Project 119: Heaven and Nature Sing | Malachi 4
| Project 119 | Ben Winder
Reading for Thursday, December 24: Malachi 4
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris'n with healing in His wings.
-"Hark! the Herald Angels Sing"
In our Bibles, Malachi is the closing note of the Old Testament, one longing to be resolved as we turn the page into the New. Malachi’s final chapter is a warning and a promise in one. The day is coming when evil shall be burned up. Yet for those who revere the Lord, that same day shall see the rising of a new sun of righteousness, with healing in its rays.
We confess this day has come and is coming. In the Bethlehem baby the promise is fulfilled. Light, life, and healing have come for those who trust in the Lord. Christmas has fulfilled God’s promises to God’s people. The incarnation calls us out into the fields to frolic as well-fed calves.
In God’s grace, the great burning furnace warned to be coming for all the arrogant and evil is delayed even still. Though the prophets came with their warnings, though John the Baptist—one in Elijah’s own likeness—urged us to be ready, though the very Son of God showed us the way of abundant, purpose-filled life, even now the Lord tarries. We still have more time. The destruction has not yet come. Which means even still, even now, the opportunity exists for you to find yourself in the beautiful light brought by the dawn of the Sun of Righteousness and invite others to join you there. By God’s grace, there is still time.
Have no doubt—just as God’s promise was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, even as the Sun of Righteousness burns brightly, so, too, God will be faithful in bringing about the destruction of all evil and setting all things right.
Christ has come. Christ will come again.
Let us frolic in celebration. Let us labor for harvest in expectation.