Luke 1:16-17
Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous– to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John’s role was to be almost identical to that of Elijah; to encourage people to turn away from sin and back to the Lord their God. The angel explained to Zechariah John would go before God in the spirit and power of Elijah, a great prophet who was known for not mincing words and for standing up to evil rulers.

John’s mission would be to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.

The first part of this phrase comes directly from the prophecy of the Messiah’s forerunner found in Malachi 4:5-6, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets who ever lived. With Malachi’s death, the voice of God’s prophets would be silent for 400 years. Then a prophet would come, like Elijah, to herald Christ’s coming. This prophet was John the Baptist.

John prepared people’s hearts for Jesus by urging people to repent of their sins.

Christ’s coming would bring unity and peace, but also judgment on those who refused to turn from their sins.

God is at work and the world is about to change – forever!

Do you think God is about to change the world forever once again by sending His Son a second time?