

(2) He arose, in His own personal history, in the completion of His work, in His resurrection, in His ascension, in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

(3) He rises in the souls of His people, on earth, in heaven, for ever.

3. Jesus Christ, like the natural sun, reveals or is the source of light.

(1) He reveals God, perfections, purposes, past, future, creation, providence.

(2) He reveals man, law, way of salvation, Gospel.

(3) All time; eternity; the invisible worlds, and the paths to them.

4. Jesus Christ, like the natural sun, is the centre of a system. Of the material universe; and the moral and spiritual universe. Centre and sum of revealed truth of the Church.

5. Jesus Christ, like the natural sun, has His image reflected, both in the material and in the moral universe.

6. Is the source of enjoyment. He has all blessing; and admits to His own joy.

7. Is often concealed by clouds.

(1) By a cloud of guilt on the conscience.

(2) By a cloud of corruptions.

(3) By a cloud of misrepresentations.

8. He dispenses His influence freely. Without money and without price.

9. He hastens the process of decay and corruption. A stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. (James Stewart.)

The Messiah as the Sun of Righteousness

That the promised Messiah should be termed the Sun of Righteousness may appear characteristic and appropriate. But what are we to understand by a sun with wings? What by those wings being endowed with the powers of healing? what mean we when we term the Messiah Sun of Righteousness, but that we, being by nature the heirs of Gods curse, are through Christ reconciled to Him whom we had offended? what mean we by the wings of the sun? In Egypt a sun with wings was sculptured upon the gateways and monuments. Some regard the sign with a reference to the rays or beams of the luminous body itself. Others interpret it as representing that overhanging canopy of the heavens which bends, like a protecting arch above this lower globe of ours, brooding over it, so to speak, and sheltering it. Others explain the wings as betokening the swiftness with which the light of the sun traverses illimitable space. Others appropriate the term to the cooling breezes which in the East accompany the early sunrise. Those who have experienced the glare and weariness of an Eastern day may be better qualified than most of us to appreciate those first hours of cool and refreshing daylight which are appropriated to health ful exercise and the enjoyment of natures loveliness. The period at which we celebrate the rising of the predicted Sun cannot convey real and fitting gladness to the hearts of those who do not entertain this chastened and holy fear of Gods name. The verse preceding the text is full of woe and alarm for them that despise His loving-kindness and disobey His laws. Apt as is the image of the suns rising and progress through the heavens, to represent the rising of the Sun of Righteousness and His increasing influences as He goes on His way rejoicing, it is when He has reached His height that the metaphor fails us altogether. Slowly and surely the material orb sinks at last in the darkness. Herein we are taught the infinite inferiority of the sign to that which is signified thereby. (T. Ainger, M. A.)

The Sun of Righteousness

Why was it that God permitted His ancient people to be overwhelmed with such unheard of calamities? We have reason to believe it was simply because they rejected Christ, and the offers of mercy and salvation through Him. If God, however, take vengeance on the wicked, He will be favourable to the righteous, and spare them in the great day, as a father spareth his own son that serveth him.

I. The Sun of Righteousness. There is but one Sun from whom proceeds righteousness, and that must be the Son of God. As Christ is the source of all spiritual life and light, so by His sufferings and death He hath procured or merited righteous ness. He is therefore the believers justifying righteousness.

II. His rising on Gods people. Christs face shines on His people and disperses their sorrows, but His face is dark towards sinners, for He is angry with the wicked every day. In the spiritual world, when Christ took on Him our flesh and was born in Bethlehem, then the light was come, and the glory of the Lord was risen upon us! This Sun still shines; He is still shining, in His Gospel and in the power of His Word.

III. The effect of his rising. With healing in His wings. Understanding this literally, we may see how Christ, as man, has arisen with healing in His wings. How many; yea, what multitudes did His hands heal of various maladies. This Sun is still shining. All our spiritual light is from Him. All our spiritual healing comes from the merit of His works. (R. Horsfall.)

Our sun

I. The sun. Of all the things the eye can see the most Christlike is the sun, for he is quite alone in our world. Nor rival, nor helper, nor partner has he. We have many stars, but only one sun. All light is in and from the sun. Yet even this glorious image of the light of the world fails in some ways; for the sun has its dark spots, but in Christ, our sun, is no darkness at all. The sun is the centre of all the worlds. Every star is held in its place by the attractive power of the sun. The sun is the grand river in this world. Our thoughts wax warm as we sum up all the benefits with which he fills our earth. You cannot overstate them. Science is every year finding fresh wonders in sunlight. All kinds of force come from the sun. As the sun gives according to a never-changing law, so Christ blesses only in a righteous way.

II. The sun-rising. Sunrise is probably the grandest sight in the world. In the East it is so magnificent as almost for the moment to make one a Parsee, a worshipper of the rising sun. Malachi was in the twilight, and you are in the daylight. To him the sun was beneath the horizon, sure harbinger of the wished for day. You live in the Gospel-day.

III. The blessings christ brings to men. As the sun destroys only darkness and its hateful brood, so Christ destroys only our miseries, and brings us all blessings.

1. Healing. The Easterns often carved a winged sun above the gateways of their temples. Malachi has a poets quick eye for the glories of nature, and perhaps this also was in his mind,–the sun rises like a birch, with equal wings wide enough to cover the world. Malachis meaning is, that as sunlight brings health to a diseased, dying world, so Christ brings health to our diseased, dying souls; and this healing comes to us with all the ease, swiftness, gentleness, and freshness of morning sunshine. This healing brings health, which shows itself in joyous activity. To healing and health Christ adds victory. (James Wells, M. A.)

The blessings of the Sun of Righteousness

I. The promise which is made.

1. The metaphor under which the coming of Christ is spoken of. The rising of the Sun of Righteousness. Malachi assimilates Christs coming to that of the sun rising upon the earth. Is He not well entitled to this appellation?

2. The manner in which Jesus is to come to His saints. With healing in His wings. It is a bold poetical figure used by the prophet for the beams or rays of the sun; and such bold painted figures are by no means uncommon with Eastern writers.

II. The persons to whom this promise is made. To them who fear the name of the Lord. This expression is used in Scripture for religion in general. Without a certain mixture of fear, taking the term in its most literal signification, no worship can be accept able to Jehovah. Without a certain mixture of fear, no worship can produce any deep or lasting impressions on the worshipper himself–no sanctifying effects on his heart and conscience. The term may, however, be limited and applied to some particular classes of saints.

1. To them who are spiritual mourners.

2. To them persecuted for the sake of religion.

3. To them who sit in heathen darkness.

4. To the elect on the day of judgment.

To the righteous on that day Christ shall arise with healing in His wings. To them shall He come with joy and songs of triumph. (James Watson.)

Christ Jesus the Sun of Righteousness

The great light which the Almighty Maker of the world set up in heaven to rule the day is the most glorious object in the whole visible creation of God. The worship of the sun, as it was the first, so it was assuredly the least degrading of all the idolatries by which men and nations have since been enslaved. Does the sun exhibit the glory of God? What, then, shall we say of Christ Jesus, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily? Seen as an absolute God, and by the flashes of the law from Sinai, our God is a consuming fire; but we have the light of the knowledge of His saving glory in the face of Jesus Christ. In Him is light, and the light is the spiritual and everlasting life of men. By rising in the ancient promise He dispelled the midnight ignorance and utter hopelessness of guilty creatures; by rising in His own person, and glorious acts of grace, He chased away the dim shadows of the ceremonial law; by rising in Gospel ordinances He abolished the night of error and delusion; and by rising in His spiritual influences upon the believers soul He says, Let there be light, and there is light. The sun rises gradually over the earth; and so hath the Sun of Righteousness displayed His saving light. His first ray was cast upon this fallen earth when the promise of redemption was given to guilty man in paradise. The law and the prophets reflected it with increasing brightness until His advent. But it is only when that advent is spiritually and graciously made to a soul once darkened and dead in trespasses and sins that the true and efficacious light of salvation reaches him and renews him. Upon whom, then, will this bright and radiant Sun arise? Upon those who fear the name of God. This fear of God is produced by that work of regeneration which the Holy Spirit effects. The fear of the Lord is a gracious and heavenly state; not meritorious of any good at the hand of God, but a disposition which best subserves His great design of raising up and glorifying the riches of His undeserved love. He who thus evangelically fears the Lord is led to serious and solemn self-examination. If you fear God there is a deep, earnest, ardent, unceasing breathing of the soul for Christ, a constant application to His blood as its true Bethesda, its everlastingly appointed house of mercy, where the soul may be made whole. Note the blessing which shall attend those who fear the Lord. Sin is the cause of all spiritual dark ness, because sin is the souls separation from God. Christ comes with spiritual health, and with the abundance of spiritual peace: peace from the guilt of sin rising up to condemn, peace from the accusations of conscience, peace from the curse of the law, peace with the blessed Trinity, and peace with all who are one with Him. The material sin is the source of earths fertility. And how free, how common, how accessible is the sun of the natural world, for all who live beneath it! (R. P. Buddicom, M. A.)

Christ as a sun

I. Of the metaphorical representation of Christ. Metaphors are useful. They arrest the attention: the imagination is engaged in discovering their beauty and admiring their aptitude, while they rivet themselves in the memory by the force with which they bring home to us the subject they are intended to illustrate. To illustrate Christ as the Sun of Righteousness, consider the miserably benighted state in which the human race were in the days anterior to the Gospel dispensation. Jesus Christ, that Sun of Righteousness, pure and spotless, is the author of all righteousness, whether imputed for justification or imparted in sanctification. When Christ rises in the soul He enlightens, quickens, and comforts.

II. What is meant by healing in His wings? The beams of this heavenly luminary may indeed be perceived by us, but do they pervade our hearts and lives? To fear the name is to reverence Him as God and man; to participate by faith in His incarnate sufferings; to accompany Him to the scene of His cruel death. It has its foundation in a deep sense of the enormity of sins, and a humbling conviction of our depravity. (Samuel Crowther.)

The Sun of Righteousness arising with healing in His wings

I. The characters spoken of. The name of the Lord signifies the perfections of the glorious God of heaven–the great ness and goodness of the Lord–God Himself. It is the peculiar character of the people of God that they fear His name. It is a fear of offending God, the tenderness of the child that fears to offend its parent. This fear is an abiding principle, and it is a practical principle; it operates upon the life.

II. The blessed privilege of those that fear the name of God. The Sun of Righteous ness is Immanuel, God with us. And He arose at His birth, because more conspicuous in His ministry; was eclipsed at His death, shone forth brighter after His resurrection and ascension, and attained His meridian splendour when the Jewish dispensation closed and the Christian dispensation was fully established. But the promise of our text is daily receiving its fulfilment in the hearts of Gods believing people. The promise of the text, however, still awaits the consummation of its fulfilment. (Benjamin Maturin, B. A.)

The Sun of Righteousness

I. The persons. Those that fear the name of the Lord. Fear is the passion of our nature opposed to hope, and by it the author of our being guards us against danger. The fear of the Lord is the sublimest principle which can influence a soul. It casts out all other fear. Filial and godly fear is always accompanied with love.

II. The blessings. The Messiah should be, to the spiritual world, what the sun is to the natural world. In this view we may regard Him as the source of light, fertility, comfort, and health. (Peter Grant.)

Christ, the gun of Righteousness

Were I to adhere to the textual view of these words I should be shut up to consider what Christs coming was to those who already had some true light, to those who already feared God and thought upon His name, and thus I should have mainly to set forth the superiority of Christianity to Judaism. But I shall make no apology for giving to this title Sun of Righteousness a wider application, and for considering not so much Christs rising then and there upon Jewish cloudiness and dimness, as rather His arising from first to last upon the total darkness of our fallen world.

