Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Malachi 4:4
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, [with] the statutes and judgments.
Ch. Mal 4:4-6. Concluding Exhortation ( Mal 4:4) and Promise ( Mal 4:5-6)
Remember ye the law of Moses ] The revelation of God is always continuous. Each fresh step is evolved out of, and is in harmony with, those which went before. To “remember” the past is to prepare for the future. The exhortation here is a direction to the Church in prospect of the four centuries which would elapse, before any other prophet should arise and the promise ( Mal 4:5-6) be fulfilled.
To the more careful study of the law, in the wider sense of the O. T. Scriptures, to which this exhortation led, may be traced much of the advance in theological knowledge which we find among the Jews in the time of our Lord.
which I commanded unto him in Horeb ] A statement like this, put by an inspired prophet into the mouth of God Himself, has an important bearing on the historical character and date of composition of the Pentateuch.
with the statutes and judgments ] Rather ( consisting in) statutes and judgments: “even statutes and judgments”, R.V.: “(Nempe) statuta et judicia.” Calv. The words are explanatory of the nature of the law. Comp. Deu 4:8; Lev 26:46.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Remember ye the law of Moses, My servant – Gal 3:24. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. They then who were most faithful to the law, would be most prepared for Christ. But for those of his own day, too, who were negligent both of the ceremonial and moral law, he says Since the judgment of God will be so fearful, remember now unceasingly and observe the law of God given by Moses.
Which I commanded – o
Unto him for – (literally upon, incumbent upon) all Israel Not Moses commanded them, but God by His servant Moses; therefore He would in the day of judgment take strict account of each, whether they had or had not kept them. He would glorify those who obeyed, He would condemn those who disobeyed them. They had asked, Where is the God of judgment? What profit, that we have kept the ordinance? He tells them of the judgment to come, and bids them take heed, that they did indeed keep them, for there was a day of account to be held for all.
The statutes and judgments – Better, statutes and judgments, i. e., consisting in them; it seems added as an explanation of the word, law, individualizing them. Duty is fulfilled, not in a general acknowledgment of law, or an arbitrary selection of some favorite commandments, which cost the human will less; as, in our Lords time, they minutely observed the law of tithes, but Mat 23:23 : omitted weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. It is in obedience to the commandments, one by one, one and all. Moses exhorted to the keeping of the law, under these same words: Deu 4:1-2, Deu 4:5, Deu 4:8, Deu 4:14, Now, therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and judgments which I teach you, to do them, that ye may live. Ye shall not add unto the word that I command you, neither shall ye diminish it. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me. What nation so great, that hath statutes and judgments, righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? The Lord commanded me at that time, to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land, whither ye go to possess it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mal 4:4
Remember ye the law of Moses.
Moses defended
Of all the books of the Old Testament, the first five books are the most vital. The Pentateuch is not a branch of the tree of revelation; it is one of the very roots. If objectors must attack some portion of the Old Testament, let them assail the Book of Kings, the writings of Solomon, the prophecies of Daniel, the glories of Ezekiel, the sublimities of the Book of Job, for these, though inspired, are not of such vital importance; but of the foundation truths of Genesis, we say, Touch not, handle not. If the writings of Moses are not authentic; if the facts therein recorded are untrue; if, in fact, Moses in his offices and character, be a mere fiction of the brain, then the most tremendous results must necessarily follow. If such be the case, then the whole of revelation must be blotted out. If the Pentateuch suffer an eclipse, the New Testament suffers the same. You cannot have a partial eclipse. The Pentateuch and New Testament are woven together in one seamless robe. If you make a rend, you destroy the whole. The Epistles of St. Paul are full of Moses. If Moses falls, St. Paul falls with him, and all the glorious apostles. He that rejects the law must reject the Gospel also: for the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Moses spake of Christ, and testified of Christ. The man who rejects Moses must reject the Lord Himself. We have other witnesses to the authenticity of the Pentateuch than the inspired Word of God. The testimony of the rocks of Sinai, etc. (Alfred Cay, A. K. C.)
The law, its place and power
In our text Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, shows that the fear of the Lord necessarily involves reverential regard for His law. This law is described as that which was given to Moses in Horeb, and the charge is given: Remember ye the law. These words seal up the Old Testament revelation. Our text expresses a necessary, universal, and perpetual obligation: Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb. In very many minds there are very hazy notions in reference to the relation of the Old Testament to the New, of the Mosaic to the Christian dispensation, of the law to the Gospel. It is quite true that there are statements in the New Testament which indicate that some old things had passed away, and that some new things had come. There is a sense in which the revelation of the Gospel is in contrast to that of the Old Testament–not, however, the contrast of contradiction, but rather of fuller and clearer development. We must remember that the term law of Moses is used in two senses–the one covering the whole Mosaic legislation, the other having special reference to what are called the Ten Commandments. There were things in the legislation of Moses which were purely civil–which could apply only to the Jews as a nation. There were other things which were ceremonial–belonging to a dispensation which was symbolical, typical, and preparatory. All these things, national and ceremonial, passed away with the dawn of the new dispensation. But there was one part of the revelation given by Moses–and this the central and most important part–called distinctively the law, the moral law, the ten commandments, which is of universal and perpetual obligation.
I. The law is a glorious revelation of the character and will of god. God is the Creator and Governor of the universe. He hath made all beings and things by His almighty power. He governs them according to His own infinite wisdom. Over material things and irrational creatures His control is a matter of forceful operation; but over all orders of rational, responsible beings His control is a moral government. This renders an intelligible revelation necessary. His moral nature is at once the source and the standard of all purity and beauty. The moral law reveals Him as the just and holy God, pointing out the way of duty and demanding obedience. This law is perfect. It reveals God s character, declares His will, and discloses the fundamental, unalterable principles of His moral government.
II. The law is suited to the nature of man, and is fitted to secure his highest development and happiness. Man is a moral, responsible being, who was crested in the image, and intended for the service and glory of God.
1. Likeness to the Divine character is essential to mans true development. The moral law revealing the purity and beauty of God, or declaring His holy and righteous will, sets before men the original pattern of their own character and the standard of their intended development.
2. Thus we may say also that obedience to the law of God is the necessary justification of mans existence. The holy and righteous God could not create a race of rebels intending that they should exist to be disloyal and disobedient. Man, coming under the power of sin, through rebellion and disobedience, forfeited his right to existence in the sight of God and among His creatures. The law declaring mans duty justifies his Divine sentence of condemnation and death upon transgressors.
3. Still more, it is absolutely certain that harmony with the will of God is essential to mans happiness. Holiness and happiness are in their very nature closely and inseparably linked together.
III. The law came straight from God to man. Man was not left to discover or reason it out for himself. The law is not a constitution agreed upon among men for self-government. This same law was given of God to Moses in Horeb.
IV. The law is enforced by the most powerful sanctions. To it are attached promises of blessing and reward, and threatenings of curse and punishment.
V. The law has necessary, universal, and perpetual authority.
1. Necessary. Mans obligation to keep the law does not depend upon his own profession or resolution. Some people excuse themselves in reference to a certain looseness of conduct by saying that they make no profession of religion, or that they have very liberal views. They say that it is quite proper and necessary that professing Christians should recognise the authority of the law, but they contend that every man has the right to judge for himself. This is all wrong; no man has the right to set his judgment or opinion or prejudice or wilfulness against the plain, positive precepts of the Divine law. The authority of the law is due to its Divine authorship.
2. Thus it must be evident that obligation to the moral law is universal. Wherever you find the moral faculty, the moral law has authority.
3. Thus also the authority of the law is perpetual. God cannot change.
VI. The law is the basis, and shall be the crown and glory of the gospel. The Gospel did not destroy the law. It did not lower its standards. It was not intended as an apology for its severity. The Gospel honours and maternities the law, declaring that it is holy, just, and good. The law could not pardon a transgression, therefore it could not give life and salvation to guilty sinners. It gave the knowledge of sin, measured the extent of mans weakness and the depth of his fall; thus it prepared for the exhibition of pardoning mercy and saving grace by showing the necessity for it. Then again, the law determined the plan of salvation and the provisions necessary, so that in the exercise of mercy the Divine righteousness might be preserved and declared, so that God might be just in justifying every one that believeth. Still further, the condition of pardon and salvation under the Gospel–which is faith–is determined by the law. What is faith but the recognition and acceptance of the truth that Christ in our behalf made a full satisfaction to the law, and took away our guilt and cancelled the sentence of condemnation by the sacrifice of Himself? Thus we must see that the law is the basis of the Gospel–determining its plan and provisions and conditions of salvation. But there is more to be told. Through Christ Jesus come the renewal of mans nature and the gift of life and power, so that men who were dead in trespasses and sins, and under the carnal mind, and led captive by the devil at his will, are caused to love and delight in, and are enabled to obey the law. The law is always the same. The motives to obedience are higher and the power stronger, because of full satisfaction and reconciliation, and the free gift of life and salvation through the redemption of Christ. The crown and glory of the Gospel come to each man when the law of God is enthroned in his heart and manifested in his life and conduct. It is said that in ancient times some laws were put into verse, so that the people might learn to sing them. Through the grace and Spirit of Christ, Gods law becomes poetry to us and His statutes a song. (J. K. Wright, B. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Remember ye the law of Moses] Where all these things are predicted. The Septuagint, Arabic, and Coptic, place this verse the last.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Now take leave of all prophecy, for you shall have no more till the great Prophet, till Shiloh come; and attend ye diligently to the law of Moses, keep its precepts and directions.
