Day of Distinction - Malachi 3:16-4:6

0:31A mountain, right? Eliu? Moses? Sinai. That was the answer. Thomas gave the answer I was looking for. Anything else you think of when you hear the word Horeb? Good answer. Horeb is the same. Did you know this? Horeb is the same. Mount Horeb is the same as Mount Sinai. Okay, so when you read about Moses, the first time we hear about the Mount Horeb, it's called Horeb, the Mount of the Lord. The first time we read about that is not when they're getting the law. The first time we read about it is when Moses sees the burning bush. That's at Horeb.

1:17He sees the burning bush, and the Lord talks to him out of the burning bush. Later in Exodus 17, I'm going to turn there. You can turn there if you'd like. Exodus 17. They are they've camped at Rephidim. There's no water. And therefore, the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water. And the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, Pass, therefore, before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So that's where Moses saw the burning bush. It's where Moses and some of the elders leave the camp and go to strike the water, strike the rock, and get water. So we've got the burning bush there. We've got the water out of the rock there.

2:36And then they'll make it to Horeb in chapter 19, only now it's called Mount Sinai. And most people think that maybe Horeb was the Hebrew name, and Sinai is the name that the other nations would have recognized, but they're used interchangeably throughout scripture. So they arrive in chapter 19. The rest of the congregation gets there on the third new moon after the people. Of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

3:07And then verse 4, God gives them a message, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So when they get to Mount Sinai, and Moses is about to receive the law and go up on the mountain, the first thing God tells them when they get there is, you saw what I did to the Egyptians, but I'm telling you that I'm going to make you, if you obey my covenant, I'm going to make you my treasured possession. I'm going to make you my treasured possession. They hear those words at Mount Horeb when they get there, at Mount Sinai.

4:05In Exodus 33, it'll talk about how that's the place where Moses talked to God face to face. But after we have that, so we have the burning bush, we have the water out of the rock, then they come there and they learn from the law, or they get the law from the Lord, all at the same mountain. Do you remember any other stories that take place at Mount Horeb? There's another story. It's much later. It's Elijah. So I don't know if you remember this story, but Elijah has just defeated the prophets of Baal. And he has a showdown with them. And they make the two altars. And Elijah says, you know, throw water on mine. And it's a competition of: is God going to light the fire or is Baal going to light the fire? And Elijah is very confident that only God is the true God. And so he encourages them to put bucket after bucket of water on his altar. And there's so many prophets of Baal, and they're doing outrageous things to try and get their God's attention. And Elijah's making fun of them. And then God sends a fire, lights the altar, and shows that the prophets of Baal were false prophets, and Elijah was the true prophet. Well, he wins that showdown, and then right after that, he goes up to Mount Carmel, and he sees the cloud coming. You remember he had predicted drought for several years, and now he sees this cloud coming, and he warns Ahaz, and he predicts that the rain's about to come again, and it's going to be a lot of rain. Well, even after all of that, he beats the prophets of Baal. He predicts that the rain is going to come back. Even after all of that, Jezebel.

6:01Hears about the prophets of Baal being killed. And she says, That's what I'm going to do. Essentially, that's what I'm going to do to you, Elijah. Okay, so it seems like it should be Elijah's greatest, you know, excited moment, right? He's just watched as God has conquered the prophets of Baal and then brought this rain back just like he said he would. But then Jezebel speaks against him and says, You know, instead of acknowledging that the God of Israel is the true God, she says, I'm going to kill you, Elijah. And so Elijah runs and he runs and he runs. And he eventually, it seems like, maybe passes out or something. And he leaves his servant in Beersheba, and then he goes an extra day's journey out into the wilderness, the desert wilderness. And there he is wasting away, and an angel comes and feeds him. Do you remember the story? Is this ringing bells? So the angel feeds him, and on that food, he's sustained. This is all in 1 Kings 19. He's sustained for 40 days and 40 nights. And in that 40 days and 40 nights, he travels all the way back to the Sinai Peninsula and goes to Mount Horeb, the Mount of God. And that's where you remember there's the earthquake and fire and the rain. Does that sound right? Earthquake and the fire and the rain. But God speaks to him in a whisper. And that's where the Lord talks about how Elijah is not alone, that there are still people that believe in the true God. So that's all at Mount Horeb. You have all these things with Moses, including getting the law. The nation of Israel is camped there at Horeb for a long time. And then Elijah has a special story at Mount Horeb, the Mount of God. It's referenced once or twice in the Psalms as the Mount of God. So it's a special place, Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb. It's going to come into play in the text that we're going to study tonight. So turn to Malachi chapter 3.