I. The nature of Christs light, or enlightening power.

1. This light is saving light. In many parts of the Old Testament righteousness is used in nearly the same sense with salvation. The salvation of God, resting on the perfect righteousness of Gods own Son as the sinners substitute, applied to believers in Him for justification, and in its gracious operation, terminated and completed by their willing return to personal righteousness and holiness of life,–this is what is here meant under the name of righteousness (Jer 23:6). We speak in our own language of the sun of freedom rising upon a country, or of the sunshine of peace revisiting it. But the light which here bursts upon a lost and guilty world is the saving light of righteousness. It announces to the condemned the hope of pardon, and shows the way; and it discloses with equal clearness the means of deliverance from the power and bondage of corruption. In Christ the whole salvation is contained, even as the sun reveals himself. In Him the guilty are righteous in law; in Him, and as subdued by His birth, they are righteous in fact.

2. This light is original light. The light of the sun is unborrowed. It is a mystery which our science has not yet solved, how this fountain is fed. But relatively to all sources of light that we know, it is higher and self-sustained. This images the nature of Christ s light, in contrast with all the knowledge of Divine things which comes to us from other quarters.

3. This light is pre-eminent light. The most glorious object in nature is the sun. The ancient world had its lights, we grant–its poets, philosophers, moralists, law-givers. But what were they in regard to righteous ness or salvation? How much did they diffuse of the light of life? Christ was even pre-eminent above Jewish prophets, who had known and revealed God to men. They were but secondary lights. Their use was to point to Him. It is needless to assert Christs pre-eminence over His own apostles and ministers and people.

4. This light is a universal light. What a universal blessing is sunshine! What an emblem of the Higher Light which is not less universal, though, for reasons which we cannot fathom, it is still beneath the horizon in many a wide region of the earth. Where it has shone, can the natural sun be more unrestricted and free?

II. The nature of Christs healing influence. By wings the prophet means the rays or influence of the sun. In addition to the influence of light we are now to take into account that of heat, of which, too, the sun is the centre.

1. Christs healing power in relation to sin. What is wanted to moralise the whole community? Only one thing, the love of Christ in every mans heart.

2. Christs healing extends to sorrow. This follows from the healing of sin. Every sin has its own sorrow, its remorse, its injuries to mind and heart, and often also to body and estate.

3. The influence of Christs sun shine upon death. The natural sun lights all generations to their grave. How is Christ risen from the dead, risen with healing in His wings for all that sleep in Him! Oh, the glory of that victory over death, the last enemy, which the light of Christs immortal countenance shall achieve! (John Cairns, D. D.)

Christ the Sun of Righteousness

We with the early Fathers take our Lord to be the Sun of Righteousness. The mass of the sun being so vastly greater than that of all the planets and satellites taken together, constitutes it a suitable centre of light, heat, and gravitation; and therefore a striking emblem of Christ. Of the many points of resemblance we will examine two. The darkness which precedes the dawn, and the gradual growth of the light. These are seen–

I. In the growth of Christianity. At the dawn of Christianity there was a darkness like that of Egypt, that might be felt. Darkness is the symbol of ignorance and sin. The intellectual greatness of the Augustan age is seen in its poets, philosophers, etc.; but the flowers grew on a marshy and rotten soil. Classical writers confirm St. Pauls testimony in Romans chap. 1. to the awful moral degradation of the time. The dayspring from on high appears, and gradually asserts its power over the darkness. Christian teachers penetrated where the Roman legions never trod. Persecution did not arrest the wave. When the northern barbarians overwhelmed the Roman Empire, they had to yield to a power greater than their own–that of the Cross. The glory of the meridian sun must fill the earth.

II. In the growth of the Christian. Before conversion our hearts were dark, void and formless, like the original world. The spirit of man is illumined by the Sun of Righteousness, and chaos becomes cosmos. This growth is gradual. Three stages of Christian growth. God calls, touches, blesses; which corresponds in some sort to assent, affiance, and assurance. Growth in religion is mainly characterised by thought of ourselves at its beginning, by consideration for others as we advance in holiness, and by a desire for the glory of God when more matured. Is Christ growing in us? We must be advancing or receding. If Christ be growing in us, certain effects will follow. His light will cleanse and purify; and shining from us, it will give us influence on others. (J. S. Pilkington, M. A.)

The rising of the Sun of Righteousness

All nature is laid under contribution to furnish emblems of Christ in His Person and offices. Text refers to the second advent. But the glory of the second will be the consummation of the grace of the first advent. It was the rising of the Sun of Righteousness when Christ appeared as the Light of the World revealing pardon, peace, liberty, and joy. It will be the rising in full meridian splendour, when He shall appear the second time, to complete the salvation of His saints and to be glorified in them.

1. What the sun is to the natural world, that Christ is in the spiritual, the source and centre of its light and life.

2. Christ is the Sun of Righteousness. He is Righteousness embodied, exhibited as a living reality. He fulfilled all righteousness. He makes His people righteous. As their justification, and as their sanctification and illumination. By His Spirit He imparts His own nature to them, creates them anew in righteousness and true holiness.

3. Christ rises with healing in His wings. The figure admits of a natural and beautiful interpretation. On certain coasts there sets in with the rising sun a balmy breeze which, because of its soothing and salubrious character, the residents call the healer. Regarding this with poetic fancy as winged zephyrs of the rising sun, the prophet speaks of the coming Messiah as a sun rising with healing in His wings.

4. Grow up as calves is better rendered, bound as calves loosed from the stall. Liberty and enlargement of heart, exultation and lightness of spirit, shall be to them on whom the Sun of Righteousness arises. The expression go forth denotes release. We know the exuberance of a young animal set free to range in the open pasturage. To them who fear His name the rising is with healing in His wings. But the sun in the heavens can smite, and scorch and slay. Oh, that terrible sunstroke, so fatal in the East! Christs coming may he to some a revelation of flaming fire taking vengeance. (A. R. Symonds.)

The Sun of Righteousness

I. The blessings Christ imparts, like those of the sun, are of the utmost value. A sunless landscape is less dismal than a Christless soul; whilst a Christly soul has on it a light that never shone on sea or land. The blessings of the natural sun and of the Christ are, in many respects, similar.

1. They are enlightening. Sunrise means daylight.

2. They are restorative. Healing,–for does not the suns influence on drooping flower and faded face of human weakness but hint Christs influence on mens hearts and lives?

II. The blessings Christ imparts, like those of the sun, come to men in a remarkable manner. The sunrise and these wings combine to suggest–

(1) Certainty;

(2) Stillness;

(3) Gentleness;

(4) Swiftness. So Christ blesses.

III. The blessings Christ imparts, like those of the sun, bring benefits that, in a large degree, are universal. The sun shines on the evil and on the good. What spot of earth does it not, directly or indirectly, reach and bless? So many of Christs blessings bless all. Is there not through Him–

(1) Prolonged probation for the whole human race?

(2) Means of grace for multitudes still sinners.

(3) Holy influences of thought and character that restrain and that tend to elevate?

IV. The blessings Christ imparts, like those of the sun, demand special conditions for their full appropriation. The best cultivated soil will best utilise the heat and light of the sun. So the soul that in steadfast faith and love turns to the Christ, and with intense desires drinks in all His truth and grace, will be the soul on which will be most evident the healing influences of the great Sun of Righteousness. (Homilist.)

A message for the faithful

Changed, indeed, are our days from those in which the words of the text were written. Since that time the Sun of Righteousness has arisen. Elias the prophet has come already, and they have done to him all that they listed. The law of Moses, commanded in Horeb for all Israel, has been exchanged for the voice of One who speaks to us from heaven. And yet Gods last words, as here recorded, are still substantially the same with those which He speaks to us to-day after the lapse of more than two-and-twenty centuries.

1. What is the great basis, here set before us, of all revelation? Behold, the day cometh. Everything is tending to one point; every act, every word of ours, is running on before us to that great end, the day of final reckoning. How difficult it is to believe this; how much more difficult still to act upon it! How often does sin triumph! The day cometh; a day revealed by fire; a fire not purifying but consuming to all the proud, yea, and all who do wickedly. And need we remind you who these are? They are all who say in their hearts,–not with their lips indeed, but in their hearts,–There is no God: all who live, that is, as if there was none; live without intercourse with Him; live without regard to His will and His approval. Take with you unto your new life this one great principle, there is a day of judgment coming.

2. Then what force and interest will this first truth give to that which follows. He who is expecting the coming judgment can alone rejoice to hear of One who will enable him to meet it. Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. The prophet is speaking of a time when those who have served God in their generation shall find to their eternal comfort that they have not served Him in vain. This is the great blessedness of Gods service, that all its difficulties and troubles come first: they lie on the surface; they beset its first entrance; diminishing commonly, or made by use lighter to bear, as life advances; and all ceasing absolutely when this life ends. A true Christian is on the winning side in the great battle. With what patience, then, should he who is called to suffer some times for his Christian faithfulness regard those who thus deal with him.

3. This for every one of us is the great lesson, that we look well to our hearts and lives, to the work which God has set us to do, and to the spirit in which we may do it.

4. There remains yet one portion of these last words of God by His prophets, which is scarcely less applicable to days when He has already spoken to us by His Son. Behold, I will send Elijah, etc. The prophetical part of these words has already been fulfilled. The mission of the Baptist accomplished them. But the practical lesson which they contain is of unchangeable moment. You all know how large a part of your duty is connected, by Gods wise appointment, with your parents. God accepts through them an obedience which cannot yet be paid consciously to Himself. God makes it one portion of your duty to Him to honour and obey them. Their approval He would have you to regard as your highest earthly reward; their comfort and happiness as your highest earthly object. (Dean Vaughan.)

Christs first coming

There is a touch of sadness about the Book of Malachi. His are parting words, and they show how Gods people had degenerated, had lost their fervour, and become content with a mere outward service. Malachi revealed the spiritual state of the people to themselves, denounced their sins, and warned them of judgment to come. But he does not leave them without hope. It is the manner of Hebrew prophecy to blend together different events which have relation to one another, and here we have words which belong to both comings of Christ.

I. Christs first coming. Described under the image of the rising of the sun. This implies that the world was in a state of darkness before the Incarnation. The title which the prophet gives to Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, marks one great purpose of His advent illumination. Healing in His wings, applies to the work of Christ, in body and soul. As the rays of the sun look like wings when they stretch out across the heavens, so this healing work of Christ extends, by means of His mystic body, the Church, far and wide over the nations.

II. Who profit by it?

1. Light is diffusive.

2. But we may close our eyes against it, or hide from it.

3. Christ is the sun to those who fear His name.

4. Christs light was convictive, as well as attractive.

5. Even our Lords first coming was, in some sense, an act of judgment.

Lessons–

1. Realise the need of spiritual illumination.

2. Question ourselves how far the light and healing effects of Christs coming have reached us, and how far our daily life is influenced by His presence.

3. To be clear about the fact whether He is a swift witness against us, or the Sun of Righteousness, depends upon ourselves and our use of the grace which is given to us. (The Thinker.)

What Christ is made to believers

Jesus Christ is made unto us of God, a soul-heating, soul-warming sun.

I. What need have we of these warming influences from christ, the sun of righteousness? It is upon the account of the coldness we are subject to in spiritual things. Some are key cold, stone cold; dead in trespasses and sins. Even such as are spiritually alive, are subject to their cold fits. The causes of this spiritual coldness are–

1. Some inward distemper prevailing in the soul.

2. From the season; night-time, and winter-time, are cooling times. When God withdraws, it is both night and winter to the soul.

