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Expanded Comments |
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| 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. |
The day cometh – Typically in 70 AD when Israel's national existence was destroyed. R1537:6, R5317:3
The Millennial age. B151
Is now present. R571:2
Particularly referring to the special trials which the day of the Lord's presence would bring with it. B249
The day that brings the glorification to the faithful "jewel" or "wheat" class brings a different experience to the "tare" class. R2543:6
The Day of Vengeance. B151; D11, D528; R1379:4
Burn as an oven – The fire of God's indignation against unrighteousness during the day of Christ. Q719:3
With the fire of God's jealousy. (Zeph. 3:8) R592:6; D528
Melting and dissolving the present earth--human society as now organized under Satan's control. A69; HG539:1
Somehow the truth is either directly or indirectly to bring about the smiting of the earth. R1352:2
And all the proud – Pride and every other cause from which haughtiness and oppression could again spring forth. A319, A320
Pride leads into all sorts of mischief. R5704:5
Happy those who will surrender their pride and evil to be destroyed that they themselves be not destroyed also in the Second Death, as some resisters evidently will be during the Millennial age. B151
"Seek meekness, seek righteousness, it may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zeph. 2:3) R1963:6
That do wickedly – There will be wicked people in the earth at the time the Lord's Kingdom is established. R2374:3
Shall be stubble – Under the feet of the righteous. R2025:5
Shall burn them up – All evil systems, errors and wilful sinners. B151; R5317:2
Burn up evil throughout the entire Millennial age. R2544:1, R5317:3, R5567:6
At the end of the Millennium there will be no proud people on the earth. A319; R5704:5, R2544:1
Not consuming the individuals. They will cease to be "tares," but not cease to be human beings. R2543:6
Root nor branch – For further development. D552
Completely consuming their hypocrisies and pretended devotions to the Lord. R2543:6
Until every root and branch of sin is thoroughly consumed. Q719:3; R4628:4, R5567:6, R5704:5
Those refusing to come into harmony with righteousness will be destroyed in the Second Death. Q719:3; R5567:6
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| 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. |
But unto you – The Lord links the fire upon the tare-field with the speedy shining thereafter of the Sun of righteousness. (Matt. 13:43) R2760:6
Who, looking from "the secret place of the Most High," see a silver lining to the clouds of trouble. D616
A remnant of nominal spiritual Israel who heed the Word of the Lord. To them belong the blessings of his special favor. R1538:1
It is the Jews who see the Sun of Righteousness arise. R124:5
That fear my name – Perfect love casts out slavish, not reverential, fear. R2289:4
In the sense of fearing his displeasure, or fearing to come short of the grand possibilities which he has so graciously put within our reach. R2289:6
Sun of righteousness – The Redeemer and his elect Church. SM790:2, SM244:T; R4557:1, R5097:3, R5339:2, R5420:2, R5769:3, R3686:2, R2833:6, R1491:5, R1185:5; OV205:5; Q822:1
A synonym for the spiritual seed of Abraham. OV205:5
Jesus is the great Center of that Sun. R5135:6
Offering clear light. R1772:5
The enlightenment of the Truth. HG421:2
"For as the bright-shiner (the sun) cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall the presence of the Son of Man be." (Matt. 24:27) D581
Pictured by Cyrus, whose name means "sun." HG521:1
During that glorious day "righteousness will be laid to the line and justice to the plummet" (Isa. 28:17)--correcting the world in righteousness. HG417:4
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun." (Matt. 13:43) A322; Q822:1; R4967:6, R5455:6, R5097:3, R3686:2; OV205:5; SM244:1, SM287:T
Arise – Now dawning. R4305:1, R4737:1, R5420:2; SM554:3
Cannot fully arise until the Church passes beyond the veil. R5762:2, R4677:2, R4967:6, R5008:1, R5420:2, R1644:5, R5769:4; SM790:2
To shine out for 1000 years. R4988:4; SM471:1
To flood the world with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. OV381:T; SM55:T; R4557:1, R5008:1, R5420:2, R3010:3, R2504:3; F112
The 6000-year night of sin will give place to the glorious day of his presence. HG433:3
We have not yet experienced the rising of the Sun of Righteousness, but we have with us the early gray dawn. R5062:1, R5769:4, R5135:5;
We will not be here when the Sun "rises." We are now in the dawn, but there is quite a while between the first dawn of day and the sunrise. R124:5
Its searching beam of truth already causes much confusion amongst men, by shining into the dark places and revealing error and corruption of every kind. D583
The dawning is gradual, but finally the full brightness shall thoroughly banish the darkness of evil, ignorance and sin. B156, B158
Putting an end to the "valley of the shadow of death." (Psa. 23:4) R5654:4
"Jehovah speaketh and calleth the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof" (Psa. 50:1)--from the beginning to the close of the Millennial day. R3647:2
"Then shall the blind see out of obscurity." (Isa. 29:18) R1311:5
With healing – For the cure of all the masses of the earth R4987:3
With restitution, blessing all the families of the earth. CR463:4; R1877:6, R2122:6
When mental, physical and moral restitution will be manifest, faith will be, to a considerable extent, different from the blind faith necessary now. F113
This was God's plan and purpose before the foundation of the world; the gospel first declared to Abraham. R5057:3
Messiah, as Priest, will heal, console, forgive, instruct. SM55:T
Sin, pain, sorrow and death will flee from the world in general. OV147:1; R4987:3, R5135:5, R2544:1; CR376:3
Ignorance, superstition, darkness and sin will be scattered. OV380:6; R5008:1, R4988:4, R4987:3, R5135:6
The final result will be that there shall be no more sighing, no more crying, no more dying. R5654:4; OV47:1
Refreshment and life--mental, moral and physical--upon the world of mankind. R2834:1
Blessing and healing the sick and dying, but redeemed, world. A322