8:10In Malachi, so far, we've seen, I think, the main message is something like God is saying, I see you. I see what you're doing. And he says it first to the priests. He's saying, honor my name. He knows that the priests are allowing the people to offer the worst to their flock, but he sees the priest doing this, and he sees the people doing this. He knows that over and over, men and women are looking at their flock, and they're seeing a choice lamb in their flock. That would be great, a wonderful, healthy lamb for a sacrifice. And they look at their crippled one, and they decide that's the one they want to offer, because they don't want to get rid of their good lamb. And so they're giving their worst to the Lord, and God says, I see you. You need to honor me. My name, I can see what you're doing. And then in the next part, he's telling them to honor their covenants. And we looked at how they're breaking the law about tithing. They are breaking their marriage covenants. They're not keeping their promises. And again, he's giving this message: Look, I see what you're doing. We closed last time with this quote in chapter 3, verse lost my place.

9:40Oh, 13. That's where I wanted to start. All right, chapter 3, verse 13. Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. And he keeps challenging the people like this. And he starts out by saying, I have loved you, but then they challenge him back. And the attitude that I got from this this week, I don't know if you guys have recently watched the NBA, but one thing that happens over and over and over in the NBA is that they get fouled or they foul. And when a guy thinks that he hasn't fouled, which is usually almost every single time he fouls, he just throws up the biggest argument. You know, what are you talking about? No, I can't believe it. You know, that kind of thing. And, you know, puts on this big show and starts yelling at the ref. And I think we see some of that attitude in chapter 3, verse 13. Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, How have we spoken against you?

10:39As if they didn't know. But God's going to remind you: look, I see you. I hear all your conversations. I know what's going on in your thoughts. Verse 14, you have said, it is vain to serve God. It's useless to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? Why would we do all this? What profit is there? It's useless to serve God. Why would we obey his commandments?

11:13Verse 15. And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper, but they put God to the test and they escape. That's where we ended the last time we studied the book of Malachi, just this attitude of that the Lord doesn't see, he isn't watching. The evildoers are prospering, the arrogant are blessed. What gain is there in keeping God's commandments? It's useless to serve God. That's their attitude. And we're going to see God's response to them today.

11:45Pretty amazing response. So pray with me before we begin. God, we thank you so much that we get to study this passage together. We thank you that we've gotten to. Study the book of Malachi and seen the way that you are interacting with this disobedient people. These people that have come back from exile and should be grateful and thrilled and remember all that you had done for them. And instead, they already consider it useless to serve you.

12:29It was your hand that brought them back. It was your hand that worked in Cyrus to make the decree. It was your hand to bring them safely back to the land. And yet they're saying it's useless to serve you. I pray, Lord, that you would help us read your response to this and let it be what we think about when we think about this topic. I pray that you would humble us and keep us from those sinful attitudes.

13:04In Jesus' name, amen. So the first part of this text is in verses 16 through 18 in chapter 3. So look at verse 16. After this bad attitude is going on, verse 16, then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them. Book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord. Excuse me, those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. So now this message has turned from a negative thing to a positive thing. This group of people, they're hearing God's messages that I see you, I've seen you speak against me. And they're acting like, oh, how have we spoken against you? And he tells them, remember, you said this.

13:58And the godly people respond. Verse 16, those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. They got together. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. So God saw them as well. Yes, he's seen the wicked. He's heard their thoughts. He's heard what they've said, and he's seen what they've done. But he's also seen the righteous and what they did. And it says, he paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.

