The Sun Of Righteousness Rising (God's Promise For Your New Year)

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.