Malachi

In verse 16 it says, "And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias." And what this is, this is referring to a prophecy in, uh, Malachi chapter 4.

It says in, uh, Malachi 4:5, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 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." And so this right here prophesied that he would come in the spirit and the power of Elias.

This is not a reincarnation or anything like that.

It's just talking about somebody that had the same anointing on them to proclaim the truth.

Now, we know that John prepared the way for the Lord, and Jesus came and redeemed mankind.

But it's possible that if John hadn't have done what he was ordained to do and prepared the way for Him, that the reaction could've been different.

I don't know exactly what that means, but that's exactly what Malachi 4:6 is saying, that if John didn't do his job, it could've wound up being a curse instead of the redemption of the world.

In the New Testament, we judge prophecy.

Are you with me? What would happen if you took an Old Testament prophet, this is all from last week, if you took an Old Testament prophet and somehow you were able to move him into the new covenant? What would that be like? Well, Malachi says, in the last days, I'm going to send Elijah the prophet.

And he's going to restore the hearts of fathers to sons and daughters and hearts of sons and daughters to fathers, lest I smite the nation with a curse.

And so, what did Elijah do in the old covenant? He called down fire, he killed false prophets, he created famine, it goes on and on.

All right? So first of all, uh, Mark tells us about the promise of this messenger.

Uh, it is written in Isaiah the prophet, actually, he collates both Isaiah and, and Malachi, "I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way." We're all familiar with the way in which, uh, heads of state, visiting heads of state particularly, are welcomed to our nation.

It would be very surprising if they were to arrive unannounced, if there were not somebody who would introduce them and who would welcome them, and indeed, that is what happens.

Our own president, uh, when he enters a room or into a particular opportunity as the head of state, will often be announced not only verbally, but also musically in the playing of the piece Hail to the Chief.

And so what we discover is that God had spoken to the prophets.

The prophets had in turn written it down.

And now Mark takes up what Isaiah and Malachi have written down, and he says, I want you to know that when John the Baptist came as messenger, he came in the fulfillment of the promises.

Because you see, there had been 300 years essentially of silence.

"When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps," Hezekiah's the king, "they praised the Lord, they blessed His people, Israel, and Hezekiah asked the priests and the Levites and Azariah, the chief priest, 'Since the people, uh, began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed His people and this great amount, this is actually the leftover.

Before you showed up, these heaps were even bigger.'" The prophet Malachi says it like this, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.

Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will be no more room enough to store it." The Apostle Paul says it like this in Philippians 4, "Not that I desire your gift.

What I desire is that more be credited to your account.