DOES MALACHI 4:1-3 TEACH ANNIHILATION?
Updated - 1/11/10
Malachi
4:1-3 has been offered as a proof of annihilation. Let’s examine that passage
now.
We
read in Malachi 4:1-3:
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.
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.
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.
This
passage is talking about the day of judgment. We see several references to
judgment day in this passage.
Let’s
start with verse 1.
We
see the word "burn" which refers to fire. When we see the word
"burn" in reference to God's wrath coming upon the unsaved, we are
pointed to the lake of fire. Things are burned in a fire. The lake of fire is
the final pouring out of God's wrath upon the unsaved.
These
references to "burn" and "day" point us to the lake of
fire. When we read about the lake of fire; it focuses upon torment, a conscious
affliction, and not annihilation, as we read about in Revelation 14:10-11 &
20:10.
Another
important point is that the lake of fire cannot be a literal fire. People are
not “tormented day and night" in a literal fire. In a literal fire, people
quickly go unconscious, in a few seconds or minutes. Man cannot not be
tormented day and night in a literal fire.
The
lake of fire cannot be a literal fire that burns people up. Someone cannot be
“tormented (consciously afflicted) day and night” in a literal fire. Those cast
into a literal fire go unconscious in a few seconds or minutes.
The
lake of fire, points us back to God, who calls Himself a consuming fire in
Hebrews 12:29. God is not a literal fire. However, fire destroys and causes
great pain. God, as the consuming fire destroys and causes great pain.
The
Bible teaches in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and in other passages that the unsaved
will experience a “continuous destruction of conscious affliction”. For more
information, please see the following study and search for the phrase
“Deuteronomy 28”.
PLEASE SEE THE STUDY OF 10
PROOFS OF THE CONSCIOUS RESURRECTION OF THE UNSAVED
Therefore,
Malachi 4:1 points us to the lake of fire.
We
see the word "burn" two times in this verse. These are two different
Hebrew words. The first word "burn" is used about 90 times in the
Bible, mostly translated as "burn" or "kindle". The second
word "burn" occurs only about 11 times in the Bible. It is translated
"set on fire" or "burn"
When
we read the last part of Malachi 4:1 where it says "day that cometh
shall burn them up" and we see the word "up"
we may think that the unsaved are gone or annihilated. However, this same
Hebrew word translated “burn up” is used in other verses that don't give
the sense of the burnt item being gone.
For
example:
Deuteronomy
32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine
anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with
her increase, and set on fire <03857>
the foundations of the mountains.
Job
41:21 His breath kindleth <03857> coals, and a flame goeth out of
his mouth.
Psalms
57:4 My soul is among lions: and
I lie even among them that are set on fire <03857>,
even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and
their tongue a sharp sword.
Psalms
83:14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as
the flame setteth <03857> the
mountains on fire <03857>;
Psalms
104:4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his
ministers a flaming <03857> fire:
The
above 5 verses indicate that this Hebrew word means to set something on fire,
but it does not have to mean that the item is completely gone; "burned
up".
The
translators put "burn them up". It should be translated "burn
them".
Malachi
4:1 says the people will be "stubble".
We
should keep in mind that Christ spoke in parables. We quickly think of a
literal fire and how fast stubble will burn. But, we know that the lake of fire
cannot be not a literal fire because those cast into a literal fire go
unconscious in a few seconds or minutes. Someone cannot be “tormented
(consciously afflicted) day and night” (Revelation 20:10) in a literal fire.
We
do receive a picture of Gospel truth by the word “stubble”. If we see
stubble burning in a fire, we see how the fire overcomes that stubble. This is
a teaching that we receive from the use of the word "stubble".
Christ
spoke in parables and the lake of fire is not a literal fire and mankind is not
literal “stubble” or corn stocks.
With
the word "stubble" God is continuing to develop the spiritual
picture of Malachi 4:1. God is not teaching that the unsaved are literally “stubble”.
Rather, as stubble is easily overcome by the fire, so the unsaved will be overcome
by the wrath of God. This language does not give us details about what happens
to the unsaved in the lake of fire.
This
same Hebrew word translated “stubble” is used in the following verses
that help give us definition:
Job
41:28 The arrow cannot make him flee:
slingstones are turned with him into stubble <07179>.
Job
41:29 Darts are counted as stubble <07179>: he laugheth at the shaking of a
spear.
Psalms
83:13 O my God, make them like a wheel;
as the stubble <07179> before the
wind.
Isaiah
40:24 Yea, they shall not be planted;
yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth:
and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind
shall take them away as stubble <07179>.
Isaiah
47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble <07179>; the fire shall burn them; they
shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall
not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
Jeremiah
13:24 Therefore will I scatter them as
the stubble <07179> that passeth
away by the wind of the wilderness.
Examining
these verses in their context will show that the word "stubble"
can mean something that is very weak. Or, it can mean something that is light,
like chaff which is carried away by the wind.
God
is not talking about literal “stubble” in these verses. For example, in
Job 41:28-29 the “slingstone” and the “darts” are not literally “stubble”.
