What is the significance of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children (Malachi 4:6)?

Next follow two points of interest. One is the remembrance of the law of Moses. They look back; and this is the test to judge their whole course from first to last. Again they will look forward: "Behold I send you Elijah the prophet." Thus, though about Israel, it shows us the two ways of judging aright the present — in the light of the past, and in that of the future. It always therefore requires faith to judge according to God. Hence Malachi brings in morally the giver of the law and the restorer of the law, the two great pillars of the Jewish nation, heralding the way before Jehovah who alone can bestow and sustain the blessing.

"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." Such is the warning note given here by Him who is the best blessing He can bestow. Heaven and earth and all things shall be shaken, but Jehovah abides; and blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. We know that the restoring of all things morally will be wrought in the hearts of fathers and sons in Israel, and that God will make them as life from the dead to the world, and thus spread His saving health among all nations who shall be blessed, not cursed, in the Seed of promise.

In the spirit and power of Elijah came Jehovah's messenger, John the Baptist, and many of the sons of Israel did he turn to Jehovah their God. The language seems expressly to guard against the error of supposing that it was the predicted mission of Elijah the prophet. If ye will receive it, said our Lord Himself, this is Elijah who should come. It was a testimony to faith, not the fulfilment of the terms of Malachi's last intimation. (Malachi 4) Even in our Lord's own case all that was bright and manifest blessing for Israel was arrested by the unbelief of the people, and thus the door was opened on His rejection to heavenly blessings for all believers indiscriminately. Hence for the time the moral restitution of the Jews was partial; and (the mass being impenitent, and family bonds utterly relaxed and broken) the land was smitten with a curse from that day to this. But it will not be always thus. For grace will work in a remnant once more in the last days when the full accomplishment of Elijah's mission shall be realized (Matt. 17:11), and, the apostates perishing under divine judgment, all Israel shall be saved to the joy and blessing of the earth and of all its families. And such is the common voice of the holy prophets since the world began.

Jehovah, moreover, lays the foundation in this exhortation, and in the principle which it contains, for the announcement of the mission of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (v. 5.) We have explained the relation of John the Baptist to Elijah in connection with Mal. 3:1. If Israel, when our Lord first came, had received the Baptist, he would have been Elijah for them, and as it was his mission was in the spirit and the power of Elijah. But John was beheaded, and the Christ, of whom he was the forerunner, was crucified; and God, who is as immutable in His holiness as in His grace, will as surely perform His truth unto Abraham, as execute his judgments upon the wicked. In the day of judgment, however, He remembers mercy, and therefore, before the advent of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, He will send Elijah to test the hearts of His people, and to recall them to His unchanging faithfulness and grace. And the very mention of Elijah is significant of the state in which Israel will then be found. The mission of Elijah, historically, was at a time of general apostacy, when Jehovah had been publicly disowned, and Baal had been chosen in His place. And we gather from many scriptures that apostacy will characterize Israel as a whole in the last days. As in the time of Ahab there was a hidden remnant, so will it be again, for God will never leave Himself without witness on the earth. But outwardly, under the sway of Antichrist, idolatry will mark the condition of the people. The mission of "Elijah" will be in the midst of this state of things, and the character of his ministry in the time of Ahab and Jezebel will enable us to understand its nature at the end. Its object is here given: "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." (v. 6.) John the Baptist never fulfilled this promise, at least in the largeness of its import. Crowds gathered about him at the commencement of his labours, but the most of these only rejoiced in his light for a season, and then turned back to the darkness of their own pride and self-righteousness. With "Elijah" it will be different, for the Lord hath spoken the word, and He will perform it. Labouring as the prophet will, under far greater difficulties than even the Baptist, the effects of his work, if not outwardly seen, will be greater; and in this way there will be once again a people prepared for the Lord on His return. The object, however, here is, "Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." There will be judgments, as we have seen from verse 1; but the existence of a people whom God has called and prepared in grace will once again be the salt of the earth, and on their account the earth, or more probably the land, will be exempted from that which is here termed a curse — pure and unmingled judgment.

But the first coming of our Lord was the introduction of the day of grace. It is His second coming in power and glory that will introduce 'the great and dreadful day of the Lord'. Hence, we judge, this prediction in its fulness must still await its fulfilment. In Revelation 11:3-6, we read of 'two witnesses', marked by features in their testimony, reminiscent of Moses and Elijah, and these precede the second coming of the Lord. We may connect the Elijah of our verse with one of these. What we can say with assurance is that God ever raises up adequate witness, and gives adequate warning, before He acts in judgment.

What is stated in the last verse may seem rather obscure, but if we read Luke 1:17, the bearing of it is plain. The 'disobedient' will be turned to 'the wisdom of the just', and thus a people prepared for the Lord. Thus a godly remnant will be found, otherwise the whole earth would be smitten with a curse.

Malachi also distinguishes the remnant and that which characterised them, while proclaiming the punishment of the wicked, and the call of God to those who had ears to hear to bring them back to repentance — a ministry which would restore moral order in the hearts of parents and children — that relationship, from the maintenance and exercise of which, all earthly peaceful order according to God flows; and that order is what God is considering here.

Ans.—It is plain from Malachi 4:5 that Elijah—that is, one with Elijah's characteristic ministry—was, after Malachi's day, to be sent to Israel to bring them again to the right condition of soul toward Jehovah, that He might give them the blessing and glory intended for them.

