Turning Hearts

Although the dramatic events surrounding the climax of Christ’s earthly ministry—events such as the Crucifixion and the Resurrection—command the attention of believers, there are also prophetic events, albeit somewhat less dramatic ones, that pertain to the launching of Christ’s ministry that certainly warrant the attention of students of Scripture.

Obviously every believer knows full well that Christ came to die on a cross and rise from the grave in order to atone for our sins and establish the means for our redemption and reconciliation to a holy God who loves us. After all, believing this in faith is what makes us “believers” in the first place. So it’s appropriate that the events surrounding the grand finale of His ministry stand front and center. Those final events are why He was born into the world in a body of flesh to begin with.

But there are also things in Scripture connected to the launching of Christ’s ministry that, although prophetically significant, don’t get the same share of the limelight, so to speak. Although that’s perfectly understandable, it’s actually a bit of a shame because...

There are prophecies connected to the launching of Christ’s ministry that shed light on future prophetic events.

The case in point that I want to look at in this article deals with several related Old and New Testament prophecies that are widely acknowledged to relate to the ministry of John the Baptist. What I want to discuss, however, is how it finally hit me that these prophecies that clearly speak to John’s ministry also shed some light on what the Two Witnesses will do during the Tribulation. And it’s something I had never noticed before or heard anyone else talk about before. And when that happens, I always get a weird feeling.

It’s a nagging feeling, but I usually manage to shake it off and press on...and pray “Lord, show me something...give me the words.”

To be honest, I nearly scrapped this article two or three times and defaulted to an “easier” topic. (Lord, show me something...give me the words.)

But I shook it off and pressed on, and so here we are. OK, here’s the plan: We’ll start off with John the Baptist and then circle back for the Two Witnesses.

Preparing the way

Of course, John the Baptist is best known for being the prophet who helped prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah in Israel two thousand years ago, and prepare the hearts of the Jewish people to receive that Messiah. He is also the one who baptized Jesus at the launching of the Lord’s earthly ministry:

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” [See remarks below.] Then he allowed him.

(Matthew 3:13–15 / emphasis & [comments] added)

Note that when Jesus approached John to be baptized, John wasn’t necessarily 100 percent certain He was the Messiah. He did, however, recognize Him as a man whose righteousness exceeded his own and stated that he needed to be baptized by Him. But Jesus insisted they proceed to “fulfill all righteousness,” and one reason He did so was because His baptism served a prophetic function that many miss. I’ve read different opinions on this, but here’s my take:

Prophet, Priest, King: I’ve written about this before, but understand that the ministry of Jesus is divided into three parts: Prophet, Priest, and King. During His earthly ministry, He first fulfilled His role as the Prophet that Moses said would come in the future and that Israel had better listen to if they knew what was good for them (Deut. 18:15). But after He ascended back to heaven, He assumed His role as our High Priest, sitting at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. This will continue throughout the Church Age until the Rapture, after which He will stand down from His role as our High Priest and begin the transition to His role as King. He will take the throne of David after He makes His enemies His footstool during the Tribulation and returns to earth at the Second Coming. Although Jesus didn’t formally assume his duties as our High Priest until He ascended to heaven, His baptism at the outset of His earthly ministry formally qualified Him for it. The point is that such a baptism was required by the Law of Moses for all those who would enter the priesthood, and I believe that’s why Jesus said His baptism “fulfilled all righteousness.”

John had been given a prophetic clue, however, that would enable him to positively identify the Messiah when the time came. John’s Gospel records what John the Baptist said concerning his interactions with Christ:

²⁹The next day, he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him, [note that this is not the “next day” after John baptized Jesus...many commentators believe other context suggests that Jesus was on His way back from His 40 days of testing in the wilderness] and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [John had already pegged Jesus as the Messiah when he baptized Him earlier—here John is just calling attention to what had already been established.] ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ ³¹I didn’t know him, [that is, when Jesus first showed up at the Jordan to be baptized earlier] but for this reason I came baptizing in water, that he would be revealed to Israel.“ [This was John’s prophetic mission in life.] ³²John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. ³³I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ [The Holy Spirit descending upon Christ like a dove and remaining on Him was the clue John had been told to look for to identify the long-awaited Messiah.] ³⁴I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

(John 1:29–34 / emphasis & [comments] added)

As soon as Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove and God spoke from heaven in an audible voice and publicly declared to all those present His approval of His beloved Son. At that point John knew for absolute certain Jesus was the Messiah God had promised to send them.

