mh_parser/vol_split/39 - Malachi/Chapter 4.xml

<div2 id="Mal.v" n="v" next="xxi" prev="Mal.iv" progress="99.67%" title="Chapter IV">
<h2 id="Mal.v-p0.1">M A L A C H I.</h2>
<h3 id="Mal.v-p0.2">CHAP. IV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Mal.v-p1" shownumber="no">We have here proper instructions given us (very
proper to close the canon of the Old Testament with), I. Concerning
the state of recompence and retribution that is before us, the
misery of the wicked and the happiness of the righteous in that
state, <scripRef id="Mal.v-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.1-Mal.4.3" parsed="|Mal|4|1|4|3" passage="Mal 4:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. And this
is represented to us under a prophecy of the destruction of
Jerusalem, and the unbelieving Jews with it, and of the comforts
and triumphs of those among them that received the gospel. II.
Concerning the state of trial and preparation we are now in, in
which we are directed to have an eye to divine revelation, and to
follow that; they then must keep to the law of Moses (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.4" parsed="|Mal|4|4|0|0" passage="Mal 4:4">ver. 4</scripRef>) and expect a further discovery
of God's will by Elijah the prophet, that is, by John Baptist, the
harbinger of the Messiah, <scripRef id="Mal.v-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.5-Mal.4.6" parsed="|Mal|4|5|4|6" passage="Mal 4:5,6">ver. 5,
6</scripRef>. The last chapter of the New Testament is much to the
same purport, setting before us heaven and hell in the other world,
and obliging us to adhere to the word of God in this world.</p>
<scripCom id="Mal.v-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4" parsed="|Mal|4|0|0|0" passage="Mal 4" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Mal.v-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.1-Mal.4.3" parsed="|Mal|4|1|4|3" passage="Mal 4:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mal.v-p1.6">
<h4 id="Mal.v-p1.7">Evangelical Predictions. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.v-p1.8">b. c.</span> 400.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mal.v-p2" shownumber="no">1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn
as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall
be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.v-p2.1">Lord</span> of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch.   2 But unto you that fear my
name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his
wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
  3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be
ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do
<i>this,</i> saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.v-p2.2">Lord</span> of
hosts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p3" shownumber="no">The great and terrible day of the Lord is
here prophesied of. This, like the pillar of cloud and fire, shall
have a dark side turned towards the Egyptians that fight against
God, and a bright side towards the faithful Israelites that follow
him: <i>The day cometh,</i> that is, the Lord cometh, the day of
the Lord; and it has reference both to the first and to the second
coming of Jesus Christ; the day of both was fixed, and should
answer the character here given of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p4" shownumber="no">I. In both Christ is a consuming fire to
those that rebel against him. The day of his coming <i>shall burn
as an oven;</i> it shall be a day of wrath, of <i>fiery
indignation.</i> This was foretold concerning the Messiah,
<scripRef id="Mal.v-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.21.9" parsed="|Ps|21|9|0|0" passage="Ps 21:9">Ps. xxi. 9</scripRef>, <i>Thy hand
shall find out all thy enemies,</i> and <i>shall make them as a
fiery oven in the time of thy anger.</i> It will be a day of terror
and destruction like the burning of a city, or rather of a wood,
the trees whereof are withered and dried, for to that the allusion
seems to be, as <scripRef id="Mal.v-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.17-Isa.10.18" parsed="|Isa|10|17|10|18" passage="Isa 10:17,18">Isa. x. 17,
18</scripRef>, <i>The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his
Holy One for a flame, and it shall consume the glory of his forest
and of his fruitful field.</i> Now observe here, 1. Who shall be
fuel to this fire—all <i>the proud</i> in heart, whose words have
been stout against God, and their necks stiff and unapt to yield to
the yoke of his commandments (all those that <i>in the pride of
their countenances will not seek after God,</i> nor submit to the
grace and government of Jesus Christ—all that proudly say they
<i>will not have Christ to reign over them</i>), and all those that
<i>do wickedly</i> in their affections and conversations, that
wilfully persist in sin, in contempt of and contradiction to the
law of God; they are such as <i>do wickedly against the
covenant,</i> as another prophet had lately expressed it, <scripRef id="Mal.v-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.32" parsed="|Dan|11|32|0|0" passage="Da 11:32">Dan. xi. 32</scripRef>. God, that has perfect
knowledge of every one's character, knows who are <i>the proud,</i>
and of every one's actions, knows who they are that <i>do
