We make no apology for printing the whole of these passages of Scripture, for nothing that any man can write is comparable to the word inspired by God; moreover we are persuaded that but few would take the trouble to turn to the passage in their Bibles, and read it while reading the article, and without the text before the eyes, or in the mind, the talk upon it is of little profit. "Your words have been stout against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against You? You have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. Then they that feared the Lord spoke with one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him. Then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not." (Malachi 3:13-18) "For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts. Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 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 [or, "with utter destruction"]." (Malachi 4:1-6)
A few general notes, to enable the student to read the passage understandably, are all that space will allow, and all that are necessary. If everybody knew how to read the Bible, and would read it, there would be no need of any such paper as this. Indeed, there would be little need of religious books of any kind; for to know how to read the Bible is to know the Lord; and to know the Lord well is to be in a position where one needs no other instructor. The promise to God's children is, "they shall all be taught of God;" (John 6:45) and when the time comes that all know Him, from the least to the greatest, "They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:34)
One should read the entire book of Malachi, in order to get a good understanding of the portion contained in this lesson. It is short, and will not take much time. From the reading it will appear that the service of God had degenerated into a mere form among priests and people, and that the people were weary even of the form. Not only were "the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith," (Matthew 23:23) neglected, but, offerings, tithes and sacrifices were omitted or slighted.
False Witness Against God
Yet they could not see that they had said anything against the Lord. They had evidently not been guilty of open blasphemy, and so they boldly asked, when reproved, "What have we spoken against You?" (Malachi 3:13)
They had said that is was vain to serve God, and that there was no profit in keeping His commandments. The Lord regarded these as very "stout" words against Him, and they certainly were. To say that the service of God is vain, and that there is no profit in keeping His commandments, is the same as saying that He is a liar; for He says that His commandments are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, (Psalm 19:10) and that: "in keeping of them there is great reward." (Psalm 19:110
It is the same as saying that God himself is nothing. What more terrible charge could be brought against God than to say that His service is vain?
Are you sure that you have never been guilty of speaking such stolid words against God? Have you never become discouraged, and said,
"I can't see any use in trying to do right"?
Have you never envied the wicked, and called the proud happy, and said, "They that work wickedness are built up," (Malachi 3:15) and that people who look out for themselves, and do as they please, are better off than those who serve God? Have you never said, or thought, that the Lord did not care for you, and that He had neglected you, although you have given diligence to be faithful to Him? Have you never felt like "giving up" the Christian life, or at least that which you supposed was a Christian life, because you could not see that there was any profit in it,--no worldly profit, certainly, and no prospect of any spiritual gain?
If so,--and who cannot plead guilty to some such thoughts and speeches at some time in his life?--then your words have been exceedingly "stout" against God. You have been echoing the devil's false witness against the Most High. Surely it is time to repent.
Speaking God's Praise "Then they that feared the Lord spoke with one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name." (Malachi 3:16)
This verse is often quoted in meetings for prayer and testimony, as an incentive for people to bear testimony for the Lord. No doubt the speaking one to another includes such occasions, but it is most certain that it is not limited to them. They that fear the Lord have conversations with one another about His goodness, and they do not need to be exhorted and urged to do so. Love that is forced, and must be prompted, is not of much value. "All your work shall praise You, O Lord; and your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and talk of your power; To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom." (Psalm 145:10-12)
And this they will do spontaneously from the fullness of their hearts. The saints of the Lord will praise and bless Him in the same way that His other works do, only to as much greater a degree as they are greater than all things else. The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1) without any urging them to "do their duty." Get acquainted with the Lord, and you will know that His service is not vain, but that it is so blessed and joyous that you must tell of it to others. "Come and hear, all you that fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul!" (Psalm 66:16) "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:20)
The Lord's Property
"And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him. Then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not." (Malachi 3:17-18)
The Lord has an interest in this earth. He made it, and He has a desire to the work of His hands. Those to whom He let out His property have sadly neglected it, and have let it run down, and have failed to give Him what fruit it did raise; yet He has not parted with it, and proposes to take the property over at no distant day.
When He makes up His property, those who have spoken to one another of His goodness, and have made known to the sons of men the glorious majesty of His kingdom will be acknowledged as His. They are not only His servants, but they are called sons. They serve the Lord, not as slaves, but as sons.
At that time there will be no difficulty in distinguishing between the righteous wicked, between Him that serves God, and him that serves Him not, for the day that burns as a furnace will burn them up. They will be nothing but stubble in the flame. But to those who fear the Lord the Sun of righteousness will arise, and they will be able to dwell with everlasting earnings. (Isaiah 33:14-15)
The Fate of the Wicked
"For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Malachi 4:1)
This scripture shows sufficiently, if there were no other in the Bible to the same effect, that there will come a time when there will not be a sinner in the Lord's dominions. Not because all will be converted, for the Lord tells us that the majority will go in the broad road to destruction, (Matthew 7:13-14) but because at the last day those who have utterly refused the Lord, will be utterly destroyed.
