The document summarizes passages from Joel and Malachi about prophecies relating to John the Baptist and Jesus. 1) Malachi prophesied a messenger would prepare the way for God, which was fulfilled by John the Baptist. Jesus confirmed John was the promised messenger. 2) Malachi also prophesied Elijah would return before Judgment Day, which Jesus said was fulfilled by John the Baptist, who came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare for the Messiah. 3) Joel prophesied God would pour out his Spirit on all people, which Peter cited as being fulfilled at Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection.

1. Journey Through the Bible
The Last Prophets:
Joel and Malachi
Bible Readings: Malachi 3:1 - 4:6 Page 676
Luke 1:8 - 17, 57-79 Page 723
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2. • The appearance of John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy in Malachi
3:1
• “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before
me.Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple.
The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is
surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” (Malachi 3:1, NLT)2
Joel
Malachi
400
Matthew
John the Baptist
Tuesday, 23 December 2014

3. • Jesus told the crowds that John
the Baptist was this
messenger,“John is the man to
whom the Scriptures refer
when they say,‘Look, I am
sending my messenger ahead
of you, and he will prepare
your way before
you.’” (Matthew 11:10, NLT)
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4. • In the second to last verse in the Old
Testament the Lord promised
“Look, I am sending you the prophet
Elijah before the great and dreadful day of
the Lord arrives.” (Malachi 4:5, NLT)
• Jesus' disciples directly asked Him about
this prophecy,“Then His disciples asked
Him,“Why do the teachers of religious
law insist that Elijah must return before
the Messiah comes?”
Jesus replied,“Elijah is indeed coming first
to get everything ready. But I tell you,
Elijah has already come, but he wasn’t
recognized, and they chose to abuse him.
And in the same way they will also make
the Son of Man suffer.” Then the disciples
realized he was talking about John the
Baptist.” (Matthew 17:10–13, NLT)
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5. • God is the same in the Old
Testament and the New
Testament.
• The Old Testament keeps
pointing forward to the New
Testament and the New
Testament keeps pointing
back to the Old Testament.
• The Old and the New belong
to each other like the roots
and the trunk of a tree.
The Old Testament is the
deep root without which the
trunk and branches – the
New Testament would not
exist.
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6. • Joel lived around 500 BC
• Three chapters
• Joel begins with a description
of a devastating plague of
locusts that hit Israel just
after a terrible drought.
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7. • “Hear this, you elders; listen, all who
live in the land. Has anything like this
ever happened in your days or in the
days of your forefathers?” (Joel 1:2,
NIV84)
• “Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail
because of the new wine, for it has
been snatched from your lips.A
nation has invaded my land, powerful
and without number; it has the teeth
of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.
It has laid waste my vines and ruined
my fig trees. It has stripped off their
bark and thrown it away, leaving
their branches white.”
(Joel 1:5–7, NIV84)
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8. • “The Lord announces to his
people,“Return to me with all your
heart.There is still time. Do not eat
any food. Sob and cry.” Don’t just
tear your clothes to show how sad
you are. Let your hearts be broken.
Return to the Lord your God. He is
gracious. He is tender and kind. He
is slow to get angry. He is full of
love. He takes pity on you. He won’t
destroy you.
Who knows? He might turn toward
you and have pity on you. He might
even give you his blessing.Then you
can bring grain offerings and drink
offerings to the Lord your
God.” (Joel 2:12–14, NIrV)
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9. • “So I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has
eaten,The crawling locust,The
consuming locust,And the chewing
locust, My great army which I sent
among you.
You shall eat in plenty and be
satisfied,And praise the name of
the Lord your God,Who has dealt
wondrously with you;And My
people shall never be put to
shame.
