Forerunners are natural things in life. We see them all the time in technology development, business mavericks and… in the weather.

Before it reaches winter, autumn is the forerunner. We know winter is on the way when the leaves on trees start turning red, orange and brown. It signals to us that the seasons are changing and that we know what to expect soon.

Such a signal is much like today’s piece of the puzzle.

Puzzle Piece 4: Three times a signal

As for the exact timing of the arrival of the ‘crusher’ who holds the sceptre, this piece of the puzzle doesn’t tell us that. It does however indicate the timing of his arrival in relation to another person, specifically, one who will proceed him.

And this ‘forerunner signal’ actually comes three times in The Bible, just to make sure we get the point. Firstly in Isaiah and then twice in Malachi.

Signal 1:

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Some attributes of the forerunner are provided here for us. They will be calling out in the wilderness. Why will they do this? They’ve been given the task to ‘prepare the way’.

Why did God decide to do this? I don’t know. But Isaiah makes it clear that it’s a part of the plan.

Signal 2:

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

This second signal is from Malachi and again, is a reinstating of a previous prophecy. Echoing the task of ‘preparing the way’ it reaffirms what Isaiah wrote around 700BC roughly 370 years later.

It also adds in a few more details, most significantly this idea of the one being sought suddenly arriving and also being a ‘messenger of the covenant’.

For the uninitiated, these puzzle pieces are rather cryptic and require a significant amount of unpacking, more so than this post will offer.

However, I will make two brief points.

Firstly, the word covenant. Frequently used in The Bible it has a rather nuanced meaning which includes concepts of an agreement, relational binding and God’s way of relating to humanity. This person who is promised will bring a message about the covenant.

Secondly, if you’ve read a significant portion of the New Testament it’s pretty obvious to you that the person who brings this new covenant is Jesus.

So… if you’re wondering who the baby boy who is a rescuer, crusher and ruler might just happen to be… I suggest you wonder no longer.

Signal 3:

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.

This third signal also comes from Malachi and therefore seems to logically connect to the previous signal and be about the same person.

Here we are given another attribute about this person, which again is cryptic because the prophet, Elijah has already been and gone by the time Malachi is around.

This suggests we should put on our literary analysis thinking caps and realise that it’s probably a reference to a prototype.

To cut a long story short, I’m just going to tell you that the forerunner to Jesus is John the Baptist, his cousin.

Before he is born, John’s father is told that his son will ‘go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah’. And John himself declared himself to be ‘the voice of one calling in the wilderness’.

As for other connections to Elijah, where’s the fun in me telling you them all? Instead, why don’t you have a look here and here and explore it for yourself?

And that’s the fourth piece of the puzzle – three times signalled.

Speaking of three times, I think I’ve blogged on John the Baptist being a forerunner three times now… perhaps just to make sure we get the point… hmm.

And perhaps I need to get some new content.

I will tomorrow.

Yours on a prophetic hat trick,

Alison