18 July 2007
ELIJAH
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 their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with destruction
Malachi 4:5-6. This declares that an Elijah shall come just before the day of the Lord and it reveals the nature
and importance of his work.
Think NOT that I have come to send peace on earth : I came NOT to send peace,
but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the
daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household Mat 10:34-36.
History has proved this to be a truth. Almost all who have been called out of this world, have experienced this
truth. Those who have been raised in the faith, have experienced the same thing, by being hated by this world
Joh 15:19-20.
HOW then, could Elijah's mission be to turn the heart of children and parents toward each
other when Christ's mission was to divide families? Would they not be working at cross purposes?
Jesus
told us that John Baptist was an Elijah Mat 17:10-13. What did John do? And thou, child, shall be called
the prophet of the HIGHEST: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation
to the people for the remission of their sins, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace Luk 1:72-80. Gabriel said to Zachariah; and he shall be filled with the
Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb (the Spirit WAS given to men before Pentecost!) and MANY of the children
of Israel shall HE TURN TO THE LORD THEIR GOD. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn
the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the WISDOM OF THE JUST; to make ready a people prepared
for the Lord Luk 1:15-17.
John taught REPENTANCE and BAPTISM for the remission of sins Luk 3:3.
He prepared people for the coming of Christ by preaching REPENTANCE, BY TURNING THEIR HEARTS BACK TOWARD GOD!
Elijah did the same thing; he worked to turn the hearts of the children of men toward their GOD 1 Kings 18.
The words; fathers and children, were translated either singular or plural by their context. What is meant by Malachi
is that Elijah will turn the hearts of the created children back to GOD THEIR FATHER! As ALL people turn to their God,
a unity and harmony will be achieved that will blossom into peace! In the short term; turning back to God our Father
will cause division. In the long term; this will result in the coming of Messiah and the conversion of all people through
the out pouring of God's spirit upon ALL FLESH Joel 2:28. Those who turn toward God NOW, will then be in a position
to teach and reconcile with their now repentant loved ones.
Elijah truly shall come first, and RESTORE
ALL THINGS Mat 17:11. Brethren ALL THINGS HAVE NOT YET BEEN RESTORED. There is still MUCH that is NOT KNOWN.
Even the church of God is full of Idolatry, appealing to the writings of men more often then they appeal to the WORD OF GOD!
Even the converted, NEED to turn their hearts back to GOD THEIR FATHER, LEST THEY BE VISITED WITH STRONG CORRECTION.
WE ALL NEED TO REPENT AND TURN BACK TO GOD. WE ALL NEED TO STOP RELYING ON MEN, WHO CANNOT SAVE, FOR OUR SALVATION.
IT IS TIME FOR US TO ACQUIRE SUFFICIENT OIL MAT 25;1-12.
THE TWO PROPHETS
What be these
two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? Zech 4:12. Then
said he, these are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth Zech 4:14. Who are they
then? They are two men in the last days, men like Moses and Elijah Mat 17:3, who stand by and with
the Lord of all the earth. They are prophets of God Rev 11:10. They, like ALL prophets have been trained and called
by God, they have been chosen and sent by God and they answer to God. In all the bible, NO prophet has ever
answered to any man in spiritual things. Prophets are God's servants, NOT the servants of ANY MAN. These
two, like all prophets, stand by God, THEY SERVE GOD! They will point all people toward GOD. There is NO
WAY that they will EVER point people toward the teachings of ANY MAN. They will stand upon the unshakable WORD OF GOD,
NOT upon the fallible words of men!
These two will minister in power for twelve hundred and sixty days and
then sleep for three and one half days and then be raised up in the resurrection Rev 11:3 and Rev 11:11-12. Will
they have it made when they begin their ministry? ABSOLUTELY NOT! They could FAIL and they will know that they
could fail. They will rely on God for every minute of every day and we should all be supporting them in prayer every
day. If they fail, God's word is broken, the whole plan fails. No, they will not fail. They will succeed by
the grace and power of God, because they will know that on their own, they will surely fail.
They will be
clothed with sackcloth throughout the days of their ministry Rev 11:3. If you can imagine wearing burlap against your
skin, you will understand that it is indicative of AFFLICTION. Afflicting oneself in this manner is often connected
with FASTING and REPENTANCE Luk 10:13, Dan 9:3 and Jonah 3:5-10. The wearing of sackcloth with fasting indicates,
the humbling of oneself before God in the spirit of true, heartfelt REPENTANCE and DEDICATION TO GOD. It indicates,
the full and heartfelt ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF GOD AS SUPREME! Demonstrating a humble and honest RESPECT for ALMIGHTY GOD.
