The Bible is one story. There may be many stories within its pages but they are all connected to the one story, that of redemption. More than a score of authors contributing sixty-six books over a period of more than a thousand years all contribute to that one story. Let me give you one example of that from last Sunday.
In Luke 1 the angel Gabriel is dispatched to the temple to give Zechariah an important message announcing the birth of John the Baptist. John the Baptist will go forth “in the Spirit and power of Elijah,” thus fulfilling the word of God spoken to Malachi—the last words of the Old Testament.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”—Malachi 4:5-6
Those final words of the Old Testament, specifically that last line of verse 6, are important. The implication is that unless God acts, unless God sends Elijah back to Israel to turn the hearts of the people, God will have to act against the land in judgment. In his grace God is intervening to stave off the inevitable judgment that their rebellion will incur.
In Hebrew this statement is very interesting because in Hebrew there is only one word that is sometimes translated “land” and sometimes translated “earth” depending on context. “Land” is obviously the best translation here, by virtue of that context. But the similarity in wording cannot help but remind us of God’s promise in Genesis 8 immediately after the flood.
And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth.—Genesis 8:21
So what is God saying? Threat of judgment alone does not deter sin for long nor change man’s heart. To be sure, it can act as a deterrent for evil actions for a time, but it cannot change an evil heart. Judgment by itself cannot fix what sin has done to creation. If all God does is judge, then the Serpent has won. What God is going to do, then, will go beyond that. This happens at the end of Genesis chapter 8, and in chapter 9 God will institute the Noahic covenant, or covenant of common grace. That covenant is a promise not to again destroy the earth until God’s gracious work of redemption is complete. God’s judgment is just, but it is through redemption, not judgment, that the Serpent will be defeated.
Back to Malachi 4 and those last words of the Old Testament…
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”—Malachi 4:5-6
Lest my justice require condemnation on the earth once again, I will intervene graciously on behalf of my people and send Elijah to turn their hearts, to prepare the way for my coming, so that my coming for them might be a thing of joy and gladness, not judgment and destruction. And that’s what Gabriel is announcing to Zechariah in the holy place. God is keeping his word and working to redeem his people in spite of themselves, and the coming of John the Baptist fulfills not only the promises of God in Malachi, but also those in Genesis 8 and 9. In fact, it goes all the way back to Genesis 3. The Bible is one story and that story is the story of redemption.