Mal 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

For many years when I read this passage I could only see it as a promise of family reconciliation - fathers and sons somehow reuniting through the ministry of an “end time” Elijah. It was puzzling to me. After spending time meditating on these verses I began to realize there is something so much more significant in store – God is going to use the older generation to serve the younger generation in order to stand against the spirit of the age and bring about a massive end time harvest. While family reconciliation is certainly a part of Malachi’s prophecy, it is not the first expression of what is going to be released at the end of the age.

To understand what Malachi meant, we have to understand the context of the earth before the Lord’s return. Look at Paul’s words to Timothy, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…” (2Tim 3:1-2). It’s curious that the first sin in this list is “lovers of themselves” or narcissism. Narcissism is simply living by an unholy selfish love.

It’s so simple, but oh so true, selfish human ambition stands at the center of virtually all sin. The desire to gain for yourself at the expense of others is directly opposite of Jesus’ will and actions. James said, “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” (James 3:16) At the end of the age narcissism will top the list of wickedness and sin that will ultimately and fully corrupt mankind. When we consider Malachi’s words in this light it becomes clear that the turning of the hearts of the “fathers” to the children must be a turn from selfish ambition to selfless love. The priority of the fathers will be to serve the destiny of the young. Rather than living for themselves, they will pass on all that they are to a younger generation in order to see them fulfill the dream of God. There will be an entire generation of fathers and mothers in the Body of Christ who, instead of seeking their own privilege, power, and platform, will lay themselves down to see a younger generation step into a double portion, as Elijah did with Elisha (2 Kings 2:9) They will realize that everything that God has called them and anointed them for is to ultimately benefit the next generation and not themselves (2 Cor 12:15, 2 Ti 2:10).

Simultaneously, the Lord will turn the hearts of the young to embrace the ways of the fathers. In Luke 1:17, an angel described it as “turning the disobedient to the ways of the just”. In other words, the young will not rebel and go their own way, or look at the fathers as a means to their own personal success. Instead, they will willingly submit their hearts to the ways of the Lord and the leadership of the older generation. This is a turn from rebellion against God to a full embrace of the ways of righteousness.

This turning of the hearts will create a generational multiplication that will empower the church to walk in all that God has destined and dreamed. This multiplication will amplify the work of the kingdom at the end of the age in powerful way.

I believe we are seeing the beginnings of this “turning” even now and we will see it in an accelerated way in the days ahead. Will you pray with me today that the Lord will release the “spirit of Elijah” to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers? This is our calling and destiny!