Fair Warning: this post has devolved into a "Bible Nerd" post. Don't say I didn't give you advance notice!
I was listening to a TV commentator describe Christianity this morning. The adjectives she used were peaceful, loving, accepting, etc. I thought, "How easily we pick and choose the attributes of the Christian God to further our own purposes."
This morning's reading finds us in the last chapter of the Old Testament which, by the way, does not emphasize the attributes of God I heard about on TV. There is some lack of agreement about whether the book of Malachi or the book of Joel was the last OT book written, chronologically. Both books focus on future actions God has promised to take, future ways He will reveal Himself. Since we are here in Malachi 4, let's examine what God has to say through him. These are some of the last prophetic words, probably THE last, He speaks through His prophets, for 400 years.
Chapter 4 is referring to a (then) future time when God will visit the earth with His presence, specifically the two advents/comings of Jesus Christ (the second being when He returns at the end of days to make all things right.)
One of the things that is most confusing about the Old Testament messianic prophecies is that those prophecies are not presented chronologically. It reminds me of the sequencing activities we ask children to do in primary school, so that they can learn to sequence events in a logical order. We will give them either pictures or sentences and ask them to line them up chronologically. The OT prophecies are sometimes like those jumbled up pictures/sentences.
This short chapter is like that. Although Jesus Christ is mentioned in verse 2, called the Sun of Righteousness, it His second coming/advent which receives the primary emphasis in this chapter. The prophet Elijah is mentioned in verses 5 and 6. At Jesus' first coming, John the Baptist was mistaken for the literal prophet Elijah. He was not the actual prophet Elijah, who many Bible scholars believe will return to earth during the end of days. But, John the Baptist did fulfill this passage in Malachi 4:5-6 by having "the style and strength of Elijah". Like many Bible prophecies, this one will have a dual fulfillment (the two advents). See Matthew 11:14, 17:10; Mark 9:11-13; Luke 1:15-17. Here are the Mark and Luke passages about John the Baptist.
{spoken by the angel to Zechariah - - the prophecy concerning John's birth}
15-17 “He’ll drink neither wine nor beer. He’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother’s womb. He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics—he’ll get the people ready for God.”
{spoken by Jesus, about John the Baptist}
11 Meanwhile they were asking, “Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?” 12-13 Jesus replied, “Elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man. They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man, who will, according to Scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly.”
Mark 9:11-13
So, since the angel and Jesus identified John as "Elijah" as promised in Malachi 4, even the "believing"Jews naturally assumed that all the prophecies about Jesus' second coming would be fulfilled during His first coming, as these events were mentioned in that same chapter. They thought that "the great and terrible day of the Lord" had arrived! Then, when Jesus did not bring that about, the non-believing Jews crucified Him. I can't fault any of them for being confused. I mean, come on; even the 12 disciples didn't "get it".
For a better treatment of this topic, check out this website:
Just to go full circle, let's examine the prophecies about Elijah returning during Christ's second coming. First, let me say there is disagreement about this. In the Book of Revelation (11:3-12) two witnesses are described (but not identified by name). Take a look (The Message version).
3-6 “Meanwhile, I’ll provide my two Witnesses. Dressed in sackcloth, they’ll prophesy for 1,260 days. These are the two Olive Trees, the two Lampstands, standing at attention before God on earth. If anyone tries to hurt them, a blast of fire from their mouths will incinerate them—burn them to a crisp just like that. They’ll have power to seal the sky so that it doesn’t rain for the time of their prophesying, power to turn rivers and springs to blood, power to hit earth with any and every disaster as often as they want.
7-10 “When they’ve completed their witness, the Beast from the Abyss will emerge and fight them, conquer and kill them, leaving their corpses exposed on the street of the Great City spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, the same City where their Master was crucified. For three and a half days they’ll be there—exposed, prevented from getting a decent burial, stared at by the curious from all over the world. Those people will cheer at the spectacle, shouting ‘Good riddance!’ and calling for a celebration, for these two prophets pricked the conscience of all the people on earth, made it impossible for them to enjoy their sins.
11 “Then, after three and a half days, the Living Spirit of God will enter them—they’re on their feet!—and all those gloating spectators will be scared to death.”
12-13 I heard a strong voice out of Heaven calling, “Come up here!” and up they went to Heaven, wrapped in a cloud, their enemies watching it all.
So, why do scholars believe that one of these witnesses would be Elijah, "come down from Heaven"? There are basically 3 interpretations of who these guys could be.
1. There are nameless prophets sent from God, no one the earth has ever seen before.
2. They are Enoch and Elijah.
We find in the Old Testament that neither Enoch nor Elijah "died" in the sense we understand dying. They simply left the earth. The Bible says of Enoch, "he walked with God and was not, for God took him." In other words, God "took him"; he simply disappeared. (See Genesis 5:23). As for Elijah, we read in 2 Kings 2:11 that he left earth alive in a "chariot of fire". Proponents of this view use Hebrews 9:27 (which says that it is appointed to each person to die once) and also the fact that these two dudes do similar miracles and preach similar messages as Elijah did, to bolster their interpretation.
3. They are Moses and Elijah.
Moses died; we read this in Scripture. Proponents of this view cite the fact that Moses and Elijah (a "3rd Elijah") appeared with Jesus at His Transfiguration, and also that Jewish tradition expected both these men to bodily return to earth in the future. The supporting verses here are Deuteronomy 18:15, 18 and our current passage/verse: Malachi 4:5.
So, how many Elijahs is that? 2? 3? 4 (including the Transfiguration and an appearance in Revelation)? I don't think that it is edifying to get dogmatic about the question. The main thing is that Jesus Christ will return to earth again to receive His Bride (us Christians), defeat the devil and establish His earthly kingdom. We can count on that.
Father, thank you for Your precious promises/prophecies, even if we are confused by them from time to time. We can always count on Your steadfastness, Your holiness, Your faithfulness, Your love. I eagerly look forward to Your return, whenever it may be, and regardless of the surrounding details. In Jesus' name, amen.
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