THE RETURN OF ELIJAH – (1)

By the late Pastor F. W. Dowsett

“If my people, which are called by my name; shall humble  themselves, and  pray, and  seek  my  face, and turn  from their wicked  ways; then  will I hear from beaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7: 14

CHAPTER ONE

ELIJAH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

As we read God’s Word, it becomes quite apparent that there  are  two  distinct stages  or phases  to the ministry of the prophet Elijah.  The first stage of his ministry is recorded in the first and second Books of Kings. Here we are given a very comprehensive account of this great prophet’s activities during these earlier days of the nation of Israel, and particularly during the reign of King Ahab who is described as the most wicked king to have ruled over God’s people Israel to that date, and possibly sirice that date. We read in I Kings I6:30:

“And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above  all that  were before him.”

Now  it  should be noted that  this  statement was recorded despite the fact that a similar charge was laid against several kings of Israel who preceded Ahab. For example, in I Kings  16:25  we  read the  following statement regarding Ahab’s father Omri;

“But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than  all that  were before him.”

Further back, in the 14th chapter of the same book, we read a similar statement in regard to King Jeroboam, so it is not too difficult to imagine the shockingly low condition to which Israel had been brought by Ahab. His  iniquities,  compounding upon those of  his predecessors, had virtually  destroyed Israel’s relationship with their  God, the God of their  fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It is not then inappropriate to consider or compare this situation in Israel at the time of the first phase of Elijah’s ministry with the present situation which obtains in Anglo-Saxon-Israel today, as the time for the second phase of Elijah’s ministry approaches.

The reference to this  further,  or second  stage of Elijah’s ministry 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  can be no doubt  that the above  statement was to have a literalfulfilment sometime in the future to the time when the prophecy was made. There can be equally  no doubt  but  that the literal  fulfilment of the prophecy was believed and taught by many at the time of our Lord’s  first advent, including our Lord Himself.

Note the following statements;

By the disciples

“When Jesus came  into  the  coasts  of Caesarea Philippi He asked His disciples saying, ‘Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” And they said, ‘Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elijah,…’ “ Matt. 16:13-14.

And His disciples  asked  Him saying, ‘Why  then say the Scribes that Elijah must  first come?’ “ Matt. 17:10.

By Jesus

”And Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Elijah truly shall  first come, and restore all things.’ “ Matt. 17:11.

By onlookers at the crucifixion

“Let  us  see whether Elijah  will  come  to  save Him.” Matt. 27:49.

By Herod

“Now  Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that  was done by Him. And he was  perplexed, because  that it was said of some, that Elijah had appeared; and of others, that  one  of the old  prophets  was  risen again.”

Yes! It was dearly believed that Elijah was, at some time, to reappear!

Further to this, as recorded in I and II Kings, Elijah had carried out all the instructions which the Lord had given him. Yet despite this, and the added fact that he had been removed from Israel in a truly remarkable manner, we find that some considerable time later, God is referring  to what  He still intends  to do through  this same prophet Elijah, a man who was no longer present on earth. He had been  translated many  years before this latter pronouncement was made  by God, a time span of about 500 years.

The reason for his translation thus becomes obvious, being made necessary by the fact that God still had further work- a further ministry- for Elijah the prophet prior to the return of our Lord. If this was not the case, then there does not appear to be any reason why God should not have permitted Elijah to live and die in the ordinary way  and  then resurrect him with the other saints  who  are  to  take  part  in this  glorious event immediately prior to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He could  then have taken his appointed place  under Christ, carrying out his appointed duties within God’s Kingdom.

As we  study God’s Word, and  assemble the sequence of events relative  to Christ’s return, we find that those who  are selected and called  to attend  the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, (see Revelations 19:7-9), will  be raised  from  the dead, or translated  from  the living, whichever is the case, to meet the Lord in the air. In I Thess. 4:13-18 we read, using the Phillips Modem English Translation:

“Now  we don’t want  you, my brothers, to be in any doubt  about  those  who  ‘fall  asleep’  in death, or to grieve over them like the rest of men who have no hope. If we believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose again, then we can believe that God will just as surely bring with Jesus all who are ‘asleep’ in Him”.

