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VII. Coming Events and Signs of
the Times
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Chapter 80
:
Elijah the Prophet
1.
WHAT promise, through the prophet Malachi, does the Lord
make concerning Elijah?
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Mal.
4:5.
2.
What will this prophet do when he comes?
"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." Verse 6.
3.
Whom did Christ indicate as fulfilling this prophecy?
"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. Like wise shall also
the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples
understood that He spoke unto them of John the
Baptist." Matt. 17:10-13.
4.
When John the Baptist was asked if he were Elijah, what
did he say?
"And he said, I am not." John 1:21.
5.
Who did he say he was?
"He said, I am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as
said the prophet Esaias." Verse 23.
6. In
what sense does the angel Gabriel explain John the
Baptist to be the Elijah of Mal. 4:5?
"Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the
Lord their God. And he shall go before Him [Christ]
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." Luke 1:16,17.
NOTE.-John went forth "in the spirit and power of
Elias," and, in preparing a people for Christ's
first advent, did a work similar to that done by
Elijah the prophet in Israel centuries before. See I
Kings 17 and 18. In this sense, and in this sense
only, he was the Elijah of Mal. 4:5.
7.
Near the close of the three and one-half years drought
in Israel, brought about as a judgment through the
intercessions of Elijah (James 5:17) in consequence of
Israel's apostasy, what accusation did King Ahab bring
against Elijah?
"And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab
said unto him, Art thou he that troubles Israel?"
1 Kings 18: 17.
8.
What answer did Elijah make?
"And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but
thou, and thy father's house, in that you have forsaken
the commandments of the Lord, and thou has followed
Baalim." Verse 18.
NOTE.-Israel had departed from God, forsaken His
commandments, and gone off into idolatry. Jezebel,
Ahab's wicked and idolatrous wife, had "cut off the
prophets of the Lord" (Verse 4), was supporting
hundreds of the prophets of Baal, and was seeking
Elijah to slay him. Elijah called for a famine on
the land, and said to Ahab, "As the Lord God of
Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not
be dew nor rain these years, but according to my
word." 1 Kings 17:1. Elijah's message was a call to
repentance and obedience to God's commandments.
9.
What plain proposition did he submit to all Israel?
"And Elijah came unto all the people, and said,
How long halt you between two opinions? if the Lord
be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him." 1
Kings 18:21.
NOTE.-The result of the test by fire which followed
on Mt. Carmel, can be read in the remainder of this
wonderful chapter. There was a great turning to God,
the people saying, "The Lord, He is the God; the
Lord, He is the God." Verse 39.
10.
What was the burden of the message of John the Baptist?
"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand." "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance." Matt. 3:2,8.
11.
What was the result of this message?
"Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all
the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of
him in Jordan, confessing their sins." Verses 5,6.
NOTE.-There was a genuine work of repentance and
reform. John was not satisfied with a mere
profession of religion. He told the Pharisees and
Sadducees who came to his baptism, to "bring forth
fruits" answerable to an "amendment of life." He
wished to see religion in the life, the heart, the
home. Thus he prepared a people for Christ's first
advent.
12.
But when, according to the prophecy, was Elijah to be
sent?
"Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord." Mal. 4:5.
13.
How is this great and dreadful day described in this
same prophecy?
"For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven;
and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall
be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up,
says the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch." Verse 1.
NOTE.-This day is yet future. It cannot be,
therefore, that the work done by John the Baptist at
Christ's first advent is all that was contemplated
in the prophecy concerning the sending of Elijah the
prophet. It must be that there is to be another and
greater fulfillment of it, to precede Christ's
second advent, and to prepare, or "make ready,"
a people for that great event.
14.
What is the burden of the threefold message of Rev.
14:6-10?
"Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His
judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. . . .
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she
made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication. . . . If any man worship the beast and his
image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his
hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of
God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of
His indignation." Rev. 14:6-10.
NOTE.-Like the messages of Elijah and John, this is
a call to repentance and reform,-a call to forsake
false, idolatrous worship, and to turn to God, and
worship Him, and Him alone. The first part of this
threefold message points out the true God, the
Creator, in language very similar to that found in
the fourth, or Sabbath, commandment. This is the
message now due the world, and that is now being
proclaimed to the world. Those who are proclaiming
these messages constitute the Elijah for this time,
as John and his co-laborers did at the time of
Christ's first advent.
15.
How are the people described who are developed by the
threefold message here referred to?
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that
keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
Verse 12.
NOTE.-These will be the ones who will be ready to
meet Jesus when He comes. They have heeded the
Elijah-call to repentance and reform. They have
become concerned, not only for their own individual
salvation, but for the salvation of their friends
and relatives. By this message the hearts of the
fathers are turned to the children, and the hearts
of the children to their fathers. Each becomes
burdened for the conversion and salvation of the
other. There can be little religion in the heart of
one who cares not for the eternal interests of his
loved ones. When this message has done its work, God
will smite the earth with a curse; the seven last
plagues will fall, and usher in the great day of the
Lord described in the preceding chapter.
LIGHT is beaming, day is coming!
Let us sound aloud the cry;
We behold the day-star rising
Pure and bright in yonder sky!
Saints, be joyful;
Your redemption draws nigh.
We
have found the chart and compass,
And are sure the land is near;
Onward, onward, we are hasting,
Soon the haven will appear;
Let your voices
Sound aloud your holy cheer.
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