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英文原文
We have here proper instructions given us (very proper to close the canon of the Old Testament with), I. Concerning the state of recompence and retribution that is before us, the misery of the wicked and the happiness of the righteous in that state, Mal 4:1-3. And this is represented to us under a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the unbelieving Jews with it, and of the comforts and triumphs of those among them that received the gospel. II. Concerning the state of trial and preparation we are now in, in which we are directed to have an eye to divine revelation, and to follow that; they then must keep to the law of Moses (Mal 4:4) and expect a further discovery of God's will by Elijah the prophet, that is, by John Baptist, the harbinger of the Messiah, Mal 4:5,6. The last chapter of the New Testament is much to the same purport, setting before us heaven and hell in the other world, and obliging us to adhere to the word of God in this world.
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Evangelical Predictions (400 BC)
福音性的预言（公元前400年）
¹ 万军之耶和华说："那日临近，势如烧着的火炉，凡狂傲的和行恶的必如碎秸。在那日必被烧尽，根本枝条一无存留。 ² 但向你们敬畏我名的人，必有公义的日头出现，其光线有医治之能。你们必出来跳跃，如圈里的肥犊。 ³ 你们必践踏恶人，因我所定的日子，他们必如灰尘在你们脚掌之下。"这是万军之耶和华说的。
此处预言主那大而可畏之日。这一日正如云柱火柱一般，向那与神为敌的埃及人显出幽暗的一面，向那跟随他的忠信以色列人显出光明的一面："那日来到"——即主来到了，主的日子到了；它既指基督的第一次降临，也指他的第二次降临；两日都已定妥，并要与这里所描写的特征相合。
I. 在这两次降临中，基督对背叛他的人都是吞灭的火。他来的日子"必如烧着的火炉"，是烈怒之日，是"猛烈的火焰"之火。诗篇21:9论到弥赛亚早已预言："你的手必搜出你的一切仇敌"，"你发怒的时候，要使他们如在炎热的火炉中。"那将是可畏毁灭之日，如同城邑被焚，又如同树林被焚——那里的树木已经枯槁干燥，因为所指的可能正是这比方，正如赛 10:17,18："以色列的光必如火，他的圣者必如火焰，必烧灭他树林的荣耀和肥田的华美。"在此请注意，1. 谁要作这火的燃料——一切心里"狂傲的"，他们口出狂言顶撞神，颈项僵硬，不肯负他诫命的轭（一切"面带骄傲不寻求神"的，不归服耶稣基督的恩典与治理的——一切骄傲地说"我们不要基督作王"的），以及一切在情感和行为上"行恶的"——他们存心坚持犯罪，蔑视并违背神的律法；他们是"违背圣约任意而行"的人，正如另一位先知不久前所说的（但 11:32）。神对每个人的品性都有完全的认识，知道谁是"狂傲的"；对每个人的行为也都认识，知道谁"行恶"；他们必如这火的"碎秸"，必被吞灭——易于吞灭，彻底吞灭；他们之所以如此，全在乎他们自己，因为他们把自己变作碎秸——即可燃之物，献给这火。他们若不是碎秸，火就不烧他们；因为这火要照各人和他的行为如何而临到各人；若是"草木、禾秸"，就"被烧"；若是"金、银、宝石"，就"经得起火"并借此被炼净（林前 3:13-15）。那些因不信抵挡基督的人，正是把自己设为"荆棘蒺藜"摆在"吞灭的火焰"之前（赛 27:4,5）。2. 这火的力量与果子是什么："那日来到，必把他们烧尽"——既要惊吓他们，也要毁灭他们，"根本枝条一无存留"——"无子无孙"（如亚兰文意译本所译）：他们和他们后裔都不得存留；必被全然连根拔除、剪除。"谁知道神怒气的权能？""狂傲的和行恶的"不畏惧它，却必被迫感受它。那些曾"称狂傲的人有福"的如今在哪里？当他们这样彻底地变为可怜，当他们的福气既无一枝可作眼前享受，也无一根可以重新发芽之时，又当如何？这话既应验于：(1.) 当基督在他的教训中向那些狂傲的法利赛人和其他行恶的犹太人宣告可畏与定罪之时，当他把火丢在地上，烧尽长老遗传之糠秕，以及他们对神律法所作的败坏解说之时。(2.) 当耶路撒冷被罗马人所毁，犹太民族作为民族从天下被涂抹，根本枝条一无存留之时。这里所指的主要似乎正是此事；我们的救主说，那些日子必是"报应的日子"，凡照此意所记载的都要应验（路 21:22)。那时不信的犹太人正如碎秸，被神审判那吞灭之火所烧，那审判如鹰聚拢到尸首那里一般聚拢到他们身上。(3.) 这话毫无疑问可应用于，也当应用于审判之日——人死时那特别的审判（有些犹太博士把它归于"恶人离身后立即临到其灵魂的刑罚"），但尤其是应用于末时那普遍的审判，那时基督要"在火焰中显现"，向"狂傲的和一切行恶的"施行审判。那时全世界要"如烧着的火炉"，凡以世界为心、在其中拣选自己份的今世之子，必与它一同取败坏；那时所点起的火必永不熄灭。
II. 在这两次降临中，对那些忠心事奉他、敬畏他名并将当得的荣耀归给他的人（玛 4:2），基督是喜乐之光——他们敬畏恶人所亵渎践踏的那名。在此，怜悯与安慰为一切敬畏耶和华、思念他名的人存留。请注意：
1. 这怜悯与安慰要从何而来："向你们敬畏我名的人，必有公义的日头出现，其光线有医治之能。"那要来的日子，对恶人必是风暴之日——神必在他们身上降"火与硫磺与可怖的暴风"，正如他在所多玛所行的（诗 11:6），是"幽暗冥暗之日"（摩 5:18,20)；但对敬畏神的人，必是晴朗明亮之日，如日之升、复兴万物；当琐珥蒙怜悯从平原诸城中分别出来不被火吞灭之时，特别记下了日头"出来"照耀它（见创 19:23）。照样，对敬畏神的人也有安慰。当别人的心"因惧怕而消化"之时，让他们"挺身昂首，因为得赎的日子近了"（路 21:28)。但这里的"公义的日头"，我们确当理解为耶稣基督；他必在那日保全信靠的余民，使他们在犹太人普世毁灭之日不至与他人同倾覆，并在这困苦迷惘之日以他的安慰安慰他们；他指示那在犹太地的人"应当逃到山上去"（太 24:16），他们便如此行，在比拉全都安然无恙。但这更广泛地可应用于：(1.) 基督肉身而来，要寻找拯救失丧的人；那时"公义的日头"在这黑暗的世界升起。基督是"世界的光"，是真光，是那造白昼、管白昼的大光（约 8:12），如日一样。他是"人的光"（约 1:4)，对人的灵魂正如日头对可见的世界——若没有日头，那世界就是地牢；照样人若没有"神荣耀的光显在基督的面上"照耀，全人类就是黑暗本身。基督是那本身有光、是光之源泉的日头（诗 19:4-6）；他是"公义的日头"，因为他自己是公义的救主。公义既是这日头的光，也是它的热；他公义的话语正是如此——指引、教训、使人苏醒；他所带进的"永远的义"也是如此。神"使他成为我们的义"；他是"耶和华我们的义"，所以正合称为"公义的日头"。借着他我们得称为义、得成圣，因此得以见光。这公义的日头在时候满足之时升上世界，"光也来到世间"（约 3:19)，是"大光"（太 4:16)。在他里面"清晨的日光从高天临到我们，要照亮坐在黑暗中的人"（路 1:78,79)。公义有时意指怜悯或恩慈，正是在基督里"我们神怜悯的心肠"临到了我们。(2.) 这话也适用于圣灵所赐的恩典与安慰，被带进人的灵魂。Grotius把它解作基督把圣灵赐给属他的人，在他们心里照耀，作他们的"安慰者"，作他们的"日头和盾牌"。那些被对神和他的威严的圣洁敬畏所占有、所治理的人，也必有他的"爱借着圣灵浇灌在他们心里"；那时就可以说日头在那里升起，并随之带来可喜的白昼和结果累累的春天。(3.) 基督的第二次再来对一切"敬畏他名的人"必是荣耀可悦的日出；那是复活的清晨，"正直人必管辖他们"（诗 49:14)。对恶人是"如烧着的火炉"的那日，对义人必光明如晨；这正是他们所等候的，"比那等候晨光的人更甚"。