But, before this great creature of Job 41, they are something that is
completely weak and helpless. In the same way, the unsaved are not literally “stubble”
in Judgment Day, but they will be completely weak and helpless before the wrath
of God.
This
word "stubble" gives us a word picture that tells the weak and
helpless condition of unsaved man on Judgment Day. Also, it gives us a picture
of how they will be overcome by the wrath of God. However, it is not telling us
that they are annihilated.
The
translators sometimes just thought about the physical picture and not the
spiritual teaching as they translated. Because of this, they probably got the
idea to put "burn them up", when this Hebrew word would better yield
the translation “burn them”.
Malachi
4:1 then says "that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."
In
examining this phrase, we want to remember that Christ spoke in parables.
As
we learn from the passage about the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, and
from other Bible passages, once someone ends up in hell or in the lake of fire,
there is no possibility of salvation. There is no possibility that the Lord
Jesus could ever be their savior.
Right
now, there is always the possibility of salvation. However, in the lake of
fire, there will be no possibility of salvation. There will be no Christ there
to save. The Lord Jesus is the “root” that is not available to the
unsaved as Judgment Day.
That
is the teaching of this last part of Malachi 4:1
For
example, this same Hebrew word "root" is found in Isaiah
11:10:
And in that day there shall be a root <08328> of Jesse, which shall stand for an
ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be
glorious.
The
"root" identifies with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Malachi
4:1 is saying that at Judgment Day there will be no “root” or no Christ
there as the savior. Those in the lake of fire will be left without any "root".
There will be no Christ there to save them. They will be stuck in the lake of
fire and there will be no “root”, no Christ to help them. That is the
big and awful teaching here.
The
word "branch" also identifies with the Lord Jesus as savior.
We read these two verses:
Zechariah
3:8 ¶ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before
thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my
servant the branch.
Zechariah
6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus
speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The
branch and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of
the LORD:
So,
in Malachi 4:1 the "branch" could be another name for the Lord
Jesus, along with the "root".
However,
the Hebrew word translated "branch" in Malachi 4:1 is a
different word than we find in the two verses in Zechariah.
This
particular Hebrew word translated "branch" might identify more
with the true believers as shown in these verses:
Psalms
80:10 The hills were covered with the
shadow of it, and the boughs <06057>
thereof were like the goodly cedars.
Ezekiel
36:8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye
shall shoot forth your branches <06057>,
and yield your fruit to my people of
God
also talks about "branches" as believers in the New Testament
as we read in:
John
15:5 I am the vine, ye are the
branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
So,
it may be that the best fit for Malachi 4:1 is that the "root"
is the Lord Jesus Christ and the "branches" are the true
believers with the Gospel. This would tie into the rich man in hell in Luke 16
asking Lazarus, representing the true believers, to bring a drop of water to
cool his tongue. God has used the true believers as the carriers of the Gospel,
"laborers together with God" (1 Corinthians 2:9). God does all
the saving, but He uses the believers to carry the Bible into the world. That
drop of water would be like the Gospel for the rich man. Lazarus would
represent the true believers carrying that Gospel to him. However, for those in
the lake of fire, the believers cannot bring the Gospel to them.
So,
once someone is in the lake of fire, the Lord Jesus Christ is not there to save
and the believers are not there to bring the precious Gospel of salvation.
There is neither "root" nor "branch". Christ
is not there to help. The believers are not there to bring the Gospel.
The
“root” represents the Lord Jesus and the “branch” represents the true
believers. Neither of them are there to help the unsaved at Judgment Day. This
explanation fits with how Christ spoke in parables.
There
is another clue in Malachi 4:1 that the words "root" nor
"branch" refer to the Lord Jesus Christ and the true believers
with the Gospel. In the Hebrew text of
Malachi 4:1, the word “them” has the preposition translated “to” or
“for” in front. This part of the verse would be more precisely translated “that it shall leave to
them neither root nor branch”.
This
phrase is not saying that the unsaved themselves are “neither root nor
branch”. Rather, it is saying that
the judgment of God will not leave to or for the unsaved “neither root nor
branch”. The “root and branch” will be taken away from them. That is, the Lord
Jesus and the true believers with the Gospel will be taken away from them.
This
is the picture of the rich man in hell who cannot have any of the Gospel in
Luke 16:24-26. The rich man in hell still exists, but there is no Gospel of
salvation available to him.
When
we see that Christ spoke in parables, Malachi 4:1-3 fits perfectly. For those
in the lake of fire, there is no salvation; no savior and no messenger to bring
the Gospel.
But,
what if someone insists that we must understand the phrase “neither root nor
branch” in a literal way so that it teaches annihilation?
What
if someone wants to insist that the phrase “that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch” must also be understood in a literal way,
indicating that the unsaved don’t exist anymore?
If
we insist that a parabolic statement must also be understood in a literal way,
then we should be consistent and carry that rule through the Bible.
For
example, we read in John 6:53:
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no
life in you.
We
understand that John 6:53 is written with parabolic language and is teaching us
important Gospel truth.
We
also understand that there cannot be a literal fulfillment of John 6:53.
Mankind was never to literally drink the blood and eat the flesh of the Lord
Jesus. John 6:53 can only be understood as a parable teaching Gospel
truths.
Because
we have verses like John 6:53 that can only be understood in a parabolic
way and not in a literal way, then we cannot say that Malachi 4:1-3 must also
have a literal fulfillment.
If
we insist that a parabolic statement like Malachi 4:1-3 must also be understood
in a literal way, then let’s be consistent and say that John 6:53 must also be
understood in a literal way. However, we know that John 6:53 cannot be
understood in a literal way.
John
6:53 and other verses show that there are verses that can only be understood in
a parabolic way and not in a literal way. Therefore, we cannot say that Malachi
4:1-3 must also be understood in a literal way.
God
gives further clues in Malachi 4:1 that this verse cannot be understood in a
literal way.
Let’s
look at Malachi 4:1 again:
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.
This
verse says that the unsaved are “stubble”.
Are
the unsaved literally “stubble”, like a corn or wheat stock?
No.
Unsaved
man is not literally “stubble”. Unsaved man is not literally a corn
stock or a wheat stock. God is speaking in a parabolic manner.
Also,
as pointed out above, the lake of fire is not a literal fire. Those cast into
the lake of fire are “tormented day and night”. One cannot be tormented
day and night in a literal fire.
Therefore,
God gives clues in Malachi 4:1 that this verse cannot be understood in a
literal manner.
If
someone wants to insist that we are to read the phrase “it shall leave them
neither root nor branch.” in a
literal way, then we have to be consistent and say that unsaved man is first turned
into “stubble” before Judgment Day. Unsaved man must be turned into a
corn stock or a wheat stock before Judgment Day. Then, he can be burned without
root or branch.
But
we know that this is not true.
We
see more evidence that Malachi 4:1-3 must be understood only as a parable and
cannot be understood in a literal way when we read verses 2 & 3.
We
read in Malachi 4:1-3:
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.
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.
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.
Notice
verse 3 says that the true believers will tread down the unsaved and that the
unsaved shall be ashes under the believers’ feet.
Are
the unsaved literally going to be “ashes under the soles of
your feet”?
Will
the true believers be walking on the ashes of the unsaved?
No.
We know that the Rapture will come and catch up the believers. The true
believers will no longer be in this world when Judgment Day comes.
The
true believers will never literally walk on the ashes of the unsaved.
Someone
might say “ ‘ashes under the soles of your feet’ is a figure of speech indicating that victory of the
true believers but we must understand the word ‘ashes’ literally”.
We
have to be consistent with the Bible. If we insist that the unsaved will
literally be “ashes” then we have to be consistent with the Bible and say that
the true believers will walk on the ashes.
But,
we know that is not true. The believers will be raptured. They will not walk on
ashes of unsaved people.
If
we are consistent with the Bible, we have to recognize that Malachi 4:1-3 is
using parabolic language that cannot be understood literally and therefore
provides no proof of annihilation.
Verse
2 must be understood as a parable also. The Lord Jesus is not literally a “sun”
like the one that provides light for us each day, and we don’t expect to see
the Lord Jesus with “wings”.
God
provides more help in understanding the term “ashes”. We read the same
Hebrew word in Job 30:19:
He hath cast me into
the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes <0665>.
Job
had not literally become “ashes”, but God uses that figure to indicate
that Job was enduring the fires of God’s wrath. Fires produce ashes.
With
help from the Bible, we learn that the “ashes” emphasize that the
unsaved are enduring the fires of God’s wrath, like Job was enduring the fires
of God’s wrath.
There
is another way to think about the phrase “leave them neither root nor branch”
If
someone insists that the phrase “leave them neither root nor branch” in Malachi 4:1 teaches that the unsaved will be
literally burned up and annihilated, then that line of reasoning should be
followed in reading the rest of the context. We read in verse 3 that the
unsaved “shall be ashes under the soles of your feet”, referring to the feet of the true believers.
When
shall the unsaved literally “be ashes under the soles of your feet”?
The
unsaved shall never “be ashes under the soles of your feet” because the believers will be raptured and caught up
to be with Christ before this could happen.
Therefore,
we know that the phrase, “they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet” must be parabolic language. Therefore, to be
consistent, the phrase “leave them neither root nor branch” must also be parabolic. Both are parabolic language.
It is one context.
If
we insist that the phrase “leave them neither root nor branch” is literal, then the phrase “they shall be ashes under
the soles of your feet” is also
literal. We must ask when will the believers walk on the “ashes” of the unsaved?
We
don’t want to forget that “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude
in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them” (Matthew 13:34).
The
Lord Jesus is the “root” and the true believers with the Gospel are the
“branch”. Both of which are not available to the unsaved at Judgment
Day.
A
careful examination of Malachi 4:1-3 shows that it is a parable and does not
teach annihilation. The true believers are not going to be literally walking on
the “ashes” of the unsaved. The Lord Jesus is the “root” and the true believers
with the Gospel are the “branches” that are not available to the unsaved at
Judgment Day. This passage must be understood as a parable teaching important
truth about God’s judgment. It cannot be understood as a literal statement
about Judgment Day.