THE ELIJAH MESSAGE
2002 Pastor Tony Cirigliano
Preached at Morganton, Columbia, SC, Boone, NC, Valle Crucis, NC
In Malachi 4, verse 5, it is written: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” Approximately 2400 years ago, the prophet Elijah delivered the last prophetic message the Israelites were to hear for 400 years. Oh how those words grew with importance with each passing year of prophetic silence! This mysterious prophecy has fascinated the people of the Almighty down through the centuries. What did it mean? Was Elijah the prophet to be resurrected to preach again just before the terrible day of the Lord? And what is the “great and terrible day of the Lord?”
Inspiration tells us that this prophecy received a partial fulfillment in the life and ministry of John the Baptist. In Luke 1, verse 17, it is written: "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.” These words were spoken by the angel Gabriel to Zacharias, John's father. Jesus Himself testified that John partially fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi when He said, “And if you will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come.” (Matthew 11:14.)
First of all, notice, that Elijah did not come in person, but John came in the "spirit and power of Elijah." John had the same spirit as did Elijah, and he spoke with the same power as Elijah did. But in Malachi's prophecy, it said that Elijah the prophet would come before “the great and terrible day of the Lord.” John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus' first coming. But that was not the GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD! In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor: He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Notice that Jesus called His first coming the "acceptable year of the Lord." His coming brought the good news of God's acceptance of all people who come to Jesus and accept the great salvation He provided. He healed the sick, and gave sight to the blind, and set the captives free from sin! Praise God for Jesus' first coming - for the acceptable year of the Lord! If Jesus' first coming was the acceptable year of the Lord, then what is the great and terrible day of the Lord that Malachi the prophet spoke about?
In Joel 2:31, it is written: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.” If one read the context of this verse in Joel 2, it becomes obvious that the great and terrible day of the Lord is the second coming of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Notice that Joel mentions the sun being turned to darkness, and the moon into blood as signs that the great and terrible day of the Lord is approaching. Many Bible students know of the Great Dark Day of May 19,1780. That same night the moon appeared as a drop of blood in the sky! Also, there was the great falling of stars from heaven in The Great Meteorite Shower of 1833.
Malachi 4:5 said, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” So then, John the Baptist could not have been the complete fulfillment of Elijah’s prophecy because it implies that another Elijah type message will be sent to the earth just before the coming of the Lord. I want you to note these words written by a Mrs. Ellen G. White, whom many believe was inspired with the true gift of prophecy. In her book Early Writings, on page 155, she wrote: "I was pointed down to the last days and saw that John represented those who should go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to herald the day of wrath and the second coming of Jesus." Did you catch that? John went forth, Jesus said, in the "spirit and power of Elijah," and she was referring to the “last days”! There will be, among those living in the last days who will go forth in the same spirit, and with the power of Elijah to herald the day of wrath to the wicked and the second coming of Jesus!
John the Baptist was a type of those who will be announcing to the world the soon return of the Savior! That is one of the main messages of God's remnant church; His church in the end of time is to preach the advent of Christ, and the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord! What a destiny and mission we have before us!
According to the prophecy of Malachi, what is the Elijah message to do? In Malachi 4, verse 6, it is written: “And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of their children to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Notice the Elijah message is a family message designed to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their father. It's a message that breaks down the generation gap and unites old and young together! It's a message of God's love, and it is a message of preparation - preparation for the coming of the Lord - for that great and awesome day! It's a message for young and old, a message telling children who have wandered away from the faith of their father's to return before it is too late! In these days we live in, there is a tremendous problem of families without fathers - either physically without them - or virtually without them! The Lord knew that in the end of time, there would be a need for His remnant people to think about the family! He knew that children would need to be loved with a father's heart. He knew that children would need to turn back to their fathers with love and respect.
In John the Baptist's day, the Lord said John shall be an instrument in God's hand of to turn many to “righteousness” and to the “wisdom of the just.” (See Luke 1:16.) Jesus said that the Elijah message would turn many to righteousness, and prepare a people to meet the Lord, and yet the last day Elijah message would also turn fathers hearts to their children, and children to their fathers! Hence, we can safely conclude that God's people becoming righteous, and becoming prepared to meet the Lord, will also be strengthening their families! Father's will turn to their children, and children to their fathers! Strong and loving families will be one of the earmarks of the last day Elijah Message!
