No. 19 - THOUGHTS ON ELIJAH
By: John J. Blanchard
Saturday, July 06, 2002

A burning question today in religious circles is who is Elijah and when will he come? When he comes, what will he do? Jews and Christians alike believe in Elijah and that someone should fulfill that role in the end times. However, I will say that the Jews seem to take this issue more seriously. They go to the extent that they even set a place for Elijah at the Seder Table at the Passover each year hoping that that will be the year Elijah returns. They know that he must come because it is by his work proclaiming the coming of the Messiah that history is changed and the world is spared cataclysm. So they are expecting this Elijah to come, and some believe very soon, to do that very job.

Many Christian groups also feel that an Elijah must come but are less adamant about what his role will be and whether he is Elijah himself in a separate role or one of the two witnesses. Christian groups also express many other different and confused ideas concerning Elijah. But to the Jews Elijah is a legendary figure. We Christians read about Elijah in the Bible, and we know that he did certain things that made him an interesting man. But to the Jews he was a living legend and is a legend to this day!

The book, Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Telushkin gives three reasons why Elijah is a legend. First of all, according to them, he did not die. We understand he did, but they feel Elijah did not die but was taken up into the heavens in a whirlwind and never saw death. Secondly, he was able to multiply food during a famine. The third thing is that he brought the dead back to life. Elijah was able to raise people from the dead and did it on at least one occasion.

The World Book Encyclopedia had several interesting things to say about Elijah as well. Of course, this is a secular publication but it points this out. First of all, Elijah is mentioned in the Bible 29 times in the New Testament alone. Secondly, he is famed for several reasons. These are very close to what the Jews believe. One, he was a miracle worker. Two, he raised a widows son from the dead. Three, they feel he was famous or was worth mentioning in the World Book Encyclopedia because he opposed false religion and was against Ahab and Jezebel in doing so. So those are the things that the World Book Encyclopedia had to say about Elijah. I would like to look at some of the scriptures they had written in the World Book Encyclopedia, and some I have come up with myself to back up these concepts.

First of all, they said he called fire down from heaven. Turn, if you would, to I Kings chapter 18, starting in verse 30: “Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come near to me.’ So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.” This is the recounting of the story where Elijah took on the 450 prophets of Baal and was about to compare miracles, so to speak, between the false god and the true God.

Continuing in verse 31: “And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name.’ Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, ‘Fill four water pots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.’ Then he said, ‘Do it a second time,’ and they did it a second time; and he said, ‘Do it a third time,’ and they did it a third time.”

Verse 35: “So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.’ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces…”

They did, of course, because it was an awesome miracle! So that is what the original Elijah did. He called down fire from heaven to devour a sacrifice before all of the people and turned the hearts of the people back to God by this tremendous miracle.

Also mentioned in the World Book Encyclopedia is I Kings 17, starting in verse 8. This is where he multiplied food during a famine. Verse 8: “Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.’ So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.’ And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’ Then she said, ‘As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread…’” (this was a famine at the time) “‘...only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”’ So they were very close to starving to death.

Verse 13 of I Kings 17: “And Elijah said to her, ‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: “The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day of the Lord sends rain on the earth.”’ So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.” A second tremendous miracle was done here - to multiple food during a famine.

The third thing that the World Book Encyclopedia mentioned was raising people from the dead, just as the Jews mentioned. Turn to I Kings 17, verse 17, just below what we just finished. “Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.” So he had died. “So she said to Elijah, ‘What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?’ And he said to her, ‘Give me your son.’ So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?’”

Verse 21: “And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.’ Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, ‘See, your son lives!’ Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.’”

So we see a number of very potent miracles that Elijah did; and by these, the Jews feel, he is a legend. I want you to also remember we read that Elijah turned the hearts of the people back to God. That was part of the net effect of that miracle when he brought fire down on the sacrifice.

Now a careful study of the life of Elijah reveals another thing that he did. This is according to the World Book Encyclopedia as well. This is what I found interesting because that is a secular book. They said later references in the 29 times he is mentioned in the New Testament suggests that Elijah will announce the return of the Messiah! So add that into your thoughts of what the original Elijah did. Even the World Book Encyclopedia noted in the New Testament that later references suggests he will announce the coming of the Messiah.

So when we carefully look at all of these things we see a very powerful case to say whoever comes along in that name (in that office) is going to do some amazing things without a doubt. If he comes in the spirit and power of Elijah as a latter-day fulfillment, he is going to have to do some interesting things to lay claim to that title. But there is another thing that we can find in our studies that Elijah did. He was an educator. The original Elijah was an educator.

Go to II Kings chapter 2, verse 1: “And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Then Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.’ And Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!’ So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I know; keep silent!’”