3. From cooling circumstances, such as want of ordinances, engage ment with carnal relations. The effects of spiritual coldness are–

(1) Inward uneasiness.

(2) Unfitness for action.

(3) Unaptness to receive impressions, by the Word or by the rod.

II. How is heat and warmth communicated by christ to those that fear His name? In general, it is by His wings. In particular, He is a warming sun to us–

1. By the immediate motions and comforts of His Holy Spirit.

2. By His Word and ordinances, though not without the Spirit.

3. By good society. And Jesus Christ is made a heavenly sun, with healing in His wings. Ours is a sick and wounded condition. Sick of the disease of natural corruption; sick of the wounds of actual sin. This is–

(1) The alone healing.

(2) It is all-healing.

(3) It is healing at hand.

And Jesus Christ is made a growth-furthering sun to us. Grow up as calves. Can a tree or plant grow without warmth? And, finally, the Lord Jesus is a fruit-furthering sun. (Philip Henry.)

The inner world of the good

The name of the Lord means Himself, and to fear Him with a loving, filial reverence, is genuine godliness. We have here, in fact, a picture of their inner world.

I. It is a world of solar brightness. The Sun of Righteousness rises on the horizon of their souls. There are souls that are lighted by sparks of their own kindling, and by the gaseous blaze springing from the bogs of inner depravity. All such lights, whether in the forms of philosophic theories or religious creeds, are dim, partial, transitory. The soul of a good man is lighted by the sun. The sun–

(1) Throws his beams over the whole heavens.

(2) Reveals all objects in their true aspects and proportions.

(3) Quickens all into life and beauty.

(4) Is centre, holding the whole system in order. Christ is the light of the good.

II. It is a world of Divine rectitude. Sun of Righteousness. The kingdom of God is within. Eternal right is enthroned. Gods will is the supreme law. The meat and drink of the godly soul are to do the will of their Father, who is in heaven. Such a soul is right–

(1) In relation to itself. All its powers, passions, and impulses are rightly adjusted. Right–

(2) In relation to the universe. It renders to others what it would that others should render unto it. Right–

(3) In relation to God. The Best Being it loves the most, the Greatest Being it reverences the most, the Kindest Being it thanks the most.

III. It is a world of remedial influence. With healing in His wings. The suns beams are in Scripture called His wings. The wings of the morning (Psa 139:1-24.). The soul through sin is diseased. Its eyes are dim, its ears are heavy, its limbs are feeble, its very blood is poisoned. The godly man is under remedial influences. The beams of the Sun of Righteousness work off the disease, repair the constitution, and enable it to run without being weary, and to walk without being faint. There is a proverb among the Jews that as the sun arises, the infirmities decrease. The flowers which drooped and languished all night, revive in the morning. The late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, called upon a friend just as he had received a letter from his son, who was surgeon on a vessel then lying off Smyrna. The son mentioned to his father, that every morning about sunrise a fresh gale of air blew from the sea across the land, and from its wholesomeness and utility in clearing the infected air, this wind was called the doctor. Christ is the Physician of souls.

IV. It is a world of buoyant energy. Ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. See the calf, which from its birth has been shut up in the stall, let forth for the first time into the green fields in May, how full of buoyant energy, it leaps and frolics and frisks. This is the figure employed here to represent the gladsomeness with which the godly soul disports its faculties under the genial beams of the Sun of Righteousness. Conclusion–What a transcendent good is religion! How blessed the soul that has come under its bright, benign, and heavenly influence. (Homilist.)

Progress in the religious life

They were before in darkness and disease; both of which confine. But the Sun of Righteousness arises, and with healing in His wings; and thus, the true light now shining, and health being restored, they become free and active–they go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. For even now they have not attained, they are not already perfect. Nor are they to remain what they are, but to increase with all the increase of God. We are not to deny what God has done for our souls. But though we must not despise the day of small things, we are not to be satisfied with it. A day of greater things is attainable: and if we do not aspire after it, we have reason to suspect even the reality of our religion. Spiritual principles may be weak, but if they are Divine, they will evince it by a tendency to growth. The sacred writers express this progression by every kind of growth. By human growth; vegetable growth; and here we have animal growth. No creatures, perhaps, increase so rapidly and observably as calves, especially when they are well attended and fed, and for the very purpose of growth. We have been reminded, sometimes, of the truth of this image, by the spiritual reality. We have seen those who, in a little time, have surprised all around them, by their progress in the Divine life. But many of us have reason to exclaim, My leanness, my leanness! How little progress have we made in religious knowledge, experience, practice, and usefulness, though we have possessed every advantage, and long enjoyed the means of grace. At present the comparison reproves us. But let it also excite and encourage. It not only reminds us of our duty, but of our privilege. This growth is not only commanded, but promised. It is therefore attainable–and we know the way to our resources. Jesus came, not only that we might have life, but have it more abundantly. (William Jay.)

The Sun has risen

The natives of the now thoroughly Christianised Samoa Islands have commemorated the coming of the Gospel among them, and the remembrance of their friend, John Williams, who laid down his life on their behalf, by erecting a church on the spot where the missionary first landed. The motto chosen for inscription on the walls is simple and expressive, The Sun has risen. (Missionary News.)

Hopeful view of the future of the world

I do not know whether any of my hearers have ever gone up from Riffelburg to Gorner Grat, in the High Alps, to behold the sun rise. Every mountain catches the light according to the height which the upheaving forces that God set in motion have given it. First, the point of Monte Rosa is kissed by the morning beams, blushes for a moment, and forthwith stands clear in the light. Then the Bretthorn, and the dome of Misehabel, and the Matterhorn, and twenty other grand mountains, embracing the distant Jung Frau, receive each in its turn the gladdening rays, bask each for a brief space, and then remain bathed in sunlight. Meanwhile the valleys between lie down dark and dismal as death. But the light which has risen is the light of the morning; and these shadows are even now lessening, and we are sure they will soon altogether vanish. Such is the hopeful view I take of our world. Darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people; but Gods light hath broken forth in the morning, and to them who sat in darkness a great light has arisen. Already I see favoured spots illumined by it; Great Britain and her spreading colonies, and Prussia extending her influence, and the United States, with her broad territory and her rapidly increasing population, stand in the light; and I see, not twenty, but a hundred points of light, striking up in our scattered mission stations, in old continents and secluded isles and barren deserts, according as Gods grace and mans heaven-kindled love have favoured them. And much as I was enraptured with that grand Alpine scene, and shouted irrepressibly as I surveyed it, I am still more elevated, and I feel as if I could cry aloud for joy, when I hear of light advancing from point to point, and penetrating deeper and deeper into the darkness which we are sure is at last to be dispelled, to allow our earth to stand clear in the light of the Sun of Righteousness. (J. MCosh.)

Properties of light

Light is purifying; let sunshine into a dark cellar, and it soon becomes pure. Light is vivifying; expose a withered plant from a dark room to the sun, and it colours up. Light is power; all sources of fuel are directly from the sun, coming in rays of light. Light is joyous; nothing contributes so much to making a brilliant assembly as a flood of light upon it. Light is comforting; a dark day is always a gloomy day, but a burst of sunshine brings a cheer. Light is strengthening; a puny child may grow strong if he can play in the sunshine. So you should get into the light that streams from the Sun of Righteousness. His presence purifies the heart, energises the mind, brightens the life, cheers the spirits, and strengthens the whole man. (Sunday Companion.)

The Sun of Righteousness

I. His oneness. In the universe there is infinite variety and abundant repetition. In our world many rivers roll their waters into many seas; many mountains attract the many clouds which are born out of many deeps. Above and around us are many worlds; many stars twinkle over many watchers. But there is for m only one Sun, unique in splendour and in power. There is but one Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. There is no other name given under heaven, or among men; only one all-meritorious Saviour.

II. Centralness. Our solar system holds its place in the mechanism of the heavens by revolving in silent grandeur round the central sun. That sun is the pivot and point round which, in smooth, unbroken harmony, the mighty worlds are ever moving in their courses, linked and ordered by the law of gravitation; so is Jesus the true centre of the soul. Apart from Him, the soul, like an erratic meteor, a wandering star, flies ever away from the central point of bliss, to be finally lost and shattered in awful night. The true believer is bound to Jesus by the mightier law of love. Round Him, in the orbit of light and duty, he revolves for ever, subject to the law of righteousness, and brightened with the beatific beams of grace.

III. Light. The moon, bright though her beams are, and radiant her beauty, has no inherent illuminating power. The stars that make obeisance to their fiery lord borrow their glory from this central source, and shed a reflected lustre on the world below. The coal dug out of its subterranean bed, and all other sources of artificial light, have drawn their resources from this central reservoir. So with Jesus. It pleased the Father, that in Him should all fulness dwell. I am the light of the world. As the sun chases the gloom, scatters the clouds, conquers the night, and floods the worlds with day, so He banishes the night of nature, the darkness of ignorance, the clouds of doubt and fear, the gloomy shades of death.

IV. Life. The sun is the great quickener. Winter, made by its absence, is the time of death; bird and beast are sluggish, and comparatively inert; tree and plant and flower are paralysed by an icy grasp. With the returning sun comes the germinating seed, the bursting bud, the swiftly circulating sap, and a marvellous activity pervades creation. So Jesus raises dead souls to life, and quickens the soul of man into hale and thriving resurrection. I am the Life, He says.

V. Beauty. The sun is the greatest artist. His magic pencil gives the sky its peerless blue, robes nature in emerald vestments, silvers every lake and stream, and paints in fairest hues the flowers that gem the earth. Spring-tides green, summer s flush, autumns gold, and winters white, all are the offspring of his magic, pencil, while the sun itself is more glorious than they all. So Jesus Christ is Himself the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether, lovely. He invests with moral excellence and spiritual beauty all that His love shines down upon. He invests the believing soul with the garment of praise and the beauty of holiness.

VI. Gladness. The sun, says the Psalmist, rejoices as a strong man to run a race. It is a type of perfect happiness. A happy face is said to be a sunny countenance; gladness is oft called sunshine. All nature breaks into song under the suns influence; the tiniest insect dances in his beams; the weary invalid welcomes the first rosy salutation of the morning. Jesus is the joy-giver.

VII. Perfectness. The sun is the great ripener. It brings all the processes of nature to perfection. It finds the leaf an imprisoned embryo in russet husk and shell, and continues to expand and beautify it until it flutters in perfect growth on plant or tree. It touches the green bud, and never rests until it shines upon- the perfect flower. It nurses the fruit till it drops ripe and mellow into October s lap. It undertakes charge of the green corn-blade, and never ceases until the golden harvest bends to the reapers scythe. So Jesus is the Great Perfecter; and in the believers nature the good seed of the kingdom is nursed and nurtured until, as Job has it, he becomes a shock of corn ripe for the garner. He that pardons and He that sanctifies is all of one.

VIII. Fulness. The suns resources never fail. What liberal largess he has conferred on the world! What harvests he has ripened! What mountain snows he has melted into crystal streams! What flowers he has painted! What spirits he has gladdened since first his mission was begun! and yet his eye is not dim nor his natural strength abated! So with Jesus. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell!

IX. Universalness. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of the earth: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. It bronzes the brow of the rude Fijian, reddens the skin of the Indian warrior, blackens the negros swarthy face, and wraps the world in its benevolent embrace. I am the light of the world, says Jesus. His saving beams have blest humanity in all its tribes, from shivering Esquimaux to sweltering Ethiopian. He tasted death for every man.

