Charles Ellicott Commentary Malachi 4:1

"For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." — Malachi 4:1 (ASV)

The day already foretold in Malachi 3:2 shall be as a fire burning fiercely as a furnace, and the wicked—not only the heathen, but the murmurers themselves, so far from being considered happy (Malachi 3:15)—shall be as stubble. (Zephaniah 1:18; Obadiah 1:18, and other passages.)