Here we have a definite message from the Lord.It is that those who are still living when He comes will not in any way precede those who have previously fallen asleep. One word of command.One shout from the archangel. One blast from  the trumpet of God, and the Lord Himself shall come down from heaven! Those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then we who are still living will be swept up with them into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And after that, we will be with Him forever. So by all means use this, message to encourage one another.”

Ferrar Fenton,  in his  excellent Modern English Translation, renders  the latter  section of  the above passage as follows:

“First, the dead in Christ will rise again. Then we, the living remnant, shall at the same time be carried up in the clouds FOR AN INTRODUCTION BY THE LORD INTO THE ETERNAL CONDITION, and then we shall always be with the Lord.”

Following our meeting with the Lord in the air, we will, as we have just read, be introduced into our eternal condition. In other words, we  will be  given our respective  positions  and duties, and then return  with the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign with Him  over His Kingdom.

It should be carefully noted that the Marriage Supper just referred to, is NOT the actual wedding. The custom of that time was for the BRIDEGROOM – not the bride – to invite his special and closest friends  to a feast with him prior  to the wedding itself! These special guests would then accompany the groom, after the conclusion of the wedding supper, and go out to meet  the bride, who during this period would be making herself ready, whereupon the actual wedding ceremony would take place.

Now if it was God’s intention for Elijah the prophet to take part in these events, and to do nothing different from all the others who were  to be given positions of rulership and authority under  our Lord  Jesus Christ, then there  doesn’t  appear  to be any reason  why He should have arranged for totally different circumstances for Elijah, associated with a totally different ministry.

The fact that God removed Elijah by such different and  special means  can  surely  lead  us  to no  other conclusion than that God had a very different and special ministry for him.

Just for the record, there is another reference to Elijah which we should consider. It is found in II Chron. 21:12, and reads as follows:

“And there came a writing to Libnah  from Elijah the prophet, saying, ……”

It has been suggested that this passage indicates that the prophet Elijah must have still been alive at the time of King Libnah, some ten years after Elijah’s translation. It is further suggested that this passage pwnes that Elijah was not in fact translated at all, but that God took him to some unknown destination, possibly  in some part of the heavens, and that Elijah subsequently died some time after the above mentioned incident.

However, the Bible doesn’t say that Elijah was there at the time. It only records the delivery of a letter written by Elijah. This letter could easily have been written by him during his lifetime and used, or delivered, at this later date. Considering the subject mat-ter of the letter, which refers to the sins of Ahab,it is even quite possible that Elijah wrote  the letter prophet-ically for this very purpose. To interpret the incident as meaning that Elijah was stillalive at the time, and dwelling in the land,would seem to me to be just as foolish as to claim that Peter and Paul are still around and  alive  somewhere  just because we still read their letters.

Now in the foregoing you will notice that I have used the phrase “the TRANSLATION of Elijah.” As this word is not used in the Scriptures in relation to Elijah, we should devote some space to investigating why we say that Elijah was ‘translated.’ The passages which  refer to what is called ‘the translation of Elijah’ are found in II Kings  2:1 and 11. They read as follows:

“And it came to pass, when the Lord would  TAKE UP Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind …..”

“And it came to pass, …. 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.”

In these  verses,  the  words  TAKE and  WENT are translated  from the same Hebrew word which means ‘to cause  to ascend,’ The Hebrew word translated into ‘heaven’, according to Strong’s Concordance, means ‘the sky or ‘the air.’ So we see that the intent of the verses quoted is to say that Elijah ‘was caused to ascend into the sky or air.’

This is exactly the same thought that is expressed in I Thess. 4:17 where we read;

“Then we  which are alive  and  remain shall  be CAUGHT UP together with  them in  the  clouds, to meet  the  Lord  IN THE AIR.”

To argue  as to where  ‘in the air’  is, is to beg the question  as it is most certainly away from this earth. And whether this particular place ‘in the air’ is one mile or a million miles away, there is no possible way that we can go there under our own power and in our present mortal bodies, especially as we would be entering  the presence of the Glorified Lord of Creation.