wickedly;</i> and they shall be as <i>stubble</i> to this fire;
they shall be consumed by it, easily consumed, utterly consumed,
and it is wholly owing to themselves that they shall be so, for
they make themselves stubble, that is, combustible matter, to this
fire. If they were not stubble, it would not burn them; for the
fire will be to every man according as he and his works are found;
if they be <i>wood, hay,</i> and <i>stubble,</i> they will be
<i>consumed;</i> but if they be <i>gold, silver, and precious
stones,</i> they will <i>abide the fire</i> and be purified by it,
<scripRef id="Mal.v-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.3.13-1Cor.3.15" parsed="|1Cor|3|13|3|15" passage="1Co 3:13-15">1 Cor. iii. 13-15</scripRef>. Those
that by their unbelief oppose Christ thereby set themselves as
<i>briers and thorns</i> before a <i>devouring fire,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.4-Isa.27.5" parsed="|Isa|27|4|27|5" passage="Isa 27:4,5">Isa. xxvii. 4, 5</scripRef>. 2. What shall be
the force and what the fruit of this fire: <i>The day that cometh
shall burn them up,</i> shall both terrify and ruin them, and shall
<i>leave them neither root nor branch,</i> neither <i>son</i> nor
<i>nephew</i> (so the Chaldee paraphrase): neither they nor their
posterity shall be spared; they shall be wholly extirpated and cut
off. <i>Who knows the power of God's anger? The proud and those
that do wickedly</i> will not fear it, but they shall be made to
feel it. Where are those now that <i>called the proud happy,</i>
when thus they are made completely miserable, when there remains no
branch of their happiness to be enjoyed for the present, nor any
root of it out of which it might again spring up? Now this was
fulfilled, (1.) When Christ, in his doctrine, spoke terror and
condemnation to the proud Pharisees and the other Jews that did
wickedly, when he sent that fire on the earth which burnt up the
chaff of the traditions of the elders and the corrupt glosses they
had put upon the law of God. (2.) When Jerusalem was destroyed by
the Romans, and the nation of the Jews, as a nation, quite blotted
out from under heaven, and neither root nor branch left them. This
seems to be principally intended here; our Saviour says that those
should be the <i>days of vengeance,</i> when all the things that
were written to that purport should be fulfilled, <scripRef id="Mal.v-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Luke.21.22" parsed="|Luke|21|22|0|0" passage="Lu 21:22">Luke xxi. 22</scripRef>. Then the unbelieving
Jews were as stubble to the devouring fire of God's judgments,
which gathered together to them as the eagles to the carcase. (3.)
It is certainly applicable, and is to be applied, to the day of
judgment, to the particular judgment at death (some of the Jewish
doctors refer it the <i>punishment that seizes on the souls of the
wicked immediately after they go out of the body</i>), but
especially to the general judgment, at the end of time, when Christ
shall be <i>revealed in flaming fire,</i> to execute judgment on
<i>the proud, and all that do wickedly.</i> The whole world shall
then <i>burn as an oven,</i> and all the children of this world,
that set their hearts upon it and choose their portion in it, shall
take their ruin with it, and the fire then kindled shall never be
quenched.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p5" shownumber="no">II. In both Christ is a rejoicing light to
those who serve him faithfully, to those who fear his name and give
him the glory due to it (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.2" parsed="|Mal|4|2|0|0" passage="Mal 4:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), who stand in awe of that name of his which the
wicked profane and trample upon. Here are mercy and comfort kept in
store for all those who fear the Lord and think on his name.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p6" shownumber="no">1. Whence this mercy and comfort shall flow
to them: <i>To you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness
arise, with healing in his wings.</i> The day that comes, as it
will be a stormy day to the wicked, a day in which God will rain
upon them <i>fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest,</i> as he
did on Sodom (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.11.6" parsed="|Ps|11|6|0|0" passage="Ps 11:6">Ps. xi. 6</scripRef>), a
<i>day of clouds and thick darkness</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.18 Bible:Amos.5.20" parsed="|Amos|5|18|0|0;|Amos|5|20|0|0" passage="Am 5:18,20">Amos v. 18, 20</scripRef>), so it will be a fair and
bright day to those who fear God, and reviving as the rising sun is
to the earth; and particular notice is taken of the rising of the
sun upon Zoar when that was mercifully distinguished from the
cities of the plain, which the fire <i>consumed;</i> see <scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.19.23" parsed="|Gen|19|23|0|0" passage="Ge 19:23">Gen. xix. 23</scripRef>. So to those that fear
God is comfort spoken. When the hearts of others <i>fail for
fear</i> let them <i>lift up their heads for joy,</i> for <i>their
redemption draws nigh,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.21.28" parsed="|Luke|21|28|0|0" passage="Lu 21:28">Luke xxi.
