Malachi 4:4-6

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:4

If the people would meet the judgment with confidence and secure for themselves the promised blessings, they must remember and obey the Law of Moses. Thus the last of the prophets set his seal to the Pentateuch, on obedience to which depended, as of old (see Leviticus 26:1-46 .; Deuteronomy 28:1-68 .), so now, the most abundant blessings. My servant. Moses was only the agent and interpreter of God. The origin and authority of the Law were Divine. Horeb . The mention of the mountain... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:4

Loyalty to God's revealed will. It was characteristic of the restored exiles that they endeavoured exactly to reproduce the old Mosaic system; but there was a grave danger involved in their effort. They could not precisely reproduce everything. There must be some adjustment to the very different social and religious sentiments and relations. But those who claimed the authority to make the adjustments would be almost sure to carry their authority too far, and claim to alter and amend the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:4-6

§ 5. Concluding admonition to remember the Law, lest they should be liable to the curse. In order to avert this, the Lord, before his coming, would send Elijah to promote a change of heart in the nation. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:4-6

The sufficiency of God's successive revelations. The introduction of the appeal in Malachi 4:4 between the predictions and promises of Malachi 4:2 , Malachi 4:3 and Malachi 4:5 , Malachi 4:6 has at first sight an appearance of abruptness. The promise of Malachi 4:5 lay in the indefinite, and as we know the distant, future. Malachi proved to be the last of the prophets of the old covenant. In the long interval between Malachi and John the Baptist there were times when Israel... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:5

Elijah the prophet. This is not the same personage as the "messenger" in Malachi 3:1 ; for the latter comes before the first advent of the Lord, the former appears before the day of judgment; one comes to prepare the way of the Lord, and is followed immediately by Messiah's coming to his temple; the other is sent to convert the chosen people, lest the land be smitten with a curse. There seems to be no valid reason for not holding the literal sense of the words, and seeing in them a promise... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:5

The mission of the second Elijah. There is no reason for doubting that John the Baptist is referred to. Our Lord's allusions to John as fulfilling this prophecy should suffice to settle the question. There need be no difficulty in admitting John to be the second Elijah, if we apprehend the figurative and poetical character of the prophetical Scriptures. One who would do for his age a similar work to that which was done by Elijah for his age would, in Scripture, be called an Elijah. There... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:5-6

The day of Divine manifestation. The margin of the Revised Version gives the rendering with, as preferable to to, in the clause, "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children," etc. Then the reference is to the work and influence of the second Elijah on all classes of society, on the hearts of both fathers and children. Keil, however, suggests a more difficult, yet more likely, explanation of the verse, "The fathers are rather the ancestors of the Israelitish nation, the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 4:6

He shall turn, etc.; i.e; taking the preposition, rendered "to," in the sense of "with," he shall convert one and all, fathers and children, young and old, unto the Lord. Or, in agreement with the versions, he shall bring back the Jews then living to the faith of their ancestors, who rejoiced to see the day of Christ ( John 8:56 ); and then the patriarchs, who for their unbelief had disowned them, shall recognize them as true Israelites, true children of Abraham. Others explain—He shall... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 4:4

Remember ye the law of Moses, My servant - Galatians 3:24. “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.” They then who were most faithful to the law, would be most prepared for Christ. But for those of his own day, too, who were negligent both of the ceremonial and moral law, he says “Since the judgment of God will be so fearful, remember now unceasingly and observe the law of God given by Moses.”Which I commanded - oUnto him for - (literally upon, incumbent upon) all Israel Not Moses... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 4:5

Behold I will send (I send, as a future, proximate in the prophet’s mind) you Elijah the prophet - The Archangel Gabriel interprets this for us, to include the sending of John the Immerser. For he not only says Luke 1:17. that he shall “go before” the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elias,” but describes his mission in the characteristic words of Malachi, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children:” and those other words also, “and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,” perhaps... read more

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