Malachi 4:1
"For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze," says the LORD of Hosts. "Not a root or branch will be left to them."
For behold
The phrase "For behold" serves as a divine alert, drawing attention to the certainty and imminence of the prophecy. In Hebrew, the word "behold" is often used to emphasize the importance of what follows, urging the listener to pay close attention. It is a call to awareness, indicating that what is about to be revealed is of utmost significance and demands a response.

the day is coming
This phrase refers to the "Day of the LORD," a recurring theme in prophetic literature, symbolizing a time of divine intervention and judgment. The Hebrew word for "day" (יוֹם, yom) can signify a literal day or an extended period. Here, it underscores the certainty of God's future action, a day that is both inevitable and transformative.

burning like a furnace
The imagery of a "furnace" conveys intense heat and purification. In ancient times, a furnace was used for refining metals, symbolizing judgment and purification. This metaphor suggests that the coming day will be one of severe judgment, where impurities are consumed, and only what is pure remains. It reflects God's holiness and the purging of sin.

when all the arrogant
The "arrogant" are those who exalt themselves above God, characterized by pride and self-sufficiency. In Hebrew, the word for arrogant (זֵדִים, zedim) implies insolence and rebellion against divine authority. This highlights the moral and spiritual condition that invites divine judgment, emphasizing the need for humility before God.

and every evildoer
"Every evildoer" encompasses all who act wickedly, violating God's laws. The Hebrew term for evildoer (רָשָׁע, rasha) denotes those who are morally wrong and guilty. This phrase underscores the comprehensive nature of God's judgment, which will address all forms of wickedness without exception.

will be stubble
"Stubble" refers to the dry, leftover stalks after a harvest, easily consumed by fire. This imagery signifies the complete and swift destruction of the wicked. In the agricultural context of ancient Israel, stubble was worthless and quickly burned, symbolizing the futility and impermanence of a life lived in opposition to God.

the day that is coming will set them ablaze
The repetition of "the day that is coming" reinforces the certainty and imminence of the event. "Set them ablaze" indicates total destruction by fire, a common biblical symbol for divine judgment. This phrase emphasizes the thoroughness of God's purifying judgment, leaving no trace of sin or rebellion.

says the LORD of Hosts
"The LORD of Hosts" is a title that emphasizes God's sovereignty and power over all heavenly and earthly armies. It underscores His authority to execute judgment and fulfill His promises. This divine title reassures believers of God's ultimate control and the certainty of His word.

so that it will leave them neither root nor branch
This phrase signifies total annihilation, with "root" and "branch" representing the entirety of a plant. In Hebrew thought, the root symbolizes origin and foundation, while the branch represents growth and future. The complete removal of both indicates the utter eradication of the wicked, leaving no possibility for regeneration or continuation. This serves as a sobering reminder of the finality of God's judgment against sin.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Day of the LORD
A prophetic event characterized by divine judgment and purification, often associated with the end times.

2. The Arrogant and Evildoers
Individuals who live in opposition to God's will, characterized by pride and sinful actions.

3. The LORD of Hosts
A title for God emphasizing His sovereignty and command over the heavenly armies.

4. Furnace
A metaphor for intense heat and purification, symbolizing God's judgment.

5. Stubble
Represents the temporary and worthless nature of the wicked in the face of divine judgment.
Teaching Points
The Certainty of Judgment
The "day is coming" emphasizes the inevitability of God's judgment. Believers should live with an awareness of this reality.

The Nature of God's Judgment
Like a furnace, God's judgment is thorough and purifying, leaving no trace of sin or rebellion.

Call to Humility
The judgment against the arrogant serves as a warning to cultivate humility and dependence on God.

The Temporary Nature of Wickedness
The imagery of stubble highlights the fleeting and insubstantial nature of a life lived apart from God.

Hope for the Righteous
While this verse focuses on judgment, the broader context of Scripture assures believers of protection and vindication.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of a furnace help us understand the nature of God's judgment?

2. In what ways can we guard against arrogance and pride in our own lives, knowing the fate of the arrogant as described in Malachi 4:1?

3. How does the certainty of the "day of the LORD" influence the way we live our daily lives?

4. What other biblical passages reinforce the idea of God's judgment as both purifying and destructive?

5. How can we find hope and encouragement in the promise of God's judgment, especially when facing injustice or persecution?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 2:12
This verse also speaks of the "day of the LORD" as a time of judgment against the proud and lofty.

