Troublesome Topic: Malachi 4 and Luke 1 on the Importance of Fathers

The teachings of Jesus and the Apostles do not change the roles of men and women found in the Old Testament, rather they are built on them.

Genesis chapters 1, 2 and 3 are fundamental in understanding many things about life and about God. They also establish some important precedents and principles related to the roles of men and women. That is why Paul refers to things that are mentioned in the first three chapters of Genesis when he discussed the roles of men and women. In this section of the study of the roles of men and women you will find some of my comments about this topic extracted from my translation and paraphrase of Genesis chapters one through three.

The system handed down from one generation of Jews to the next was that men had certain roles to fulfill, and women had different roles to fulfill. They were equal in value but distinct in function. Think about the Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God, they are equal in that way, but they serve different functions, and the one does not try to fulfill the other one’s function. To say we have different roles says nothing about value. The way our Bibles are typically organized, the Old Testament ends with these words:

Malachi 4:5

Translation

Watch and see; I will send ELIJAH

the prophet to you before

the coming of the great and fear-inspiring

day of YHVH (read Adonai).

Paraphrase

Watch and see what I will do; I will send to you the prophet whose very existence proclaims MY GOD IS YHVH, and I will send him just before the arrival of the long-awaited, climactic day in which THE ETERNAL AND PERSONAL GOD does something which inspires fear or awe.

Malachi 4:6

Translation

And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

Paraphrase

Then he (Elijah) will cause the hearts of fathers to once again be properly attuned to the needs of their sons, and he will cause the hearts of the sons to be properly respectful of the authority and righteous example of their fathers. These changes are necessary, for if these changes are not made, I will have to once again strike the whole earth with a curse!

Some find it disconcerting that the Old Testament ends with the threat of a curse. I don’t see it that way. I see the Old Testament ending with an emphasis on the importance of families, especially the role of the father, and if we don’t follow the design that God has established, there will be major negative consequences. In my mind these are beautiful words, not ugly words. The words of Malachi 4:6 are quoted in Luke 1:17:

Luke 1:17

Translation

And he will precede Him in the spirit and power of ELIJAH,

to turn the hearts of fathers to their children,

and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and to

make ready a people prepared

for the [coming of] the LORD.”

Paraphrase

And he (John) will precede Him (the Lord) in the spirit and power of the one who demonstrates that THE ETERNAL AND PERSONAL GOD IS MY GOD in order to cause the hearts of fathers to once again be properly attuned to the needs of their sons,

And he will cause the disobedient [sons] to return to the wisdom that is exemplified by the righteous,

and to make ready a people

perfectly prepared for the coming of THE SUPREME RULER.

This means that the New Testament, for all practical purposes, begins with the same admonition and warning about fatherhood that the Old Testament ends with.

Some translations have chosen to rewrite the phrase by saying, “He will turn the hearts of parents to their children . . .” However, the passage in Malachi and the one in Luke each use the word for “fathers.” While it is true that this word was used to refer to both parents as a couple, we need to ask ourselves how the original readers would have understood the words of Malachi 4:6. I believe they would have seen the reference to fathers as very fitting for the father carried the weight of responsibility for the home. So while both parents may have been implied, it was the father that will be held responsible. Therefore, I am convinced that I need to translate it as “fathers.”

God’s designs are wonderful. We see them in nature, we see them at work in the human body, even though the fall of man into sin opened the door for some undesirable experiences as well. Wherever we see God’s clear design we are forced to acknowledge that His designs are good and wise. God designed marriage and family. He designed different roles for men and women so they would function in certain ways and thus make a good team. Why do we fight God on this count when we praise Him for all the other aspects of His design?

The next lesson is: A Good Household Manager Proverbs 31

Footnotes

1: The name Elijah

“El” means “God,” “i” means “my; thus “Eli” means “my God.” “Jah” is short for the name YHVH, thus the name “Elijah” means “My God is YHVH.” God was promising to send someone who would demonstrate who the true God is, and what it looks like for someone to walk in complete fulfillment of the phrase “my God is YHVH.”

