The Book of Malachi

Sermon 17 “God’s Condemnation of the People” 

Subject: The Nature of Gods judgment. – 4:3 – 6 Part 2

 

  1. Verse 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.”
    1. Needless to say God will have no mercy on the non-elect of this world. The tribulation period, judgment, and eternal damnation, all tells us that their future is terrible and full of anguish.

a.        The complaint was that the lost seemed to be better off than the just. Malachi 3:15 “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.”

b.      Most lost prosper more than Christians, some rule the world, some are our bosses, and some control our lives to a point, but in the end we Christians will rule with our Lord and Saviour.

    1. “And ye shall tread down the wicked…” The word “ye” are the righteous, we will rule with Christ Jesus, when judgment comes we will be with Him, when the final eternal destruction is executed we will be with Him. He is our Lord and Saviour we will be eternally at His side. Psalms 47:1 - 3 “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. (2.) For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. (3.) He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.”
    2. This will not be a terrible thing to us; we are going to rejoice over their destruction. Just as the martyred does under the alter in heaven during the tribulation period. Revelation 6:9 - 10 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: (10.) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” However not just they but us also, we will rejoice when Gods judgment is executed. Psalms 58:10 “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.”
    3. All of this is Gods promise to us, we will all think different in Gods kingdom, we will be more like Him. 
  1. Verse 4 “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.”
    1. Let us remember this is the closing of the Old Testament, therefore God told the Israelites to remember the Law given to the Moses then from Moses to the people. This was to be done until John.  Matthew 11:13 “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
    2. “…which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel…” Don’t let the name “Horeb” throw you it is the same mountain as Mt. Sinai. And do not ever forget the importance of the law, it is Gods and written by God Himself.  Exodus 31:18  “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”
  2. Verse 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”
    1. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet…” Not resurrecting the Prophet Elijah but rather the spirit of Elijah in John the Baptist. Remember many mistaken John for Elijah.

a.       Luke 1:17  “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

b.      Matthew 17:9 - 13 “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. (10.) And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? (11.) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. (12.) But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. (13.) Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”

c.       Although most believe, and I agree the Prophets in the Tribulation period will be Moses and Elijah.

    1. “… Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” – it is believed this is not talking about the tribulation period but rather the birth of Christ Jesus, which was a dreadful day for the Israelites, as concerning the events that followed His birth. It also announces that John the Baptist will be Christ’s forerunner. 
  1.  Verse 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.”
    1. This is John the Baptist, His preaching will “…turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers…” to be saved.
    2. Without the preaching of John and the death of Christ there would be no salvation and the world would be worthless and should only be destroyed, as it will be in the Tribulation period. Romans 11:26 “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:”