Matthew 3:12
John the Baptist uses similar imagery of burning chaff to describe the coming judgment.

2 Peter 3:10
Describes the day of the Lord coming like a thief, with the heavens and earth being laid bare by fire.

Revelation 20:11-15
The final judgment where the wicked are judged and cast into the lake of fire.
The Destruction of the WickedJ. M. Sherwood, D. D.Malachi 4:1
The Divine FireR. Tuck Malachi 4:1
The Day of the World's RetributionD. Thomas Malachi 4:1-3
People
Elijah, Malachi
Places
Horeb, Jerusalem
Topics
Ablaze, Almighty, Armies, Arrogant, Behold, Branch, Burn, Burned, Burneth, Burning, Burns, Burnt, Chaff, Doer, Dry, Evil, Evildoer, Evildoers, Fire, Furnace, Grass, Hosts, Leave, Oven, Pride, Proud, Root, Says, Stems, Stubble, Till, Wicked, Wickedly, Wickedness, Yea
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Malachi 4:1

     1025   God, anger of
     4504   roots
     4826   fire
     5295   destruction
     5321   furnace
     5484   punishment, by God
     8736   evil, warnings against
     8738   evil, victory over
     8744   faithlessness, as disobedience
     8805   pride, results

Malachi 4:1-2

     9220   day of the LORD

Library
The Last Words of the Old and New Testaments
'Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.'--MALACHI iv. 6. 'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.'--REVELATION xxii. 21. It is of course only an accident that these words close the Old and the New Testaments. In the Hebrew Bible Malachi's prophecies do not stand at the end; but he was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and after him there were 'four centuries of silence.' We seem to hear in his words the dying echoes of the rolling thunders of Sinai. They gather up the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Whether it was Fitting that John Should Baptize?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was not fitting that John should baptize. For every sacramental rite belongs to some law. But John did not introduce a new law. Therefore it was not fitting that he should introduce the new rite of baptism. Objection 2: Further, John "was sent by God . . . for a witness" (Jn. 1:6,7) as a prophet; according to Lk. 1:76: "Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest." But the prophets who lived before Christ did not introduce any new rite, but persuaded
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Rest for the Weary
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. W hich shall we admire most -- the majesty, or the grace, conspicuous in this invitation? How soon would the greatest earthly monarch be impoverished, and his treasures utterly exhausted, if all, that are poor and miserable, had encouragement to apply freely to him, with a promise of relief, fully answerable to their wants and wishes! But the riches of Christ are unsearchable and inexhaustible. If millions and millions
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

"The Sun of Righteousness"
WE SHOULD FEEL QUITE JUSTIFIED in applying the language of the 19th Psalm to our Lord Jesus Christ from the simple fact that he is so frequently compared to the sun; and especially in the passage which we have given you as our second text, wherein he is called "the Sun of Righteousness." But we have a higher justification for such a reading of the passage, for it will be in your memories that, in the 10th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul, slightly altering the words of this
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Thoughts Upon the Appearance of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, or the Beatifick vision.
SO long as we are in the Body, we are apt to be governed wholly by its senses, seldom or never minding any thing but what comes to us through one or other of them. Though we are all able to abstract our Thoughts when we please from matter, and fix them upon things that are purely spiritual; there are but few that ever do it. But few, even among those also that have such things revealed to them by God himself, and so have infinitely more and firmer ground to believe them, than any one, or all their
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

At the Medical College
After three years of study and practice in the Sanitarium she applied for admission to the Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia, from which she was graduated in the spring of 1869. She often spoke of the pleasure she had in lingering in the park after class hours, on her way to her boarding-place, and of the occasional free and intimate talks with certain of her instructors. She enjoyed the Sabbath services and had many opportunities of hearing some of the celebrated preachers of the day. The
Mrs. Robert Hoskins—Clara A. Swain, M.D

Not that Light, but a Witness.
(John I. 8.) "Nothing resting in its own completeness Can have worth or beauty; but alone Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness, Fuller, higher, deeper than its own. "Spring's real glory dwells not in the meaning, Gracious though it be, of her blue hours; But is hidden in her tender leaning To the summer's richer wealth of flowers." A. A. PROCTOR. Resentment of the Sanhedrim--The Baptist's Credentials--Spiritual Vision--"Behold the Lamb of God"--The Baptism of the Spirit The baptism and
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