Verse 17 explains Matthew 11:1 4, "If you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come." The very fact of the Lord's saying, "If you are willing to receive it" indicates a deeper spiritual application, which Luke explains. It was not that John was the same person as Elijah, but John's service before the Lord was "in the spirit and power of Elijah." John's ministry was of the same character as that of Elijah, sternly pressing on Israel the guilt of their disobedience to the law. The reference here is to Malachi 4:6 which some of the Jews took to mean Elijah personally, but John denied this interpretation (Jn.1:21). The same applies to another prophet who will yet rise during Israel's tribulation, with the same object in view (Rev.11:6), though unlike John and Elijah, he will not be alone. John's ministry would have good effect also on proper family relationships (v.17). It would subdue the spirit of disobedience and replace it with the wisdom of the just, for the chief object of that ministry was "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Repentance is essential for this, and since John was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, he must emphasize the guilt of Israel so as to prepare their hearts to receive the grace of the Lord Jesus.

The messenger is clearly John the Baptist; for this passage, as well as another from Isaiah, is specially applied to him in the gospels. (Mark 1:2; Luke 1:76.) This must be distinctly observed in order to understand the difference between his mission and that of Elijah "before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Mal. 4:5-6.) True, our Lord said, "Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed; "but His meaning is explained by another passage. Speaking to the multitude concerning the Baptist, He said, "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: not withstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it [viz., that which the Lord was teaching], this is Elias, which was for to come." (Matt. 11:11-14.) Thus, if the Jews had received John the Baptist, they would also have received the Messiah, and the kingdom would at once have been established in power; and in that case Malachi 4:5-6, would have been true of John. But in fact it was not; for though multitudes gathered around him when he first rang out the cry, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," there was but little conscience work, and scarcely any turning "the heart of the fathers to the children," or "the heart of the children to their fathers;" and finally, as we know, he died by the hand of the executioner in his solitary prison. Although, therefore, his mission was "in the spirit and power of Elias," and he would have been Elias, in all that his mission signified, had the Jews received him, he was not the fulfilment of the prophecy in the next chapter. That remains, and God will yet send "Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." But the Baptist was the Lord's messenger, and prepared the way before Him by heralding His coming and preaching the baptism of repentance; and few as they were, he did undoubtedly "make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (See John 1:35-51)

The appearance of Elijah in that glorious vision on the holy mountain leads to a question which the disciples bring to their Master. The coming of Elijah as the forerunner of King Messiah was firmly believed by every Jew, and it is still held by all orthodox Jews. Elijah is first to come, and when he is come then the Messiah is about to come and with His coming begins the olam habo (the world or age to come), this is a strong article of talmudical Judaism. The disciples bring their question, "Why then say the scribes that Elias must first have come? And He answering said to them, Elias indeed comes first and will restore all things. But I say unto you that Elias has already come, and they have not known him, but have done unto him whatever they would. Thus also the Son of Man is about to suffer from them. Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist" (verses 10-13). The difficulty which the disciples had about Elias was about the prophecy contained in the last prophetic book of the Old Testament: "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 the fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal. 4:5, 6). They had seen Elias in glory. In the land and among the people all was dark; no restoration, no turning of the heart of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers was noticeable. On the contrary, they had witnessed how He in whom they believed as the promised Messiah, the King of Israel, was being rejected and the nation knew Him not. And still they hoped for the kingdom and that age of blessing for Jerusalem. What then about Elias? Would he yet appear and restore all things? The Lord answers their difficulty, as He always does when His own turn to Him and put their difficulties before Him. He does not deny the fact that Elias comes first and will restore all things. Furthermore, He told them that he had come and they had not received him, but rejected him and his testimony. As he was rejected, so He the Son of Man was now about to suffer from them, is His third statement. All at once they understood that He meant John the Baptist. They were right. John the Baptist had come in the power and spirit of Elijah. He was the voice in the wilderness, the way preparer, the one in whom the last prophecy in Malachi might have been fulfilled, but they did not know Him. His rejection was the prelude to the rejection of the Lord as we have seen before (chapter 11). John surely was the Elias for that time.

The whole chapter is a future prophecy. While there has been a partial fulfillment of the first verse of the third chapter, everything in this concluding chapter awaits its fulfillment. Elijah the prophet is announced. John the Baptist came in the Spirit and power of Elijah, but he was not the Elijah promised here. If ye will receive it, said our Lord, this is Elijah who should come. It was a testimony to faith and not the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy. If the Jews had accepted Christ, John would have been Elijah. Our Lord bears witness to this. "Elias truly shall come first and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them." When the age closes another one will appear, the Elijah announced by Malachi, who does his work of restoration before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. His work will be carried on among the people Israel. Deceivers and impostors have occasionally arisen who claimed to be this Elijah; the most prominent in recent years is the Dowieite delusion of Zion City. Such is the havoc produced by not dividing the Word of Truth rightly.

Well, Elijah goes to sleep a second time, and the angel comes again and says: "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God" (1 Kings 19:7-8). There he learns some marvellous lessons. God's food sustains him these forty days and nights, and then God teaches him that He has been at work in a way that His servant knew nothing of. God had a great regard for Elijah spite of his failure. There is a remarkable prediction regarding him in the last chapter of the Old Testament "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" (Mal. 4:5-6). No doubt in a day yet to come God will give him a wonderful place in connection with the restoration of that Israel upon the earth whom he had failed to restore. The Lord has not given him up.