So the sons of the prophets told Elisha, do you not know that Elijah is going to be taken from you today? Elisha understood this. This term, “the sons of the prophets” indicates those being taught by the prophets. These were the students that were in Bethel who were talking to Elisha.

Verse 4: “Then Elijah said to him, ‘Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.’ And he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!’ So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?’ So he answered, ‘Yes, I know, keep silent!’” So students, sons of the prophets in another town called Jericho talked to Elisha about Elijah being taken up in a whirlwind. So we see here Elijah and Elisha left from the first place, Gilgal, went to Bethel and then went on to Jericho. They were met twice by students.

Continuing in II Kings 2, verse 6: “Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.’ And he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!’ So the two of them went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan.” So a number of the students followed them to this area by the Jordan, and we see that shortly after that indeed Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind. The point I want to make here is that there were students of the prophets at the direction of the master who was Elijah. So he would be the chief professor, as he would be called today, or the chief educator of these people. The second in command, also learning from Elijah was Elisha. So he had disciples, proving that the first Elijah was an educator.

Now obviously this was an amazing man. He was a man who had many followers of students, a man that God would hear the prayer of and send fire down, a man that God would hear the prayer of and raise people from the dead and a man that God could answer the prayer and multiply food during a famine. Also he was fighting Ahab and Jezebel (false religion). If you remember, there is the story of the 450 prophets of Baal. Jezebel and Ahab were behind bringing these prophets into the Church of Israel (the congregation, the ecclesia of Israel). So Elijah battled these false teachings throughout his life and his work, as is seen in the Bible, and the false religion is characterized by Jezebel (false teaching in the Church). So obviously this was an amazing man.

Now I want to skip forward to the New Testament. Please go to Matthew. We are going to skip forward to the time of Christ now. Go to Matthew chapter 17, starting in verse 1: “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, brought them up on a high mountain by themselves, and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’”

Verse 6: “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’ And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’” He is saying here that He is going to be resurrected from the dead. They were saying why does Elijah have to come before all of this can happen?

Verse 11: “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Elijah truly is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.”

Now what can we glean from this whole story? What can we look at here and learn from this episode? First of all, we can see that Christ is saying that Elijah has come in the form of John the Baptist before He would die and He also said Elijah is coming and will restore all things. John the Baptist as Elijah did not restore anything. So that is why the term “is coming” and “has come” are both used in this story. Christ is saying two times Elijah will come. His work will precede My work twice! It will precede My second coming and My first coming! That is what He is pointing out here. That is why He says “is coming” and “has come”. Now once He mentions here “is coming” in the context that he will restore all things. That is a different job than John the Baptist had to do.

Now we are going to apply a little logic to this. If Christ is coming twice and both times He is preceded by Elijah and this Elijah is in office and they are going to do a similar work as the original Elijah, we have to think that if that is an office and a job, a person must fill that office. Somebody has to do the job. Christ says He is coming and He has come. Someone will fill this office twice after the original Elijah. That is, after the Elijah we read about in I and II Kings.

Now he says he will make straight His ways. The paths of the Lord will be made straight by John the Baptist and the next Elijah to come before the second coming. Let us take a look at that in Matthew chapter 3. This is something they both will share. Matthew 3, verse 1: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’” So John the Baptist made the paths of God straight before Jesus Christ started His ministry.

When you look up that term “straight” that means to make level, even, straight, pleasant, prosper. In other words, John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus Christ. He made people ready to receive Christ and ready to hear Christ’s message. So when Christ only had three and one-half years to do His ministry, there was a crowd already out there ready to receive Him because of the work of John the Baptist. He made the ways straight and level for Christ to build upon.

“Prepare” comes from the term that is number 6437 in Strong’s which means to turn, to face, to look. John the Baptist turned people to look and get ready to discern Jesus Christ. He turned them to face Him, to look at Him, to get ready to receive Jesus Christ. That is what the original John the Baptist did in the spirit and power of Elijah. There is another to come in that office who will restore all things. This must be the second Elijah to come after the original Elijah. The second one will come prior to Christ’s second coming. We know this because John the Baptist did not restore anything and he was the first. So the second one is the one who is going to be the restorer. It is just logical.

When Jesus Christ had this vision on the mountain with the apostles, John the Baptist was already dead. So he could not change anything. Nothing could get out of order. He was dead, and his work was finished. So when Christ explained this, the apostles knew it had to be another person because John the Baptist was dead at that point. I want to look for a moment at John the Baptist. I want to look at a few more episodes in his life and the things that he did with and for Christ.

Please turn to Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse 1: “Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in the cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples...” By this time, John was already in the prison where he would be beheaded. Verse 3: “...and said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’”

Verse 7: “As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before you.”’” Once again He is quoting Isaiah 40.

