Scripture: Malachi 4 v 5 - 6: (Luke 1 v 17)
"Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers
to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come
and smite the Earth with a curse.
Matthew 11 v 13 -14:
"For all the prophets and the law prophesied till
John, and if you will receive it, this was Elias (Elijah) for to come."
After the passage of scripture in Malachi, Israel did not
hear from God for 400 years. There were
no more prophets, just silence from Heaven.
The Lord was creating a hunger in the hearts of His people, who had
played hot and cold with Him over the preceding time since the garden of
Eden.
To those who respected His Word, God promised that the
Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings would come. He also told them
that He would send Elijah before the day of reckoning. Elijah was one of the
most powerful prophets of the Old Testament. He never saw death, being taken to
Heaven in the chariots of fire as witnessed by Elisha.
Jesus reveals in Matthew that John the Baptist was
Elijah. He is a member of the Order of Melchisedech described in Hebrews 7 who
have "multiple entry visas" to Earth.
So was Moses. And both of them appeared with Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration and will be with us in the first half of the Tribulation as the
two prophets of Revelation 11.
So the first words Israel heard after 400 years of
silence from God was "His name shall be John" from the mouth of
Zachariah his father, who had been struck dumb for the entire pregnancy. Zachariah was the High Priest of Israel that year and while he was alone in the Temple the angel
Gabriel appeared to him.
Gabriel told him that he would have a son whose name must
be John. Zachariah did not believe this as he and his wife were now old. For
his unbelief he was struck dumb until the baby was born. His silence was broken
when he said "His name shall be John."
The next words from God were through the mouth of John
himself: "Repent" and "Behold the Lamb of God who comes to take
away the sin of the world." Our God knows how to set the scene for maximum
impact. He used His silence to prepare Israel for the blessing of Jesus.
And the Israelites repented and were baptised for the
remission of sins, and Jesus lived among them - the Son of Righteousness with
healing in His hands. He came to save the world from an eternity in the fires
of Hell and to bring them to being born again as a new creation of being, those
who are forgiven and cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb. Those who worship the
Father and the Lamb and have no other gods.
Many cling to Mary and have elevated her to godlike
status not realising she was also in the Upper Room (Acts 1 v 13-14) and
received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues. So she was born
again just like all of us need to be. Its the only way to have your name
written in the Lamb's Book of Life, which is your entry to Heaven.
So if you are not hearing from God; if you don't hear the
voice of Jesus guiding you; if the Holy Spirit is not flowing through you to
bring people to the Cross, where you confess your sins to God, not man, to be
forgiven for all eternity, you need to examine your heart and make some
changes.
Another desire and even command of God is to restore
Fathers and Childrens relationships. The Lord saw that the enemy was unleashing
terrible attacks to divide family units through divorce and remove the head of
the family to destabilize this vital structure in the growth of children into
mature adulthood. So if there is silence between you and your children pray to
our Father to make a way to restore love and communication with them.
Prayer: Father God silence from You is a wake up call
that big changes are needed in our lives as we prepare for the coming of Jesus,
first when He raptures the church and second when He rescues Israel from the
destruction from the rest of the world in the battle of Armageddon. Help us to
help others who don't hear from You. In
Jesus' name. Amen.