30: Minor Prophets – Malachi 3:5 – 4:6

[Dunkle] Welcome back to Minor Prophets! We're coming down the home stretch. We've got a couple chapters left of Malachi.

I don't want to belabor the things that we've covered already, but just to remind us that God is taking the ministry to task, largely because they were not being respectful about worship. And I've seen an underlying lesson for us Christians today that we want to be respectful. And in the spiritual sacrifices we offer, not present to God something that's defective.

I got sidetracked a bit—well, not sidetracked. I think it's an important lesson that God was bringing out about not wanting people to marry the daughter of a foreign god, as it says in Malachi. We want to be equally yoked to someone that worships God with the same understanding and calling that He's given us. And I'm not going to repeat all that I said, but it's been our teaching for many years that we want to marry in the faith, so to speak.

So we get into something different. As I said, verse 17 of chapter 2 turns the page, but then again chapter 3 verse 1 does as well, in a sense. God says, "Behold"—pay attention to this—"I will send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord"—notice this is not all caps. This is the Hebrew word adonai—"the Lord, the boss, whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant" (Malachi 3:1).

So this is saying the Lord whom you seek is the messenger of the covenant, and He'll come suddenly to the temple.

I'm going to propose, along with many Bible scholars, that two different messengers are listed in this verse. When I did the introduction, I mentioned five different messengers. There's Malachi himself. There's the priesthood. When He says, "Behold, I will send my messenger, he will prepare the way before me," we believe "preparing the way before me" is a reference to Isaiah 40 verses 3 through 5.

And I'm going to briefly flip back there. Isaiah 40, it says, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places made straight, and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed'" (Isaiah 40:3-5).

Who is this a prophecy of?

John the Baptist. And we know that because in the New Testament it tells us that's what it's doing. You know, John said he was preparing the way. Matter of fact, is it Matthew 4 verse 5 that he says that? I've got that written down.

No, that's not at all. Oh no, it's Malachi 4 verse 5. Okay, sorry. So I don't have the right verse there.

But we do know in Luke 1:16-17—I will turn there. Okay, this is the angel Gabriel telling Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth that they're going to have a child, John the Baptist. "He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children" (Luke 1:16-17).

We're going to reference that a little bit later in Malachi. Now I'm being frustrated because I want—well, you know that it's in there. Yes. "Matthew 11:10." Matthew 11:10? Is that where...? Okay, thank you. Proper class preparation would have had that in my notes.

Yes, this is He of whom it was written. So this is Jesus speaking of John the Baptist after John had been beheaded.

So John had been beheaded. He had his head cut off by Herod. And so people are asking Jesus about this, and He says, "What did you go out to see? A prophet?" John the Baptist? "Yes, I say, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you'" (Matthew 11:9-10).

John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. So John was the messenger in Malachi 3:1. Jesus Christ was the messenger of the covenant whose way was being prepared. They're both there. And most people would say, well, duh, we knew that. You're telling us something we already know. But this is important because Malachi is going to combine prophecies of Christ's first coming with that of His second coming.

Okay, so His first coming, Jesus came meek and lowly. He came as a sacrifice.

So "'The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:1).

So at that time they would have said the Messiah. They also sometimes referred to Him as the Coming One. I'll give you a scriptural reference because they did prepare and have this written down. Luke 7 and verse 20.

And Luke 7 verse 20 is where John the Baptist sends messengers saying, "Are you the Coming One, or should we look for another?" (Luke 7:20).

So this prophecy is one of the reasons they thought of Him as the Coming One. He's prophesied to be one who comes.

Malachi 3 verse 2 says, "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears?" (Malachi 3:2).

This is referring to Christ's second coming, not His first coming.

And "who can stand when He appears?" There's something similar in Revelation 6 and verse 17.

Revelation 6:17, "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:17).

Who is able to stand? Who can stand when He appears? So this is referring to Christ's second coming.

And He goes on to say, "He is like a refiner's fire. He is like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi" (Malachi 3:2-3).

This message has been taking the sons of Levi to task for their bringing defiled animals to sacrifice, for speaking ill of God and His lack of justice, and for marrying the daughters of a foreign god.

So it says He's going to purify them, the sons of Levi, "purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness" (Malachi 3:3).

So, you know, a refiner's fire is something that, you know, you heat up precious metal and the impurities rise to the top, and they skim them off.

You've probably heard this analogy. Well, it's not an analogy. Well, refining metal is not an analogy in itself, but it can be an analogy for refining our character. When we're heated up under the trials and difficulties of life, our impurities can come out and be removed.

It reminds me, and I don't know where this originated, but they say a refiner with silver, you know, it'd be heated up, it's melted, and he keeps skimming off the scum off the top. And they say that's what God is doing with us and our character.

And the old proverb says, how does the refiner know when the silver is done? When he can see his own reflection in it.

And there's a great analogy. How is God done when He's refining us? When He can see His own reflection in our character.

I wish I could take credit for that, but it's been around long before me.

And, of course, a launderer's soap also removes impurities and things that are dirty. God is going to clean up the sons of Levi. But I think we could apply that to us, too.

You know, God is going to purify us to prepare us for service in His Kingdom.

Okay, let's go on in verse 4. "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years" (Malachi 3:4).

So when refined and offered properly, sacrifice is acceptable. God was not accepting their sacrifices then because they had a bad attitude. They were bringing defective animals when they had healthy animals.

You know, when we bring our spiritual sacrifices, God wants us to give Him our best and to be in a right attitude. And then sacrifice is acceptable.

Verse 5 goes on to say, "And I will come near you for judgment" (Malachi 3:5).

And again, I tied that to the end of chapter 2 when they said, "Where is the God of justice?" God is saying, here I am. I'm bringing justice. "I will come near you for judgment." Justice could be another interpretation.

"I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers"—you know, God doesn't want any of that—"against those who exploit wage earners, widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien" (Malachi 3:5).

Okay, those are all things that God forbids in His law. And He says, "Because they do not fear Me," says the Lord (Malachi 3:5).

He's not saying the orphans and the aliens don't fear Him. He's saying the people that mistreat them. The people who turn those away. The people who are committing adultery and sorcery and all those things. God is going to purge them.

That's the justice that He'll bring.

And now verse 6 is commonly a memory scripture. I think I've quoted it in class a number of times. God says, "For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob" (Malachi 3:6).

Okay, by the way, tie this to Hebrews 13 verse 8, if you will. If you do notes in your margins, Hebrews 13:8 is where it says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

He's saying God is not fickle in dispensing justice, but He is patient. He's eager for repentance. And that's the only reason we're not all destroyed, because all of us have sinned.

Think of "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). That's what we're all in line for.

God doesn't change in the punishment, but He also doesn't change in His patience, His mercy, His enduring willingness to forgive. And that's the reason we're not wiped out. You know, He could have been.

Going on in verse 7, He says, "Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances" (Malachi 3:7).

God doesn't change, but man does. Judah and Israel had a long track record of turning away from God.

But God says, "Return to Me" (Malachi 3:7).

Remember, the word that's translated return is often translated repent. Repent. Come back. Return to Me. I'll return to you. God says, I'm not giving up on you. God always invites repentance. Now, at the end of that verse, at the end of verse 7, God again supplies the other side of the dialogue.

But you said, "In what way shall we return?" It's sort of asking, what do we have to repent of? What are we doing wrong?

You'd think if they'd read chapters 1 and 2, they wouldn't have that question. But it's an ongoing conversation. So God brings out another problem that they had.

"In what way shall we return?" Well, "Will a man rob God?" (Malachi 3:8).

Okay, and we could ask, what do you mean, man rob God? Whenever I read that, I think of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, where Jack climbs up in the clouds and he steals the hen that lays the golden egg and the giant's coming after him.

But that's a fairy tale. We can't go to heaven and steal God's piggy bank. I don't know if God has a piggy bank, but, you know, we can't steal from God.

So they're saying, "In what way have we robbed You?" You know, God says, "You have robbed Me." Well, "In what way?" And there's the answer. "In tithes and offerings" (Malachi 3:8).

And "You are cursed with a curse" (Malachi 3:9).

Okay, not paying tithes results in a curse. You know, and again, think of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. A curse can include crop failure, lack of rain, you know, not having healthy childbirth, all kinds of things like that. Now, before I go forward in what God says, reminds us, He says, "tithes and offerings." Not paying those is considered stealing.

