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Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet - This is meant alone of John the Baptist, as we learn from Luke 1:17 (note), in whose spirit and power he came.
[Luke 1:17 - note]
He shall go before him - Jesus Christ, in the spirit and power of Elijah; he shall resemble Elijah in his retired and austere manner of life, and in his zeal for the truth, reproving even princes for their crimes; compare 1Ki_21:17-24, with Mat_14:4. It was on these accounts that the Prophet Malachi, Mal_4:6, had likened John to this prophet. See also Isa_40:3; and Mal_4:5, Mal_4:6.
To turn the hearts of the fathers - Gross ignorance had taken place in the hearts of the Jewish people; they needed a Divine instructer: John is announced as such; by this preaching and manner of life, all classes among the people should be taught the nature of their several places, and the duties respectively incumbent upon them, See Luk_3:10, etc. In these things the greatness of John, mentioned Luk_1:15, is pointed out, Nothing is truly great but what is so in the sight of God. John’s greatness arose:
1. From the plenitude of God’s Spirit which dwelt in him.
2. From his continual self-denial, and taking up his cross.
3. From his ardent zeal to make Christ known.
4. From his fidelity and courage in rebuking vice.
5. From the reformation which he was the instrument of effecting among the people; reviving among them the spirit of the patriarchs, and preparing their hearts to receive the Lord Jesus.
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. By a very expressive figure of speech, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the patriarchs, are represented here as having their hearts alienated from the Jews, their children, because of their unbelief and disobedience; but that the Baptist should so far succeed in converting them to the Lord their God, that these holy men should again look upon them with delight, and acknowledge them for their children. Some think that by the children, the Gentiles are meant, and by the fathers, the Jews.
The disobedient - Or unbelieving, απειθεις, the persons who would no longer credit the predictions of the prophets, relative to the manifestation of the Messiah. Unbelief and disobedience are so intimately connected, that the same word in the sacred writings often serves for both.