28</scripRef>. But by the <i>Sun of righteousness</i> here we are
certainly to understand Jesus Christ, who would undertake to secure
the believing remnant, in the day of the general destruction of the
Jews, from falling with the rest, and to comfort them in that day
of distress and perplexity with his consolations; he directed those
that were in Judea to <i>flee to the mountains</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.16" parsed="|Matt|24|16|0|0" passage="Mt 24:16">Matt. xxiv. 16</scripRef>), and they did so, and
were all safe and easy in Pella. But it is to be applied more
generally, (1.) To the coming of Christ in the flesh to seek and
save those that were lost; then the <i>Sun of righteousness</i>
arose upon this dark world. Christ is the <i>light of the
world,</i> the true light, the great light that makes day and rules
the day (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:John.8.12" parsed="|John|8|12|0|0" passage="Joh 8:12">John viii. 12</scripRef>), as
the sun. He is the <i>light of men</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:John.1.4" parsed="|John|1|4|0|0" passage="Joh 1:4">John i. 4</scripRef>), is to men's souls as the sun is to
the visible world, which without the sun would be a dungeon; so
would mankind be darkness itself without the <i>light of the glory
of God</i> shining <i>in the face of Christ.</i> Christ is the Sun
that has light in himself, and is the fountain of light (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.19.4-Ps.19.6" parsed="|Ps|19|4|19|6" passage="Ps 19:4-6">Ps. xix. 4-6</scripRef>); he is the <i>Sun of
righteousness,</i> for he is himself a righteous Saviour.
Righteousness is both the light and the heat of this Sun; the word
of his righteousness is so; it guides, instructs, and quickens; so
is the <i>everlasting righteousness</i> he has brought in. He is
<i>made of God to us righteousness;</i> he is the <i>Lord our
righteousness,</i> and therefore is fitly called <i>the Sun of
righteousness.</i> Through him we are justified and sanctified, and
so are brought to see light. This Sun of righteousness, in the
fulness of time, arose upon the world, and with him <i>light came
into the world</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:John.3.19" parsed="|John|3|19|0|0" passage="Joh 3:19">John iii.
19</scripRef>), a <i>great light,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Matt.4.16" parsed="|Matt|4|16|0|0" passage="Mt 4:16">Matt. iv. 16</scripRef>. In him <i>the day-spring from on
high visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.78-Luke.1.79" parsed="|Luke|1|78|1|79" passage="Lu 1:78,79">Luke i. 78, 79</scripRef>.
Righteousness sometimes signifies mercy or benignity, and it was in
Christ that the <i>tender mercy of our God</i> visited us. (2.) It
is applicable to the graces and comforts of the Holy Spirit,
brought into the souls of men. Grotius understands it of Christ's
giving the Spirit to those that are his, to shine in their hearts,
and to be a <i>comforter</i> to them, a <i>sun and a shield.</i>
Those that are possessed and governed by a holy fear of God and a
dread of his majesty shall have his <i>love</i> also <i>shed abroad
in their hearts by the Holy Ghost;</i> and then the sun may be said
to arise there, and to bring both a delightful day and a fruitful
spring along with it. (3.) Christ's second coming will be a
glorious and welcome sun-rising to all that <i>fear his name;</i>
it will be that morning of the resurrection in which <i>the upright
shall have dominion,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p6.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.14" parsed="|Ps|49|14|0|0" passage="Ps 49:14">Ps. xlix.
