Daily Devotions
Mark
2 Peter 2:13b "They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you."
Day 198 – Mark 9
“They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you.” 2 Peter 2:13b
THE COMING OF ELIJAH
The Disciples must have been most struck by the Transfiguration experience. There must have been many questions on their minds. One of them that surfaced involved the person of Elijah. They had just seen him and Moses in the mountain.
“And they asked Him, saying,
‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'”
MARK 9:11
1. The Most Outstanding of the servants of God
The following occupied the highest place of honor in Jewish consciousness.
a) Abraham
He is given the rightful honor of being the father of the nation of Israel.
b) Moses
He is remembered for his role in leading Israel out of Egypt and for giving to the nation the laws of God.
c) Elijah
There were many prophets, but none occupied the mind of Israel as this fiery prophet of God.
2. The Promise of the Return of Elijah
The book of Malachi contained a very special prophetic word concerning Elijah. These were the last words of the prophecy of Malachi.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the hearts of the children to the fathers,
lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
MALACHI 4:5-6
a) Elijah was specifically named.
b) He was directly linked to the “great and dreadful day of the Lord”.
c) His ministry would be like that performed in the day of wicked king Ahab.
d) He would turn hearts (by implicationâ?¦ back to the Lord).
3. Perpetuation of a “fabled” version of the return of Elijah
Israel nursed an expectation of the actual, personal and physical return of Elijah to Israel. This “hope” was well nurtured and perpetuated by the scribes.