The children and fathers of verse six include not only literal families; but also a return of later generations to the faith of the patriarchs. The Israelites had lost the message of their fathers! Malachi called the children of his generation to the wisdom of the just fathers before them! And brothers and sisters, the last day Elijah message will do the same. The devil wants children to forget the message the Lord delivered to their fathers. The great Second Advent Movement contains a unique message of a return to Bible truth! It is a call to this generation of last day Christians to return to the faith of our fathers – to the great truths that started this Advent Movement! This is included as well as fathers turning to their children and children to their fathers! This great Second Advent Movement began with men like William Miller here in America and hundreds like him around the world! It didn't start in a closet. It was a mighty worldwide movement raised up by the Almighty to prepare a people to meet the Savior's return! The Advent Movement spread like wildfire throughout the world in the mid 1800s. Thousands were led to embrace the truth preached by men like William Miller here in America, and by others all over the world. The pen of inspiration, writing about the Second Advent movement wrote: "Servants of the Lord were raised up in the Spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the message." Inspiration definitely stated that the Advent Movement went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah!
If we look at the experiences of the prophet Elijah of old, we will see similarities with the Elijah message of the last days. Did you know that the history of Elijah will be repeated in the last days, and that it has special significance for us? Let me share with you this quote from one of my favorite Bible commentary books called Prophets and Kings, on page 177. "Through the long dark centuries that have passed since Elijah's time; the record of his lifework has brought inspiration and courage to those who have been called to stand for the right in the midst of apostasy. And for us 'Upon whom the ends of the world are come' it has special significance. History is being repeated." Did you catch that last sentence? HISTORY IS BEING REPEATED in these last days we live in!
If Elijah’s history will be repeated in the church, then it is important for us to examine the experience of this great prophet of God. The prophet Elijah lived and did his important work in the darkest days of Israel's apostasy. He preached in days when loyalty to Yahweh was considered treason. This will be repeated again when church and state are united once again and the world is forced to receive the mark of the beast.
The people of God in Elijah's day were divided between Israel and Judah. Ahab was king in Samaria - Judah's capital. After he had become king, Ahab took to wife the wicked Jezebel. Jezebel led him and eventually all of Judah and Israel to worship Baal - the sun god. Jezebel was a sun worshipper, and when she married Ahab we might say it was a union of the false church with the state, and sun worship became the state religion! Something similar will happen again in the last days!
Jezebel combined pagan sun worship with some aspects of the true religion of Israel. Today we have many vestiges of sun worship in fallen Christianity such as Sunday worship, the immortal soul idea, the worship of statues and images, and many other things that spiritual Jezebel, in the form of the fallen church, has mixed with true religion just as literal Jezebel did in Elijah's day! The people turned their backs on the Creator and redeemer and worshipped the lifeless idols like Baal - the sun god, who they believed ruled nature. In reproof, the Lord God sent a message to apostate Israel and Judah on the lips of the great prophet Elijah. The very name of the prophet pronounced EliYAH in Hebrew literally means God is Yahweh!
In 1 Kings, Chapter 17, verse 1, it is written: “And Elijah the Tishbite who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, ‘As Yahweh, the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.’” Since they worshipped Baal as the god of nature, the Lord through Elijah said there would be no rain for a period of years. He did this to show that He alone - the Creator could bring the rain and could control nature! Now after announcing this fearful judgment - Elijah went underground we might say. In verses 2 through 4 of 1 Kings 17, it says, “And the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, ‘Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and HIDE thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan, and it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.’” The land was stricken by a terrible drought. Jezebel became furious at Elijah and he had to flee from here wrath!
Now I want you to notice something very important here! That drought lasted a certain period of years. Just how long the drought lasted is found in the book of James. In James 5:17, it is written: “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three and a half years.” How long did the drought last? It lasted three and a half years. Friends, there is a purpose for God telling us how long the drought in Elijah's day lasted, because the history of Elijah has been repeated! In prophecy a day equals a year. Three and a half years would be 1260 days or years! This is how long the Roman Church united with the governments of the world ruled supreme during the dark ages! During that time there was a drought for the Word of God!