14</scripRef>. That day which to the wicked will <i>burn as an
oven</i> will to the righteous be bright as the morning; and it is
what they wait for, <i>more than those that wait for the
morning.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p7" shownumber="no">2. What this mercy and comfort shall bring
to them: He <i>shall arise with healing under his wings,</i> or in
his <i>rays</i> or <i>beams,</i> which are as the wings of the sun.
Christ came, as <i>the sun,</i> to bring not only light to a dark
world, but health to a diseased distempered world. The Jews (says
Dr. Pocock) have a proverbial saying, <i>As the sun riseth,
infirmities decrease;</i> the flowers which drooped and languished
all night revive in the morning. Christ came into the world to be
the great physician, yea, and the great medicine too, both the balm
in Gilead and the physician there. When he was upon earth, he went
about as the sun in his circuit, doing this good; he <i>healed all
manner of sicknesses and diseases among the people;</i> he healed
by wholesale, as the sun does. He shall arise <i>with healing in
his skirts;</i> so some read it, and they apply it to the story of
the woman's touching <i>the hem of his garment,</i> and being
thereby <i>made whole,</i> and his finding that <i>virtue went out
of him,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Mark.5.28-Mark.5.30" parsed="|Mark|5|28|5|30" passage="Mk 5:28-30">Mark v.
28-30</scripRef>. But his healing bodily diseases was a specimen of
his great design in coming into the world to heal the diseases of
men's souls, and to put them into a good state of health, that they
may serve and enjoy both God and themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p8" shownumber="no">3. What good effect it shall have upon
them. (1.) It shall make them vigorous in themselves: "<i>You shall
go forth,</i> as those that are healed go abroad and return to
their business." The souls shall go forth out of their bodies at
death, and the bodies out of their graves at the resurrection, as
prisoners out of their dungeons, and both to see the light and be
set at liberty. "<i>You shall go forth</i> as plants out of the
earth, when in the spring the sun returns." Some make it to mean
the going forth of the Christians from Jerusalem, and the escape
they thereby made from its destruction. And thus the souls on whom
the Sun of righteousness arises go forth out of the world, go forth
out of Babylon, as those that are made <i>free indeed.</i> "You
shall likewise <i>grow up;</i> being restored to health and
liberty, you shall increase in knowledge, and grace, and spiritual
strength." The souls on which the Sun of righteousness arises are
growing up towards <i>the perfect man;</i> those that by the grace
of God are made wise and good are by the same grace made wiser and
better; and their path, like that of the rising sun, <i>shines more
and more to the perfect day,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.4.18" parsed="|Prov|4|18|0|0" passage="Pr 4:18">Prov.
iv. 18</scripRef>. Their growth is compared to that of <i>the
calves of the stall,</i> which is a quick, strong, and useful
growth. "You shall grow up, not as the <i>flower of the field,</i>
which is slender, and weak, and of little use, and withers soon
after it has grown up, but as the <i>calves of the stall,</i>"
that, as one of the rabbin expounds it, <i>grow great in flesh and
fatness,</i> with which both God's altars and men's tables are
replenished; so the growth of the saints, on whom the Sun of
righteousness arises, honours both God and man. Some read it,
instead of <i>You shall grow up,</i> You shall <i>move
yourselves,</i> or <i>leap for joy,</i> shall be as frolicsome as
calves of the stall, when they are let loose in the open field; it
denotes the joy of the saints, who rejoice in Christ Jesus; they
shall even leap for joy; they are <i>always caused to
triumph.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p9" shownumber="no">(2.) It shall make them victorious over
their enemies (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.3" parsed="|Mal|4|3|0|0" passage="Mal 4:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>):
<i>You shall tread down the wicked.</i> Time was when the wicked
trod them down, said to their souls, <i>Bow down, that we may go
over;</i> but the day will come when they shall <i>tread down the
wicked.</i> The wicked, being made Christ's footstool, are made
theirs also (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.110.1" parsed="|Ps|110|1|0|0" passage="Ps 110:1">Ps. cx. 1</scripRef>),
and come and <i>worship before the feet</i> of the church,
<scripRef id="Mal.v-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.3.9" parsed="|Rev|3|9|0|0" passage="Re 3:9">Rev. iii. 9</scripRef>. <i>The elder
shall serve the younger.</i> When believers by faith <i>overcome
the world,</i> when they suppress their own corrupt appetites and
passions, when the God of peace bruises Satan under their feet,
then they <i>tread down the wicked.</i> When it came to the turn of
the Christians to triumph over the Jews that had insulted over
them, then this promise was fulfilled: <i>They shall be ashes under
the soles of your feet;</i> they shall not only be <i>trodden
down,</i> but trodden <i>to dirt.</i> When the day that comes shall
have <i>burnt them up,</i> they shall trample upon them as ashes.