Verse 11 of Matthew 11: “‘Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions and saying: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not lament.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” But wisdom is justified by her children.’” Those were Christ’s words about John the Baptist, recognizing that John the Baptist made the way straight for Him and that he had a great role to fill before Christ’s first coming.

Now let us go to Matthew chapter 3, starting in verse 4: “And John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.’”

Verse 10: “‘And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’” So we are told here that John baptized with water and the One to follow him, Jesus Christ, would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. John could not do that. John could only baptize with water.

Let us go to John, chapter 1, starting in verse 6: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.” This was making the way straight and level for Jesus Christ. Verse 8: “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, “He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.’” John the Baptist was a witness of Christ. Christ was a witness for the Father.

Continuing in verse 19 of John 1: “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’” John the Baptist did not know he was the fulfillment of Elijah! Christ did. Christ explained that after John was dead. So even while John was doing his ministry, he did not know what he was fulfilling here fully but Christ knew.

Verse 22: “Then they said to him, ‘Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?’ He said: ‘I am “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord…”’” So he was heralding the coming Messiah. He was making the path straight for Jesus Christ.

Continuing in verse 24: “Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying ‘Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’ John answered them, saying ‘I baptize with water…’” So this much he knew. “‘...but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.’ These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”

Verse 29: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, “After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’” He was recognizing this was God. “‘I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.’ And John bore witness, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.’”

So John had been told that he was going to baptize with water and that he was going to make straight the way for the coming Messiah and; when he would see his baptism bringing down a dove on to an individual, he would know that that was the Son of God. So he pointed out to the people that this is the Son of God, this is Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I want you to note, that was symbolic of the Holy Spirit, which Christ already possessed. That symbolism was John the Baptist, in essence, calling down and bearing witness to the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. So he could only baptize with water. He could not give Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit; he had it. Symbolically he showed through this activity (baptizing) that this is how we receive the Holy Spirit. He identified God to the people when he did it. So that is in once sense a miracle. This is something that God used him for, but God did all of the power behind it to accomplish it.

In going over all of these verses we just read about John the Baptist, what did they show us about John the Baptist? There are a number of things. One, he prepared the way for Jesus Christ. He brought people to repentance, causing people to look to Christ. So he prepared the way for Jesus Christ. Two, he warned the people, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees, to repent. Three, he cried out in the wilderness. Four, he bore witness of the Light. Five, he baptized with water. Six, he called the Holy Spirit down in the form of a dove on Jesus Christ. Seven, he gave Christ a level place from which to start His work because he was an educator. That is how he did it. He educated the people that the Messiah was coming. He educated them in the principles of repentance and baptism. So he was an educator. He had disciples like the original Elijah. John the Baptist had his own disciples. For these reasons, Christ said, Elijah has come. John the Baptist fulfilled that role.

But John the Baptist, as we mentioned earlier, did not completely fulfill every role that the original Elijah had. He did not raise people from the dead. He did not call fire down from heaven. He did not multiply food. I do not know of any miracles, really, that are credited to John the Baptist. But that did not deny him being a fulfillment of Elijah. Jesus Christ Himself said that. So anyone who would say we are looking for someone to do exactly what the original Elijah did are not realizing that John the Baptist did not do exactly what Elijah did. I use the term “exactly” in the strictest sense. But in principle he did, but he did not do amazing miracles.

Now we know that Christ is going to return again and at His second coming He is going to bring the kingdom of God with Him. He will be preceded by an Elijah who “restores all things”. This Elijah will restore all things. Someone will do this job or has done this job. He will do everything John the Baptist did and more.

At this point we are going to build a case for Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong as the end time Elijah. Turn to Matthew 17 once again. We are just going to read verses 10 and 11 this time. This is at the transfiguration. “And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Elijah truly is coming first and will restore all things.’”

Restoration means something had to have been there before and was lost. You cannot restore something that never was. So obviously this Elijah is going to restore something that was lost. So we can look up the definitions in the Strong’s of “restore”. It is number 600 in the Strong’s. It means to reconstitute to health, a home or an organization. That is what that word “restore” means there.

Was anything restored to health under Mr. Armstrong. Yes, the Church, and organization, the home of God! The home of God, the Church, had lost much. When Mr. Armstrong came upon the Sardis era of the Church, what did he find? Let us go to Revelation chapter 3. We will take a look at what Mr. Armstrong saw. Obviously a knowledge of the eras of the Church is helpful, but in any case, Jesus Christ Himself said this Elijah would come and restore all things. Let us look at what Mr. Armstrong found when he happened upon Sardis.

We are going to start reading in verse 1 of chapter 3 of Revelation. “‘And to the angel of the Church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.’”’”

What did Mr. Armstrong come upon when he came upon the Sardis people? He found a people that all they had left was the name, tithing and the Sabbath. They had lost everything else. So he found a small body of Christ, a small group of people divided. It was divided into many smaller groups, each fighting for members from one another. He found them bickering and deceiving one another. He found no work getting done. He found very little truth, as I mentioned, just the Sabbath, tithing and their name.

A few followed Mr. Armstrong from the Sardis era into the Philadelphia ear. Thus, fulfilling exactly what you have read here that there were a few who had clean garments (just a few). Once we understand that and realize that is what Mr. Armstrong happened upon, then we can see something changed with Mr. Armstrong. Because from that point forward, a work did start getting done which eventually became a worldwide work.

What was accomplished through Mr. Armstrong that we could say is legendary just like the original Elijah? Here is a short list. He was used by God to develop a worldwide, very powerful, work. Secondly, during that work, he met 70 to 80 worldwide leaders. As a matter of fact he had the only plane on earth that was cleared from Egyptian airspace to Israeli airspace without having to go to a third country’s airspace first. He could fly directly! Not even the President of the United States could do that or the Secretary General of the United Nations! Only Mr. Armstrong could do this. That is how respected he was by world leaders.

Thirdly, under him the “Plain Truth” reached a zenith of 8.5 million magazines a month in circulation which made it the second biggest magazine on the planet behind “Reader’s Digest”! The fourth thing, he was on hundreds and hundreds of television and radio stations around the world! The world was blanketed with the message of the gospel of the kingdom. Five, he restored the 18 truths among which we find the holy days, who and what God is, the destiny of man, the gospel of the kingdom and much, much more. This was all restored through Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.

Now the big question is this: was this enough to qualify him as the Elijah or are we looking for someone else? Was this enough to qualify Mr. Armstrong to be the Elijah that we have been waiting for? There are some fulfillments that Mr. Armstrong did as the Elijah that we have to dig for just a little bit. With God’s help, we can clearly see that he was the Elijah.

First of all, he was a voice crying out in the wilderness, as he mentioned himself, that is, a wilderness of religious confusion (a Babylon of religious confusion). He also physically fled to the wilderness, to the desert. This is what the wilderness is sometimes called. He did this when he fled when the Church was taken over by the State of California. He fled to Tucson, Arizona. So physically he worked in the desert for a while; but more importantly, he cried out from the wilderness of religious confusion.

Secondly, he restored the Church to health, as we covered already. How did he do it? When he came upon that Church with very little truth, they were in a famine - a famine of the word. So Mr. Armstrong multiplied food thousands and thousands and thousands of times over compounding the food, until the food was actually available worldwide! Spiritual food was available around the world! From the 1950’s until his death in 1986 there was no famine of the word of God. There was no famine because Mr. Armstrong was used to multiply food in this worldwide work.

Please turn to Matthew 24, verse 14. This is what Mr. Armstrong accomplished. “‘And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.’” Mr. Armstrong is the one God used to bring that worldwide famine to an end and bring a witness of the Light, Jesus Christ, to the world. Mr. Armstrong preached the gospel of the kingdom powerfully around the world to all nations and had tremendous respect of many leaders around the world. So he multiplied food and he bore witness of the Light to the entire world. That was the third thing he did.

Fourthly, he called fire down from heaven! You heard that right. Mr. Armstrong called fire down from heaven. John the Baptist gave the proof. When John the Baptist said I baptize with water but He who comes after me that I cannot loose the sandals of, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That is what Jesus Christ brought and that is what Mr. Armstrong used. When he called down the Holy Spirit on people at baptism, he did not just use water. He did bring down the literal Holy Spirit on people and that is represented by fire! So when Mr. Armstrong brought the Holy Spirit down on people through baptism, he called fire down from heaven! As a matter of fact, there is a case to be made that perhaps no one since the apostles’ time has led to the baptism and more fire coming down upon the earth than Mr. Armstrong up until this point! Because during his lifetime, the Worldwide Church of God got up to about 150,000 people in attendance, with 100,000 baptized. That means there was at least 100,000 occasions when Mr. Armstrong called fire down from heaven, either him directly or the ministry who were taught by him! There were also a number of people who died with the Holy Spirit so it exceeds that number! I do not think any of the apostles were directly responsible for more baptisms than Mr. Armstrong!

Now let us round that little subject out a little bit more and flush it out by going to Acts chapter 1, verse 4. “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me…’” This is Jesus Christ talking to the apostles after He was resurrected. So this is after He died and was resurrected. Verse 5: “‘...For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” Christ was telling them this is going to be a little different than John.

Verse 6: “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” Obviously, the apostles did not fulfill that, but Mr. Armstrong was the first of God's workers to get the Word to the entire world. So Jesus Christ said, just a few days from now you are going to receive a baptism different than John's, different than water.