14:40So first, what is that book of remembrance? What does that remind you of? Does that remind you of any other passages? That's a good one. Talks about Revelation. Right, the. The book of life in Revelation. Any other books you remember? There's several. I mean, it gets mentioned several times by the saints. I don't know if you remember when Moses is interceding for the people, he asks God, if you're going to destroy them, then blot me out of your book. And God says, no, I'm going to blot out the ones who have disobeyed. And then David, in one of the Psalms, speaking of the wicked, asks God to blot them out of the book, of your book, is what he says.

15:40And then we have this book of remembrance that the Lord pays attention to the people and writes them down. A book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. So what's in this book are people's names. And of course, we have the book of life in Revelation, and maybe they're the same book. Maybe it's different books, different volumes of the same book. We don't know. But at the end times, that the books are opened. There's more than one, and one of them is the book of life. And anyone whose name was not found in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

16:19So this idea that the Lord is paying attention and he's not going to forget his people. He's writing it down. And of course, the Lord, I don't think, needs memory. Aids. It's not like he's writing, cribbing, crib, what do you say? Crib notes? Crib sheets? Yeah. He's not writing notes for himself later so that he can remember. But I think it's just a testament to the permanence of the fact that he's always going to remember these people. They were the righteous who believed in his name. The other thing I wanted you to notice is a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.

17:02It's interesting, right? He doesn't say something like those who refused to do such and such or who did certain deeds, but I think it echoes the rest of Scripture that it's those who fear him, those who believe in him, who esteem his name. Those are the ones who are written in this book. Just like Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness. I think you have that same idea here. And maybe I'm reading too much into that, but they are the ones who get together. They hear what God is saying. They get together and they fear him and they esteem his name instead of trampling on his name. And he sees it and he writes it down. Verse 17: They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession.

17:53And I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Let me read that again, verse 17. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. So remember, we just read in Exodus 19 that that was the first words that he said at Mount Horeb. He said, remember, he said, you saw what I did to the Egyptians, but if you keep my covenant, you'll be my treasured possession. And now he's saying, those who esteem his name, God sees and he writes down their name, and there's going to be a day where he makes up his treasured possession. And they're going to be there.

18:38They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more, you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Okay, so now his answer comes, right, to those people who have said it's useless to serve God. God doesn't see us anyways. This is all purposeless. We don't need to keep his commandments. He's not watching. He doesn't see us.

19:13God's word to the faithful, when they get together and they esteem his name, God says, I see you. I've written down your name. And there is going to be a day when I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. And when that day comes, Your name is going to be in the book. Isn't that amazing? Let's keep going. Chapter 4, verse 1. For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Let's stop there. So again, he's talking, I think, still about this day of distinction. And he's saying the people are pretending like God isn't watching, or God's never going to hold them accountable. And God says to the faithful, no, I've seen you. I've wrote your name down. And on that day, there's going to be a distinction between the holy and the wicked, between the righteous and the wicked. There's an oven burning that's coming on that day. And all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. That day, the day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts. So that it will leave them neither root nor branch. So it's like a tree that would burn so thoroughly that not a single root or a branch is left. So it's not just the trunk that burns up, but every part of the tree is going to burn up. That's how thoroughly the wicked are going to be judged. It's not as if God just hasn't seen. It's not like he's just not watching. He is watching, and he's seen everything they're doing, and each individual is going to have to reckon with him.

21:33Verse 2: But for you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. So that second picture is easy for us to picture, right? If you've ever seen a calf that is just like a picture of joy, right? When they learn how to walk and bounce around and they're just jumping all over and it looks like a lot of fun, I think that's the picture that he's trying to say: when that day comes, that day where I distinguish between the wicked and the righteous, those who have been made righteous because they esteem his name, that they're going to be joyful. They're going to be leaping like calves. And the reason is because the son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

22:30It's a beautiful part of scripture, right? It can give us all something to look forward to. The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. Some think this is a direct prophecy of the Messiah. Jesus in Revelation at the end, he says, I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. And since Jesus says that at the end of Revelation, people think he might be referring to this Malachi text and saying, oh, the morning star, he must be referencing the sun of righteousness that's rising. So maybe it's that, or maybe it's just talking about on that day, kind of another word picture, like the calves leaping around, that just like the fire is going to burn up the trees of the wicked, the roots and the branches, by contrast, the righteous, the sun is going to rise on them with healing in its wings. It's going to be a warm, refreshing, exciting time for them, and they're going to be filled with joy like the calves.