When the righteous shall rise to <i>everlasting life,</i> the
wicked shall rise to <i>everlasting contempt;</i> and, though they
shall not triumph over them, they shall triumph in that God whose
justice is glorified in their destruction. The saints in glory are
said to have power given them over the nations, to <i>rule them
with a rod of iron,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.2.26-Rev.2.27" parsed="|Rev|2|26|2|27" passage="Re 2:26,27">Rev. ii. 26,
27</scripRef>. This <i>you shall do, in the day that I shall do
this.</i> Note, The saints' triumphs are all owing to God's
victories; it is not they that do this, but God that does it for
them, that says, <i>Come set your feet on the necks of these
kings.</i> Some read it, "<i>In the day that I make,</i> or shall
make, the <i>great day</i> that I shall make remarkable, of which
you will say with joy, <i>This is the day which the Lord has
made.</i>" The day of the destruction of Jerusalem is called the
<i>great and notable day of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.20" parsed="|Acts|2|20|0|0" passage="Ac 2:20">Acts ii. 20</scripRef>), and our Saviour in foretelling
that destruction made use of such expressions as, like these, might
be applied likewise to the <i>end of the world</i> and the <i>last
judgment;</i> for it was such a terrible revelation of the wrath of
God from heaven, and caused such a scene of horror upon this earth,
that it might fitly serve for a type of that glorious transaction
which will be an outlet to the days of time and an inlet to the
days of eternity. By the accomplishment of these prophecies in the
ruin of the Jewish nation, we should have our faith confirmed in
the assurances Christ has given us concerning the dissolution of
all things. <i>Surely I come quickly;</i> so says Christ, <i>the
Lord of hosts,</i> to whom all power in heaven and earth is
committed.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Mal.v-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.4-Mal.4.6" parsed="|Mal|4|4|4|6" passage="Mal 4:4-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mal.v-p9.7">
<h4 id="Mal.v-p9.8">Evangelical Predictions. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.v-p9.9">b. c.</span> 400.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mal.v-p10" shownumber="no">4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which
I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, <i>with</i> the
statutes and judgments.   5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.v-p10.1">Lord</span>:   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 smite the earth with a curse.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p11" shownumber="no">This is doubtless intended for a solemn
conclusion, not only of this prophecy, but of the canon of the Old
Testament, and is a plain information that they were not to expect
any more sayings nor writing by divine inspiration, any more of the
dictates of the Spirit of prophecy, till the beginning of the
gospel of the Messiah, which sets aside the Apocrypha as no part of
holy writ, and which therefore the Jews never received.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p12" shownumber="no">Now that prophecy ceases, and is about to
be sealed up, there are two things required of the people of God,
that lived then:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p13" shownumber="no">I. They must keep up an obedient veneration
for the law of Moses (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.4" parsed="|Mal|4|4|0|0" passage="Mal 4:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): <i>Remember the law of Moses my servant,</i> and
observe to do according to it, even that law which <i>I commanded
unto him in Horeb,</i> that fiery law which was intended <i>for all
Israel, with the statutes and judgments,</i> not only the law of
the ten commandments, but all the other appointments, ceremonial
and judicial, then and there given. Observe here, 1. The honourable
mention that is made of <i>Moses,</i> the first writer of the Old
Testament, in <i>Malachi,</i> the last writer. God by him calls him
<i>Moses my servant;</i> for the righteous shall be had in
everlasting remembrance. See how the penmen of scripture, though
they lived in several ages at a great distance from each other (it
was above 1200 years from Moses to Malachi), all concurred in the
same thing, and supported one another, being all actuated and
guided by one and the same Spirit. 2. The honourable mention that
is made of the <i>law of Moses;</i> it was what God himself
<i>commanded;</i> he owns it for his law, and he commanded it
