"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master', where is your fear of Me?""

The word of the Lord through Malachi starts out with the declaration to the poeple of Israel, "'I have loved you', says the Lord." (Mal. 1:2).

Later, the Lord goes on to speak in Malachi 3:13-15:

“Your words against me are harsh,” says the Lord.

Yet you ask: 'What have we spoken against You?'

You have said: 'It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Hosts? So now we consider the arrogant to be fortunate. Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God and escape.'”

I was recently listening to a sermon on praying for one's children. The one giving the sermon was a father and he was speaking of a time where his daughter was going her own way and wanted to live by her own standards. He was reading the daughters words now looking back on this time. He had been calling her to live by standards she was rebelling against. Rather than compromise his standards for his daughter, he held to his standards and continued to pray for her. At the time, his daughter responded at one point by telling him she hated him.

At this point in reading these words in her story, the father began crying and trying to choke back the tears as he continued to read her words. You could tell that he had been heartbroken over those words in that season in her life of rebellion. Even though now they were living on the other side of that story and his daughter was following God, those words had pierced his heart deeply.

In the book of Malachi, the Lord was speaking to His daughter Judah. She had broken His heart and was too hard-hearted to even see it. Rather than living by the standards that He established for her, she wanted her own way. She was rejecting the Lord and breaking His heart.

She was like a daughter standing face to face with her father telling him that it was useless to follow his instructions or ways. While she liked to live in his house at times and experience the benefits of His blessing, she didn't want him in her life telling her what to do. She wanted what the world had in all it's riches and prosperity rather than the restraints of a disciplined life that pleased her father.

John says in 1 John 5:2-3, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

God was not being overly strict with his daughter or putting constraints on her that would weigh her down or hold her back from a full life. Like a good father, He wanted what was best for His daughter Judah. He established His commands and provided discipline that would help her to get there.

Hebrews 12:6-11 says, “'because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.' Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Proverbs 13:24 says, “He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”

Makes me think of the prodigal son who left home with his inheritance to find a better life. He chose the world and money over the love and discipline of his father. He ran off and squandered everything he had seeking to find a fulfilling life. When he came to the end of himself and had nothing, he turned back to his father hoping to beg to be a servant in the house. Instead, the father received him back as a son and embraced him with great joy for his return to him.

The older brother who stayed behind with his father, serving in his household and submitting to his rules and standards, struggled at that point with what he was getting out of it. He saw that his brother was received after squandering everything and was angry he had worked so hard and followed all the rules. In all his hard work and following the rules, he had lost sight of what a treasure it was to be with his father and please him.

The father reminded him, “Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours...”

When Jesus came to earth and was serving His father and doing His will, being baptized to “fulfill all righteousness”, he received the blessing of His Father. The heavens opened and a voice came from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him!”

In the same way, God shows favor, blesses us and delights in us obeying His commands from the heart. Psalm 84:11 says, “ The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

In Malachi 3:17-18, the Lord said about those who would fear Him and treasure His name, “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, 'a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serve him. So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.”

What was happening in the time of Malachi was there were those who served the Lord in name only. They lived in His house under the pretense of being his children but did not have any intention of honoring him in their hearts and truly following His instructions. They used their religion as a source of power, prestige, and personal gain.

The Lord is not looking for a stiff-necked church that is polished and looks good on the outside but is full of corruption on the inside. Rather, He is looking for a genuinely humble, broken, real people who are filled with His Spirit.

But for those who have veered off course and lost their way, hope is not lost. The Lord promises that He will eventually send down fire on the earth and burn up this wickedness and arrogance, leaving only stubble. Obadiah says about the last days, “The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame” kindling and burning up the stubble of the house of Esau (Obadiah 18)

In Malachi 3:2-3, the Lord also speaks of Jesus coming like fire and purifying His bride. It says, “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiners fire and like a launderers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.”

Fire represents God's judgment – His anger and jealousy burning over sin. Numbers 11:1-3 says, “And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.

Fire ignites passion and purifies the heart. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 says, “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

In Malachi 4:2 it says that at the same time that fire is sent, for those authentically His children, the Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in it's wings, and they will go out like calves from the stall (Mal. 4:2).

The sun provides direction [2] and shines with radiant glory. It also speaks of divine sovereignty [2] and provision. Isaiah 58:8 says something a little similar about a true fast, “Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord's glory will be your rear guard.

Upon His returning Jesus says in Matthew 13:40-43, "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear."

Before His return, the Lord promises He will send Elijah the prophet (Mal. 4:5). Elijah was known for calling down fire from heaven, causing wickedness to be burned up and leading the people to repentance – turning them back to God.

Elijah is also known for working powerful miracles that impacted many. [a] According to Malachi 4:6, the Lord promises Elijah (the spirit and power of according to Lk 1:17) that will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.

One commentary notes about this verse, “Although this prophecy was provisionally fulfilled by John the Baptist... it will be further fulfilled at Jesus' return [Mt 11:14, 17:11, Rv 11:3] … Malachi 4:6, quoted in Lk 1:16-17, describes a time of reconciliation when 'the disobedient' will accept the wisdom of 'the righteous' and when fathers and their children will no longer live self-serving lives but will regard one another with compassion and respect [2:15, Ezk 5:10; Rm 1:30].” [1]

Father, forgive me for where I have not wanted your ways or your discipline in my life.  Your ways and discipline are always best.  Forgive me where I have not honored You and chosen my own way (or tried to direct things my own way) rather than embrace Your ways.  

Lord, we long for the day You set all things right. Until then, help us to live our lives fully, living in your house faithfully following Your commands and embracing Your discipline as Your children whom You treasure.

“Don't you know I've always loved you, even before there was time, though you turn away, I tell you still, don't you know I've always loved you and I always will” sings in the background.

a. “Then the prophet Elijah arose like fire,

his word flaring like a torch.

It was he who brought famine on them,

and who decimated them in his zeal.

By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens,

he also, three times, brought down fire.

How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah!
Has anyone reason to boast as you have?-

rousing a corpse from death,

from Sheol by the word of the Most High;

dragging kings down to destruction,

and high dignitaries from their beds;

hearing reproof on Sinai,

and decrees of punishment on Horeb;

anointing kings as avengers,

and prophets to succeed you'

taken up in the whirlwind of fire,

in a chariot with fiery horses;

designated in the prophecies of doom

to allay God's wrath before the fury breaks,

to turn the hearts of fathers toward their children,

and to restore tribes of Jacob.

Happy shall they be who see you,

and those who have fallen asleep in love;

for we too will have life.”

(Ecclesiasticus 481-12)

1.  HCSB Study Bible. Holman Christian Standard Bible: God's Word for Life. Holman Bible Pubulishers, Nashville, TN. 2010.

2. Vine, W. E. ; Unger, Merrill F. ; White, William: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville : T. Nelson, 1996, S. 1:252