The Prophecy of Malachi – Part 5, The Spirit of Elijah

The Prophecy of Malachi – Part 5, The Spirit of Elijah

In the opening verses of Malachi chapter 3 we saw a prophecy of the coming of two messengers, and the first was to prepare the way for the second. A similar prophecy concerning the first messenger is found in Isaiah chapter 40, which the apostles in three of the Gospel accounts had cited in reference to John the Baptist. The messenger in Isaiah is said to be a voice crying in the wilderness, to “Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Here in Malachi the second messenger is “the lord … come to His temple” and the “messenger of the covenant”, and that can be none other than Yahshua Christ Himself. Christ is indeed one and the same as Yahweh God for whom the first messenger prepares the way. As we read the words of Christ in the Gospel of John, “I and the Father are One”, and “He who has seen Me has seen the Father!”

Next in Malachi there is a statement which may refer to one messenger or the other, or even to either, where it says “3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.” The first messenger, John the Baptist, did indeed “purify the sons of Levi”, where it is evident that the purpose of his commission to baptize was to ceremonially fulfil the requirements of the law in relationship to Christ, whom upon baptizing he had also declared to be the Lamb of God. If John baptized anyone else, it was only a collateral benefit, and he nevertheless fulfilled the purpose of the law hinted at in Malachi. But before Christ had begun His ministry, when the people wondered whether John was the Messiah, he denied it, and said “I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh... he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. With his baptizing, John had cleansed individual Levites in preparation for the Passover of God, and then he cleansed the final Passover Lamb, as Paul had later written of Christ, in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” In that manner did John prepare the way for Christ. However it is evident that the Gospel of Christ, separating the wheat from the tares, had purged the sons of Levi collectively by weeding out the Edomite Jews from the true sheep, those who had ultimately heard the voice of their master.

Following the purging of the sons of Levi, we read in verse 4 of the chapter that “Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” This may be interpreted in a Christian context, as many of the Israelites of Judaea and the Levites amongst them turned to Christ, or it may more appropriately be construed as a reference to Christ as the final offering under the Old Covenant, since the word for offering in Hebrew is singular. Since He is the “messenger of the covenant”, He is also the Messiah of Daniel who was prophesied to “confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,” as the Word of Yahweh says in Daniel 9:27. So where Christ is sacrificed, there is no longer a need for any other offering, as Paul explained in Hebrews chapter 10 speaking of the first and new covenants: “9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

Now that we have summarized the first four verses of the chapter, which we had discussed at length last week, we shall commence with Malachi chapter 3, and in verse 5 we begin to read of some of the reasons for the coming of this second messenger, “the Lord, whom ye seek,” who “shall suddenly come to his temple”. We know that this refers to the second messenger as it uses the first person forms of verbs referencing Yahweh Himself, and Christ the second messenger is Yahweh God incarnate:

5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

Those who swear falsely, giving false testimony, are held by the law to be liable to the punishment for the crime of which they falsely attest. As it says in Deuteronomy chapter 19, “behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.”

Sorcerers are chastised by Yahshua Christ, along with fornicators, whoremongers, thieves and murderers, idolaters and liars, in Revelation chapters 9, 21 and 22. Here in the Septuagint, as it is in the Revelation, the word for sorcerer is φάρμακος (pharmakos), the same Greek word from which we have English words such as pharmacy. By that we should know in part what a φάρμακος or sorcerer is, although there were many other aspects of ancient sorcery. The Scriptures link sorcerers to dream interpretation, divining, enchantments, magic and other such things.

The concept of adultery in the Old Testament included what had been called fornication in the New Testament, which forbids illicit sex including race-mixing, or the pursuit of different flesh. This is evident as there were separate commandments forbidding both adultery and the coveting of a neighbor’s wife. Throughout the Gospels and epistles of the apostles all sorts of adultery and fornication are condemned.

The Hebrew word for stranger is geyr (Strong’s # 1616), which is a guest or sojourner who has an expectation of hospitality. So the stranger is not necessarily one of a different race or an alien culture, but rather is one of one’s own race and culture who would have such an expectation of hospitality. In both Greek and Hebrew culture it was a reproach for a man to mistreat such a stranger, or withhold kindness to a sojourner.

Oppression of the widow and the fatherless is also a sin for which the children of Israel were punished in the Old Testament. It says in the law, in Exodus chapter 22: “21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” Later, in Ezekiel chapter 22, we see amongst the sins of the people of Jerusalem that “7 In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. 8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.”

The same sins are recounted in Zechariah chapter 7 where it says “8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, 9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.” Here in Malachi it is evident that the people have commenced in these same sins only a short time later.

To oppress the hireling in his wages is something the apostle James accuses the wealthy of doing, in chapter 5 of his epistle where it says: “1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” When a Christian is getting wealthy from his enterprises, he should consider increasing the wages of his employees.

But here it is evident, that the judgment of such sinners has not yet come, as we still have them, and it says only that “I will be a swift witness against” those who commit such sins. Ostensibly, as we shall see below in verse 16 of this chapter, the Gospel accounts, the writings of the apostles, and the Revelation are that swift witness, and we await the judgment, which is also ongoing. So we have a further warning and the Word of Yahweh says:

6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

And if Yahshua Christ is the Lord come suddenly to His temple, then Paul in reference to this same Yahweh, the God of Malachi, when he wrote in Hebrews chapter 13, said: “8 Yahshua Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

According to the law, all of the children of Israel were liable to the penalty of death for their sins, except that God had promised them that they would live in spite of their sins, and He cannot change. So for example, we see the Word of Yahweh speak to the children of Israel in Isaiah chapter 28 and say “15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.” Therefore even if the children of Israel wanted to destroy themselves, they would fail. As Christ had said, not one of His sheep can be plucked from the hand of His Father.

Their ancient disobedience is next described in verse 7:

7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

We had seen Malachi chastise the priests for their dishonesty and for being partial in the law in the opening chapters of this prophecy. Now here it is once again evident that even in the earlier days of the second temple period, at the time of Malachi, the law and the sacrifices were only maintained as a pretext of righteousness, and that the people were not actually keeping the law. And where they are portrayed as having said, Wherein shall we return?, it is evident that they did not even know from what it was that they had departed. They did not even have a full understanding of their sin. So aside from the sins already mentioned here, through the prophet Yahweh continues to remind them of how they have fallen short:

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

As we had discussed earlier in this presentation of Malachi, Nehemiah was recalled to Persia in 490 BC, but some time later he was allowed a return visit to Jerusalem. We do not know how many years he had been away, but this last visit is recorded in the final two chapters of his book, recording things which transpired some time before Ezra had received his own commission as governor of Jerusalem.

So some time after 490 BC Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem and he writes about how he had to read the book of the law before the people, because they were mingling themselves with the heathens dwelling around them, and he says: “3 Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. 4 And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah [who was a Samaritan]: 5 And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests. 6 But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king: 7 And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.”

If the treasury of the temple was occupied by Tobiah the Samaritan, then ostensibly the tithes for the Levites were not being collected, and Nehemiah writes further on: “7 And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8 And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense. 10 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field.”

This was also the first time that Nehemiah had to correct the people for race-mixing with the surrounding Canaanites and other people of the land, which is evident from verse 3 of this passage which we have just read. But we have also already explained that where Malachi speaks of Judah marrying the “daughter of a strange god” in relation to his chastisement of the priests, he says “and this ye have done again”, which must at least refer to the later time of Ezra, and the events recorded in Ezra chapter 10, but possibly even to a third and still later time. So we see that the tithes had ceased already in the time of Nehemiah, and here in Malachi it is apparent that they have ceased once again. Accepting correction, even the people of the second temple period did not stand corrected for long. So Yahweh exhorts them and says:

10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Of course, it is apparent in Nehemiah and Ezra that there were immediate problems that fit the words of the prophet, but they also become notably manifest in the later pre-Christian history of Judaea, where the Judaeans absorbed the tribes of the surrounding and accursed peoples. Here by comparing Malachi to Nehemiah and Ezra we see a great pattern of apostasy had persisted throughout the early period of the 70-Weeks Kingdom, and with no Scriptures to inform us any further we cannot imagine that these problems may have simply dissipated in the later period of that Kingdom.

But here we must also take note, that while there was evidently an immediate purpose for this prophecy, Malachi had also set the focus on two messengers to come, who were demonstrably John the Baptist and Yahshua Christ, and they appeared over four hundred years later. Whether there was an immediate fulfilment before that time of two men, who are now unknown to us, who may have once again corrected the situation in Jerusalem, we can not know. There are no Scriptures from the time of Malachi until the compilation of the New Testament. But without a doubt the prophecy of the two messengers is fulfilled in the time and advent of Christ, so there is clearly a transcending, or long-term purpose for this prophecy. That will become even more apparent in the later verses of this chapter.

So perhaps the tithes and offerings here refer not only to the immediate conditions of Malachi’s time, but in the transcendental fulfilment to the conditions of the children of Israel as a whole, wherever they are scattered. Second-temple period Jerusalem was already destined to be destroyed, a fate which was expressed in Scripture even before it was built, which is evident in the Messianic prophecy of Daniel chapter 9 as well as the broken-bottle prophecy of Jeremiah chapter 19.

In the Christian context, the tithes are only allegories and have nothing to do with the Levites or the temple. Rather, they represent the things that the individual Christian as a priest of God is obligated to do for his brethren and his community, which are the true temple of God. We see in verse 7 here that there should be care for the hireling in his wages, for the widow and the fatherless, and for the stranger or sojourner. Taking care of the needy of our brethren, or for the poor of the saints, is one way by which Christians bring their tithes into the storehouse, storing up treasure in heaven. Here on earth, keeping this practice Christians are promised in turn that they will have abundance.

In this manner we have a promise attached to the admonition to keep the giving of such tithes:

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

The reference to “the devourer” is an allegory for whatever disease or blight may cause famine in any particular land, and is not necessarily a personal reference to any particular demon. In place of this first clause, the Septuagint has “And I will appoint food for you...”

This promise may have had a temporary effect on the 70-Weeks Kingdom, but it is timeless and in effect to this very day. When Christians do the will of their God, they are promised bounty. When they forsake their God and their brethren for their own interests, they are confronted with the devourer. Today there are devourers throughout every Christian nation, as a punishment because in the age of Modernism those nations have departed from Christ.

12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

Where the children of Israel do the will of their God, they are blessed before the other nations. Where they go off into sin, they are devoured before the other nations. This has been the pattern ever since the Exodus, it has never changed, and it is not going to change because it is tantamount to natural law. Even in this Christian dispensation, there is personal sin and punishment, and there is national sin and punishment, under which the good suffer along with the wicked. This we see in Ezekiel chapter 21: “2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, 3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: 5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.” Malachi continues in his chastisement:

13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

Once again the people are portrayed as if they did not even understand the substance of their transgressions, so in a dialogue the prophet informs them:

14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?

The pattern of sin discussed here is similar to what is seen in Hosea, where the ancient Israelites were told not to engage in trade with the idolatrous nations, and they ignored the commandment. So we read in Hosea chapter 2 where it is speaking of Israel as the wife of Yahweh who went and played the harlot: “7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. 8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.” Any empire which forces different races of people to dwell and trade with one another must enforce only one State religion, as the Romans once attempted, or accept all religions as equally valid and regulate each of them, as we see in the modern American empire. The children of Israel were told not to make agreements with the heathens, which would include trading with them, and they would be blessed, whereas today such commandments of God are considered extremist and outlawed by the government, the beast government as the governments of men are frequently described in Scripture.

The tendency of the people is towards a desire for immediate gratification, and not in that obedience to the law of Yahweh which ultimately leads to blessings for the nation. Not being gratified immediately, the people go off into sin believing that “it is vain to serve God”. Here in the time of Malachi, the people were expected to walk mournfully, or as mourners, because of their past sins and the punishments by which they lost their former kingdom. So we see in the Sermon on the Mount the words of Christ where He said: “3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” As we shall see in the verse which follows, when the righteous fail to maintain their responsibilities, the wicked thrive as the righteous are punished.

15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Actually today we call the proud gay, a word which used to mean happy, when we should really call them sodomites and stone them in the streets. But while that is a digression inspired by a play on words, those are the very people who are exalted in our modern and sinful society.

This same phenomenon which we see described here was mentioned in Jeremiah in reference to ancient Jerusalem, in chapter 12 where we read: “1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.” The people of Jeremiah’s time only worshipped Yahweh in pretense, and for their sins the wicked prospered. But like Jeremiah himself, there have always been a righteous population among the people, and now Malachi addresses them with a message of hope:

16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Here this is done in response to the sins described in the time of the prophet, and there is no other book of Scripture after this one, until the time of the New Testament. The overall purpose of Yahweh outlined in this chapter begins with the messenger who would prepare His path, and then the coming of the messenger of the covenant, which is Christ Himself. Then in Malachi we see expressed the will of God that the sons of Jacob are not consumed in spite of their many sins, and here we see a prophecy in that same pattern which can only refer to the writing of the books of the New Testament and the assurance of mercy for Israel, to give the righteous the opportunity to distinguish the devils and to serve God, ultimately by serving His Christ.

The book is here called a “book of remembrance”, and as the purpose of the Gospel was announced in Luke chapter 1 we read that Christ came “71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham...” In Isaiah chapter 44 we read: “21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.” Likewise in Exodus chapter 32: “13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven...” So the New Testament is the record of the fulfilment of Yahweh keeping His promises to the fathers, as He said here earlier in this chapter of Malachi, “6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

However the New Testament is also a call for Israel to return to obedience to their God, and we read in chapter 4 of this prophecy the exhortation to “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” As Christ had later said, for example in John chapter 15, “10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” So the book of remembrance also urges the children of Israel to remember to keep the law.

Now the Word of Yahweh through Malachi describes the consequences of the writing of this “book of remembrance” for them that fear Him:

17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Where it says “they shall be mine” we see a reference to the children of Israel who choose to follow Christ. He shall spare them in the day when He makes up His jewels, which represents the adornment of the Bride of Christ. John the Baptist had said, as it is recorded in John chapter 3, “29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” So we read in Joel, in a prophecy cited by the apostles in reference to the first Christian Pentecost: “15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?”

The jewels are described as the City of God, which is also the Bride of Christ, in Revelation chapter 21: “10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” It should be apparent, that the jewels, the precious stones which are the substance of the city, are all allegories for the people of God, as Peter also wrote in his first epistle, “3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” This is how Yahweh assembles his jewels, as His people turn to Christ.

Being presented the “book of remembrance”, the word of Yahweh then says in Malachi:

18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

The purpose of the Gospel was to call the children of Israel to return to God in Christ. Once the children of Israel accept the Gospel of Christ and return to their God, with His Gospel they can “discern between the righteous and the wicked”, and between those who serve God and those who do not. In reference to this Christ had also said “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” and elsewhere “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” For that reason, only the children of Israel can serve God, as, for example, it says in Isaiah chapter 41: “8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.” And since Yahweh does not change, as he says here in Malachi chapter 3, then these words to Israel in Isaiah can not change.

Now this concludes our discussion of Malachi chapter 3, and as we move on to chapter 4 we must understand that the context does not change simply because the chapters were later divided by men. Malachi chapter 4 is a direct continuation of what we have just seen in Malachi chapter 3, and it is not to be removed from its context. Even though it is speaking of a presumed-to-be-far-off “day of the Lord”, it remains in the context of the sending of the two messengers, the mercy promised to the sons of Jacob and the writing of the “book of remembrance”.

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.

In the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities of Israel and Judah, the children of Israel had entered into a prophesied seven-times period of punishment which would last for 2,520 years. These things are clearly evident, among other places, in both the Book of Daniel and the Revelation of Yahshua Christ. So for their immediate time, the apostles of Christ spoke not of immediate deliverance, but of the trials of the Christian faith. Thusly Peter writes in chapter 4 of his first epistle “12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” Likewise Paul spoke in Romans chapter 8 and said “18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Even with the coming of Christ, the Word of Yahweh in the Old Testament prophets had to be fulfilled and the predetermined period of punishment for Israel had to run its course.