<i>for all Israel,</i> as the municipal law of their kingdom. Thus
will God <i>magnify his law and make it honourable.</i> Note, We
are concerned to keep the law because God has commanded it and
commanded it for us, for we are the spiritual Israel; and, if we
expect the benefit of the covenant with Israel (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.8.10" parsed="|Heb|8|10|0|0" passage="Heb 8:10">Heb. viii. 10</scripRef>), we must observe the commands
given to Israel, those of them that were intended to be of
perpetual obligation. 3. The summary of our duty, with reference to
the law. We must remember it. Forgetfulness of the law is at the
bottom of all our transgressions of it; if we would rightly
remember it, we could not but conform to it. We should remember it
when we have occasion to use it, remember both the commands
themselves and the sanctions wherewith they are enforced. The
office of conscience is to bid us <i>remember the law.</i> But how
does this charge to remember the law of Moses come in here? (1.)
This prophet had reproved them for many gross corruptions and
irregularities both in worship and conversation, and now, for the
reforming and amending of what was amiss, he only charges them to
<i>remember the law of Moses:</i> "Keep to that rule, and you will
do all you should do." He will <i>lay upon them no other burden</i>
than what they <i>have received; hold that fast,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.v-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.2.24-Rev.2.25" parsed="|Rev|2|24|2|25" passage="Re 2:24,25">Rev. ii. 24, 25</scripRef>. Note, Corrupt
churches are to be reformed by the written word, and reduced into
order by being reduced to the standard of <i>the law and the
testimony,</i> see <scripRef id="Mal.v-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.11.23" parsed="|1Cor|11|23|0|0" passage="1Co 11:23">1 Cor. xi.
23</scripRef>. (2.) The church had long enjoyed the benefit of
prophets, extraordinary messengers from God, and now they had a
whole book of their prophecies put together, and it was a finished
piece; but they must not think that hereby the <i>law of Moses</i>
was superseded, and had become as an almanac out of date, as if now
they were advanced to a higher form and might forget that. No; the
prophets do but confirm and apply the law, and press the observance
of that; and therefore still <i>Remember the law.</i> Note, Even
when we have made considerable advances in knowledge we must still
retain the first principles of practical religion and resolve to
abide by them. Those that study the writings of the prophets, and
the apocalypse, must still remember the law of Moses and the four
gospels. (3.) Prophecy was now to cease in the church for some
ages, and the Spirit of prophecy not to return till the
<i>beginning of the gospel,</i> and now they are told to
<i>remember the law of Moses;</i> let them live by the rules of
that, and live upon the promises of that. Note, We need not
complain for want of visions and revelations as long as we have the
written word, and the canon of scripture complete, to be our guide;
for that is the most <i>sure word of prophecy,</i> and the
touchstone by which we are to <i>try the spirits.</i> Though we
have not prophets, yet, as long as we have Bibles, we may keep our
communion with God, and keep ourselves in his way. (4.) They were
to expect the coming of the Messiah, the preaching of his gospel,
and the setting up of his kingdom, and in that expectation they
must <i>remember the law of Moses,</i> and live in obedience to
that, and then they might expect the comforts that the Messiah
would bring to <i>the willing and obedient.</i> Let them observe
the law of Moses, and live up to the light which that gave them,
and then they might expect the benefit of the gospel of Christ, for
<i>to him that has,</i> and uses what he has well, <i>more shall be
given, and he shall have abundance.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p14" shownumber="no">II. They must keep up a believing
expectation of the gospel of Christ, and must look for the
beginning of it in the appearing of Elijah the prophet (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.5-Mal.4.6" parsed="|Mal|4|5|4|6" passage="Mal 4:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>): "<i>Behold, I send
you Elijah the prophet.</i> Though the Spirit of prophecy cease for
a time, and you will have only the law to consult, yet it shall
revive again in one that shall be sent <i>in the spirit and power
of Elias,</i>" <scripRef id="Mal.v-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.17" parsed="|Luke|1|17|0|0" passage="Lu 1:17">Luke i. 17</scripRef>.
