Advent 2021: Hope

Malachi 4.1-6

Introduction 

A couple of weeks ago our entire family was down in the Smoky Mountains for my sister’s wedding. If you’ve been down to the Gatlinburg area you know that from Detroit you take I75 south to Knoxville and get on I40 east to exit on the Parkway in Sevierville. When you exit on the Parkway you drive south toward the mountains. The Smoky Mountains are like other mountain ranges in the sense that as you drive toward the mountains the mountain range looks like one mountain. The range looks like a cohesive unit. 

But as you get closer you it becomes apparent that the mountain range is made up of individual mountains. The closer you get to the mountain range, the clearer the individual mountains become. For example, while we were down south my dad educated me that Mount Leconte is one of the most famous mounts near Gatlinburg. It is an individual mount in the Smoky Mountain range. From a distance the range looks like one thing, but as you get closer you can see the individual mountains.

The same principle is at work in Biblical eschatology. I remember when I first heard the phrase inaugurated eschatology. I was in Systematic Theology III with Dr. Russell Moore when I was a Bible college student at Boyce College.. Dr. Moore explained that Biblical prophecies in the Old Testament, especially those that refer to the day of the Lord, are like a mountain range. When Malachi prophesied the day of the Lord appeared to be one event, but with the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament, we now see that there are individual facets of the day of the LORD that are already and not yet.

Today we begin the advent season in the year of our Lord 2021. This morning we lit the hope candle as a church. Advent is the beginning of the church calendar; it’s our liturgical new year. Today we also end our study through the book of Malachi. And this book ends with a word of hope about the day of the Lord. As new covenant Christians we read Malachi 4.1-6 as a word of hope because Malachi 4 is foretelling the hope of the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Day of the Lord

The first thing we’ll note about Malachi 4.1-6 is that in Hebrew the text is actually Malachi 3.19-24. It doesn’t change any of the content of the text; it’s just numbered differently. This is an occasion to remind ourselves that the chapter and verse divisions in Scripture are arbitrary. Chapters weren't added to the Bible until about 500 years after it was written and verses weren't added until about 500 years ago. Chapters weren't added to the Hebrew Bible until a rabbi added them in the 1,300s. Again, this doesn’t affect the theology of the pericope whatsoever; it’s just a reminder not to build theology on chapter and verse divisions, or even on a specific Bible translation.

As we come into our pericope it’s also imperative that we remember the context. Last week Pastor Kevin preached the end of Malachi chapter 3. The people charge YHWH with being unjust because evildoers seem to be blessed. God’s promise for a Messiah hasn’t come to fruition yet. The idolatrous nation of Persia is ruling over Israel. They are questioning the goodness and sovereignty of God. Now as we finish the book of Malachi YHWH tells the people how justice will be finally and fully satisfied on the Day of the Lord.

Malachi gets our attention once again with the word, behold. Like a grammatical flashing red light, behold means, “pay attention to what I’m about to say.” And what are we supposed to behold? The day is coming. The people may feel like God is not ruling the world well. Israel may think that God isn’t keeping his promises, but a day is coming. The day of the Lord is coming.

On the day of the Lord the arrogant and evildoers will be burned like stubble in an oven. Root or branch will not be left. All will be consumed in the wrath of God. The day of the Lord will mean condemnation for those who do not believe. But for those who do believe it will mean joy. Like calves leaping from the stall, God’s people will rejoice at their salvation. 

And then we have connection all the way back to the beginning of the Bible. In verse 3 Malachi recapitulates Genesis 3.15. Verse 3 says and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet. Whenever you see language of “a head being crushed” or “under your feet” you can know for sure that it’s an allusion to Genesis 3.15. At least chronologically speaking the Old Testament begins and ends with this protoevangelium, this first gospel promise.

And then Malachi evokes two names that would have been sacred in Israel: Moses and Elijah. God’s people are called to remember the Law of Moses that God gave them at Horeb (Horeb is just another name for Mt. Sinai). If the people want to be found righteous on the day of the Lord then they will have to look to the past and follow God’s Law. Not only must they look to the past, but they must also look to the future. 

Like he did in Malachi 3.1 God promises that he will send Elijah to make things right in the nation. When Elijah comes the hearts of fathers will be turned to their children and vice versa. This is an obvious allusion to the 5th commandment but it’s representing the whole Law. It means that the people will live in shalom because they will follow God’s Word. If the people want to be found righteous on the day of the Lord then they will look to the past and follow God’s Law and they will look to the future for this Elijah who will prepare the way of the Lord.

