Doves,
I am sure many of you have heard the phrase “Sun of Righteousness”. For those of you that have not, it's a phrase God used in the Book of Malachi. The Book of Malachi is the last book of the old testament and this phrase “Sun of Righteousness” appears in the last chapter of that book near the last part of that chapter. And it appears that God there in Malachi is informing us about things that will happen during the last parts of this age just before the millennial kingdom starts, or during, or at the start of the last seven years. I'll get back to exploring the phrase “Sun of Righteousness” but first, it would be appropriate to do an overview of that fourth chapter of Malachi to see how this “Sun of Righteousness” phrase fits into the context of that chapter.
Here in Malachi 4 God talks about the judgment that is coming, a judgment of fire where the wicked will be “selectively” burned up. The wicked and their offspring will be killed.....He states it this way......”that will leave them neither root nor branch” meaning the whole family will be killed.
So this event of burning up the wicked and their offspring will not be an event where our sun gets extremely hot and kills the people on the earth below because an event like that would also collaterally kill the just and righteous as well. So this burning event is a targeted, selective process where just the wicked, their families and their lands are burned up.
Who is responsible for the actual killing or the burning in this event? Here in Malachi God is speaking to or addressing the Jewish race, he says......4 “remember the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.......3 you shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet......
So it's the Jews that will be conducting this mass burning of the wicked. Which Jews are involved and is this horrible incineration process referenced in other parts of scripture? Yes, this whole massive horrific undertaking is spoken of in many other areas of scripture.
Let me give you a brief scriptural overview of the events that comprise this eradication process (by fire) for the wicked that are to be incinerated. I won't go into the many and varied passages throughout the bible that reference this........ but just the basic story line.
First of all it starts with a huge resurrection of the dead. In this resurrection there will be hundreds of millions of “the dead in Christ” that will be taken in the rapture. And also in this huge resurrection....... hundreds of millions of dead Jews that have (over the centuries) comprised what God calls.....the whole house of Israel... (Ezekiel 37:11) This whole house of Israel phrase meaning...... all the dead descendants of Jacob from his time period in history until the present. This huge Jewish resurrection is depicted in great detail in Ezekiel 37.
We find there in Ezekiel 37:10 that out of this massive Jewish resurrection God forms an exceedingly great (Jewish) army from these resurrected Jews. This army is then in-filled with the Spirit of God Himself (verse 14). {Note...There would be no need for God to form an end times massive army unless He was going to use it}
How does God use this army? He uses it.....as per Malachi above...... to burn to death the wicked of the earth.
How large is this “exceedingly great” Jewish army? We learn in Revelation 9 that this army is comprised of 200 million spirit filled resurrected people and they are tasked to burn to death the wicked and their lands which is stated as being....... one third of the planet. This army rides on very strange horses, these horses have heads like lions and tails like snake heads and out of their mouths come fire, smoke and brimstone and as is seen in Joel 2 it appears these horse like creatures can also fly.
If you want some of the exacting details of how this massive army attacks and maneuvers read Joel 2 below. There we see a description or depiction of God's end times resurrected, spirit filled Jewish army with all of it's horror and conquest. And you will notice in verse 11 that it is indeed..... God's army....killing and burning it’s way across a third of the planet. I have my suspicions as to what peoples and land masses this army will be focused on as I suspect you do as well.
Joel 2
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
So, I said I would give you a brief overview of what God is referring to in Malachi 4, that being an exceeding great resurrected Jewish army tasked with burning to death those who God has selected as being wicked. Not only the wicked but also their families and their lands.
Also notice in the text of Malachi that the prophet Elijah is present as well presumably also being resurrected along with the rest of the house of Israel / Jacob during this terrible period known as....The Day of the Lord.
Now after this overview it brings us back to the title of my post ….”the Sun of Righteousness”. What does this specific phrase God used in Malachi 4:2 mean when used in the context of the story line I described above?
