THE ELIJAH PROPHECY

Sir,

“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,” (Mal 4:5, 6). The prophet Elijah was one of the greatest reformers God used. God chose him at a time of deep apostasy as His special messenger to warn His people of their impending doom.

Almost single-handedly Elijah faced the nation, denouncing their evil ways and calling them to repentance. His work was to restore among God’s people the worship of the true God which foreign worship forms and practices had displaced. He called the people to a radical decision to abandon false worship practices and to return to the Lord.

The prophecy in Malachi cannot be literal because Jesus taught us that John the Baptist was ‘Elijah’. Jesus identified the ministry of John the Baptist as the work that was preparing the people for His first coming. Speaking of John the Baptist the angel Gabriel said; “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,” (Luke 1:17). In the spirit and power of Elijah, John preached a message of reformation. Thus, Elijah is a symbol of the work that prepares people to meet the Lord at His coming. And John’s message was to prepare people for the Messiah’s first coming.

Therefore the prophecy in Malachi isn’t telling us that Elijah would return literally to earth. It is telling us that someone would come in the ‘spirit of Elijah’. In other words, they will come with the same mind and character of Elijah to warn the people of their sins. To turn the people to God and prepare them for the coming of Jesus. So the prophecy would be fulfilled in a spiritual way, rather than in a literal sense. Elijah and John were two separate people but they had a similar ministry.

John called people to repent just like Elijah. He also led a reform movement just like Elijah. Note very carefully, Malachi refers to the great and dreadful day of the Lord which is also called the great day of his wrath in Rev 6:17, which is synonymous with the second coming. So the Malachi prophecy is twofold; it refers to both the first and second coming of Christ.

The Elijah prophecy was not completely fulfilled at the first coming of Christ. At that time the great day of judgment, the Day of the Lord, was not imminent. That event would take place at the conclusion of the time of the end. This makes Malachi’s prediction relevant for today. As God sent a message to warn humanity before He destroyed the world by a flood, so He will send a warning message before the destruction of this present world by fire.

Dear reader, in the same way that the Lord empowered Elijah and John the Baptist to do a work of revival and preparation, God is looking for a modern day Elijah. With the earnestness that characterised Elijah and John the Baptist, that person or people are to strive to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ.

Bopoto Gwinyai
(7663 8191)

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