Mal 4:5-6: Foreknowledge or Hope?

[jaybee]

Not sure where to put this one.

5  “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
6  “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

If Elijah was John the Baptist, and Israel rejected him (Mt 17:12), did this prophecy fail?

I know we have several threads going on, but this is born out of the foreknowledge idea.

Did prophecy fail?

Was this foreknowledge or hope?

If God prophecies and it does not come true, is God a liar?


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[Josh]

Of course, other translations read "or I will come and smit the land with a curse" (NIV) or "lest I come and smite the land with a curse" (NKJ, ESV) , opening up the possibility of it going either way, or both.   My position on this passage has been that John the Baptist did herald simultaneously both a renewal and a curse.

[jaybee]

I suppose I would see the words "or" and "lest" to mean one or the other.

If I am mugging you, and I say, "Give me your wallet, or I'll stab you." I am giving you a choice to prevent your injury. Same if I were an old english mugger, and I said, "Give me your wallet, lest I stab you." It is again an a set of alternatives, not both.


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[Josh]

True, that is how it would have appeared beforehand.   But in hindsight, can't we say that both outcomes actually happened?  John did turn the hearts of the people* and God did strike the land with a curse.


*though, to be honest, I've never really unpacked what exactly "turning the hearts of the fathers to the sons, etc.." might specifically mean.  I've just always seen it as a statement of heart-felt repentance and the restoration of Godly priorities.