(430 B.C.)
18
Malachi 2:8 You have made the many stumble at your
rulings…
You disregard My ways…
You have wearied the Lord, with your
talk.
But you ask, "By what have we
wearied Him?"
By saying, "All who do evil are good
in the sight of the Lord,"
And in them He delights, or else,
"Where is the God of Justice?"
God explains through His prophet exactly what it is that "His people" do that He finds so displeasing: The lack of justice makes "many stumble at your rulings" God says to man. "The disregard of His Ways" means the lack of compassion and love as well as of justice. On top of it all, the people show no understanding of what they are doing wrong and "weary" God with incredible statements such as "all who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord" and "where is the God of Justice?" In the first instance, this means that the people mistake evil for good, as evidenced by the false shepherds, they follow and support. In the second instance, the people project their own failings onto God Himself blaming for their own failures, thus washing their hands clean of all responsibility. And so it is, we so easily deceive ourselves, preferring fantasy to reality. Living honestly and sincerely requires effort, courage, and self-sacrifice. Rather than an escape from reality, the opiate of the masses, true religion requires the full engagement of reality with body, mind and spirit. Malachi continues:
Malachi 3:1 Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he will prepare the
way
Septuagint before me: and the Lord you
seek, shall suddenly come into his
temple, even the angel (messenger) of the
covenant; whom you
take pleasure in: Behold, He is coming,
saith the Lord Almighty.
(Parenthesis from Amplified Bible)
God is speaking through Malachi:
"Behold, I send my messenger…" The messenger of the first sentence is
either John the Baptist or the "greater" John the Baptist to come,
both of whom are sent to announce the coming of a Son of God. First Jesus, and
then later Melchizedek in the Messianic period forthcoming. Just as John the
Baptist "prepared the way before" the Lord, Jesus; the "greater
John the Baptist" to come (final prophet) will "prepare the way
before" the Lord, Melchizedek. This verse, "Behold I send My
messenger," can apply equally to both messengers (prophets). This
similarity between the two prophets is why The Urantia Book refers to the final
prophet as "another and greater John the Baptist" to come.
The next key phrase is "the angel (messenger) of
the covenant" which appears to be an alternate designation for the
"Lord" who comes "suddenly to the temple" in the previous
sentence. The messenger of the covenant is a divine being as indicated by the
alternate translation "angel" for "messenger," given in the
Amplified Bible translation. The covenant is the agreement between man and God
that Melchizedek brings to Abraham. The divine, messenger (angel) of the
covenant is then Melchizedek and once again, we independently identify
Melchizedek with "the Lord/Messiah." Remember, Melchizedek was
referred to as "the angel of the Lord" by the writers/editors of
Genesis according to The Urantia Book. The angel (messenger)
of the covenant is Melchizedek and the author of the covenant
is God. Now lets rewrite the passage:
Malachi 3:1 Behold I (God) send forth my messenger
(final prophet) and he will
prepare the way before me: and the Lord
you seek, shall suddenly
come into his temple, even the angel of
the covenant (Melchizedek);
who you take pleasure in. Behold, he
(Melchizedek) is coming,
saith the Lord Almighty (God).
(Parentheses mine)
Next we have:
Malachi 3:5 But first I will step forward to contend
against those who have no
fear of me: who practice sorcery, who
commit adultery, who swear
falsely, who cheat laborers of their
hire, and who subvert the cause
of the widow, orphan, and stranger – said
the Lord of Hosts…
The immediate and direct confrontation with the enemies of God describes Melchizedek’s rather than Jesus’ mission. Who are these enemies? None other than the present power elite of our world; our political, financial and intellectual controllers in positions of power; often behind the scene and out of view.
Malachi 3:7 From the very days of your fathers you
have turned away from
My laws and have not observed them. Turn
back to Me and I will
turn back to you…
Malachi 3:11 I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour
down
boundless blessings.
Malachi 3:13 You have spoken hard words against Me – said the Lord.
You have said, "It is useless to
serve God…" "And so we account
the arrogant happy because they
have done evil and endured; they
have dared God and escaped…" But
for you who revere My name, a sun
of victory shall
rise to bring healing.
God tells us that our rebellion from his laws/ways has been from the ancient times of Israel to present. He does not want to see anybody suffer or "be punished." He simply wants us to turn back to Him for our own good. All who respect and revere God’s name are invited to be healed, made whole, and welcomed into the kingdom of God. Malachi ends with the well known:
Malachi 3:23 Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you
before the coming of
the awesome, fearful day of the Lord. He
shall reconcile fathers
and sons and sons with their fathers, so
that, when I come, I do
not strike the whole land with
destruction.
