Calvin's Commentary on Malachi
(... continued from file 12)
Lecture One Hundred and Eighty-first.
We saw in the last lecture that no works of the
faithful please God, except through a gratuitous
acceptance: it hence follows, that nothing can be
ascribed to merits without derogating from the grace of
Christ; for if the value of works depends on this, that
God is our Father and is reconciled to us in Christ,
nothing can be more absurd than to set up works, which
ought to be subordinated to this paternal favour of God.
We now see how these two things harmonise - that
reward is promised to works, and that works themselves
deserve nothing before God; for though God can justly
reject them, he yet regards them as acceptable, because
he forgives all their defects. Thus have we brief stated
the reason why our works are approved by God; they are
not so on account of any worthiness, but through his
favour alone; for there is no work which would not on
account of its imperfection be displeasing to God, were
he to require that it should be according to the rule of
his law. Hence God departs from his own law and turns to
mercy, that he may regard works as acceptable, which
otherwise could not, being defective, stand before his
presence. It now follows -
Malachi 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between
the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God and him that serveth him not.
This verse at the first view seems to be addressed
to the faithful; for there never has been a turning as to
the reprobate: but as the word has a wide meaning, the
passage may be suitably applied to the whole people,
according to what we find in Zechariah, "They shall see
him whom they have pierced;" for we have said that this
might be understood both of the good and of the bad. So
also the whole people might be viewed as addressed in
these words. But when we more minutely examine all
circumstances, it seems that Malachi more particularly
addressed the ungodly, and checked again their furious
blasphemies; for we find almost the same sentiment
expressed here, as when he said, "The Lord whom ye expect
shall come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant
whom ye seek;" and at the same time he showed that the
coming of Christ, which they said was advancing too
slowly, would not be such as they desired or looked for.
"Let not this delay," he says, "be grievous to you; for
everything terrible which his majesty possesses will be
turned on your heads; for he will come as an angry judge
and an avenger: ye therefore in vain hope for any comfort
or alleviation from his presence."
So also he says in this place, Ye shall see this
difference between the just and the unjust; that is, "Ye
shall find that God does not sleep in heaven, when the
ungodly grow wanton on the earth and abandon themselves
to every kind of wickedness: experience then will at
length teach you, that men shall not thus with impunity
become insolent against God, but that all your wickedness
must come to a reckoning." When therefore he says, that
they would find the difference between the godly and the
ungodly, he means that they would find by the punishments
which God would inflict, that men are not permitted to
indulge their own depraved desires, as though God slept
in heaven, forgetful of his office. Their blasphemy was,
"In vain is God worshipped; what is the benefit? for we
have kept his charge, and yet the proud are more happy
than we are." As then they accused God of such a
connivance, as though he disregarded and cast away his
own servants, and showed favour to the wicked, Malachi
returns them an answer and says, "Ye shall see how much
the good differ from the evil; God indeed spares the
wicked, but he will at length rise to judgement, and come
armed suddenly upon them, and then ye shall know that all
the deeds of men are noticed by him, and that wickedness
shall not go unpunished, though God for a time delays his
vengeance."
We now then perceive the Prophet's meaning - that
the ungodly who clamour against God, as though he made no
account either of the just or of the unjust, shall find,
even to their own loss, that he is one who punishes
wickedness.
As to the verb turn, I have already said that it has
a wide meaning, and does not always mean repentance or
the renovation of man: it may therefore be taken as
signifying only a different state of things; as though he
had said, "The dice shall be turned, and such will be
your condition when God shall begin to execute his
judgement, that he will then manifestly show that he has
not forgotten his office, though he does not immediately
hasten to execute his judgements." Ye shall return then
and see. Yet if any one prefers to regard returning as
the feeling of God's judgements, by which even the
ungodly shall be touched, though without repentance, the
view will not be unsuitable, and I am disposed to embrace
it, that is, that the Lord will shake off the stupidity
in which they were sunk, and will correct their madness,
so that they will not dare to vomit forth so insolently
their blasphemies, as they had been wont to do: Ye then
shall return; that is, "I will make my judgement known to
you, and ye shall not rush on headlong as wild beasts,
for being taught by facts, ye shall learn the difference
between the good and the bad."
The just, and he who serves God, mean the same
person. We hence learn that there is no justice where
there is no obedience rendered to God. The first thing
then in a good and an upright life, is to serve God; for
it would be but of little benefit to be harmless towards
men, when his right is denied: and we know that God is
not rightly served but according to what his law
prescribes. We must then always come to this, - that men
must obey God, if they desire to form their life aright.
