“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” - Malachi 4:2
The prophet Malachi closes the door of the Old Testament with a stern message concerning the corruption of the priests of Israel, the sins of the people against their families, and their miserly conduct toward God. Malachi speaks of judgment and retribution upon “the arrogant and the wicked,” warning that they “will be burned up like straw . . . [and] consumed like a tree” (Malachi 4:1). God was rebuking the leaders of Israel. Their job was to bring comfort, help, and healing to the flock, but they had forsaken their God and their people.
Despite the failure of Israel’s leaders, God closes the Old Testament with the promise of a new day that’s about to dawn. The two beautiful metaphors in this text—the sunrise of righteousness and the wings of help and healing—paint the portrait of the mending of people’s hearts and minds. Bethlehem saw the sunrise when Christ was born to dissipate the darkness of people’s souls. Jesus came to save us from corruption, heartache, and all manner of sinful ambitions. He came to lift us above all our pain on the wings of his healing atonement. He came to open the door of our heart.
Do you know anyone whose heart needs opening—who needs the comfort and healing that only God can give? Healing flies from Calvary, swiftly down the troubled tunnels of time to those who fear his name. He promises comfort. The Son of God has risen—with healing in his wings!
For Further Study: Matthew 4:18-25
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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