Now go to Acts chapter 2, starting in verse 1: “Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” So here we have the fulfillment of the fire coming down upon the apostles, (that fire representing the Holy Spirit) the fire that John the Baptist said, he who comes after me will bring. Mr. Armstrong utilized in prayer at baptism the power from God given to him to call down fire from heaven when people were baptized!

So he fulfilled a role just like the original Elijah! When he called fire down, what did that fire burn? It burned a sacrifice. What did we become, as we have learned in the past? We have become a living sacrifice to Jesus Christ and God the Father! We are a living sacrifice! So when we receive that fire, we are burned up and accepted like the other sacrifice.

What else was in that moat around the sacrificial place where the fire came down for the original Elijah? In the water in the moat was seed. Are we not the seed of God? In that seed, were there not twelve stones representing the twelve tribes? Now you would have to go back and remember the twelve tribes forming the144,000 that form the temple that were in that original sacrifice. That is too big of a subject to get into right now, but that was in there when the fire came down for Elijah. If you go back and reread what we read, you are going to notice that when Elijah put together that sacrifice for the fire to come down and devour, he rebuilt the broken down altar. In the temple is the altar. When Mr. Armstrong came upon Sardis, it was a broken down Church. We know he spiritually built a spiritual temple. When he came upon it, it was broken. So he fixed it to make the sacrifice acceptable to call down the fire from heaven. This is another fulfillment of Mr. Armstrong being a direct parallel to the work that Elijah had done.

Fifthly, Mr. Armstrong brought the dead back to life. Now let us go to Revelation chapter 3. What did that say in Revelation 3, verse 1? “‘And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.’”’” So Mr. Armstrong came upon a dead Church. He revived a dead Church. The body of Christ was dying. There were only a few left.

When Mr. Armstrong came upon them, God used him to revive the dead. Mr. Armstrong taught, and we have seen many times, that a church is symbolized by a woman in the Bible. You can even go so far as to say Mr. Armstrong revived a woman, a daughter, a church. The woman has children, the children are the brethren in the Church. The Church is the woman. We are the sons of God. When Elijah came upon the widow, separated from her husband, (spiritually showing Jesus Christ) we were separated. The widow’s son had died and that is what Elijah raised up! A very small thing compared to Mr. Armstrong raising up the spiritually dying Church, the son of the mother. If you think that sounds wild, let us go to Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians chapter 4, starting in verse 21: “‘Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic.’” So these are symbols. “‘For these are the two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar - for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children - but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.’” So the spiritual Jerusalem is the mother of us all.

Continuing in verse 27: “‘For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who do not travail! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.” Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.’”

Verse 30: “‘Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.’” We are children of our mother, the Church. God does not miss one detail in all of His plan, and it is a beautiful plan.

Now the sixth thing Mr. Armstrong did was he battled false prophets pictured by Jezebel because Mr. Armstrong fought against false religion just like the original Elijah did! By doing so, he made a level way for Christ to come to. What did Mr. Armstrong do? He built a temple. In his Elijah work and his Zerubbabel work he built a temple. He made it level so that Jesus Christ could come back to that temple.

First let us look at a New Testament reference to Jezebel for a moment. Go to Revelation chapter 2. We are going to talk about Thyatira for a minute, which is the Church era preceding Sardis and may have had a good bit to play in the death of Sardis. Let us go to Revelation 2, starting in verse 18: “‘And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, “These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: ‘I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and beguile My servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols.’”’” This is a reference to Jezebel just like Elijah fought against bringing false teachings, bad food, into the Church.

Verse 21: “‘And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.’”

So we can see that the problem of Jezebel and false teachings that come from that symbolic system were in the true Church back in Thyatira. It may have had a very big part to play in the death of Sardis. Mr. Armstrong fought against false religion by crying out in the wilderness of religious confusion and by straightening this mess out by restoring to health an organization (home of God). He accomplished this by restoring the truths of God.

The last thing I want to look at is Mr. Armstrong built a temple. That temple is something Elijah must do. This is something that must get done. Let us go to Malachi chapter 3. We are going to see some more references here at the end of the Old Testament about Elijah. Malachi 3, starting in verse 1: “‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.’” Remember John the Baptist and Elijah prepare the way for Christ, the Messiah, on both occasions (first coming and second coming)? “‘And the Lord, whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple.’” Christ came the first time and went to a physical building. That was a minor fulfillment. The major fulfillment is coming to the spiritual temple. We have covered that well in the past so we will not look at that right now.

Continuing in the latter half of verse 1 “‘Even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming.’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi…’” And it goes on and on. This did not get done by Jesus Christ the first time He came. So this is speaking of a second coming that will be suddenly to His temple.

