Subscribe to Bible Fiber on Youtube or wherever you listen to your podcasts!
In Malachi’s sixth and final disputation, God consistently speaks in first person to the community, a fact made more significant in light of the fact that Malachi was the last of the writing prophets (3:13-4:3). The sixth disputation indicates that the spirit of cynicism had taken deep root in the community. The people had dared to criticize God. However, for the first time in the book, we learn there was also a righteous minority who remained faithful to Yahweh. The disputation expresses the contrasting experiences of the righteous and unrighteous on the day of the Lord.
Once again, Malachi introduced the disputation using his standard formula of hypothetical dialogue between God and the general population. God made an accusation, and the people gave a smug response. Here, God accused them of speaking “harsh words” against him. The people, speaking with one voice, asked, “How have we spoken against you?” (3:13). The rejoinder’s tone either reflects intentional denial of God’s words or sincere surprise at the accusation. Either way, the prophet’s job was to show the people that their indifference to God and his decrees was as offensive as rejecting him and criticizing him aloud.
Point of the covenant
Malachi’s generation believed obedience had gotten them nowhere and that it made no difference in the quality of their lives. They questioned what they “profit by keeping his command[s]” (3:14). They wondered how they benefited by “going about as mourners before the Lord of hosts” (3:14). The idea of mourning seems like an odd way to describe the perceived futility of following God’s statutes. However, by following the Torah’s prescription for mourning rituals, the Israelites had the opportunity to put on outwardly visible, pious airs. They would lament loudly for at least seven days. Jewish mourning customs in biblical times included tearing clothes, growing beards, shaving hair, and rubbing ashes on their heads. Malachi’s contemporaries complained that even the performance of mourning won them no divine sympathy (2:13).
To follow the statutes and decrees of the Torah to their full extent was a demanding and time-consuming commitment. Inevitably, individuals in the community observed the Sabbath, temple offerings, dietary restrictions, and household codes in numerous ways. We know from Malachi’s previous disputations that the general populace was skimping on the tithe. They were also marrying pagans, committing adultery, lying, and oppressing the weak. Despite these habitual sins, they did not see themselves as transgressors. They begrudged their neighbors and fellow Israelites who ignored the covenant obligations without consequence (3:15). Those making intentional sacrifices to follow God’s laws wondered if it was worth it.
Malachi tried to warn them that even if they felt blameless and upright, they were not. His sixth disputation did not mention the transgressions the people had in mind when they were accusing God of blessing the arrogant and prospering the evildoers. However, it was easy to imagine certain scenarios that caused their cynicism to escalate. For example, if a merchant sold his wares on the Sabbath, he would profit from the lack of competition. As a result, the Sabbath-keepers grumbled against God. Their faithfulness put them at a disadvantage, compared to the Sabbath-breakers (3:15).
The example of breaking the Sabbath is not arbitrary. According to Nehemiah, the postexilic community profaned the Sabbath routinely. Nehemiah reported, “In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens that they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, and I warned them against selling food” (Neh. 13:15). If everyone did not hallow the Sabbath, the Sabbath-breakers would monopolize the markets on that day.
Even if the people were justified in their complaints about the worst offenders getting away with their law-breaking, the glaring problem with the people’s mindset was that, rather than delighting in God and his ways, they intended for the relationship to benefit them materially. They desired external reward (money, political favor, crops) for their external service (empty religious performance). It was a selfish approach to a life designed for inward faithfulness, love, and reverence toward God. When they mocked God for abandoning his law of retribution, they were accusing him of being idle.
Righteous minority
Despite the aura of spiritual apathy, God identified in Malachi’s generation a minority of Israelites who revered him. As obedient followers, they were cleared of any guilt. Malachi described a scenario in which a righteous remnant came together and exalted the name of God. Malachi wrote, “those who revered the Lord spoke with one another” and “the Lord took note and listened” (3:16). God heard their edifying speech. Although their exact words are unknown, God was pleased with their reverence for his name and their commitment to pursue a life of obedience.
Book of Life
Malachi said, “a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the Lord and thought on his name” (3:16). Possibly, Malachi was describing a covenant renewal ceremony in which he took part, in which case, the God-fearers may have made an actual scroll with a list of the names of the righteous: a permanent record indicating that not every Israelite in the restored community had fallen away.
The concept of a book of remembrance, mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, likely was based on the habit of ancient kings, who kept records of everything that happened in their royal courts (Est. 6:1). The first mention of God keeping track of humans in a book is when God told Moses he would blot out the names of those who had sinned against him (Ex. 32:33). Centuries later, Daniel described the resurrection of the dead as a roll call based on the names written in God’s book (Dan. 12:1). In the Psalms, David described God’s book as a prescient recording of life events before someone was even born (Ps. 139:16). Revelation describes a final judgment of the dead, using multiple books which include names and past deeds (Rev. 20:12-15). In modern times, on Yom Kippur, Jews greet each other with Gmar chatima tova which means “a good final sealing.” This is based on the belief that God decides on Yom Kippur whose names he will seal in the Book of Life.
The tradition of a Book of Life centers on the belief that one day God will balance the scales of justice between the faithful and the unfaithful. He will declare the faithful to be his “treasured possession,” and he will “spare them as parents spare their children who serve them” (3:17). “Treasured possession” is a throwback expression, recalling the events of Mount Sinai when God chose Israel out of all the other nations. God promised that if the former slaves would obey his voice and keep his covenant, they would be his “treasured possession” (Ex. 19:5).
By juxtaposing the reaction of the righteous with the tone of the unrighteous, Malachi showed they could no longer accuse God of withholding punishment. Malachi said, “once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him” (3:18).
Wrath of God
In Malachi, fire symbolizes God’s wrath. Malachi’s heavy emphasis on the role of fire in God’s ultimate act of judgment may reflect the returnees’ cultural contact with Persian belief systems during the exile. In the ancient Persian religion, fire was a sacred manifestation of the god Ahura Mazda. Ancient Persians built fire temples with continuous flames, which were never to be extinguished. Malachi assured the true believers that God would protect them from incineration on the day of reckoning, but the evildoers would perish like “stubble” in a burning oven (4:1). God would permit nothing to survive of the unrighteous, “neither root nor branch” (4:2).
Jesus, in the gospel of Matthew, also described the day of the Lord as a fiery furnace. After several parables comparing the kingdom of heaven to treasure in a field, a fine pearl, and a fish-laden net, Jesus warned that at the end of the age, “the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:50).
The day of the Lord meant different things to various prophets. Like turning a kaleidoscope, the prophets were glimpsing different facets of coming divine interventions in the world: a return of the line of David, an ingathering of the exiles, a glorious rebuilt temple, God’s vengeance on Israel’s enemies, an abundance of crops, and Israel’s exaltation among the nations. Though each vision was fulfilled or will be fulfilled at distinct stages of Israel’s story, they were all combined into a single day of the Lord. Prophecies about coming punishments were realized with the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Roman attacks. The decree of Cyrus and the restoration of the Second Temple fulfilled the promise of the returning remnant from exile. For Christians, some oracles pointed to the first coming of Jesus and his mission to suffer and die on our behalf. We expect other facets of the day of the Lord to occur when Jesus returns to rule and reign over the earth.
Malachi added a new facet to the prophetic kaleidoscope by describing the redemptive characteristics of the day for true believers. God would preserve a fellowship of the righteous on the day of the Lord. With them, God would launch a restart plan. This was a new twist on the prophetic motif of retribution. In earlier prophetic writings, the focus was often on Israel prevailing over her historic enemies, like the Edomites, or the Babylonians, or the Assyrians. In Malachi, God was separating the chaff from the grain within the nation of Israel. The day of the Lord would bring internal judgment.
God promised, “for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” (4:2). The sun’s wings referred to the sun’s rays. With its warm rays appearing just over the horizon, the sun exemplified healing. People would be relieved from sickness and depression. Isaiah used the sun as a metaphor for a new day in his restoration vision. Isaiah wrote, “the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day when the Lord binds up the injuries of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow” (Isa. 30:26).
God promised the righteous remnant, “you shall go out leaping like calves from the stall” (4:2). Malachi described calves freely grazing under the warmth of the sun in the joys of freedom and peace. A beautiful future would await those who feared the name of the Lord. With the picture of grass, sunshine, and frolicking calves, I cannot help but recall Jesus’ invitation: “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).
Malachi’s exhortation ends with a warning that the ashes of the doubters will be trampled by playful calves. God said, “you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet” (4:3). The Lord’s day is a two-sided coin. Judgment for one would be salvation for the other. Stated differently, one can choose from two fates: the consuming fire of a burning oven or the gentle warmth of the rising sun. Because God fashioned humanity to be free to choose or reject their creator, their fate is in their hands. They can choose to revere, honor, and obey God, or they can choose the temporal comforts of the world and whatever myths they find most appealing.