Illuminating the whole earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Father, which will result in the healing and blessing of all the families of the earth. Q822:1
Completely scattering darkness, superstition and error. HG544:1
In his wings – His beams. R4557:1; SM55:T
Its beams of grace and truth. OV205:4
"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light." (Isa. 9:2) R3686:1
And ye – The righteous. R2544:1
Shall go forth – In the springtime of the Millennial age. R2544:1
"All that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth." (John 5:25) A210
And grow up – Grow spiritually fat. R2544:1
As calves – The righteous. R592:6
Of the stall – During the wintertime of the reign of sin. R2544:1
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| 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. |
Tread down – As ashes. R2544:1
Indicating the completeness of the victory of righteousness over sin. R2544:1
The wicked – Sin and the workers of iniquity--a strong figure of sin's complete defeat. R2544:1
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| 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. |
Remember ye – Whoever has ears to hear. R2542:3
The law of Moses – Typifying the law of love. R2544:1
The man Christ Jesus, by full obedience to the Law covenant, superseded Moses as the Lawgiver, of whom Moses said: "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things." (Acts 3:22) R1725:4, R5046:6
"The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) R1725:4, R5046:5
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| 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: |
Send you Elijah – The Christ in the flesh, Head and Body. B254; OV323:2; R557:1, R968:5, R5741:3
The name signifying "God (mighty one) of Jehovah" or "My God is Jehovah," a fit name for the Lord's Anointed, whose work will be to restore all things. B265
John the Baptist fulfilled this prediction so far as fleshly Israel was concerned. R2544:4, R556:6; OV323:1; B251, B253
John the Baptist stood for a multitudinous Elijah as Jesus stood for a multitudinous Christ. R557:1
Though John came in the spirit and power of Elias (Luke 1:17) and would have fully answered as his antitype if he had been received, yet he was not the Elias, the Great Prophet, referred to by Malachi. R1687:6; Q772:4; OV322:3; B253
There is some measure of likeness between John and the true antitypical Elijah: both fail to establish unity and harmony between man and God, and both fail to do a mediatorial work except for a few; the masses are not prepared by their message and, as a consequence, there is a time of trouble such as they had never previously had. OV323:1; B250, B256
It was not prophesied that Elijah would have success. OV323:3, 1
Indirectly, Elijah is shown in the New Testament to have been a type of the Gospel Church--his experiences typifying our experiences. OV326:1
The antitypical Elijah, beginning with Jesus in the flesh, has been coming and giving his message to the world for more than eighteen centuries. R5771:3
As Melchizedek represented the Church in glory, so Elijah represented the Church in the flesh. R4757:2
Before the coming – The coming of Elijah must precede the Day of the Lord; but his work belongs to that day. HG68:3
It is important to show that Elijah has come before the return of the Lord. B250
The work in which the Church is now engaged is preliminary to its future work, so far as the reforming of the world is concerned. B252
Day of the LORD – Which began in 1874 AD, and will end with the complete overthrow of worldly and Satanic dominion in the earth and the full investiture of Christ Jesus and his saints with power and dominion. B250
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| 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.
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He shall turn – Endeavor to bring about harmony, reconciliation and fellowship between God and his people. OV323:2
Exhorting and seeking to bring the nominal system into harmony with God. R2544:5
Though foretelling failure, knowing that the effort would react favorably upon ourselves, his commission to us is to try to convert the world. B252
In its kingly office, the Church shall effect for the world what it fails to do as the Elijah teacher. B252
The heart – Sentiment. R2760:5
To the children – To childlikeness. B249
And the heart – Would seem to mean the establishment in the earth of a spirit of reciprocal love. R2544:4
Of the children – Of those who have been converted to a child-like attitude. B249
To their fathers – To harmony with the faithful patriarchs and prophets. B249; R557:4
The world, whom Israel typified, coming into harmony with God. R557:4
Lest – Testing the people, whether they will receive the King in peace and joy. R2839:1
A conditional statement--if he succeeds, the earth will not be smitten; but if he succeeds not, the curse will come. R557:4
It was not prophesied that Elijah would have success. OV323:3
Other scriptures clearly indicate that no such reform will occur, and that the "curse" or trouble will surely come. R2760:5; OV323:3
The antitypical Elijah, the Church in the flesh, will fail to establish righteousness and love on the earth, fail to bring about reconciliation. OV324:2; C129
If the world had heeded, the Kingdom of Messiah on the spirit plane would have been eventually ushered in without any great time of trouble. R5741:5, R2544:4
Smite the earth – The world has not heeded, hence the smiting of the earth with a curse is the only way by which Messiah's Kingdom can be ushered in. R5741:5, R2839:4
With a curse – The great time of trouble. B250; OV323:3; R4757:3, R5741:5, R2839:4
When John the Baptist failed to turn Israel to repentance and they crucified the Lord. Hence the curse, or time of trouble, came upon that nation, destroying it in AD 69-70, R2544:4[R2544], R1537:6[R1537]
But it shall not be utterly cursed and forever destroyed because the exalted Elijah--Christ shall put down all opposition and then restore and bless. R557:5
That the curse, the trouble, will be effective and yield blessed results is distinctly shown in Zeph. 3:8, 9. OV323:4
The scourging, the curse, will accomplish for mankind in short time what the message of Elijah failed to accomplish. OV324:T
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