The Old Testament prophet Malachi spoke of the Lord’s promise to
send Elijah before the day of the Lord.
Has this Old Testament prophecy been fulfilled? If so when and by whom?
Let’s take a few moments to find out if we can expect the prophet
Elijah to rise from the dead in the last days.
THE
SCRIPTURES:
Malachi 4:5-6 Matthew
11:7-15 Luke 1:11-17 John 1:19-28
THE
STUDY:
The Old Testament prophecy that we will be looking at is found in
Malachi 4:5-6…
Behold,
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers
to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come
and smite the earth with a curse.
There are several things we can learn about this coming Elijah from the
text of this prophecy:
First of all his coming is said to take place “before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the LORD:”. What
is meant by this phrase? There are two
possible interpretations of this phrase.
It can be referring to the second coming of Christ when He will judge
the world before our entrance into eternity (2 Peter 3:10). Or it can be speaking of the first coming of
Christ which was soon followed by the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (Matt
24:15-22, Luke 19:41-44, Luke 21:20-24).
Secondly, we are told that “he
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the
children to their fathers” At his coming, Elijah would
proclaim the gospel message. For family
members who were at war with one another… when they accepted this message of
grace, their lives would be changed and they will enter into a peaceful
relationship with God and one another. (Col
3:15) However, for those who would not
accept the gospel proclaimed by Elijah they would be facing the judgment of God
for their sins… “lest
I come and smite the earth with a curse”.
Malachi’s prophecy
mentioned to John the Baptist in John 1:19-28…
And
this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but
confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou
Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that
we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I [am] the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the
way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the
Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why
baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that
prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with
water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred
before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond
Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Here, we find that the priests and Levites were sent to find out the
identity of John the Baptist. During the course of
their questions the subject of Elijah came up…. “Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but
confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou
Elias?” After denying he was the
Messiah, John then responded to their inquiry that he was John the
Baptist. His response… “And he saith, I am
not.”. Here we find that John the Baptist, clearly,
without hesitation denied that he was Elijah.
To answer their question about his identity, John referred them to
another OT prophecy. This prophecy was
given by Isaiah who said “I
[am] the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3)
The entire prophecy from
Isaiah (Isa 40:3-5) states…
The
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every
mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see [it]
together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].
In other words, John the Baptist was to make clear and plain to all that
Jesus was the Messiah, who was the very glory of God Himself shown to the eyes
of all men.
Christ’s Teachings about
Elijah that was to come in Matthew 17:9-13 and Matt 11:7-15…
And
as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the
vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples
asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered
and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come
already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed.
Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake
unto them of John the Baptist. (see also Mark 9:12-13)
Here, in Matt 17:, we find Christ being questioned
about Malachi’s prophecy concering he coming Elijah. Jesus answered them by saying “Elias truly shall
first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come
already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed.” Christ now tells them
something that is totally unexpected.
Christ claims that the prophecy about the coming of Elijah is a valid
prophecy, but it has already taken place!
He goes further and says that Elijah was not recognized and because of
their lack of identifying Elijah they have done with him as they pleased.
Christ goes further to explain how they abused this unknown Elijah… “Likewise shall also
the Son of man suffer of them”. In other words, the same type of abuse that
Elijah had to withstand would be the same type that Christ Himself would have
to endure (false accusations, imprisonment, painful suffering and death).
We are then told that the followers of Christ come
to recognition that He is speaking about John the Baptist. “Then the disciples
understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist”
It is at this point we can begin to see a seeming
difficulty in these verses. Please keep
in mind in our previous text, John 1:, we saw that John the Baptist clearly
denied that he was Elijah. And yet, here
we see the disciples are thinking that it was John the Baptist that Christ was
equating with Elijah. The simple
solution to this issue is to recognize that the disciples were making a wrong
assumption. Could it be that Christ was
not speaking of John the Baptist in this teaching?
We will see
that Christ clarifies of whom He is speaking in our next text from Matt 11…
And
as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went
ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man
clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft [clothing] are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet?
yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is [he], of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy
face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto
you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John
the Baptist: notwithstanding he that 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 suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied
until John. And if ye will receive [it], this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Here, in the context, Christ is clearly speaking of John the Baptist, “Jesus began to say
unto the multitudes concerning John”. In His discussion of
John, Christ begins to describe John using an Old Testament prophecy that
applied to John….
“For
this is [he], of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee.” (Isa 40:3, Mal 3:1) In other words, John was sent by God to
prepare the way of Christ, declaring who He was and baptizing those who would
eventually become followers of Christ.
He continues to describe John’s ministry, pointing to his importance, as
well as describing the powerful effects upon mankind that John’s message would
accomplish. It would break the sin
hardened heart of men (kingdom suffereth violence) causing them to run
desperately seeking to receive the rule of God in their heart (the violent take
it by force). John’s message concerning
the Messiah was supported by the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets.
But finally, Christ makes a statement that clarifies this entire issue
concerning John the Baptist and the prophecy concerning Elijah…. “And if ye will
receive [it], this is Elias, which
was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” So now there is no
misunderstanding. The disciples had
gotten it correct. Christ was speaking
of John in Matthew 17, and clearly stated the same here in Matthew 11.
So we are now faced with another difficulty…. Did John the Baptist lie
when he denied that he was the promised Elijah?
Our last verse in this study will help us to understand this difficult
issue…
The Angels’s testimony concerning
the coming John The Baptist in Luke 1:11-17…
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right
side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw [him], he was troubled, and
fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto
him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall
bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou
shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he
shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his
mother's womb. 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 Elias, 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.
As the angel spoke to Zacharias about the birth of
his son John, we find him comparing John to the prophet Elijah in the Old
Testament. He makes the statement… “And he
shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, 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.”
John the Baptist, during the course of his ministry
would demonstrate the same Holy Spirit empowered ministry as that of
Elijah. Also, he would share the same
motivations and attitudes of the heart as that of Elijah. He would dress in a similar way and eat a similar
diet to that of Isaiah as well. He would
share the same office and title of “prophet”; and would share the position of forerunner
with Elijah, John being the forerunner of Christ, while Elijah was the
forerunner of Elisha. In many ways, the
ministries of these great men of faith were overlapping and similar.
Conclusion Of Our Study…
As we can now see that both
Christ and John the Baptist were being truthful about John’s relationship to
Elijah. When John said that he was not Elijah he was telling
the truth, he was not Elijah come back from the dead. Christ made it plain that the prophecy
concerning the coming Elijah was fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist; in other words, John coming in “the spirit and
power of Elijah” was a fulfillment of the Malachi prophecy.
But we can take this one
step further, if you notice the phrasing of the teaching of Christ we see that
John was not simply “a” fulfillment of the
prophecy but was actually “the” fulfillment of the
prophecy…
“And
if ye will receive [it], this is
Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Christ did not say this
is one fulfillment of the Elijah prophecy. He said plainly that “this is Elijah which was for to
come.” In other words, John the Baptist was the
complete and total fulfillment of the Malachi prophecy.
May the Lord bless you as you seek His truth.
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