2. 这怜悯与安慰为他们带来什么："他出现时其光线有医治之能"——或说在他的"光线"或"光辉"里，那正是日头的翅膀。基督作为"日头"来到，不仅要把光带给黑暗的世界，更要把健康带给患病、失序的世界。犹太人（据Pocock博士所记）有一句俗语："日头一出，疾病就减少"；夜间萎靡的花草到清晨便复苏。基督来世上要作大医生，也是大良药——既是基列的乳香，也是那里的医生。他在地上时，如日头在它的轨道上运行，周流四方行这善事；他"治好了一切各样的疾病"；他如日头一般批发行医。他"出现时其衣裳繸子有医治之能"——有人如此读，并把它应用于那妇人摸他"衣裳繸子"而"痊愈"的故事，以及他发觉"有能力从他身上出去"（可 5:28-30)。但他医治身体的疾病，不过是他来到世上这件大事的样本——他要医治人灵魂的疾病，使他们进入良好的健康状况，可以事奉神、也得着享受，并享受自己。
3. 这要在他们身上产生什么好的果效。(1.) 它要使他们自身健壮："你们必出来"——如那些痊愈的人出院回到自己的工作。"灵魂在死时从身体出来，身体在复活时从坟墓出来，如囚徒出狱，两者都是为要见光、得释放。""你们必如植物从地里长出"——当春天日头回返之时。有人以此为基督徒从耶路撒冷出来，并因此逃避了它的毁灭。照样，公义的日头所升起的灵魂也如此从世界出来，从巴比伦出来，如同那些"真自由了"的人。"你们也必'成长'；既恢复健康和自由，你们就必在知识、恩典和属灵的力量上增长。"公义的日头所升起的灵魂，正向着"完全的人"成长；那些因神的恩典成为智慧良善的人，也必因同一恩典成为更智慧、更良善；他们的道路，正如上升之日，"越照越明，直到日午"（箴 4:18)。他们的成长被比作"圈里的肥犊"的成长——快速、强壮、有用的成长。"你们必成长，不像'田间的花'——细弱、无用、不久即枯；乃像'圈里的肥犊'"——正如一位拉比所解释的，"在肉和肥脂上长大"，神的坛和人的席都因此得供应；照样，公义的日头所升起的圣徒的成长，既尊荣神，也尊荣人。有人把"你们必成长"读作"你们必踊跃"，或"欢然跳跃"，如圈里的肥犊被放到开阔田野时那般欢腾；这表明圣徒的喜乐，他们在基督耶稣里喜乐的人；他们甚至要欢然跳跃；他们"常被带领夸胜"。
(2.) 它要使他们胜过仇敌（玛 4:3）："你们必践踏恶人。"曾有时，恶人践踏他们，对他们说："屈身，让我们踏过去"；但那日必到，他们要"践踏恶人"。恶人既作了基督的脚凳（诗 110:1），也就作了他们的脚凳；他们必来"在教会的脚前下拜"（启 3:9)。"大的要服侍小的。"当信徒因信"胜过世界"，当他们制服自己败坏的欲望与情感，当赐平安的神将撒但践踏在他们脚下时，他们便"践踏了恶人"。当基督徒反过来向那些曾凌辱他们的犹太人夸胜之时，这应许就应验了："他们必如灰烬在你们脚掌之下"；他们不仅被"践踏"，更被践踏成尘土。当那要来的日子"把他们烧尽"之后，他们必把恶人当作灰烬践踏。当义人复活得"永生"之时，恶人必复活受"永远的羞辱"；义人虽不向他们夸胜，却要因那在他们毁灭中得荣耀的神而喜乐。在荣耀中的圣徒据说蒙赐权柄辖管列国，"用铁杖辖管他们"（启 2:26,27)。"在我所定的日子，你们必这样行。"注意：圣徒的得胜全在于神的得胜；不是他们自己作这事，乃是神为他们作这事——他说："来，把你们的脚踏在这些王的颈项上。"有人读作："在我所'造'的那日"——那大日子，我必使之显赫，你们必欢喜地说："这是耶和华所定的日子。"耶路撒冷毁灭之日被称为"主大而明显的日子"（徒 2:20)；我们的救主在预言那毁灭之时，所用的言语既如这些，也可同样应用于"世界末了"和"末日的审判"；因为那是从天上显明神震怒的如此可畏之事，又使地上呈现如此恐怖的景象，所以正可作那荣耀大事的预表——那事是时日的出口，也是永恒的入口。我们当借这些预言在犹太民族覆亡中的应验，坚固我们对基督所给我们关于万物销化之保证的信心。"是了，我必快来"——有权柄统管天地之大能的万军之耶和华基督如此说。
英文原文
Evangelical Predictions (400 BC)
¹ For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
² But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
³ And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
The great and terrible day of the Lord is here prophesied of. This, like the pillar of cloud and fire, shall have a dark side turned towards the Egyptians that fight against God, and a bright side towards the faithful Israelites that follow him: The day cometh, that is, the Lord cometh, the day of the Lord; and it has reference both to the first and to the second coming of Jesus Christ; the day of both was fixed, and should answer the character here given of it.
I. In both Christ is a consuming fire to those that rebel against him. The day of his coming shall burn as an oven; it shall be a day of wrath, of fiery indignation. This was foretold concerning the Messiah, Ps 21:9, Thy hand shall find out all thy enemies, and shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of thy anger. It will be a day of terror and destruction like the burning of a city, or rather of a wood, the trees whereof are withered and dried, for to that the allusion seems to be, as Isa 10:17,18, The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it shall consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field. Now observe here, 1. Who shall be fuel to this fire—all the proud in heart, whose words have been stout against God, and their necks stiff and unapt to yield to the yoke of his commandments (all those that in the pride of their countenances will not seek after God, nor submit to the grace and government of Jesus Christ—all that proudly say they will not have Christ to reign over them), and all those that do wickedly in their affections and conversations, that wilfully persist in sin, in contempt of and contradiction to the law of God; they are such as do wickedly against the covenant, as another prophet had lately expressed it, Da 11:32. God, that has perfect knowledge of every one's character, knows who are the proud, and of every one's actions, knows who they are that do wickedly; and they shall be as stubble to this fire; they shall be consumed by it, easily consumed, utterly consumed, and it is wholly owing to themselves that they shall be so, for they make themselves stubble, that is, combustible matter, to this fire. If they were not stubble, it would not burn them; for the fire will be to every man according as he and his works are found; if they be wood, hay, and stubble, they will be consumed; but if they be gold, silver, and precious stones, they will abide the fire and be purified by it, 1Co 3:13-15. Those that by their unbelief oppose Christ thereby set themselves as briers and thorns before a devouring fire, Isa 27:4,5. 2. What shall be the force and what the fruit of this fire: The day that cometh shall burn them up, shall both terrify and ruin them, and shall leave them neither root nor branch, neither son nor nephew (so the Chaldee paraphrase): neither they nor their posterity shall be spared; they shall be wholly extirpated and cut off. Who knows the power of God's anger? The proud and those that do wickedly will not fear it, but they shall be made to feel it. Where are those now that called the proud happy, when thus they are made completely miserable, when there remains no branch of their happiness to be enjoyed for the present, nor any root of it out of which it might again spring up? Now this was fulfilled, (1.) When Christ, in his doctrine, spoke terror and condemnation to the proud Pharisees and the other Jews that did wickedly, when he sent that fire on the earth which burnt up the chaff of the traditions of the elders and the corrupt glosses they had put upon the law of God. (2.) When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, and the nation of the Jews, as a nation, quite blotted out from under heaven, and neither root nor branch left them. This seems to be principally intended here; our Saviour says that those should be the days of vengeance, when all the things that were written to that purport should be fulfilled, Lu 21:22. Then the unbelieving Jews were as stubble to the devouring fire of God's judgments, which gathered together to them as the eagles to the carcase. (3.) It is certainly applicable, and is to be applied, to the day of judgment, to the particular judgment at death (some of the Jewish doctors refer it the punishment that seizes on the souls of the wicked immediately after they go out of the body), but especially to the general judgment, at the end of time, when Christ shall be revealed in flaming fire, to execute judgment on the proud, and all that do wickedly. The whole world shall then burn as an oven, and all the children of this world, that set their hearts upon it and choose their portion in it, shall take their ruin with it, and the fire then kindled shall never be quenched.
II. In both Christ is a rejoicing light to those who serve him faithfully, to those who fear his name and give him the glory due to it (Mal 4:2), who stand in awe of that name of his which the wicked profane and trample upon. Here are mercy and comfort kept in store for all those who fear the Lord and think on his name. Observe,
1. Whence this mercy and comfort shall flow to them: To you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings. The day that comes, as it will be a stormy day to the wicked, a day in which God will rain upon them fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, as he did on Sodom (Ps 11:6), a day of clouds and thick darkness (Am 5:18,20), so it will be a fair and bright day to those who fear God, and reviving as the rising sun is to the earth; and particular notice is taken of the rising of the sun upon Zoar when that was mercifully distinguished from the cities of the plain, which the fire consumed; see Ge 19:23. So to those that fear God is comfort spoken. When the hearts of others fail for fear let them lift up their heads for joy, for their redemption draws nigh, Lu 21:28. But by the Sun of righteousness here we are certainly to understand Jesus Christ, who would undertake to secure the believing remnant, in the day of the general destruction of the Jews, from falling with the rest, and to comfort them in that day of distress and perplexity with his consolations; he directed those that were in Judea to flee to the mountains (Mt 24:16), and they did so, and were all safe and easy in Pella. But it is to be applied more generally, (1.) To the coming of Christ in the flesh to seek and save those that were lost; then the Sun of righteousness arose upon this dark world. Christ is the light of the world, the true light, the great light that makes day and rules the day (Joh 8:12), as the sun. He is the light of men (Joh 1:4), is to men's souls as the sun is to the visible world, which without the sun would be a dungeon; so would mankind be darkness itself without the light of the glory of God shining in the face of Christ. Christ is the Sun that has light in himself, and is the fountain of light (Ps 19:4-6); he is the Sun of righteousness, for he is himself a righteous Saviour. Righteousness is both the light and the heat of this Sun; the word of his righteousness is so; it guides, instructs, and quickens; so is the everlasting righteousness he has brought in. He is made of God to us righteousness; he is the Lord our righteousness, and therefore is fitly called the Sun of righteousness. Through him we are justified and sanctified, and so are brought to see light. This Sun of righteousness, in the fulness of time, arose upon the world, and with him light came into the world (Joh 3:19), a great light, Mt 4:16. In him the day-spring from on high visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness, Lu 1:78,79. Righteousness sometimes signifies mercy or benignity, and it was in Christ that the tender mercy of our God visited us. (2.) It is applicable to the graces and comforts of the Holy Spirit, brought into the souls of men. Grotius understands it of Christ's giving the Spirit to those that are his, to shine in their hearts, and to be a comforter to them, a sun and a shield. Those that are possessed and governed by a holy fear of God and a dread of his majesty shall have his love also shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost; and then the sun may be said to arise there, and to bring both a delightful day and a fruitful spring along with it. (3.) Christ's second coming will be a glorious and welcome sun-rising to all that fear his name; it will be that morning of the resurrection in which the upright shall have dominion, Ps 49:14. That day which to the wicked will burn as an oven will to the righteous be bright as the morning; and it is what they wait for, more than those that wait for the morning.
2. What this mercy and comfort shall bring to them: He shall arise with healing under his wings, or in his rays or beams, which are as the wings of the sun. Christ came, as the sun, to bring not only light to a dark world, but health to a diseased distempered world. The Jews (says Dr. Pocock) have a proverbial saying, As the sun riseth, infirmities decrease; the flowers which drooped and languished all night revive in the morning. Christ came into the world to be the great physician, yea, and the great medicine too, both the balm in Gilead and the physician there. When he was upon earth, he went about as the sun in his circuit, doing this good; he healed all manner of sicknesses and diseases among the people; he healed by wholesale, as the sun does. He shall arise with healing in his skirts; so some read it, and they apply it to the story of the woman's touching the hem of his garment, and being thereby made whole, and his finding that virtue went out of him, Mk 5:28-30. But his healing bodily diseases was a specimen of his great design in coming into the world to heal the diseases of men's souls, and to put them into a good state of health, that they may serve and enjoy both God and themselves.
3. What good effect it shall have upon them. (1.) It shall make them vigorous in themselves: "You shall go forth, as those that are healed go abroad and return to their business." The souls shall go forth out of their bodies at death, and the bodies out of their graves at the resurrection, as prisoners out of their dungeons, and both to see the light and be set at liberty. "You shall go forth as plants out of the earth, when in the spring the sun returns." Some make it to mean the going forth of the Christians from Jerusalem, and the escape they thereby made from its destruction. And thus the souls on whom the Sun of righteousness arises go forth out of the world, go forth out of Babylon, as those that are made free indeed. "You shall likewise grow up; being restored to health and liberty, you shall increase in knowledge, and grace, and spiritual strength." The souls on which the Sun of righteousness arises are growing up towards the perfect man; those that by the grace of God are made wise and good are by the same grace made wiser and better; and their path, like that of the rising sun, shines more and more to the perfect day, Pr 4:18. Their growth is compared to that of the calves of the stall, which is a quick, strong, and useful growth. "You shall grow up, not as the flower of the field, which is slender, and weak, and of little use, and withers soon after it has grown up, but as the calves of the stall," that, as one of the rabbin expounds it, grow great in flesh and fatness, with which both God's altars and men's tables are replenished; so the growth of the saints, on whom the Sun of righteousness arises, honours both God and man. Some read it, instead of You shall grow up, You shall move yourselves, or leap for joy, shall be as frolicsome as calves of the stall, when they are let loose in the open field; it denotes the joy of the saints, who rejoice in Christ Jesus; they shall even leap for joy; they are always caused to triumph.
(2.) It shall make them victorious over their enemies (Mal 4:3): You shall tread down the wicked. Time was when the wicked trod them down, said to their souls, Bow down, that we may go over; but the day will come when they shall tread down the wicked. The wicked, being made Christ's footstool, are made theirs also (Ps 110:1), and come and worship before the feet of the church, Re 3:9. The elder shall serve the younger. When believers by faith overcome the world, when they suppress their own corrupt appetites and passions, when the God of peace bruises Satan under their feet, then they tread down the wicked. When it came to the turn of the Christians to triumph over the Jews that had insulted over them, then this promise was fulfilled: They shall be ashes under the soles of your feet; they shall not only be trodden down, but trodden to dirt. When the day that comes shall have burnt them up, they shall trample upon them as ashes. When the righteous shall rise to everlasting life, the wicked shall rise to everlasting contempt; and, though they shall not triumph over them, they shall triumph in that God whose justice is glorified in their destruction. The saints in glory are said to have power given them over the nations, to rule them with a rod of iron, Re 2:26,27. This you shall do, in the day that I shall do this. Note, The saints' triumphs are all owing to God's victories; it is not they that do this, but God that does it for them, that says, Come set your feet on the necks of these kings. Some read it, "In the day that I make, or shall make, the great day that I shall make remarkable, of which you will say with joy, This is the day which the Lord has made." The day of the destruction of Jerusalem is called the great and notable day of the Lord (Ac 2:20), and our Saviour in foretelling that destruction made use of such expressions as, like these, might be applied likewise to the end of the world and the last judgment; for it was such a terrible revelation of the wrath of God from heaven, and caused such a scene of horror upon this earth, that it might fitly serve for a type of that glorious transaction which will be an outlet to the days of time and an inlet to the days of eternity. By the accomplishment of these prophecies in the ruin of the Jewish nation, we should have our faith confirmed in the assurances Christ has given us concerning the dissolution of all things. Surely I come quickly; so says Christ, the Lord of hosts, to whom all power in heaven and earth is committed.
4-6
Evangelical Predictions (400 BC)
福音性的预言（公元前400年）
⁴ "你们当记念我仆人摩西的律法，就是我在何烈山为以色列众人所吩咐他的律例典章。 ⁵ 看哪，耶和华大而可畏之日未到以前，我必差遣先知以利亚到你们那里去。 ⁶ 他必使父亲的心转向儿女，儿女的心转向父亲，免得我来咒诅遍地。"
这无疑是一个庄严的结语——不仅是本预言的结语，也是整个旧约正典的结语；它清楚地说明他们不要再期望再有受灵感而说的话语或所写的文字，不再有预言之灵的指示，直到弥赛亚福音的起头——这就把次经排除在圣言之外，因此犹太人从未接受它。
如今预言既止息，即将封缄，对那时活着的神的百姓，有两件事是当行的：
I. 他们当对摩西的律法存恭敬顺服的心（玛 4:4)："你们当记念我仆人摩西的律法"，并遵照而行——就是"我在何烈山"所吩咐他的那律法，那为"以色列众人"所设的烈火的律法，连同"律例典章"——不仅是十诫之律，还有那时那地所赐的其他一切礼仪和民事的规条。在此请注意，1. 在旧约末后一位作者玛拉基书中，对旧约第一位作者"摩西"有可敬的提及。神借他称他为"我仆人摩西"；因为义人必被永远记念。请看圣经的作者们虽生活在相隔遥远的时代（从摩西到玛拉基有一千二百多年），却都同指一事，互相支持，因为都被同一位圣灵所感动引导。2. 对"摩西的律法"有可敬的提及；那是神亲自"所吩咐的"；他认它为他的律法，又吩咐它"为以色列众人"，作他们国度的国法。如此神要"尊大他的律法使它尊荣"。注意：我们当遵守律法，因为是神所吩咐的，又是为我们所吩咐的；因我们就是属灵的以色列；我们若指望与以色列之约的益处（来 8:10)，就当遵守赐予以色列的诫命——其中那些本意永远有效的。3. 我们对律法当尽之本分的纲要：我们必须记念它。忘记律法是我们一切违犯的根源；我们若正当记念它，就不能不遵行。我们当在需要用它之时记念它，既记念诫命本身，也记念用来强化的制裁。