The Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. — Malachi 4:3

This interesting verse is in the last chapter of the Old Testament, and falls only three verses short of being the last verse of the Old Testament. Its location in the Bible, at the threshold of the New Testament, is one reason some interpreters see it as anticipating the Christian age, with Christ himself as the Sun of Righteousness, being the full measure of God’s light, the ultimate of revelation. That the translators of the New King James Version used capital letters, as shown above, indicates that they saw “Sun of Righteousness” as possibly referring to a person. Some other versions do not do this, and it appears that modern scholarship generally does not see this verse as Messianic, even if it does anticipate “the Day of Yahweh.”

   But Malachi, prophesying near the close of the prophetic age, has at least two other references to the coming of the Christian age, according to the New Testament. Malachi 3:1 refers to a coming “messenger” who will “prepare the way for Me,” This is applied to John the Baptist in Mark 1:2. Malachi 4:5 refers to the coming of the prophet Elijah, and in Matthew 11:14 Jesus applies this to John the Baptist. Even if the prophecy about the Sun of Righteousness is nowhere referenced in the New Testament, it would be consistent with message of Malachi for it to be seen as Messianic.

   Our own Alexander Campbell found this prophecy particularly meaningful, and he was persuaded that the prophet was referring to the coming of Christ. It became the text for one of his favorite “discourses.” He did not call them sermons! He repeatedly discoursed on “The Sun of Righteousness” because it gave him opportunity to develop a favorite theme — the progressive nature of God’s revelation. In such discourses he also made use of Hebrews 1:1-2: “God, who at various times and in various ways, spoke in time past to the fathers, by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom He has made the worlds.”

  This makes it clear that there was “progress” of revelation — an increasing measure of light — from the fragmentary revelation of the past — “various times and various ways” — to the ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

   Light! This was the biblical metaphor that Campbell used in a broad-ranging presentation of God’s self-disclosure to the human race, which came through a series of dispensations. There was first the Patriarchal dispensation, which Campbell called the Starlight Age. This was followed by the Mosaic dispensation, which would include the age of the prophets, which he saw as the Moonlight Age. There was an intermediate dispensation of John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to come, and the dawning of the kingdom of God, which was the Twilight Age. Then, at last, as Malachi proclaims, the Sun of Righteousness comes with healing rays of God’s abounding grace in the form of a Person.

   It is not the Son of Righteousness, for that would spoil the beautiful metaphor of light, but the Sun of Righteousness, the ultimate of light. At the beginning of the story of salvation there was but light, but it progressed with the dispensations. And yet the patriarchs had enough light — “starlight” — that Enoch walked with God, Noah was faithful, and Abraham was called the friend of God. But with the giving of the Mosaic law and the coming of “my servants the prophets” there was much difference in glory between the Mosaic dispenstion and the patriarchal as there is between starlight and moonlight, especially in regards to ethics.

   There was nothing like “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) or “Let justice run down like water, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24) in the light given to the patriarchs. It is made clear in Amos 3:7 that the prophets were given a greater measure of revelation: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.” The prophets were the apex of God’s revelation until John the Baptist appeared on the scene announcing the soon-coming of the kingdom of God in the Person of the savior of the world. His brief dispensation may rightly be called the Twilight Age — twilight can refer to the light just after sunset or just before sunrise. Unlike any other prophet John could declare, “Behold! The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In terms of light John also said that Christ was “the true light which gives light to every person coming into the world” (John 1:9).

   That passage, by the way, is quite provocative. Does it not teach that every person born into this world has something of the light of God in him or her? The Quakers may have it right in saying that there is something of God in every person. That would make each person responsible for such light as he has, even if it be no more than what Paul calls “the law written in their hearts” (Romans 2:15).

　As the Sun of Righteousness and the light of the world Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) and “the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3). There is no greater revelation nor a more profound mystery than that the eternal, invisible God should reveal himself in the form of human flesh.

   All this gives us what might be called “the principle of available light,” which means that God will judge one only in reference to the light available to him. Even if Enoch walked with God in his own age, he could not be judged by the light given to Christians, nor could Abraham, the friend of God, be judged by the ethics of the prophets. As Campbell put it, God would not condemn a blind man for not seeing nor a lame man for not walking. Nor would he condemn a person for not doing what he did not know to do. As Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 8:12, “The basis on which it is acceptable is what someone has, not on what someone does not have.”

   The principle of available light made its way into Campbell’s controversial definition of a Christian: “A Christian is one who believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, repents of his sins, and obeys him in all things according to his understanding.” That is, the Christian follows Christ faithfully according to such light as he has. He cannot be held responsible for what he doesn’t know and has no way of knowing. None of us who search for truth ever discovers it all. We are all ignorant about some things. That is why we, like Campbell, must distinguish between willful ignorance and unwillful. One is excusable, the other isn’t. As Campbell put it, even an angel might be mistaken.

   The principle of available light can be liberating, such as freeing us from cruel judgment of others. It is common for missionary-minded Christians to suppose that all those who have not yet heard of Christ are lost, with some condemning all pagans to hell. But the Bible tells us who the lost are: God rejects only those who reject him, and never those who walk by such light as they have, as in the case of Cornelius and even Rahab the harlot. 

   But this principle also reminds us of a sobering truth, that to whom much is given much is required. We have the glorious light of the Sun of Righteousness. How faithful are we to that light?

News and Notes

This week we had a picnic out back here at The Vintage, and we were allowed to invite up to four guests. We invited friends from our church, some of whom had never been to The Vintage. There was tasty food, professional musicians, and lots of fun. Ouida had the energy to enjoy it all as if she were young again. This gives me hope that we might be able to do a mid-summer Caribbean cruise with Tom and Lucy Fullerton, who were once in the tourist business. These days when Ouida is hesitant to exercise a little more, such as an extra walk each day, I tell her she is in training for the big event!

We are always pleased to add new names to our mailing list, which we do only upon request. All these essays are available, along with other of my writings, at www.leroygarrett.org; for the essays click on Soldier On.