23:37That's what's awaiting the righteous. Verse 3, and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. So there's this day coming that he's going to act. The distinction is going to be made. There's going to be warmth and Healing and joy for the righteous, and there's going to be destruction like a burning oven waiting for the wicked. And in that day, the righteous shall tread down the wicked. Instead of the righteous being tread upon by the wicked, who are being prideful in this generation, who are taking advantage of those that they can take advantage of, even the righteous. Instead of being tread upon, the righteous will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the sole of your feet on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. So maybe that's referencing the fact that they've just been burned or destroyed, and so they're literally walking on their ashes.

24:44Or it could just be another word picture. Apparently, I don't know if they're just making this up, but apparently, on wet roads in those days, the thing that they used to spread on wet roads was ashes, and it gave them more traction. So I don't know if some guy just made that up. But the idea is that the righteous aren't going to be the ones that are taken advantage of by the wicked anymore. The Lord sees every time that happens. And he's written the name of the righteous in his book. And there's going to be a day where he distinguishes between them. And it's the righteous who are going to be full of joy in treading on the wicked.

25:27Any questions so far? It's a good stopping. Point. I think that that day is still to come, that that's going to be the great day of the Lord. He's going to mention it again in a few verses. And that is that day of judgment, the day where the wicked and the righteous are separated, and God judges between them and fills the righteous with joy. Let's keep reading. Okay, our last part of the text. So we have the book of remembrance that the Lord has seen the righteous and written their name down. And then we have the day of the Lord, the great day of the Lord. But now in our last few verses, he's going to give them two instructions. And before we read these, I just want you to think about how this is our final prophet in the Old Testament. Maybe that's obvious to you because the next page in your Bible is Matthew.

26:24But he's our final prophet. It might not be the last writing. It seems like the final writings were maybe in Nehemiah, at the end of Nehemiah or Chronicles, that there are some writings that were written after Malachi. But Malachi is the final prophet. And I think that his message was ringing in the ears for 400 years of silence while they waited until Jesus came onto the scene. This is their last prophet, and they knew it. The Jewish writers during this period of 400 years between when Malachi was. Was written, and when Jesus came, when John the Baptist came, and then Jesus came, they knew it. It's all over their writings that they don't have a prophet anymore, that they don't have a king anymore, and they're waiting for another prophet to come.

27:16Well, let's read the words that may have been ringing on their ears, ringing in their ears. Verse 4, chapter 4, verse 4. Remember the law of my servant Moses. That's their first instruction. He's going to give them two instructions. First is, remember the law while you wait. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. And see, when you read that, if you read that before, like an hour ago, you would have said, I thought God gave them the law at Mount Sinai, right? But now you know they're the same place, okay? So remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. So that's his first instruction. So he's talking to the righteous, I believe, and he's saying, yes, I've seen you. Your name's been recorded. Wait for that glorious and great day. But while you wait, and the righteous are going to have to wait a long time, right? While you wait in this evil society that you're living in, while you wait, keep the law. Remember the law. It hasn't gone away yet. Remember the law. Law that Moses was given. That's their first instruction. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

28:41His second instruction, or at least his second thing to look out for, is in verse 5. Our other person in the Old Testament that spent some time at Horeb, Elijah. Verse 5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. So I think he's ending his book with these two instructions to the righteous. I've seen you. I've paid attention to you. Here are your two instructions. Remember to obey the law. Don't give up on it. Yes, those people are saying it doesn't matter, but I'm telling you, don't give up on it. And the other thing he's telling them is, look for Elijah. Wait for Elijah. Elijah's going to come again. So let me read that verse again. Verse 5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction.

29:50And that's how it ends. There's actually, I think it's five or six books of the Old Testament that when the Jews would say it, they would recite these books and they wouldn't. Let the last verse be the last verse. And this was one of those books because it ended on destruction. So then they would go back to verse 5 and say that one again at the end of the book, just so that it ended on a positive note. So the Jews, every time they read the book of Malachi, the last prophet, as they're waiting for a new prophet, they would read two times in verse 5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And that's what they would end with. But his ministry, verse 6: Elijah will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. So Elijah is going to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. I think he's still talking about the same day that he's mentioned before, this day of distinction, the great and awesome day of the Lord that we read about in Joel and other places.