X. Impartialness. The sun makes no selection. Where it can shine it will. It beautifies the garden, and smiles upon the desert. It glorifies the rose, and flings a halo round the thistle. It flashes on the crystal lakes, and shimmers on the stagnant pool. It gleams on the topmost oak leaf, and shines on the humblest violet. It burnishes silk and rags alike. Whosoever is the widespread word of Jesus too. If any man thirst, etc. Wealthy Nicodemus or Joseph, poor Bartimeus or the woman by the well. This Sun of Righteousness, does He shine on you? He is your one centre of life and light; the one source of gladness, beauty, and perfection. (J. Jackson Wray.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 2. You that fear my name] The persons mentioned in the sixteenth verse of the preceding chapter, ye that look for redemption through the Messiah. Mal 3:16

The Sun of righteousness] The Lord Jesus, the promised Messiah; the Hope of Israel.

With healing in his wings] As the sun, by the rays of light and heat, revives, cheers, and fructifies the whole creation, giving, through God, light and life everywhere; so Jesus Christ, by the influences of his grace and Spirit, shall quicken, awaken, enlighten, warm, invigorate, heal, purify, and refine every soul that believes in him, and, by his wings or rays, diffuse these blessings from one end of heaven to another; everywhere invigorating the seeds of righteousness, and withering and drying up the seeds of sin. The rays of this Sun are the truths of his Gospel, and the influences of his Spirit. And at present these are universally diffused.

And ye shall go forth] Ye who believe on his name shall go forth out of Jerusalem when the Romans shall come up against it. After Cestius Gallus had blockaded the city for some days, he suddenly raised the siege. The Christians who were then in it, knowing, by seeing Jerusalem encompassed with armies, that the day of its destruction was come, when their Lord commanded them to flee into the mountains, took this opportunity to escape from Jerusalem, and go to Pella, in Coelesyria; so that no Christian life fell in the siege and destruction of this city.

But these words are of more general application and meaning; “ye shall go forth” in all the occupations of life, but particularly in the means of grace; and –

Grow up as calves of the stall] Full of health, of life, and spirits; satisfied and happy.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

You that fear my name; so are they described to us who were written in the book of remembrance, Mal 3:16; who loved the law of their God, and kept it; who believed his promises, and rejoiced in expectation of the good promised; who believed his threats and trembled at them, that they might rest in the day of trouble, as Hab 3:16; who walked humbly with their God.

The Sun; Christ, who is the day.spring from on high, Luk 1:78; or, as most elegantly described Isa 60:1-3, who is very fitly compared to the sun; Fountain of light and vital heat to his church, he enlightens and enlivens every one Joh 1:4,9.

Of righteousness; and of mercy and benignity, for the Hebrew word imports both, and neither may be here excluded. His justice is seen in executions of judgment on the proud and wicked, who are consumed in the fire of his wrath; and his righteousness and mercy are seen in the preservation and remuneration of those that fear the Lord: so greatly different shall this time be to the wicked and the godly; to these a day of benign light and kindly influences through the mercy of God, to the wicked a day of destruction. and utter extirpation.

Arise with healing in his wings; his beams and rays shall bring health and strength, with delight and joy, safety and security: it may be (as some have observed from the word) an intimation of the healing virtue that from Christ went forth to such as in faith touched the hem of his garment, Mat 9:20,21, and is as effectual for the healing of soul maladies and infirmities as of bodily diseases.

Ye shall go forth; go out of harms way, out of Jerusalem, before the fatal siege, obeying the call from heaven, Go hence to Pella, and that of Christ, Mat 24:15,16.

And grow up, in strength, rigour, and spiritual stature, as calves of the stall; where they are safe guarded and well ordered. So will the Lord keep safe and look well to his preserved ones when the wicked are destroyed.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

2. The effect of the judgment onthe righteous, as contrasted with its effect on the wicked (Mal4:1). To the wicked it shall be as an oven that consumes thestubble (Mt 6:30); to therighteous it shall be the advent of the gladdening Sun, not ofcondemnation, but “of righteousness”; not destroying, but”healing” (Jer 23:6).

you that fear my nameThesame as those in Mal 3:16, whoconfessed God amidst abounding blasphemy (Isa 66:5;Mat 10:32). The spiritualblessings brought by Him are summed up in the two, “righteousness”(1Co 1:30) and spiritual”healing” (Psa 103:3;Isa 57:19). Those who walk in thedark now may take comfort in the certainty that they shall walkhereafter in eternal light (Isa50:10).

in his wingsimplyingthe winged swiftness with which He shall appear (compare”suddenly,” Mal 3:1)for the relief of His people. The beams of the Sun are His”wings.” Compare “wings of the morning,” Ps139:9. The “Sun” gladdening the righteous is suggestedby the previous “day” of terror consuming the wicked.Compare as to Christ, 2Sa 23:4;Psa 84:11; Luk 1:78;Joh 1:9; Joh 8:12;Eph 5:14; and in His secondcoming, 2Pe 1:19. The Church isthe moon reflecting His light (Re12:1). The righteous shall by His righteousness “shine asthe Sun in the kingdom of the Father” (Mt13:43).

ye shall go forthfromthe straits in which you were, as it were, held captive. An earnestof this was given in the escape of the Christians to Pella before thedestruction of Jerusalem.

grow uprather, “leap”as frisking calves [CALVIN];literally, “spread,” “take a wide range.”

as calves of the stallwhichwhen set free from the stall disport with joy (Act 8:8;Act 13:52; Act 20:24;Rom 14:17; Gal 5:22;Phi 1:4; 1Pe 1:8).Especially the godly shall rejoice at their final deliverance atChrist’s second coming (Isa61:10).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

But unto you that fear my name,…. The few that were of this character among that wicked nation; [See comments on Mal 3:16]:

shall the Sun of righteousness arise; not the Holy Ghost, who enlightens sinners, convinces of righteousness, and gives joy, peace, and comfort to the saints, but Christ: and thus it is interpreted of him by the ancient Jews, in one of their Midrashes or expositions a; they say, Moses says not they shall be for ever pledged, that is, the clothes of a neighbour, but until the sun comes, until the Messiah comes, as it is said, “unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise”, c. and Philo the Jew b not only observes, that God, figuratively speaking, is the sun; but the divine “Logos” or Word of God, the image of the heavenly Being, is called the sun; who, coming to our earthly system, helps the kindred and followers of virtue, and affords ample refuge and salvation to them; referring, as it seems; to this passage: indeed, they generally interpret it of the sun, literally taken, which they suppose, at the end of the world, will have different effects on good and bad men; they say c,

“in the world to come, God will bring the sun out of its sheath, and burn the wicked; they will be judged by it, and the righteous will be healed by it:”

for the proof of the former, they produce the words in the first verse of this chapter, “behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven”; and of the latter these words, “but unto you that fear my name c.” and a very ridiculous notion they have, that Abraham their father had a precious stone or pearl hanging about his neck, and every sick person that saw it was healed by it immediately; and, when he departed out of the world, God took it, and fixed it to the orb of the sun; hence the proverb, the sun rises, and sickness decreases d; and as it is elsewhere quoted e, this passage is added to confirm it, as it is said, “to you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings”: unless this fable should be intended to mean, as Abarbinel f interprets it, that Abraham, while he lived, clearly proved the unity of God and his perfections; and that, after his death, the same truth was taught by the wonderful motion of the sun: but, be this as it will, those are undoubtedly in the right who understand these words figuratively of the Messiah; who is compared to the “sun”, because, as the sun is a luminous body, the light of the whole world, so is Christ of the world of men, and of the world of saints; particularly of the Gentiles, often called the world; and of the New Jerusalem church state, and of the world to come: and as the sun is the fountain of light, so is Christ the fountain of natural and moral light, as well as of the light of grace, and of the light of glory: as the sun communicates light to all the celestial bodies, so Christ to the moon, the church; to the stars, the ministers of the word; to the morning stars, the angels: as the sun dispels the darkness of the night, and makes the day, so Christ dispelled the darkness of the ceremonial law, and made the Gospel day; and he dispels the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, and makes the day of grace; and will dispel the darkness of imperfection, and will make the day of glory; as the sun is a pure, clear, and lucid body, so is Christ, without the least spot of sin; and so are his people, as they are clothed with his righteousness: as the sun is a glorious body, so is Christ both his natures, divine and human; in his office as Mediator; and will be in his second coming: as the sun is superior to all the celestial bodies, so is Christ to angels and saints: as the sun is but one, so there is but one Son of God; one Mediator between God and man; one Saviour and Redeemer; one Lord and Head of the church: its properties and effects are many; it lays things open and manifest, which before were hid; communicates heat as well as light; make the earth fruitful; is very exhilarating; has its risings and settings, and of great duration: so Christ declares the mind and will of his Father, the hidden mysteries of grace; lays open the thoughts of men’s hearts in conversion; and will at the last day bring to light the hidden things of darkness: he warms the hearts of his people with his love, and causes them to burn within them, while they hear his Gospel, and he makes them fervent in spirit while they serve the Lord; he fills them with the fruits of righteousness, and with joy unspeakable, and full of glory; but he is not always seen, is sometimes under a cloud, and withdraws himself; yet his name is as the sun before the Lord, and wilt abide for ever. He is called “the sun of righteousness”, because of the glory of his essential righteousness as God; and because of the purity and perfection of his righteousness as man, which appeared in all his actions, and in the administration of all his offices; and because of the display of the righteousness of God in him, in his sufferings and death, in atonement, pardon, and justification by him; and because he is the author and bringer in of righteousness to his people, the glory of which outshines all others, is pure and spotless like the sun, and is everlasting; those who have it are said to be clothed with the sun, and on such he shines in his beams of divine love, grace, and mercy, which righteousness sometimes signifies; and his rays of grace transform men into righteousness and true holiness. The “arising” of this sun may denote the appearance of Christ in our nature; under the former dispensation this sun was not risen, it was then night with the world; John the Baptist was the morning star, the forerunner of it: Christ the sun is now risen; the dayspring from on high hath visited mankind, and has spread its light and heat, its benign influences, by the ministration of the Gospel, the grace of God, which has appeared and shone out, both in Judea, and in the Gentile world: it may be accommodated to his spiritual appearance: this sun is sometimes under a cloud, or seems to be set, which occasions trouble, and is for wise ends, but will and does arise again to them that fear the Lord. The manner is,

with healing in his wings; by which are meant its rays and beams, which are to the sun as wings to a bird, by which it swiftly spreads its light and heat; so we read of the wings of the morning, Ps 139:9. Christ came as a physician, to heal the diseases of men; he healed the bodily diseases of the Jews, and he heals the soul diseases of his people, their sins; which healing he has procured by his blood and stripes: pardon of sin by the blood of Christ is meant by healing, which is universal, infallible, and free, Ps 103:3 it may denote all that preservation, protection, prosperity, and happiness, inward and outward, which they that feared the Lord enjoyed through Christ, when the unbelieving Jews were destroyed; and which is further expressed by what follows:

and ye shall go forth; not out of the world, or out of their graves, as some think; but either out of Jerusalem, as the Christians did a little before its destruction, being warned so to do g, whereby they were preserved from that calamity; or it intends a going forth with liberty in the exercise of grace and duty, in the exercise of faith on Christ, love to him, hope in him, repentance, humility, self-denial, c. and in a cheerful obedience to his will; or else walking on in his ways; having health and strength, with great pleasure and comfort; and, as Aben Ezra says, by the light of this sun.