I'll say particularly the tithes, because how do we know how much to tithe? Well, we count. One tenth is a tithe. How much do we have to give God from our increase? One tenth. It's not debatable.It's not based on how much you had. Well, it's based on how much you had, but it's not according to your blessings the way offerings are. You know, think of Deuteronomy 16:16 that we read in the Holy Days.

"Three times in a year come"—you know—"do not appear empty-handed" (Deuteronomy 16:16).

As you have been blessed is how much you give. So, how much you give in an offering can vary. But how much you give as a tithe is set by mathematical function. So, not paying tithe is robbing God. Matter of fact, I remember a prominent minister in the Church some years ago had a well-known saying.

He would say, "Tithing only proves that you're not a thief."

And he was correct. I didn't agree with everything else that he said, but it did make the point that if you're paying tithes, you're doing what you're supposed to do, but it's not going above and beyond, like when you give offerings.

God points both of them out.

So, they were robbing by not paying tithes, but He's going to offer them a chance to change, change the curse into a blessing.

So, in verse 10 He says, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse" (Malachi 3:10).

All the tithes, you know, means maybe some people aren't tithing. Maybe some people are only bringing part of their tithes.

We need to remember, remember, how much is a tithe? Ten percent.

You know, there are Christian churches that will say they use the term tithing the way we would use offering. And so, someone might just give an offering and it might be whatever they throw in the plate.

Sometimes they'll refer to that as a tithe, but it's not a tithe unless it's 10%. And I will say 10% of the increase, but I'm not going to get into how we calculate tithes.

"Bring it into the storehouse." And the way the temple was built, it had storage chambers alongside of it. That's probably referring to that, places where it would be brought.

And then if you do this, well, let's say, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house" (Malachi 3:10). That's probably referring to the temple.

"And try Me now in this" (Malachi 3:10).

I believe the Old King James said, "prove Me." Test Me. Okay. See if it works.

And God says, you know, here's what will happen with the test. "I will open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).

Okay, the blessings of tithing. I'll add this as my personal take on this. When we receive those blessings, it's a good indication that tithing is something we should still be doing.

I've been tithing since I was 12 years old. That's when I got my first paper route. It's too bad. Nowadays, kids can't get paper routes. My son wanted to do something to make money. But I've been blessed my whole life. I can attest it's a blessing to tithe. And to me that says that's something we should still be doing.

Now, I don't want to turn this into a doctrinal exposition, but we understand that in the Old Testament, God said, the tithe belongs to Me. And then He would say, I'm handing it over to the Levites for them to do the work of God.

In Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 7 something. Sorry, I thought I had it written down. But Paul talks about a transfer in the law.

The New King James says there's a change in the law. It could be better translated there's a transfer in the law. So the tithe is always God's, but whereas He had given it to the Levites, when the Aaronic priesthood and the nation of Israel stopped, God transferred the tithes to belong to His Church to do His work.

So tithing, we believe, is a spiritual principle. And as I said, one way to show that is the blessings that come from it. But God can change who He delegates the use of the tithe to. Mrs. Rowland, it's not Hebrews 7?

"Hebrews 7."

I think that is, because I referred to it in a different class recently. So that's why I knew it was Hebrews 7.

And as I said, I don't want to make this an exposition on that doctrine, but to make the point that the lesson God has given to Judah in that ancient time is a lesson that's valid for us today.

If I become deficient in paying my tithes, I'm robbing from God and it will bring a bad result. But I can put God to the test. I can turn and start paying my tithes, and I trust blessings will come.

Now, "open the windows of heaven." That might be referring to rain that He sends to bring crops. I don't know if God is going to open a window in heaven and dump something on top of my house. If so, I hope it's not something that will damage the roof. I don't think so.

Another side of this in verse 11, God says, "I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground" (Malachi 3:11).

That's almost certainly referring to insect damage. Locust plagues would still come, but it could be other animals and even perhaps mold or mildew that could destroy crops.

But God says, "I will stop that so that it won't destroy the fruit of your ground. Nor will the vine fail to bear fruit" (Malachi 3:11).

"All nations will call you blessed" (Malachi 3:12).

You will be a delightful land. And we know, actually, there are numerous millennial prophecies where it says that God will delight in the nation of Israel that will be restored because of the second Exodus. So we can see this dual meaning here.

