Malachi 4:3, commentary and pictures

In the day when God acts to judge and purify the earth, the wicked will be burned up and left as ashes, and the righteous will tread those ashes under the soles of their feet in the new earth. Those who tread them down are those who fear God's name, and their triumph proves the final distinction between those who serve God and those who do not, showing it is not a vain thing to serve Him. Their destruction is complete and not an endless life in misery, for they return to dust and cease to exist as if they had never been. There is no eternally burning hell of living torment, but each suffers according to his deeds as long as anything remains to be consumed, with Satan himself bearing his own sins and the ruin of those he led astray. The promise belongs to God's purified and chosen people, whom He treasures as His jewels and spares from the great conflagration, giving light and hope in the coming morning and a clear title to the immortal inheritance for a life devoted to His service.

Meaning and Coming Day

In the day that God acts to judge and purify the earth, the wicked will be burned up and reduced to ashes, and the righteous will tread those ashes under the soles of their feet. Their destruction is by consuming fire, not by preservation in misery, and after they are destroyed from the earth the justice of God is affirmed. This treading of ashes will take place in the new earth, when defiance and evil have been removed. Those who thus tread down the wicked are those who fear God's name, who will go forth and grow up as calves of the stall.

The verse makes the final distinction between those who serve God and those who do not. It teaches that the Lord weighs character. It proves that it is not a vain thing to serve Him, for He will remember those who fear Him and think upon His name, sparing them as a man spares his serving son while His wrath falls on the shelterless head of the sinner.

The day of God is right upon us and must be considered seriously. It comes at a time when the world has converted the church and both act together in harmony on a short-sighted policy. It comes when Protestants work upon rulers to make laws restoring the lost ascendancy of the man of sin who sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God, when Roman Catholic principles are taken under the care and protection of the state, and when this national apostasy is speedily followed by national ruin. It comes when the protest of Bible truth will no longer be tolerated by those who have not made God's law their rule of action, when prayer ascends from every true child of God for the Lord to work because they have made void His law, with the voice from the graves of the martyrs heard.

The verse belongs to Malachi 3-4, which contain weighty lessons to be considered carefully. Those chapters are to be studied with Isaiah 58 as instruction giving light for those who rejoice in the hope of the soon-coming morning. Believers are urged to read these scriptures as giving light and hope in the coming morning, connecting them with boundless joy and reward awaiting the righteous.

Complete Destruction of Wicked

The wicked will not be kept alive forever in misery, but will be consumed by fire and reduced to ashes. Their destruction is complete, for they return to dust and cease to exist as if they had never been. There is no eternally burning hell where living bodies suffer eternal torment. God is too merciful to keep alive forever beings He created for His glory who died unrepentant, unforgiven, and unsaved.

Their suffering lasts according to their deeds and continues as long as anything remains to be consumed. Satan suffers for his own sins and for the ruin of those he led astray. The final destruction of sin and sinners includes Satan, who bears the penalty for the sins placed upon him and is forever banished from God's presence and His people, then blotted from existence.

The wicked perish from the earth and are delivered no more, while the saved are delivered from that destruction. Their defiance and evil will be removed, and those who refuse God's invitations will not enter the holy city. After the wicked are destroyed from the earth, the redeemed witness and the heavenly host affirm God's justice.

Reward and Encouragement of Righteous

The promise belongs to God's purified, chosen people set apart like the Levites for His special work, after Christ as a refiner's fire has removed every pretentious cloak and has separated the precious from the vile and the true from the spurious. Every true Christian bears priestly credentials with the sacred responsibility of representing the character of the Heavenly Father to the world in perfection as He is perfect. God will remember those who fear Him and meet together to speak for Him and think upon His name, sparing them from the great conflagration as a man spares his serving son and treasuring them as His precious jewels, while His wrath falls on the shelterless head of the sinner.

The Lord desires to send reviving, healing beams of His sunshine, and the fashion of the world to come will endure forever while the fashion of this world passes away. Christ has gone to prepare mansions for the faithful, and those who love God and keep His commandments have a clear title to the immortal inheritance that will never be questioned, while those who by faith take God at His Word and hold fast their profession will enter the kingdom of God and possess it forever and ever. The verse joins this instruction to hope in the coming morning and to the boundless joy, infinite bliss, and priceless reward awaiting a life devoted to God's service, proving it is not a vain thing to serve Him. It meets the present cases of believers and gives blessing and encouragement to those in great trial.