Malachi 4:5
See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Malachi 4:1-6 and Matthew 11:7-19
The last chapter of the Old Testament, Malachi 4, speaks about the end times and the Day of Judgment when Jesus returns. God tells Malachi that depending on the person, that day will go either one way or the other. For the arrogant and evildoer, that day will set them on fire. Those people will become ashes and be completely destroyed. But for those who revere God’s name:
“The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves” (vs. 2).
God says we will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. What a picture! When is the last time you frolicked like that? I must say it has certainly been a while for me. I certainly look forward to frolicking on that day without a care in the world.
Then God tells Malachi that something will happen before that day comes. He says:
“I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes” (vs 5).
This prophecy is a little bizarre if you think about it. At the time of this prophecy, Elijah had lived about 400 years earlier. But yet Elijah is going to come back on Judgment Day. And then even more, Jesus claimed that John the Baptist was the Elijah spoken about here. So is Elijah literally coming back again or just the idea of Elijah? Maybe both.
First, Jesus said that John the Baptist was Elijah. Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up to the top of a mountain one day to pray. As recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke, while they were praying, Jesus’s appearance changed and he became bright as lightning. Moses and Elijah appeared to them and began talking with Jesus. Luke writes that they spoke about Jesus’s departure. Then God audibly spoke to them and said:
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt 17:5).
The three disciples were terrified and fell facedown to the ground. When Moses and Elijah left, Jesus got his disciples and they headed back down the mountain. I don’t know what all they talked about but Matthew and Mark both record one question that they asked Jesus:
“Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” (Matt 17:10).
The disciples had heard the Pharisees talking about Malachi’s prophecy. I’m sure everyone was talking about it. Since Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, where was Elijah? It’s pretty clear here that Malachi was told by God that Elijah would come before the Messiah. And these three disciples literally just saw Elijah. So that seems like a great question to ask!
“Jesus replied, ‘To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist” (Matt 17:11-13).
How did they know Jesus was talking about John the Baptist? Because he told them that John was Elijah earlier:
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he… And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come” (Matt 11:11, 14).
Even though John himself denied being Elijah (John 1:21), the angel Gabriel confirms that in fact John the Baptist was the Elijah who would precede the Messiah:
“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
So what about Judgment Day? It seems pretty clear that in context, Malachi is saying that Elijah will come before Jesus returns again on that day. If we read carefully Jesus’s response to Peter, James and John coming down the mountain, he confirms Elijah will come again:
“Jesus replied, ‘To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.’” (Matt 17:11-12).
Jesus is saying that for sure Elijah will come again just as he has already come. Many think that Elijah is one of the two witnesses spoken about in Revelation:
“And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth” (Rev 11:3).
Maybe it will be Elijah himself this next time. Or maybe another person in the “spirit and power of Elijah” will be one or both of these witnesses. Either way, God will send this Elijah to give us all one last chance to repent and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Yes it is true that Judgment Day will come when no one expects. But there will be warnings and signs. And there will be a message preached by Elijah heard around the world so that everyone has a chance to choose Jesus before he returns. But don’t wait until then to choose Jesus. The freedom Jesus gives allows us to frolic like well-fed calves even today.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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