The law; in the full extent: the moral precepts; rules of a holy and religious life for all. The ceremonial precepts; rules of your worship, so long as your temple shall stand a type of Christ to come. The judicial precepts; whilst you have any government, or power of judicatures. By a due keeping this you may escape future judgments and obtain future blessings, Le 26; Deu 28; besides, by this attending to the law, they might be enabled to see the Messiah, and own him of whom Moses wrote in the law. Now though the law only be expressed, the prophets are included, who also wrote of Christ, Deu 18:15; Joh 5:46,47; Ac 13:27. This was excellent advice to this people, who (had they taken it) had escaped the sins they ran into and the miseries they fell under; they had not crucified the Lord of glory, nor rejected their own mercy, nor pulled fiery judgments on their own heads, to their utter ruin.
Of Moses; whose memory you venerate, in whom you glory, whose law therefore you ought to obey. My servant; who was my servant, and delivered my commands to you. I do therefore expect that my authority, and Mosess esteem among you, prevail with you to study most carefully this law.
Which I commanded unto him in Horeb, with most majestic circumstances, to awe you to the observance of all its precepts; and which was an emblem of that terror and majesty wherein the Lawgiver would appear to judge, to give rewards, or adjudge to punishments.
For all Israel; so long as they should be a people and church.
With the statutes and judgments; be not partial; statutes and judgments, i.e. the whole law, must you attend to, and remember it as God requires, not turn aside from any of its prescripts.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Remember . . . law“Thelaw and all the prophets” were to be in force until John (Mt11:13), no prophet intervening after Malachi; therefore they aretold, “Remember the law,” for in the absence of livingprophets, they were likely to forget it. The office of Christ’sforerunner was to bring them back to the law, which they had too muchforgotten, and so “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord”at His coming (Lu 1:17). Godwithheld prophets for a time that men might seek after Christ withthe greater desire [CALVIN].The history of human advancement is marked by periods of rest, andagain progress. So in Revelation: it is given for a time; then duringits suspension men live on the memories of the past. After Malachithere was a silence of four hundred years; then a harbinger of lightin the wilderness, ushering in the brightest of all the lights thathad been manifested, but short-lived; then eighteen centuries duringwhich we have been guided by the light which shone in that lastmanifestation. The silence has been longer than before, and will besucceeded by a more glorious and awful revelation than ever. John theBaptist was to “restore” the defaced image of “thelaw,” so that the original might be recognized when it appearedamong men [HINDS]. Just as”Moses” and “Elias” are here connected with theLord’s coming, so at the transfiguration they converse with Him,implying that the law and prophets which had prepared His way werenow fulfilled in Him.
statutes . . .judgmentsceremonial “statutes”: “judgments”in civil questions at issue. “The law” refers to moralsand religion.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant,…. Who was faithful as such in the house of God, in delivering the law to the children of Israel, which was given him; and who are called upon to remember it, its precepts and its penalties, which they were apt to forget: and particularly this exhortation is given now, because no other prophet after Malachi would be sent unto them, this is what they should have and use as their rule and directory; and because that Christ, now prophesied of, would be the end of this law; and this, and the prophets, were to be until the days of John the Baptist, spoken of in the next verse Mal 4:5; and the rather, because in this period of time, between Malachi and the coming of Christ, the traditions of the elders were invented and obtained, which greatly set aside the law, and made it of no effect:
which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel; for though the law came by Moses, and is therefore called his, yet God was the author and efficient cause of it; Moses was only a servant and minister; and this was given in Horeb, the same with Sinai: these are names of one and the same mountain, at least of the parts of it; one part of it was called Horeb, from its being a dry desert and desolate place; and the other Sinai, from its bushes and brambles. So Jerom o says,
“Horeb, the mountain of God, is in the land of Midian, by Mount Sinai, above Arabia in the wilderness, to which are joined the mountain and wilderness of the Saracens, called Pharan; but to me it seems the same mountain is called by two names, sometimes Sinai, and sometimes Horeb;”
see Ex 31:18. Agreeably to which Josephus p calls Horeb, where Moses fed his flock, and saw the vision of the burning bush, Mount Sinai; and says, it was the highest of the mountains in those parts, very convenient for pasture, and abounded with excellent herbage. Some say q the eastern part of it was called Sinai, and the western part Horeb; it is very likely they joined together at the bottom of the mountain, and were the two tops of it. This being mentioned shows, that the law, strictly taken, and not the prophets, is here designed, for no other was commanded, ordered, or delivered in Horeb; and that was for all the children of Israel in successive ages, until the coming of the Messiah, and for them only, as to the ministration of it by Moses.
[With] the statutes and judgments; the laws ceremonial and judicial, which were given to Moses, at the same time the law of the decalogue was, to be observed by the children of Israel, and which were shadows of things to come; namely, those of them that were of a ceremonial nature, and therefore to be remembered and attended to as leading to Christ, and the things of the Gospel.
o De locis Hebr. fol. 92. E. p Antiqu. l. 2. c. 12. q Vid. Adrichomii Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 122. Well’s Geography of the Old Testament, vol. 2. p. 118.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Concluding Admonition. – Mal 4:4. “Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him upon Horeb for all Israel, statutes and rights. (Note: The lxx have put Mal 4:4 at the end of the book, not to call attention to its great importance, but probably for the very same reason for which the Masora observes, at the close of our book, that in the , i.e., in the books of Isaiah, the twelve prophets, the Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes, the last verse but one of these books was to be repeated when they were read in the synagogue, namely, because the last verse had too harsh a sound. The transposition is unsuitable, inasmuch as the promise in Mal 4:5 and Mal 4:6 does not fit on to the idea expressed in Mal 4:2 and Mal 4:3, but only to that in Mal 4:4. According to the Masora, the in should be written as litera majusc., although in many codd. it has the usual form; and this also is not to show the great importance of the verse, since these Masoretic indications have generally a different meaning, but in all probability it is simply to indicate that this is the only passage in the book of the twelve prophets in which the word is pronounced (cf. in Hos 12:6; Hos 14:8), whereas in the other books, with the exception of Job 18:17, this is the only pronunciation that is met with.)
Mal 4:5. Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the day of Jehovah comes, the great and terrible one. Mal 4:6. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, that I may not come and smite the land with the curse” ( mit dem Banne , with the ban). The admonition, “Remember ye the law of Moses,” forms the conclusion not only of the last section (Malachi 3:13-4:3), but of the whole of the book of Malachi, and cannot be connected with Mal 4:3 in the sense of “Remember what Moses has written in the law concerning Christ, or concerning the judgment,” as Theod. Mops. and others maintain; nor must it be restricted to the time previous to the coming of the Messiah by the interpolation of interim (v. Til and Mich.). It is rather a perfectly general admonition to lay to heart and observe the law. For this is referred to here, “not according to its casual and transient form, but according to its real essence as expressing the holiness of God, just as in Mat 5:17” (Hengstenberg). Malachi thus closes by showing to the people what it is their duty to do, if on the day of judgment they would escape the curse with which transgressors are threatened in the law, and participate in the salvation so generally desired, and promised to those who fear God. By the expression “my servant,” the law is traced back to God as its author. At the giving of the law, Moses as only the servant of Jehovah. is not to be rendered “whom ( ) I charged with statutes and rights to all Israel” (Ewald, Bunsen), for we do not expect any further explanation of the relation in which Moses stood to the law, but “which I commanded him upon (to) all Israel.” Tsivvah is construed with a double accusative, and also with governing the person to whom the command refers, as in Ezr 8:17; 2Sa 14:8; Est 4:5. The words chuqqm umishpatm are an epexegetical definition belonging to : “which I commanded as statutes and rights,” i.e., consisting of these; and they recall to mind Deu 4:1 and Deu 8:14, where Moses urges upon the people the observance of the law, and also mentions Horeb as the place where the law was given. The whole of the admonition forms an antithesis to the rebuke in Mal 4:4, that from the days of their fathers they went away from the ordinances of Jehovah. These they are to be mindful to observe, that the Lord when He comes may not smite the land with the ban.
