Conclusion and Coda
Chapter 4 follows these 6 episodes and serves as the book’s conclusion. Malachi goes back to the 4th episode about the future “day of the Lord,” but develops it further. God promises a day of purifying judgment that will consume the wicked from among His people. However, Malachi now adds the perspective of God’s faithful remnant. For them, the “day of the Lord” is not a threat, but a cause for joy. It will be like the warmth of the morning sun, bringing life, healing, and hope for the future. (4:2).
The six episodic arguments between God and his people are completed, but Malachi adds a coda to the story. The final 3 verses of the book are not part of the prior discussions, but function as an appendix, bringing a summary that brings closure not just to this book, but to the entire Old Testament.
First, Malachi commands his audience to “remember the law (literally “Torah,”) of my servant Moses,” recalling all the stories in the first 5 books of the Bible, along with the laws and covenants laid out there.
Next, he summarizes the books of the Prophets, saying that God will send the Prophet Elijah before the coming “day of the Lord” to restore the hearts of God’s people. (Literally fulfilled, of course, in the person of John the Baptist).
This summarizes the Torah and the writings of the prophets as a unified concept that points to the future. Israel had been redeemed by God, but then betrayed Him, hardening their hearts and violating the laws of the Torah. But the scriptures anticipate a day in the future when God will send a new prophet, a new “Moses,” a new “Elijah,” who will restore God’s people and heal their hard hearts, a fulfillment of all the promises in Deuteronomy30, Jeremiah 31, and Ezekiel 36.
This little appendix at the end of the book serves to gift wrap the Old Testament for God’s people, encouraging them to read it, study it, meditate over it, and to pray the words God establishes here as the script for all their lives. God’s word emphasizes the truth of our human condition — our selfishness and sin; but there is also the promise, that someday God would send a “messenger,” and then show up Himself, in person, to confront evil and restore God’s people and bring his healing justice. It is this future hope that the book of Malachi, and, impliedly, the entirety of the rest of the Old Testament, is all about.
