Mal. 3:1 — “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”
The promise here is that the Lord will send a messenger, and the fourth chapter of Malachi is but a continuation of the story in the third:
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 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.”
We are there told that the messenger is antitypical Elijah, the one who is “to restore all things”;
Matt. 17:11 — And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
And Inspiration of a later addition, and in a special message to the Seventh-day Adventist ministry warns:
“Let Heaven Guide”
“Prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says: ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’ Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say: ‘You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message.” — “Testimonies to Ministers,” pp. 475, 476. (Quoted from “The Review and Herald,” February 18, 1890.)
Please note the following pertinent points established thus far:
- That the message and messenger here mentioned are the very last.
- That they are to restore all things.
- That there is danger for some to make fools of themselves by daring to tell him how to teach his message — assuming to take God’s place!
Sister White does not mean to say that she is that prophet Elijah, but plainly says a prophet must come, and it is said to be a prophet with the “same spirit and power of Elijah.”
Elijah’s work in the days of Ahab, king of Israel, was to prove to Israel that they had apostatized, and after doing so, he took the priests, or prophets, and cut their heads off, and threw them in the brook. Such was the spirit and power of Elijah.
The Lord’s purpose for coming, you will note, is to purify His Temple, the church, and in particular the Levites — the ministry:
Mal. 3:2, 3 — “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”
Plain it is that this chapter of Malachi was especially written for the faithful people of God at this very time, the time in which the purification of the church takes place, the time the good fish are put into vessels and the bad “cast away.” — Matt. 13:47, 48.
In the light which this prophecy sheds on the subject, no one can possibly escape the conclusion that a prophet — a person — is to be sent “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”.
However, I would remind you, Brethren, that no prophet of God has ever been welcomed by the church. On the contrary, each in his time was rejected, abused, and most of them were martyred by the ones to whom they were sent — the very ones who were supposed to be serving God! Indeed, the Lord Himself paid the same price.
For this very reason we must remember that when the last prophet comes, he will have the greatest opposition to meet, for Satan well knows that if he loses now, he loses forever.
What makes Elijah’s work especially hard is that:
- Christendom has long been drilled in the idea that no prophet is to come.
- That there is no necessity for one.
- That it has enough revealed Truth to carry it inside the Pearly Gates.
Important as it is, however, to keep in mind the time in which to expect Elijah is before the coming of
“The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord,”
Yet just this knowledge alone is insufficient. To know when and what the great and dreadful day itself is, is all-important.
The day of the Lord, we are told in Mal. 3:1–3, is a day of refining, of purifying, of sifting.
Moreover, the question, “Who may abide the day of His coming?” points out with sharp emphasis that some will not stand, that they will fall out during the shaking (“Early Writings,” p. 270) and not abide the process of refining (“Testimonies,” Vol. 5, p. 80; Id., Vol. 8, p. 250).
Shall it be you, shall it be me, to be shaken out? is the greatest question before us. It cannot, though, be either of us if we are intelligently determined not to let it be.
Is The Ancient Prophet Elijah Himself to Re-appear,
Or is some other, having the same spirit and power, to take his place?
John the Baptist’s statement that he himself was not the Elijah (John 1:21), and Jesus’ statement that John was the Elijah of that day (Matthew 11:14), not of our day, clear three points:
- That John was not in any sense of the word fulfilling the mission of the Elijah who is to come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, but that he, the last prophet to the church of his day, simply came in the spirit and power of Elijah, to prepare the way for the Lord’s first advent. So it is that the Elijah of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the last prophet to the church of this day, comes in the same spirit and power, to prepare the way for the Lord’s second advent.
- That as John was the Elijah of his day, yet not Elijah the Tishbite himself, then the promise of the prophet Elijah is not necessarily to be fulfilled in person by the ancient prophet himself.
- That as the Elijah of Christ’s first advent was one person, and also as the Elijah of Mt. Carmel of old was one person, not a multitude of priests, then by parity of reasoning the Elijah of today must also be one person, not a multitude of ministers.
The promise, itself, moreover, is for only one, not for more, and, with but one exception, we know not of any other time when God employed even two prophets (let alone many) at one time, to convey one message to one people. He invariably called one, and that one himself, under the direction of the Spirit, employed others to help him take the message to the people. Thus only were any others ever identified with a called one.