In order to avert this curse from Israel, the Lord would send the prophet Elijah before His coming, for the purpose of promoting a change of heart in the nation. The identity of the prophet Elijah with the messenger mentioned in Mal 4:1, whom the Lord would send before Him, is universally acknowledged. But there is a difference of opinion as to the question, who is the Elijah mentioned here? The notion was a very ancient one, and one very widely spread among the rabbins and fathers, that the prophet Elijah, who was caught up to heaven, would reappear (compare the history of the exposition of our verse in Hengstenberg’s Christology, vol. iv. p. 217 translation). The lxx thought of him, and rendered by ; so also did Sirach (48:10) and the Jews in the time of Christ (Joh 1:21; Mat 17:10); and so have Hitzig, Maurer, and Ewald in the most recent times. But this view is proved to be erroneous by such passages as Hos 3:5; Eze 34:23; Eze 37:24, and Jer 30:9, where the sending of David the king as the true shepherd of Israel is promised. Just as in these passages we cannot think of the return or resurrection of the David who had long been dead; but a king is meant who will reign over the nation of God in the mind and spirit of David; so the Elijah to be sent can only be a prophet with the spirit or power of Elijah the Tishbite. The second David was indeed to spring from the family of David, because to the seed of David there had been promised the eternal possession of the throne. The prophetic calling, on the other hand, was not hereditary in the prophet’s house, but rested solely upon divine choice and endowment with the Spirit of God; and consequently by Elijah we are not to understand a lineal descendant of the Tishbite, but simply a prophet in whom the spirit and power of Elijah are revived, as Ephr. Syr., Luther, Calvin, and most of the Protestant commentators have maintained. But the reason why this prophet Elijah is named is to be sought for, not merely in the fact that Elijah was called to his work as a reformer in Israel at a period which was destitute of faith and of the true fear of Jehovah, and which immediately preceded a terrible judgment (Koehler), but also and more especially in the power and energy with which Elijah rose up to lead back the ungodly generation of his own time to the God of the fathers. The one does not exclude but rather includes the other. The greater the apostasy, the greater must be the power which is to stem it, so as to rescue those who suffer themselves to be rescued, before the judgment bursts over such as are hardened. For Mal 4:5, compare Joe 3:4. This Elijah, according to Mal 4:6, is to lead back the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers. The meaning of this is not that he will settle disputes in families, or restore peace between parents and children; for the leading sin of the nation at the time of our prophet was not family quarrels, but estrangement from God. The fathers are rather the ancestors of the Israelitish nation, the patriarchs, and generally the pious forefathers, such as David and the godly men of his time. The sons or children are the degenerate descendants of Malachi’s own time and the succeeding ages. “The hearts of the godly fathers and the ungodly sons are estranged from one another. The bond of union, viz., common love to God, is wanting. The fathers are ashamed of their children, the children of their fathers” (Hengstenberg). This chasm between them Elijah is to fill up. Turning the heart of the fathers to the sons does not mean merely directing the love of the fathers to the sons once more, but also restoring the heart of the fathers, in the sons, or giving to the sons the fathers’ disposition and affections. Then will the heart of the sons also return to their fathers, turn itself towards them, so that they will be like-minded with the pious fathers. Elijah will thereby prepare the way of the Lord to His people, that at His coming He may not smite the land with the ban. The ban involves extermination. Whoever and whatever was laid under the ban was destroyed (cf. Lev 27:28-29; Deu 13:16-17; and my Bibl. Archol. i. 70). This threat recals to mind the fate of the Canaanites who were smitten with the ban (Deu 20:17-18). If Israel resembles the Canaanites in character, it will also necessarily share the fate of that people (cf. Deu 12:29).
The New Testament gives us a sufficient explanation of the historical allusion or fulfilment of our prophecy. The prophet Elijah, whom the Lord would send before His own coming, was sent in the person of John the Baptist. Even before his birth he was announced to his father by the angel Gabriel as the promised Elijah, by the declaration that he would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the unbelieving to the wisdom of the just (Luk 1:16-17). This address of the angel gives at the same time an authentic explanation of Mal 4:5 and Mal 4:6 of our prophecy: the words “and the heart of the children to their fathers” being omitted, as implied in the turning of the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the explanatory words “and the unbelieving to the wisdom of the just” being introduced in their place; and the whole of the work of John, who was to go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, being described as “making ready a prepared people for the Lord.” The appearance and ministry of John the Baptist answered to this announcement of the angel, and is so described in Mat 3:1-12, Mar 1:2-8; Luke 3:2-18, that the allusion to our prophecy and the original passage (Isa 40:3) is obvious at once. Even by his outward appearance and his dress John announced himself as the promised prophet Elijah, who by the preaching of repentance and baptism was preparing the way for the Lord, who would come after him with the winnowing shovel to winnow His floor, and gather the wheat into His granary, but who would burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Christ Himself also not only assured the people (in Mat 11:10., Luk 7:27.) that John was the messenger announced by Malachi and the Elijah who was to come, but also told His disciples (Mat 17:1.; Mar 9:1.) that Elijah, who was to come first and restore all things, had already come, though the people had not acknowledged him. And even Joh 1:21 is not at variance with these statements. When the messengers of the Sanhedrim came to John the Baptist to ask whether he was Elias, and he answered, “I am not,” he simply gave a negative reply to their question, interpreted in the sense of a personal reappearance of Elijah the Tishbite, which was the sense in which they meant it, but he also declared himself to be the promised forerunner of the Lord by applying to his own labours the prophecy contained in Isa 40:3.
And as the prophet Elijah predicted by Malachi appeared in John the Baptist, so did the Lord come to His temple in the appearing of Jesus Christ. The opinion, which was very widely spread among the fathers and Catholic commentators, and which has also been adopted by many of the more modern Protestant theologians (e.g., Menken and H. Olshausen), viz., that our prophecy was only provisionally fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist and the incarnation of the Son of God in Jesus Christ, and that its true fulfilment will only take place at the second coming of Christ to judge the world, in the actual appearance of the risen Elijah by which it will be preceded, is not only at variance with the statements of the Lord concerning John the Baptist, which have been already quoted, but as no tenable foundation in our prophecy itself. The prophets of the Old Testament throughout make no allusion to any second coming of the Lord to His people. The day of the Lord, which they announce as the day of judgment, commenced with the appearance on earth of Christ, the incarnate Logos; and Christ Himself declared that He had come into the world for judgment (Joh 9:39, cf. Joh 3:19 and Joh 12:40), viz., for the judgment of separating the believing from the ungodly, to give eternal life to those who believe on His name, and to bring death and condemnation to unbelievers. This judgment burst upon the Jewish nation not long after the ascension of Christ. Israel rejected its Saviour, and was smitten with the ban at the destruction of Jerusalem in the Roman war; and both people and land lie under this ban to the present day. And just as the judgment commenced at that time so far as Israel was concerned, so does it also begin in relation to all peoples and kingdoms of this earth with the first preaching of Christ among them, and will continue throughout all the centuries during which the kingdom spreads upon earth, until it shall be ultimately completed in the universal judgment at the visible second coming of the Lord at the last day.
With this calling to remembrance of the law of Moses, and this prediction that the prophet Elijah will be sent before the coming of the Lord Himself, the prophecy of the Old Testament is brought to a close. After Malachi, no other prophet arose in Israel until the time was fulfilled when the Elijah predicted by him appeared in John the Baptist, and immediately afterwards the Lord came to His temple, that is to say, the incarnate Son of God to His own possession, to make all who received Him children of God, the s e gullah of the Lord. Law and prophets bore witness of Christ, and Christ came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil them. Upon the Mount of Christ’s Transfiguration, therefore, there appeared both Moses, the founder of the law and mediator of the old covenant, and Elijah the prophet, as the restorer of the law in Israel, to talk with Jesus of His decease which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem (Mat 17:1.; Mar 9:1.; Luk 9:28.), for a practical testimony to the apostles and to us all, that Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for us, to bear our sin and redeem us from the curse of the law, was the beloved Son of the Father, whom we are to hear, that by believing in His name we may become children of God and heirs of everlasting life.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Evangelical Predictions. | B. C. 400. |
4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
This is doubtless intended for a solemn conclusion, not only of this prophecy, but of the canon of the Old Testament, and is a plain information that they were not to expect any more sayings nor writing by divine inspiration, any more of the dictates of the Spirit of prophecy, till the beginning of the gospel of the Messiah, which sets aside the Apocrypha as no part of holy writ, and which therefore the Jews never received.
Now that prophecy ceases, and is about to be sealed up, there are two things required of the people of God, that lived then:–
I. They must keep up an obedient veneration for the law of Moses (v. 4): Remember the law of Moses my servant, and observe to do according to it, even that law which I commanded unto him in Horeb, that fiery law which was intended for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments, not only the law of the ten commandments, but all the other appointments, ceremonial and judicial, then and there given. Observe here, 1. The honourable mention that is made of Moses, the first writer of the Old Testament, in Malachi, the last writer. God by him calls him Moses my servant; for the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. See how the penmen of scripture, though they lived in several ages at a great distance from each other (it was above 1200 years from Moses to Malachi), all concurred in the same thing, and supported one another, being all actuated and guided by one and the same Spirit. 2. The honourable mention that is made of the law of Moses; it was what God himself commanded; he owns it for his law, and he commanded it for all Israel, as the municipal law of their kingdom. Thus will God magnify his law and make it honourable. Note, We are concerned to keep the law because God has commanded it and commanded it for us, for we are the spiritual Israel; and, if we expect the benefit of the covenant with Israel (Heb. viii. 10), we must observe the commands given to Israel, those of them that were intended to be of perpetual obligation. 3. The summary of our duty, with reference to the law. We must remember it. Forgetfulness of the law is at the bottom of all our transgressions of it; if we would rightly remember it, we could not but conform to it. We should remember it when we have occasion to use it, remember both the commands themselves and the sanctions wherewith they are enforced. The office of conscience is to bid us remember the law. But how does this charge to remember the law of Moses come in here? (1.) This prophet had reproved them for many gross corruptions and irregularities both in worship and conversation, and now, for the reforming and amending of what was amiss, he only charges them to remember the law of Moses: “Keep to that rule, and you will do all you should do.” He will lay upon them no other burden than what they have received; hold that fast,Rev 2:24; Rev 2:25. Note, Corrupt churches are to be reformed by the written word, and reduced into order by being reduced to the standard of the law and the testimony, see 1 Cor. xi. 23. (2.) The church had long enjoyed the benefit of prophets, extraordinary messengers from God, and now they had a whole book of their prophecies put together, and it was a finished piece; but they must not think that hereby the law of Moses was superseded, and had become as an almanac out of date, as if now they were advanced to a higher form and might forget that. No; the prophets do but confirm and apply the law, and press the observance of that; and therefore still Remember the law. Note, Even when we have made considerable advances in knowledge we must still retain the first principles of practical religion and resolve to abide by them. Those that study the writings of the prophets, and the apocalypse, must still remember the law of Moses and the four gospels. (3.) Prophecy was now to cease in the church for some ages, and the Spirit of prophecy not to return till the beginning of the gospel, and now they are told to remember the law of Moses; let them live by the rules of that, and live upon the promises of that. Note, We need not complain for want of visions and revelations as long as we have the written word, and the canon of scripture complete, to be our guide; for that is the most sure word of prophecy, and the touchstone by which we are to try the spirits. Though we have not prophets, yet, as long as we have Bibles, we may keep our communion with God, and keep ourselves in his way. (4.) They were to expect the coming of the Messiah, the preaching of his gospel, and the setting up of his kingdom, and in that expectation they must remember the law of Moses, and live in obedience to that, and then they might expect the comforts that the Messiah would bring to the willing and obedient. Let them observe the law of Moses, and live up to the light which that gave them, and then they might expect the benefit of the gospel of Christ, for to him that has, and uses what he has well, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance.
