A Transitional Voice

        The Old Testament ends with the books of the prophets. That last prophet to be heard from is Malachi. His words sound so, so, familiar. He begins by reminding the Jewish people of God’s love for them, which they seem to have forgotten. Instead, they are complaining to the Lord about their situation—which they brought on themselves! Their sacrifices are corrupt. And the priests offering those sacrifices are corrupt. God goes so far as to compare their response to Him to infidelity.
       Whether or not Malachi knew that he was the last prophetic voice of the Old Covenant, he relays God’s message: “ ‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 3:1).
      The reference is a familiar one from Isaiah 40, declaring a way-preparing prophet of a different sort. The next prophetic voice that the Jewish people will hear is that of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, ministering out in the wilderness, preparing the way for Jesus of Nazareth. Even though there is a major shift in the works, God assures His people that the mystery-plan is still in place. Despite their covenantal unfaithfulness, He declares, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob” (Mal. 3:6).
        As with so many of the Old Testament prophecies, Malachi then offers yet another picture of the Great Day of God, the Day of Christ, the Day of the Lord, the Last Day. “ ‘For behold, the Day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the Day which is coming shall burn them up,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the Day that I do this,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 4:1-3).
         Apparently, God is a fan of puns. For the Sun of Righteousness is none other than His Son, the Morning Star. In the not too distant future, we shall see a coalition of armies under the “little horn”—a.k.a. the Antichrist—invade Israel. God shall use these oppressors as His weapon of indignation for Israel’s decision to follow their own ways. A third of the city will be taken, along with a third of the people. And then the celestial lights will go out as the final sign before Christ’s return.
         When the veil covering the spiritual realm is rolled back, the tide will suddenly change when the Jews have a change of heart.  Their “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord” declaration and 3rd Day revival will enable God to join the battle on their behalf. Needless to say, the odds of who is going to win this final world war will change dramatically!
         Malachi even clues them in on the fact that God the Father “will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. And 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” (Mal. 4:5-6).
        Once again we get a tongue-in-cheek-reference to Jesus’ two-Day earthly ministry. He will come initially to His own people, and then open the door to another aspect of the mystery-plan. That is, offering salvation to the Gentiles as well. This extension was foreshadowed when Jesus took a two-day time-out to travel to Samaria to preach the Gospel. You may recall that Assyria had transplanted some of their own in Israel when they occupied the territory. Their descendants ended up mixing with the Jews, leading to what the Israelites viewed as an inferior half-breed. So much so that they would go out of their way to avoid taking the shorter route from the north to Jerusalem in the south to avoid entering that territory.
      The Chronos Lesson: Throughout Church history, God has restored lost truths at the appointed time. The transition has not always been easy. In fact, the move of God has generally come from outside the established church setting. So often these comforting messages of restoration come from outside the camp, like a voice crying in the wilderness.
         In order to prepare the way for the Lord’s coming, the landscape of people’s hearts need to be changed (Is. 40:3-5). The “highways” of man-made views that have left people in the desert need to be exalted back to God’s truths. Every unbiblical “mountain and hill” must be brought low. The “crooked places” of biblical terms that have been redefined need to be straightened out again. This allows the rough patches of misunderstanding to be evened out.
         This is the ministry God called us to through Chronos Ministries. He called Jeff to teach His people about Christ’s return, with a message of comfort, hope, and victory. The crucial element of the message is the restoration of God’s mystery-plan in terms of God’s predetermined times. That is why our name emphasizes the chronos—the chronological passing of the set times from the beginning to the end.
        It is our experience that once people see the completed prophetic puzzle from the Scriptures, void of any gaps or pieces forced into place, they rejoice. It seems so obvious that they wonder why the Body of Christ didn’t see it sooner. And once they truly see it, they can’t unsee it. Now is the time for the fullness of these truths to be seen.
         We still have work to do before we transition to the time of the end. May we rejoice in the hope that is ours while we endeavor to respond to those around us with a merciful warning of what shall be and cannot be changed.