The Lord is coming, and His fan is in His hand, "and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into His garner; but the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:12)
Then will the wicked "be as though they had not been." (Obadiah 16) "The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of the lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. ... For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." (Psalm 37:20,10)
These truths concerning the final fate of the incorrigibly wicked are not arbitrary. They are a necessary consequence of the truth that Christ Jesus came into the world that "whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
The utter extinction of those who reject the Lord is not an arbitrary act of vengeance on the part of God, but is the inevitable result of their rejection of Christ, who is "the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6)
Since they reject "the Author of life," (Acts 3:15,margin) who is the only life, the One in whom alone men can live, and move, and have any being, (Acts 17:28) it inevitably follows that they must cease to be. "Whither shall I go from your Spirit? or whither shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall your hand lead me, and your right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139:7-10)
And wherever God is, He must reign. Therefore when men say that they will not have Him to reign over them, that they will not be led by Him, and that they will not have His right hand hold them, because they wish to be "free from restraint," and declare that they will not live in His presence, it is plain that there is no place for them in the universe.
The only place where they can flee from His presence is to get out of existence. And God, who gives to every man the desire of his heart, will graciously send them there. It is not necessary that He perform any arbitrary act in order to do this, but simply to let them be; when His life is withdrawn from them, according to their wish, they at once sink into nothingness. Outside of God there is nothing.
New Life and Perfect Health in Christ
"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall." (Malachi 4:2)
When the Sun of righteousness arises it is "with healing in His wings." He is our life. (Deuteronomy 30:20) "[He] who forgives all our iniquities [also] heals all our diseases. [He] redeems our life from destruction." (Psalm 103:3-4)
This He does by giving us His own life, which is eternal life. Now the characteristics of eternal life is that it is ever new, ever fresh. Who ever drinks of the water of life that Christ gives, has in him a well of water, ever springing up. (John 4:14) The vigor of this life will be seen to be full when all things have been created new and sin and sinners have been cleared from the earth by the fires of the last, great day. Then the righteous will go forth, and from very exuberance of life, from the bare joy of being alive, shall leap and gambol as calves let loose from the stall. (Malachi 4:2) "Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." (Isaiah 35:6)
But all this freshness is not to be reserved till the last day. Even now does the Sun of righteousness shine, and we may, if we will, rejoice in His healing beams. When the lame man at the gate of the temple was made strong in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, he went with the apostles into the temple, "walking, and leaping, and praising God." (Acts 3:8) "They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
The life is manifested, in order that we may have fullness of joy, and joy of the most real kind. The life is life indeed. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23)
It is possible,--and whatever is possible with the Lord is our privilege and duty,--for men to live so fully by the life of the Lord, that His new mercies will make them feel new life every morning, so that they will be glad with the joy of life. This is not sentiment,--it is not a matter of theorizing, but comes by consciously taking the life of the Lord as it is manifested in His gifts to us, and of receiving it fresh from the Fountain head, in the purest form possible. "Then shall your ... health spring forth speedily." (Isaiah 58:8)
The words of God are health to the flesh of all who will live by them. "My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh." (Proverbs 4:20-22)
We must not try it for the mere selfish purpose of desire and to feel better physically, but because we wish to live wholly to the glory of God, who gives us life; doing this, we shall find even with the progress of years the freshness and buoyancy of youth.
The Law of Moses a Defense
"Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 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 [or, "with utter destruction"]." (Malachi 4:4-6)
The law of Moses is not obsolete. Even down to the very last days, just before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord, (Joel 2:31) it is to be remembered. The Spirit and power of Elijah the prophet are given in connection with this law, to work a reformation among men, so that the Lord will not be obliged to smite the earth with utter destruction. "Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." (Isaiah 13:9) "The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." (Isaiah 24:4-6)
But because some will remember the law of Moses, which God commanded him in Horeb, with all the statutes and judgments, and will not say that there is no profit in keeping His charge, there will be a few men left. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)
Moved by the Holy Spirit, the Psalmist David prayed: "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to your mercy remember me for your goodness' sake, O Lord." (Psalm 25:7)
That, therefore, is a promise that the Lord will do as requested. What a comfort to know that all the sins and follies of our youth are forgiven, and that we need not be handicapped by them, but can run the race set before us as freely as though we had never sinned.
Why bow you down, O soul of mine,
Crushed by ancestral sin?
You have a noble heritage
That bids you victory win.
The tainted past may bring forth flowers,
As blossomed Aaron's rod;
No legacy of sin annuls
Heredity from God.
--Lydia Avery Coonley-Ward, Poem: Heredity.
--Present Truth, December 7, 1899--Notes on the International Sunday-School Lessons--Malachi 3:13-18; 4:1-6
E.J. Waggoner