And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Luke 1:17
The angel Gabriel is quoting the prophet Malachi, from the very last verse of the Old Testament.
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.
Malachi 4:6
By the way, in Zacharias’ day this wasn’t just the Old Testament, this promise was the last words of God – and about 400 years old.
To modern readers, this is like reading the Mayflower Compact from 400 years ago (the guiding principles of the founders of our country). So much changes in 400 years. But the difference was not just one group of historically significant people contributed this document to our history – the Malachi prophecy was the words of Almighty God!
Zacharias wasn’t just having a baby boy – he was having the foretold messenger that was prophesied 400 years ago.
But that task that John the Baptist began is still not done.
$100,000,000,000. That’s One Hundred Billion Dollars. According to a government research study, that’s the cost of abstenee fathers. We need the hearts of the fathers turned to the children today. Let’s pray that God will continue His work and can use us in His ministry.
