THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS RISING
GOD'S PROMISE FOR YOUR NEW YEAR
Malachi 4:2
Introduction
The Book of Malachi stands as the final voice of the Old Testament prophetic tradition. Written around 430 BC, after the Jews returned from Babylonian exile, Malachi addressed a community that had grown spiritually cold. The temple had been rebuilt, but the hearts of the people remained under construction. The name Malachi means "my messenger," and this prophet delivered God's final words before four centuries of prophetic silence. The book consists of six disputations where God confronts His people about their shallow worship, corrupt priesthood, and cynical questions about divine justice. Malachi ends with a promise and a warning.
The promise is found in Malachi 4:2, where God announces the coming Sun of Righteousness.
The warning follows in Malachi 4:5, where Elijah must come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Matthew 11:14 confirms that John the Baptist fulfilled this Elijah prophecy, serving as the morning star before Christ, the Sun, rose over humanity.
A. THE END OF THE LONG SILENCE
Malachi prophesied at a peculiar moment in redemptive history. He stood at the edge of a 400-year silence. After his final words, the heavens would seem to close. No prophet would speak. No fresh revelation would come. The people would wait in the dark, wondering if God had forgotten them. Yet notice what Malachi promised. He did not say, "I will speak to you again soon." He said, "The Sun of Righteousness shall arise." The emphasis shifted from audible word to visible presence. God was teaching His people a profound truth about new beginnings. They do not always announce themselves with sound. They announce themselves with light.
Consider the first creation. Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as formless, void, and covered in darkness. The Spirit hovered over the waters in silence. Then God spoke, "Let there be light," and light appeared before the sun was even created on day four. Light preceded structure. Light came before definition. Light was the first gift of creation, and it came out of profound silence.
The same pattern repeats in your life. The new year often begins not with clear instructions but with the faint glow of possibility. You may not hear a voice telling you what to do, but you see Light breaking through the cracks of your circumstances.
The 400 years between Malachi and Matthew were not wasted years. They were formative years. During this silence, the synagogue system developed. The Scriptures were translated into Greek through the Septuagint, making the Word accessible to the Gentile world.
The Roman Road system was built, creating the infrastructure for the rapid spread of the Gospel. The silence was not abandonment. The silence was preparation. God was arranging the stage for the greatest entrance in human history. When John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, he came as the morning star, announcing that the night was almost over.
Luke 1:78-79 describes the coming Christ as "the sunrise from on high" who would "give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
Your new year begins the same way. You enter it with unanswered questions from last year. You carry disappointments that have not yet been explained. You face uncertainty about the future. But the absence of a voice does not mean the absence of God.
Isaiah 60:1 commands, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."
Notice the sequence. The light comes first. The understanding comes later. You do not need to hear everything to see something. The Sun will rise. The silence is not the end of the story. The silence is the atmospheric condition necessary for you to recognize the Dawn when it comes.
B. THE DISPLACEMENT OF DARKNESS
Light does not negotiate with darkness.
Light does not debate darkness.
Light does not compromise with darkness.
Light displaces darkness.
This is a physical law and a spiritual principle. When you walk into a dark room and flip the switch, the darkness does not retreat slowly. The darkness does not put up a fight. The darkness vanishes instantly because light and darkness are mutually exclusive realities. They do not coexist. One must give way to the other.
Malachi 4:2 describes the coming Messiah as "the Sun of Righteousness" who will arise "with healing in His wings."
This is an aggressive metaphor. The sun does not ask permission to rise. The sun does not politely suggest that the night consider leaving. The sun rises, and the night flees. It has no other option.
In the ancient Near East, the sun god Shamash was worshipped as the divine judge who exposed wickedness. Shamash was depicted with rays extending from his shoulders like wings, symbolizing his all-seeing gaze that penetrated every dark corner where injustice hid. Malachi borrowed this imagery but redirected it to the one true God. The Sun of Righteousness is not a distant deity indifferent to human suffering. This Sun is Jesus Christ, who came to expose sin, not to condemn you, but to heal you.
John 3:17 states, "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."
The exposure is part of the healing process. A doctor does not heal a wound by ignoring it. The doctor exposes the wound, cleans it, and applies treatment. The Sun of Righteousness rises over your life to reveal what needs healing.
The "darkness" of the previous year takes many forms.
For some, it is the darkness of regret. You replay conversations you wish you had handled differently. You revisit decisions that led to painful consequences. The regret lingers like fog, obscuring your vision of what God still wants to do in your life.
For others, the darkness is habitual sin. You have struggled with the same temptation for years. You have confessed it repeatedly, yet you keep returning to it like a dog to its vomit, as 2 Peter 2:22 describes.