II. They must keep up a believing expectation of the gospel of Christ, and must look for the beginning of it in the appearing of Elijah the prophet (Mal 4:5; Mal 4:6): “Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet. Though the Spirit of prophecy cease for a time, and you will have only the law to consult, yet it shall revive again in one that shall be sent in the spirit and power of Elias,” Luke i. 17. The law and the prophets were until John (Luke xvi. 16); they continued to be the only lights of the church till that morning-star appeared. Note, As God never left himself without witness in the world, so neither in the church, but, as there was occasion, carried the light of divine revelation further and further to the perfect day. They had now Moses and the prophets, and might hear them; but God will go further: he will send them Elijah. Observe,
1. Who this prophet is that shall be sent; it is Elijah. The Jewish doctors will have it to be the same Elijah that prophesied in Israel in the days of Ahab–that he shall come again to be the forerunner of the Messiah; yet others of them say not the same person, but another of the same spirit. It should seem, those different sentiments they had when they asked John, “Art thou Elias, or that prophet that should bear his name?” John i. 19-21. But we Christians know very well that John Baptist was the Elias that was to come, Matt. xvii. 10-13; and very expressly, Matt. xi. 14, This is Elias that was to come; and v. 10, the same of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger, ch. iii. 1. Elijah was a man of great austerity and mortification, zealous for God, bold in reproving sin, and active to reduce an apostate people to God and their duty; John Baptist was animated by the same spirit and power, and preached repentance and reformation, as Elias had done; and all held him for a prophet, as they did Elijah in his day, and that his baptism was from heaven, and not of men. Note, When God has such work to do as was formerly to be done he can raise up such men to do it as he formerly raised up, and can put into a John Baptist the spirit of an Elias.
2. When he shall be sent–before the appearing of the Messiah, which, because it was the judgment of this world, and introduced the ruin of the Jewish church and nation, is here called the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. John Baptist gave them fair warning of this when he told them of the wrath to come (that wrath to the uttermost which was hastening upon them) and put them into a way of escape from it, and when he told them of the fan in Christ’s hand, with which Christ would thoroughly purge his floor; see Mat 3:7; Mat 3:10; Mat 3:12. That day of Christ, when he came first, was as that day will be when he comes again–though a great and joyful day to those that embrace him, yet a great and dreadful day to those that oppose him. John Baptist was sent before the coming of this day, to give people notice of it, that they might get ready for it, and go forth to meet it.
3. On what errand he shall be sent: He shall turn the heart of the fathers to their children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; that is, “he shall be employed in this work; he shall attempt it; his doctrine and baptism shall have a direct tendency to it, and with many shall be successful: he shall be an instrument in God’s hand of turning many to righteousness, to the Lord their God, and so making ready a people prepared for him,” Luk 1:16; Luk 1:17. Note, The turning of souls to God and their duty is the best preparation of them for the great and dreadful day of the Lord. It is promised concerning John, (1.) That he shall give a turn to things, shall make a bold stand against the strong torrent of sin and impiety which he found in full force among the children of his people, and beating down all before it. This is called his coming to restore all things (Matt. xvii. 11), to set them to rights, that they may again go in the right channel. (2.) That he shall preach a doctrine that shall reach men’s hearts, and have an influence upon them, and work a change in them. God’s word, in his mouth, shall be quick and powerful, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Many had their consciences awakened by his ministry who yet were not thoroughly wrought upon, such a spirit and power was there in it. (3.) That he shall turn the hearts of the fathers with the children, and of the children with the fathers (for so some read it), to God and to their duty. He shall call upon young and old to repent, and shall not labour in vain, for many of the fathers that are going off, and many of the children that are growing up, shall be wrought upon by his ministry. (4.) That thus he shall be an instrument to revive and confirm love and unity among relations, and shall bring them closer and bind them faster to each other, by bringing and binding them all to their God. He shall prepare the way for that kingdom of heaven which will make all its faithful subjects of one heart and one soul (Acts iv. 32), which will be a kingdom of love, and will slay all enmities.
4. With what view he shall be sent on this errand: Lest I come and smite the earth, that is, the land of Israel, the body of the Jewish nation (that were of the earth earthy), with a curse. They by their impiety and impenitence in it had laid themselves open to the curse of God, which is a separation to all evil. God was ready to smite them with that curse, to bring utter ruin upon them, to strike home, to strike dead, with the curse; but he will yet once more try them, whether they will repent and return, and so prevent it; and therefore he sends John Baptist to preach repentance to them, that their conversion might prevent their confusion; so unwilling is God that any should perish, so willing to have his anger turned away. Had they universally repented and reformed, their repentance would have had this desired effect; but, they generally rejecting the counsel of God in John’s baptism, it proved against themselves (Luke vii. 30) and their land was smitten with the curse which both it and they lie under to this day. Note, Those must expect to be smitten with a sword, with a curse, who turn not to him that smites them with a rod, with a cross, Isa. ix. 13. Now the axe is laid to the root of the tree, says John Baptist, and it is ready to be smitten, to be cut down, with a curse; therefore bring forth fruit meet for repentance. Some observe that the last word of the Old Testament is a curse, which threatens the earth (Zech. v. 3), our desert of which we must be made sensible of, that we may bid Christ welcome, who comes with a blessing; and it is with a blessing, with the choicest of blessings, that the New Testament ends, and with it let us arm ourselves, or rather let God arm us, against this curse. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
This passage has not been clearly and fully explained, because interpreters did not understand the design of Malachi nor consider the time. We know that before the coming of Christ there was a kind of silence on the part of God, for by not sending Prophets for a time, he designed to stimulate as it were the Jews, so that they might with greater ardor seek Christ. Our Prophet was amongst the very last. As then the Jews were without Prophets, they ought more diligently to have attended to the law, and to have taken a more careful heed to the doctrine of religion contained in it. This is the reason why he now bids them to remember the law of Moses; as though he had said, “Hereafter shall come the time when ye shall be without Prophets, but your remedy shall be the law; attend then carefully to it, and beware lest you should forget it.” For men, as soon as God ceases to speak to them even for the shortest time, are carried away after their own inventions, and are ever inclined to vanity, as we abundantly find by experience. Hence Malachi, in order to keep the Jews from wandering, and from thus departing from the pure doctrine of the law, reminds them that they were faithfully and constantly to remember it until the Redeemer came.
If it be asked why he mentions the law only, the answer is obvious, because that saying of Christ is true, that the law and the Prophets were until John. (Mat 3:13.) It must yet be observed, that the prophetic office was not separated from the law, for all the prophecies which followed the law were as it were its appendages; so that they included nothing new, but were given that the people might be more fully retained in their obedience to the law. Hence as the Prophets were the interpreters of Moses, it is no wonder that their doctrine was subjected, or as they commonly say, subordinated to the law. The object of the Prophet was to make the Jews attentive to that doctrine which had been delivered to them from above by Moses and the Prophets, so as not to depart from it even in the least degree; as though he had said, “God will not now send to you different teachers in succession; there is enough for your instruction in the law: there is no reason on this account that you should change anything in the discipline of the Church. Though God by ceasing to speak to you, may seem to let loose the reins, so as to allow every one to stray and wander in uncertainty after his own imaginations, it is yet not so; for the law is sufficient to guide us, provided we shake not off its yoke, nor through our ingratitude bury the light by which it directs us.”
He calls it the law of Moses, not because he was its author, but its minister, as also Paul calls the gospel “my gospel,” because he was its minister and preacher. At the same time God claims to himself the whole authority, by adding that Moses was his savant: we hence conclude that he brought nothing of himself; for the word servant is not to be confined to his vocation only, but also to his fidelity in executing his office. God then honored Moses with this title, not so much for his own sake, as in order to give sanction to his law, that no one might think that it was a doctrine invented by man. (275) He expresses the same thing still more clearly by saying, that he had committed the law to him on Horeb; for this clause clearly asserts that Moses had faithfully discharged his office of a servant; for he brought nothing but what had been committed to him from above, and he delivered it, as they say, from hand to hand. Many give this version, “To whom I committed, in the valley of Horeb, statutes and judgements;” but I approve of the other rendering — that God makes himself here the author of the law, that all the godly might reverently receive it as coming from him. Horeb is Sinai; but they who describe these places say, that a part of the mountain towards the east is called Horeb, and that the other towards the west is called Sinai; but it is still the same mountain.
By saying To all Israel, or to the whole of Israel, he confirms what I have already said — that he had committed to them the law: that the Jews might be the more touched, he expressly says, that the law was given to them, and that this was a singular privilege with which God had favored them, according to what is said in Psa 147:20,
“
He has not done so to other nations, nor has he manifested to them his judgements.”
For the nations had not been laid under such obligations as the Jews, to whom God had given his law as a peculiar treasure to his own children. And that no one might claim an exemption, he says, to the whole of Israel; as though he had said, “Neither the learned nor the unlearned, neither the rulers nor the common people, can have any excuse, except they all with the greatest care attend to the law, yea, all from the least to the greatest.”
