When “Fathers” and “Children” Drift Apart
Hey Friends,
What I want to share with you today came out of my prayer time during a work trip to Uganda. It’s a fresh appreciation for a scripture I thought I knew well—but I was mistaken. And the implications are cosmic in scale. They should cause all of us to pause and reflect.
It’s the final recorded words of God in the Old Testament, spoken through the prophet Malachi:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
— Malachi 4:5–6
This is a chilling way for God to end the Old Testament.
What I Used To Think
For years, I understood this verse as being about the restoration of the nuclear family, specifically, the relationship between fathers and their sons.
And for good reason.
In his book Raising a Modern-Day Knight, Robert Lewis makes the sobering observation that a vast majority of societal turmoil is caused by men.
A study in the United States found that men commit 75–90% of all major crimes, 97% of all rapes, 72% of all offences against the family, and make up 75% of drunk drivers.
I still believe that if fathers and sons got things right, our world would look very different. We should absolutely strive for healthy relationships between men and their sons.
However, this isn’t what Malachi is addressing here, and it’s not what brings about the curse God warns of.
So What Is God Addressing?
Sometime after Israel’s return from exile in Babylon, the people completed the rebuilding of the temple, encouraged by the prophetic voices of Haggai and Zechariah, and supported by the leadership and teaching of Nehemiah and Ezra.
Zechariah had declared that with the completion of the temple, marvellous messianic promises would be fulfilled.
But those promises didn’t seem to be coming to pass in timing or in form. God had not restored the covenant blessings in the way the people had expected.
So Malachi, writing shortly afterward, called the people to repentance. He addressed corruption in the priesthood, routine and lifeless worship, rampant divorce, widespread injustice, and neglected tithing (see Crossway Bibles).
My Current Understanding
As I reread Malachi during that trip, I was struck by a new understanding. I realised that the “fathers” in this passage refer not to biological fathers but to Moses and the prophets. And the “children” are the people of Israel.
God is calling His lukewarm people to realign their hearts with the words and ways of the fathers the ones to whom God personally gave His revelation, once and for all, so that His people would live by it.
Moses received the Law directly from God on the mountain. The prophets received the Word of the Lord through dreams, visions, and oracles.
This is why, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus speaks with “the fathers”: Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, representing the Prophets.
The “fathers” embody the heart and mind of God.
When God’s people deviate from the Word and the ways of the fathers (which are ultimately the Word and ways of God), that deviation brings about the curse.
Israel’s Worship and the Curse
God was telling Israel that:
- If the priests do not perform their duties in reverence and awe, rooted in love for His goodness and aligned with the Law and the Prophets, a curse will come.
- If the people do not honour and worship God from the heart, and instead go through the motions, a curse will come.
- If they continue breaking their marriage covenants and divorcing without cause, a curse will come.
- If they allow unbelief and cynicism toward God and His promises to take root, a curse will come.
- If they forget that vertical worship cannot exist without horizontal justice for the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the marginalised—a curse will come.
- If they hoard their economic power and neglect the support of ministry and the care of the poor, a curse will come.
God’s Promises Include Warnings
We often think of God’s promises only in terms of blessings. But some of His promises are warnings—curses, even. And that includes the New Testament.
“If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.”
— 1 Corinthians 3:17
This was written to the disciples of Jesus in the house churches of Corinth.
So back in Malachi, the promise was:
If they don’t walk in the Word and ways of the fathers, a curse will come.
And God did keep the first part of the promise: He sent Elijah fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist.
John’s mission was to call Israel back to the heart of the fathers, to Moses and the Prophets.
But they refused to change.
Then God sent His Son Jesus, who likewise came to fulfil, not abolish, the Law and the Prophets.
Still, they would not listen.
So God fulfilled the second part of the promise. He struck the land through the Romans in 70 AD. The temple was destroyed. The priesthood dismantled. The worship extinguished. The very presence and influence of the temple was wiped out “not one stone left on another.”
A horrific slaughter followed. Thousands were enslaved. Blood ran in the streets. The Jewish people were dispersed and lost their place.
Eventually, the Romans built a new temple on that very spot—dedicated to Jupiter, their god.
To Be Continued
Read the next article to continue this reflection and explore how these two promises, Elijah and the Curse, are not only about Israel’s past, but also speak directly to us as New Testament believers today.
Because God is still seeking to realign our hearts to our fathers so that we, too, might avoid the curse.
