Malachi gives us practical guidelines about commitment to God: God deserves the best we have to offer (1:7-10). We must be willing to change our wrong ways of living (2:1-2). We should make our family a lifelong priority (2:13-16). We should be sensitive to God’s refining process in our life (3:3). And we should remember there is no room for pride (3:13-15). This Sunday we will conclude our 7-part series from Malachi by looking at Malachi 4 which describes the resolution of the righteous and the wicked.
God’s wrath toward the wicked will burn like a furnace (Malachi 4:1). But He will be like the healing warmth of the sun to those who love and obey Him (Malachi 4:2). Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied in Luke 1:68-79 that with the coming of Jesus, the dawn was about to break with light for those in sin’s darkness. Those who revere the name of the Lord will be healed by the rays of the sun of righteousness and go out and frolic like well-fed calves released from the stall (Malachi 4:2).