SCRIPTURES:
Old Testament 
Deuteronomy 30:1-3, 2 Chronicles 6:38, Psalms 110:5-6, Isaiah 4:4, Isaiah 5:3-7, Isaiah 40, Isaiah 44:1-3, Isaiah 66:24, Ezekiel 34:1-2, Daniel 2:44, Amos 9:7-8, Zephaniah 1:14-15, Malachi 3:13-18, Malachi 4:1-6 
New Testament 
Luke 1:14-17, John 1:15

Tim Miller

Covenant

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<li>The Day of the Lord/Messianic Kingdom
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<li>Prophesied restoration of the Kingdom of Eden and the Kingdom of Israel through the Messiah; Bible’s promise of a divinely established “utopia”; the means by which the righteous will be vindicated and the wicked punished</li>
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<li>Malachi 3-4</li>
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13 “You have said harsh things against me,” says the Lord. 
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ 
14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’ ” 
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance (Heb. sēfer zekkārôn; cf. Ex. 32:32, Is. 4:3, Dn. 12:1, Re. 12:12) was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 
17 “They will be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day (the Day of the Lord) when I make up my treasured possession (“my special possession on the day when I act” [RSV, NRSV]; “on the day when I act in judgment” [NLT]). I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked (“between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked” [TEV]), between those who serve God and those who do not. 
 1“Surely the day (the Day of the Lord) is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them (cf. Mt. 3:10—“Even now the axe is ready to strike the root of the trees!” [HCSB]). 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness (Heb. shemesh ṣeḏāqāh—“sun of vindication” [NET]; “my saving power” [TEV]; could also be translated “sun of victory,” or “sun of salvation”) will rise with healing in its wings (driving back the darkness, in which evildoers like to do their work [cf. Jb. 24:13]; sun here being compared to a bird in flight; the sun will “bring healing like the sun’s rays” [TEV]). And you will go out and leap like calves (“free and happy” [TEV]; “leaping with joy” [NLT]) released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day (the Day of the Lord) when I do these things,” says the Lord Almighty. 
4 “Remember the law (Heb. torah—“instruction” [HCSB]) of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. 
5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers (cf. Mal. 2:10—“why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?” [NLT]); or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (Mal. 3:13-4:6, NIV) 
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<li>Alternative translation of Malachi 4:6</li>
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4:6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me (or “he will turn the hearts of the fathers together with those of the children [to me], and the hearts of the children together with those of their fathers [to me]” [NET Bible Notes, Mal. 4:6] LXX verb: apokathistēmi; “restore” [LES]), so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.” (Mal. 4:6, NET)
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<li>1 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind (cf. Mal. 4:4 – “Remember the law of my servant Moses” [NIV]) among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children (cf. Mal. 4:6), and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you (end of exile). (Dt. 30:1-3, ESV)</li>
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<li>In the “spirit and power of Elijah”</li>
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15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:15-17, ESV)
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<li>15 He will be great in the sight of the Lord, you see. He must not drink wine or beer, and he will be filled, while still in his mother’s womb, with the Holy Spirit, 16 and will turn back to the Lord their God many of the people of Israel. 17 He, in fact, will carry out his ministry ahead of the Lord under the power of the Spirit like Elijah (cf. Mal. 4:5), to cause the hearts of the fathers and the children to return (here the verb [epistrephō] is functioning transitively; cf. Mal. 4:6) and cause the disobedient to turn to the ways (or attitude, or mindset, or wisdom, or understanding, or prudence; Gk. phronesis) of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a people thoroughly prepared (i.e., a people who serve God, who believe that it isn’t futile to do so, who are not arrogant or evildoers, who revere His name, who remember what God said through Moses, etc. see above). (Lk. 1:15-17, BHT)</li>
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<li>The Day of the Lord and the Kingdom of God (Messianic Kingdom)</li>
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14 “The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. 15 That day will be a day of wrath…(Zeph. 1:14-15a, NIV)
5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. (Mal. 4:5, NIV)
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Dan. 2:44, NIV)