What follows may admit of two explanations: for חוקים, chukim, and משפטים, meshephethim, may be referred to the verb זכרו, zacaru, remember; but as he says Which I have committed, we may take statutes and judgements as explanatory. As to the subject itself, it signifies but little which view we may adopt. There is no doubt but that God by these terms commends his law for its benefits; as though he had said, “The law includes what the Jews ought rightly to observe, even statutes and judgements.” We know that other terms are used in Scripture, such as פקודים, pekudim, precepts; מצותים, metsutim, commandments; and עדותים, odutim, testimonies; but here the Prophet is content brief to remind the Jews that their ingratitude would be less excusable if they departed from the law of God, for this would be openly to reject statutes and judgements; and this is what I have stated, that they were here taught by the Prophet that the doctrine of the law is profitable, in order that they might attend to it more willingly. (276) It follows —
(275) “Observe here,” says Henry, “the honorable mention that is made of Moses, the first writer in the Old Testament, by Malachi the last writer.” — Ed.
(276) The first word, “statutes,” חקים, means, according to Marckius, the moral and the ceremonial laws; and the second, “judgments,” משפטים, the civil or judicial laws. We may consider “law” at the beginning of the verse as a general term, comprehending the whole of what was delivered to Moses; and “statutes” and “judgments” as explanatory of what it was. The Septuagint render the first “precepts — προσταγματα.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Mal. 4:4-6.] Exhortation to avert coming judgment. Since no further communications were to be given, they were to remember those they already possessed. The law] A solemn admonition to Israel and to us, not to disregard Gods word with its statutes] and judgments], its morals and religion.
Mal. 4:5.] To avert the curse from Israel the prophet] would be sent to reform the nationa prophet in the power and spirit of Elijah. This applied to the Baptist (Mat. 11:14; Mat. 17:12-13. Dreadful day] (cf. Joe. 2:31), the destruction of Jerusalem, but applicable to the last day; for all Gods judgments are hours, marked on the dial plate, and struck by the alarm of that great day [Words.].
Mal. 4:6. Turn] Family harmony restored, say some; better, a reconciliation of ungodly, estranged from the piety of their ancestors and pious forefathers, by repentance. Johns ministry removed family feuds, prepared multitudes for the Messiah, and thus laid the foundation for the recovery of thousands to the faith of the Gospel (cf. Luk. 1:16-17; Act. 21:20). A curse] Lit. a ban, one of the most awful words the Jews could use; fell upon Judea, by which it is devoted to destruction and excluded from common usea desolation remaining to this day. This word, which closes the prophecy, and with it the Old Testament, should ever ring in our ears, and remind us of the more awful curse of the ungodly (1Co. 14:22; Rev. 20:15).
HOMILETICS
REMEMBERING THE LAW.Mal. 4:4
The prophet closes with special directions to the people. Since no other messenger was to follow him, till Jesus and his forerunner should come, they must consult and remember the written word. Malachi thus closes by showing what must be done to escape the curse and secure the salvation of God at the judgment day. A needed lesson for us.
I. Remember the end of the law. To be the standard of faith and practice; to guide our feet in paths of righteousness; to help in times of darkness and perplexity; and never to supersede, but ever confirm, the teaching of the ministry. The law foreshadows the gospel. Malachi, the last of the prophets, exhorts us to remember Moses, and preaches Christ, in whom the law and the prophets are fulfilled. Thus in every age we learn the importance and the necessity of a careful study of the written word.
II. Remember the auth rity of the law. Which I commanded him. The law of Moses is the word of God, given in thunder and smoke, by the ministry of angels and the finger of God. Nature teaches that if we believe in the existence we should submit to the authority of God. Hence Numa, Lycurgus, and Mahomet derived their laws from heaven to secure obedience on earth. The Bible takes the place of open vision, and is the representative of God in the world. To neglect it is to despise and to disobey it, to reject the authority of God. Obey my voice, and do all which I command you.
III. Remember the reward of obedience to the law. Duty is performed not by respect to some enactment, nor by general consent, but sincere obedience to the whole law, with the statutes and judgments. Forgetfulness is the source of every evil. Faithful remembrance will lead to Christ, and prepare for judgment. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
ELIJAHS MINISTRY A TYPE OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.Mal. 4:5-6
Christ is not easily recognized in his coming among men. Hence, lest they should mistake, warnings are given, and messengers are sent to prepare the way. Elijahs ministry is again realized in the person of the Baptist. Like the prophet, John was to be endowed with extraordinary gifts to fit him for his work. His ministry is commended for the aim and the efficacy of it, and may be taken as a type of the Christian ministry.
I. A ministry Divinely commissioned. I will send you Elijah. It was presumption to intrude into the priestly office of old, and to take unwarranted commission is to usurp authority in the Church. Christ himself was not self-commissioned. How then shall his servants preach except they be sent? An ambassador must have express authority and instructions from his sovereign. He who is called to instruct souls is called of God, and not by his own ambition, says Bernard. John appeared by command, in the name of a royal personage, and made a royal proclamation. What Johns preaching was all preaching should bethe voice, the vocation of God to men. To the uncalled awful failure may-result. I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord (Jer. 23:32).
II. A ministry moral in its design. John was a reformer. Political theories and metaphysical disputes were not for him to settle. Repent, was the cry which resounded in the wilderness, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
1. It prepared for Christ. I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The true minister by his life and preaching will make ready a prepared people for the Lord.
2. It saved from curse. Elijah was to come to prepare Gods people, lest at his coming he smite the earth with a curse. The destruction of Jerusalem, the curse of Juda, and the sufferings of the Jews remind us of the Canaanites in the past, and of the impenitent in the future. But the minister of God will warn every man, and urge every man to flee for refuge to the hope set before him in the gospel.
III. A ministry blessed in its results. He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, &c. Alienated from God, men are alienated from one another. The Jews had fallen away from the faith of their ancestors, and were at strife with the Gentiles. But John, in the spirit and power of Elias, brought back the faithless generations of his day to the God of their fathers, and restored (regulated, reformed) all things (Mat. 17:11). Families are now disturbed by worldliness, hatred, and apostasy. Ungodly sons are at variance with godly parents. Society is estranged from God. Love, the bond of union, is broken. Ministers have to fill up the chasm, unite all classes, and bring men back to God. Their work is a reformation, a restitution to original peace and purity, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to (by) the wisdom of the just (or righteous) (Luk. 1:17). Thus men will be restored to mutual affection, benevolence will accompany true religion, and morally a new heaven and earth will be created by the gospel. Hearts and lives will be prepared for the coming, and people will enroll themselves as willing subjects of the heavenly kingdom. The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Mal. 4:4.
1. Men never left without a rule of life. If not the living voice, they have the written law, a law for all Israel.
2. Men apt to forget this rule of life. Remember the law of Moses. Even when we have made considerable advances in knowledge, we must still retain the first principles of practical religion, and resolve to abide by them. Those that study the writings of the prophets and the Apocalypse must still remember the law of Moses and the four Gospels.
Men are men; the best sometimes forget [Shakespeare].
Mal. 4:5. Johns resemblance to Elijah.
1. In the endowments of his mind.
2. In the habits of his life.
3. In the exercise of his ministry. There were many points between Elijah and John. Both prophesied in a time of great unbelief and apostasy from the law; both sought to bring back the people to the piety of their fathers; both prophesied before great and terrible judgments. The historical circumstances in which they lived were remarkably parallel. Ahab appears in Herod, Jezebel in Herodias. The words of Mar. 6:20, where he speaks of Herod fearing John, and did many things, may apply without any alteration to Ahab. Their very appearance, the fashion of their dress, and their mode of life were identical [Lange]. Both fell on evil times; both witnessed fearlessly for God; neither was much seen save in the direct exercise of their ministry; both were at the head of schools of disciples; the result of the ministry of both might be expressed in the same terms: many (not all, nor even the majority, but still many) of the children of Israel did they turn to the Lord their God [D. Brown].
Mal. 4:6. The words indicate the work of the Christian minister. A reconciler turning mens hearts towards God and one another. A herald to announce the approach of Christ. A pioneer to prepare the way. He has to awaken right feeling, warn of coming judgment, and point to Christ as the only hope of escape. Flee from the wrath to come.
The closing of the Old Testament in Malachi is unspeakably solemn. On its last leaf we find the blessing and the curse, life and death, set before us. As its first page tells us of the sin and curse of our first parents, so its last speaks of the law given by Moses, of sin, and the curse following, mingled with promises of the grace which was to come by Jesus Christ. So on the last page of the New Testament we read of plagues written in this book, but its last words are gracious words: Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen [Lange].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
Mal. 4:4. Law. Prize the word of God by the worth of it, that you may not come to prize it by the want of it [Dyer]. There never was found, in any age of the world, either religion or law that did so highly exalt the public good as the Bible [Bacon]. Remember. Memory, like books which remain a long time shut up in the dust, needs to be opened from time to time; it is necessary, so to speak, to open its leaves, that it may be ready in time of need [Seneca].
Mal. 4:5. Elijah. Since the days that John began to preach, since he began to call the world to repentance, there has been a rush into the kingdom of God. Men, roused from their spiritual slumbers, startled by a sense of their own sin and ruin, have earnestly applied for pardon and salvation. The echo of the words he proclaimed on the Jordan still lingers and rings in the souls of men, and the result is a pressing every day into the empire of redemptive truth [Dr. Thomas].
