The prophet Malachi spoke of the coming of Elijah in the passage of scripture found in Malachi 4:4-6, which says, '4“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord . 6And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”'
Who are the fathers and who are the children in this prophecy? We will begin by examining Malachi 4:6 particularly where it says, 'And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, …”'
From this verse we can see that God speaks of turning the hearts of the fathers and the children. We need to understand who the fathers are and who the children are within the context of Malachi’s prophecy.
The apostle Paul speaks about the fathers when writing to the church at Rome in Romans 9:1-5, '1I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for MY BRETHREN, MY COUNTRYMEN ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, 4WHO ARE ISRAELITES, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5OF WHOM ARE THE FATHERS and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.'
In these verses, Paul is writing to the church at Rome and he expresses what he calls in his own words, his great sorrow and grief for his fellow Israelites. As an apostle to the gentiles, Paul was able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and establish many churches in the gentile world. But in his Jewish nation of Israel, where Jesus Christ the savior of the world was born, the gospel was not widely received as it was by the gentiles, and it is for this reason that Paul was grieved for his fellow Israelites.
Notice in this letter to the Romans that when Paul speaks of his fellow Israelites, he says in Romans 9:3-5, '3… my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4who are Israelites, … 5of whom are THE FATHERS ...'
Paul is in effect saying that both he and his fellow brethren, the Israelites, are natural descendants of those whom the scriptures call the fathers, that is those who received the law under the old covenant. The Amplified translation of Romans 9:5 says, '5To them[the Israelites] belong the patriarchs... '
The fathers or the patriarchs in this context refers to the old covenant Israel. That would then quite distinctly put the new covenant believers in the place of the children. The new covenant is an offspring of the old covenant, and it therefore follows that within the context of Malachi’s prophecy, all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ under the new covenant are the children, while those that received the law and the prophets under the old covenant are without contradiction the fathers.
We find another scripture that can help us along this line in Hebrews 1:1-2, '1God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past TO THE FATHERS by the prophets, 2has in these last days spoken TO US by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds… '
Notice that this scripture says that God, '...spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets…' In other words, God spoke through the prophets to His chosen people of Israel in the dispensation of the old covenant or in 'time past' as this passage from the book of Hebrews posits.
Hebrews 1:2 goes on to say that God, '...2has in these last days[of the new covenant] spoken to us by His Son...' Who are these that God has spoken to in these last days by His Son? Why it is us that have been born-again under the new covenant, the children.
The children in the context of Malachi’s prophecy refers to all those that have received the new and better covenant through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 8:6 says, '6But now He[Jesus] has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.'
The apostle John also sheds some light regarding fathers and children when writing his epistle. John says in I John 2:12-14, '12I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. 14I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.'
We know that epistles were letters written to born-again Christians. When writing to the believers in this passage, John addresses children, fathers and young men.
The apostle John was among the founding leaders of the Jerusalem church. On the day of Pentecost when the apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost, John was among the twelve apostles that stood as Peter preached the gospel and about 3,000 souls were added to the kingdom of God (Acts 2:14).
On this day of Pentecost, the bible says in Acts 2:5, '5And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. ' These Jews had come to observe the Feast of Weeks, which was a festival under the old covenant. These same Jews who were observing a feast that they received from their fathers, believed in the message of the gospel preached by the apostle Peter and became born-again children of God under the new covenant.
At the time of the writing of this first epistle, John had relocated to Ephesus near the time of the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 A.D. It is highly probable that other Jewish Christians relocated from Jerusalem as John did, and would also have received this letter which was to be read in the church at Ephesus and other surrounding cities.
Notice that John in his epistle when writing to all believers, which would include these born-again Jews, says in I John 2:13, '13I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning…'
John is referring to these Jewish Christians as fathers, because as he continues to say, '...you have known Him who is from the beginning…' In other words, John calls these Jewish believers, ‘fathers,’ because they knew and served God originally under the old covenant.
When these Jews heard the message of the gospel and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, they received the new birth, and now began to relate to God the Father as His children under the new covenant. Which is why John, when referring to the believers, that is both the gentile and the Jewish believers, says in I John 2:12-13, '12I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. … 13I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.' These Jewish believers together with the gentile Christians are referred to as children, having believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving the forgiveness of sins under the new covenant.
By the same token, John refers to all of these believers as, ‘young men,’ signifying that these Christians had grown up spiritually in the things of God and had overcome carnal or worldly lusts. Notice that I John 2:14 says, '14… I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.'
Using various portions of scripture from the new testament, we have been able to prove that within the context of Malachi’s prophecy, the fathers refer to the Israelites that served God under the old covenant, and the children refer to the born-again Christians that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ under the new covenant.
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