Malachi 4:1-3

A NEW DEFENSE OF JEHOVAH’S JUSTICE, Malachi 3:13 to Malachi 4:3.

These verses are parallel in thought to Malachi 2:17 to Malachi 3:12. They also are addressed to a class of doubters (Malachi 2:17) whose confidence in Jehovah is shaken by the apparent inequalities of life; the good suffer while the wicked prosper (13-15). They are informed that their complaint is unwarranted, that Jehovah’s eye is over all, and, though at present the lot of the pious may seem hard, Jehovah keeps a record of those who are faithful, and when he appears in his temple (Malachi 3:1) he will make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked (16-18). The wicked will be destroyed root and branch (Malachi 4:1), while the righteous will be exalted forever (2, 3). In this wise, the prophet argues, Jehovah will prove himself a God of judgment and of justice.