This messenger is also spoken of in chapter 4 of Malachi, but before we do that, I want to read from Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong’s letter from 1981. This is something Mr. Armstrong understood quite well, and he taught us. We should know this quite well. The letter is dated March 19, 1981, and read his words. He understood full well by this point in his life who he was and what he was being used for by God.

I will be breaking into page 3. We will not go back and read the scriptures. I will just read the letter. “Now consider the prophecy of Malachi 3:1-5. In verse 1, God will send a human messenger to prepare the way before Christ, coming as the Messenger of the New COVENANT. Now what coming of Christ is this prophecy talking about? Read verses 2 to 5. Jesus did none of those things at His first coming…” (We just read that.) “but WILL DO THEM AT HIS SOON SECOND COMING! So the prophecy is, actually, foretelling primarily a messenger to prepare the way for His SOON SECOND COMING!

“Yet Mark 1 and other New Testament scriptures identify John the Baptist as fulfilling that prophecy.

“But REMEMBER GOD’S PURPOSE WOKS IN A PROCESS OF DUALITY! John the Baptist was a TYPE or forerunner, of one to prepare the way for His Second Coming. Jesus is to come to His TEMPLE (Mal. 3:1). He came to a material temple of stone, wood, gold and materials A.D. 27-31. To what Temple will He come IN OUR TIME, SOON NOW?

“Hold this prophecy of Malachi 3 in mind, and turn to Haggai 2, beginning in verse 3. Zerubbabel was a governor of a colony of Jews sent from Babylon back to Jerusalem 70 years after the destruction of Solomon’s temple, to build a new temple. This also was the day of the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah. Zerubbabel was a builder of this second temple. It was the temple to which Jesus came at His first appearing as a human.

“Verse 3, the former temple of Solomon was then as nothing compared to its original physical glory. God commands Zerubbabel to be strong and work to build the temple (verse 4). Verse 6 goes into a far-future prophecy of a time just before Christ’s Second Coming, when God will shake the earth and shake all nations, and the GLORY OF THIS LATTER HOUSE SHALL BE GREATER THAN OF THE FORMER” (verse 9). The temple Zerubbabel built of stone, wood and physical materials was nowhere near as glorious as the former temple of Solomon! This is a PROPHECY speaking about the temple to which Christ shall come the second time, in supreme POWER and GLORY - a temple far more glorious than Solomon’s!

“To WHAT temple will Christ come very soon now? Are the Jews going to demolish the Moslem temple, Dome of the Rock, which stands on that site now, and build a new super-glorious new temple? NO! Turn to Ephesians 2:19-22. The Church at Ephesus was composed of former gentiles. They are no longer foreign gentiles, but fellow-citizens with the saints - a spiritual NATION. They are also a FAMILY - of the “household” of GOD - the GOD FAMILY.” (The household that Mr. Armstrong was used to restore.) Getting back to the letter: “As a BUILDING they are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being chief cornerstone. As a BUILDING, they are fitly framed together (in UNIFIED ORGANIZATION) growing into a HOLY TEMPLE!” (This was an organization restored by Mr. Herbert Armstrong.)

“At Christ’s Second Coming, what happens to the CHURCH? Those dead “in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thes. 4:16-17). And where shall we be WITH Him? Where shall HE be? ‘His feet shall stand in that day (of His coming) on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem’ (Zech. 14:4).

“The Church, caught up to meet Him in the air as He is COMING, those who have died will be raised IMmortal. But we, if still alive, shall ‘be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye...and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed’ to spirit GOD PERSONS (I Cor. 15:51-52).

“In that CHANGED, glorified SPIRIT immortal condition, we shall be the T E M P L E far more glorious than was Solomon's temple!

“Now back again to Malachi 3:1-5. At His Second Coming (verses 2-5), Jesus is coming to a SPIRITUAL temple far more glorious than was Solomon’s temple.

“Zerubbabel built the second temple to which Jesus came the first time. John the Baptist prepared the way before the FIRST coming. But WHO was to build the SPIRITUAL temple to which Christ shall soon come the second time? Who was to prepare the way before His Second Coming?

“Remember God does things in DUAL stages. As Zerubbabel built the first temple of MATERIAL stone, wood and other materials, he was a forerunner or type of one through whom Christ would raise up or build the SPIRITUAL TEMPLE - His Church of our time, prior to the Day of the Lord and Christ’s Second Coming. As John the Baptist prepared the way, in the PHYSICAL wilderness of the Jordan River for the first coming of the HUMAN Jesus (both man and God), then coming to His MATERIAL temple, and to His PHYSICAL people Judah, ANNOUNCING the Kingdom of God to be set up more than 1,900 years later, SO God would use a human messenger in the SPIRITUAL wilderness of 20th-century religious confusion, to be a voice CRYING OUT the Gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD, about the SPIRITUAL CHRIST, coming in SUPREME POWER AND GLORY to His SPIRITUAL TEMPLE, to actually ESTABLISH that spiritual KINGDOM OF GOD.

