Malachi four is a prophetic passage, speaking about the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet speaks of both the 1st and 2nd comings of Jesus. We find reference to the first coming of Christ in verse 5, for example, with the mention of Elijah coming before the Messiah arrives. Jesus tells us this was fulfilled in John the Baptist (Matthew 11:14).
But this chapter also speaks of the 2nd coming of Christ, when God brings judgment on all who reject Him and blessing on all who accept Him. When Jesus returns, He’ll remove Satan, Satan’s influence, & Satan’s people from this earth as He makes all things new. And God’s people will be left to know only the blessings of God for all eternity in a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness (2 Peter 3:13). In other words, everything will be made right.
Malachi references this in verse 2, where Christ is spoken of as “the sun of righteousness” who will “rise with healing in His wings.” A reference to the power of Christ’s resurrection and to His making all things new when He comes again. Malachi uses the sun to speak of how the Messiah’s healing will touch everything in the age to come. God’s people will know ultimate spiritual healing (no more sin), but also ultimate physical healing (no more sickness), ultimate emotional healing (no more holes in our hearts), ultimate intellectual healing (the inability to understand will be no more), and ultimate relational healing (no more irreconcilable differences).
But salvation isn’t just about God taking us to be with Him in heaven one day; it’s also about God bringing heaven to us right where we are today. So Malachi ends with a reminder of how God wants the family life of his children to be a piece of “heaven on earth.” (READ TEXT)
A boy asked, “Dad, how do wars begin?” “Well, take the First World War,” said his father. “It started when Germany invaded Belgium.” His wife interrupted, “No, it started when Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated.” The dad snapped, “Are you answering the question, or am I?” Turning her back on him, the wife walked out of the room and slammed the door as hard as she could. When the dishes stopped rattling in the cupboard, after an uneasy silence, the son said, “Never mind dad, I think I understand!”
Indeed, as goes the family, so goes society. That’s what Malachi tells us in verse 6. He says a curse comes upon the entire land when God’s people are not living right at home. Often, when God brings a curse, He simply lets our choices to come to their natural end. As someone said, “When we refuse to say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ then God will say to us, ‘OK, thy will be done!’” We’re facing a crisis of fatherlessness in our country.
The US Census Bureau says the percentage of kids living with 2 parents has dropped since 1968, while the percentage living with their mother only has doubled. The National Center for Fathering was created in response to the negative social and economic impact of fatherlessness in America. They tell us that kids from fatherless homes are more likely to be poor, be involved in drug & alcohol abuse, drop out of school, & suffer health & emotional problems. Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, & girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens.
Yes, as goes the family, so goes society. So as Malachi speaks about God’s people returning to Him, he speaks of things being as they should be at home. And as He speaks of things being as they should be at home, he mentions the father’s relationship to the family. How can Christian fathers lead their home to be a lighthouse in a dark world?
Fathers must lead their families to love God and obey His Word.
That may seem overly simplistic in light of the complex problems with families today. But I would insist that if we obey God’s Word, we will love Him as we should and others (including members of our family) as we ought. Since God’s Word can equip us for all of life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), the answers we need to turn our homes into lighthouses for God are found there.
Too many Christian men are relationally passive in their homes. They leave the spiritual training of their children to their wives. But if you’re an absent, passive father when it comes to leading your family to love God and obey His Word, you are not providing what they need most.
Faithful Christian fathers are key to seeing their families love God & obey His Word; & Christian homes that are loving God and obeying His Word are key to seeing a culture turned around. So how can
Christian dads lead their families to love God and obey His Word?
1. We must remember God’s Word - v. 4
The prophet speaks of how God revealed Himself & His wisdom in the pages of Scripture through writers like Moses. So we mustn’t forget God’s Word. Two things can keep God’s Word uppermost in my mind.
A. We must treasure God’s Word.
The fact is, we don’t forget things that we value. Most of us here have things that we make sure we do not forget, like our phone number, or our social security number, or anniversary. Why? Because those things are important to us. And because they are important to us, we take steps to make sure they are a constant part of our lives. We need to do the same with God’s Word.
B. We must learn God’s Word. You can’t remember what you never knew. Therefore, we must take steps to learn God’s Word.
The Word Hand illustration is an easy-to-remember tool highlighting five methods of learning from the Bible.
Little Finger – Hearing. The weakest finger (the pinkie) represents hearing, because we retain only 5% of what we hear.
Ring Finger – Reading. We generally retain 15% of what we read.
Middle Finger – Studying. Most retain 35% of what they study.
Index Finger – Memorizing. We remember 100% if we review it.
Thumb – Meditation. Meditation accompanies each of the other 4 methods. This is why it is assigned to the thumb. Only the thumb can touch each of the other 4 fingers. By meditating on what we hear, read, study, and memorize, we discover its transforming power at work in us.
These 5 methods can help us not only get a good grip on our Bibles, but help our Bibles get a good grip on us! And we need to get a good grip on our Bible so we might use them!
2. We must respond to God’s Word - v. 5
Elijah didn’t do any writing. His role was to call people to respond to God’s truth. He’s a reminder that remembering God’s Word alone isn’t enough, we must respond to it by adjusting our lives to God’s truth.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” - Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)
Moses says we grow to whole-heartedly love the one true God by learning about Him through His Word. And home is to be the foremost place where God’s Word is taught. Why? Because it is within the context of daily life that we learn how to apply God’s truth to our lives. The point is Scripture should shape every conversation, and should always be in front of us – as near as our hand or forehead, as ever
before us as our door posts & gates.
Sadly, the Jews of Jesus’ day had missed this point entirely. By the time of Jesus, they based the practice of wearing phylacteries and the use of the Mezuzah on this passage. Phylacteries were small boxes holding parchment with scriptures in them, held to the forehead or hand with leather straps. Jesus condemned the
Pharisees for this practice (Matthew 23:5). The Mezuzah is a small container holding a passage of Scripture that is nailed to a doorpost. Pious Jews make use of the Mezuzah to this day. The Scripture became something to display rather then live out.
It’s been said that learning to apply the Scripture is more caught than taught. That’s why the family is so important. It’s within the context of daily life that kids can learn how to apply God’s truth to their lives as they observe the example of their parents. And dads need to lead the way. Which means Christian dads mustn’t let the Bible be something that just decorates their lives, but transforms their lives.
There are two kids of dads on Christmas Eve. There’s the one who puts together their kid’s bicycle by following the directions and the one who doesn’t. Which one do you think is up past 2 a.m. trying to get the job done? I think you know the answer. In the same way, there are two kinds of Christian fathers when it comes to leading their home to be a lighthouse for God, the one who applies God’s Word and the one who, like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, simply uses the Bible to decorate his life.
Conclusion: Former First Lady, Barbara Bush, spoke these words several years ago at a college commencement:
As important as your obligation as a doctor, a lawyer, or a business leader will be, you are a human being first, and those human connections with spouses, with children, with friends are the most important investments you will ever make. At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a spouse, a child, a friend or a parent. Our
success as a society depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house. (Reader’s Digest [1/91], pp. 157-158.)
What should happen inside your house is that we are loving God and obeying His Word. When fathers lead their families in this way, then our homes can become a lighthouse, pointing others to the difference Christ can make in their life and in their family!