30:59We're probably for Sunday evenings going to do Joel next. But this great day of the Lord that's coming. Before that day, Elijah is going to come. And his ministry, verse 6, is a ministry of repentance. He's going to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, the hearts of children to their fathers. So he's bringing the family back together. And the reason why he wants this ministry of repentance is that. God, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction. So, if Elijah doesn't come before the great and terrible day of the Lord to tell the people to reconcile with each other and repent, then when the Lord comes, he would have had to destroy Israel as well with the decree of utter destruction. That's what he's saying. So he's going to send before that day comes, he's going to send Elijah to prepare the people, to prepare them in their hearts for the great and awesome day of the Lord.

32:08Now, what does that make you think of? John the Baptist, right? And we actually flip back to chapter 3, verse 1. Malachi already said, or God already said, in Malachi, Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like refiner's fire in a fuller's soap. We'll stop there. But we've already seen in Malachi that God has foretold that he is going to send his messenger, and that his messenger is going to prepare the way for him, for God.

32:57And then in the New Testament, we read together. That the apostles understood this, and Jesus understood this, to be directly fulfilled in John the Baptist. He was that messenger that came to prepare the way before God himself. That was his job. And John the Baptist also testified that about himself. They asked him who he was, and he said, I am that messenger to prepare the way. Okay, so we've already seen that in the book of Malachi, John the Baptist is foretold. So the question is, now at the end of Malachi, is that what he's talking about when he mentions Elijah? And it's a little confusing. I don't know if you've ever looked at the gospel accounts on this, but turn over to Luke chapter 1. That's where we're going to start. We're going to flip to a couple places in the Gospels that talk about John the Baptist, but we're going to start first with his birth. Luke chapter 1, verse 5. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now, while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by Lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him, to Zechariah, There appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing at the right side of the altar of incense, and Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

35:04And remember, that comes true later in the book of Luke. John the Baptist leaps in the womb when Mary approaches with Jesus in her womb. He shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. Verse 16, he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will 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 for the Lord of people prepared.

35:41Okay, so did you catch that? Let's read 17 again. He, John the Baptist, will go before him in the Spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and make ready for the Lord of people prepared. Okay, so that's what's prophesied about John the Baptist. He's going to have a ministry in the spirit and power of Elijah, and he's going to do the same thing that Elijah was foretold to do before the great and awesome day of the Lord. Turn the hearts of children to their fathers, fathers to their children, and have that same ministry. Okay, so turn the next page to Luke chapter 1, verse 60.

36:38They're asking him what his name should be, what the baby's name should be when John the Baptist is born. His mother answered, verse 60, No, he shall be called John. And they said to her, None of your relatives is called by John. And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. Remember that Zechariah questioned the angel, and so he was made mute. And so this whole time he couldn't speak, the whole time that John the Baptist was in the womb, and even now. And so they're making signs at him because they're trying to get what his name is. And so he has to write it. Verse 63, he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, His name is John. And they all wondered. Remember, that's what the angel told them. So he's got to do it. So he said, his name is John. Verse 64. And immediately his mouth was open and his tongue loosed. And he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What then will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. Verse 67. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, So he's filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. So this isn't just Zechariah rambling, right? This is Holy Spirit-filled prophecy. Verse 68, Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us, that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear. So he's remembering the covenant. He's saying, okay, if this Messiah is coming, the Holy Spirit is speaking through Zechariah, saying, okay, if this is the Messiah coming, that means, time's up.

38:42Timer's gone off. But that means that God's going to fulfill his promise to Abraham, his covenant to his people. He's not going to forget them and protect them from all of their enemies. He's going to finally restore them so that they don't. Have to be afraid of the nations around them. Verse 75, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. Verse 76, and you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high.

39:25We'll stop there for now, but he'll go on for a couple more verses. But that sunrise, doesn't that sound familiar from Malachi? And then he also talks about the prophet who's going to go before you go before the Lord to prepare his ways. He's the prophet of the Most High, going before the Lord to prepare his ways, just like it said in Malachi 3.1. So it's being prophesied by Zechariah again that he's fulfilling this first prophecy in Malachi 3.1 that we saw a couple weeks ago. Okay.