“Brethren, HAS THAT BEEN DONE BY THIS CHURCH?”

Mr. Armstrong was asking that question 21 years ago!

“Did God raise up a one-man LEADERSHIP to be used by Him in building this spiritual TEMPLE and in proclaiming after 1,900 years the true GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD in ALL THE WORLD - to even go to kings and heads of nations (Rev. 10:11) - in bringing the Church back to the FAITH ONCE DELIVERED (Jude 3)?

“HAS THIS HAPPENED, IN YOUR DAYS, AND HAS GOD BROUGHT YOU INTO THIS PROPHETIC FULFILLMENT AS A PART OF IT?

“HAS ANYONE ELSE DONE IT?”

And I ask that question today. Is there anyone else we can point to to have fulfilled all of these things as Elijah? No way! If we are to wait for someone to out do this, I do not think it is possible. Mr. Armstrong was the Elijah without a doubt!

Page 6 of this letter goes on to say: “The CHURCH for this present era has been raised up. God’s TRUTH has been restored to it. IF, and AS God may reveal anymore truth, I will assuredly share it with you. I have done, and am doing, the best I can with God’s help to help you all to GROW in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am doing what I can to HIGH PRESSURE YOU into a DEEPER spiritual life with Christ, a deeper, more fervent PRAYER LIFE.”

These are his closing comments now. “God could take my life in the next breath - or He has power to keep me on the job as His instrument for as long as He deems necessary.

“I have NEVER SAID I expect to live until Christ comes.

“But, just in case of my disability for any reason, to prevent Satan from causing division, I feel God has inspired me to delegate power to the Advisory Council, during any such complete disability, to take full charge of the Work and all its assets and activities.

“The CHURCH must not be scattered. It must not become scattered, because there is no COMPETENT, CHRIST-CHOSEN SPIRITUAL SHEPHERD, TO BECOME MEAT FOR BEASTS (human) OF THE FIELD! (See Ezekiel 34:5). This is a safeguard for YOUR protection.”

Mr. Armstrong knew a divided church would get conquered by Satan, just like Sardis was, because that is the kind of mess he came upon. He was trying to protect us and warn us in advance, and it is to our shame and the leadership of the Church’s shame that this happened! But God knew it would happen. Do not let it shake our confidence. God knew this would happen, and He has taken care of the situation. It will be resolved.

“This letter is already overlong, but I felt it important.

“I urge all who have not already asked for it, to request the new Lesson 13 of the Bible Correspondence Course.

“Brethren, NEVER were our prayers so URGENTLY NECESSARY - both for YOU and the WORK - and for me! My life has been threatened - but by faith in God it shall be spared until my work is complete. I now have to ask you to sacrifice and send in special EXTRA generous offerings more than ever before. Time is short. Soon there shall be a FAMINE OF hearing the Word of God (Amos 8:11).”

Did that not happen? Have we not gone from 8.5 million “Plain Truth” magazines blanketing the world to almost nothing? Have we not gone from being on radio stations and television stations around the world to almost nothing? Have we not gone from being well respected by world leaders to not even being known about? This has happened!

“If we work harder now, SO WILL SATAN. SO PRAY AS NEVER BEFORE!”

Satan really got on the ball and worked hard and did a wonderful job destroying the Church if “wonderful” can be applied to that. He did an amazing work and the Church has suffered ever since Mr. Armstrong died.

So we can see that this temple that Mr. Armstrong was building is something that Christ can come suddenly to! That is why Satan hated that temple and wanted to destroy it and scatter it. God will restore it. Read all of Ezekiel 34 and you will see. God will call His people together and get this job done some how.

Let us go to Malachi chapter 4, as we mentioned earlier. I want to read this and then I want to read it to you the way a Jewish rabbi read it to me over the telephone. Let us read Malachi 4, verses 4 through 6 because this is incredibly important. This is part of the Elijah’s job to help lift the utter destruction curse off of the world.

Malachi 4, verse 4: “‘Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’” We see a promise that Elijah will come and that he will get the job done, as it says here, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. That is not a correct translation. When you go back into the Hebrew, you will find that “father” the first time here is a single (uni) being. The word there is #1 in your Strong’s which is “ab”. As a matter of fact, I have those notes here that will allow me to read right off the research.

The Strong's number is 01. The original word is “ba”. The word origin, or the root, in the translated word is “ab”. The phonetic spelling is “aub” so aub is the correct way to pronounce it. The first four definitions for this word are: father of an individual; of God as Father of His people; as head or founder of a household, group family or clan; and as the ancestor, (God the Father as the Founder of His people). That is what is happening here.