And grow up as calves of the stall; such as are fat, being put up there for that purpose; see Am 6:4. Bochart h has proved, from many passages out of the Talmud i, that the word which the Targum here makes use of, and answers to that in the Hebrew text, which is rendered “stall”, signifies a yoke or collar, with which oxen or heifers were bound together, while they were threshing or treading out of corn; so that the calves or heifers here referred to were such as were not put up in a stall, but were yoked together, and employed in treading out the corn; now as there was a law that such should not be muzzled while they were thus employed, but might eat of the corn on the floor freely and plentifully, De 25:4 these usually grew fat, and so were the choicest and most desirable, to which the allusion may be here, and in Jer 46:21 Am 6:4 and are a fit emblem of saints joined together in holy fellowship, walking together in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord; where they get spiritual food for their souls, and are in thriving circumstances; where they meet with the corn of heaven, with that corn which makes the young men cheerful, and that bread which nourishes up to everlasting life. The apostle alludes to the custom of oxen yoked together, either in ploughing, or in treading out the corn, when he says, speaking of church fellowship and communion in the ordinances of the Gospel, “be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers”, 2Co 6:14 for this hinders spiritual edification, as well as the promotion of the glory of God; but where they are equally yoked, and go hand in hand together in the work and ways of the Lord, they grow and flourish; they are comfortable in their souls, and lively in the exercise of grace; and they are the most thriving Christians, generally speaking, who are in church communion, and most constantly attend the means of grace, and keep closest to the word and ordinances: for the metaphor here used is designed to express a spiritual increase in all grace, and in the knowledge of Christ, and a growing up into him in all things, through the use of means, the word and ordinances; whereby saints become fat and flourishing, being fed with the milk of the word, and the breasts of ordinances, and having fellowship with one another; and, above all, this spiritual growth is owing to the dews of the grace of God, the shining of the Sun of righteousness, and the comfortable gales of the south wind of the Spirit of God, which cause the spices to flow out. The Septuagint version, and those that follow it, render it, “ye shall leap” or “skip as calves loosed from bonds”; as such creatures well fed do when at liberty; and may denote the spiritual joy of the saints upon their being healed, or because of their secure, safe, and prosperous estate: and so the word is explained in the Talmud k, they shall delight themselves in it; and where the Rabbins interpret this and the preceding verse Mal 4:1 of the natural sun in the firmament, which will be the hell l in the world to come, and which will burn the wicked, and heal the righteous.

a Shemot Rabba, sect. 31. fol. 134. 2. b De Somniis, p. 578. c T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 8. 2. Avoda Zara, fol. 3. 2. d T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 16. 2. e Apud Yalkut in loc. f Comment. in Mal. i. 11. g Euseb. Hist. l. 3. c. 5. h Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 31. col. 303. i T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 53. 1. Bava Metzia, fol. 30. 1. Pesachim, fol. 26. 1. Eruvin, fol. 17. 2. k T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 4. 1. Nedarim, fol. 8. 2. l A notion they elsewhere frequently inculcate, and is not improbable and which has been of late advanced and defended by a very learned man of our own country, Mr. Tobias Swinden, in a Treatise called “An Inquirer into the Nature and Place of Hell.”

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Second Coming Glory Of Christ

Verses 2-4:

Verse 2 assures that unto those who feared or reverenced the name of the Lord, as in Mal 3:16, who confessed Him among blasphemers and abusers of His name, Isa 25:8; Isa 66:5; Mat 10:32, the Sun of righteousness (the Christ, anointed one) would arise and go forth, as from a prison, with healing in His wings, in His swift appearance, Psa 139:9; Mat 13:43; In that day Israel is promised that she shall grow up, increase, or be prospered as the calf of the stall, that well fed, leaps and jumps in joy when let out of the stall. Such joy is to the believer, and to the church in particular, in the millennial era, 2Th 1:10; Rom 14:17; Gal 5:22; Php_1:4; 1Pe 1:8; Isa 61:10.

Verse 3 pledges that the righteous, faithful shall tread down, rule over the wicked, the heathen and unbelievers in that day, as stubble under their feet. No longer will the wicked make laws to enforce upon the righteous. Things will then be reversed, 2Sa 22:43; Psa 47:3; Psa 49:14; Mic 7:10; Zec 10:5; 1Co 6:2; Rev 2:26-27; Rev 19:14-15.

Verse 4 calls upon the remnant of Judah and Israel, returned from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem and Palestine, to remember the law of Moses His servant, which was given for them and their posterity from Horeb, together with statutes and judgments, Exo 19:20; Deu 4:10; Psa 19:9. They were to remember his laws, to obey them in “reverential trust”, and hatred of evil. For no further was given for 400 years, Ecc 12:13-14. This “law and the prophets,” as a rule of civil and religious guide, was to have been strictly observed until the coming of Christ, Mat 11:13; and till His forerunner had prepared a people for the Lord, Luk 1:17; Gal 3:19; Gal 3:24-25; 2Co 2:14-17. The “statutes” were to regulate the religious ceremonies, while the “judgments” were regulations of law principles in civil matters.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

The Prophet now turns his discourse to the godly; and hence it appears more clearly that he has been hitherto threatening those gross hypocrites who arrogated sanctity to themselves alone, while yet they were continuing to provoke God’s wrath; for he evidently addresses some different from those previously spoken of, when he says, Arise to you, etc.; he separates those who feared God, or the true servants of God, from that multitude with whom he has been hitherto contending. Arise, then, to you who fear my name, etc

There is to be noticed here a contrast; for the body of the people were infected as it were with a general contagion, but God had preserved a few uncontaminated. As then he had been hitherto contending with the greatest part of the people, so he now gathers as it were apart the chosen few, and promises to them Christ as the author of salvation. For the godly, we know, trembled at threatenings, and would have almost fainted, had not God mitigated them. Whenever he denounced vengeance on sinners, the greater part either mocked, or became angry, at least were not duly impressed. Thus it happens that while God is thundering, the ungodly go on securely in their sinful courses; but the godly tremble at a word, and would be altogether cast down, were not God to apply a remedy.

Hence our Prophet softens the severity of the threatening which we have observed; as though he had said, that he had not announced the coming of Christ as terrible for the purpose of filling pious souls with fear, (for it was not spoken to them,) but only of terrifying the ungodly. The sum of the whole is briefly this — “Hearken ye,” he says, “who fear God; for I have a different word for you, and that is, that the Sun of righteousness shall arise, which will bring healing in its wings. Let those despisers of God then perish, who, though they carry on war with him, yet seek to have him as it were bound to them; but raise ye up your heads, and patiently look for that day, and with the hope of it calmly bear your troubles.” We now understand the import of this verse.

There is indeed no doubt but that Malachi calls Christ the Sun of righteousness; and a most suitable term it is, when we consider how the condition of the fathers differed from ours. God has always given light to his Church, but Christ brought the full light, according to what Isaiah teaches us,

“

On thee shall Jehovah arise, and the glory of God shall be seen in thee.” (Isa 60:1.)

This can be applied to none but to Christ. Again he says, “Behold darkness shall cover the earth,” etc.; “shine on thee shall Jehovah;” and farther,

“

There shall be now no sun by day nor moon by night; but God alone shall give thee light.” (Isa 60:19.)

All these words show that Sun is a name appropriate to Christ; for God the Father has given a much clearer light in the person of Christ than formerly by the law, and by all the appendages of the law. And for this reason also is Christ called the light of the world; not that the fathers wandered as the blind in darkness, but that they were content with the dawn only, or with the moon and stars. We indeed know how obscure was the doctrine of the law, so that it may truly be said to be shadowy. When therefore the heavens became at length opened and clear by means of the gospel, it was through the rising of the Sun, which brought the full day; and hence it is the peculiar office of Christ to illuminate. And on this account it is said in the first chapter of John, that he was from the beginning the true light, which illuminates every man that cometh into the world, and yet that it was a light shining in darkness; for some sparks of reason continue in men, however blinded they are become through the fall of Adam and the corruption of nature. But Christ is peculiarly called light with regard to the faithful, whom he delivers from the blindness in which all are involved by nature, and whom he undertakes to guide by his Spirit.

The meaning then of the word sun, when metaphorically applied to Christ, is this, — that he is called a sun, because without him we cannot but wander and go astray, but that by his guidance we shall keep in the right way; and hence he says,

“

He who follows me walks not in darkness.” (Joh 8:12.)

But we must observe that this is not to be confined to the person of Christ, but extended to the gospel. Hence Paul says,

“

Awake thou who sleepest, and rise from darkness, and Christ shall illuminate thee.” (Eph 5:14)

Christ then daily illuminates us by his doctrine and his Spirit; and though we see him not with our eyes, yet we find by experience that he is a sun.

He is called the sun of righteousness, either because of his perfect rectitude, in whom there is nothing defective, or because the righteousness of God is conspicuous in him: and yet, that we may know the light, derived from him, which proceeds from him to us and irradiates us, we are not to regard the transient concerns of this life, but what belongs to the spiritual life. The first thing is, that Christ performs towards us the office of a sun, not to guide our feet and hands as to what is earthly, but that he brings light to us, to show the way to heaven, and that by its means we may come to the enjoyment of a blessed and eternal life. We must secondly observe, that this spiritual light cannot be separated from righteousness; for how does Christ become our sun? It is by regenerating us by his Spirit into righteousness, by delivering us from the pollutions of the world, by renewing us after the image of God. We now then see the import of the word righteousness. (272)

He adds, And healing in its wings. He gives the name of wings to the rays of the sun; and this comparison has much beauty, for it is taken from nature, and most fitly applied to Christ. There is nothing, we know, more cheering and healing than the rays of the sun; for ill-savor would soon overwhelm us, even within a day, were not the sun to purge the earth from its dregs; and without the sun there would be no respiration. We also feel a sort of relief at the rising of the sun; for the night is a kind of burden. When the sun sets, we feel as it were a heaviness in all our members; and the sick are exhilarated in the morning and experience a change from the influence of the sun; for it brings to us healing in its wing. But the Prophet has expressed what is still more, — that a clear sun in a serene sky brings healing; for there is an implied opposition between a cloudy or stormy time and a clear and bright season. During time of serenity we are far more cheerful, whether we be in health or in sickness; and there is no one who does not derive some cheerfulness from the serenity of the heavens: but when it is cloudy, even the most healthy feels some inconvenience.

According to this view Malachi now says, that there would be healing in the wings of Christ, inasmuch as many evils were to be borne by the true servants of God; for if we consider the history of those times, it will appear that the condition of that people was most grievous. He now promises a change to them; for the restoration of the Church would bring them joy. See then in what way he meant there would be healing in the wings of Christ; for the darkness would be dissipated, and the heavens would be free from clouds, so as to exhilarate the minds of the godly.

By calling the godly those who fear God, he adopts the common language of Scripture; for we have said that the chief part of righteousness and holiness consists in the true worship of God: but something new is here expressed; for this fear is what peculiarly belongs to true religion, so that men submit to God, though he is invisible, though he does not address them face to face, though he does not openly show his hand armed with scourges. When therefore men of their own accord reverence the glory of God, and acknowledge that the world is governed by him, and that they are under his authority, this is a real evidence of true religion: and this is what the Prophet means by name. Hence they who fear the name of God, desire not to draw him down from heaven, nor seek manifest signs of his presence, but suffer their faith to be thus tried, so that they adore and worship God, though they see him not face to face, but only through a mirror and that darkly, and also through the displays of his power, justice, and other attributes, which are evident before our eyes.

(272) There is something incongruous in the expression, “the Sun of righteousness.” Hence some have considered that צדקה means here benignity or beneficence. “Righteousness,” says Leigh, “in a special sense, in the Hebrew and the Oriental tongues, signifieth beneficence or bounty; ” and he refers to Mede on Psa 112:6. It is evidently added as descriptive of what the sun is, and used as the case often is in Hebrew, instead of an adjective. Now a righteous sun would not be proper, but a benignant or a beneficient sun would convey a suitable idea. The real meaning would then be conveyed by such a vision as the following, —

But arise for you, who fear my name, Shall a beneficient sun, With healing in its beams, And ye shall go forth and leap Like calves freed from the stall.