40:03I want you guys to turn to Matthew 11 while I turn to John 1. You turn to Matthew 11. I wanted to read a conversation from John 1, verse 19. This is a testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not. The Christ. This is John the Baptist speaking. And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah?

40:37And he said, I am not. All right? Are you the prophet? He answered, no. And they said to him, Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. So he quotes from Isaiah another prophecy about John the Baptist that he would come and prepare the way of the Lord. But John the Baptist says, But I am not Elijah.

41:07Okay? So are you putting all this together in your head? That God had in Malachi, he had a message about John the Baptist in chapter 3 that was specifically about him. But now in chapter 4, he has a message about Elijah himself, that he's going to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord to get Israel ready for that day. John the Baptist says, that's not me. I'm not Elijah. But the angel told Zechariah that John the Baptist would be ministering in the spirit and power of Elijah, and he would be doing the same thing that Elijah is going to be doing before the great and awesome day of the Lord. So if we're putting all that together, before we read from Matthew, maybe we're running out of time, but before we read from Matthew, I think we would have a picture so far of it. Seems like Elijah was prophesied to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord, which for us still hasn't happened. And John the Baptist came before Jesus' first coming to do the same thing that Elijah is going to do at the end times, to prepare the people for when the Lord comes. And Elijah is going to do it before that day of destruction, that day of distinction that we've been talking about. John the Baptist did it before Jesus arrived on the scene. And so in chapter 11 of Matthew, when Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? And Jesus answered them, go and tell John what you hear and see. So he doesn't just say, yes, I'm the one who is to come. Instead, he says, go tell him what you see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. And the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. So I think that's an even stronger answer than just saying, yes, I'm the one who's to come, right? Because anybody could say that. But Jesus responds by saying, go tell him everything I'm doing. The blind are receiving their sight, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the poor have good news preached to them. Verse 7, as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reach? Shaken by the wind. And so he's talking to the crowds, and he's assuming they all remember who John was. Remember, he was extraordinarily popular. It talks about how all of Judea and all of Jerusalem were going out to the river to see John the Baptist and be baptized by him. So he was a famous man, and everybody knew who he was, and he had a baptism of repentance. And so Jesus is asking the crowds: okay, when you all did that, what did you go out to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Verse 8. What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. And remember, John the Baptist wore camel hair, just like Elijah, right? Verse 9: What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. So notice which passage he quotes. He quotes the one from Malachi 3 that is specifically about John the Baptist. It says, That's who you went to go see. Chapter 11: Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you're willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Now that. Throws a rent in our plans, right? Because we just said Elijah's to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord, and maybe John the Baptist is just ministering in the spirit and power of the Lord. But Jesus has a qualifying statement there, verse 14, if you are willing to accept it. If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. And I think that that's something like him saying, like, in a manner of speaking, or if you take my meaning, or something like that, he is the one who's having that same ministry that Elijah is going to have before the great and awesome day. Other people think that he's trying to say something like, if you would have accepted it, if you're willing to accept it, like if the Jews had accepted Jesus the first time that he came, that would have been the great and awesome day of the Lord, and John the Baptist would have been the real Elijah. But since they weren't willing to accept him, we still got to wait for the real Elijah to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord. Okay? But I think he's trying to use a figure of speech or something. If you're willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. So he still makes it clear. And remember, John is dead by now. He's been beheaded. And he says, or I guess he's not quite beheaded yet. He's in prison because he just sent the messengers. But he's saying he is Elijah who is to come. And this idea of that Elijah is still coming, but John is. That. He's fulfilling that ministry. Okay, one last place to look. Give me just a couple more minutes. Matthew 17.

46:40In Matthew 17, they go up on the mountain. Jesus takes three of his disciples, and Jesus is transfigured before them, and his robes are gleaming white. And in verse 3 of John 17, of Matthew 17, sorry, behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, both of our guys from Mount Horeb, right? Mount Sinai. Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with them. And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Okay, so Peter gets excited. He knows Elijah is supposed to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord. And I think that might be something that he's thinking because later, after this happens, they're walking down the mountain. Verse 9.

