My thoughts for today, October 31, 2024
This thought came from a recent class I attended where one particular Scripture was mentioned, and those verses revolve around Malachi 4:5–6 (ESV): “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.” My concern stems from what I heard concerning this verse. Many feel that Malachi is talking about the end of the world, while others view it as the end of a particular age or period in time. I agree with the ones taking the position of (specific period in time).
My Lutheran Study Bible comments on verse five as follows:
“My messenger” (1:1) is identified here as someone like the great prophet Elijah, who had called Israel to repentance and was taken alive to heaven (2 Ki 2:1–12). John the Baptist came in the power and spirit of Elijah. Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus at His transfiguration Mt 17:3, and verse six comments: The angel Gabriel used these words to describe John’s mission. When fathers and children have a good relationship, the way is prepared for the coming of Christ into their hearts, lest I come with utter destruction. Though God threatened utter destruction, His ultimate hope is that people will respond in repentance and faith to the prophets’ message.
What concerns me is the inability of people to see that Israel did not repent and did not accept Jesus as the Messiah; they rejected Him. Utter destruction did come in AD 70 when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, and over a hundred thousand Israelites were killed, with those who were not killed being taken for enslaved people. At the same time, those who escaped were scattered throughout the known world. Rome then wiped Israel’s existence from history, renaming it Palinstena or, in today’s verbiage, Palestine after Israel’s greatest enemy, the Philistines.
Nero ordered the revolt in Israel quashed and sent General Vespasian to do the job. Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68 AD. General Vespasian became Emperor on December 21, 69 AD; in 70 AD, Vespasian’s son Titus destroyed Jerusalem as Malachi foretold. During this utterly destructive period, the Roman Titus seized a prostitute, entered the Holy of Holies, spread out a Sefer Torah, and committed a sin on it.
For me, Malachi’s message is not about the end of the world but the end of Israel and the destruction of the second Temple. It was the and of an age in a particular period prophesied by Malachi and later Jesus himself.
For me, it is essential to understand the historical picture of the time to understand prophetic events within the framework of Scripture and not to use eisegesis, that is, interpreting the text in a way that introduces one’s presuppositions, agendas, or biases.
This is not a lighthearted matter. This is about understanding events correctly and not translating Scripture to fit a personal need to feel justified or uniquely gifted.
Mike Kovach, 11-4-2024
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