As we turn to the pages on the New Testament we know that Elijah did come. At his transfiguration Jesus Christ reveals that John the Baptist was this Elijah:

But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist (Matt 17.12-13).

John the Baptist is the fulfillment of this Elijah who came to prepare the way of the Lord. But John did not find a nation where the hearts of fathers where turned to their children and the hearts of children were turned to their fathers. John did not find a nation where the people remembered the Law of Moses. But he was preparing the way for the one who would.

John was the final old covenant prophet who announced the arrival of God himself. The eternal second person of the Holy Trinity was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus Christ lived without sin; he followed the Law of Moses perfectly. Jesus’ heart was perfectly turned to his Father in heaven and the Father’s heart was turned to him. And then Jesus died on the cross for the sins of his people, bearing the wrath of God. Jesus went into the fire for his people. All of the wrath, condemnation, and judgment owed to God’s people was executed on Jesus Christ on Good Friday.

And then on the third day the Son of righteousness rose with healing in his wings. Look again at Malachi 4.2: But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. Jesus is the righteous Son of God who resurrected to bring healing to the people of God. Malachi 4.2 was fulfilled on the very first Easter Sunday when Jesus of Nazareth walked out of the tomb.

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, even harkens back to Malachi 4.2 when he prophesies about the birth of Christ. Zechariah said,

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1.76-78).

At the birth of the Elijah prophesied in Malachi 4, Zechariah, John’s father, quotes Malachi 4.2 about the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Son of God who gives light to those in the darkness. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it. Jesus is the Son of righteousness who rose with healing in his wings on the third day. This was the inauguration of the day of the Lord.

And this was the fulfillment of Malachi 4.3 and Genesis 3.15. The protoevangelium, the first gospel, was given in Genesis 3.15 – the serpent will bruise the heel of the messiah and the messiah will crush the serpent’s head. Malachi recapitulates this promise in chapter 4 verse 3 – and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. Jesus crushed the serpent’s head when he walked out of that tomb. Jesus took the justice of God for the evil of his people and he bound Satan so that he could not deceive the nations anymore.

In Romans 16.20 Paul recapitulates this Genesis 3.15 language again when he tells the church that the God of peace will son crush Satan under their feet. There’s a sense in which Satan’s head is being crushed every time someone comes to faith. When the last Christian is saved Satan will be crushed under the feet of the church. The gospel has gone to all the nations. 

The gospel is announced this morning. If you will repent of your sin and trust in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone, you will be saved. Your sins will be forgiven and you will have the hope of resurrection to the new creation with Christ. That will be the consummation of the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord was inaugurated with the death and resurrection of Christ and it will be consummated with the return of Christ. When Jesus returns he will raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new.

And so the message of Malachi 4.1-6 is the message of advent hope. Hope arrived in person through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Have you taken hold of this hope? Have you trusted in Jesus to save you for the forgiveness of your sins? I pray so.

Are you living in light of the hope of Jesus’ second advent? Are you living like Jesus is coming back? How do you live like King Jesus is coming back? You confess your sin. You obey God’s Word. You value eternal things more than passing things. You don’t love your money more than your church, or your family. You stay faithful toy your marriage. You teach your kids to love Christ. Every human being will stand before Jesus on the day and the day is coming. Are you trusting in the righteousness of Christ or are you trusting in your own righteousness? Live your life in light of the day because the day is coming.

Conclusion

The day of the Lord is like the Smoky Mountains. When you read the Old Testament the day of the Lord appears to be one day. But when we open the pages of the New Testament we see that the day of the Lord has two stages: it is already and it is not yet. The day of the Lord was inaugurated with the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ are like Mount Leconte, it is the initial fulfillment of the day of the Lord; it is the already. But there is still a not yet. Jesus Christ will have a second advent. Christ will return to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new. And that is the blessed hope of advent. 

Our hope is that Jesus Christ started the new creation when he walked out of the tomb on that first Easter morning. And Jesus Christ will finish his work when he comes again. What Malachi hoped for was inaugurated with Jesus’ first advent and it will be completed with his second advent. To put it another way, on that very first Christmas, the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.