Hello, Trinity: When Jesus was baptized, Matthew 3:13–17 describes how the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father announced His approval from heaven. The great thing about this scene is that it does something highly unusual in that it incorporates all three members of the Godhead in a manner that men could experience with their senses: God the Father spoke from heaven, God the Son was in the water, and God the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son like a dove. Say hello to the Trinity.

John’s bold proclamation of the coming of the Messiah and his calls for people to prepare their hearts for Him ultimately brought many in Israel to faith in Christ. Unfortunately, it also got him in some serious hot water with the Jewish religious leaders who sought only their own wealth, power, and position.

And ultimately it got him killed.

A prophetic wrinkle

Even though most scripturally knowledgeable believers have a reasonably good handle on John and his ministry, there is what I might call a “prophetic wrinkle” related to John that can cause a bit of confusion. You might say it’s a case where surface similarities can mislead and as a result the full import of an Old Testament prophecy can be missed.

And the full import of that Old Testament prophecy gives us insight into end-time events in a way that most never see coming.

That prophetic wrinkle is what I want to take a closer look at in this article. In order to do that, however, one of the first places we need to go is the last lines of the Old Testament.

Before we go to those last lines of the Old Testament, however, understand that the disciples knew for a fact that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (specifically Isaiah 40:3) that said one would be sent to prepare the way for the Messiah’s first arrival. All four Gospel writers refer to this, but here’s what Matthew has to say:

¹In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, ²And saying, Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [And that’s because the Messiah was at hand.]

³For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias [Isaiah], saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. [This refers to Isaiah 40:3.]

(Matthew 3:1–3 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)

See also Mark 1:2–3, Luke 3:4, and John 1:23, which all dutifully refer to the following prophecy of Isaiah that speaks to John the Baptist:

³The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

(Isaiah 40:3 AKJV)

And that is exactly what John the Baptist started doing several years prior to the beginning of Christ’s public ministry: John launched a ministry that urged the people of Israel to repent of their sins, be baptized in water, and prepare their hearts for the arrival of their long-awaited Messiah...who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit.

But Isaiah isn’t the only Old Testament prophet who spoke of the coming of one like John the Baptist, who would serve to prepare the way for the Messiah’s advent. Malachi also prophesied in connection to John, and for the purposes of this article Malachi is the one I want to focus on. Why?

Because Malachi gives us another intriguing prophecy that also reveals something about what the Two Witnesses do during the Tribulation.

And it’s something that routinely gets missed.

Malachi prophecies concerning John the Baptist in chapter 3:

¹Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:

(Malachi 3:1a / AKJV)

This speaks directly to John the Baptist in much the same way as Isaiah 40:3, stating that one would come as a messenger urging people to prepare their hearts for the Messiah’s arrival. The point is this:

John the Baptist fulfilled both Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1 by preparing the people of Israel for the initial arrival of the Messiah.

That’s exactly what John accomplished in his ministry. Understand that during this general time frame (roughly AD 25–30), Israel was experiencing a spate of full-blown Messiah fever. I’ve written about this before, but many Jewish rabbis taught that there would be a shift to a new millennium around that time, and that the new millennium would be the era of the Messiah. Then when the Romans took control of the region in around AD 6–7, that Messiah fever soon kicked into high gear since the Jewish people were strongly inclined to believe the Messiah would essentially be a second Moses. Since Moses led the nation of Israel out from under the heel of the Egyptians, most assumed the Messiah would similarly come to lead them out from under the heel of the Romans.

My point is that when John started urging the people of Israel to repent of sin and be baptized in water to prepare their hearts for the coming of the promised Messiah, one reason it got a lot of attention was due to the level of messianic buzz in the air, which was stronger than many people realize.

He that has ears to hear: Since I’m in the neighborhood, let me swing by one passage where Jesus says something to His listeners about John the Baptist that some aren’t quite sure how to interpret:

¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴And if you will receive it, this is Elias [Elijah], which was for to come. ¹⁵He that has ears to hear, let him hear. [In other words, either you get it or you don’t.]

