Глава 4

End of the third speech: 1–3. Future punishment of the wicked and reward of the pious. 4–6. Elijah the prophet as the Forerunner of the day of the Lord. (Mal.4:1-3.) The wicked - the prophet concludes his speech, which began in the previous chapter - will be destroyed on the day of God's judgment, and the godly will receive a reward and rejoice. Mal.4:1. For behold, the day will come, burning like an oven; Then all the arrogant and those who do wickedness will be like stubble, and the coming day will burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. The wicked will not always prosper. With the coming of the day of the Lord - that is, the day of God's judgment - they will disappear, just as straw quickly disappears when thrown into a fiery furnace (cf. Isaiah 5.24), neither root nor branches will remain of them (the root is themselves, the branches are their children). Mal.4:2. And for you, who revere My name, the Sun of righteousness will rise and healing in His rays, and you will go out and leap like fat calves; For the pious, the Sun of righteousness will rise, now not always shining, that is, they will receive a reward corresponding to their merits before God or, in other words, salvation (cf. Isa. 45:8, 46:13, 51:5). They will frolic like calves that have been stalled for a long time and then released for a walk. Mal.4:3. and you will trample down the wicked, for they will be dust under the soles of your feet in the day that I will do, says the Lord of hosts. To trample underfoot the wicked was a reward for the Old Testament righteous, who thus became instruments of God's wrath. Wed. Mic 4.13. Tikhomirov, however, explains this expression in the sense that sinners will not be terrible for the pious. (Mal.4:4-6.) Since, given the general, almost, unfaithfulness of the Jewish people to Jehovah, the future judgment of God should be extremely disastrous for this people, then the Lord, out of pity for them, will send before the onset of the judgment a special prophet, like Elijah, who should prepare the way for Him and level the abyss separating the most holy God-Judge from the sinful people, as well as reconcile the Jews among themselves. (Mal.4:4.) Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel, as well as the rules and statutes. Having said what terrible punishment awaits the wicked, the prophet indicates a means by which this punishment can be avoided. We must fulfill the law of Moses. This reflects the entire worldview of post-exilic Judaism, which placed all its strength precisely in observing the Law of Moses. Malachi speaks of Horeb as a mountain of legislation in accordance with the indications of the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 4.1–15). Mal.4:5. Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet to you before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. To lead the Jews to obedience to the law, the Lord will send another special warner, or messenger, as was already said in the 1st verse of the third chapter. But who did the prophet Malachi mean by this exhorter - Elijah the prophet? The Jews saw here a prediction about the actual coming, known from the history of the Old Testament, of the prophet Elijah, who should again appear on earth and precisely to them, the Jews, before the coming of the Messiah (see Matthew 17:10–11, 11:14, 16:14; John 1:21). This Jewish belief was also reflected in the translation of the verse in question in the LXX, who instead of the expression “Elijah the prophet” put “Elijah the Tishbite,” that is, the prophet Elijah, known from history, originally from Thesvah. According to the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and the Evangelists, by Elijah here we must understand, first of all, John the Baptist (see Matt. 17.10–13; Luke 1.17), i.e., therefore, Elijah in the figurative sense of the word, a prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah. Finally, according to the almost general interpretation of the fathers and teachers of the Church, here, in addition to indicating John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of the first coming of Christ, there is also an indication of the actual coming of the famous prophet Elijah, who will appear on earth before the second coming of Christ (Zlat., Theodoret, etc.). Since this “Elijah the Prophet” must appear before the “great and terrible day of the Lord,” then, obviously, he should be identified with that “Angel” or messenger who will also appear before the judgment of God and which is mentioned in the 1st verse of the third chapter, where undoubtedly John the Baptist is spoken of. Therefore, from an exegetical point of view, it is necessary to recognize as more correct the explanation that was given to this place in the first times of Christianity (in addition to the Evangelists, St. Justin the Philosopher attributed this place to John the Baptist). Yes, here the prophet means a prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah, i.e. John the Baptist, and calls him Elijah in the same sense in which Jeremiah called the future ruler of Israel “David” (Jer 30.9; cf. Eze 34.23). And the fathers and teachers of the Church themselves did not reject such an explanation. But, at the same time, there is no obstacle to accepting their interpretation, according to which there may be a pre-indication of the personal appearance of Elijah before the second coming of Christ. As with all messianic prophecies, here we can apply the method of explanation by which almost every prophecy can be explained in relation to both immediate events and events that are to take place at the end of time. Comparing the passage in question with Rev. 11.3–13, the Church Fathers had even more reason to interpret Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah the prophet as referring not only to John the Baptist, but also to the actual prophet Elijah. Mal.4:6. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that when I come I will not smite the earth with a curse. The activity of the prophet who will appear before the coming of the Messiah will be to turn the hearts of fathers to sons and back. Here it is most natural to see a hint of the disagreements that existed between the old and young generations of post-exilic Judaism. Apparently, the old generation disapproved of the actions of the young (perhaps marrying pagans, cf. Mal 2.11), and then insisted on the correctness of their views. Because of this, the Jewish community weakened in its strength, and God therefore calls, or will call through the prophet who is to come, the Jews to reconciliation among themselves. The prophecy of Malachi (Mal. 3:1–8, 17–18 and Mal. 4:5–6) is read as parimia for the feasts of St. John the Baptist (February 24, May 25 and August 29), from which it is clear that the Orthodox Church sees here a prophecy about the activities of John the Baptist. You might be interested in: