This chapter of Malachi is given immediately following the preceding chapter, with no chapter break. The two chapters are given together as a unit, and therefore were considered a conceptual message-unit by the Lord in this context. The Bountiful context has been the importance of the written scriptures, with an emphasis on the Nephite scriptures (3 Nephi 23). The verse from Malachi found in 3 Nephi 24:16 is the crucial verse that gives this text particular relevance to the setting in which these chapters are cited. In this Bountiful context, the meaning is focused on the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and it is in that context that these verses become particularly important in yet another context, for they were an essential element of the coming forth of that very Nephite record in these last days:
Joseph Smith-History:30-39
30 While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.
31 He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.
32 Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me.
33 He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.
34 He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants;
35 Also, that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted “seers” in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.
36 After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus:
37 For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
38 And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
39 He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.
The citation of this chapter by Moroni in that great announcement of the work of translation of the Book of Mormon inextricably ties this text in Malachi to the marvelous work and a wonder that is the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. That tie confirms that when we see this same chapter in the Bountiful context, we must see in that future context as well. Just as the previous chapter’s verse 16 points to a book of remembrance that should be read contextually as the Book of Mormon, so too must this chapter be seen in the context of that event.
[the day cometh that shall burn as an oven]: The last days are frequently imaged as being accompanied by burning in which the wicked are destroyed by this refiner’s fire (3 Nephi 24:2).
[all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up] The proud and the wicked refer to the previous chapter of Malachi, see 3 Nephi 24:15. The burning of the “stubble” is an agricultural image. When the fields have been cut down, the stubble of the harvest remains, and it is burned. This is an image that would be very current with the Nephites in a Mesoamerican setting, as this method of burning the stubble from fields is still practiced in those areas today. It is an image that is also found in Isaiah:
Isaiah 47:14
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; 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.
[that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.]: The burning physically destroys the plant. In this apocalyptic imagery, however, “root nor branch” refers to linkages in the generations. “Root” is connection to the past; “branch” is progeny. In the genealogical context in which we typically see this chapter of Malachi, this is the fate of those who are not sealed. In the Bountiful context it is not certain that there was an understanding of the sealing ordinances. For them, it would have indicated destruction in the earthly sense, but might not have had the eternal connotations that we can see in the text.