The <i>law and the prophets were until John</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.16.16" parsed="|Luke|16|16|0|0" passage="Lu 16:16">Luke xvi. 16</scripRef>); they continued to be the only
lights of the church till that morning-star appeared. Note, As God
never <i>left himself without witness</i> in the world, so neither
in the church, but, as there was occasion, carried the light of
divine revelation further and further to the perfect day. They had
now Moses and the prophets, and might hear them; but God will go
further: he will send them Elijah. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p15" shownumber="no">1. Who this prophet is that shall be sent;
it is <i>Elijah.</i> The Jewish doctors will have it to be the same
Elijah that prophesied in Israel in the days of Ahab—that he shall
come again to be the forerunner of the Messiah; yet others of them
say not the same person, but another of the same spirit. It should
seem, those different sentiments they had when they asked John,
"<i>Art thou Elias,</i> or <i>that prophet</i> that should bear his
name?" <scripRef id="Mal.v-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:John.1.19-John.1.21" parsed="|John|1|19|1|21" passage="Joh 1:19-21">John i. 19-21</scripRef>.
But we Christians know very well that John Baptist was the Elias
that was to come, <scripRef id="Mal.v-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.17.10-Matt.17.13" parsed="|Matt|17|10|17|13" passage="Mt 17:10-13">Matt. xvii.
10-13</scripRef>; and very expressly, <scripRef id="Mal.v-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.14" parsed="|Matt|11|14|0|0" passage="Mt 11:14">Matt. xi. 14</scripRef>, <i>This is Elias that was to
come;</i> and <scripRef id="Mal.v-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Mal.4.10" parsed="|Mal|4|10|0|0" passage="Mal 4:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>,
the same of whom it is written, <i>Behold, I send my messenger,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.v-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.1" parsed="|Mal|3|1|0|0" passage="Mal 3:1"><i>ch.</i> iii. 1</scripRef>. Elijah
was a man of great austerity and mortification, zealous for God,
bold in reproving sin, and active to reduce an apostate people to
God and their duty; John Baptist was animated by the same spirit
and power, and preached repentance and reformation, as Elias had
done; and all held him for a prophet, as they did Elijah in his
day, and that his baptism was <i>from heaven,</i> and not <i>of
men.</i> Note, When God has such work to do as was formerly to be
done he can raise up such men to do it as he formerly raised up,
and can put into a John Baptist the spirit of an Elias.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p16" shownumber="no">2. When he shall be sent—before the
appearing of the Messiah, which, because it was the judgment of
this world, and introduced the ruin of the Jewish church and
nation, is here called the <i>coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord.</i> John Baptist gave them fair warning of this when
he told them of the <i>wrath to come</i> (that <i>wrath to the
uttermost</i> which was hastening upon them) and put them into a
way of escape from it, and when he told them of the <i>fan in
Christ's hand,</i> with which Christ would thoroughly purge his
floor; see <scripRef id="Mal.v-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.7 Bible:Matt.3.10 Bible:Matt.3.12" parsed="|Matt|3|7|0|0;|Matt|3|10|0|0;|Matt|3|12|0|0" passage="Mt 3:7,10,12">Matt. iii. 7, 10,
12</scripRef>. That day of Christ, when he came first, was as that
day will be when he comes again—though a great and joyful day to
those that embrace him, yet a <i>great and dreadful day</i> to
those that oppose him. John Baptist was sent before the coming of
this day, to give people notice of it, that they might get ready
for it, and go forth to meet it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p17" shownumber="no">3. On what errand he shall be sent: <i>He
shall turn the heart of the fathers to their children, and the
heart of the children to their fathers;</i> that is, "he shall be
employed in this work; he shall attempt it; his doctrine and
baptism shall have a direct tendency to it, and with many shall be
successful: he shall be an instrument in God's hand of
<i>turning</i> many <i>to righteousness,</i> to <i>the Lord their
God,</i> and so <i>making ready a people prepared for him,</i>"
<scripRef id="Mal.v-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.16-Luke.1.17" parsed="|Luke|1|16|1|17" passage="Lu 1:16,17">Luke i. 16, 17</scripRef>. Note, The
turning of souls to God and their duty is the best preparation of
them for the great and dreadful day of the Lord. It is promised
concerning John, (1.) That he shall give a turn to things, shall
make a bold stand against the strong torrent of sin and impiety
which he found in full force among the children of his people, and
beating down all before it. This is called his <i>coming to restore
all things</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.17.11" parsed="|Matt|17|11|0|0" passage="Mt 17:11">Matt. xvii.