“

Understand,” says Marckius, “by righteousness either benignity and beneficence, or truth, or complete constancy, or the manifold righteousness of God, which shone in him, or incontaminated uprightness and rectitude which appeared in him both as God and man, or as Mediator, which so shines, that he diffuses it to all the faithful in the gifts of justification and sanctification.”

Jerome ’s exposition is, that Christ is called the Sun of righteousness, because he determines all things justly, and reveals, discovers what is good and what is evil, what is virtuous and what is vicious.

The pronoun affixed to “wings,” or beams, or rays, is feminine, which shows the gender of “sun,” שמש; but “its” is the most appropriate rendering. He or she is everything in Hebrew, and it is in so Welsh. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(2) As the rising sun diffuses light and heat, so that all that is healthy in nature revives and lifts up its head, while plants that have no depth of root are scorched up and wither away, so the advent of the reign of righteousness, which will reward the good and the wicked, each according to his deserts, will dissipate all darkness of doubt, and heal all the wounds which the apparent injustice of the conduct of affairs has inflicted on the hearts of the righteous.

Wings.Figurative for rays. The fathers and early commentators have understood Christ by the Sun of Righteousness, and they are so far right that it is the period of His advent that is referred to; but there can be no personal reference to Him in the expression, since sun is feminine in Hebrew; and the literal rendering of the word translated in his wings is in her wings.

Grow up.Better, prance, or sport.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Mal 4:2. The Sun of righteousness The Lord Jesus Christ; consequently, the day, of which it is said in the preceding verse that it shall burn as an oven, is not the day of the last judgment, but of the destruction of the Jews, which immediately followed the coming of the Sun of righteousness. Houbigant; who renders the last clause, And ye shall leap as calves going out of their stall.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

What a blessed account is here given of the Lord Jesus! under the figurative language of the sun, and the sun of righteousness, as the sole fountain of light, and life, and heat, and vivifying influence; Christ is described. And in how many ways, and by what a vast variety of means, the Lord Jesus becomes so to his people, it is impossible fully to describe. Jesus is all this, and infinitely more, from the first moment of conversion, through all the intermediate stages, until grace is consummated in glory. So that they all go forth under his blessed influence, and advance in the divine life with strength, and an assurance of firmness, as calves of the stall fattened and fed with constant attendance.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Ver. 2. But unto you that fear my name ] What shall be the condition of graceless persons hath been said already. Now, for the righteous, that they have not served God in vain, it shall well appear by the many benefits they shall reap and receive by Christ; five whereof are here recited. 1. Imputation of Christ’s righteousness, which is compared to the enlightening of this lower world by the beams of the sun 2. Remission of sins, which is compared to the healing of diseases. 3. Regeneration, which is likened to a sick man’s walking forth when he is somewhat recovered. 4. Spiritual growth as calves of the stall. 5. Victory over all enemies, corporal and spiritual, which shall be trodden under-foot, as ashes of the furnace, Mal 4:3 .

Shall the Sun of righteousness arise ] So Christ is called (as by other prophets, Isa 60:1-2 ; Isa 60:19 Luk 1:78 Joh 8:12 ), to signify the joy of God’s elect at the sight of him, Psa 84:11 ; as those that have long lain in darkness count it a pleasant thing to see the light. A “Sun of righteousness” he is said to be, 1. As asserting and vindicating the righteousness of God, called in question by those blasphemers. 2. As bestowing upon his people a double righteousness (imputed and imparted), as the sun doth his light, Joh 1:16 . It is further said here, that he shall arise, that is, he shall appear and show himself on earth, who now lieth hidden, as it were, in heaven; as the material sun doth under the horizon. God was manifested in the flesh, 1Ti 3:16 . Manifested out of the bosom of his Father, out of the womb of his mother, out of the types of the law. In his nativity he came forth as the sun doth, as a bridegroom out of his chamber. In the whole course of his life he rejoiced as a giant to run his race. He enlightened and warmed the dark and dry hearts of men, he filled them with the fruits of righteousness, Joh 15:5 . He could not be stayed or stopped in his course; he made his gospel to run and be glorified. He was and is still in continual motion for the good of his Church; as the sun in heaven is for the good of the world. He went under a cloud in his passion, and brake forth again in his resurrection. From heaven he daily darts forth his beams of righteousness, and showers down all spiritual blessings in heavenly privileges, Eph 1:3 . The sun sucks up foul water from the earth, draws it up into the air, not to hold it there; but first purifies it, and then distils it down again with a fattening and fructifying property. Hereupon the thankful earth brings forth most fair and fragrant fruits and flowers, &c. Semblably, this “Sun of righteousness” took on him our sins and miseries, sordes nostras induit, assumed our human nature, not to retain it, and glorify it in himself alone, but that we might be con-glorified, and, in the mean time, filled with those fruits of holiness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God, Phi 1:10 . And as the sun, the nearer he runs to the earth the weaker he is in operation, as in winter time, but the higher in heaven the more effectual; so, while Christ was not yet ascended, the Holy Ghost and his graces were not in that full measure imparted, nor Churches gathered, as afterwards, Joh 7:39 . Lastly, at that last and great day he will show himself in special manner a “Sun of rlghteousness”; clearing all obscurities, bringing to light the hidden things of darkness, causing his people’s most holy faith, that now lies hidden in great part, to be found to praise, honour, and glory, cheering up their spirits after manifold tribulations, healing all their spiritual maladies; for he comes with healing under his wings and making them as so many Samsons, whose name signifies a little sun, in the noon of their full strength, Ipse est ergo noster Apollo sanitatis praeses. For the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, Matt, xiii. I shall shut up this discourse with that observation of an ancient: When the Sun of righteousness was yet in his mother’s womb, he might be said to be in Virgo; when on the cross, in Taurus; when he rose from death, in Leo; when he shall come again to judgment, in Libra. And as when the sun is in Libra the day is of an equal length; so, when Christ cometh, all shall be perfected.

With healing in his wings ] That is, in his beams. This implies sickness in all to whom Christ comes; the world being, as it were, a great hospital or Nosecomium (though few feel it), and that true of every person that is spoken of the whole people, Isa 1:5 “The whole head is sick,” &c. O my head, my head, said the Shunammite’s son: my belly, my belly, saith the prophet, my leanness, my leanness, &c. And surely it were happy if men would be more sensible of their malady, and make out to this Jehovah Rophe, this Almighty Physician, that lacks neither will nor skill to cure all that come unto him, Exo 15:26 . See him hanging out his tables, as it were, and setting to sell his eye-salve, Rev 3:18 , for there he begins the cure, Act 26:18 . Hear him, 1. Complaining of our dulness, backwardness, frowardness, Jer 8:22 Eze 24:13 Hos 7:12 . Wishing we had more care of our poor souls. “Oh that this people were wise,” &c. “Why will ye die?” 3. Threatening, Eze 24:13 Eze 24:4 . Promising, Hos 14:4 Mat 11:28 Mat 11:5 . Performing, Psa 103:3 2Ch 30:20 . Lastly, providing all sorts of physic for us; preventing, purging, restoring, corrosives of the law, lenitives of the gospel, plaisters of his own blood, for here Sanguis medici est curatio phrenetici; and requiring us no more but to come unto him, as they of old did to the brazen serpent, with sorrow for sin, and faith in his name, having a good opinion of our physician, and casting ourselves wholly upon him for cure; calling upon him, as blind Bartimaeus did, and crying out as that martyr did at the stake, Son of God, shine upon me; and immediately the sun shone out of a dark cloud so full in his face, that he was constrained to look another way. What shall I say more? this blessed “Sun of righteousness” must be sought in the west, if we will get the kingdom (as Statio’s servant in Justin did by the advice of his master, whom he had preserved); upon the cross, I mean, and in the state of his abasement; so shall we be sure to find healing in his wings, that is, the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit conveying the virtue of Christ’s blood to the conscience, as the beams of the sun do the heat and influence thereof to the earth; thereby calling out the herbs and flowers, and healing those deformities that winter had brought upon it.

And ye shall go forth ] To show that yo are thoroughly healed, ye shall rise up and walk. Where the Spirit is, there is liberty, 2Co 3:17 . Live things love to be stirring; and those that are restored to health after sickness are not satisfied till they can go about their business in their accustomed strength, Quod sanitas in corpor, id sanctitas in corde. Holiness is to the soul what health is to the body. Let men make it out that Christ Jesus hath wrought a cure upon their souls, by being active and abundant in his work. Life consists in action. Isa 38:16 “O Lord, by these things, and in all these things, is the life of my spirit,” saith Hezekiah; and, if ye do my commandments ye shall live in them, saith the Lord; as the fish lives in his element, as the lamp lives in the oil, and as the creature by his food. Up, therefore, and be doing; live betime, live quickly, and apace. Some men live more in a day than others in a month; as wise men speak more in two words than a fool in two hundred; or as one piece of gold is more worth than twenty of brass. Devise what to do for God, as David did, Psa 116:2 ; serve out your time as he, Act 13:36 , do not idle it out wear out, do not waste out; flame out, do not smother out; burn out, be not blown out. Be not buried alive, as Job 27:15 , hissed out of the world, Job 27:23 , as Vacia in Seneca ( Hic situs est Vacia ). Fall not from the tree of life as leaves in autumn, as that sapless fellow Nabal did; and as those withered trees in St. Jude, “Without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.” God expects that, acted first by him, we should act as the inferiors do ( Ut acti agamus ), when moved by the superiors; that, when he hath infused sap, we should fructify; that, when he hath tuned us and doth touch us, we should make music; when he hath once made us willing, he requires that we both will and work that which is good in his sight. When we set victuals before a hungry man we expect he should eat it. Nature teacheth the sucking child to draw the breast when it is once put to the mouth; and to labour for its living, as we use to say (Aug.). He that made us without us doth not save us without us; but expects that our wills, which at first conversion were merely passive, should be afterwards active in adding to faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, 2Pe 1:5 , in working out our salvation with fear and trembling, Phi 2:12 . Herein we work the work of him that sent us, as our Saviour did; we finish the work which he gave us to do, Joh 17:4 . This work is to magnify him with our bodies, whether it be by life or death, Phi 1:19 ; yea, to glorify him in our bodies, and in our spirits, which are his, 1Co 6:20 . God sells us increase of grace for sweat, saith one. He gives it as Boaz gave Ruth grain, Mal 2:14-17 . He could have given her at first an ephah of barley, and it had been no more charge to him; but he will have her gather it, glean it, beat it out, use her endeavour, and that should be the price she should pay for it. So here God’s people healed must go forth or leap about, use legs and have legs, &c. “This I had, because I kept thy precepts,” Psa 119:56 . What had he? but an ability to keep God’s law, Psa 119:55 ; he kept it because he kept it; for every new act of obedience fits the soul for a following act, Rom 6:19 . And to you that hear shall be more given, Mar 4:24 .

