'A cloud received Him out of their sight ... This same Jesus, which is

taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have

seen Him go into heaven.  Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the

mount called Olivet' (Acts 1:9 -12).

The direct association between the Second Coming of Acts 1 and

Zechariah 14 established by the angels' message, confirms the appropriateness

of the apostles' question as to the restoration of the kingdom to Israel

(Acts 1:6), and leaves no room for 'the church' in this aspect

of hope.  It can be none other than 'the hope of Israel' mentioned by Paul as

still obtaining in Acts 28:20.

The visions of Zechariah concerning the Second Coming can be summed up

in his own words: 'Jerusalem, thy King cometh'.

From one end of his prophecy to the other, Jerusalem and its

deliverance and restoration are prominent, and the coming Lord is set forth

as Israel's King when the reign of righteousness has commenced.

What is true of Zechariah is true of all the prophets:

'He shall send Jesus Christ ... Whom the heaven must receive until the

times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth

of all His holy prophets since the world began' (Acts 3:20,21).

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. 3:1).

'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 1:1 -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. 11:2 -10).

With the purport of these passages before us, we cannot avoid seeing

that in Malachi 3:1, 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

'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. 3:2 -4).

This passage most surely speaks of the Second Coming, yet it is closely

associated with John the Baptist.  In Malachi 4:1,2 we read: