Thursday, December 1

Malachi 4:5, Mark 1:1-8

George Lester

Malachi 4:5  

But also look ahead: I'm sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God—the decisive Judgment Day! (The Message)

Mark 1:1-8 

Watch closely: I'm sending My preacher ahead of you; John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change that leads to forgiveness of sins. People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life….

As he preached he said, "The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will change your life. I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out." (The Message)

Around 450 BCE, when the religious and spiritual condition of post-exile Jews was at all-time low ebb, God tells the prophet Malachi that He is sending a messenger in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the people the appearance of God on the Judgment Day. Elijah’s mission will be to ‘clean house’ in Israel, and turn around a people (and their priests) that had lost much of their respect for God. If he succeeds, God, when He comes, will not ‘strike the land with a curse’ (See Mal. 4:6, the final verse in the Jewish Bible.)

It’s easy to see the parallels between the penultimate verse of the Old Testament and the first few verses of Mark’s Good News. John was also sent in the Spirit of Elijah to clear the way for Jesus, son of God. Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:31-46 how, on the Judgment Day, our change ‘from the inside out’ will be evaluated.