Many scholars believe that the seven churches refer to seven ages of the church. Adventists are more exact and say the Thyatira Period refers to the period 538 to 1798 AD, (the 1260 days or three and a half years) when the Roman Church was united with the kings of the earth and when she sat as a queen ruling supreme. In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 20, it is written: “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman JEZEBEL, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My people to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.” Did you notice that the Lord called the false church, which ruled supreme during the Dark Ages, "that woman Jezebel"? Like Jezebel of old she came in among God's people, and with her union with the state, she committed spiritual fornication. And with her communion hosts held up to the sun bursts on her altars, she make the people eat things sacrificed to idols! And during the 1260 days, during those Dark Ages of her rule, the true Christians had to flee from spiritual Jezebel, as Elijah had to flee from literal Jezebel’s persecution!
Many times the Holy Spirit is compared to water as when Jesus told the woman at the well He could give her living water so that she would never thirst again. During the 1260 years of the false churches supreme rule - Spiritual Jezebel made war against the true Word of God. The people were forbidden to own a copy of the Scriptures! Bibles were translated into Latin and chained to the pulpits. During the Dark Ages, there was a spiritual drought for the water of life – God’s Word, just as there was a literal DROUGHT FOR THREE AND HALF YEARS in literal Elijah's day! Friend, as God's messenger told us, the history of Elijah has been, and is now being repeated! The Christians in the Dark Ages had to flee into the wilderness, as Elijah had to flee from Jezebel's wrath! And like he was underground in hiding for three and a half years - during the drought - God's true church was underground for 1260 years!
In 1 Kings 18:4, it is written: “For it was so, when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.” Like literal Jezebel used Ahab's power as king to kill the prophets of God, spiritual Jezebel used the armies of the earth to kill 50 million people of God during her rule! Dear reader, there is great truth in the inspired statement that the history of Elijah will be repeated!
Do you know that it was AFTER the drought that Elijah appeared with a special message to the people of God? If the history of Elijah was repeated, then after 1798, after spiritual Jezebel's supreme rule of three and a half years, men would come forth in the spirit and power of Elijah with a message for God's people, and this is what happened in the rise of the Second Advent Movement! Remember the prophecy of Malachi that stated God would send Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord come? Ellen White wrote, "Of great importance to the church is the history of Elijah." What was the message Elijah brought to the people of God after the three and a half years? It’s found in 1 Kings 18, verse 1. “And it came to pass after many days, that the Word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, ‘Go shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.’” Notice that it was after "many days" that the Lord sent Elijah back to Ahab with a special message. Elijah came out of hiding after the drought! God's Elijah people came out of hiding after 1798, after the political power was taken away from the Roman Church, after her deadly wound!
Now what was Elijah's message to Ahab and the people of God? Verses 17 & 18 of 1 Kings tell us. “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, ‘Art thou he that troubleth Israel?’ And he answered ‘I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father's house in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and hast followed Baalim, (the sun god!)’” Notice that Elijah was called a troublemaker because he stood up for God's commandments! Friends, as the Elijah people Seventh-day Adventists will be called troublemakers because they tell Christians and the world to not follow the sun god's holy day - but rather keep the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord! Billy Sunday once said, "If God's word rubs your fur the wrong way, then you cats better turn around!" Remember that the devil is angry with those who keep God's commandments! When you tell people they are not keeping God's commandments, they will get angry and call you a cultist, a troublemaker, a legalist, etc.
Just before Elijah called down fire from heaven, at his confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he did something very important. In 1 Kings 18:30, it is written: “And Elijah said unto all the people, ‘Come near unto me.’ And all the people came near unto him, and he REPAIRED the altar of the Lord that was broken down.” An altar is used for worship! Elijah restored proper worship to God when he repaired the altar. The Elijah people in the last days have also restored the proper worship of God. You see a breach had been made in God's law. Spiritual Jezebel had taken God's Sabbath commandment and replaced it with the holy day of sun worship! In Isaiah 58:12-13, it reads, “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.” What was this breach that was made? Look at verse 13: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day: and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride on the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of Yahweh had spoken it.” When Elijah repaired the broken down altar he restored the true worship. When the Elijah people put the Sabbath back where it belongs in God's law, they also repaired the breach the devil had made in God’s true worship! God promises that you will ride on the high places of the earth and have an everlasting inheritance! Elijah loved the Lord, that's why he worshipped Him! And that's the true reason why the Elijah people should keep the Sabbath - because they love the Lord! Elijah had a special message for his generation. And the Elijah people today - God's remnant church preaches a similar message to the world right now! The history of Elijah is being repeated!