This is why the apostle  Paul tells us in I Cor. 15: 51-53;

“Behold I tell  you  a mystery. We shall  not  all sleep, but  we shall  all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an  eye, at the  last  trump. For the trumpet shall  sound, and  the  dead  shall  be raised incorruptible, and  we shall  be  changed. For this corruptible must  put  on  incorruption, and  this mortal must put on immortality.”

If it is necessary for our body to be changed in order to ascend  into the air, then there can be no reason  to doubt that Elijah would be subject to the same requirements.

In addition to the above, we should  consider verse nine of II Kings  chapter  two. We read;

“And it came to pass, when they  were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do  for thee, before I be TAKEN away from thee.“‘

The Hebrew word here translated ‘taken’ is exactly the same  word  used for the word  ‘took’ in Gen. 5:24 where we read;

“And Enoch  walked with God. And he was  not, for God TOOK him.”

This incident is referred  to in Hebrews  11:5 which, says;

“By faith Enoch was TRANSLATED that he should not see  death; and  was not found,  because God had TRANSLATED him. For before his TRANSLATION he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

The word ‘translated’ means ‘to be transported, or to be put into another place.  In the face of all the above evidence, I  can see  no reason  whatsoever why there should  be  any further  doubt  as  to the  fact  that  the prophet  Elijah WAS TRANSLATED and that like Enoch before him, he did not see death.

Let us then return  to the statement by Malachi regarding Elijah’s further ministry. But in doing so, let us not restrict ourselves to the mere statement itself of his return. We must study and understand this statement within the context wherein  it is made. This principle is most important,  not only in the study of this particular passage, but in the study of any portion of God’s Word. We will never properly understand the Word of Truth unless we  study  each particular section within  its context; that is, we must pay particular attention to the Scriptures  both  before  and  after  the section we  are studying, as well as to other Scriptures  relating  to the same subject.

In this context  then, we find that the statement concerning the return of Elijah comes immediately after a most important pronouncement by God, as recorded in Mal. 4:4;

“Remember ye the  law  of  Moses  My servant, which  I commanded unto him in Horeb  for all Israel, with  the statutes and  the  judgments.”

Immediately following this, in verse 5, we read;

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the  coming of  the  great  and  dreadful day  of  the Lord,”

Thus we find that the promise of the return of Elijah is made in  the  context of  the  necessity for  us  to remember the Law of Moses, or as we know it to be, THE LAW OF GOD. God makes it quite plain that if He doesn’t send back Elijah to implement this by ‘turning the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,’ then He is going to strike the earth with a curse. And of course, this curse can be no other than the promised results of our disobedience to the Law of God as set down in Deuteronomy, chapter twenty eight.

The primary purpose  of Elijah’s ministry, both in its first and its second phases, was to direct Israel back to the Law of God, and to convince Israel, both then and now, of the necessity  to obey this law. The essential difference between the ministries of Moses and Elijah was  that  whereas Moses  was  the prophet through whom God gave us the law, Elijah is the prophet through whom God is to restore us to obedience to the law.

Our nation  today is in its present  parlous  position and condition for no other reason than that we have broken, and continue to break, God’s Laws.

Instead of the blessings that would have accrued to us if we had obeyed His Laws, we have instead heaped upon  ourselves  the very  curses  which God warned would happen, if we chose to disobey His Holy Law.

Those who perpetuate Satan’s first lie – “Hath God said?”  – and  continually deny  God’s  command by persistently  misapplying Paul’s statement in Romans 6:14, “Ye are not under the law, but under  grace,” succeed only in making a mockery of God’s Word. They destroy the very basis by which we can show God our love for Him, both as individuals, and as a nation. No less a person than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said most emphatically,

“If ye love Me, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.”

Those who  would teach us otherwise should  very carefully read God’s condemnation on their failure to properly lead and teach His people.

In Proverbs 28:9 for instance, we read;

“He that turneth away his ear  from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.”

