1 For, lo, the day hath come, burning as a furnace, And all the proud, and every wicked doer, have been stubble, And burnt them hath the day that came, Said Jehovah of Hosts, That there is not left to them root or branch,
and the present heavens and the earth, by the same word are treasured, for fire being kept to a day of judgment and destruction of the impious men.
in flaming fire, giving vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ;
And the house of Jacob hath been a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame, And the house of Esau for stubble, And they have burned among them, And they have consumed them, And there is not a remnant to the house of Esau, For Jehovah hath spoken.
Lo, they have been as stubble! Fire hath burned them, They deliver not themselves from the power of the flame, There is not a coal to warm them, a light to sit before it.
whose fan `is' in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather his wheat to the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.'
Lo, I am sending to you Elijah the prophet, Before the coming of the day of Jehovah, The great and the fearful.
Even their silver, even their gold, Is not able to deliver them in a day of the wrath of Jehovah, And in the fire of His jealousy consumed is the whole land, For only a hastened end doth He make Of all the inhabitants of the land!
Mountains have shaken because of Him, And the hills have been melted; And lifted up `is' the earth at His presence, And the world and all dwelling in it. Before His indignation who doth stand? And who riseth up in the heat of His anger? His fury hath been poured out like fire, And the rocks have been broken by Him.
`Because days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall cast around thee a rampart, and compass thee round, and press thee on every side,
`And when ye may see Jerusalem surrounded by encampments, then know that come nigh did her desolation;
Lo, a day hath come to Jehovah, And divided hath been thy spoil in thy midst.
For while princes `are' perplexed, And with their drink are drunken, They have been consumed as stubble fully dried.
Blow ye a trumpet in Zion, And shout ye in My holy hill, Tremble do all inhabitants of the earth, For coming is the day of Jehovah, for `it is' near!
Lo, the day, lo, it hath come, Gone forth hath the morning, Blossomed hath the rod, flourished the pride.
Yea, they have not been planted, Yea, they have not been sown, Yea, not taking root in the earth is their stock, And also He hath blown upon them, and they wither, And a whirlwind as stubble taketh them away.
For a day `is' to Jehovah of Hosts, For every proud and high one, And for every lifted up and low one, And for all cedars of Lebanon, The high and the exalted ones, And for all oaks of Bashan, And for all the high mountains, And for all the exalted heights, And for every high tower, And for every fenced wall, And for all ships of Tarshish, And for all desirable pictures. And bowed down hath been the haughtiness of man, And humbled the loftiness of men, And set on high hath Jehovah alone been in that day.
Thou makest them as a furnace of fire, At the time of Thy presence. Jehovah in His anger doth swallow them, And fire doth devour them. Their fruit from earth Thou destroyest, And their seed from the sons of men.
From beneath his roots are dried up, And from above cut off is his crop.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Malachi 4
Commentary on Malachi 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
We have here proper instructions given us (very proper to close the canon of the Old Testament with),
Mal 4:1-3
The great and terrible day of the Lord is here prophesied of. This, like the pillar of cloud and fire, shall have a dark side turned towards the Egyptians that fight against God, and a bright side towards the faithful Israelites that follow him: The day cometh, that is, the Lord cometh, the day of the Lord; and it has reference both to the first and to the second coming of Jesus Christ; the day of both was fixed, and should answer the character here given of it.
Mal 4:4-6
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:-