Now follows -
Chapter 4.
Malachi 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.
He confirms the previous verse, for he denounces
ruin on all the reprobate and the despisers of God; and
he also confirms what I have mentioned, - that he sets
this threatening in opposition to the slanders which they
commonly uttered against God, as though he had ceased to
discharge his office as a Judge. Though indeed he speaks
in the third person, yet he is not deficient in force
when he says,
Behold, come shall the day, which shed consume all
the ungodly, as a hernia oven the stumble. The comparison
is very common which the Prophet uses, when he says, that
the ungodly shall be like stubble: I trill not therefore
quote passages which must be well known, and they are so
many that there is no need to adduce here either two or
three of them. The vengeance of God is also often
compared to fire and to a flame; and we know how fierce
and how dreadful an element is fire, when it lays hold on
wood or some other dry material. Hence according to the
common usage of Scripture, the Prophet says, that the day
of the Lord would be like an oven, and that the ungodly
would be like stubble. The demonstrative particle,
Behold, shows certainty, Behold, I come. The present time
is put here for the future, a common thing in Hebrew. But
the Prophet called the attention of the Jews as it were
to what was present, that his prophecy might not appear
doubtful, and that they might understand that God's
vengeance was not far distant, but already suspended over
their heads.
There is however a question as to the day which he
points out. The greater part think that the Prophet
speaks of the last coming of Christ, which seems not to
me probably. It is indeed true that these and similar
expressions, which everywhere occur in Scripture, have
not their full accomplishment in this world; but God so
suspends his judgements, as yet never to withhold from
giving evidences of them that the godly may have some
props to their faith: for if God gave no specimen or
proof of his providence, it would immediately occur to
our minds, that there is to be no judgement; but he sets
before us some examples, that we may learn that he will
some time be the judge of the world. It seems then to me
more probable, that the Prophet speaks here of the
renovation of the Church: for the wrath of God was then
at length more kindled against the Jews, when they had
alienated themselves from Christ; for their last hope and
their last remedy in their evils was the aid of the
Redeemer, and it was for the rejection of his favour that
the Jews had to feel the dreadful punishment of their
ingratitude. No sin could have been more atrocious than
to have rejected the offered favour, in which their
happiness and that of the whole world consisted. When the
Prophet then says, that the day would come, be refers I
think to the first coming of Christ; for the Jews made a
confident boast of the coming of a Redeemer, and he gives
them this answer - that the day of the Lord would come,
such as they did not imagine, but a day which would
wholly consume them, according to a quotation we have
made from another Prophet, "What will be the day of the
Lord to you? that day will not be light, but darkness, a
thick darkness and not brightness." (Amos 5: 18.) The day
of the Lord will be an unhappy event to you, as though
one escaped from the jaws of a lion, and fell at home on
a serpent. So in this place he says that the day would
come, which would consume them like an oven.
He says that all the proud and the workers of
iniquity would be like stubble. He repeats their words,
but somewhat ironically; for when they had said before
that the proud were happy, they regarded themselves as
being far from being such characters. Isaiah also in like
manner condemned hypocrites, because they exposed to
contempt their own brethren; for the worshippers of God
were at that time in great reproach among the Jews; yea,
hypocrites disdainfully treated the godly and the
upright, as though they were the dregs and filth of the
people. So also they said, "Behold, we are constrained,
not without great sorrow, to look on the happiness of the
ungodly; for the proud and the despisers of God enjoy
prosperity, they live in pleasures." The Prophet now
answers them ironically and says, "Ye shall see the
difference which ye so much wish; for God will consume
the proud and the ungodly." He says this of them; but it
is, as I have stated, as though he had said, "When your
mask is taken away, Ye shall see where impiety is, that
it is even in you; and therefore ye shall suffer the
punishment which you have deserved." This is the return
which he had before mentioned: for though the ungodly do
not seriously and sincerely return to God, yet they are
forced, willing or unwilling, to acknowledge their
impiety when God constrains them. Hence after they had
been constrained to examine their own life, God visited
them with the punishment they most justly deserved,
though judgement had been invoked by themselves.
