Week of 3/3-3/9: Scattered - Further Restoration Awaited

Day Three: Malachi 4:4-6 “Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to [their] children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

ANTICIPATION IS ONE OF THE NEATEST, most enjoyable human emotions we experience. To anticipate something is usually good, because to not anticipate something would be dread or indifference. So to anticipate something implies that you look forward to it, you are excited about it, or you long for it.

We can anticipate a lot of things. If you have not eaten all day, you may anticipate a nice dinner. If you have not bathed or showered in a week, you may anticipate a hot shower. If you have not seen your spouse or significant other in a few days, you may anticipate your reunion. We anticipate many different things.

The people of Israel were left a prophecy that fueled anticipation. The last recorded words of the Old Testament, given by the prophet Malachi, told of a prophet like Elijah who would come, and whose coming would inaugurate the kingdom of God and the great day of the Lord’s grace. They lived for more than 400 years anticipating this promise to be fulfilled. The reason for their anticipation was the desire to see reconciliation occur between God and man, which Jesus Christ would bring. He would also bring reconciliation between men.

Today, we live in the reality of this world. Christ has come and made reconciliation to God and man possible for us. But we too live in anticipation, waiting for His final return, and the ultimate reconciliation that will bring.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷How has Christ brought reconciliation between God and man? How have you experienced that reconciliation?

▷▷What will the ultimate reconciliation between God and man look like?

▷▷How do we live in anticipation for that ultimate reconciliation?