2

The text only says “before,” but it seems to imply that it will happen shortly before, as a sign that the Great day of YHVH is just around the corner. That is indeed how it happened with the arrive of John the Baptizer 6 months before the arrival of Jesus.

3

Why would this day cause fear? It is a prophecy about Jesus who came as a little Baby, so why the fear? Well, whenever God does something climactic it is cause for fear among those who are not following God and cause for awe, gratitude and praise among those who are following Him.

4: “a curse”

This would have reminded every Jew of the only other world-wide curse of God upon men in history, the curse of death spoken to Adam and Eve. So they would have known that this is serious business. They would also have known how serious God is about bringing His redemptive plan to fruition.

Some people lament the fact that the Old Testament ends with the word “curse” (in Hebrew and in English). However, I see it as a perfect set-up for the coming of the Messiah in the New Testament. In fact, only 17 verses into his written account of the life of Jesus, Luke (in Lk 1:17) partially quotes and partially edits this verse from Malachi. The Old Testament ends on a note of dreadful anticipation, hoping that God would do this important thing, or they would be in big trouble. The New Testament starts with the revelation that God did indeed do what He said He would do.

5

Elijah was one of the biggest Old Testament figures in the eyes of the New Testament era Jews, alongside Abraham, Moses and David. This statement is saying that this new figure, whom we call John the Baptist, would be just as big a deal as Elijah and his work would have the same type of powerful impact and a similar spirit, i.e. passion and zeal. We can easily understand the comment about the spirit of Elijah for it fits well, however, the part about the power of Elijah we struggle to understand for John did not do any great miracles like Elijah did. So why the comparison? How did John operate in the power of Elijah? It has to do with the name Elijah, which means “my God is YHVH.” Both Elijah and John the Baptizer called people to recognize who the true God is and to choose Him as their God. For Elijah it was most prominently done in the encounter with the 450 prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel; for John it was his ministry along the Jordan river, proclaiming to the people that their Messiah was soon to come and they needed to repent to be ready to receive Him. Although John did not do miracles like Elijah did, he had a powerful impact in pointing people to God just like Elijah.

6

The Old Testament ends with God promising to send [another] Elijah, who will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:5-6, the very last verses of the Old Testament). The New Testament picks up that same terminology only 17 verses into Luke’s Gospel. Obviously, God wanted to bring together those who had been separated; obviously, God’s saving work has social as well as spiritual ramifications; obviously, the family is a key part of how God works; and obviously, the Gospel message is to be passed down from generation to generation.

The passage in Malachi goes on to say that if the reconciling of fathers and sons does not happen He, God, would have to strike the earth with a curse. Some have lamented the fact that the Old Testament ends with the word “curse.” I think the ending of the Old Testament creates a powerful linkage to the beginning of the New Testament because of how Luke reaches back to connect with this passage from Malachi, which lays out clearly the only options available to us. The options for mankind are either reconciliation or a curse. The story of Jesus is not complete without a proper understanding of the problem, which is sin and how it displeases God. Jesus Christ is the antidote for sin. Malachi set the stage for Christ’s coming with how he ended his prophetic writing.

7

The word used just prior to this and translated “make ready” means to arrange or make the necessary preparations. This word, translated “prepared,” means to build or construct something exactly as prescribed by the design given the builder, using a tool or implement for that purpose. John appears to have been that tool.

8

Inserting the word “coming” makes this statement much more powerful and brings it closer to its fully intended meaning. Remember that the Jews would often quote a verse from the Old Testament but leave out the most important part for the hearer or reader to figure out on his own. I think that is happening here. Malachi 4 said that if a change in heart did not happen God would be obliged to come and strike the earth with (another) curse. As Luke quotes Malachi, he implies that God is indeed coming, and we know that He did come in the person of Jesus Christ. As predicted by Malachi, the coming of God to earth went well for those with humble, contrite hearts, but it did not go well for those with proud, self-righteous hearts.