I'm going to pause because now God's going to carry on. He's going to address the priests in Judah.

He says in verse 13, "Your words have been harsh against Me" (Malachi 3:13).

That could have been translated as stout. They've been strong. They're speaking ill about God.

Yet you say, "What have we spoken against You?" (Malachi 3:13).

We spoke about You? What? What did we say?

Well, you've said, He says in verse 14, "It is useless to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts?" (Malachi 3:14).

"Walked as mourners" is often a euphemism for fasting, humbling oneself. And if so, they're saying, what's the point of fasting? It's not doing any good.

Which calls to mind Isaiah chapter 58 where God says they were fasting with a wrong attitude and He describes the right means to fast and to seek God.

So these people are speaking harshly against God. What's the point of serving God?

Verse 15 says, "So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free" (Malachi 3:15).

They're badmouthing God, saying it doesn't matter.

Then in verse 16 there's a contrast. People who are not speaking poorly against God, people who speak good words.

Verse 16 says, "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them" (Malachi 3:16).

It's like God's overhearing. I don't like to think of God as an eavesdropper, but I think He pays attention when we talk about Him and His ways.

And I'll never stop equating this passage with what happened to the Church in the mid-90s when heresy was being distributed in the Church and people who held the faith would talk to each other.

And it meant a lot to find someone who still understood the truth and believed it and talk with them.

And I did get the feeling God was listening.

And He says, "The Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and meditate on His name" (Malachi 3:16).

We don't know much about this book of remembrance.

I don't know that God is forgetful the way I am. And it seems to be referring to a record.

And I know some people would say, this must be the Book of Life. I would say that it could possibly be, but I don't know that it has to be.

But God has things as a remembrance.

Let me just give a reference to Psalm 56 verse 8. I won't turn there, but in Psalm 56 verse 8, King David references God keeping his tears in a bottle.

And I don't know that God literally had a bottle full of David's tears, but it's still the idea of remembrance. God notices. God takes note of the things we say and do.

And He notices. He remembers.

In verse 17, of these people who feared God and spoke to one another, God says, "They shall be Mine," says the Lord of hosts, "on the day that I make them My jewels" (Malachi 3:17).

"Jewels" could have been translated as special treasure.

And God's not going to change our molecular structure and turn us into diamonds or sapphires, but we're going to be something special that God will care for. I'll say my wife has some diamonds. I know it because I bought them for her, and they were expensive. And boy, does she take special care of those. If her ring is misplaced, she's not going to rest until it's put in the right place and she knows it's safe. And I think that's a small example of how God will treat us as jewels, special treasures. He's keeping track of us and going to keep us safe.

"I will spare them," God says (Malachi 3:17).

Many people link this in Malachi 3:17 to the prophecies of what we call a place of safety.

In Revelation 12:6, it talks about the woman symbolizing the Church fleeing to her place. Isaiah 26:20 says, "Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past" (Isaiah 26:20). And there are others.

This could be a reference to that. If so, I'm happy to be spared. I'm happy to be in a safe place. But God also spares us from the punishment, from the plague, and other things that come from disobedience.

So, "I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him" (Malachi 3:17).

And then "you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him" (Malachi 3:18).

Okay? And this seems to be a reference back to earlier where, you know, God says, you're saying that it doesn't matter to serve Me, and where is the God of justice?

God has been answering that question.

You're going to see that I do make a difference. It is worthwhile to serve Me. I make a difference between those who serve Me and those who don't.

And that plays into the beginning of chapter 4.

You'll notice chapter 4 is very short. It seems that the first verses are referring to those who don't serve God—you know, the wicked—because it says, "Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly" (Malachi 4:1).

Remember, He's making a difference between the righteous and the wicked.

"And the day which is coming shall burn them up," says the Lord of hosts, "that will leave them neither root nor branch" (Malachi 4:1).

"Neither root nor branch" is an idiom that means total destruction. You know, the beginning down in the ground and the branch up—it's all gone and destroyed.

Okay. Of course, we often point to this scripture when we're talking about the false doctrine of an ever-burning hell, which there's nowhere in the Bible.

God does say there will be a burning up and destruction. And I like to use the phrase the unrepentant wicked, because we believe all people will have a chance to repent. Anyone who hasn't had the chance will have the chance.