But there was another and greater time of trouble which was prophesied in Jeremiah chapter 30, which we also believe is described in the Revelation in chapters 14 through 17. This is called the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”. It says in Jeremiah chapter 30, “7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Again in Daniel chapter 12 and speaking of the “time of the end”, it says: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

Throughout these times of punishment the children of Israel have suffered in many different ways, under the prophesied tyrants, the beast empires of Daniel and the Revelation, and now under their own presumed liberty and governments of their own making. The result is the condition which we have seen prophesied here in Malachi chapter 1, where Yahweh states to Israel “I have loved you”, and Israel responds “Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother?”, showing greater concern for the wicked which Yahweh had long ago rejected than they do for their own people whom Yahweh loves. Here in chapter 4 of Malachi, we shall see that the prophet ends his message in the same way that he began.

Now in this prophesied “time of Jacob’s trouble”, the wicked prevail, the proud are called happy – or gay – and only those who love God and have accepted His Word in the “book of remembrance” care for judgment. The judgment they seek is described in many of the prophets, as well as in Revelation chapters 18 and 19, and where Malachi informs us here that “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” we see that day has not yet come, so he is indeed speaking of the time of the end.

And following the description of the judgment of the wicked there is a message of hope for them that love God:

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.

In Matthew chapter 5 there is a wordplay which only exists in English, but unfortunately the passage is poorly translated in the King James Version, where the word for sons is rendered as children. The passage should read: “44 Now I say to you: love your enemies and pray for those persecuting you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father who is in the heavens, because His sun rises upon evil and good and rains upon righteous and unrighteous.” The sun of this passage is an allegory for Christ Himself, and the reference to the enemies and persecutors in Matthew 5:44 is a reference not to the enemies of God, who are another class entirely, but to the opposition that Christians receive from men of their own kindred and race. God will forgive our sinful brethren, so we should also seek to forgive them.

We have also often pointed out, that in Genesis chapter 3 a cherub is placed on the east of the garden to keep the way to the tree of life, which is Christ, and we have asserted that the cherub was placed on the east of the garden because that is where the sun rises, which is a clue to us of the ancient truth of the Gospel, that Christ is the Tree of Life and the Light some into the World.

Here in Malachi we see a depiction of the ancient symbol of the Phoenix, which was represented by a winged sun disk. This also reveals the truths hidden in some of the ancient symbols of our Aryan race, as we had described of the sphinx not long ago when we presented Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews. Yahshua Christ, the Light come into the World as He is described in the Gospel, is the sun arising with healing in His wings. This symbolism is summarized in the Revelation, in chapter 21 where we read from the same description of the City of God that we have just cited above, “23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

Then these same people returning to Yahweh in Christ are told:

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.

Here it is evident that Malachi is referring to the same event prophesied in Obadiah where it says “15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. 16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. 17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.”

This events is also prophesied in Micah chapter 4 where we read something which parallels the camp of the saints scenario prophesied in Revelation chapter 20 and it says “11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.”

In Revelation 20 we read “1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” After the scattered Israelites of Europe had accepted Christianity, the Edomite Jew was ostracized from Christian society for a thousand years, along with all of the Arab bastards. Then where the thousand years comes to a close, we read: “7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

In Revelation chapter 12 we see a description of a dragon which would attempt to kill the Christ child, and it is demonstrable in history – as we have already explained here discussing the opening verses of Malachi chapter 3 – the Herod, the king of Judaea who sought to slay Christ as a child, was indeed of the seed of Esau. Esau receives special mention in the description of the destruction of the wicked nations in Obadiah because the Edomite Jews are the devil who has been tormenting the Christian children of Israel throughout this period of the “time of Jacob’s trouble”. This time of trouble mentioned in Jeremiah is followed by a promise in verse 11 of that same chapter, where the Word of Yahweh says in Jeremiah 30:11 “For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” These are the nations which the Edomite Jews now gather against the children of Israel, everywhere in their own lands, which is also described at length in prophecy in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. Interestingly, in Origen’s edition of the Septuagint in his Hexapla, as well as in the Rahlfs-Hanhart edition of the Septuagint, rather than “all the proud” in Malachi 4:1 it reads “all the other races”.

