What a lovely devotion for this MOTHER'S DAY and us being on the cusp of Q reveals (maybe)….

He Will Turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children

Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse. (NIV)

Something Expected and Something Unexpected

We come to the end of the year, and the end of the book of Malachi, and the end of the Old Testament. There is something here in these closing verses that we would expect, and something that I think we would not expect.

A Bridge Between Old and New

We would expect that there would be a kind of bridge between the old and the new—between what God has said and done in the past and what he will say and do in the future. And we have exactly that.

In verse 4 we have the command to look back and remember the law of Moses: "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb [=Sinai] for all Israel."

The backward glance will always be a crucial part of biblical faith. How would we know the path to God's future blessing if he had not spoken in the past and told us the way? God has spoken. And we must always look back to that sure, fixed, infallible word for guidance and hope.

But the bridge stretches not only back to the word of God at Mt. Horeb; it also stretches forward in these verses to the great Day of the Lord—the day when God will bring history to a decisive climax in victory over those who have remained in rebellion against him and with vindication for all his loyal subjects.

Verse 5: "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

In other words, as the Old Testament closes, God makes known that he is not by any means finished with his plan for the world or for Israel. There is a great day of victory coming and there will be preparations for it so that the people of God will be ready.

That is what I would expect at the end of the Old Testament—a bridge between old and new—a look back at the faithful work of God in the past and a look forward to the final victory.

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/he-will-turn-the-hearts-of-the-fathers-to-the-children

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