The habit has carved neural pathways in your brain, making the wrong choice feel easier than the right one.
For still others, the darkness is fear. You are afraid of failure, afraid of rejection, afraid of being exposed as inadequate. This fear paralyzes you, keeping you from stepping into the opportunities God has prepared.
All these forms of darkness share one characteristic. They depend on your past to define your future. Regret keeps you chained to yesterday. Habitual sin convinces you that you will always be what you have been.
Fear projects past failures onto future possibilities. But the New Year is a displacement event. When the Sun of Righteousness rises, the darkness of your past does not transition gently into a new reality. The darkness is displaced violently, suddenly, completely.
2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here."
Notice the past tense. The old has gone. Not "the old is going" or "the old will eventually leave." The old has gone. The arrival of light makes the presence of darkness impossible.
C. THE CERTAINTY OF THE CYCLE
The sunrise is the most predictable event in nature. Since creation, the sun has risen every single day without fail. It has never been late. It has never called in sick. It has never taken a vacation. The sun rises because the earth rotates, and the earth rotates because God set it in motion.
Psalm 19:4-6
Describes the sun as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, rejoicing like a strong man to run his course. The sun has no choice but to rise. It is built into the fabric of creation. Malachi used this metaphor to anchor our hope not in our ability to change but in the faithfulness of God.
Resolutions fail. Statistics show that 80% of New Year resolutions fail by February.
You start the year with enthusiasm, convinced that this time will be different.
You join a gym, commit to reading through the Bible, and promise to be more patient with your family.
Then life happens.
Work gets stressful.
Relationships get complicated.
Old habits whisper familiar lies.
By mid-February, you are back where you started, feeling like a failure.
Trends change. What was popular last year is forgotten this year. The self-help gurus who dominated social media in 2024 will be replaced by new voices in 2025, each promising the secret to transformation. Economies collapse. The stock market crashes. Jobs disappear. Retirement plans evaporate. The systems you trusted to provide security prove unstable.
But the Sun shall arise. This is not a suggestion. This is not a possibility. This is a divine imperative.
Malachi 4:2 does not say the Sun might arise or the Sun will try to arise.
The text says the Sun shall arise. The Hebrew word "zarach" carries the force of an unstoppable event. The same word is used in Genesis 32:31, where the sun rose over Jacob after he wrestled with God and received a new name and a new identity. The sun rose over Jacob's brokenness and transformed him into Israel, the father of a nation. The sun will rise over your brokenness and transform you into who God has called you to be.
Lamentations 3:22-23 provides the theological foundation for this certainty. "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."
Notice the connection between God's compassion and the morning. Every sunrise is a physical reminder of God's faithfulness. You wake up to discover that you survived the night. Your lungs are still breathing. Your heart is still beating. The sun has risen again. This is not random chance. This is divine mercy. The sunrise is a daily sermon preached by creation itself, declaring that God has not given up on you.
Hebrews 6:17-19 describes hope as "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
Hope is not wishful thinking. Hope is confidence in the character of God. You enter the new year with the assurance of the dawn. You do not need to see the entire path ahead. You only need to see the first light breaking over the horizon. That first light guarantees that the full day is coming.
2 Peter 1:19 instructs believers to pay attention to the prophetic message "as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."
The morning star is Venus, the brightest object in the sky before sunrise. The morning star announces that the sun is coming. John the Baptist was the morning star, pointing to Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness. Every act of obedience you perform in faith is a morning star in your life, announcing that the full breakthrough is on its way.
CONCLUSION
The Book of Malachi ends with both promise and warning.
Malachi 4:5-6 prophesies that Elijah will come to turn the hearts of fathers to their children before the great day of the Lord.
Jesus confirmed in Matthew 17:11-13 that John the Baptist fulfilled this prophecy.
John came as the forerunner, preparing the way for the Sun of Righteousness to rise. The 400 years of silence ended not with thunder but with light. A star appeared over Bethlehem, guiding wise men to the newborn King.
Luke 2:9 records that the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds, terrifying them with its brilliance. The sunrise had begun. The long night was over.
Revelation 22:16 concludes the entire Bible with Jesus declaring, "I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
The One who began creation with light will end history with light.
Revelation 21:23 describes the New Jerusalem, where the city has no need of sun or moon because the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
From Genesis to Revelation, from the first sunrise to the last, God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all, as 1 John 1:5 affirms.
You enter this new year not with the burden of self-improvement but with the promise of divine illumination. The Sun of Righteousness has risen. His healing wings stretch over your past failures, your present struggles, and your future uncertainties. You do not walk into 2026 alone. You walk into the Light.
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Pastor JM Raja Lawrence
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
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