It reflects the abandonment of the PLEASURES OF THIS WORLD, FOR THE THINGS OF GOD! This wearing of sackcloth is actually
a metaphore and is symbolic of the repentant, humble, total dedication to God, of these people.
Since
their ministry will end with the resurrection, one need only count back twelve hundred and sixty three and one half days,
to see when they will start. Since the abomination is set up, twelve hundred and ninety days before the resurrection,
we need only subtract, 1263 1/2 from the 1290 to see that these two prophets begin their ministry, 26 1/2 days after
the false prophet is set up. Since the false prophet has not yet been set up, these two have NOT yet begun their ministry!
How can they be recognized? 1 They will stand by God and HIM ONLY shall they serve Mat 4:10 and Deu 13.
2 They shall work to turn ALL people toward God. 3 They shall
have the powers spoken of in Rev 11, but they shall not abuse those powers. Like Moses they shall exercise power AS
GOD DIRECTS. 4 They shall begin 26 1/2 days after the man of sin has been
set up. 5 They shall understand God's word and shall restore and reveal all
things. Letting the golden oil of God's spirit flow through them into God's people and reviving the seven churches.
6 They shall WARN the world of what is going to befall them. 7
They shall warn God's people to turn toward Him and they shall provide the means, for those who do turn back to God with
a WHOLE HEART, to escape the hour of trial. 8 They will undoubtedly be hated and
rejected by this world and their message will, at first, be rejected by much of the church of God. Finally, their conduct
will be consistent with Deu 13 and the last few verses of Deu 18.
In Rev 11 they are called witnesses.
A witness is someone who can testify to a fact. They shall witness that THE ETERNAL IS GOD, AND BESIDE HIM THERE IS
NO OTHER Deu 4:35. Perhaps David summed it up in psalm 100; PRAISE YE THE LORD ALL YE NATIONS. KNOW YE THAT
THE ETERNAL IS GOD. IT IS HE THAT HAS MADE US AND NOT WE OURSELVES. WE ARE HIS PEOPLE AND THE SHEEP OF HIS PASTURE.
Why
two? Because all things shall be established at the mouth of two or three witnesses Deu 17:6 and Deu 19:15. The
law of God requires at least two witnesses. They shall witness that the ETERNAL IS GOD!
Who will they
be. This is in the FATHER'S HANDS. HE CHOOSES HIS SERVANTS, NOT ANY MAN. For those who have claimed
this office in the past, BEWARE; HE WHO EXALTS HIMSELF SHALL BE ABASED Luk 13:11. Do you really want this
awesome RESPONSIBILITY or are you just intrigued by POWER. Power is given ONLY to ENABLE one to fulfill RESPONSIBILITY.
Those who want POWER WITHOUT
RESPONSIBILITY, DESERVE NEITHER. These two, will know who they are, when God calls
them and sends them to His people. We will know them by their works, their fruits Mat 7:15-27.
When will the church leave to go to her place? When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, stand
in the holy place; FLEE Mat 24:15-21. For Jerusalem is to be trodden down by the gentiles for 42 months Rev 11:2.
The beast who treads down, shall have power to make war for 42 months Rev 13:5. The church is to be in the wilderness
for 42 months (1260 days) Rev 12:14. At the end of 1335 days all men shall be blessed Joel 2:28 and the saints shall
STAND IN THEIR LOT Dan 12:12-13. We are not told exactly when this beast shall occupy the city and the Church shall
go to her place, but we do know that their 1260 days must be completed before the blessing at the end of the 1335 days.
If the resurrection occurs BEFORE the 1260 days in the wilderness are completed and this appears certain. Those
who do not qualify as firstfruits, like the children, shall remain in this place until Christ returns with His saints after
the Wedding Feast and destroys the enemy. This will be the difference between the 1290 days and the 1335 days,
the 45 days of the wedding feast in heaven and the last plagues. God will NOT leave our children unprotected!
For they are set apart as HOLY, SANCTIFIED, 1 COR 7:14 by the FAITH of their parents, Acts 26:18. The wise shall
understand and be prepared Dan 12:3 and Dan 12:10. The foolish shall not understand and shall be taken by surprise as
they shall suppose that the resurrection shall not occur until the end of the 1260 days.
May God BLESS all
those who turn to Him and keep His commandments!