Then you shall know that I am in
the midst of Israel: I am the Lord
your God And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to
shame.” (Joel 2:25–27, NKJV)
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10. • ““And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on
all people.Your sons and daughters will
prophesy, your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions. Even on my
servants, both men and women, I will pour
out my Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28–29,
NIV84)
• “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised
his voice and addressed the crowd:“Fellow
Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let
me explain this to you; listen carefully to what
I say .. . . . . . . this is what was spoken by the
prophet Joel:“ ‘In the last days, God says, I will
pour out my Spirit on all people.Your sons
and daughters will prophesy, your young men
will see visions, your old men will dream
dreams. Even on my servants, both men and
women, I will pour out my Spirit in those
days, and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:14–18,
NIV84)
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11. • The promise of the Holy Spirit could not have
happened before Jesus came and died for sin.
• By taking our sin upon himself Jesus broke
down the barrier of sin between man and God
that had existed from the moment Adam and
Eve chose to disobey God.
• The pouring out of the Holy Spirit was what
all of history had been moving toward.
• From the moment the first man and woman
sinned God started His great plan of
restoration through the long years of the Old
Testament.
• God moved history toward the day of
Pentecost. Now we live in the days after
Pentecost.
• The next great appointment in God's calendar:
the Day of the Lord,The Day of Judgement.
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12. • Following the ultimate promise of
restoration is the promise of the
ultimate Day of Judgement.
• “I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth, blood and fire and
billows of smoke.The sun will be
turned to darkness and the moon to
blood before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the Lord.And
everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord will be saved; for on Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem there will be
deliverance, as the Lord has said,
among the survivors whom the Lord
calls.” (Joel 2:30–32, NIV84)
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13. • “Immediately after the
tribulation of those days the
sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken.Then
the sign of the Son of Man
will appear in heaven, and
then all the tribes of the earth
will mourn, and they will see
the Son of Man coming on
the clouds of heaven with
power and great
glory.” (Matthew 24:29–30,
NKJV
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14. • Malachi lived around 450-400
BC the last of the Old
Testament prophets. He too
has his prophetic eye on the
Day of judgement and how
people should prepare.
• Through Malachi the Lord
brings three main charges
against His people and their
attitude toward Him.
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15. • “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the
priests:“A son honours his father, and a
servant respects his master. If I am your
father and master, where are the honor
and respect I deserve?You have shown
contempt for my name! “But you ask,
‘How have we ever shown contempt for
your name?’” (Malachi 1:6, NLT)
• They offered animals for sacrifice that
were lame, blind or diseased - animals
that were of no value or use to them.
• They were supposed to offer the very
best, the first born male.
• The application to the present day is
giving to the Lord what we don't need.
Eg. Praying or worshipping “when we
have spare time.”
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16. • “Here is another thing you do.
You cover the Lord’s altar with
tears, weeping and groaning
because he pays no attention to
your offerings and doesn’t
accept them with pleasure.You
cry out,“Why doesn’t the Lord
accept my worship?” I’ll tell you
why! Because the Lord
witnessed the vows you and
your wife made when you were
young. But you have been
unfaithful to her, though she
remained your faithful partner,
the wife of your marriage
vows.” (Malachi 2:13–14, NLT)
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17. • “Will a man rob God?Yet you
have robbed Me! But you say,‘In
what way have we robbedYou?’
In tithes and offerings.You are
cursed with a curse, For you
have robbed Me, Even this
whole nation.
• Bring all the tithes into the
storehouse,That there may be
food in My house,
• And try Me now in this,” Says
the Lord of hosts,“If I will not
open for you the windows of
heaven And pour out for you
such blessing That there will not
be room enough to receive
it.” (Malachi 3:8–10, NKJV)
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18. • The core issue was trust.They thought
they needed 100% of what they earned
and could not afford to give God 10%.
• God promised that if they could only
trust Him and give Him the 10% then
He would bless them so that they would
always have enough.
• The Lord invited the people to test Him.
• It is the only time that God invites
people to test Him; see if He really can
do what He promises.
• In all other things God expects us to
trust Him by faith. But He knows that
when it comes to money we need
concrete proof. Try it.
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19. The End of the
Old Testament
•Malachi 4:1-6
Page 677
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