Hence —
“…Those who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ, are represented by faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ’s first advent….” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 3, p. 62.
Since God is not experimenting, and since He means just what He says, there should be no doubt in your minds on the Scriptures concerning antitypical Elijah (he who is to awaken the church and to warn the Laodiceans of “the great and the dreadful day of the Lord”) — make sure that he is one person.
Of a surety, he is to have faithful helpers, but according to the prophet Nahum he will greatly make use of the printing press and will scatter his message by the postage stamp everywhere, as the leaves of autumn. Here is what Inspiration Itself has to say concerning the prophet’s means of taking his message to the church:
Nah. 1:15 — “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee, he is utterly cut off.”
He will not care what is done with his publications, but will make sure the they find their way into all hands, laps, pockets, yards or waste baskets throughout Laodicea.
Assuredly, Brethren, not a one need be in uncertainty. All may for a surety know both “the day” and the Elijah as he proclaims it, because to our surprise he will point out that every Bible prophet describes the day and also tells what the Lord would have us do while it is approaching and subsequently while we are going through it. All will see that no one but Elijah can proclaim the day.
Joel 2:1–32; 3:1–21 give us a most compact and vivid view of “the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” From these alone we can clearly see what it is like.
And as Elijah comes just before that day begins, he must necessarily be the one who is to interpret these prophecies of the day, and who consequently announces that the day is at hand.
Since the Scriptures clearly picture Elijah and his work, and also what the day is to be like, none who will humbly inquire about him and his work need to guess or to be in the dark concerning either his identity or his mission, for it is his God-given duty to publish the timely truths as revealed to him out of the prophecies.
And so all who are willing and obedient, will have no trouble recognizing him and his message (John 7:17). They will know that anyone who comes with a message other than the message found in the prophecies concerning the great and dreadful day of the Lord, is not the promised Elijah.
What is more, should God send another than Elijah, that is, someone with a message other than that of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, he will not claim to be the Elijah, he will not lie. Hence, for anyone to make the claim that he is the Elijah, but bear another message than that of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, is in itself positive proof that he is not a prophet of God at all, but a rank imposter.
And if any should tell you that a former prophet has fulfilled the promise, although the prophet himself has not said so, then not to know for a certainty that such ones are not working for the God of Elijah, but for the devil, is Laodiceanism of the worst kind.
“…Let us act as Christians, true as steel to God and His holy work; quick to discern the devices of Satan in his hidden, deceptive workings through the children of disobedience.” — “Testimonies to Ministers,” p. 276.
Since the promised Elijah is to be the last prophet to the church today, as John the Baptist was the last prophet to the church in his day, and since the last work on earth is the Judgment for the Living, the truth stands forth like the light of day that Elijah’s message is the message of the Judgment for the Living, the last, which in the very nature of the gospel is of far more importance and consequence than any other message ever borne to a people.
Here is Sister White’s own prophecy of the work during the great and dreadful day, which, when she wrote, was yet future:
“The closing words of Malachi are a prophecy regarding the work that should be done preparatory to the first and the second advent of Christ.” — “Southern Watchman,” March 21, 1905.
“The work of John the Baptist, and the work of those who in the last days go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to arouse the people from their apathy, are in many respects the same. His work is a type of the work that must be done in this age. Christ is to come the second time to judge the world in righteousness. The messengers of God who bear the last message of warning to be given to the world, are to prepare for Christ’s second advent, as John prepared the way for His first advent.” — “Southern Watchman,” March 21, 1905.
“…in the hour of greatest peril, the God of Elijah will raise up human instrumentalities to bear a message that will not be silenced.” — “Prophets and Kings,” p. 187.
From the light now streaming forth on this subject, you can see, Brethren, as never before, that we have come to life’s most serious hour, a time in which we can no longer treat this matter lightly and indifferently, but in which we must ask God to lead us into His Truth for this time, lest we blindly (without Inspiration) walk on to doom.
4. The Eleventh-Hour Call - The eleventh hour call is the last on record, and only an hour before sunset — millennium. The time for its deliverance to the world is shorter than any universal message ever given. Though the time is the shortest, its area over the earth’s surface is more extensive than any.… Do not henceforth leave in the hands of others your investigation of the subject. After hearing the evidences, you alone in the closet of prayer and with the aid of the Spirit can determine whether the Elijah has come, or whether he is yet to come.