良心的本分就是吩咐我们"记念律法"。但此处记念摩西律法的吩咐为何在此出现？(1.) 这位先知曾因他们在敬拜和行为上的许多大腐败和失规而责备他们，如今为改正所不当行的，他只吩咐他们"记念摩西的律法"："持守那准则，你们就必行所当行的一切。"他"不加别的担子给他们"，只要他们"持守已经领受的"（启 2:24,25)。注意：败坏的教会当借所记载的话语而改革，并被带回归"训诲和法度"的标准而归入秩序（见林前 11:23)。(2.) 教会长久享受先知——神非常的使者——的益处，如今他们已有一本集其大成的先知书，是一部已完成之作；但他们不可因此以为"摩西的律法"已被取代，成了过时的历书，仿佛如今他们已升入更高阶段，可以把它忘记。不；先知不过是印证、应用律法，督促人遵守它；所以仍要"记念律法"。注意：即使我们在知识上有相当长进，仍当持守实用信仰的首要原理，决意坚守。那研究先知著作和启示录的人，仍当记念摩西的律法和四福音。(3.) 预言如今要在教会中止息几个世代，预言之灵要到"福音的起头"才归回，所以如今他们被告知当"记念摩西的律法"；当照其法则而活，靠其应许而活。注意：只要我们有记载的话语、有完整的圣经正典作我们的指引，就不必因没有异象和启示而抱怨；因为那是"更确的预言"，也是我们"试验那些灵"的试金石。我们虽然没有先知，但只要有圣经，就能与神相交，又保守自己行在他的道中。(4.) 他们要盼望弥赛亚的来临、他福音的传扬、他国度的建立；在这一盼望中，他们必须"记念摩西的律法"，在顺服中活，那时才可以指望弥赛亚给"甘心顺从之人"带来的安慰。让他们遵守摩西的律法，活在其光照之中，那时才可盼望基督福音的益处；因为"凡有的，又用好他所有的，还要加给他，并且有余"。
II\. 他们当对基督的福音存着信心的盼望，并要在先知以利亚的显现中寻求它的起头（玛 4:5,6)："看哪，我必差遣先知以利亚到你们那里去。"预言之灵虽要暂时止息，你们只有律法可查考，它却要在一位"以利亚的心志能力"而来的人身上复兴（路 1:17)。"律法和先知到约翰为止"（路 16:16)；它们一直是教会仅有的光，直到那晨星出现。注意：神既在世上"未尝不为自己留下见证"，在教会中也未尝如此；而是随着需要，把神圣启示的光推得更远，直到完全之日。他们如今既有摩西和先知可以听从，神却要行更远的事：他要差遣以利亚。请注意：
1. 这位奉差的先知是谁：是以利亚。犹太的博士们要以为这乃是在亚哈日子在以色列说预言的同一位以利亚——他要再来作弥赛亚的先锋；然而他们中也有人说不是同一人，而是另一位有同样心志的人。似乎他们看法不一，所以问约翰说："你是以利亚吗？或是那当以他之名说话的先知吗？"（约 1:19-21)。但我们基督徒很清楚知道，施洗约翰就是那要来的以利亚（太 17:10-13)；并且明说（太 11:14)"这就是那要来的以利亚"；也就是玛 3:1所记"看哪，我要差遣我的使者"的那一位。以利亚是个极其严肃、禁欲的人，为神发热心，放胆责备罪恶，又积极地使背道的百姓归向神和他们的本分；施洗约翰被同一心志能力所感，传悔改归正，正如以利亚所作的；众人都认他为先知，正如他们当日认以利亚一样，并认他的洗礼"是从天上来的，不是从人来的"。注意：当神有像从前所作的那样的工作要作，他能兴起像从前所兴起的那样的人去作，又把以利亚的心志放进施洗约翰里面。
2. 他何时奉差：在弥赛亚显现之前——这次显现因是这世界的审判，又引进犹太教会和民族的倾覆，在此被称为"耶和华大而可畏之日的来到"。施洗约翰已明明警戒他们这事，他告诉他们"将来的愤怒"——那正速速临到他们身上"极大的愤怒"——又把他们引上逃避之路，并告诉他们基督手里拿着"簸箕"，要扬净他的场（见太 3:7,10,12)。基督第一次来的那日，正如他第二次再来之日——对接受他的人虽是大而喜乐的日子，对抵挡他的人却是"大而可畏之日"。施洗约翰被差在这日来到之前，要给百姓通报，使他们预备好迎接它，可以出来迎接。
3. 他奉差所负的使命是什么："他必使父亲的心转向儿女，儿女的心转向父亲"；即"他必从事这事工；他必试图作成它；他的教训和洗礼必直接趋于这目标，并在许多人身上奏效：他必在神手中作使许多'人归义'、归向'主他们的神'的器皿，借此'为他预备合用的百姓'"（路 1:16,17)。注意：灵魂归向神和他们的本分，是使他们预备好迎接主大而可畏之日的最佳预备。论到约翰，有应许说：(1.) 他必给局面带来转折，必对那在他百姓儿女中间势头正猛、横扫一切的罪恶和不敬虔的潮流作勇敢的抵挡。这被称为他"来要复兴万事"（太 17:11)——把它们归正，使其重新流入正道。(2.) 他必传一种能摸着人心、在人身上有影响力、在人里面改变人的教训。神的话在他口中必"是活泼的，是有功效的"，能"辨明心中的思念和主意"。许多人因他的事奉良心苏醒，虽然未被彻底改变，可见其中有何等的心志和能力。(3.) 他必使父亲的心连同儿女，儿女的心连同父亲（有人如此读），转向神和他们当尽的本分。他必呼召老少悔改，也必不徒然劳苦，因为许多将逝去的父亲，许多正在长大的儿女，都要因他的事奉受感。(4.) 他要如此作使亲属之间爱与合一得以复兴并坚定的器皿，又借使他们都归向、联结于他们的神，使他们彼此更亲、彼此更紧。他必为那天国预备道路——那国必使它一切忠心的子民"同心合意"（徒 4:32)，那国必是爱的国度，必消灭一切的仇恨。
4. 他奉差负此使命的用意何在："免得我来咒诅遍地"——即以色列地，犹太民族的全体（他们本是属地的），"以咒诅"。他们因在不敬虔和其中不悔改，已使自己暴露在神的咒诅之下——就是与一切灾祸的隔离。神已准备以那咒诅击打他们，使他们彻底倾覆，直击要害，以咒诅击杀；但他还要再试他们一次，看他们肯不肯悔改归回，从而防止这事；所以他差遣施洗约翰向他们传悔改，好叫他们的归正防止他们的毁灭；神是如此不愿任何人灭亡，如此愿意他的怒气转消。他们若普遍悔改归正，他们的悔改就必产生这蒙悦纳的果效；但他们既普遍拒绝约翰洗礼中神的旨意，结果便反到自己身上（路 7:30)，他们的地便受了咒诅，至今仍在此咒诅之下。注意：那"不归向击打他们的"人（赛 9:13)，必指望被刀剑、被咒诅击打。如今"斧子已经放在树根上"，施洗约翰说，它准备被击打、被砍下，"以咒诅"；所以"要结出果子来，与悔改的心相称"。有人观察到，旧约最后一个字是咒诅——它威胁地（亚 5:3)，我们当对当受的这咒诅有所感，好叫我们欢迎那带来祝福的基督；新约却以祝福——以最上好的祝福——作结；让我们用这祝福武装自己，或说让神用它武装我们，以抵挡那咒诅。"愿我们主耶稣基督的恩常与我们众人同在。阿们。"
英文原文
Evangelical Predictions (400 BC)
⁴ Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
⁶ And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
This is doubtless intended for a solemn conclusion, not only of this prophecy, but of the canon of the Old Testament, and is a plain information that they were not to expect any more sayings nor writing by divine inspiration, any more of the dictates of the Spirit of prophecy, till the beginning of the gospel of the Messiah, which sets aside the Apocrypha as no part of holy writ, and which therefore the Jews never received.