11</scripRef>), to set them to rights, that they may again go in
the right channel. (2.) That he shall preach a doctrine that shall
reach men's hearts, and have an influence upon them, and work a
change in them. God's word, in his mouth, shall be <i>quick</i> and
<i>powerful,</i> and a <i>discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart.</i> Many had their consciences awakened by his ministry
who yet were not thoroughly wrought upon, such a spirit and power
was there in it. (3.) That he shall turn the hearts of the fathers
with the children, and of the children with the fathers (for so
some read it), to God and to their duty. He shall call upon young
and old to repent, and shall not labour in vain, for many of the
fathers that are going off, and many of the children that are
growing up, shall be wrought upon by his ministry. (4.) That thus
he shall be an instrument to revive and confirm love and unity
among relations, and shall bring them closer and bind them faster
to each other, by bringing and binding them all to their God. He
shall prepare the way for that kingdom of heaven which will make
all its faithful subjects of <i>one heart</i> and <i>one soul</i>
(<scripRef id="Mal.v-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.4.32" parsed="|Acts|4|32|0|0" passage="Ac 4:32">Acts iv. 32</scripRef>), which will be
a kingdom of love, and will slay all enmities.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.v-p18" shownumber="no">4. With what view he shall be sent on this
errand: <i>Lest I come and smite the earth,</i> that is, the land
of Israel, the body of the Jewish nation (that were of the earth
earthy), <i>with a curse.</i> They by their impiety and impenitence
in it had laid themselves open to the curse of God, which is a
separation to all evil. God was ready to smite them with that
curse, to bring utter ruin upon them, to strike home, to strike
dead, with the curse; but he will yet once more try them, whether
they will repent and return, and so prevent it; and therefore he
sends John Baptist to preach repentance to them, that their
conversion might prevent their confusion; so unwilling is God that
any should perish, so willing to have his anger turned away. Had
they universally repented and reformed, their repentance would have
had this desired effect; but, they generally rejecting the counsel
of God in John's baptism, it proved against themselves (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.7.30" parsed="|Luke|7|30|0|0" passage="Lu 7:30">Luke vii. 30</scripRef>) and their land was
smitten with the curse which both it and they lie under to this
day. Note, Those must expect to be smitten with a sword, with a
curse, who <i>turn not to him that smites them</i> with a rod, with
a cross, <scripRef id="Mal.v-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.13" parsed="|Isa|9|13|0|0" passage="Isa 9:13">Isa. ix. 13</scripRef>. Now
the <i>axe is laid to the root of the tree,</i> says John Baptist,
and it is ready to be smitten, to be cut down, <i>with a curse;</i>
therefore <i>bring forth fruit meet for repentance.</i> Some
observe that the last word of the Old Testament is a curse, which
threatens the earth (<scripRef id="Mal.v-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.5.3" parsed="|Zech|5|3|0|0" passage="Zec 5:3">Zech. v.
3</scripRef>), our desert of which we must be made sensible of,
that we may bid Christ welcome, who comes with a blessing; and it
is with a blessing, with the choicest of blessings, that the New
Testament ends, and with it let us arm ourselves, or rather let God
arm us, against this curse. <i>The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with us all. Amen.</i></p>
</div></div2>