God tells us in the final stanza that He will raise up and send a final prophet "Elijah" before the coming of the Lord (Melchizedek). Who is this "Elijah" and why is he called by this prophet’s name? John the Baptist came before the Lord (Jesus) but he was not "the Elijah" to come. John the Baptist:
UB 1499 was especially impressed by Isaiah and by Malachi…He read and
re-read the last five chapters of Isaiah…Then he would read in Malachi
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of…the
Lord."…John’s expectation of the coming of Elijah held him back (from
proclaiming the kingdom) for more than two years. He knew he was not
Elijah…He finally dared to think that the first of the
prophets was called
Elijah that the last of the prophets (himself) would be known by the same
name. Nevertheless, he had doubts, doubts sufficient to prevent him from
ever calling himself Elijah.
…Also consider:
UB 1754 …the three apostles perceived that He (Jesus) referred to
John the Baptist
as Elijah. Jesus knew that if they (the apostles) insisted on regarding him
as the Messiah, then must John be the Elijah of the prophecy.
(My parentheses)
In other words Jesus knew he himself was not the Messiah and that John was not the "Elijah" to come prophesied in Malachi. Jesus agreed to the use of the reference to Elijah only because he knew the apostles insisted on viewing himself as the Messiah. Elijah comes before the Messiah, identified previously as Melchizedek. Therefore, "Elijah" comes before Melchizedek and is the messianic final prophet. Also, ends of ages are very similar. John the Baptist was certainly the Elijah-type prophet for his end of the age, completed in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. In fact, The Urantia Book tells us that:
UB 1866
Sooner or later another
and greater John the Baptist is due to arise
proclaiming the
‘Kingdom of God is at hand,’…Just as John did.
And so we can see that the
Messianic final prophet will in some ways be like John the Baptist and also
like Elijah in other ways as well.
The Urantia Book calls the final prophet to come "another and greater John the Baptist" because this prophet, like John the Baptist, will also "prepare the way of the Lord," this time the way of the Lord Melchizedek instead of the Lord Jesus. But why is this final prophet called "Elijah" in Malachi? First we need to know more about Elijah himself. The Urantia Book tells us:
UB 1064 In the tenth century before Christ, the Hebrew nation became
divided into two kingdoms (north and south)…many truth teachers
endeavored to stem the reactionary tide of spiritual decadence that
had set in…but these efforts did not prosper until that fearless
warrior for righteousness, Elijah, began his teaching…he was
kept busy…overthrowing the altars of Baal and demolishing the
idols of false gods. He carried forward his reforms in the face of
the opposition of an idolatrous monarch; his task was even more
gigantic and difficult than that which Samuel had faced.
(See same page for more information on Baal).
UB 1074
Thus Elijah, one of the greatest prophets, began his teaching as
a defender of the old land mores… and against the attempt of the
cities to dominate the country… But by this time there ruled in Samaria a
gangster nobility…State and church went along hand in hand. The
attempt to suppress freedom of speech led Elijah, Amos, and Hosea
to begin their secret writing, and this was
the real beginning of The
Jewish and Christian Bibles.
UB 514
Elijah was a
translated soul of brilliant spiritual achievement
during the post-material Son (Adam) age.
From scripture we have the following about Elijah:
1Kings17:2-24 he restores a widow’s dead son to life.
1Kings17:1
he declares
a drought of approximately two years and ends it with
his
prayer.
1Kings 17:1-7 he is miraculously fed by ravens in the wilderness.
1Kings he is persecuted by the corrupt King Ahab.
1Kings 18 He arranges, on Mount Carmel, a contest between the priests of Baal
(450 priests) and the true God. Priests of Baal ask Baal to send down
fire on
their sacrifice. After hours of trying, no response is obtained.
Elijah is successful and the sacrifice is
burned in a large flame of fire
immediately
after Elijah asks the true God to do this. Elijah and the
people who
witness the result, seize the prophets of Baal and slaughter
them.
1Kings 17:14 he multiplies food of a widow (flour and oil) miraculously.
1Kings 17:9 he converses with "the Lord" in a cave on Mount Horeb.
In summary, the main
characteristics of Elijah are courage in the face of overwhelming odds,
miraculous activities, being taken up in a "chariot of fire," and
persecution by the highest leader in the land, King Ahab. He also stands up
against the entire ancient world single-handedly. Perhaps these will give us
clues about the characteristics of the "Elijah" to come.
The final
prophet is referred to by many different names. The Urantia Book calls him "another and greater John the
Baptist." Isaiah refers to him as "God’s servant." Malachi calls
him "Elijah." The Dead Sea Scrolls refer to him as "the
interpreter of the law" and "the Priest." 1Enoch calls him "the dabela" which is a mountain goat
with a large single horn. The names are different but the activities and the
messianic time of his appearance are all the same. We will return to this topic
elsewhere.