In 1 Kings 18, verse 21, it is written: “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, ‘How long halt ye between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him: but if Baal (the sun god), then follow him.’ And the people answered him not a word.” Elijah called the people who claimed to be Israel to make a decision. If Yahweh is the true God, he said, then follow Him. If you believe in the sun god, then follow him! Friends, Seventh-day Adventists say the same thing to those who claim to be the people of God today! If you worship the Lord of heaven, then follow Him! Keep His commandments! Remember His Sabbath day! If you want to follow the sun god, then keep Sunday holy and forget the Sabbath. O friends, this is the choice all will have to make. How long will people hesitate between two opinions? If Jesus is your Lord, then follow Him!
Now I want you to notice that Elijah was not the majority in his day, yet he spoke God's truth to a rebellious generation. In 1 Kings 18, verse 22, it is written: “Then said Elijah unto the people, ‘I, even I only remain a prophet of Yahweh (The Lord); but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.’” Elijah was outnumbered 450 to 1. Large numbers of people doing something does not make that something right! God's word is what makes it right! Only 8 people entered the ark in Noah's day.
Now Elijah, after his experience on Mount Carmel, after calling the people of God to a decision, had to flee for his life! It says this in 1 Kings 19, verses 1-3: “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, ‘So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as one of them by tomorrow about this time.’” Jezebel issued a death decree to Elijah. Friends, the Elijah people will face a death decree when the governments of the world enforce the spiritual Jezebel’s mark! The Elijah people will have to flee spiritual Jezebel's wrath just as Elijah had to flee from literal Jezebel's wrath! Are you ready for that day? You need Jesus to make you ready! You need His righteousness, His grace, His power, and His Spirit!
Now I want you to notice something else. In 2 Kings chapter 9, we read in verses 1 through 3 that the Lord, through Elijah's successor – Elisha, anointed Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat to be King. Jehu would be the one to throw down Jezebel. In 2 Kings 9, verses 30-36, it is written: “And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window as Jehu entered in at the gate. She said, ‘Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?’ And he lifted up his face to the window and said, ‘Who is on my side? Who?’ and there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. And he said, ‘Throw her down.’ And some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her underfoot. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, ‘Go, see now, this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.’ And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again and told him, and he said, ‘This is the word of Yahweh the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.’” Dear reader, do you know that spiritual Jezebel will also be thrown down, with her sorceries and false doctrines? In Revelation 18, verse 21, it is written: “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, ‘Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.’” Babylon is called the "great harlot." She is spiritual Jezebel! She will be thrown down and found no more just like they could not find the body of literal Jezebel because the dogs had eaten her! O friends, the history of Elijah will be repeated!
In 2 Kings 9, verse 20, it says that when Jehu was riding to throw down Jezebel, he rode his chariot "furiously." Do you know what the Bible says about the Lord's return In Isaiah 66:15? It says, "For behold the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire." Do you know that after the three and a half years of drought in Elijah's day, the rain came from God in a special way? In 1 Kings 18, verse 41, Elijah said to Ahab, "Get thee up . . . for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” In verse 44 on the seventh time Elijah’s servant looked out at the sea, he saw "a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." And the rain came in abundance; the sky became dark with clouds. It is interesting that the Lord’s messenger describes Jesus’ coming, which will be preceded by the latter rain, the power of the Holy Spirit, in the same way. In The Great Controversy, on page 640, the inspired pen wrote: “Soon there appears in the east a small cloud, about half the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Savior and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of Man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it drawers nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant.” Friends, Jesus is coming soon! A lot sooner than people think! Ready or not, here He comes!
Finally, what happened to Elijah when his work was done? In 2 Kings 2, verse 11, it is written: “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire and parted them both asunder: and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” When the Elijah people of these last days finish their work, they will be translated to heaven without seeing death! Praise God! Don't you want to be there? Do you want to be part of the Elijah message? Do you want to prepare a people to meet the Lord? Malachi said, "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord." John the Baptist went forth in the Spirit and Power of Elijah. He prepared the people for the Lord's first coming. The Elijah people in the last days will prepare the world for Jesus' second coming! Their message will turn sinners to righteousness, disobedient children to their fathers, and a disobedient world to their heavenly Father!
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