Mal. 4:6. Curse. Parting words are always solemn, as closing the past, and opening out a future of expectation before us. The position of Malachi, as the last of the prophets, bids us more solemnly prepare for that dread dayour Lords second comingwhich he foretold, in one with the first, warning us that we deceive not ourselves, in unconsciousness of our own evil and remembrance of our seeming good, until he profess unto us, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity [Pusey].
And of the twelve prophets let the memorial be blessed, and let their bones flourish again out of their place (Sir. 49:10).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CONCLUDING ADMONITION.
(4-6) As the prophetical books began (Jos. 1:2; Jos. 1:8) with Moses my servant is dead . . . this book of the Law shall not be removed from thy mouth, &c., so they close with the admonition, Remember ye the Law of Moses my servant. (Comp. Deu. 4:1; Deu. 8:14.) The path of duty is the path of safety and of light. (Comp. Joh. 7:17.) Mysteries belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed are for us and for our children for ever, in order to perform all the words of this Law (Deu. 29:29; comp. also Ecc. 12:13). The best preparation for the reception of the New Covenant, when God would put His law in their inward parts and write it on their heart (Jer. 31:32), must needs be the hearty observance of the spirit of the Old.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
CLOSING ADMONITIONS, Mal 4:4-6.
The last three verses of the book of Malachi have no immediate connection with the preceding section; they must be understood rather as closing admonitions belonging to the entire book, added by Malachi himself or by a later writer (see on Hos 14:9). Recent commentators are inclined to the latter view, though Nowack, who accepts the originality of Mal 4:4, admits that the question can never be settled with absolute certainty. In favor of diversity of authorship Marti advances the following reasons: (1) The change in the persons addressed; in Mal 4:3 the pious are addressed, in Mal 4:4 the Jews in general. (2) The expansion of Mal 3:1, in Mal 4:5-6 is not in accord with Malachi’s thought in the former passage. (3) Malachi never says “day of Jehovah” or “the great and dreadful day of Jehovah” (Mal 4:5; compare Mal 4:1; Mal 3:17; Mal 4:3). (4) Malachi speaks only of “the law” (Mal 2:8-9), these verses of the “law of Moses” (Mal 4:4). (5). Malachi frequently uses the formula “saith Jehovah of hosts,”
which is never found in these verses.
That there is an abrupt transition from Mal 4:3-4 must be admitted, that the linguistic peculiarities mentioned exist is true; but that Mal 4:5-6, are not in accord with the thought of Mal 3:1, is not so evident. The former is an expansion of the latter along a line that is perfectly admissible. The evidence is not definite enough to say that the verses cannot come from the author of the rest of the book; but if they do come from him it is quite likely that they were added by him subsequently to the writing of the rest of the book, as a general exhortation to prepare for the coming of Jehovah in judgment.
4. Remember In a manner that will influence conduct. Only thus can they escape the terrors of the day of Jehovah.
The law of Moses If the entire Pentateuch was in existence in the days of Malachi this term includes the whole of it; if only a part was known it includes all that in those days went under the name of Moses (see on Hos 4:6). In postexilic times a greater emphasis was placed upon the law, because it was thought that by regulating every detail of life by law with state authority the religious and moral lapses of the past might be avoided. This legalism was needed at the time (see p. 555 and p. 703), and it did much toward preserving intact the religion of Jehovah. The religious leaders of the early postexilic period met the crisis of their age just as effectively as the eighth century prophets met the problems of their time; it was not their fault that in later days the religious leaders failed to see their opportunities, and that the emphasis of the letter of the law resulted in the end in entire neglect of the spirit, which brought about the decline of Judaism as a vital force in religion and morals.
My servant See on Hag 2:23; Zec 3:8.
Horeb Mentioned several times in the Old Testament, especially in Deuteronomy, as the place where the law was given to Moses (Deu 1:6; Deu 4:10; Deu 5:2; Deu 29:1; 1Ki 8:9).
Statutes and judgments R.V., “and ordinances.” The former means literally that which is engraved or inscribed, that is, upon public tablets; hence that which is decreed by one in authority; in the Old Testament, the decrees of Jehovah intended to govern the conduct of his people. The primary idea of the second word is “judicial decision, made once authoritatively, and constituting a rule or precedent, applicable to other similar cases in the future.” The two words occur together quite frequently, especially in Deuteronomy. The difference between the two Driver indicates in these words: “Judgments being thus a term denoting primarily the provisions of civil and criminal law, statutes may be taken to refer more particularly to positive institutions or enactments, whether moral, ceremonial, or civil.”
Mal 4:5-6 deal with the messenger whose appearance is announced in Mal 3:1, and with his work of preparing the way for the coming of the Lord.
Behold, I will send See on Mal 3:1.
Elijah the prophet There can be no doubt that he is to be identified with the messenger of Mal 3:1. Whether the author expected a literal fulfillment, in the sense that Elijah would come in person, or whether the name is to be understood, like David in Hos 3:5 (see there), in the sense of a second Elijah, a prophet like Elijah, it may be difficult to say. That there was current even in New Testament times a belief in the coming again of Elijah himself as well as of other prophets is shown by passages like Mat 16:14. Jesus and the New Testament writers declare that the prophecy found its fulfillment in the coming of John the Baptist (Mat 11:14; Mar 9:11; Mar 9:13). That Elijah should be singled out as the messenger from heaven was quite natural in view of the fact that he alone of all the prophets did not die a natural death, but “went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2Ki 2:11). On this promise G.A. Smith makes the following suggestive remarks: “Malachi expects this prophecy not in the continuance of the prophetic succession by the appearance of original personalities, developing further the great principles of their order, but in the return of the first prophet Elijah. This is surely the confession of Prophecy that the number of her servants is exhausted and her message to Israel fulfilled. She can now do no more for the people than she has done. But she will summon up her old energy and fire in the return of her most powerful personality, and make one grand effort to convert the nation before the Lord come and strike it with judgment.” The promise is the same as in Mal 3:1, that the messenger will come before the appearance of Jehovah himself in judgment.
The great and dreadful day See on Joe 2:11; Joe 2:31.
Mal 3:1; Mal 4:5, contain the promise that the messenger will prepare the way before the Lord; Mal 4:6, explains wherein the preparation consists, namely, in an attempt to convert the nation, so that the terror of the day of Jehovah may be averted. This conversion is described as a turning of “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” Two interpretations of these words have been proposed:
(1) The fathers are the patriarchs, the children their descendants, the contemporaries of the author. The patriarchs are ashamed of their descendants, and refuse to acknowledge them, on account of their corruption; on the other hand, the descendants have no heart fellowship with their ancestors, because they fail to understand and appreciate their lofty spiritual and moral ideals. Elijah will attempt to turn the hearts of the corrupt children to the fathers, so that they will seek to imitate the example of the latter and walk in their ways. When this is done the heart of the fathers will turn again to the children in paternal recognition and love.
(2)A second interpretation sees in the fathers and the children two classes in the prophet’s own time, the men of maturity and the younger generation, and between the two a great gulf. The younger generation, says Von Orelli, “had broken with the law which the fathers still held outwardly in high esteem; the latter, on this account, were estranged from the young. When that Elijah turns the nation to God, he will do away with this gulf. In again teaching the sons to fear God, he will again win the hearts of the fathers for them; and in again breathing into the fathers a fatherly spirit, he will again awaken in the hearts of the sons confidence and good will to the fathers.” On the whole, the second interpretation is to be preferred, but the correctness of the explanation of the nature of the gulf may be doubted. It is better to bring these words into connection with Mic 7:5-6, where the results of religious apostasy are described: even the closest and most sacred ties come to be disregarded and broken. A similar thought underlies the promise of Mal 4:6. The present is hopelessly corrupt, but when Elijah comes he will try to change conditions and restore peace and good will in accord with the will and purpose of God. The words are, then, a figure of the restoration and reformation for which Elijah will labor, in order that this earth may become a fit dwelling place for Jehovah.
Smite the earth with a curse Curse is literally ban. Whatever is placed under a ban is given up to destruction (Deu 13:16-17; Lev 27:28-29). Jehovah will surely come, but unless sin is removed before he comes he must wipe it out by a terrible blast of judgment. This statement implies that, if the mission of Elijah is successful, Jehovah will come as King of peace, to dwell in peace in the midst of his people.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Final Exhortation ( Mal 4:4-6 ).
YHWH finalises Malachi’s prophecy by pointing to ‘the Law and the prophets. Firstly He turns their thoughts to His Instruction given through Moses, and then to the powerful preaching of the prophets as epitomised by Elijah, as they bring home to men the words of Moses. Let them listen and take heed lest a curse come upon them.
Mal 4:4
‘Remember you the law of Moses my servant,
Which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel,
Even the statutes and ordinances.
YHWH makes His final plea to them They have no excuse for they have His word. ‘Remember you the Instruction of Moses My servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb (Sinai) for all Israel.’ This is what they must now do. They must deliberately and genuinely call to mind the words of Moses, the true servant of God. Jesus gave the same reminder to the people of His day. ‘If they will not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead’ (Luk 16:31). So they are to diligently study God’s word and obey it.
The same command was given to Joshua as he stood on the edge of the promised land. ‘Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the Instruction which Moses My servant commanded you, turn not from it to the tight hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go’ (Jos 1:7).
So the call comes to them to study and live in accordance with God’s word brought to them by Moses, not as a list of regulations, but as a loving response to their covenant God. Let them delight to do His will. Then they will be ready for that Day.
‘Even the statutes and ordinances.’ The Torah included direct commands, statutes (‘you shall not’) and case law, ordinances (‘if this — then that –’). All aspects are to be observed for they are ‘commanded’ by the Commander-in Chief Himself.
