The Sun of Righteousness Will Rise

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

The Sun of Righteousness Will Rise

Date: Dec. 30, 2014

Passage

Malachi 3:13-4:6 (ESV)

13 “Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 4:2a

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

First, they will be mine (13-18). There were many who thought it was futile to serve God, because they didn't gain from it, while evildoers around them-even those who challenged God-seemed to prosper. Yet there were those who feared the Lord and accepted his word. The Lord accepted them as his treasured possession.

Second, the day of the Lord (1-6). This is the fitting end to the Old Testament. Here the first and second comings of Christ are both testified. All proud people and all evildoers will be set on fire like hay stubble in a field. But not those who revere God. For them the Messiah will rise like the sun of righteousness with healing in his wings. He will spread his wings of protection and healing over them. In that day, God's people will leap like calves released from the stall and join in trampling down the wicked. Before the Christ comes, the forerunner must come. The Lord promised to send one like Elijah, the great prophet of Ahab's day, who called a corrupt and idolatrous people to repent and turn to God. The angel who announced the birth of John the Baptist used the words of verse 6. (Lk 1:17)

Prayer: Lord, teach me to revere your name, so that I may rest under your healing wings.

One Word: With healing in his wings

I Will Be Your King

Hosea 13:1-16

Key Verse: 13:14

  I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    I shall redeem them from Death.
  O Death, where are your plagues?
    O Sheol, where is your sting?
    Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Today's Question

What benefits do believers receive from Christ when they die?

See answer and references