Elijah the Prophet - 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 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."

 

Notice that he comes before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  He is the final messenger of God before the judgment comes.  He goes forth so that God doesn’t have to strike the earth with a curse (utter destruction).  His mission will be to restore all things and get the church (bride of Christ) ready for the rapture to go to the marriage of the Lamb.

 

Matt 17:11

Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.”

 

Many pastors have misinterpreted this to mean, “Elijah is coming first and will destroy all things.”  They have made him one of the two witnesses who appear DURING the great tribulation.  But the scripture is clear in that he comes BEFORE the great and dreadful day!

 

We have already discussed in the “Two Witnesses” why he cannot be the Old Testament saint Elijah.  In scripture we find God gives Old Testament names to certain men who are coming.  Concerning Jesus, God calls Him “David My servant.”

 

Eze 37:24

“David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.”

 

Obviously, David is not coming back to rule over God’s people and be the one shepherd because Christ is going to be King and He will rule them.  The coming Messiah is called “David My servant.”  We also know Jesus referred to John the Baptist as “Elijah.”

 

Matt 11:13-14

“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."

 

So why did Jesus say that John was Elijah?  John came in the “spirit and power of Elijah.”  John did what Elijah did by turning the hearts of the people to God.

 

Luk 1:17

“He will also 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.”

 

Notice very carefully, John has already fulfilled the first part of Malachi 4:6, “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.”  The angel that spoke to Zacharias gave that scripture for John to fulfill.  Therefore, Jesus said of John, “He is Elijah” because he fulfilled the first part of the Elijah prophecy.

 

However, the second half of that verse has not yet been fulfilled.  This end time messenger will fulfill the second part of that verse, and he will turn “the hearts of the children to their fathers.”  He will be the one that comes “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”  The great and dreadful day never came after John because he was not the final fulfillment of that verse.  The end time prophet that God calls “Elijah the prophet” will be the final fulfillment of that scripture.  

 

“Elijah the prophet” is a title for the end time messenger.  Same as “David My Servant” is a title for Messiah.

 

If a scripture that is being fulfilled stops at a comma then it is only fulfilled up to the comma.  For example:

 

Luk 4:17-21

And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

Jesus actually stopped reading at a comma.  The rest of that verse says:

 

Isa 61:2

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God.

 

The day of vengeance of our God was not yet to be fulfilled, so Jesus stopped reading at that point.  That comma represents a 2000-year span of time.  Now look at the verse that John the Baptist fulfilled. 

 

Mal 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 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."

 

There is also a 2000-year span of time between that comma and the rest of that verse.  The final fulfillment will be in the days of the end time prophet.  The “day of vengeance” will also be fulfilled after that prophet finishes his ministry.  For he will be the one who comes before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  It is important to note that he must come before the great and dreadful day not during as many pastors teach.  There will be two witnesses who appear during the great tribulation.  They must appear after the end time prophet because they are the double power.  After Elijah must come Elisha, the double power.  The Old Testament gave many pictures of what is to come.  

 

Now the work that is coming in these last days will be greater than the first.  Notice, John turned the hearts of the fathers.  But not everyone is a father.  The fathers who heard John’s message had their hearts turned to the children.  But now notice the work that is coming in the last days.  The hearts of the children will be turned to their fathers.  Every person born on earth has a father.  No matter who you are, you are somebody’s child.  Your heart will be turned to your father.  It could mean your earthly father or spiritual fathers.  The scripture is vague, but one thing is certain and that is the latter work is much greater than the first.

 

The work that will be done in this prophet’s day is going to be absolutely phenomenal.  And why?  This is the closing of the church.  It is the grand finale of the church before the church’s departure into heaven.  It is the final culmination of all the Old Testament pictures God gave.  From the rapture of Enoch, the salvation of Noah during the flood, the departure of Lot from the destruction of Sodom, to the ascension of Elijah, it is the final fulfillment of all these things, which were a shadow of things to come.  Expect to see a show on earth like no other.