Well I'm sitting here in front of this screen trying to decide what to say this week. Well, not really what to say but how to say it.
I was going to recap my last entry but that would be a waste of time because you should read it rather than me re-opinion it. (That's not a real word i just made it up)
Malachi Is the last book in the OT and in it we read how God is fed up with the priests for the sloppy way they treat God. 2:1ff
Why don't you take a minute or two and read the whole of Malachi it's only 4 chapters long and only has 3 pages. OK I'll wait for you.
Malachi was written about 400BC and if you have read it you probably got the idea that it is God's final message to Israel. He's telling them to cleanup their act or else. Chapter 4:6 contains the or else. verse 6 ...or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.
1. Or else
2. I will come
There is no third option. God says mend your ways or I will come.
But it would seem that God wanted to play fair. It seems that he wanted to warn them and warn them and warn them. He was going to give them every chance to change their ways. Remember that God had been doing this since he brought the nation into being. So he says in Malachi 4:5 "See I will send you the Prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." then he tells them "He (Elijah) will turn the hearts..." etc.
But isn't Elijah with God 2 Kings 2:11,12. Yes but not dead. The OT records show Elijah as having been taken up to God but it says nowhere that he died.
I want you to note that in Malachi God is angry at the priests and if you read through the NT Jesus doesn't call the common people vipers and all those other things. Jesus is angry with the spiritual leaders. Who are the ones who oppose Jesus' teaching and healing? Not the common people but the leaders and teachers and priests.
In the last part of Malachi ch 4; God says "I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes"
Now if Elijah didn't come then we are still waiting for that day aren't we. Well Israel is anyway. I say Elijah did come. Matt 17:10-13 and it's clear in verse 12 where Jesus says "But I tell you Elijah has already come..." then the disciples understood that Jesus was talking about John the Baptizer. But maybe you need more proof. Matt 11:13-15 says that if you accept it he is the Elijah who was to come. Who was this person? John the baptizer..
This passage is also proof that the Law and the Prophets have been fulfilled. Matt 11:13 says clearly "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
Are you one of the Christians who still believe that Jesus is still coming ie. in his second coming?
Why is Jesus coming back a second time?
Just one more thing:
Luke 21:22 Jesus is speaking to his disciples when he says in verse 20 " When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies.
It didn't read "when those in the future...
He said When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies you will know that its desolation is near. Then verse 22 says clearly "For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written"
So where does that leave us now?
Do you still say that prophecy isn't fulfilled?
Next time I'm going to write about the last days. Just how long were the last days
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