This past Fathers’ Day, my thoughts wandered to my late Dad and my childhood in the 1950s and 60s. The home dynamic of the intact nuclear family was the norm. Fathers were generally respected.
There is no denying that the place and position of the Father in many homes, has changed. These circumstances are no surprise to God. He transitioned from the Old Testament to the New with this quote from the last verse in Malachi, referencing the prophet Elijah, “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers…” This was to be an end-time herald.
God used this example, knowing that the importance of the father’s relationship with his children would be compromised by our rising divorce rates, an increase of single mothers, abortion, legalized gay marriage and other cultural and political changes. It is significant that this specific area of the reconciliation process of God – not governmental change or cataclysmic physical calamity – would be cited as a foretelling event for Christ’s return.
He mentions it yet again in Luke 1:17, saying: “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” The Spirit of Elijah is the double portion he gave to Elisha, the miraculous provision for the fatherless boy and his mother, and the fire on the altar in front of the Baal worshippers.
This is the Spirit that will change hearts. This ministry of reconciliation between God and man is also a reconciliation on a personal level. It is coming – a God promise.
Nan Robertson
~Christ Fellowship