Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, spoke of the corruption of Judah and Jerusalem and a coming day when the Lord, the Sun of righteousness would set all things right.  In the last two verses of the Old Testament God declares that He will send Elijah before this day.

The kingdom of Israel was divided in two after the death of Solomon, as foretold by the prophet Ahijah.  Then Jeroboam, king of the northern tribes, made a catastrophic decision — catastrophic not only for himself but for all generations to come of the northern kingdom.  He built a new temple at Bethel to prevent the people from going to worship in  Jerusalem, the city God had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His name there.

The golden calf (bull) at Bethel was a violation of the second commandment, yet Jeroboam could have argued that it was not idolatry because it was meant to be a representation of the strength of Jehovah.  At that time, Bethel could be considered an apostate church, where the true God was worshipped, albeit in a degenerate manner very close to idolatry.  When Ahab and Jezebel came to the throne, they replaced the golden calf with the completely idolatrous worship of Baal.

This was the signal for the appearance of one of the most striking characters of the Old Testament — Elijah the Tishbite.  He would appear suddenly to make a dramatic pronouncement to King Ahab, then disappear into the mountains of Gilead.  The whole ministry of Elijah was directed to the northen kingdom, to call them back to the true worship of Jehovah.  When he became discouraged, God assured him that even in this idolatrous kingdom there were still seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18).

Finally a time came when Judah and Jerusalem were as corrupt as Israel and Bethel had ever been.  When John the Baptist began preaching in the wilderness around Jordan, his appearance, his lifestyle and his message reminded the people of the prophets of old.  He spoke fearlessly, calling the Pharisees and Sadducees a “generation of vipers” (Matthew 3:7) and telling Herod he had sinned by taking his brother’s wife (Luke 3:19).

The people remembered the prophecy that a new Elijah would appear before the coming of the Messiah.  When John proclaimed “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2), the people recognized this as a message that the long awaited Messiah would soon appear.