The Prophet of the Highest.
(LUKE I.) "Ye hermits blest, ye holy maids, The nearest heaven on earth, Who talk with God in shadowy glades, Free from rude care and mirth; To whom some viewless Teacher brings The secret love of rural things, The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale, The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale." KEBLE. Formative Influences--A Historical Parallel--The Burning of the Vanities--"Sent from God" "Thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High"--thus Zacharias addressed his infant
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

John's First Testimony to Jesus.
(Bethany Beyond Jordan, February, a.d. 27.) ^D John I. 19-34. ^d 19 And this is the witness of John [John had been sent to testify, "and" this is the matter of his testimony], when the Jews [The term "Jews" is used seventy times by John to describe the ruling classes of Judæa] sent unto him [In thus sending an embassy they honored John more than they ever honored Christ. They looked upon John as a priest and Judæan, but upon Jesus as a carpenter and Galilæan. It is probable that
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

John's Introduction.
^D John I. 1-18. ^d 1 In the beginning was the Word [a title for Jesus peculiar to the apostle John], and the Word was with God [not going before nor coming after God, but with Him at the beginning], and the Word was God. [Not more, not less.] 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him [the New Testament often speaks of Christ as the Creator--see ver. 10; I. Cor. viii. 6; Col. i. 13, 17; Heb. i. 2]; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. [This
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

John the Baptist --visit of Jesus to John, and his Abode in the Desert of Judea --Adoption of the Baptism of John.
An extraordinary man, whose position, from the absence of documentary evidence, remains to us in some degree enigmatical, appeared about this time, and was unquestionably to some extent connected with Jesus. This connection tended rather to make the young prophet of Nazareth deviate from his path; but it suggested many important accessories to his religious institution, and, at all events, furnished a very strong authority to his disciples in recommending their Master in the eyes of a certain class
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Child Jesus Brought from Egypt to Nazareth.
(Egypt and Nazareth, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 19-23; ^C Luke II. 39. ^a 19 But when Herod was dead [He died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign and the seventieth of his life. A frightful inward burning consumed him, and the stench of his sickness was such that his attendants could not stay near him. So horrible was his condition that he even endeavored to end it by suicide], behold, an angel of the Lord [word did not come by the infant Jesus; he was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 17),
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before,
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Letter Xl to Thomas, Prior of Beverley
To Thomas, Prior of Beverley This Thomas had taken the vows of the Cistercian Order at Clairvaux. As he showed hesitation, Bernard urges his tardy spirit to fulfil them. But the following letter will prove that it was a warning to deaf ears, where it relates the unhappy end of Thomas. In this letter Bernard sketches with a master's hand the whole scheme of salvation. Bernard to his beloved son Thomas, as being his son. 1. What is the good of words? An ardent spirit and a strong desire cannot express
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Consolation
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received at the LORD 's hand double for all her sins. T he particulars of the great "mystery of godliness," as enumerated by the Apostle Paul, constitute the grand and inexhaustible theme of the Gospel ministry, "God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Lord Coming to his Temple
The LORD , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple; even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye delight: Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like a fuller's soap, -- and he shall purify the sons of Levi -- that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. W hereunto shall we liken the people of this generation? and to what are they like? (Luke 7:31)
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Opposition to Messiah in Vain
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. T he extent and efficacy [effects] of the depravity of mankind cannot be fully estimated by the conduct of heathens destitute of divine revelation. We may say of the Gospel, in one sense, what the Apostle says of the Law, It entered that sin might abound (Romans 5:20) . It afforded occasion for displaying the alienation of the heart of man from the blessed God, in the strongest light. The sensuality, oppression and
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Birth and Early Life of John the Baptist.
(Hill Country of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke I. 57-80. ^c 57 Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58 And her neighbors and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her [mercy in granting a child; great mercy in granting so illustrious a child] ; and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it came to pass on the eighth day [See Gen. xvii. 12; Lev. xii. 3; Phil. iii. 5. Male children were named at their circumcision, probably
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Third Withdrawal from Herod's Territory.
Subdivision D. The Transfiguration. Concerning Elijah. (a Spur of Hermon, Near Cæsarea Philippi.) ^A Matt. XVII. 1-13; ^B Mark IX. 2-13; ^C Luke IX. 28-36. ^c 28 And it came to pass about eight days { ^a six days} ^c after these sayings [Mark agrees with Matthew in saying six days. Luke qualifies his estimate by saying "about." But if we regard him as including the day of the "sayings" and also the day of the transfiguration, and the other two as excluding these days, then the three statements
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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