Malachi 4:1-6
1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. 3 Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
Matthew 3:1-12
John the Baptist Leads the Way
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 11:7-15
John the Baptist and Elijah
7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Luke 1:17
John the Baptist Would Come in the Spirit and Power of Elijah
17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
How does or would one transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament?...
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament...And the Prophet offers us these last words to end the Old Testament...“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes...He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”...
So the Old Testament leaves us with hope, that Someone special is coming...The New Testament starts with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John writing about Jesus and what He brings to the world...And He brings much, very much...And that is very much an understatement... He is the One who was to come, the Messiah, and that is why we have a New Testament...The New Testament is all about the Son of God...
We are told that the Prophet Elijah would come before that dreadful day of the LORD will come...God would first send us John the Baptist, to be a messenger for the Messiah...Jesus tells us that if we are willing to accept it, John the Baptist is the Elijah who was to come from the Book of Malachi...John is the messenger...John the Baptist is the one who came, who is like Elijah in spirit and power...And John the Baptist would tell us this, “I baptize you with water for repentance...But after me comes One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire...His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”...
I doubt if any of the four gospel writers or any of the New Testament authors thought that Jesus would usher in a New Religion called Christianity...He was One who knew Judaism and all about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...Jesus completely knows the Old Testament, and says He came to fulfill it...This New Religion that Jesus started is called Christianity and is based on His teachings in the New Testament...And He gives us a new and better world view...He shows us a different perspective of what it is like to be human, and shows us goodness, perfection, grace, and Truth...A view that is different from our current world which is full of negative news and negative headlines each day...
In the Old Testament, we have the prophets trying to get us to follow God...And God is the central character of the entire Bible –Old and New Testaments...Jesus teachings are all based on God, His Father...Jesus is above the prophets, and one feels this as we read about Him in the New Testament...The world view that Jesus brings is that God created the World and it was good, at that time...When the Creation of the World happened, everything was good...Then came the fall of man, and we fell from grace...A Moral God who wants to help us by giving us the rules like the Ten Commandments and He wants us to be morally good, like He is...Yet, we struggle with sin and corruption and wrongdoings...So He would send His Son to help us...And the four gospels are completely interlaced and woven with hope, with the Messiah as its main character...Jesus offers us a good ending with salvation and forgiveness and heaven...Jesus teaches us the eternities and promises us the eternal life filled with abundance...A Savior who holds the key to heaven...A Savior who is Christ our LORD...