(Matthew 11:13–15 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)

Understand that rabbis had taught the people of Israel for the previous four centuries that Malachi meant that the prophet Elijah himself would literally return—not someone else “in the spirit and power of” Elijah. Most people at the time were looking for the literal Elijah the Tishbite, in the flesh. This is one reason many in Israel struggled to believe Christ was the Messiah—they had been taught that Elijah would come before the Messiah. So when they heard people claiming Jesus was the Messiah, they were a little confused...

“Wait a second...how can this Jesus be the Messiah? Elijah has to come first, and all we got is this crazy guy out there eating locusts and baptizing people in the Jordan...and he says he’s not Elijah...so where’s Elijah?”

But as usual, the rabbis were wrong. When Jesus said “if you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah,” He meant that John really was the coming of Elijah Malachi spoke of, but they were going to have to believe this in faith. And if they did believe in faith that John was Elijah, then they could in turn believe in faith that He was the Messiah. Same as always: God just has a thing for faith.

There is a third Old Testament prophecy, however, that is connected to John the Baptist, and it also comes from the pen of Malachi:

⁴Remember you the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. [I included verse 4 to call your attention to the fact that most Bible scholars see the Two Witnesses in the Tribulation as Moses and Elijah...and whaddya know: Here they are, mentioned side by side in the same end-time prophecy. Hmm...what are the odds.]

⁵Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: [this points to the Tribulation] ⁶And he shall (a) turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and (b) the heart of the children to their fathers, [note this last part of the prophecy in v. 6 contains two reciprocal parts] lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

(Malachi 4:4–6 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)

In other words, we have already established that God sent John the Baptist in the spirit and power of Elijah two thousand years ago to help prepare the hearts of the Jewish people for the initial advent of their Messiah in fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. Jesus Himself confirms this:

⁹And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. [They had just witnessed the Transfiguration, where they saw Christ speaking with Moses and Elijah (Matt. 17:1–8).] ¹⁰And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias [Elijah] must first come? ¹¹And Jesus answered and said to them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. ¹²But I say to you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done to him whatever they listed [i.e. whatever they wished]. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. ¹³Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist.

(Matthew 17:9–13 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)

But Malachi 4:5 says God will again send someone in the spirit and power of Elijah before the “great and dreadful day of the LORD,” and this unmistakably points to Daniel’s 70th Week in the last days. But notice what Malachi says this end-time version of Elijah will do:

This Elijah will turn the hearts of

the fathers to the children, and the

hearts of the children to the fathers.

Now, although this second prophecy in Malachi 4:5–6 clearly points to the end times, there is a prophecy in Luke concerning John the Baptist with surface similarities to Malachi 4:6 that can throw people off if they’re not careful.

Luke describes what happened to Zacharias, the priest who would be the father of John the Baptist, as he was carrying out his priestly duties in the temple:

¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell on him. ¹³But the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias: for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elisabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you shall have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, [Elijah] to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, [this repeats the phrasing of the first part of the prophecy in Malachi 4:6—the second part isn’t mentioned] and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

(Luke 1:11–17 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)

An angel of the Lord speaks to Zacharias, and tells him his wife Elizabeth would bear a son, and to name him John. The angel tells Zacharias that his son would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah (again, not Elijah in the flesh), and would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and cause many in Israel to turn to the Lord their God.

Note with care that the angel is only talking about John—this prophecy applies exclusively to him. This only concerns one appearance of someone coming in the spirit and power of Elijah, and that would be the first such appearance: the appearance that preceded Christ’s First Advent. This has nothing to do with the end times, the Tribulation, or the Two Witnesses.

This angel of the Lord is only speaking about John the Baptist.

But notice that this angel only mentions the part about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, but says nothing about turning the hearts of the children to the fathers, as does Malachi 4:5–6...which is aimed at the end times or the Tribulation.

Wait a second...what’s going on here? Malachi 4:5–6 says someone will come in the spirit and power of Elijah in the end times to both (a) turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and (b) turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. Then we turn around and read in Luke 1:17 that John the Baptist will apparently do (a), with no mention of (b).

The angel that spoke to Zacharias about his future son John the Baptist only mentioned the part about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, but doesn’t mention the part about turning the hearts of the children to the fathers. What’s up with that?

Welcome to the wrinkle...I suggest we proceed with caution.

Sorting things out

OK, let’s pause here for a moment and see if we can sort things out, because this can get slightly confusing. And then you hear stuff like this:

“Oh, that angel that spoke to John’s father actually meant that second part about turning the hearts of the children to the fathers, but he just didn’t say it—it’s kinda understood, ya know? So chill out.”

