Malachi 3:16-4:6 The Transition

Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Remnant Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another.

The Remnant Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. 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.

The Book… Was written by the people who collectively decided to “Return to God” Malachi 3:7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts

These Believers… Returned in God’s Power, by God’s Grace, and were… set apart as different from those around them This return, or repentance, began with a confession of sin

Confession of Sin…. Daniel 9:20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God…

Confession of Sin…. James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Sin… Offends a perfect God Malachi 4:1 “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.

Forgiveness…. Malachi 3:17 “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.”

Mercy… Malachi 4:2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

This is a Prediction of… “Sun of Righteousness rising with Healing in it’s Wings” is the dawning of the Day of the Lord … When He comes to Intervene on Earth

The Last Verses in the OT… Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 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 a decree of utter destruction.”

Who is this Elijah? Elijah lived in 900 BC not in 500 BC Is the reference to Elijah literal or figurative? Is a “new Elijah” to come in?

In the New Testament… Matthew 11:11a, 14 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist….. he is Elijah who is to come.

In the New Testament… Luke 1:17 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 a people prepared.”

The Transition Has Come… The Old Testament was Looking Forward to the Savior The New Testament is Looking At The Savior

This Should Lead To… Celebration, for… The Savior is Coming with Healing in His Wings, or… For us, the Savior HAS Come

Celebrate, For We Are…. Reconciled Romans 5:11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

For We Are…. Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Our Only Response…. Praise Him