Mal 4:5-6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet,
Before the great and terrible day of YHWH come.
And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
And the heart of the children to their fathers;
Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
YHWH finishes with a message of hope. He will not just leave it like that. Before that great and terrible Day of YHWH comes, He will send to them Elijah the prophet, and he will prepare many for that Day. He will bring home to them the Instruction of Moses. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. He will cause right relationships and responses to grow. He will cause fathers to love their children and guide them aright, and children to lovingly obey their fathers. And He will remove antagonisms from between generations. He will bring peace and harmony. He will cause them all to love one another. And this will be necessary so as to avoid a curse upon the land. The assumption is thus that this preaching will be needed. The world will not grow slowly more righteous. Left to itself it would end up being cursed. But God is saying that in His graciousness, He will intervene to prevent the worst happening.
Elijah was the prophet who arrived suddenly on the scene from nowhere (1Ki 17:1) and who departed equally suddenly to no one knew where (2Ki 2:11-12). This was what made the Jews think that he would come back again in person. But Jesus Christ Himself made clear that Elijah had come in the person of John the Baptist (although John quite rightly denied actually being Elijah himself). For Jesus emphasised that ‘this is the Elijah who was to come’ (Mat 11:14). These very words in Mal 4:6 were cited by the angel who announced John’s birth, about his future ministry. ‘He will go before His face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared’ (Luk 1:17).
Of course Elijah did also come in person, for he appeared with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration when the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ was revealed (Mar 9:2-8; 2Pe 1:16), but it was immediately after this that Jesus again confirmed that John the Baptist was the coming Elijah. ‘I say to you Elijah is come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted’ (Mar 9:13).
‘The great and terrible Day of YHWH’. As we have already seen ‘in the Day that I do make’ has referred to both blessing on the righteous in Mal 3:17, and to judgment on the wicked in Mal 4:3. For the former it is a great Day, when they become God’s own treasured possession, for the latter a terrible Day when they become ashes beneath men’s feet.
And we know now that Elijah has come, and ‘the great and terrible Day of YHWH’ followed, for it began with the crucifixion (Luk 23:28-31), was stated to have come at Pentecost (Act 2:17-21) continued on in the destruction of Jerusalem and the great tribulation that followed for the Jews (Mat 24:15-22; Luk 21:20-24), and would manifest itself through the ages in wars, pestilences, earthquakes and tribulation (Mat 24:4-14), before the end finally arrives with the coming of Jesus Christ in His glory. It is depicted throughout the Book of Revelation in which the present era unfolds (Rev 1:10). And it will come to its culmination with war on earth (Joe 3:9-14; Rev 20:8-9) and victory in Heaven (Rev 19:11-16). And during all this time God will be drawing His elect to Himself. And the sign of those who are His will be the amazing unity and loved depicted among them (Joh 13:35) because their hearts have been turned towards each other. That is why the disciples spoke of the days in which they lived as ‘the last days’, ‘the end of the ages’, and the equivalent (Act 2:17; 1Co 10:11; Heb 1:2; Heb 9:26; 1Pe 1:20; 1Pe 4:7). And those ‘last days’ will continue until His coming. It was this intervention of John the Baptist, (‘My messenger’ – Mal 3:1 a) and supremely our Lord Jesus Christ (‘the Lord and Messenger of the covenant’ – Mal 3:1 b) that has saved the world from God’s curse.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mal 4:4. Remember ye the law of Moses “Because your republic can no otherwise subsist, till the Sun of righteousness shall arise, than by your observance of the law of Moses, especially as you are to have no prophets till the forerunner of the Messiah.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I humbly conceive, that this verse of reminding the people of the law of Moses, was to bring them under the condemning sentence of Moses’ law. As the law was the ministration of death, for so the Apostle, commissioned by the Holy Ghost, was directed to call it, 2Co 3:7 . this remembrance of it became very proper, and well timed, when Christ was approaching; intimating, that as the knowledge of sin came by the law, this might be made the schoolmaster unto Christ. Rom 7:7 ; Gal 3:24 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mal 4:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, [with] the statutes and judgments.
Ver. 4. Remember ye the law of Moses ] viz. Now henceforth, in the end of prophecy, for Malachi knew that after him until the days of John Baptist no prophet should arise. Hence this exhortation, to read and remember the law, as leading them to Christ; the law, I say, in all the parts of it; not excluding the prophets, those interpreters of the law, and most excellent commentaries thereupon, with like reverence to be read and received. The Jews at this day read in their synagogues two lessons; one out of the law, by some chief person, another out of the prophets, correspondent to the former in argument, but is read by some boy, or lowly companion; for they will in no sort do that honour, neither attribute they that authority, to any part of the Bible, that they do to their law. But “this their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings,” as the Psalmist speaketh in another case, Psa 49:13 . Two things offer themselves to our observation from these first words. First, the little coherence that this verse hath with the former; the prophet choosing rather to fall abruptly upon his most needful, but too much neglected, duty of remembering the law, than not at all to mention it. See the like Rom 16:17 , where the apostle breaks off his salutations, to warn them of their danger by seducers; and that done, returns thereto again. Secondly, in the Hebrew word rendered remember, there is, in many Bibles, a great Zain; to show, as some think, the necessity and excellency of this duty of remembering the law of Moses (Buxtorf. in Comment. Maser. c. 14). Hebrew Text Note It is well enough known, that since the fall man’s soul is like a filthy pond, wherein fish die soon and frogs live long; profane matters are remembered, pious passages forgotten. Our memories are like sieves, or nets, that retain chaff and palterment, let go the good grain, or clear water; God’s word runs through us, as water runs through a riven vessel. And as hour glasses, which no sooner turned up and filled, but are presently running out again to the last sand, so is it here. And yet the promise of salvation is limited to the condition of keeping in memory what we have read or heard, 1Co 15:2 . And David’s character of a blessed man is, that he meditateth in the law day and night, Psa 1:2 .
“ Hoc primum repetens opus, hoc postremus omittens ”( Hor. Eph 6:1-24 ).
Bishop Babington had a little book, containing three leaves only, which he turned over night and morning. The first leaf was black, to remind him of hell and God’s judgments due to him for sin; the second red, to mind him of Christ and his passion; the third white, to set forth God’s mercy to him through the merits of his Son, in his justification and sanctification. The law of the Lord, as it is perfect in itself, so it is right for all holy purposes, Psa 19:7-8 . It serves to reveal sin, Rom 3:20 ; Rom 7:9 , shows the punishment due to sin, Gal 3:10 , scourgeth men to Christ, Gal 3:24 ; and is a perfect rule of obedience; it being so penned that every man may think it speaks de se, in re sua, as Athanasius saith of the book of Psalms; and must therefore be of all acknowledged to be Y , God’s own invention (Demost.). Moses was but the penman only, though it be here called his law; because God gave him the moral law written with his own hand, Deu 10:2 , adding it to the promise made to Abraham, that thereby guilt being discovered, &c., men might acknowledge the riches of free grace and mercy; and that they might walk, as Luther hath it, Gal 3:19 , in the heaven of the promise, but in the earth of the law (that, in respect of believing, this of obeying); that they might live as though there were no gospel, die as though there were no law; pass the time of this life in the wilderness of this world under the conduct of Moses, but let none but Joshua (Jesus) bring them over to Canaan the promised land. This the generality of the Jews could not skill of (though the moral law drove them to the ceremonial, which was then Christ in figure, as it doth now drive us to Christ in truth), they would needs have Moses for a saviour; and being ignorant of God’s righteousness (wilfully ignorant), they go about to establish their own, Rom 10:3 , and so lose all. They jeer at an imputed righteousness; and say, That every fox must pay his own skin to the flayer. They blaspheme Jesus Christ, and curse him in a close abbreviature of his name; and call those among them that convert to Christianity, Meshumadim, that is, lost, or undone (Buxtorf. syn. Jud. cap. 5). Moses’ law they extol without measure; it must not be written on any parchment but what is made of the skin of a clean beast; nor read but in a clean place. No man must touch it but with the right hand, and not without a kiss of reverence. They usually carry it in procession about their synagogue, with many ornaments of crowns and sceptres, the children kissing it as it passeth by them. No man must sit in the presence of it, nor so much as spit before it (Schicard. de iure leg. Hebr. ). Whereas the gospel of grace they utterly reject and abominate, as a volume of vanity ( Evangelium Avan-gelaion ); that Italian translation that they had of the New Testament is called in, and taken from them, for their horrible abuse of it; this being still the twelfth article of their creed, I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Messiah is yet to come. No marvel if the apostle would not have us ignorant, “that blindness in part is happened to Israel,” Rom 11:25 . That lesser part, or rather particle, of them that are proselyted to our religion, they pretend that they are none other than poor Christians hired to impersonate their part. And yet they give complete dispensation to counterfeit Christianity, even to the degree of priesthood. In the day of their expiation, their Rabbi doth absolve them from all their perjuries and deceits used against Christians. He also assures them they are not bound to keep any oath but what is sworn upon their own Torah, or law of Moses, brought out of their synagogue; to the reading whereof they depute one third part of their day; and wherein they are generally so expert, that they have it as ready as their own names ( Facilius quam nomen suum recitati. Joseph. Cont. Appio. lib. 2). The mischief of it is, that they are too much affixed to it, and will needs be saved by it; which the law cannot do for them, as being weak through the flesh, Rom 8:3 . The law is a yoke of bondage, as Jerome calleth it; and they who look for righteousness from hence are like oxen who toil and draw and when they have done their labour are fitted for slaughter. Luther fitly calleth such drudges the devil’s martyrs; they suffer much and take much pains to go to hell. And in another place he saith, Qui scit inter Legem et Evangelium distinguere, gratias agat Deo, et sciat se esse Theologum. He that can rightly distinguish between law and gospel hath cause to praise God; and may well pass for a divine.