I believe it could mean several things. Lets look how it is used in the text.2 But to you who fear my name ( Christians )
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise (Jesus in a time frame related to the sun)
With healing in His wings (transforming us from mortal to immortal)
And you shall go out (be raptured up)
And grow fat like stall fed calves (and taken to a safe place to feast)
This one and only verse from Malachi chapter 4..... just verse 2.... appears to be addressing the followers of Christ and not the Jews. In this verse I believe Jesus is referring to the rapture, our transformation from mortal to immortal and our being taken to a place of safety at a point in time that a sun-sign has a direct bearing on.
Another aspect of this..... is that God uses the capitalized word Sun instead of Son. This points to or alludes to His wanting us to focus on the sun's connection to all of this. Is it because the whole story line here deals with the burning up of the wicked...... and that the sun is hot and burning and it would then be a righteous act.....the burning up these wicked people? I think....not so much....
Or as I believe....... this substitution of the word Sun for Son has something to do with the timing of the rapture. That a sign or signal by the sun itself or somehow connected with the sun will appear in the sky or the heavens.
We know that in several areas of scripture God gave us the “banner verses” where He told us that a banner or a sign representing Jesus would appear in the sky prior to the rapture of the church. Is that what He is also relaying to us here in Malachi? Is He linking the sign that is to appear in the sky with the sun....... as to the timing of the rapture.
The bible says that Jesus is ….the light of the world. The sun is also the light of the world from another point of view. So will the timing of Jesus's coming for His church in the rapture have something to due with a banner in the sky near or affiliated with the sun? Is He giving us a hint when He says.....Sun of Righteousness?
And then we have the Red Dragon sign of Revelation 12. It appears that God is telling us there in Revelation 12 that this sign happens in conjunction with the timing of the rapture. Does this Red Dragon sign have anything to do with the phrase “Sun of Righteousness”? What is this Red Dragon sign? Many claim on the internet that this Red Dragon sign will be Planet X and say that this Planet X will appear to be red in the sky and also has what appears to be wings coming out the side of the planet. Don't you think it's a little funny that God would use the same wording in Malachi 4.....healing in His wings. Why would God use the word “wings” in verse 2 if He wasn't trying to give us a hint or a heads up? Is there some connection between this so called red winged planet and the phrase God used in Malachi 4:2.....With healing in His wings ?
And let me throw one more bizarre idea into the mix. God said,.... I am the light of the world. And He basically said in Malachi,....I am the Sun of Righteousness. He also said in Matthew 24:27....”For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west (as is the rising and falling of the sun), so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”..... And in Malachi He says...”the Sun of Righteousness shall arise. Like the sun “arises” in the morning?
What do all of these statements by God have in common? In my mind they are all drawing some sort of end time connection between Jesus and a happening / event in the heavens that will involve our sun and also the rapture of the church. Did He not tell us......”Look up, your redemption draws near”. Look up at what? Will the Son replace the sun?
Could we wake up some normal morning with the rise of the sun and find that it's completely abnormal......that our sun as it traverses the sky from east to west and casts it's light upon the earth has been replaced instead by..... the Sun of Righteousness...... the light of the world.....and it will be Jesus’s face we see arise in the sky with heat and light traversing the sky from east to west. Isn't that the scenario that God appears to be hinting at with all the terminology He uses in these verses?
I believe we only have a few months to find out. God has framed a solid marker in the heavens for 23 September 2017 and He calls it a great sign. And as per Isaiah 66 and Revelation 12 before that great sign happens another sign will signal the rapture of the church. It appears to me that God gave us hints as to what that sign would be.......something to do with our sun. And I believe due to the wording in Isaiah 18 and the Song of Solomon that that sign affiliated with the sun will appear this spring or early summer. A sign that will call us home to a feast...... “And grow fat like stall-fed calves”...Malachi 4:2
Blessings Doves.......John B