Now that prophecy ceases, and is about to be sealed up, there are two things required of the people of God, that lived then:—
I. They must keep up an obedient veneration for the law of Moses (Mal 4:4): Remember the law of Moses my servant, and observe to do according to it, even that law which I commanded unto him in Horeb, that fiery law which was intended for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments, not only the law of the ten commandments, but all the other appointments, ceremonial and judicial, then and there given. Observe here, 1. The honourable mention that is made of Moses, the first writer of the Old Testament, in Malachi, the last writer. God by him calls him Moses my servant; for the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. See how the penmen of scripture, though they lived in several ages at a great distance from each other (it was above 1200 years from Moses to Malachi), all concurred in the same thing, and supported one another, being all actuated and guided by one and the same Spirit. 2. The honourable mention that is made of the law of Moses; it was what God himself commanded; he owns it for his law, and he commanded it for all Israel, as the municipal law of their kingdom. Thus will God magnify his law and make it honourable. Note, We are concerned to keep the law because God has commanded it and commanded it for us, for we are the spiritual Israel; and, if we expect the benefit of the covenant with Israel (Heb 8:10), we must observe the commands given to Israel, those of them that were intended to be of perpetual obligation. 3. The summary of our duty, with reference to the law. We must remember it. Forgetfulness of the law is at the bottom of all our transgressions of it; if we would rightly remember it, we could not but conform to it. We should remember it when we have occasion to use it, remember both the commands themselves and the sanctions wherewith they are enforced. The office of conscience is to bid us remember the law. But how does this charge to remember the law of Moses come in here? (1.) This prophet had reproved them for many gross corruptions and irregularities both in worship and conversation, and now, for the reforming and amending of what was amiss, he only charges them to remember the law of Moses: "Keep to that rule, and you will do all you should do." He will lay upon them no other burden than what they have received; hold that fast, Re 2:24,25. Note, Corrupt churches are to be reformed by the written word, and reduced into order by being reduced to the standard of the law and the testimony, see 1Co 11:23. (2.) The church had long enjoyed the benefit of prophets, extraordinary messengers from God, and now they had a whole book of their prophecies put together, and it was a finished piece; but they must not think that hereby the law of Moses was superseded, and had become as an almanac out of date, as if now they were advanced to a higher form and might forget that. No; the prophets do but confirm and apply the law, and press the observance of that; and therefore still Remember the law. Note, Even when we have made considerable advances in knowledge we must still retain the first principles of practical religion and resolve to abide by them. Those that study the writings of the prophets, and the apocalypse, must still remember the law of Moses and the four gospels. (3.) Prophecy was now to cease in the church for some ages, and the Spirit of prophecy not to return till the beginning of the gospel, and now they are told to remember the law of Moses; let them live by the rules of that, and live upon the promises of that. Note, We need not complain for want of visions and revelations as long as we have the written word, and the canon of scripture complete, to be our guide; for that is the most sure word of prophecy, and the touchstone by which we are to try the spirits. Though we have not prophets, yet, as long as we have Bibles, we may keep our communion with God, and keep ourselves in his way. (4.) They were to expect the coming of the Messiah, the preaching of his gospel, and the setting up of his kingdom, and in that expectation they must remember the law of Moses, and live in obedience to that, and then they might expect the comforts that the Messiah would bring to the willing and obedient. Let them observe the law of Moses, and live up to the light which that gave them, and then they might expect the benefit of the gospel of Christ, for to him that has, and uses what he has well, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance.