Whenever I get hit with this type of attitude, I know it’s time for me to break out my personal Golden Rule of Bible Interpretation:

The Holy Spirit is a very careful writer.

Throughout Scripture, every word is there

for a reason, and not there for a reason.

That’s the kind of attitude we owe it to ourselves to proceed with when we approach the prophetically confirmed Word of a Creator God.

Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1 don’t really pose any problem...we know John the Baptist fulfilled both during the lead-up to Christ’s ministry two thousand years ago as he prepared the way for Israel to receive their Messiah. So we can safely set those two aside. It’s Malachi 4:5–6 and Luke 17:1 that can cause a wee bit of confusion.

OK, let’s put on our thinking caps:

Malachi 4:5–6 says someone will come in the spirit and power of Elijah in the end times and (a) turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and (b) turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. Then Luke 17:1 says John the Baptist will (a) turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Nothing about (b).

So what can we logically conclude from this?

Well, logically we have no choice but to conclude that (a), or the part about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, is carried out twice: once by John the Baptist two thousand years ago, and a second time by a man who comes in the spirit and power of Elijah in the end times.

A family affair: Before I continue, let me say one thing about this “fathers and children” idea. Many commentators see both of these statements about the turning of hearts as a reference to bringing an end to division within families, and I am content to assume they have a valid point. Jesus did speak of the division within families that would come during and after His earthly ministry (Matt. 10:34–36), so I won’t sit here and say resolving family divisions has nothing to do with this. That’s entirely possible...I just think there’s a bit more to it than that.

But whether this “fathers and children” idea has anything to do with resolving family divisions or not, and it may well, at the very least I am convinced there is a deeper level of interpretation present here.

Throughout the Bible, the term “fathers” is routinely used by the people of Israel to refer to the Patriarchs, or Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Generally, the term “fathers” came to be used in reference to Jewish people who adhered to the Law of Moses. See Luke 11:47; Acts 3:13; Hebrews 1:1, 3:9, etc.

In the New Testament, believers in the gospel are routinely referred to using the word “children.” New Testament Scripture reiterates numerous times that we are His children: children of God, and as such adopted co-heirs with His Son. See Mark 10:24; John 13:33, 21:5; 1 John 4:4, etc.

So, family divisions or no, I believe one can legitimately interpret the words “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children” to also mean to lead Jewish people to accept the truth of what Christ came to do as their promised Messiah. Similarly, I believe one can legitimately interpret the words “turn the hearts of the children to the fathers” to also mean that believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ should love and support Jewish people and help them come to a saving faith in that promised Messiah.

Now, with this idea in mind, it’s very easy and natural to see (a) “turning the hearts of the fathers to the children” being carried out in the days of Christ’s ministry, and again during the Tribulation. Considering the Christ-rejecting condition of the Jewish people over the last two millennia, I’d say a second wave of this is achingly overdue (and is scheduled for the Tribulation, not to put too fine a point on it). And clearly that second wave will come in the form of the Jewish remnant coming to faith in Christ during the Tribulation largely as a result of the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.

Two, not one: Note that I personally don’t see a so-called dual fulfillment here. “Dual fulfillment” is a common situation where one Old Testament prophecy has a near term partial fulfillment and then a more complete future fulfillment. I see Malachi 4:5–6 and Luke 1:17 as two different prophecies that speak of two different people accomplishing similar objectives at two different times. The simple fact that those objectives are described in similar terms (fathers, children, and the turning of hearts) doesn’t require these prophecies to be one and the same...they’re not.

But I am convinced there is a bit more to it than that. Yes, the Jewish remnant will respond to the preaching of the 144,000 and accept the Messiah as their Savior. But as they do so during the first half of the Tribulation, they will also be exposed to the ministry of the Two Witnesses, who are two Jewish men who will come in the spirit and power of (wait for it...)

Moses and Elijah.

And if you believe it’s just a coincidence that Malachi speaks of both Moses and Elijah in the same breath in Malachi 4:4–6 in his prophecy connected with the end times, I can cut you a sweet deal on the bridge of your dreams.

The Two Witnesses

I wrote an article three years ago about the Two Witnesses, and in that article I discuss how the majority of Bible commentators believe the Two Witnesses are two Jewish men who come in the spirit and power of Moses and Elijah during the first half of the Tribulation.