47:31As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. Okay, so Jesus says, Don't tell anybody about this, that you saw Moses and Elijah up there and that I was transfigured. Don't tell anyone until the Son of Man is raised from the dead, and implied in that, until I, after I die, right? And I'm raised from the dead. Well, that confuses the disciples because they see Elijah. And they're thinking, this is it. Israel is about to be on top. This is the day. Verse 10. And the disciples asked him, then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? So they ask him about it. Because the scribes probably talked about Malachi all the time that they're waiting for Elijah.

48:24And so the disciples asked him that, and Jesus answered, Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. All right, so stop there. Don't read verse 12 yet. That sounds like what we have been saying all this time, right? Elijah does come, he will restore all things before the great and awesome day of the Lord. So John the Baptist was just a precursor to that, in the spirit and power of Elijah doing the same ministry. But then he keeps going. Verse 12. But I tell you that Elijah has already come. And they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. All right, so another rinse in our plan that was all clean cut, right? But I think that the best explanation for it is still what we've been saying all this time: that it seems like he's still expecting. Expecting. He says, Elijah does come and he will. And by this time, he is, John the Baptist is dead. So this is after John the Baptist has been beheaded, after Elijah comes to the Mountain of Transfiguration to talk to Jesus. Jesus still says, after all of that, Elijah does come and he will restore all things. So you have this picture that Elijah, some commentators think that it's another Elijah-like person like John the Baptist, but I think it's Elijah himself, that he is going to come back before the great and awesome day of the Lord. And Jesus said, that is going to still happen. But I think he's using that same kind of speech as he did earlier in verse 12. But I tell you that Elijah has already come and they didn't recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased, so also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. And I think he's talking about John the Baptist and saying that since he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and he looked like Elijah, and he talked like Elijah, and he had the same message as Elijah, repent, be reconciled with one another, prepare the way of the Lord.

50:44That Jesus is saying, look, really, that ministry of Elijah already came, and the people showed that they weren't excited about it. They're supposed to be waiting for this and excited. They're supposed to be longing for this. Day of the Lord, and they saw that ministry, and they killed him. And he said, They're going to do the same thing to me while we're still waiting for Elijah to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord. All right. So, hopefully, that clears up a little bit of confusion.

51:20But back to just really quickly review Malachi, what we studied today: that God has said, I've seen you, the righteous. The wicked are saying, It doesn't matter if you fear my name or obey, but I've seen the righteous. I've written your name in my book. I'm not going to forget. There is going to be a day where everything is made right again. And until that day, you have two instructions: and that's keep doing the law for now and wait for Elijah to come before the great and awesome day of the Lord. And then we looked at John the Baptist and how he came in the spirit and power of Elijah. He had the same ministry to prepare for the first coming, but we're still waiting for Elijah to come before the second coming, that great and terrible day. All right, let's pray. Oh, yeah, Thomas?

52:14Yeah. So this comes at the very end of the prophets, the very next reverse, you can. Would have been Psalm 1, the man. That's cool. Yeah. If you didn't hear that, he was saying that in the Hebrew scriptures, it's not organized like our Old Testament. It's the law and then the prophets and then the writings. And so, since Malachi is the final prophet, it's the last word of the prophets, and then next would be the writings. So, after we have this charge to keep the law and wait for Elijah, the next words that they would get would be Psalm 1, talking about how blessed is the man who walks, not meditates on his word. Yeah. He says all the negative versions first. But let's close in prayer. God, we pray that you would help us look forward to that day. We pray that you would help us remember that you see us.

53:28And that though the wicked might say that there's no use in being righteous, there's no use in being one of your people, there's no use paying any attention to your scriptures. We know that you do see. We know that you will remember. And we know that there is going to be a day when the righteous are rewarded, those who have come to you in faith and esteemed your name. Been forgiven because of the blood of Christ, that they will be rewarded and have joy, and that the wicked will be destroyed.

54:16So we pray, Lord, that you would help us remember this and help us live before your eyes and live knowing that you see us, live according to your word. In Jesus' name, amen.