From the day that man sinned to the days of Malachi, there had been promises of the coming of the Deliverer. And now as the last prophetic voice of the Old Testament is heard, it announces the coming of the messenger to prepare the way of the promised One, and to make ready a people prepared to meet Him.
This messenger came accordingly, calling the people to repentance, and to belief on Him that was to come. Those who received the message of the messenger, were by that prepared to receive Him whom the messenger announced. Those who rejected the words and testimony of the messenger, likewise rejected the Messiah when He came.
He knew that he was that messenger. He knew the message that he had to bear to the people, and he delivered his message faithfully and fearlessly. He, like the prophet Haggai before him, was "the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message unto the people." (Haggai 1:13)
John the Baptist came "preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent; for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. ... And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:1-2,10-12)
And when they sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was, "He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah." (John 1:23)
He knew the work that he had to do. He knew that the time was come for the fulfillment of these prophecies. And he knew that his work was the fulfillment of them. He was the one of whom Malachi had spoken in the lesson for today; he was the one of whom Isaiah had spoken; and he and his message were the living evidence that God gave to the people that the Messiah was at hand. And while he was preaching, Messiah came and was baptized of him.
But it was not alone the first coming of Christ that was announced by John the Baptist, nor by Malachi, nor by any of the prophets. John the Baptist announced the gathering of the wheat into the garner--the harvest--and the burning up of the chaff. This is what Malachi had prophesied in the verses chosen for the present lesson.
He not only spoke of the coming of the Lord to His temple as at His first advent, but he also spoke of the coming of the same Lord "to judgment," (Malachi 3:5) which will be at His second advent; as says Paul, "I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the word." (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
This is the coming which is referred to in the questions, "Who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appears?" (Malachi 3:2)
See also: "And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great: for He is strong that executes His word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" (Joel 2:11)
It is then especially that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver, and whosoever reflects His image will be accepted with Him. And this is especially so of those who shall be alive on the earth to behold Him when He appears. They are to endure a "fiery trial"; (1 Peter 4:12-13) they are to be "baptized with the baptism;" (Matthew 20:22) they are to have every vestige of this world's dross purged out of them. The test will be severe so that none is like it; (Jeremiah 30:7) but those who endure it shall come forth as gold, and "be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:7)
Then after that comes the burning up of the chaff, "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)
Here is the declaration of the word of God, as plain as language can make it, that all that do wickedly shall be burned up, root and branch. And the force of these words cannot be evaded except by making the language figurative, and then it may be made to mean just what any one pleases. But as long as plain language conveys any real meaning, so long will it be the truth that these words mean that the wicked shall be burned up as chaff is burned in the fire. This is made even stronger, if such a thing were possible, by the third verse, which says to the righteous, "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." (Malachi 4:3)
The wicked are to be punished upon this earth; (Proverbs 11:31; Isaiah 24:21; Revelation 20:8-9) they are to be punished by fire, and that fire is to be the fire that is to melt the earth. (2 Peter 3:7,10) The earth will in that day burn as an oven, and all the wicked being upon it, will be, according to the words of the prophet, burned up upon the earth. Then the earth is to be made over new, and the righteous shall dwell therein forever, (Revelation 21:5,7) according to the word of Christ, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth;" (Matthew 5:5) and according to the words of Malachi in the lesson. After saying that the wicked shall be burned up, then he says: "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)
And the wicked, having been consumed on the earth, and returned to dust and ashes, shall be ashes under the soles of the feet of those who inherit and inhabit the earth. The doctrine of eternal torment is contrary to the word of God. More than a hundred times the Lord speaks of the fate of the wicked in terms that denote nothing but utter destruction and cessation of existence.
As there was a message of His coming carried to the people to whom Christ was to appear in His first advent; likewise there will be a message announcing His coming to the people who will see Him in His second advent. It will be a message such as was that of Elijah to the people of His day. "You have forsaken the commandments of the Lord...How long halt you between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal [the sun] then follow him." (1 Kings 18:21)
The world in these last days have forsake the commandments of the Lord and have followed Rome, and now God sends a message of warning and of duty to this, the generation of those who shall see the appearing of the Lord in glory. He says: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. ... Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:9-10,12)
Then the next thing that is seen is "a white cloud, and upon the cloud one...like the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle," (Revelation 14:14) and coming to reap the harvest of the earth; to gather the wheat into His garner, and to gather the chaff to burn it. As those who accepted the message of God by John the Baptist were thereby prepared to accept the Messiah which he announced, so those now who accept this message of God will be thereby prepared to meet the Messiah in His second advent to this world.
God's message and His messengers are now in the world announcing the second coming of Christ, as really as was His message in the world proclaiming His first coming. Will you accept the message and meet Him in peace, bear His image, and be gathered as the precious wheat into His garner? or will you reject His warning and be found among the chaff?--Signs of the Times, March 11, 1886--Notes on the International Lesson, March 21--Malachi 3:1-6; 4:4-6
A.T. Jones