Moses my servant
Which I commanded him in Horeb
To all Israel
With the statutes and judgments
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mal 4:4
4Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
Mal 4:4-6 The order of these verses is slightly altered in the Septuagint (i.e., Mal 4:5-6; Mal 4:4). The order is also slightly altered in the Masoretic Text. This seems to be related to the rabbinical thought that the Bible should end with a Covenant name for God. They also did this to the books of Isaiah and Ecclesiastes.
Mal 4:4 Remember This is a command (BDB 269, KB 269, Qal IMPERATIVE, this VERB is so common in Deuteronomy, Deu 5:15; Deu 7:18 [twice]; Deu 8:2; Deu 8:18; Deu 9:7; Deu 9:27; Deu 15:15; Deu 16:3; Deu 16:12; Deu 24:9; Deu 24:18; Deu 24:22; Deu 25:17; Deu 32:7). Privilege brings responsibility! We need to hide God’s word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him (cf. Deu 4:9; Deu 6:12; Deu 8:11-20 : Psa 103:2).
the statutes and ordinances See Special Topic: Terms for God’s Revelation .
HoREB This (BDB 325) is another name for Mt. Sinai (cf. Exodus 19-23). Some have speculated that Horeb (Hebrew word) is the mountain range and Sinai (non-Hebrew word) is the individual peak.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE LOCATION OF MT. SINAI
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the law of Moses. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 20:3, &c.) App-92.
Moses My servant. Reference to Pentateuch (Num 12:7; see note there). App-92.
which I commanded, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 1:6; Deu 4:10). App-92.
statutes and judgments. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 4:1. See note there). App-92.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the law: Exo 20:3-21, Deu 4:5, Deu 4:6, Psa 147:19, Psa 147:20, Isa 8:20, Isa 42:21, Mat 5:17-20, Mat 19:16-22, Mat 22:36-40, Mar 12:28-34, Luk 10:25-28, Luk 16:29-31, Joh 5:39-47, Rom 3:31, Rom 13:1-10, Gal 5:13, Gal 5:14, Gal 5:24, Gal 5:25, Jam 2:9-13
in: Deu 4:10
with: Exo 21:1 – Exo 23:33, Lev 1:1 – Lev 7:38, Psa 147:19
Reciprocal: Exo 3:1 – Horeb Num 3:51 – as the Lord Deu 4:44 – General Deu 5:31 – General Deu 31:9 – Moses Deu 34:5 – So Moses 1Ki 2:3 – written 1Ki 19:8 – Horeb 2Ki 23:25 – according 1Ch 16:15 – ye mindful Neh 1:7 – which thou Neh 8:1 – bring Neh 10:29 – given Isa 26:8 – in Isa 56:1 – Keep Jer 6:16 – Stand Eze 46:9 – come before Joh 3:28 – but Joh 9:29 – know
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mal 4:4. A last exhortation is given to the Jews of the time of Malachi, that they should remember the law of Moses. There was never to be another law of government given to them until that one so forceably predicted in this book ot the prophet.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
FOURTH DIVISION (Mal 4:4-6) This part is a grand conclusion in which the great day of the Lord is once more referred to, and Elijah the prophet named as His forerunner. We learn from Mat 11:14; Mar 9:11 and Luk 1:17 that John the Baptist is to be considered the type of this forerunner, but that Elijah is to come again to this earth is the opinion of many. There are those who believe that he and Moses are the two witnesses in Revelation 11 that shall do wonders in Jerusalem during the reign of the Antichrist.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the peculiarity of this book?
2. Give the proof that Malachi is contemporary with Nehemiah.
3. How do you explain Gods hatred of Esau?
4. What argument against divorce is found here?
5. How do some interpret the prediction about Elijah?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Mal 4:4. Remember ye the law of Moses Ye are not now to expect any succession of prophets for the time to come, nor any prophet whatever, till the forerunner of the Messiah appears: your chief care, therefore, till that time, must be to attend upon the institutions, and to obey the precepts, which Moses has given to all Israel in his law; particularly in that part of it which was delivered to him by God with an audible voice from mount Horeb: see Exo 19:9; Deu 4:10. This your lawgiver spake plainly of the Messiah, instructed you to expect his coming, and solemnly charged you to believe his doctrines and obey his commands, when he should come, threatening all those who did not with inevitable destruction. The words law, statutes, and judgments, are promiscuously used to signify the same thing, as appears from the greater part of the hundred and nineteenth Psalm.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mal 4:4-6. Conclusion.The book closes with an exhortation to observe the Torah or instruction given through Moses; the mention of Horeb, a Deuteronomic trait (P prefers Sinai) perhaps indicates that Malachi has especially in mind the moral and spiritual teachings of Dt. These, if faithfully observed, would heal the strife spoken of in Mal 4:6, and avert the impending doom. Before the judgment falls, another way of escape is promised: Elijah will reappear (with Mal 4:5 cf. Joe 2:31), to set right the social and family discord which is wrecking the community (cf. Mic 7:1-6). The frequent references to Elijah in the Gospels (e.g. Mar 9:11 f; Mar 15:35 Luk 1:17, Mat 11:14, Joh 1:21; Joh 1:25) show how largely the prophet bulked in late Jewish thought. See also Ecclus. 48111, Justin Martyr, Trypho, 8, 49, and Schrer, 29. In Mal 4:6 mg., with necessitates our supplying to God in the text; mg., land is better than the earthMalachi is speaking of Israel. It is possible that these three concluding verses are an appendix to the whole Book of the Twelve.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
4:4 {d} Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, [with] the statutes and judgments.
(d) Because the time had come that the Jews would be destitute of Prophets until the time of Christ, because they should with more fervent minds desire his coming, the Prophet exhorts them to exercise themselves diligently in studying the Law of Moses in the meantime, by which they might continue in the true religion, and also be armed against all temptations.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
E. Second motivation: remember the Law 4:4-6
"Malachi began with an illustration from Genesis (Jacob and Esau) and spent most of the first half of the book reminding priests and people of the need to keep the Mosaic Law. Now, close to the end of his book, he gives another terse reminder of their continuing obligation to those laws." [Note: Alden, p. 724.]
"As the motivation provided in Mal 1:2-5 extends beyond the first address to the whole book . . ., this concluding section provides the book’s climactic command. . . . Malachi begins by pointing to the past and ends by pointing to the future (Mal 4:5-6[Hb. Mal 3:23-24]), thus appropriately grounding the ethical impact of the book in both redemption and eschatology." [Note: Clendenen, p. 454.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Moses’ last words to the Israelites in Deuteronomy contain about 14 exhortations to remember the Law that God had given them. Malachi closed his book, and God closed the Old Testament, with the same exhortation. One writer identified nine connections between Malachi and the Book of Deuteronomy. [Note: Hugenberger, pp. 48-50.] Although the Hebrew canon ends with Chronicles rather than Malachi, Malachi concludes the Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible. The Jews regarded "the Law and the Prophets" as comprising their entire Scriptures (cf. Mat 5:17; Mat 7:12; Mat 11:13; Mat 22:40; Luk 16:16; Joh 1:45; Act 13:15; Act 24:14; Act 28:23; Rom 3:21).
The Israelites had forgotten and disregarded God’s law, and Malachi had pointed out many specific instances of that. Now he urged the people to recall and obey their Law. By calling Moses "My servant," the Lord was reminding Malachi’s audience of how faithful Moses had carried out God’s will. He was to be their model of obedience. The Law of Moses (i.e., the Pentateuch) was still God’s word to His people after all that had happened to them.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
8. THE RETURN OF ELIJAH
Mal 4:4-6; Heb 4:3-5
With his last word the prophet significantly calls upon the people to remember the Law. This is their one hope before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. But, in order that the Law may have full effect, Prophecy will be sent to bring it home to the hearts of the people-Prophecy in the person of her founder and most drastic representative. Nothing could better gather up than this conjunction does that mingling of Law and of Prophecy which we have seen to be so characteristic of the work of “Malachi.” Only we must not overlook the fact that “Malachi” expects this prophecy, which with the Law is to work the conversion of the people, not in the continuance of the prophetic succession by the appearance of original personalities, developing further the great principles of their order, but in the return of the first prophet Elijah. This is surely the confession of Prophecy that the number of her servants is exhausted and her message to Israel fulfilled. She can now do no more for the people than she has done. But she will summon up her old energy and fire in the return of her most powerful personality, and make one grand effort to convert the nation before the Lord come and strike it with judgment.
“Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant, with which I charged him in Horeb for all Israel: statutes and judgments. Lo! I am sending to you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, ere I come and strike the land with the Ban.”
“Malachi” makes this promise of the Law in the dialect of Deuteronomy: “statutes and judgments with which Jehovah charged Moses for Israel.” But the Law he enforces is not that which God delivered to Moses on the plains of Shittim, but that which He gave him in Mount Horeb. And so it came to pass. In a very few years after “Malachi” prophesied Ezra the Scribe brought from Babylon the great Levitical Code, which appears to have been arranged there, while the colony in Jerusalem were still organizing their life under Deuteronomic legislation. In 444 b. c. this Levitical Code, along with Deuteronomy, became by covenant between the people and their God their Canon and Law. And in the next of our prophets, Joel, we shall find its full influence at work.