Chapter 12: The Return of Elijah
BIBLE
TEACHERS AND pastors know there are a few Bible subjects
that always
grab people’s attention. Topics like angels, demons, spiritual
gifts, heaven,
and hell are always good for crowd interest. Teaching about events
associated
with end times also tends to fascinate people. I’ve heard it advised that if
you want to
start a church, your first sermon series should be on the last days.
I, on the other hand, just finished
teaching verse-by-verse through the book of
Isaiah.
It took me well over a year. My method is not one people would generally
recommend
for building church attendance, yet I cannot stress how important it is
that each
Christian has a full understanding of the Old Testament prophets. Bible
personalities
like Enoch and Daniel may be shrouded in mystery, but we must dive
in and
dissect them if we hope to understand God and his plan for mankind.
The
Prophet That Comes Before the Judgment
Malachi,
the last book of the Old Testament, promises that God “will send the
prophet
Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes” (Malachi 4:5).
Malachi’s
promise applies to all “great and dreadful” days of judgment, like the day
in 70 AD
when
The prophet God sent to fulfill the role of
Elijah before that particular
judgment
day was none other than John the Baptist.
“The disciples asked him (
Jesus), ‘Why then do the teachers of the law
say
that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus replied, ‘To be sure, Elijah comes
and
will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they
did
not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In
the
same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’ Then the
disciples
understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.”
Matthew 17:10-13
Jesus
also says:
“This is the one about whom it is written:
‘I will send my messenger ahead
of
you who will prepare your way before you!’ (from
Malachi 3:1)…and
if
you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.”
Matthew 11:9, 10, 14
We should not make the mistake of thinking
God is talking about sending
Elijah himself back to earth over and over
again to warn people. We know that
when Elijah
is spoken of in these verses, it’s a reference to the “role of the ministry
of Elijah.”
When John the Baptist is asked, “Who are you? Are you Elijah?” he
replies,
“I am not” ( John 1:20, 21).
However, when John the Baptist came to
results
that Elijah achieved in 870 BC (thus fulfilling the role of Elijah’s ministry).
Multitudes
flocked to hear John speak, and many people repented after hearing
his message.
John, the Elijah of his time, brought the people back to a correct
understanding
of God.
This is the essence of the “role of
Elijah.” The original prophet Elijah warned
supposed
to lead
cycle. The
purpose of Elijah’s ministry was to restore the nation’s relationship with
the Lord. He
was to teach the people how to live righteously.
“He (Elijah) will turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children, and the
hearts
of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the
land
with a curse.” Malachi 4:6
A
person fulfilling the ministry of Elijah is supposed to restore the
foundational
principles
of God to a nation so they can avoid being overthrown. Doing this
involves,
first and foremost restoring the institutions established by God.
The
Seven Institutions
There
are seven institutions established by God for the welfare of mankind:
1.
Individual Volition – is what each person the authority of
his/her own
soul. We all
have the freedom to respond positively or negatively in all
circumstances.
This is what makes us susceptible to God’s grace or his
justice.
Man is ultimately responsible for everything he does.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You
are free to eat from any
tree
in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of
good
and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Genesis 1:16, 17
In
this verse, we hear a command from God establishing the fact that
man is free
to choose which tree he eats from. Along with this freedom
comes the
responsibility to make the right choice. If a man makes the right
choice, he will
reap the benefits of his correct decision. If he uses his freedom
to make the
wrong choice, he will suffer.
“The righteousness of the righteous man
will be credited to him, and the
wickedness
of the wicked will be charged against him.” Ezekiel 18:20b
2.
Marriage – is the foundation upon which the
greatness of mankind can be
developed
and expressed in a society. Without marriage, mankind would do
little beyond survive
(much like an animal). Marriage is the bedrock of the
family used to
produce and train the next generation. If marriage fails, the
family fails,
and society will collapse.
3.
Family – is the cornerstone of society. Animals
only pass down instincts
to their
young, but mankind passes down a set of values. Parents are
responsible
for training the next generation, just as
teach the word
of God to their children.
“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and
minds…Teach them to your
children,
talking about them when you sit…when you walk…when you lie
down…when
you get up.” Deuteronomy 11:18, 19
4.
Government – was established by God to maintain peace
and justice on
earth. Men are
to hold each other accountable using this institution.
“He is God’s servant to do you good. But if
you do wrong, be afraid, for
he
does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of
wrath
to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” Romans 13:4
“I urge, then, first of all, that requests,
prayers, intercession, and
thanksgiving
be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority,
that
we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
I Timothy 2:1, 2
Governmental
authorities are God’s servants to establish order in our
societies
by punishing those who don’t conform to a specific standard of
conduct.
It is the government’s divine mandate to demand justice while
ruling justly.
“By justice a king gives a
country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes
tears
it down.” Proverbs 29:4
5.
Nations – were instituted to preserve the various
earthly governments.
God’s
plan to prevent absolute world domination involves separate nations.
This
concept was established after the one and only government of the
ancient
world was overthrown at the
its place,
seventy individual nations were formed (Genesis 10).
“The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking
the same language they have
begun
to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for
them…
From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole
earth.”
Genesis 11:6, 9
6.
God in a dark world of lost nations.
God told Abraham, “I will make you
into a great
nation…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”
(Genesis 12:2, 3).
It is through
the earth
and his plan for mankind. The savior of the world was promised
by prophets
who came from the nation of
product
of
of the
church, were written by men from
writer in the
entire Bible since before Abraham’s time.) Only through
has God
revealed future events leading up to the return of the Messiah and
the
establishment of his kingdom on earth.
to all
nations after the church age ends and the world enters a seven year
tribulation
period (Isaiah 60:1-22; 61:6).