Again in Matthew 5:17-19 we read;

“Think not that  I have come to destroy the law, or the  prophets. I am not  come to destroy,  but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, ’til heaven and earth pass,one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass  from the law, ’til all be  fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments. and shall teach men so, HE SHALL BE CALLED THE   LEAST in  the  Kingdom  of Heaven.  But  whosoever  shall  do and teach  them, THE  SAME  SHALL BE  CALLED GREAT  in  the Kingdom of Heaven.”

When we read the twenty eighth chapter of the nook of Deuteronomy previously referred to, we  find  that every curse that is listed therein is happening to us today: For instance, look at the following;

v28. Our children would be born sick  and deformed.

v20. We would  suffer  ruin  and  confusion in all that  we do.

v21-24.We would be consumed  with air pollution and environmental problems

v25. We would  suffer defeat at the hands of our enemies.

v30. We would have marital infidelity.We would have our homes and businesses taken  from us.

v48 – 51. Our  wealth and   produce would  be plundered  by others.

v22, 27, 28, 35, 59-61. We would suffer disease and sickness  beyond measure. Among those mentioned by name  are  fevers, consumption, skia  diseases, boils, haemorrhoids, leprosy, blindness, madness, heart disease, arthritis, and  plagues.

It surely follows, as night follows  day, that if we are suffering  the results, then we must have initiated the cause. This cause is clearly stated in Deuteronomy 28:15;

“If ye will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, and  do not  observe and  do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you this day, THEN ALL THESE CURSES WILL COME UPON YOU, AND OVERTAKE YOU.”

I can only repeat that God’s Word condemns in the strongest  terms  those who  refuse  to obey, and more especially those who refuse to teach us, as God’s people, to strictly obey THE LAW OF GOD. They will have more to answer for than they could possibly realise.

From the above it is quite clear that we have indeed broken and forsaken God’s Holy Law, and it is in this context, and  for  this reason,  that  God now  says in Malachi 4:4;

“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.”

And it is in the context  of this injunction that God goes on to say in the very next verse;

“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.”

Let us remind ourselves that this promise was made after the translation of Elijah. It deals with an event which is to occur after the translation  of Elijah and at some period of time after the promise  itself was made.  We cannot apply this  promise retrospectively back  to Elijah’s first ministry.

We must  therefore ask  ourselves three basic questions

1 .  Who IS the Elijah to whom God refers?

2. When is he to come?

3. Why is he to come?

In regard to the first of these questions, there appear to be FOUR different schools of thought;

1. That rather than the re-appearance of a personal Elijah, there will only be evidenced a ministry having the power and spirit of Elijah.

2. That John the Baptist was Elijah, and that there will be no further return of this prophet.

3. That John the Baptist was Elijah, but only fulfilled part of his ministry as the messenger of our Lord Jesus Christ at His first advent, and that John the Baptist will be resurrected and return as Elijah in order to complete Elijah’s ministry prior to the second return of our Lord in order to prepare ‘God’s people for that great event.

4. That the literal and actual prophet Elijah himself will return at the time, and for the reasons stated by the prophet Malachi.

At this juncture it would seem appropriate to clarify this    author ‘s   position,   lest     there   be    any misunderstanding. I sincerely believe in the FOURTH of the above alternatives, namely that there is to be a literal return of the prophet   Elijah to this earth;

It is not my intention  to necessarily deal with each of these  schools  of thought  separately as this would lead to a great deal of overlapping  of references and statements. For this reason,  the various points of view will be studied  and compared as we proceed, and as the  various  references and  circumstances present themselves.

We must however  devote some  time initially to the first of the above  alternatives, because if  it can  be established that the promise  of Elijah ‘s return is to be fulfilled only in a spiritual rather than a literal manner, then any study of the remaining three alternatives becomes totally redundant.

