“…[T]he sun of righteousness will rise with healing…” 

God used the prophet Malachi to write the final book of the Old Testament.  The book literally ends “with a curse” (4:6).  And a curse immediately followed: 400 years of divine silence.  Nothing like that had ever happened to Abraham’s descendants for over 2 millennia since God began speaking to the Patriarch.  Now there was the judgment of silence.  And more judgment was coming.  In 4:1 Malachi writes of a coming day that “will burn like a furnace” on “all the arrogant and every evildoer…”  Being “set on fire” is not a welcome thought for anyone.

However, the news was not all bad.  In verse two the prospects are much brighter for “those who revere [God’s] name.”  Upon them “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.  And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”  Obviously this paints an entirely different picture.  What does a sun do when it rises?  It begins a new day.  What kind of day will this be?  One with “healing in its wings.”  It will bring the restoration of things the way they are supposed to be, not only physically, but also spiritually, socially, morally – in other words, in every way.  It will be so dramatic and exciting that those who receive his healing will act like “calves released from the stall.”  These are calves that had been cooped up for long periods of time, not experiencing the freedom from the stall’s confinement.  They seem to forget what it is like outside in the open freedom and abundant provision of the pasture.  When the gate opens up and they step outside, their joy simply cannot be restrained!  They leap and jump for the thrill of experiencing life the way it was always meant to be.  Kicking…jumping…dancing for joy!

Sometimes we are like those calves that are still in the stall.  We seem trapped or caught in our work cubicles or those in the library.  Sometimes it’s our apparently meaningless job, or the other numerous frustrations of everyday life.  Is there a way out of this?  Absolutely, and Malachi tells us how.  We must be people who “revere [God’s] name.”  What did the Israelites understand about God’s name?  Two things:  first, they remembered that God told Moses, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14).  They also knew God as Yahweh.  Both are similar in that they convey that God is the eternal and infinite One unhindered by space or time.  To revere His name means not only to honor and exalt it with words, but also actions.  What kind of actions?  The kind that shows others that we are preparing for eternity by our attitudes, words and actions during good times and bad.

Recently we had a drainpipe break in our kitchen, leaking sewer-smelling water all over our floor.  The source of the leak was discovered after a majority of the cabinets were torn out.  For a couple of weeks our normal kitchen routine was disrupted by a leaking pipe, foul odors and washing dishes in the bathroom tub on our knees for the 9 of us in the family.  But in light of eternity, is this really such a problem?  Will we even remember this episode in our lives when we see Heaven for the first time?  How about after a million years of being with Jesus?  Will the kitchen experience, the wrecked car, the lost job, or anything even make any impression on our memories after we get to Heaven?  How about the good times, the little awards we win or the small victories that come our way?  Can they compare to the matchless wonders of our eternal, infinite, gracious and loving God?  Not for a second!

So to revere his name is to live in the light of eternity, not allowing the ups and downs of life to push God out of our attitudes and actions.  Malachi reminds us that God always gives us a choice.  He tells us two types of days are coming – judgment and healing, banishment and fellowship.  Since God has already reserved our place at the former, shouldn’t we be living by faith, “fix[ing] our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (1 Corinthians 4:18)?  “For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

How many of our friends and family members can see that day coming by observing our actions and listening to our words?  Are we revering his name and expecting that day when the sun of righteousness rises?