Malachi 4:5-6 (ESV)
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 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.”
The entire Old Testament ends with the above two verses. Although there is some debate about exactly who this “coming” Elijah is, we have here a conclusion to the theme of the OT. In the end God is going to send a messenger (partially fulfilled by John the Baptist and completely fulfilled by Elijah actually returning some day) to complete two themes of the entire OT and Bible in general:
1. Restoration of relationships.
2. Utter destruction on those who reject God in relationship.
In Genesis 3 we saw that the curse was the destruction of harmony in creation, the woman and the man. Mankind was cursed in the Garden of Eden for their sin. That is what starts out the Bible. It ends with a blessing and curse. The curse is destruction on those who reject God’s messenger(s) (John the Baptist, the Messiah, Elijah ... maybe this is referring to all three of them in the theme of Elijah). The blessing is restoration of relationships (family, man-to-God-God-to-man).
This “Elijah” coming is an important part of the Jewish faith, to this day. This is why during a Jewish Seder that they set a table setting at the Passover table in hopes that Elijah would come during the Passover. However it was fulfilled, at least in part, by John the Baptist who came in the Spirit of Elijah - see Matthew 11:14.
God wanting to restore relationships is a key element of all the prophets. Note how Jeremiah stated it in his prophetic book:
Jeremiah 24:7 (ESV)
I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
Jeremiah was talking about a restoration with God. No matter how the restoration is defined, however, the key element is that the restoration is of God, alone. Only He can restore. It is He and He alone that gives forgiveness for restoration. Note how Paul tells young Pastor Timothy how to approach evangelism:
2 Timothy 2:25-26 (ESV)
correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
It is God who can and does “grant” repentance that brings about restoration. God and God alone. So, the theme of the OT is the restoration of mankind to God and to each other. And, the destruction of those who reject God’s messengers. Both are going to happen and both are done by God. That is the summary of the entire Bible.
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