Conclusion of Malachi

16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another:

and the Lord hearkened, and heard it,

and a book of remembrance was written before him

for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts,

in that day when I make up my jewels;

and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,

between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.


Chapter 4

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 Lord 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 this, saith the Lord of hosts.


4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant,

which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel,

with the statutes and judgments.


5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet

before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

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. (Malachi 3:16-4:6)

Most times preachers turn to the book of Malachi it is for a sermon on tithing. I believe in tithing and I am not opposed to using Malachi to support it. But there are other lessons in Malachi that are precious and often ignored. This is especially sad since it is the last prophetic book before the coming of Christ, and it has so much relevance to Jesus.
They that feared the Lord spoke often to one another… And they shall be mine… What a wonderful principle! We who humbly serve God should ensure we give time to his other servants just to speak with them. Share experiences, encourage each other, often.
Then ye shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked… We know that we should not "judge" people; but the Bible also teaches that the righteous differentiate between the righteous and the wicked. Parents have a responsibility to keep the influence of the wicked from their children and help them learn from the righteous but they can only do this if they know who is who.
For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven… Jesus is coming and all the wicked will be burned up in a final execution of justice where every injustice will be righted and the problem of evil will be ended.
…with healing in his wings… grow up as calves... Jesus will restore every faithful person to full physical and mental health to enjoy an eternal growing process in paradise on earth.
…they shall be ashes under your feet… Jesus will reduce the wicked to ashes. Do ashes have conscious awareness of anything? We will walk on these ashes as we explore the new earth Jesus will create.
Remember ye the law of Moses… without the law we cannot know what is loving and right. As you read the law and think about it plead with God to teach you and he will. In this way God will transform your life to become more like Jesus who is the one pictured in the law.
…I will send you… the dreadful day is still coming and is it possible that there will be a kind of Elijah for the last time? Let the families be healed or we will suffer. This is the final message of the Old Testament.