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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 3: 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. 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
Mal. 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 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. 3: 2-4).
This passage most surely speaks of the second coming, yet it is closely associated with
John the Baptist. In Mal. 4: 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. 4: 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