My expectation is that most will repent and choose God's way. But there is an ultimate punishment and end of life for those who do not.

This seems to be referring to what we call the lake of fire. When they refuse to repent, they're wicked, they're going to be burned up.

They're not going to keep burning. They're not going to be tortured forever and ever. "Neither root nor branch" will be left. They're going to be totally burned up. Let's connect this to a passage in 2 Peter chapter 3. This one bears turning to. 2 Peter 3, beginning in verse 7.

"But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."(2 Peter 3:7)

Let's drop down to verse 10 in 2 Peter 3.

"The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10).

Burned up. And of course, 2 Peter 3:11 is one of the main reasons we study prophecy, because in light of that—and we could say in light of what it says in Malachi 4:1, "the day is coming which shall burn them up" (Malachi 4:1)—2 Peter 3:11 says, "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be" (2 Peter 3:11).

What manner of person ought you to be? Knowing what's coming, knowing what's going to happen to the wicked as opposed to the righteous, which side do you want to be on? The common...boy, this isn't the best analogy, but I just thought of the commercial where they ask, "What's in your wallet?"

And that's trying to get you to get a certain credit card. But if we think of making a choice of a way of life that we'll put in our wallet, and that'll identify us, what I put in my wallet, I want it to be God's way, God's righteousness.

Boy, that might go down as one of the worst metaphors I've made. The power of good advertising, though, sticks in your memory. Okay, so—and again, there are other prophecies that talk about destruction by fire. And I don't think Peter was going through the same chain of events the way John does in the book of Revelation.

So Peter says the Day of the Lord and then melting with fervent heat.

Our understanding is that the whole Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment will come in between Christ's arrival and what we call the lake of fire. But it will ultimately come to that point. Now a contrast. Verse 2 of Malachi 4:

"But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings" (Malachi 4:2).

"And you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves" (Malachi 4:2).

So, good things for those who fear God.

"You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this" (Malachi 4:3).

Again, that emphasizes that the wicked are burned up. They're not being tortured forever. But there is something a little out of it that seems a little out of the ordinary. I'll say this to you here in the classroom because years ago I used to teach Major Prophets in the fall and then Minor Prophets in the spring. So we'd get to Malachi in either late April or May.

We'll have had a whole school year. And I'd come to Malachi 4:2 and it says, "The Sun of Righteousness shall arise."

And I'd say, what do you know? I guess we're sun worshipers after all. Which, if anyone chuckles, it's meant to be humorous. No, we're not sun worshipers. This is not worshiping the sun, but this is a metaphor of Jesus Christ.

And it's making the contrast—not that the sun represents Him—but the contrast between heat burning like an oven for total destruction and the gentle warmth of the sun. Like on a May afternoon, when temperatures get up in the upper 60s or 70s. Like, ah, this is so nice. I could take off my jacket.

You know, contrast destruction with gentle warmth and healing in His wings. And one of the things I'd like to say, since I brought it up, this is no more saying that Jesus Christ is the sun than it's saying that Jesus Christ has wings. We know some angels have wings, but God the Father and God the Son are never described as having wings. So it's a nice metaphor. Put my joking aside, we don't worship the sun. It's a metaphor.

But note the contrast between God's strength and power and destruction for the wicked, and care and gentleness with those who are righteous. And then we turn, again, looking towards the end. Verse 4 could be somewhat of a bridge. We're looking back and looking ahead.

So it starts by saying, "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb" (Malachi 4:4).

Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai, where God gave the law. "So remember the law which I commanded Moses for all Israel with the statutes and judgments." Look back at the Old Covenant as we anticipate the New. Jesus Christ rising with gentleness like the warm sun, with the wicked destroyed. So we remember the old. We turn to the new.

And He says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5).

Moses and Elijah appearing together here. Now, they did not appear together in the Old Testament. Moses was many, many years before Elijah. But they do appear together in one place in the New Testament. When Jesus Christ chose His three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, they went up to a mountain and they saw a vision.

I'm emphasizing vision because that's what Christ said. They saw a vision of Jesus transfigured and glorified, and there appeared with Him Moses and Elijah. And there seems to be symbolism and representation there that I'll leave for Gospels class, but they're connected in that place.

And again, we're looking back, but we're looking to Elijah the prophet who will come. Okay. And with that, at the beginning of chapter 3, I said that John the Baptist was represented as a messenger of the covenant, preparing the way for Christ, preparing the way for Christ's first coming. And he did.

Let's turn to Matthew 17:11. I believe I... Is this the one we read before? I want to say it again. Actually, Matthew 17, let's begin in verse 10. Actually, I almost forgot. This is the story of that transfiguration where Peter, James, and John go up there. They see Moses and Elijah with Jesus.

As they're coming down, Jesus says, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead" (Matthew 17:9).

Okay. Verse 9, as they're coming down, don't tell the vision. His disciples said—well, oh, I'm getting too fast.

"Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead" (Matthew 17:9).

Jesus is saying, let's keep this private until after the resurrection, which they didn't get at the time.

But His disciples asked, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" (Matthew 17:10).

Do you know why the scribes say Elijah must come first?

Because they read Malachi 4:5, where it says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5).

So Elijah must come first. Let's go back to Matthew 17.

Jesus says, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things" (Matthew 17:11).

So has it happened yet? We believe Matthew 17:11 is referring to a coming of Elijah before Christ's second coming.

But in verse 12, Jesus says, "But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands" (Matthew 17:12).

Then the disciples understood. Ah, He's speaking to us about John the Baptist. As I said, John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, the way Gabriel prophesied to Zacharias. John the Baptist, in the spirit and power of Elijah, before Christ's first coming.

Jesus said, that's been fulfilled, but Elijah is truly coming. So here's where I say it doesn't have to be the Elijah resurrected out of his grave. It could be another prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah who will be coming before Christ's second coming.

One of the reasons I'm hesitating here is this is one place where we definitively see dual prophecy. There are some people who say, there's no such thing as dual prophecy. You're making that up. No, we're not. Jesus Christ in Matthew 17:10-12 clearly shows there is such a thing as dual prophecy. And so there's going to be another fulfillment of Malachi 4:5.

And as I said, I don't think it's going to be the man Elijah resurrected. I think Elijah will be resurrected, but before the time of the resurrection, someone will be coming in that power. Now, there were times when I was young people said, that's got to be Herbert Armstrong. Well, now I think not.

Some people said, well, it's the Church doing the work of Elijah. I can't discount that, but in the past it was one man, John the Baptist. So I'm keeping my eyes open for a man. But I think, like John the Baptist, we might not know that he was in that role until after he's done with it. Because when the disciples understood that it was John the Baptist, he was already in his grave.

So I'll leave it at that. I don't know. But there's something else that says that Elijah will do.

Not only is he coming before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and verse 6 says, "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6).

Let's deal with the curse in a bit.

"The hearts of the children to their fathers."

Many Bible scholars say this is referring to the people of Judah, and maybe all of Israel, turning to their forefathers like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to Moses.

I wouldn't discount that.

But I have to say, in the Church of God, we've had a tradition of looking at this as literal in the time of the end, where we want young people to have a relationship with their parents, their fathers, and fathers with their children.

About the same time, we as a Church came to understand that our children are called of God. Think of 1 Corinthians 7:14. Paul is talking about marriage and says, if one of the spouses is called, their children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

And in Acts 2:38, Peter says, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized" (Acts 2:38). The calling is to you and to your children.

So what I'm saying is, when we came to understand that, we also looked at Malachi 4:6 and said, we as a Church should help turn the hearts of our children to our fathers and fathers to children. And so the Church expended a lot of energy, time, and money in developing programs for youth. And we still do.

This stands out to me because I was attending my very first Feast of Tabernacles in 1975 when the Church rolled out a program called YOU—Youth Opportunities United. I think they wanted to call it Unlimited and somebody had already copyrighted that. But we set up an elaborate program to have programs for kids, get them involved in the Church.

I remember I got my first YOU card. And some of you are nodding. You guys don't have YOU cards. You're not that old. Some people watching this later might. But yeah, in the early days, they had your picture on it. And you'd get a new one every year.

I remember at the Feast we'd have places where you could get a discount going into some place if you showed a YOU card. Which—I'm going to get sidetracked with stories—but I will share this one because I thought it was really cool.

It might have been at Virginia Beach or Norfolk for the Feast. One year as a teen activity, we rented out a roller-skating rink for all of our kids. Feast sites were pretty big, and that place was packed. I went. I loved roller skating. We had a great time.

The next day during announcements at services, the festival coordinator—who I don't remember who it was—said he got a report back from the owner of the skating rink who said, "Your young people were so well behaved, I was so impressed, that from now on, any young person that shows up at my skating rink and presents a YOU card will get free admission."

I never took them up on it because I live in Ohio. But I thought that was really cool. I mean, to blow our own horn, we did pretty well. But the Church continues to invest money. We've long had a summer camp program for teenagers and for preteens. And we have Sabbath school programs. If this is about turning the hearts of fathers to children and children to fathers, we're in there.

Even if we're looking for a single man to be in the spirit and power of Elijah, the Church has striven to fulfill as much of this as we can. And I think that's good. I'm not going to discredit that. I hope when you guys are no longer children—which you're not now, you're young adults—when you have children, do this. Turn the hearts of your children to you and to God, and vice versa.

Because, of course, the alternative is, "lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6).

The word there for earth is erets. You can write it on the board. It's often transliterated E-R-E-T-S. Sometimes you'll see it with an A instead of an E.

I'll point out that it can be translated as the land. So, "lest I come and strike the land with a curse" doesn't sound quite as dire. It could be the land with a curse, but the word for curse is herem, which means utter destruction. So the alternative could also be, "lest I strike the globe with utter destruction." That says we better be serious about fulfilling this role of turning the hearts of fathers to their children.

Now, I'll say some biblical scholars who don't believe there's end-time prophecy in the Bible will say this is a prophecy of the Roman soldiers destroying Jerusalem. Yeah, I don't think so. I think it's for us at the end time, assuming we live in the end time.

Now, let me add something a little interesting. Orthodox Jews, when they're reading the Old Testament—by the way, this is the end of the Old Testament. For me, on the other side, I've got a page that says The New Testament, words of Christ in red.

But the Orthodox Jews don't like finishing this with the word curse. So when they're doing a public reading, they back up and read verse 5 again. So their reading would be:

"And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5-6).

Which I like. Like I said, the Bible doesn't say to repeat that. But it's sort of saying, yeah, I'm going to send Elijah so that you don't have the curse. You don't have utter destruction. And that does bring us to the end of Malachi, the end of Minor Prophets.

As a concluding note, I've got a little list to remind us. On our first meeting, I talked about why we study prophecy. There are some goals and purposes. The reason we don't study prophecy is to have eternal life.

I'll remind you of the story where a young man runs up to Jesus and says, "Master, Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" And Jesus says, "What do you read in the law?" 

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5).

"And your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18).

"Do this and you will live" (Luke 10:28).

When the young man says, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus doesn't say, study prophecy. He doesn't say, know how to explain the seventy weeks prophecy. He doesn't say, identify where the descendants of the children of Israel are at the end of the age. But there are valid reasons to study prophecy.

My good friend Mr. Maran wrote this for me. He's got such good handwriting. So I can review some reasons. This is not an exhaustive list, but we study prophecy to show that God's Word is true.

It helps build and increase our faith. We study it to reveal God's plan. As we look, prophecy shows a framework of what God has been doing through the ages and what He's going to do.

So it's good to know He has a plan. God knows the end from the beginning. We study prophecy for encouragement. Things are going to turn out okay. As we said, sometimes I read the end of the Book and we win.

We study prophecy to remind us to obey. We see that a lot in the Malachi we just finished. Obedience brings blessings. Disobedience brings the opposite of blessings.

We also study prophecy to keep us expectant, keep us on our toes. Jesus Christ said, watch. Don't be asleep. And the one I put at the end is kind of my favorite.

You study the books of the prophets, and to be honest, I think we'll see this more as we move into the Major Prophets next semester, where there's more elaboration and more space.

We get to reveal God's character. We get to know God because we'll see God speaking. And we see some of God's feelings, His emotions. Remember, we saw in Hosea where God says the same way Hosea loved Gomer, God loved Israel in spite of sin.

I quoted in Ezekiel where God says His heart churned within Him at the thought of having to punish Israel. So we get to know what God is like through His messages. And that's a powerful thing. Not to downplay any of the rest. These are all powerful things. And so that's what we've been doing.

Fortunately, although this class is done, we're not done. We've got a lot more study to do, and I look forward to that in our next meeting next time.