“John an Elijah?” (Malachi 4 & Luke 1)
Published 17 Dec. 2025
Scroll down for “Lessons Learned…”
Designed for Personal Bible Study or for Bible Teaching
⚠️ Lessons Learned – Warnings
- 1️⃣ Ignoring God’s generational warnings leads to spiritual decline (Mal 4:5–6).
- 2️⃣ When families break apart, entire societies weaken (Mal 4:6).
- 3️⃣ Rushing through life blinds us to God’s voice (Ps 46:10).
- 4️⃣ Failing to remember God’s works results in repeated failures (Deut 8:11).
- 5️⃣ Seasons of silence often expose the true condition of our hearts (Amos 8:11).
💥 Lessons Learned – Failures
- 1️⃣ Israel failed to heed Malachi’s final prophetic call (Mal 4:4–6).
- 2️⃣ Generations neglected to remember God’s story (Ps 78:5–8).
- 3️⃣ Many let tradition replace true expectation of God’s movement (Mk 7:6–8).
- 4️⃣ Zechariah hesitated in belief even when heaven spoke (Lk 1:18–20).
- 5️⃣ Humanity often doubts God’s timing and methods (Hab 1:2).
🚫 Lessons Learned – Sins
- 1️⃣ Doubting God when His plan seems impossible (Lk 1:18).
- 2️⃣ Forgetting the past instead of learning from it (Mal 3:7).
- 3️⃣ Neglecting generational discipleship (Deut 6:6–7).
- 4️⃣ Treating God’s silence as absence instead of invitation (Isa 30:15).
- 5️⃣ Resisting the angels God sends—His messengers, His Word, His prompts (Heb 1:14).
🏆 Lessons Learned – Successes
- 1️⃣ God always keeps His promises—even after centuries (Mal 4:5).
- 2️⃣ God sent Gabriel to restart the narrative at the perfect moment (Lk 1:11–13).
- 3️⃣ God included ordinary, older people—Zechariah and Elizabeth—in extraordinary history (Lk 1:5–7).
- 4️⃣ Mary modeled perfect surrender to God’s will (Lk 1:38).
- 5️⃣ God’s silence was not absence—it was preparation (Gal 4:4).
🌱 Lessons Learned – Spiritual Growth
- 1️⃣ Silence from God is often an invitation to remember (Ps 105:5).
- 2️⃣ Faith grows when we trust God beyond our understanding (Heb 11:1).
- 3️⃣ God uses ordinary moments to begin extraordinary chapters (Lk 1:8–9).
- 4️⃣ True surrender sounds like Mary: “Be it unto me” (Lk 1:38).
- 5️⃣ God prepares us long before He reveals His plan (Jer 1:5).
🧭 Lessons Learned – Leadership Principles
- 1️⃣ Leaders must study the past to guide the future (Ps 78:72).
- 2️⃣ God often begins His greatest works through faithful ordinary people (Lk 1:5–7).
- 3️⃣ Leadership requires listening when God breaks silence (1 Sam 3:9–10).
- 4️⃣ Leaders help others discern God’s movement across generations (Mal 4:6).
- 5️⃣ Every leader must eventually say Mary’s words: “I am the Lord’s servant.” (Lk 1:38).