"The
Sending of Elijah"
The Lord has promised to ‘Give
power unto My two witnesses…the two olive trees…the two candlesticks…the two
prophets’ (Revelation 11:3,4,10) who are also identified by the prophet
Zechariah as ‘two olive trees…two olive
branches…two anointed ones’ (Zechariah 4:3,11,12,14). Although there are
many opinions as to who these two men actually are, it is likely the Lord will
continue His practice of selecting men and maturing them for His service just
as He has down through the ages, for these two are not heralded as anyone of former Biblical
greatness, but the Lord, first of all, simply calls them ‘witnesses’ showing that anybody, who will obey God and do what the
Lord Jesus Christ commanded us all to do, can qualify if they will surrender
their heart and soul to do His will and witness for Him, and...just allow Him
to do the rest!
However, according to Revelation 11:6 these two men will be able to
accomplish Elijah-like works: ‘These will
have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy...’
and Moses-like miracles: ‘...and have power over waters to turn them to blood,
and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will’ but that
does not require a reappearance of these two men on earth. These two men have a
ministry that spans at least the second half of the Seventieth Week of Daniel
(Revelation 11:6) which causes them to be present on earth through the vicious
persecution of Antichrist, the rapture of the saints, and the Day of the Lord
thereby setting a remarkable precedent for they will not be raptured although
they are believing servants of God.
The difference in these two men is that they will not possess the
indwelling Holy Spirit, but instead will be redeemed as Abraham was by ‘believing God’ during Daniel’s
Seventieth Week the last seven years of the Old Covenant period the same as their
fellow believers of that period, the 144 thousand Jews who are selected and
sealed from the twelve tribes of Israel. (Revelation 7:3) and ‘the woman’ [faithful Israel]. Yes, God
will send Elijah as recorded in Malachi 4:5,6: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of
the great and dreadful Day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse."
Just as John the Baptist was the first Elijah-like person heralding the
Lord's first coming, Jesus said 'Elijah truly shall first come' (Matthew
17:11) indicating there will be a second Elijah-like person sent by God to
herald His second coming at the end of the age. The appearance of this Elijah-like prophet will be one of the
early signals to the discerning child of God that the Wrath of God and the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is drawing near. His identity as ‘Elijah’ might not be openly evident in
the beginning of his ministry, for then,
he will likely minister in a manner similar to John the Baptist not unlike
a revivalist/evangelist as he will ‘restore all things’(Matthew 17:11). This portion of his ministry will occur just
before or during the first 3-1/2 years of Daniel's Seventieth Week, for this
same man will later be recognized as one of the 'two witnesses' of
Revelation 11. Their appearance
will occur at the mid-point of Daniel's Seventieth Week (Revelation 11:3) at the
mid-point of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
During this time period, the last
3-1/2 years of Daniel's Seventieth Week,
this Elijah-like prophet's ministry will be one of powerful, judgment
like, miracle working and warfare 'with
the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit' as described in
Revelation 11:5,6. These 'two witnesses' are characterized as an
inseparable pair, a two man team if you will, during this time of fierce and intensive Spiritual warfare with
the Satanically energized beast, there
again indicating that this Elijah-like individual's revivalist/evangelist
ministry to the believers will most likely take place during the first half of
Daniel's Seventieth Week. Although the specific time frame for his ministry as
described in Malachi 4:5, 6 is not mentioned, it is likely this type of
ministry to God's people would not fit into the surroundings of the last half
of the Seventieth Week of Daniel when the believers are scattered, being warned by the Lord Jesus to "flee into the mountains"(Matthew
24:16) during the horrendous persecution of the Antichrist.
His ministry to 'restore all
things' (Matthew 17:11; Mark 9:12) fits into Malachi's more specific description
of turning hearts in the same manner that John the Baptist called Israel to
repentance. John the Baptist's ministry
recorded in Matthew 3:1-12 is one we should familiarize ourselves with as it is
the model for this second Elijah-like prophet and it definitely is the perfect
example for any other aspiring preacher of righteousness. There are twelve significant characteristics
of his ministry:
1. He stood in a difficult place and time (v.1)
2. He preached an unpopular message (v.2)
3. He stood alone (v.3)
4. He was a Biblical
separatist/non-conformist (v.4)
5. He had God-given magnetism (v.5)
6. He got results in his ministry (v.6)
7. He spoke out against God's enemies (v.7)
8. He was confident in his life changing message (v.8)
9.
He denounced religious tradition (v.9)
10. He proclaimed God's judgment (v.10)
11. He announced the coming of Christ (v.11)
12. He described the ministry of Christ (v.12)
This next Elijah-like prophet will come to again demonstrate a similar
ministry, turning the hearts of God's people to the Lord, restoring all things,
before and or during the first half of Daniel's Seventieth Week. At this time the church will still be
gathered, providing opportunity for him to proclaim his much needed, reviving,
prophetic message. Although, the timing of his arrival is not clearly spelled
out, nor is it really essential or crucial to determine at this time, we do
know that God will send him (and he will be recognized at the mid-point of
Daniel's Seventieth Week) 'before the
coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord' which is the Wrath of
God. Praise the Lord we, the born-again Bible believers, will be miraculously
delivered by the Rapture of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our Blessed Hope,
before ‘The Wrath of the Lamb’(Revelations
6:17) comes upon all the earth!!
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