He now adds, And it will leave neither root nor
branch. He means here that their ruin would be complete,
as though he had said, that no residue of them would be
found. As he had made them like stubble, so he mentions
root and stalk; for branch is improper here, as he speaks
of stubble, and branches belong to trees. The meaning,
however, is not obscure, which is - that such would be
the consumption that nothing would remain. This, indeed,
properly belongs to the last judgement; but, as I have
said, this is no reason why God should not set before our
eyes some evidences of that vengeance which awaits the
ungodly, by which our faith may be more and more
confirmed daily.
With regard to God's name, which is mentioned twice,
he reminds us that God does not execute his judgements in
an even or a continued course, but that he has a fixed
time, now for forbearance, then for vengeance, as it
seems good to him. Whenever then the day of the Lord is
mentioned in Scripture, let us know that God is bound by
no laws, that he should hasten his work according to our
hasty wishes; but the specific time is in his own power,
and at his own will. On this subject I lightly touch
only, because I have explained it more fully elsewhere.
It follows -
Malachi 4:2 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.
The Prophet now turns his discourse to the godly;
and hence it appears more clearly that he has been
hitherto threatening those gross hypocrites who arrogated
sanctity to themselves alone, while yet they were
continuing to provoke God's wrath; for he evidently
addresses some different from those previously spoken of,
when he says, Arise to you, &c.; he separates those who
feared God, or the true servants of God, from that
multitude with whom he has been hitherto contending.
Arise, then, to you who fear my name, &c.
There is to be noticed here a contrast; for the body
of the people were infected as it were with a general
contagion, but God had preserved a few uncontaminated. As
then he had been hitherto contending with the greatest
part of the people, so he now gathers as it were apart
the chosen few, and promises to them Christ as the author
of salvation. For the godly, we know, trembled at
threatenings, and would have almost fainted, had not God
mitigated them. Whenever he denounced vengeance on
sinners, the greater part either mocked, or became angry,
at least were not duly impressed. Thus it happens that
while God is thundering, the ungodly go on securely in
their sinful courses; but the godly tremble at a word,
and would be altogether cast down, were not God to apply
a remedy.
Hence our Prophet softens the severity of the
threatening which we have observed; as though he had
said, that he had not announced the coming of Christ as
terrible for the purpose of filling pious souls with
fear, (for it was not spoken to them,) but only of
terrifying the ungodly. The sum of the whole is briefly
this - "Hearken ye," he says, "who fear God; for I have a
different word for you, and that is, that the Sun of
righteousness shall arise, which will bring healing in
its wings. Let those despisers of God then perish, who,
though they carry on war with him, yet seek to have him
as it were bound to them; but raise ye up your heads, and
patiently look for that day, and with the hope of it
calmly bear your troubles." We now understand the import
of this verse.
There is indeed no doubt but that Malachi calls
Christ the Sun of righteousness; and a most suitable term
it is, when we consider how the condition of the fathers
differed from ours. God has always given light to his
Church, but Christ brought the full light, according to
what Isaiah teaches us, "On thee shall Jehovah arise, and
the glory of God shall be seen in thee." (Is. 60: 1.)
This can be applied to none but to Christ. Again he says,
"Behold darkness shall cover the earth," &c.; "shine on
thee shall Jehovah;" and farther, "There shall be now no
sun by day nor moon by night; but God alone shall give
thee light." (Is. 60: 19.) All these words show that Sun
is a name appropriate to Christ; for God the Father has
given a much clearer light in the person of Christ than
formerly by the law, and by all the appendages of the
law. And for this reason also is Christ called the light
of the world; not that the fathers wandered as the blind
in darkness, but that they were content with the dawn
only, or with the moon and stars. We indeed know how
obscure was the doctrine of the law, so that it may truly
be said to be shadowy. When therefore the heavens became
at length opened and clear by means of the gospel, it was
through the rising of the Sun, which brought the full
day; and hence it is the peculiar office of Christ to
illuminate. And on this account it is said in the first
chapter of John, that he was from the beginning the true
light, which illuminates every man that cometh into the
world, and yet that it was a light shining in darkness;
for some sparks of reason continue in men, however
blinded they are become through the fall of Adam and the
corruption of nature. But Christ is peculiarly called
light with regard to the faithful, whom he delivers from
the blindness in which all are involved by nature, and
whom he undertakes to guide by his Spirit.
The meaning then of the word sun, when
metaphorically applied to Christ, is this, - that he is
called a sun, because without him we cannot but wander
and go astray, but that by his guidance we shall keep in
the right way; and hence he says, "He who follows me
walks not in darkness." (John 8: 12.)
