Tuesday 13 December 2022

Background

Verses 1-3 expound "the great and terrible day of the Lord" which was a frequent theme of the Old Testament prophets. They envisaged the day bringing to an end the current muddled era of world history, where the arrogant and wicked are mixed up with those ‘revere God’s name’ (v. 2). ('Name’ refers to God’s character and power.)

The day of the Lord would be the occasion of God’s fiery judgement. Those who ignored or acted against God’s will would be utterly destroyed (like stubble set alight in a field). But for the righteous it would be like the dawn of a new day, marked by healing and new energy (like young calves leaping as they are released from a stall). The righteous would join in God’s destruction of the wicked, as a farmer might trample over the ashes of his burnt field. Thereafter people will live in God’s way without compromise or failure.

Verses 4-6 read like a formal conclusion from an editor, rounding off the Book of Malachi, and perhaps also the collection of the 12 Minor Prophets in the Old Testament (Hosea to Malachi). Its themes are:

• The law of Moses always holds final authority for Israel, and the true prophets reinforce or interpret it.
• The greatest of all Israel’s prophets was Elijah. Uniquely he was taken straight from earth to heaven (2 Kings 2:11), so he can return. As God’s final appeal and help for Israel, before the day of the Lord, Elijah will be sent back.  His task will be to restore Israel and the relationships within families, through a ministry of reconciliation.  That was a pivotal demand of the law and would enable Israel to receive God's blessing.

Moses and Elijah, law and prophecy, belong together – a theme carried over into the New Testament in the story of Jesus’s transfiguration.

To Ponder:

• Jesus stressed the overriding importance of reconciliation.  Are there people you have fallen out with, or from whom you have distanced yourself with whom you should initiate an attempt at reconciliation?  Is there a ‘neutral’ person who can help you find mutual forgiveness?
•  Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God was set against the backcloth of the day of the Lord.  But Jesus insisted God’s ‘name’ is simply self-giving love and humble service of humanity. The healing and life-nourishing promise of the kingdom was available to those who trusted him. Does this gospel of grace also include God’s judgement?  If God never destroys life, how is God’s judgement exercised?