I would therefore suggest that if this first mentioned point of view is correct, then many of the references to Elijah’s return could have been, and in fact would have been,  recorded in different terms  to those which  we read. Let us look at the actual statement. Does the Bible say, “Behold I will send you Elijah …?” No! It does not. In the above  quotation, two words,  two very important words, have been omitted.  Now I don’t believe for one moment that God wastes His time  by including meaningless or extraneous words in what He says. Every word  that God inspired  His prophets to write is there for a distinct and deliberate purpose. So if God meant to imply that there was only going to be ‘an Elijah ministry ‘, or that His statement could be spiritualised in some way, then He could have easily indicated this either by a direct statement to that effect, or by simply inspiring Malachi to write this verse in a manner ambiguous enough to allow for alternative interpretations or conclusions.

But He didn’t do this. ‘He added  two more words. He added the  ‘definite article’ “THE” and  a  positive identification by using the word” PROPHET.” He said;

“I will send you Elijah THE PROPHET.”

Now I fail to see how anyone can be so clearly and positively described as an actual  person  named and described in the Scriptures, and then merely identified as a spirit or influence  within the community. Lest we miss the intent of this school  of thought, let us clearly understand that it teaches that you and I as individuals or as part of a group in whatever  place we operate,  and because we teach the necessity for our nation to return to an obedience to the Law of God, form a part of the return of Elijah. It is claimed  that we are carrying out “an Elijah ministry”, and as such, constitute the fulfilment of the promise  relating to the return of Elijah the prophet.

I’m sorry, but I don’t believe  this, and with the greatest  respect to those who may disagree with me, I cannot  find any support  for this conclusion from the Word of God.

I ask one question.

If God does intend to actually send back the actual prophet  Elijah and if  this was  the actual  intent of His statement, ‘THEN WHAT OTHER WORDS COULD HE HAVE USED TO CONVEY THIS INTENT???  How  else could he convey his intent to send back THE PROPHET ELIJAH other  than  to say that  He intended to send back THE PROPHET ELIJAH?

The way some people interpret God’s Word at times makes one wonder. It really does.

Now Iam not  for an instant  saying that Christians cannot witness ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah.’ This is an entirely  different thing. For instance, we read in II Kings 2:14-15;

”And  he (Elisha) took the  mantle of Elijah that fell  from .him, and  smote the  waters, and  said, ‘Where is’ the Lord God of Elijah?’

And when he had also smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither and Elisha went over.

And when the sons of the prophets  which were  to view at Jericho saw him, they said, ‘THE SPIRIT OF ELIJAH DOTH REST ON ELISHA.’ “

Like Elisha, we can witness  ‘in the spirit of Elijah’, but  this  is not  the point in question. What  we  are speaking of is the promised RETURN of Elijah  THE PROPHET, and there is only one man  in history  who was called by this name, ELIJAH THE PROPHET.

To illustrate the point in question, there have been many people who have been given the name Jesus. But what differentiates them from the ‘Jesus’ we know and love, insofar as the name is concerned? It is simply that our Lord’s  full name is ‘Jesus THE CHRIST.’ This clearly defines  and identifies Him  from  any other  ‘Jesus’ by adding His TITLE. He is thus identified as the Jesus who is THE CHRIST, or THE ANNOINTED ONE OF GOD. In just the same way, Elijah is identified as the Elijah who was THE PROPHET. This is further  fortified by the fact that the word ‘prophet’ is preceded by the ‘definite  article’ “THE”, as already pointed out. We are not being referred to ANY Elijah. We are not being  referred to ANY PROPHET  who  might be  called Elijah.We are being referred to the prophet Elijah.

I submit that we have absolutely no other alternative but to accept that God meant exactly what He said when He said

‘I will send  you  ELIJAH  THE PROPHET.’

This will become more apparent as our study continues.

I implicitly believe that we are going to  experience the  literal return of this great prophet of Israel. Possibly one  of  the  things which restricts some people’s acceptance of this fact is purely psychological. We are so filled  with  our expectancy of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we find it difficult to orient our thinking to accept the possibility of  anyone else  also returning to this earth.But Ican only suggest that we have no option, and indeed no excuse,but to simply believe what God  has   said, because He has said exactly what He means.

To be continued.