Just to make sure everyone is up to speed on the Two Witnesses and their end-time ministry, I felt compelled to include a brief 1-page summary of their ministry taken from that article:

Around the time of the launching of the Tribulation via the confirmation of the treaty of Daniel 9:27, thanks to the efforts of the charismatic, up-and-coming Antichrist-to-be who is about ready to mount his white horse and go out conquering and to conquer (Rev. 6:2), the Two Witnesses will step forward in Jerusalem and begin to speak to the people of Israel and the world. Like Joshua and Zerubbabel, they will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage Israel in the rebuilding of the temple, and will also testify to the Jews’ many previous failures to honor God and urge them to return to Him in repentance and to embrace His promised Messiah that their forefathers crucified so long ago.

They will warn both Israel and the Gentile world of God’s impending judgment, and reactions will be mixed. Many Jews will be ecstatic over the temple bit, but balk at the Messiah bit. Some will be pierced to the heart and seek God. The world at large will hate them with a burning intensity, because the world hates and rejects Christ and because they will be tormented by the plagues the Two Witnesses will call down upon them on a regular basis.

After 42 months, which places us around the midpoint of the Tribulation, Satan’s man will appear to be killed by a head wound, and Satan will stage a fake “resurrection” that will enable his man to return to duty under Satan’s full possession and control. Now the real beast, the Antichrist will kill the Two Witnesses, who have finished their 42-month ministry and are no longer untouchable as they were during it. The Antichrist wins the praise and gratitude of the whole world by killing the Two Witnesses, and the world will rejoice. The Antichrist will enter the temple in Jerusalem and desecrate it in an act that horrifies the Jews, and he will be presented to the world as God in the flesh, to be worshiped as such on pain of death. And the Antichrist’s 42-month kingdom will be off and running.

After being left out on the streets in full view of the public for three and a half days, the bodies of the Two Witnesses will come to life and God will “rapture” them in full view of a disbelieving world. The believing Jewish remnant will glorify God, and the Antichrist will begin to go after the Jews with a vengeance. The Jews will flee Jerusalem for their lives and the most severe period of judgment the Jews and the world will ever know will kick off: the second half of the Tribulation, aka the Great Tribulation.

Now, that’s all well and good, but when I wrote that article three years ago the prophecies of Malachi were the furthest thing from my mind. But now, however, the connections to Malachi are crystal clear to me.

The Two Witnesses are indeed two Jewish men who will come in the spirit and power of Moses and Elijah during the Tribulation (and forgive me if I refer to them simply as the “Moses Guy” and the “Elijah Guy”):

• The Moses Guy will remind the Jewish people of how badly they have twisted, contorted, added to, subtracted from, and generally failed to obey God’s Law they received from Moses...not to mention how they gutted it of God’s grace and mercy and replaced it with unparalleled levels of legalism. He will remind them how badly they failed to honor their covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

• The Elijah Guy will boldly confront the Jewish people with their stark need for repentance and the salvation found only through faith in none other than Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, the Messiah their ancestors rejected and executed like a common criminal two thousand years ago. He will urge the Jewish people to listen to the 144,000 and receive their true Messiah and believe in faith in the atonement for their sin He purchased for them with His blood.

In this sense, we could say he is fulfilling the first part of Malachi 4:6 by turning the hearts of the fathers to the children in a manner parallel to what John the Baptist did for the people of Israel two thousand years ago.

But wait...that’s not all.

I am convinced that the Elijah Guy will also be urging and encouraging Gentile believers (i.e. Tribulation saints—the Church will be long gone) to support, protect, and assist in any way possible these new Jewish believers that constitute the believing Jewish remnant (actions that will put their lives in danger), thus fulfilling the second part of Malachi 4:6 by turning the hearts of the children to the fathers.

No? Consider: This is precisely what we see Gentile Tribulation saints being rewarded for after the Second Coming at the Sheep and Goat Judgment in Matthew 25:31–46. I’ve written about the Sheep and Goat Judgment before, but here’s the part that speaks of those who did what I just described, or the sheep (the goats, who failed to do so, don’t make out quite as well):

³¹But when the Son of Man comes in his glory [i.e. after the Second Coming], and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

³⁴Then the King will tell those on his right hand [Gentile Tribulation saints who aided Jewish believers, or the sheep—here, the “children”], “Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; [the sheep are in like Flynn...why?] ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. ³⁶I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.” ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?” ⁴⁰The King will answer them, “Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” [And why did these “children” risk their lives to do such things? Because they allowed their hearts to be turned toward Christ’s brothers: Jewish converts who are among the believing Jewish remnant, who are the “fathers” here.]