I told you to remember Elijah turned the hearts of the people to the God the Father. I asked you to remember that, because that is what Mr. Armstrong did! He turned the hearts of the people to the Father. He turned them back to God.

Now I want to read this the way a Jewish rabbi read it to me, Rabbi Backman. I was reading this to him because I wanted to know what this Elijah does, who he is and what rabbis feel he is going to be doing. So he said, “Okay, let me get my Bible and we will read it together.” So I started reading this. The first thing I said was, “I am going to read Malachi 4.” He said, “There is no Malachi 4! It only goes up to Malachi 3.” I said, “Well that is interesting.” He said keep reading, because I think that is an artificial demarcation that you Christians have put in here!

So I read, and he said, “Wait a minute, that is not correct! You said ‘fathers’ to the children.” He said, “This is the correct way to read this verse.” So Rabbi Backman read it to me this way from the Jewish Bible, and in his Bible that is chapter 3 of Malachi, verses 23 and 24. “And he will turn back to God the hearts of the fathers with their sons and the hearts of the sons with their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with utter destruction.” Well, that changes that a lot!

He will turn the heart of the people back to the Father. But when he says he will turn the heart of the children, it is the fathers’ and the children’s. He will turn entire families back to God, and the family of God, being the Church! He said, “This is the correct way to read this verse.” So you see the first mention of the Father is single as God. He will turn back to God the hearts of the fathers’ and the children’s hearts with the Father’s. That makes a big difference because a lot of people get confused here, and they say Mr. Armstrong never got the world or the nations of Israel to turn the children back to their parents and their parents back to their children. That is not what this is talking about. This is turning the Church back to God the Father! That is consistent. Of course, God wants happy families; but it is much more important to have the people turned back to God. That is what the original Elijah did and that is what Mr. Herbert Armstrong did. This is another fulfillment here!

When that gets done as promised (and it got done), when the temple was assembled and their hearts turned to God the Father, Jesus Christ’s way was then made straight, He could come at some point after that to His temple. But the temple, the bride, must now be made ready. Because those hearts were turned back to God, there will be no utter destruction of the earth. That is a promise! It is not going to happen! Elijah has come. He came before the dreadful times. He came before the Day of the Lord. He altered the course of history by doing so, of course, with the power of God behind him! God’s Church has since become a living sacrifice. We have to be accepted by God as the bride for His Son. His Son can return suddenly and marry His bride, ushering in the kingdom of God.

I would like to conclude by reading a couple of pages from Mystery of the Ages (page 348 and 349). This was Mr. Herbert Armstrong’s final book. It is entitled, “The Elijah to Come in Our Day”.

“Remember, once again, God’s principle of duality. As Jesus said in Matthew, the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 applied to John the Baptist in type; but if you will continue reading through to verse 5, it becomes very clear that the prophecy is speaking of one to prepare the way before the Second Coming of Christ.” Brethren, we have no excuse as a Church for not having understood this. These are some of Mr. Armstrong’s last words!

“John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the physical wilderness of the Jordan River, preparing the way for the First Coming of Christ, as a physical human being, to his physical Temple at Jerusalem and to the physical people of Judah, announcing the advance good news that the kingdom of God would, in the future, be established. But also preparing the way before His Second Coming was a messenger of whom Elijah was a type. A voice crying out in the worldwide spiritual wilderness of religious confusion, preparing the way for the spiritual glorified King of kings and Lord of lords to come in supreme power and glory of God to His spiritual temple, the Church (Ephesians 2:21), to actually establish the kingdom of God.

“Further, in Matthew 17:1-8, Peter, James and John saw the vision of Moses, Elijah and Christ glorified in the kingdom of God. Then in verse 10 the disciples asked Jesus, ‘Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?’ Remember John the Baptist had finished his ministry and had been imprisoned before Jesus even began His ministry. At the time the disciples asked this question, John the Baptist had come and had been put to death. Yet Jesus answered, speaking of the yet future, ‘Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things’ (verse 11).

“This could not possibly refer to John the Baptist. John the Baptist restored nothing, but called on people to repent in preparation for the First Coming of Jesus as a physical human.

“In the first few years of the New Testament Church, Jesus’ true gospel had been suppressed and supplanted with a false gospel - not the gospel of Christ (the kingdom of God) but man’s false gospel about a Christ who did away with His Father’s commandments.

“Also Malachi 4:5-6 pictures the Elijah to come at the very end of the Church age - at a time when, if this end-time message were not proclaimed, the glorified Christ would come and smite the world with total destruction. (The word “curse” in this verse is translated from the Hebrew, which in Moffatt’s translation is given the meaning ‘total destruction’.)”

So I ask you once again, has this not been done?