7.
Church – is the institution set in place by God to
proclaim the finished
worked of the
Messiah and invite people from all nations to join his
kingdom.
“Go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything
I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19, 2
The
church has received the completion of God’s revelation to man. This
revelation
was first exposed by the apostles and now comes from people in every
nation.
“The
commission God gave me to present you—the word of God in its
fullness—the
mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations,
but
is now disclosed to the saints.” Colossians 1:25
“The church of
the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”
I Timothy 3:15
“Guard the good deposit that was entrusted
to you.” II Timothy 1:14
We have seen in our own culture that there
is a chain reaction when
foundational
institutions established by God start to collapse. When individuals
fail to live
with integrity, it affects marriages. When marriages fail, families break
up, and
thereby neglect to teach the next generation about morality and selfcontrol.
Because
children from these families don’t make the best citizens, the
government
must spend more effort on enforcing laws and creating social service
programs.
When these immoral children grow up and take over the government,
the
government becomes corrupt. A weak nation with bad leadership can be easily
overtaken
by its enemies.
More
About the Institution of Marriage
When
individuals misuse their volition and make selfish decisions, they become
unfaithful
covenant breakers. This sin deeply affects the institution of marriage.
Whenever
people are immoral or perverted, marriages will breakdown. Honoring
the
institution of marriage is necessary for the health of mankind.
Malachi
addresses this:
“So guard yourself in your spirit and do
not break faith with the wife
of
your youth. ‘I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God of
man
covering his wife with violence as well as with his garment,’ says the
Lord Almighty. So guard yourself in your
spirit and do not break faith.”
Malachi 2:15, 16
Malachi
points back to the first institution of individual volition as a means
for
strengthening the second institution of marriage. For a marriage to be strong
and
enduring, Malachi tells each partner to “guard yourself in your spirit.” This
admonition
is stated twice in two verses. If a man fails to guard his spirit, he
dishonors
his individual volition—the first institution given to him by God to
control
his life and his eternal destiny.
This
same warning is given by Solomon in Proverbs 4:23:
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it
is the wellspring of life.”
My
wife has often quoted these words to our six sons to prepare them for future
life assaults
that will challenge their character. Failure to properly guard the heart
will end in
the soul’s corruption. Someone with a corrupt soul sees little harm in
violating
covenants and encourages others to do the same.
Malachi
2:13, 14 says:
“Another thing you do: you flood the Lord’s
altar with tears. You weep
and
wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts
them
with pleasure from your hands. You ask, ‘Why?’ It is because the
Lord is acting as witness between you and
the wife of your youth, because
You have broken faith with her,
wife
of your marriage covenant.”
Marriage is to be honored by all men,
“Marriage should be honored
kept
pure, for God will judge
immoral.”
Marriage
is not just an institution
entire society.
For a culture to be strong,
When
a culture stops honoring marriage,
Malachi
4:6 closes by saying:
“He (Elijah) will turn the hearts
of
the father’s to their children and the hearts of the children to their
fathers
or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
It was Elijah’s duty to restore the family.
Families can only be restored when
marriages
are restored. If individuals use their volition to act honorably, marriages
will again
thrive. But if a society doesn’t respond to the ministry of “Elijah,” God
says he will
strike the land with a curse. This refers to the fifth cycle of discipline—
the
overthrow of a nation.
Around 30 AD, John the Baptist came to
nation was
entering the fourth generation and facing the fourth cycle of discipline.
They
did not turn from their sin and moved into the fifth cycle of judgment. Forty
years later,
in 70 AD, their society was overthrown.
The
angel Gabriel announces the birth of John the Baptist to his father
Zechariah
in Luke 1:16, 17:
“Many
of the people of
And he will go on before the Lord, in the
spirit and power of Elijah, to
turn
the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the
wisdom
of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
It’s
interesting to note a few things in this verse:
1) John will bring many back to the Lord.
2) John will successfully execute the ministry
of “Elijah.” Gabriel says John
will
go “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” (not as Elijah himself ).
3) The nation of
the
fact that John will fulfill his ministry.
4) There is a clear connection to Malachi’s
prophecy when Gabriel quotes
the
phrase, “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.”
5) The ultimate purpose of Elijah’s
ministry is to prepare people to meet
the
Lord. This refers to the Lord’s coming and the twofold results that
will
follow: salvation or damnation.
Malachi 3:1 says,
“See, I will send my messenger, who will
prepare the way before me.”
The
Lord’s coming will be both a day of great joy and a day of great terror.
The
next verse asks, “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when
he
appears?” How the people responded to John the Baptist prepared
them to meet
the Lord either as their savior or as their enemy.
In 30 AD, Jesus Christ came to
many responded.
But even those who rejected him had been prepared beforehand
through
the ministry of John the Baptist.
John
the Baptist and Jesus both came on the scene at the beginning of the
fourth
generation in
just forty
years.
In
the middle of the first generation, (63 BC), Pompey, the Roman general
stationed
in
the East, invaded the
SPQR
insignia and the golden Roman eagle—meaning
occupation
from the rising
was
a Latin phrase meaning “Senatus Populusque
Romanus”
or
“The Senate and People of
government
of the
Roman coins, documents, monuments, and
public works. The
Roman
occupation of
cycle
of judgment (Leviticus 26:17). The first generation had
been
issued a warning.
respond
to this warning. By 70 AD, their time would be up.