PUTTING OURSELVES IN THEIR SHOES

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<td valign="top">Matthew 3:1-4, 7-12  (ESV, unless otherwise noted)</td>
<td valign="top">OT Background (Examples)</td>
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<td valign="top">3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent (Gk. metanoeite), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”</td>
<td valign="top">44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Dan. 2:44, NIV)
2 and return (Heb. šûḇ, qal stem) to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you…(Dt. 30:2-3, ESV)
38 if they repent (Heb. šûḇ, qal stem; same meaning, but just without prepositional phrase as at Dt. 30:2) with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive (2 Ch. 6:38, ESV)
For John’s Jewish audience, the remorse/change of mind (Gk. metanoeō) meant turning away from sin/covenant unfaithfulness, and turning back to Yahweh and His commands: “All of you, young and old, forsake all evildoing and turn back to Yahweh! Serve Him and revere His name! For the Kingdom of Israel is about to be restored! For the Kingdom of Israel is about to be restored! The Kingdom of Darkness is about to give way to the Kingdom of Light! For the promised Kingdom of God is going to come with power to destroy every other kingdom!”
“First-century Jewish hearers would have heard in this proclamation a warning of the imminent day of judgment.” (Craig Keener commenting on Jesus’ proclamation of the same message in Mt. 4:17)</td>
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<td valign="top">3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ” 
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<li>BHT: “Make your crooked paths straight for him!’ (see above)</li>
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<td valign="top">Isaiah 40
40:1-2—Comfort Israel/Jerusalem; time of punishment finished
40:3—Quoted here by Matthew
40:4—Every valley and hill raised up, rough ground level
40:5—Glory of the Lord will be revealed; all flesh will see it
40:6-8—All flesh is weak/mortal, but the Lord’s word stands firm forever (“is forever reliable” [NET)
40:9—Good news to Zion/Jerusalem: “Here is your God!” (NASB); “Your God is coming!” [NLT])
40:10—40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; his military power (lit. “his arm”) establishes his rule. Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him (“his recompense accompanies him [NIV]”; “recompense” can refer to reward or punishment, depending on who is being “paid back”). (Is. 40:10, NET)
40:11—Lambs gathered and carried by the Shepherd
40:12-14—Exaltation of the plan/knowledge/purpose/power of Yahweh, the only Creator
Is. 40:15-20—Nations a drop in the bucket; their idols nothing
Is. 40:21-26—The Lord, the incomparable Creator, controls the rise and fall of nations
Is. 40:27-29—In light of this, trust in Him; Israel’s cause not disregarded, He will renew their strength 
“This call to ‘make paths straight’ in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.” (NET Bible Notes, Mt. 3:3)</td>
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<td valign="top">7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?</td>
<td valign="top">1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? (Ezek. 34:1-2, NIV)
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. (Ps. 110:5-6, ESV)</td>
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<td valign="top">8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.</td>
<td valign="top">3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, 
judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?&#8230;7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. (Is. 5:3-4, 7, NIV).
Cf. John’s exhortations in Luke 3</td>
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<td valign="top">9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.</td>
<td valign="top">“9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” says the Lord. “Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir. 9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching the sinful nation, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not completely destroy the family of Jacob,” says the Lord. (Am. 9:7-8, NET)
5 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner.  They do not fear Me,”  says the Lord of Hosts. 6 “Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. (“Since, I, the LORD, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.” [NET]) (Mal. 3:5-6, HCSB)</td>
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<td valign="top">10 Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire (HCSB)</td>
<td valign="top">“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. (Mal. 4:1, NIV)</td>
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<td valign="top">11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.</td>
<td valign="top">1 “But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. 2 This is what the Lord says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. (Is. 44:1-3, NIV)
3 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God….5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”…9…say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. (Is. 40:3, 9c-10, NIV)
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<li>1:15 John testified about him and shouted out, “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ (Jn. 1:15, NET)</li>
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4 The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment. (“by a spirit of judgment and by spirit of burning” [ESV, NASB, HCSB]; “and a spirit of fire” [NIV]; NIV footnote: Or the Spirit) (Is. 4:4, NLT)</td>
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<td valign="top">12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”</td>
<td valign="top">18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked between those who serve God and those who do not. (Mal. 3:18, NIV)
24 “As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never go out, and they will be a horror to all mankind.” (Is. 66:24, HCSB)
“Indeed, John presupposes the harshest view of hell available in his day, since Jewish tradition was far from unanimous concerning its duration.”</td>
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</table>

JOHN THE BAPTIST’S MESSAGE

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