It's approximately the year 450 B.C. in post-exilic Jerusalem. The Temple and the land of Israel have been restored to God's people. Times are better, yet the commitment of the people to their God begins to falter - again. AGAIN? Apparently they didn't learn their lesson the first time the Temple was smashed to smithereens! Hello, people! - Dishonor God, get punished! Sheesh...
And Malachi comes with a warning, from the Lord himself:
Malachi 3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty...
Malachi 4:1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. 3 Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes..."
I will send the prophet Elijah to you? Hmmm...
Fast forward to 70 AD. It's been more than five hundred years since Malachi's warning. The temple has been standing all the while. Until now. Malachi was the last of God's prophets to speak. Until now. God has withheld his wrath. Until now. Something big is happening: The temple is going down. Again. And Mark writes to tell us about it.
Mark's story is about Jesus, yes, but it's also an explanation as to why the temple has been destroyed, and how the people can move forward without it - through faith in Jesus. Four hundred+ years later, Mark picks up where Malachi left off:
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” (actually quoted from Malachi, not Isaiah!) 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Is Mark is presenting John the Baptist as Elijah?
Mark puts John in Elijah's outfit. Which outfit?
2 Kings 1:7 The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?”
8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.”
The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”
Both guys look the same. Spiffy. Now, what did Elijah do, which compares to what John did?
Elijah "passed the torch" to Elisha. John passed it to Jesus. Have a look at the parallels:
2 Kings 2:7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours - otherwise, it will not.”
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
Malachi promises that Elijah will come to "prepare the way".
John comes to "prepare the way".
Elisha inherits a "double portion" of Elijah's spirit.
Jesus inherits the "holy spirit" and is more powerful than John.
The spirit rests on Elisha.
The spirit rests on Jesus.
Elijah passes the torch to Elisha at the Jordan River.
John passes the torch to Jesus at the Jordan River.
Elijah strikes the water, dividing it in two, signifying a new beginning.
John baptizes Jesus, dividing the water, signifying a new beginning. (bonus: God divided the waters at creation in Genesis 1:6 and divided the waters of the Red Sea in Exodus 14:21 - both also new beginnings!)
So, Mark presents John as the Elijah - the one promised by Malachi, who comes before that "great and dreadful day" - Mark's gospel goes on to tell the reader that the temple will be destroyed. But there's hope for the followers of Jesus, whose body is a temple restored.
In Malachi's words:
“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty.
“Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come."
Thanks for reading.
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