And grow up as calves of the stall ] Ye shall battle and thrive both in flesh and fat, as R. David expounds it; your souls shall be flourishing and fair liking; as waters of the sanctuary, they shall rise higher; as trees planted in God’s paradise, they shall bring forth new fruit every month, Eze 47:12 Joh 15:2 ; as the morning sun, they shall shine more and more unto the perfect day, Pro 4:18 , when the wicked, by growing worse and worse, 2Ti 3:13 , stumble in darkness, 2Ti 3:1-9 , so that they lie down in sorrow, Isa 50:11 . The blessing on man in the first creation was Increase and multiply; in the second, Grow in grace, Isa 61:8 ; Isa 61:11 . A Christian hath his degrees of growth, and his several ages, of childhood, youth, or well grown age, full grown, and old age, 1Jn 2:14 . These things write I unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God, saith the same apostle, 1Jn 5:13 , that is, that ye may grow in that belief, as ye grow in days and years, proceeding from faith to faith, Phi 3:14 ; as the Church in the Canticles hath her first light like the day dawning, her second beauty like the moon, her third degree like the sun, Son 6:10 . A Christian, though in some sense perfect, yet hath he still his Plus ultra, and may take for motto Charles V’s Ulterius, Further yet; he must be still adding grace to grace, that he may have an entrance further and further into Christ’s kingdom, 2Pe 1:5 ; 2Pe 1:11 , as by steps and stairs they went up to Solomon’s temple. And the apostle there gives us to understand that those that thus add not to their stock of grace shall have little comfort either from the time past, for they shall forget that they were purged from their sins; or from thoughts of the time to come, for they shall not be able to see things far off, 2Pe 1:9 , because they delight not in high flying, as eagles; their wings, as the ostrich’s, do little more than bear them above ground. Many care for no more grace than will keep life and soul together, that is, soul and hell asunder. This is a low and unworthy strain, and comes not near that of St Paul, who set up for his mark the resurrection of the dead, Phi 3:10 , that is, that perfection of holiness that accompanieth the resurrection. To the attaining hereunto he followed hard on, reaching forth, and stretching out head, hands, and whole body, to lay hold on the high prize proposed unto him, Phi 3:12-14 , and would have all men to be thus minded. Runners in a race look not how much they have run, but how much remaineth; and although moderate in the beginning (for hot at hand seldom holds out), yet the nearer they grow to the goal the Faster they speed their course; that their last days may be their best days; accounting that day lost wherein they have not some sensible comings in from Christ; like as good husbands, in dead times when stirrings fail, are discontented when they have had no takings.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

fear = revere. See the Structure “Y” and “Y”, p. 1300.

Sun. Here the word “Sun” is feminine, as in Gen 15:17. Jer 15:9. Nah 3:17, &c.; and is connected with “rightousness” (which is also feminine), which Messiah, the righteous One, alone can bring.

of. In this case “of “would be the Genitive of Apposition. See App-17.

wings = beams, or rays.

ye. The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version omits this “ye”.

grow up = leap for joy, or frisk.

as = like.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

SERMON #19. CHRIST THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Text:Mal 4:2

Subject:Christ Cming Compared to Sunrise

Date:Sunday Evening March 21, 2010

Introduction:

Malachi closes his prophecy by comparing the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to the rising of the sun, calling our blessed Savior The Sun of Righteousness. That is my subject tonight. CHRIST THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Our text will be Mal 4:2.

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Mal 4:2)

God the Holy Spirit here gives us five pictures of what the coming of Christ signifies. He inspired Malachi the prophet to use five vivid metaphors to teach us what the Lord Jesus does for those who are awakened by his grace and taught to fear the Lord. Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. When Christ comes to chosen sinners

1.He comes as a rising sun.

2.He shines with beams of righteousness.

3.He arises with healing in his wings.

4.He breaks stalled calves out of the stall.

5.He makes the freed calves of grace to be leaping like calves in the open field.

RISING SUN

First, The Lord Jesus, the prophet tells us, comes to his people as the rising sun. Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise. Peter speaks of this rising of the Sun of Righteousness in 2Pe 1:19, a a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. And what is the day-dawn, and day-star, arising in the hearts of Gods elect, but Christ Jesus the Lord, the dayspring from on high, visiting us? Is not the Lord Jesus the bright and morning star, the light and the life of men? Of course he is. He is the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing in his wings! And when he arises on our dark, benighted souls, he arises as the day-dawn, and the day-star, as the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his wings!

All was darkness in the creation of God, until Christ arose. His coming was as the breaking forth of the morning, the Sunrise of Grace, sure herald of a bright and blessed day.

He was the day-dawn, and the day-star, in the light of redemption, before the world was formed. In the council of peace, as mans light and salvation, he arose, at the call of the triune God, in the beginning, before ever the earth was made.

In due time, Christ arose in the earth and throughout all the days of his eventful life and ministry upon earth, the Lord Jesus was a light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of his people Israel.

And, today, our blessed Savior still arises as the Sun of Righteousness, the day-dawn, and day-star of all the promises, with healing power and virtue beneath his omnipotent wings of grace!

Until we see Christ in the promises of God they are nothing. It is he who makes them all yea and amen. He is the day-dawn, and day-star of all ages. His word, his providence, his grace, his ordinances; all are dark, until The Sun of Righteousness arises to give us light. Blessed Sunrise! When he shines in upon them, all is clear and bright!

When he withdraws his light, nothing can be seen, nothing can be read, nothing can be understood.

And what is this blessed Sunrise the Lord promised by Malachi, if not that which takes place in the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners, converting them from darkness to light, and from the power of sin and Satan to the living God? The Sunrise is the Lord Jesus shining by his Holy Spirit in our hearts, bringing us to the knowledge, love and enjoyment of himself.

O my soul, what a blessed Sunrise, what a blessed day that was! It is a day forever to be remembered, when God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shined in upon my heart. On that day of grace the Lord Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, arose in my soul to give me the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ! O glorious Light and Life of my soul, ever continue the sweet influences of your grace, morning by morning and evening by evening, until, after many dark dispensations, and wintry days of my blindness, ignorance, and senselessness, in which will renew me, in the precious discoveries of your love, I am carried through all the twilight of this poor dying state of things below. Then I shall awake to the full enjoyment of your fulness in glory, to see you, my blessed Savior, in one full open day, and to be made like you in the kingdom of light, and life, and happiness, forever and ever. Then shall I be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness! (Psa 17:15)

(Psa 84:11) For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

The Lord God is a Sun. The words of both Malachi and the psalmist might be rightly applied to all three Persons in the Sacred Trinity. But our text speaks specifically of our Savior Christ, the Second Person in the glorious Godhead, Immanuel, God with us. He is compared to the sun, as it rises in the morning in the eastern sky, blazes across the earths midday sky. What a beautiful representation it is of the Lord Jesus Christ.

CENTRAL The sun is the center of our solar system. It is only by the attraction of the sun that the earth is kept in its orbit. Without the sun the earth would could not even exist in its present form. Everything would be chaos and darkness, confusion and an empty void. So the Church has no existence apart from Christ. He holds her in her orbit and draws her to himself by his own attractive influences, just as the sun attracts and draws the earth. Draw me, we will run after Thee. As the sun is the center of our solar system, Christ is the Center of all to his people.

The Center of Gods Decrees

The Center of His Word

The Center of His Church

The Center of our Worship

The Center of our Hearts

When the sun arises light appears, where all was darkness before. When Christ comes to his chosen, he brings light where all before was darkness. And when you have light, you can see. Christ arising in our souls causes us see things like they really are. He makes sense out of things. Our Savior said to Pilate, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. And Pilate mocked him and said, as though he were living today, What is truth?

That is the tragic and cynical cry of our age: What is truth! Not because theres a passion for truth, but because there is so much skepticism that any such thing exists. And the effect of this skepticism and relativism is moral and intellectual and personal and social bankruptcy. Why do many families come apart? Because they have no anchor of truth. The husband and father and wife and mother have no clear vision of why they and his children exist. And so all they can do is pass on a few tips about making money, staying out of jail, and staying healthy. And the emptiness gets deeper and deeper with each unbelieving generation.

But Christ is the light of the world. He brings sense and meaning out of absurdity. He shines light upon us and in us, and causes us to know and understand

Ourselves

Gods Word

Gods Salvation

Gods Judgments

Gods Providence

Gods Judgments

When Christ comes he comes as a sun. He is light in the darkness of confusion and ignorance and skepticism. He gives a fixed point of truth in a world where every standard seems to have come unglued. And in doing this, he guards us from destroying our lives and keeps us safe.

The sun is but a creature a dead and lifeless creature. Christ is the Creator. The sun shines only by divine command, and exists only by divine sustenance. Christ shines in the rays of eternal Deity, and will continue to shine when the light of the natural sun is quenched. But as without the light of the sun the world would fall into desolation, so without the light and sustaining influences of the Son of God the Church would fall into nothingness. As, too, the sun gives light to the whole earth, his going forth being from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it (Psa 19:6), so our Lord Jesus gives light to all his believing people. There is not a ray, nor a sparkle of divine light in the soul which does not come out of his glorious fullness.

But was not the sun made to shine? Is not this its appointed office? When the creating voice of God set that glorious orb in the sky, was it not placed there by Omnipotence itself that it might shine forth in countless rays of blazing splendor? Thus we may say that in shining the sun only fulfils the office which God gave it to perform; and the more brightly and gloriously it shines, the more does it accomplish its appointed work. So we may say of the blessed Lord Jesus. He is the Sun of the church; and when God set Him as the great High Priest over the house of God, at His own right hand, in the heavenly places, He put Him, so to speak, as a Sun in the spiritual skies; that, as the natural sun gives light to the world, so Christ might give light to the church. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory (Isa 60:19).

We read, therefore, of John the Baptist, He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (Joh 1:8-9). Does the sun wait until it sees some light previously kindled on earth before he begins to shine? No! It rises at the appointed hour; and when it bursts forth from his chambers in the east, it gives forth his bright beams without waiting for any previous light to be kindled. So it is with the Sun of Righteousness. He rises to give light at the appointed hour; and until he arises in the soul no light can be found within. All is darkness!

Is it not so? You try to elicit some light from the depths of your own heart; you search its inward recesses, hoping to find in them some cheering beams of hope, some rays of divine comfort. But what heavenly light can you find in that fallen nature of which the apostle said, I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing? To look for light in ourselves is to look into a dark cavern for sunshine. It is not there! But when Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, rises upon the soul with healing in his wings, He brings light with him; and in his light we not only see him, but every other object upon which he shines.

OBSCURED But sometimes the sun is obscured. Sometimes it is eclipsed. When the day is cloudy, the suns bright beams are veiled from sight. We have light enough to see one another and things around us by its light; but the sun itself we cannot see. It is hidden behind the dark, heavy clouds. Yet, the sun is the same. It has not changed. All that has changed is that which is below, on earth and in the earths atmosphere.

So it is in grace. The Sun of Righteousness does not always shine brightly in our souls. We do not always feel the Lords presence gladdening our hearts heart. The Sun of Righteousness is sometimes hidden behind thick, heavy clouds. Yet, the Sun still shines. The light in which we walk is not as bright as it was the day before, but the light in which we walk is still the same light. It is his light! We walk in the light of the living.

As the sun sets in the evening, it sometimes appears that the Sun of Righteousness sets, too. Sometimes it seems that the Lord is gone from us, and gone forever; but the Sun of Righteousness arises again at the appointed season. Then, what rejoicing, as he said to the disciples, I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you (Joh 16:22).

WARMTH It is the shining sun that gives warmth and heat, too. It is not only the fountain of all light, but the source of all heat upon the face of the earth. So Christ Jesus is the source of all divine warmth in the soul. How cold, how frozen, our hearts often are faith, hope and love are often locked up in blocks of ice in our hearts. In those wintry seasons we find it impossible to raise up one living affection towards the Lord of life and glory. We cannot produce a single glow of warmth, or the least melting heat. Our very souls seem frozen! We long for, but cannot melt ourselves into contrition, brokenness, godly sorrow for sin, weeping and mourning with and over a suffering Man of sorrows, any more than the earth can thaw itself into softness, or frozen stream can melt its own ice and flow freely. The chilled earth and ice-bound stream need the sun to shine upon them and into them. But when the suns beams burst forth with heat upon the earth and stream, more is done by them in five minutes than without its warmth they could do for themselves in five centuries.

So it is in grace. We try to pray, read and meditate, and thus seek to warm our cold, icy hearts into love, submission and obedience. Our efforts are utterly fruitless. We remain frozen, until Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, arises and shines upon us and into us by his grace! Then

What Melting!

What Weeping!

What Rejoicing!

The shining in of the beams of the Sun of Righteousness puts gladness into the heart. What joy and gladness His presence creates in the soul of a downcast sinner! Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness (Psa 30:11).

LIFE And, in a certain sense, the sun is the source of all life. In winter all creation seems buried in death. But when, the sun climbs to its springtime height and its beams again warm the earth, the earth is revived, the tress bud forth, the flowers bloom and the birds are again heard singing the praises of their Creator.

So it is with the Sun of Righteousness! When the Sun of Righteousness arises, our souls are revived with life. When the Sun of Righteousness rises in our sky, he revives our souls with life. Then our prayers, our preaching, our hearing, our singing, our meditations, so dull in souls winter, spring with new life! This made David cry, in Psa 85:6, Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight (Hos 6:2).

FRUITFULNESS The sun causes fruitfulness. Where would the harvest be without the sun? Again, so it is with the Sun of Righteousness. We are utterly unable to bring forth any fruit to the honor and praise of God except as that gracious Sun of Righteousness is pleased to our souls it fruitful in every good word and work! It is he who makes his church a fruitful garden. He says, From me is thy fruit found (Hos 14:8). Without me ye can do nothing, is the testimony of Holy Scripture and the express declaration of our Savior.

Have I described the experiences of your soul? If I have, you know what David meant when he sang, The LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

SECURITY Another thing implied by his being a rising sun is that our blessed Savior brings security where there was danger. When it is dark, there is more danger because you cant see the path in front of you. You might fall off a cliff or trip over a log or bang your head against a branch.

When the sun rises, you can move with security. Thats the way it is with Christ. He is the way. He puts us in the way. He keeps us in the way. And he points out the way before us, again and again. He shows up the danger and the foolishness of many choices before we make them. He guards us from many evil forces that only have power in the dark.

Beams of Righteousness

I have to hurry; but I want you to see the other suggestions in our text.

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Mal 4:2)

With the rising of the Sun of Righteousness in our souls beams of Righteousness appear in the bitter-sweet work of Holy Ghost conviction (Joh 16:7-11).

(Joh 16:7-11) Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

When the Lord Jesus comes to chosen, redeemed sinners in the mighty operations of his saving grace, he makes things right. He makes the sinner right with God

By Blood Atonement Satisfaction.

By Free Justification Imputed Righteousness.

By Regeneration New Creation Imparted Righteousness.

And in the end, he will make right all the wrongs that his people have suffered in this world, so that we do not have to carry the burden of indignation and revenge. He will have the last word in all matters and about all matters.

Healing Wings

This Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in its wings. Did you ever watch the sun rise across the rim of the ocean? A thin line of orange and red appears along the water. Then it intensifies, brighter and brighter, and you see the brightness focusing more and more on the center of the line, until the flaming ball surges up out of the water. And then you watch it rise up, and in a sense it brings that whole red line on the rim of the water up into the air as though the sun had wings.

When Malachi saw that, God told him: the coming of the Messiah will be like that and the effect of his coming will be healing. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great Savior is the great Healer, the great Physician. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases (Psa 103:3).

All Temporal, Physical Healing The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness (Psa 41:3).

All Spiritual Healing

Everlasting Healing

(Rev 21:4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Breaking Out of a Stall

Next we are told that, when the Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in his wings, Ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. Those words speak of freedom. When Christ comes to the sinner in saving grace, all is freedom. Bondage is over. When the Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in his wings and we are set free from the stall of bondage, we will not merely walk, or run; we will leap like calves. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed!

The word translated stall comes from a root word that means tied up or yoked. When the Sun of Righteousness arises in your soul, he breaks the yoke of bondage. The young calf breaks out of the stall into freedom.

Freed from the Curse of the Law

Freed from the Bondage of the Law

Freed from Religious Tradition

All who are born of God are born free!

LEAPING CALVES

The Lord Jesus not only breaks the stalled calves out of the stall, He breaks stalled calves out of the stall, He makes the freed calves of grace to be leaping like calves in the open field. The words translated grow up mean leap around, or become frisky. Malachi is saying, When the Sun of Righteousness arises in your souls, you shall break out of the yoke of bondage and frolic about as young calves in the open field. You shall be free! Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy! (Luk 6:23) By thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall (Psa 18:29). I say, give the calves room. Let them leap for joy!

Amen.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

fear See note, Psa 19:9 (See Scofield “Psa 19:9”).

Sun of righteousness (See Scofield “Gen 1:16”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

that fear: Mal 3:16, Psa 85:9, Isa 50:10, Isa 66:1, Isa 66:2, Luk 1:50, Act 13:26, Rev 11:18

the Sun: 2Sa 23:4, Psa 67:1, Psa 84:11, Pro 4:18, Isa 9:2, Isa 30:26, Isa 49:6, Isa 60:1-3, Isa 60:19, Isa 60:20, Hos 6:3, Mat 4:15, Mat 4:16, Luk 1:78, Luk 2:32, Joh 1:4, Joh 1:8, Joh 1:14, Joh 8:12, Joh 9:4, Joh 12:35, Joh 12:36, Joh 12:40, Act 13:47, Act 26:18, Eph 5:8-14, 2Pe 1:19, 1Jo 2:8, Rev 2:28, Rev 22:16

healing: Psa 103:3, Psa 147:3, Isa 53:5, Isa 57:18, Isa 57:19, Jer 17:14, Jer 33:6, Eze 47:12, Hos 6:1, Hos 14:4, Mat 11:5, Rev 22:2

wings: Rth 2:12, Mat 23:37

ye shall: Psa 92:12-14, Isa 49:9, Isa 49:10, Isa 55:12, Isa 55:13, Jer 31:9-14, Hos 14:5-7, Joh 15:2-5, 2Th 1:3, 2Pe 3:18

Reciprocal: Gen 22:12 – now Gen 32:31 – rose upon Deu 32:22 – For a fire Deu 33:14 – the precious 2Sa 22:29 – lighten 2Ki 4:1 – thy servant did fear Job 11:17 – age Job 22:28 – the light Psa 19:4 – In them Psa 27:1 – light Psa 36:9 – in thy Psa 67:7 – fear Psa 72:7 – In his days Psa 103:13 – them Psa 112:4 – there ariseth Psa 115:13 – He will bless Psa 118:27 – showed Psa 139:9 – the wings Pro 14:26 – fear Pro 15:4 – A wholesome Pro 19:23 – fear Ecc 2:13 – I saw Ecc 7:18 – for Son 4:6 – day Son 6:10 – clear Isa 1:6 – they have Isa 8:20 – light Isa 30:23 – thy cattle Isa 58:8 – thy light Jer 30:15 – thy sorrow Jer 30:17 – For I Jer 44:10 – neither Eze 21:27 – until Dan 11:32 – shall be Mic 7:8 – the Lord Zep 2:2 – before the fierce Mat 11:3 – Art Mat 13:15 – and I Luk 4:18 – and Luk 7:19 – Art Luk 8:44 – immediately Luk 12:56 – that Luk 16:29 – have Luk 17:24 – in Luk 24:27 – and all Luk 24:44 – in the prophets Joh 1:31 – but Joh 7:17 – General Joh 8:32 – ye shall Joh 9:5 – long Joh 12:46 – am Act 10:43 – him Act 13:32 – how Act 26:6 – the promise Eph 4:15 – may 1Pe 2:2 – grow 1Pe 2:24 – healed Rev 1:16 – and his Rev 7:2 – And I Rev 12:1 – clothed

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Mal 4:2. The healthful effects of the Gospel of Christ is likened to the warm and healing rays of the sun. Go forth is from puwsu which Strong defines, “To spread; figuratively act proudly,” Moffatt renders it to “leap.” The verse as a whole means that the citizens in the kingdom of Christ were to be blessed with great spiritual strength and activity.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mal 4:2. But unto you that fear my name So they are described, chap. Mal 3:16, whose names were written in the book of remembrance; who loved the law of their God, and kept it; who believed its promises, and rejoiced in expectation of the blessings promised; who believed his threatenings and trembled at them, and who walked humbly with their God; shall the Sun of righteousness arise Christ, who is fitly compared to the sun, being the fountain of light and vital heat to his church: elsewhere called the day- spring from on high, Luk 1:78, and the east, or sun-rising, for so the word rendered branch, Zec 3:8, is translated by the Chaldee and LXX: see the note there, and on Isa 60:1-2. Thus the church is described, Rev 12:1, as clothed with the sun, that is, adorned with graces communicated to her from Christ. He is termed the Sun OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, not only because he is the end of the law for righteousness, that is, for justification, sanctification, and practical obedience, to believers, and is made of God unto them righteousness, but because he is the medium and source of the divine mercy and benignity to them, as the word rendered righteousness also signifies. He is said to arise with healing in his wings, because his doctrine and mediation, with the spirit of truth and grace, which he has procured for, and confers upon, his true followers, removes mens ignorance and errors, sins and miseries, and heals all the diseases of their fallen souls, communicating to them spiritual health and strength, with delight and joy, safety and security, and restoring and regulating all their faculties and powers. And ye shall go forth That is, as the words are thought primarily to signify, out of the city of Jerusalem before the fatal siege begin, being warned by Christ so to do, (see Mat 24:15-18; Luk 21:20-21,) and thereby escaping those dreadful calamities, in which those who stayed in the city were involved. Indeed, those who had faith in Christs predictions, apprehending, from the circumstances of things, the destruction of the city to be near at hand, quitted it before it was invested by the Romans. And grow up In strength, vigour, and spiritual stature; as calves of the stall Where they are safely guarded, and well ordered and provided for. This shall be your state when the rest of your nation shall be consumed with divers kinds of death. Ye shall be in a good condition through your faith in the Redeemer, which shall be to you the evidence of things not seen; through the peace which you shall have with God, and in your own minds; through the love of God shed abroad in your hearts, and communion with him; and through the well-grounded and lively hopes with which you shall be inspired of the like deliverance in the judgment of the last day.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the {b} Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go {c} forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

(b) Meaning, Christ, who with his wings or beams of his grace would enlighten and comfort his Church; Eph 5:14 . And he is called the “Sun of righteousness”, because in himself he has all perfection, and also the justice of the Father dwells in him: by which he regenerates us to righteousness, cleanses us from the filth of this world, and reforms us to the image of God.

(c) You will be set at liberty, and increase in the joy of the Spirit; 2Co 3:17 .

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

In contrast, the Israelites who feared Yahweh (Mal 1:14; Mal 3:5; Mal 3:16-17) would experience a reign of righteousness compared here to sunshine (cf. Isa 60:1-3). The sun can blister, but it can also bless, and its blessing effect is in view here. The prophet evidently visualized the sunrays like the wings of a bird stretching over the earth. This righteous day would have a healing effect on the inhabitants of the earth, healing them, and the planet, from the harmful effects of past millennia of sin (cf. Isa 53:5).

Some expositors have understood "the sun of righteousness" to be a messianic title, but it seems best to view it as a description of the day of blessing that Messiah will bring, the Millennium. The New Testament never referred to Jesus Christ as "the sun of righteousness." The figure of vigorous calves cavorting in open pasture after having been cooped up in a stall pictures the joy and freedom that the righteous will enjoy in that day (cf. Isa 65:17-25; Hos 14:4-7; Amo 9:13-15; Zep 3:19-20).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)