II. They must keep up a believing expectation of the gospel of Christ, and must look for the beginning of it in the appearing of Elijah the prophet (Mal 4:5,6): "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet. Though the Spirit of prophecy cease for a time, and you will have only the law to consult, yet it shall revive again in one that shall be sent in the spirit and power of Elias," Lu 1:17. The law and the prophets were until John (Lu 16:16); they continued to be the only lights of the church till that morning-star appeared. Note, As God never left himself without witness in the world, so neither in the church, but, as there was occasion, carried the light of divine revelation further and further to the perfect day. They had now Moses and the prophets, and might hear them; but God will go further: he will send them Elijah. Observe,
1. Who this prophet is that shall be sent; it is Elijah. The Jewish doctors will have it to be the same Elijah that prophesied in Israel in the days of Ahab—that he shall come again to be the forerunner of the Messiah; yet others of them say not the same person, but another of the same spirit. It should seem, those different sentiments they had when they asked John, "Art thou Elias, or that prophet that should bear his name?" Joh 1:19-21. But we Christians know very well that John Baptist was the Elias that was to come, Mt 17:10-13; and very expressly, Mt 11:14, This is Elias that was to come; and Mal 4:10, the same of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger, Mal 3:1. Elijah was a man of great austerity and mortification, zealous for God, bold in reproving sin, and active to reduce an apostate people to God and their duty; John Baptist was animated by the same spirit and power, and preached repentance and reformation, as Elias had done; and all held him for a prophet, as they did Elijah in his day, and that his baptism was from heaven, and not of men. Note, When God has such work to do as was formerly to be done he can raise up such men to do it as he formerly raised up, and can put into a John Baptist the spirit of an Elias.
2. When he shall be sent—before the appearing of the Messiah, which, because it was the judgment of this world, and introduced the ruin of the Jewish church and nation, is here called the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. John Baptist gave them fair warning of this when he told them of the wrath to come (that wrath to the uttermost which was hastening upon them) and put them into a way of escape from it, and when he told them of the fan in Christ's hand, with which Christ would thoroughly purge his floor; see Mt 3:7,10,12. That day of Christ, when he came first, was as that day will be when he comes again—though a great and joyful day to those that embrace him, yet a great and dreadful day to those that oppose him. John Baptist was sent before the coming of this day, to give people notice of it, that they might get ready for it, and go forth to meet it.
3. On what errand he shall be sent: He shall turn the heart of the fathers to their children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; that is, "he shall be employed in this work; he shall attempt it; his doctrine and baptism shall have a direct tendency to it, and with many shall be successful: he shall be an instrument in God's hand of turning many to righteousness, to the Lord their God, and so making ready a people prepared for him," Lu 1:16,17. Note, The turning of souls to God and their duty is the best preparation of them for the great and dreadful day of the Lord. It is promised concerning John, (1.) That he shall give a turn to things, shall make a bold stand against the strong torrent of sin and impiety which he found in full force among the children of his people, and beating down all before it. This is called his coming to restore all things (Mt 17:11), to set them to rights, that they may again go in the right channel. (2.) That he shall preach a doctrine that shall reach men's hearts, and have an influence upon them, and work a change in them. God's word, in his mouth, shall be quick and powerful, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Many had their consciences awakened by his ministry who yet were not thoroughly wrought upon, such a spirit and power was there in it. (3.) That he shall turn the hearts of the fathers with the children, and of the children with the fathers (for so some read it), to God and to their duty. He shall call upon young and old to repent, and shall not labour in vain, for many of the fathers that are going off, and many of the children that are growing up, shall be wrought upon by his ministry. (4.) That thus he shall be an instrument to revive and confirm love and unity among relations, and shall bring them closer and bind them faster to each other, by bringing and binding them all to their God. He shall prepare the way for that kingdom of heaven which will make all its faithful subjects of one heart and one soul (Ac 4:32), which will be a kingdom of love, and will slay all enmities.
4. With what view he shall be sent on this errand: Lest I come and smite the earth, that is, the land of Israel, the body of the Jewish nation (that were of the earth earthy), with a curse. They by their impiety and impenitence in it had laid themselves open to the curse of God, which is a separation to all evil. God was ready to smite them with that curse, to bring utter ruin upon them, to strike home, to strike dead, with the curse; but he will yet once more try them, whether they will repent and return, and so prevent it; and therefore he sends John Baptist to preach repentance to them, that their conversion might prevent their confusion; so unwilling is God that any should perish, so willing to have his anger turned away. Had they universally repented and reformed, their repentance would have had this desired effect; but, they generally rejecting the counsel of God in John's baptism, it proved against themselves (Lu 7:30) and their land was smitten with the curse which both it and they lie under to this day. Note, Those must expect to be smitten with a sword, with a curse, who turn not to him that smites them with a rod, with a cross, Isa 9:13. Now the axe is laid to the root of the tree, says John Baptist, and it is ready to be smitten, to be cut down, with a curse; therefore bring forth fruit meet for repentance. Some observe that the last word of the Old Testament is a curse, which threatens the earth (Zec 5:3), our desert of which we must be made sensible of, that we may bid Christ welcome, who comes with a blessing; and it is with a blessing, with the choicest of blessings, that the New Testament ends, and with it let us arm ourselves, or rather let God arm us, against this curse. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen.
此处赐给我们合宜的教导（用以结束旧约正典，再合适不过了）：I. 论及摆在我们面前的报应与审判之境——在那境地中恶人的悲惨与义人的福乐（玛 4:1-3）。这一信息也借着对耶路撒冷及其中不信之犹太人灭亡的预言，以及其中接受福音之人所得的安慰与得胜，向我们呈现出来。II. 论及我们如今所处的试炼与预备之境——在此我们被引导当仰望神的启示并跟从它；那时他们必须持守摩西的律法（玛 4:4），并期待借先知以利亚，即弥赛亚的先锋——施洗约翰，进一步显明神的旨意（玛 4:5,6）。新约最后一章的意旨与此大同小异，将彼世的天堂与地狱陈明在我们面前，并要求我们在今世坚守神的话语。