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What is true of Zechariah is true of all the prophets.
"He shall send Jesus Christ . . . . . Whom the heavens must receive until the times of
restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets
since the world began" (Acts iii. 20, 21).
#7.
The burden of Malachi.
pp. 64 - 66
The last of the prophets, Malachi, anticipates the dual ministry of the two forerunners
of the Messiah, John the Baptist and Elijah. The name Malachi means "My messenger".
"Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me"
(Mal. iii. 1).
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the
prophets, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way
before Thee . . . . . John did baptize in the wilderness" (Mark i. 1-4).
"John . . . . . sent two of his disciples . . . . . Jesus began to say concerning John . . . . .
this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face,
which shall prepare Thy way before Thee" (Matt. xi. 2-10).
With the purport of these passages before us, we cannot avoid seeing that in
Mal. iii. 1, John the Baptist is in view, yet when we read on we are conscious of the
conflicting fact that verse 2 introduces a very different atmosphere from that of the
four Gospels and John's day. Let us notice the language:--
"But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth?
. . . . . He shall purify the sons of Levi . . . . . then shall the offering of Judah and
Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years"
(Mal. iii. 2-4).
This passage most surely speaks of the second coming, yet it is closely associated with
John the Baptist. In Mal. iv. 1, 2 we read:--
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud . . . . . shall
be stubble . . . . . but unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with
healing in His wings."
Here there is close association with another messenger and forerunner, namely,
Elijah:--
"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 . . . . .
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal. iv. 5, 6).
What, then, is the connection between these two personages and the two comings?
Turning to the New Testament we shall find that the two messengers are intimately