**The Sun of Righteousness Rises**

The land of Judah lay under a heavy silence, the air thick with the weariness of a people who had grown cold in their devotion. The words of the prophet Malachi had been spoken, yet many had turned a deaf ear, their hearts hardened by ritual without repentance. The priests offered sacrifices with hands that were unclean, and the people withheld their tithes, grumbling against the Lord as if He had abandoned them. But the Lord had not forgotten His promise.

On the horizon of time, a great and terrible day was approaching—the Day of the Lord. Malachi had foretold it: *”For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of Hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”*

Yet for those who feared the name of the Lord, a different promise shone like the first light of dawn. *”But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings, and you will go forth and leap like calves released from the stall.”*

### **The Coming Fire**

In the years that followed Malachi’s prophecy, the land remained restless. The proud continued in their wickedness, oppressing the weak, defrauding laborers, and mocking the faithful. The priests grew fat on stolen offerings, and justice was perverted in the courts. But the Lord had marked the day when His justice would sweep through the earth like a wildfire, consuming all that was unrighteous.

Then, in the fullness of time, the signs began. The sky darkened at midday, and the earth trembled. The proud kings and rulers who had scorned the name of the Lord suddenly found no refuge. Their wealth could not save them, their armies could not shield them. Like dry grass cast into a furnace, they were consumed—their power, their pride, their false gods turned to ashes before the wrath of the Almighty.

### **The Dawn of Healing**

Yet in the midst of judgment, mercy prevailed. Those who had remained faithful—who had whispered the name of the Lord in the darkest hours, who had kept His commandments even when scorned—now beheld a glorious sight. From the east, a light broke forth, not the harsh glare of the desert sun, but a radiant, golden warmth that carried with it the scent of new life.

It was the Sun of Righteousness, the long-awaited Messiah, descending not with wrath upon His people, but with healing in His wings. The sick, who had languished in shadow, felt strength return to their limbs. The brokenhearted, who had wept in secret, found their sorrow turned to joy. The oppressed stood tall, their chains shattered. And the faithful, who had waited like weary travelers in a long night, now ran with the energy of young calves released into open fields.

### **The Call to Remember**

Before this great day, Malachi had spoken one final command: *”Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel—statutes and judgments.”* The Law had been their guide, their schoolmaster pointing toward the One who would fulfill it. And now, as the Sun of Righteousness walked among them, His words carried the authority of the Law and the grace of the Promise.

Elijah, the prophet of fire, would come again before that great and dreadful day, turning the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. For the Lord would not allow His people to perish in division. He would call them back, one final time, before the restoration of all things.

### **The Promise Fulfilled**

And so it was. The Day of the Lord came—first in judgment upon sin at the cross, where the wrath of God was poured out, not on the people, but on the Lamb who took their place. Then in resurrection power, as the Sun of Righteousness rose triumphant, bringing healing to all who would believe.

And still, the final Day approaches, when every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord. For the proud, it will be a day of fire. But for those who fear His name, it will be the dawning of an eternal morning, where the Sun shall never set, and the joy shall never fade.

Thus says the Lord: *”Behold, I am coming soon.”* And the Spirit and the Bride say, *”Come.”*