But we must observe that this is not to be confined
to the person of Christ, but extended to the gospel.
Hence Paul says, "Awake thou who sleepest, and rise from
darkness, and Christ shall illuminate thee." (Eph. 5: 14)
Christ then daily illuminates us by his doctrine and his
Spirit; and though we see him not with our eyes, yet we
find by experience that he is a sun.
He is called the sun of righteousness, either
because of his perfect rectitude, in whom there is
nothing defective, or because the righteousness of God is
conspicuous in him: and yet, that we may know the light,
derived from him, which proceeds from him to us and
irradiates us, we are not to regard the transient
concerns of this life, but what belongs to the spiritual
life. The first thing is, that Christ performs towards us
the office of a sun, not to guide our feet and hands as
to what is earthly, but that he brings light to us, to
show the way to heaven, and that by its means we may come
to the enjoyment of a blessed and eternal life. We must
secondly observe, that this spiritual light cannot be
separated from righteousness; for how does Christ become
our sun? It is by regenerating us by his Spirit into
righteousness, by delivering us from the pollutions of
the world, by renewing us after the image of God. We now
then see the import of the word righteousness.
He adds, And healing in its wings. He gives the name
of wings to the rays of the sun; and this comparison has
much beauty, for it is taken from nature, and most fitly
applied to Christ. There is nothing, we know, more
cheering and healing than the rays of the sun; for
ill-savour would soon overwhelm us, even within a day,
were not the sun to purge the earth from its dregs; and
without the sun there would be no respiration. We also
feel a sort of relief at the rising of the sun; for the
night is a kind of burden. When the sun sets, we feel as
it were a heaviness in all our members; and the sick are
exhilarated in the morning and experience a change from
the influence of the sun; for it brings to us healing in
its wing. But the Prophet has expressed what is still
more, - that a clear sun in a serene sky brings healing;
for there is an implied opposition between a cloudy or
stormy time and a clear and bright season. During time of
serenity we are far more cheerful, whether we be in
health or in sickness; and there is no one who does not
derive some cheerfulness from the serenity of the
heavens: but when it is cloudy, even the most healthy
feels some inconvenience.
According to this view Malachi now says, that there
would be healing in the things of Christ, inasmuch as
many evils were to be borne by the true servants of God;
for if we consider the history of those times, it will
appear that the condition of that people was most
grievous. He now promises a change to them; for the
restoration of the Church would bring them joy. See then
in what way he meant there would be healing in the wings
of Christ; for the darkness would be dissipated, and the
heavens would be free from clouds, so as to exhilarate
the minds of the godly.
By calling the godly those who fear God, he adopts
the common language of Scripture; for we have said that
the chief part of righteousness and holiness consists in
the true worship of God: but something new is here
expressed; for this fear is what peculiarly belongs to
true religion, so that men submit to God, though he is
invisible, though he does not address them face to face,
though he does not openly show his hand armed with
scourges. When therefore men of their own accord
reverence the glory of God, and acknowledge that the
world is governed by him, and that they are under his
authority, this is a real evidence of true religion: and
this is what the Prophet means by name. Hence they who
fear the name of God, desire not to draw him down from
heaven, nor seek manifest signs of his presence, but
suffer their faith to be thus tried, so that they adore
and worship God, though they see him not face to face,
but only through a mirror and that darkly, and also
through the displays of his power, justice, and other
attributes, which are evident before our eyes. Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast appointed thine
only-begotten Son to be like a sun to us, we may not be
blind, so as not to see his brightness; and that since he
is pleased to guide us daily into the way of salvation,
may we follow him and never be detained by any of the
impediments of this world, so as not to pursue after that
celestial life to which thou invitest us; and that as
thou hast promised that he is to come and gather us into
the eternal inheritance, may we not in the meantime grow
wanton, but on the contrary watch with diligence and be
ever attentively looking for him; and my we not reject
the favour which thou hast been pleased to offer us in
him, and thus grow torpid in our dregs, but on the
contrary be stimulated to fear thy none and truly to
worship thee, until we shall at length obtain the fruit
of our faith and piety, when he shall appear again for
our final redemption, even that sun which has already
appeared to us, in order that we might not remain
involved in darkness, but hold on our way in the midst of
darkness, even the way which leads us to heaven. - Amen.
Calvin's Commentary on Malachi
(continued in file 14...)
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