The prophet Malachi closes out the Old Testament with both a promise and a warning, both given to him as a final message from God. After Malachi, there would be no further scriptural word from heaven in the Bible until the time of Christ’s birth, four centuries later.
The book of Malachi concludes with this prophecy from God:
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
6 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.” Malachi 4:5-6 (NKJV)
The good news is that Elijah did come, in the spirit of John the Baptist. John was the herald who prepared the people of Israel for the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as prophesied in the book of Isaiah. In Jesus would come abundant blessings, not curses. In fact, Jesus BECAME a curse for us, so that the gates of hell could not prevail against believers. As the apostle Paul wrote in the letter to the Galatians:
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:13-14 (NKJV)
Jesus is still extending blessings today, to all who would reach out to Him in faith. He is not only the source of our complete forgiveness and eternal life, but He has promised to always be with us, and to hear and answer our prayers. Though He may choose to answer those prayers at different times or in different ways than we might expect, He will answer us. God is sovereign, and He will answer them according to His Will, but out of great love for us. His answer is often “yes”, sometimes “no”, and sometimes, “not now, wait”. The Lord will often come back later, even years later, to answer those prayers with a “yes”, long after we even remember that we prayed them. That is why it is helpful to write our prayers down in a journal, so that we may go back and review them to see where, when, and how God eventually did answer them. That can be a real eye-opening (and faith-building) experience.
Every so often, as a demonstration of His great goodness and immense love for us, God will answer our prayer in a sudden, remarkable, and sensational way, one that we will remember for the rest of our life.
Returning to Malachi’s prophecy, God promised to send Elijah, the great prophet who called down fire on Mount Carmel and thus won a great spiritual battle between the Lord and the prophets of Baal, who were backed by the demonic. What exactly does it mean when Malachi says that God will send Elijah once more, before the Day of the Lord?
This is partially addressed in the gospel of Luke, where John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, is addressed by an angel, Gabriel, who appeared before him while Zacharias was ministering in the Holy Place of the temple. Gabriel had previously appeared to the prophet Daniel, five hundred years earlier, to proclaim the coming of the Messiah and provide the time frame for His coming in the seventy-weeks prophecy. Now he was returning to announce its fulfillment.
While Zacharias was serving in the Holy Place in the temple, his friends and family were praying and worshiping just outside. It was a great and rare honor for a priest to be selected to serve in this capacity, as it was the holy site of the Presence of God. Suddenly, as the angel Gabriel appeared beside him, the priest became extremely frightened.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John…16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. Luke 1:13,16-19 (NKJV)
There is more to this story that we will cover in the next meditation. But the glad tidings that Gabriel brought to Zacharias herald just as loudly for you and I, today. There is NO good thing that the Lord will hold back from His people of faith. He even offered up His own life in exchange for ours on the cross, at Cavalry. What more could He give us?
Jesus has lifted the curse of sin that previously separated people from God. May we all walk in the light of His great blessing and loving presence today, which brings peace and goodwill to all who would seek Him.
Reflection
What curse do you need lifted from your life today?
Father God, thank You that Jesus has been given authority over all, providing resistance to temptation, forgiveness of sin, freedom from demonic oppression, and healing from disease. We ask Him to lift all of these curses from and around us today. May we be free to live in obedience, health, and peace, joyful in Your presence with all the provision we need. We ask this in the wonderful and powerful name of Jesus, Amen.
Have a blessed and beautiful day in the Lord today.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 