(Matthew 25:31–40 / emphasis & [comments] added)

And voilà: the pieces

come together—it all fits.

Different views from different pews

Before I bring this in for a landing, let me again emphasize one thing. I am fully aware that other good Bible teachers and commentators have different views on a couple of the ideas I have discussed in this article. And that’s fine, because none of us (I hope) are claiming to know all the answers.

At least I’m certainly not.

All any of us can do is study the Word and do our best to give the Holy Spirit half a chance to guide and enlighten us.

For example, while working on this article, I discovered to my surprise that there are good, competent Bible commentators whose interpretation of the following verse is quite different from my own:

⁵Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

(Malachi 4:5 AKJV)

They do not interpret the words “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” as referring to the end times, or to any part of the Tribulation. Instead they view it as referring to the time of Christ’s earthly ministry two thousand years ago, or part of a longer age that began around that time. By doing so, they are able to pin all the prophecies of Malachi we have discussed in this article to John the Baptist, and as a result eliminate any connection to the end times.

Or hey, let’s just eliminate the end times altogether. Gotta admit...that does simplify things considerably.

End the end times: Maybe we should just jettison all that harebrained tinfoil-hattery about the Rapture, the Tribulation, and Christ returning at its climax. All that has become such a foolish distraction for the Church! We need to get out there and Christianize a lost and dying world through our own efforts and take over those Seven Mountains of society. We need to get this world up to scratch so Jesus can return to rule it some fine day in the sweet by and by...yeah baby, that’s the ticket.

Sigh... They are welcome to their opinion—I just don’t see it that way. Different views from different pews and all that. But since so many commentators see it that way, I feel compelled to offer a response:

The day of the LORD is referred to many times in the Bible, and it can refer to several different periods of time, depending on the context. I have written about this topic before, and I finally came to the studied conclusion that the “typical” reference to the day of the LORD, unless context clearly indicates otherwise, refers to a period of time that begins with the Rapture, includes the seven-year Tribulation and the Second Coming, and extends through the entire Millennial Kingdom.

Oh, but Malachi isn’t just talking about the day of the LORD. Oh no. He’s talking about ~ THE GREAT AND DREADFUL ~ day of the LORD. And many people just toss this off as if it didn’t mean a blessed thing.

But I believe that is a substantive interpretational gaffe. The Hebrew word typically translated as “dreadful” or “terrible” in verse 5 (a form of yare’) means to fill with terror, dread, or fearful reverence. Again: Every word is there for reason, and not there for a reason. So why is it there? I am convinced that verse 5 refers to the Great Tribulation—and frankly it strikes me that verses 1–3 do as well. But if you honestly don’t believe the Holy Spirit has the second half of the Tribulation in mind, no problemo...I’ll just quietly gather up my things and leave you to it.

Now, in regard to what time Malachi is referring to when he says “before the great and dreadful day of the LORD,” time for a pop quiz:

Q. What period of time comes before the second half of the Tribulation?

Steady as she goes now...this gets deep. OK, ready?

A. The first half of the Tribulation.

In other words, the same period of time I just discussed as being when the Two Witnesses come in the spirit and power of Moses and Elijah to both turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and turn the hearts of the children to the fathers, as I delineated above.

Hey, if you see all this differently, that’s perfectly fine...but at least this helps explain why I see it the way I do. Whatever way you choose to interpret the details of these prophecies, however, one thing is crystal clear:

People began turning their hearts during Christ’s ministry two thousand years ago, have continued turning their hearts ever since, and will continue turning their hearts well into the Tribulation.

And pardon me if I dispense with all this “fathers and children” stuff:

I mean turning their hearts to Christ.

However you wish to interpret this idea of fathers turning their hearts to the children and children turning their hearts to the fathers, and no matter how you may interpret some of the verses of Scripture we have looked at in this article, the bottom line has never changed:

Turning your heart to Christ

is ultimately the only kind of

heart-turning that matters.

From Greg Lauer @ A Little Strength—FEB '26

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