This post is in response to an ongoing discussion I am having HERE. Since the discussion replies have become quite lengthy I thought I would blog my replies as long as they seem important and may be of an interest to others who come to my blog and may not be aware of the discussion. My partner’s name in this discussion is Arthur, and he has taken the position that John’s ministry was a failure, and, because it was a failure, Jesus had to be crucified. At least this is the conclusion of the speaker in the video[1] presented on Arthur’s website (see link below). Arthur’s words will be in bold italic to distinguish them from what I have to say. The first Scripture under discussion is:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5-6 KJV)
I do not recognize your words as those of Malachi. How can you speak about what John’s role was, then say ‘because if God didn’t do so…’?
It was not God who was to turn the hearts of the fathers…, it was Elijah/John. God would send the curse if Elijah/John failed in that task. God would send the curse IF, “Lest I come….” In other words, God is saying there is a choice; get it right otherwise I will send a curse.
I was paraphrasing Malachi with the understanding that the verses in question are a reference to John’s ministry. It seems we disagree concerning the clause: “lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” You take the position that the curse would occur if John failed in his mission, but I am saying the clause answers to verse-5, namely, that the curse would be sent if God hadn’t sent John/Elijah. In other words: “I will send you Elijah/John… lest I smite the earth with a curse.”
The problem was the Messiah was coming, but the people of God were unprepared. The whole message of Malachi was given to a rebellious nation. Chapter one—God loves Israel; chapter two—Israel was unfaithful; chapter three—the Messiah is coming, but Israel isn’t ready, which is understood in the fact that their offerings to God reflected a great deal of disrespect for him. They didn’t believe God saw but he did. Chapter 4—the Day of Judgment is coming, and there will be blessings for the faithful but destruction for the wicked; and God says he will send Elijah/John to reconcile the fathers and the sons lest he smites the earth, namely all Israel, with a curse.
The people were to be prepared by recognizing Elijah had come. Jesus knew Elijah had come, but the Jewish leaders (the authority) did not know Elijah had come, because John did not accept his role and denied that he was Elijah. They clearly ask John, are you the Elijah? No was the reply. Either Jesus was wrong, to say that Elijah had already come (referring to John), or John was confused in saying he was not the Elijah.
The Jewish authorities are hearing opposing views, John is saying he is not, and Jesus is saying he is.
Who should they believe, the carpenters son, who mixes with sinners, or the son of a high priest who upholds the laws of Moses?
The speaker in the video mentioned above takes the position that the common expectation among the Jews was that Elijah would literally come back to earth in a fiery chariot. All John told his interrogators was that he was not that Elijah. Neither John nor Jesus was in the habit of encouraging false doctrine. These teachers of God’s people were expecting a hellfire-and-brimstone miracle worker. John, on the other hand, came to comfort the people of God (Isaiah 40:1) and point them to Jesus as their Messiah.
The angel told Zechariah that his son, John, would go before God in the “Spirit and Power” of Elijah. He never said John would be Elijah, because that is not the intent of Malachi 4:5-6. John was to be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb (Luke 1:15). This is the defining error that the speaker in the video mentioned earlier makes. He points to Luke 1:17 and claims Gabriel told Zechariah that his son would be Elijah, but rather than equate John’s understanding of this with what Jesus told the Apostles in Matthew 17:11-13, he equates John’s denial in John 1:21 as a denial of Jesus’ statement rather than of the false doctrine of the Jews!
Concerning whether or not John was confused, look at what Gabriel told Zechariah. John would not only be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, but he would be great in the sight of the Lord (Luke 1:15). Moreover, many of the children of Israel would turn to God (Luke 1:16). Does this sound like John was a failure to you? It doesn’t seem that way to me. This same Gabriel whom the speaker in the video (mentioned above) claims told Zechariah that John was Elijah also says John would be great in the sight of God. It seems to me that the only one confused about John’s ministry is the speaker on the video![2]
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