So where Malachi says that “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”, we know that all true Christians should indeed be awaiting a real holocaust, and it will be good. But before that day comes, there are still other admonitions:

4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

The reference is to an event described in chapter 5 of Deuteronomy, where it says in part: “And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, 5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying, 6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me. 8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: 9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. 11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. 13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. 16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 17 Thou shalt not kill [murder]. 18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery. 19 Neither shalt thou steal. 20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. 21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's. 22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.”

But the rest of the laws in Deuteronomy stand, as Moses opens chapter 6 of Deuteronomy with the statement “1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.” These are precisely what Christ had meant when He said “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” They are much more than ten, although the ten are a good summary of the spirit of the others.

Now we have one further admonishment, one which is not very well understood:

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 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.

First we must clear up some misconceptions concerning this Elijah. In Matthew chapter 17 we have an event known as the “Transfiguration on the Mount”, where Christ takes the apostles into the mountain, and at some point they record seeing Him speaking to Moses and Elijah, after which they disappear in a cloud. This is also recorded in Mark 9 and Luke 9.

There are some who like to contend that John the Baptist actually was Elijah, believing in such a thing as reincarnation. But if John the Baptist was actually Elijah, Peter and the apostles would have recognized Elijah as John the baptist, since they met and knew John personally and he had already been slain by Herod. Yet they did not, and therefore we may see that Elijah is indeed a different person than John, so the idea that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah means something quite different. When asked if he were Elijah, John the Baptist himself denied it, as it is recorded in John 1:21: “21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.”

Then right after this event we read this in Matthew chapter 17: “9 And upon their descending from the mountain Yahshua commanded them saying ‘Tell no one of this sight until when the Son of Man has been raised from the dead!’ 10 And the students questioned Him, saying ‘So why do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to come first?’ 11 And He replying said ‘Indeed Elijah comes, and he shall restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did with him whatever they had desired! Thusly also the Son of Man is going to suffer by them.’ 13 Then the students understood that He spoke to them concerning Iohannes the Baptist."

The following commentary on this scripture is edited from a presentation of Matthew chapters 16 and 17 given here in July of 2011, and we will make very few additions:

Here Yahshua tells us that Elijah is to come, and also that Elijah has already come. Elijah the prophet is evidently being used as a type, first for John the Baptist, and then for that future Elijah promised by the prophecy in Malachi, who shall “turn the hearts of the children to the fathers” before “the great and the terrible day of the Lord”, as it is called in Joel. So it is not speaking of Elijah literally, but of a man or men with the same abilities and kindred Spirit as Elijah, who is, or are, being called by the name of Elijah figuratively. Therefore let us examine a few of the passages in the related prophecy, in Malachi. The notes here were few, because we were not giving a commentary on Malachi, but rather only trying to clarify what is said about Elijah.

Malachi 3:1: “`1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

This is speaking of the messenger, and describes the mission which we saw John the Baptist actually fulfil.

Malachi 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

This describes those who turn to Christianity.

Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

This describes the immutability of the promise, and elucidates the treachery of the Dispensationalist sects of today.

Malachi 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?”

We can only return to Yahweh through Christ, who is – as He tells us and as it is written - “the door of the sheep”, and no one can go to the Father except through Him. The messenger who went before His face, who preceded His Own mission, was indeed John the Baptist, and was also prophesied of by Isaiah, as “the voice crying in the wilderness” who prepared His Way before Him (by fulfilling the Old Testament law requiring the cleansing of both the priests and the Lamb in preparation for the sacrifice).

So John was the Elijah who had come, and they did with him what they wished, by killing him. John and Elijah were both lone voices crying in the wilderness. Malachi chapter 4 then prophecies the Elijah who “shall restore all things”:

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.

That is the restoration of those who were not born of God. [All but Israel will be restored to ashes.]

Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings [which is a description of the ancient Aryan phoenix symbol]; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 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. 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 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.

