Malachi 4

For behold the day shall come kindled as a furnace: and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall set them on fire^a, saith the Lord of hosts, it shall not leave them root, nor branch.

a the Lake of Fire.

²But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise^b, and health in his wings: and you^c shall go forth, and shall leap like calves of the herd.

b Jesus. c the church.

³ And you shall tread down the wicked when they shall be ashes under the sole of your feet in the day that I do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁴ Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, the precepts, and judgments.

⁵ Behold I will send you Elias^d the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

d John the Baptist.

⁶ 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 strike the earth with anathema.

Sources for Commentary on Malachi

¹ Didache, 14.

4:1 LIT: The day of God’s vengeance is coming and He will render unto the wicked according to what they have done. ALL: The devil and his demons will be judged and damned to hell on the Day of Judgment (Rev. 20:7-10).

4:2-6 LIT: The prophet speaks of the coming of one (Jesus) who will come to heal His people and give them victory over their enemies. He also speaks of the coming of one, under the name of Elijah (John the Baptist), who will turn the hearts of the people. ALL: John the Baptist, according to Jesus (Matthew 11:13-14), was the Elijah who was to come before the Day of Judgment. Is not John the Baptist a type of the church which is called to turn the hearts of the people unto the Lord? MOR: All of God’s people are instructed through these things to turn the hearts of the people unto God before the Day of Judgment.