So we see that the “restoration of all things” is in scripture the restoration of the children of Yahweh to the recognition of the covenants of their fathers. Horeb was another name for Mount Sinai. The “restoration of all things” is described as the coming destruction of all the ungodly so that the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of those who are made in the image of God, can come to fruition. All of those who find a universalist message in the phrase “restoration of all things” are fools, since it obviously refers only to a restoration of all things pertaining to the people of Israel who had been divorced from Yahweh, but who are now reconciled to Him in Christ. Acts 3:21 is speaking of Christ: “21 whom it is indeed necessary for heaven to receive until the times of restoration of all which Yahweh had spoken through the mouths of the saints His prophets from of old.”

Ephesians 4:11-16: “And He has given the ambassadors, and the interpreters of prophesy, and those who deliver the good message, and the shepherds - teachers, towards the restoration of the saints [the separate people], for the work of ministering for building of the body of the Anointed, until we all would attain to the unity of the faith and of the acknowledgement of the Son of Yahweh, at man perfected, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Anointed; in order that we would be infants no longer - being tossed as waves and carried about in every wind of teaching by the trickery of men, in villainy for the sake of the systematizing of deception. But speaking the truth with love, we may increase all things for He who is the head, the Christ, from whom all the body is being joined together and is being reconciled through every stroke of assistance according to the operation of each single part in proportion; the growth of the body creates itself into a building in love.” That is the “restoration of all things”, the full reconciliation of the children of Israel to the polity of Yahweh, and nothing more.

So we repeated some things here that we have already discussed in this presentation of Malachi, but we also see that seven years ago we gave a brief interpretation of the prophecy which agrees with our present commentary in every aspect which we chose to discuss. Our point was to demonstrate that the “restoration of all things” is only a restoration of all things between Yahweh and the children of Israel, and that Elijah was a figurative type for John the Baptist, and not a reincarnation of himself.

Repeating these last two verses of Malachi:

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 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.

Since the time of the apostles themselves, there is only one Christian message which has sought to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”, and that is the Christian Identity message, which also indicates why the truth of our inheritance found in Christian Identity has not surfaced until these last days, with the discoveries of archaeology and the historical inquiries that have followed.

Paul of Tarsus indicates for us what was the “spirit of Elijah” in Romans chapter 11: “2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

Paul wrote this as a comparison to the apostasy in Judaea at his own time, speaking of the Israelites who rather loved the world and despised Christ for that reason. In that respect John wrote in chapter 12 of his Gospel that “42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” So even though Paul wrote these words in regard to his own time, they are nevertheless true today. Yahweh has not cast away his people Israel, and Identity Christians know just who they are.

The prophet Elijah felt alone in a world of idolatry, thinking that perhaps he himself was the only one who remained faithful out of all of the children of Israel. The spirit of Elijah is found in every Identity Christian, as they all feel as though they are isolated and alone in a world that despises their God and His laws, and despises their profession that they are the children of God, and that their White race is the Christian race of both Old and New Testaments. Seeking to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers they claim their inheritance, and seeking to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children they display their love for their heritage. They follow after Jacob, and reject the sin of Esau, who was a profane man and a fornicator, a racer-mixer.

The Septuagint has “who shall turn again the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbour,” but once we understand that the Hebrew word generally translated as neighbor, which is reya' (Strong’s Hebrew #7453), and is defined to mean “an associate (more or less close)”, it is evident that the word does not mean to refer to someone who simply happens to live nearby. This word is derived from a root word (ra'ah, Strong’s #7462), which is defined by Strong as “a primitive root; to tend a flock, i.e. pasture it; intransitive to graze (literally or figuratively); generally to rule; by extension to associate with (as a friend)...” and so it is apparent that if one is a member of the flock, then one’s neighbor, can only be a fellow sheep. So understanding the word neighbor, the result is similar, and the Elijah message is a message of brotherly love meant specifically for the flock of the people of Israel.

Malachi is the prophet of the coming of Yahweh God incarnate as the Christ, he is the prophet of John the Baptist, he is the prophet of the writing of the New Testament, and among other things, he is the prophet of Christian Identity: the only Christian denomination which seeks to correctly identify the sheep of Yahweh’s pasture, as the promises of God are exclusively for them. If Christian Identity fails, Christ promises to come and smite the earth with a curse. But of course, we are God’s plan, as outlined in this final chapter of Malachi, and He cannot fail.

This concludes our presentation of Malachi.