The Elijah Message
God has a special message that he sends to the people of the world to announce his coming. He promised the people of Israel that He would send the prophet Elijah to announce the coming of the Messiah. He would be a forerunner of the King and would proclaim a special message to the world. Let’s take a look at this promise.
Mal 3:1-2
1 "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.
2 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
Mal 4:1-6
1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."
2 "But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.
3 "And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the LORD of hosts.
4 "Remember the law of Moses My servant, {even the} statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
6 "And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to {their} children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
Who was Elijah and what was his message? We will read through the story in 1 Kings 18 about the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel. The context is that King Ahab had been searching for Elijah for several years. Elijah had prophesied about a drought that would afflict the land and this angered Ahab. The land had undergone a drought so that it had not rained for three and a half years. At this point Elijah, at God’s direction, reveals himself to Ahab.
Iking 18:16-46
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 And it came about, when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?"
18 And he said, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house {have} because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and you have followed the Baals.
19 "Now then send {and} gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, {together} with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20 So Ahab sent {a message} among all the sons of Israel, and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long {will} you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.
23 "Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire {under it} and I will prepare the other ox, and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire {under it.}
24 "Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people answered and said, "That is a good idea."
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire {under it} "
26 Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made.
27 And it came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened."
28 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.
29 And it came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the {evening} sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been torn down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name."
32 So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed.
33 Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid {it} on the wood. And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour {it} on the burnt offering and on the wood."
34 And he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time.
35 And the water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.
36 Then it came about at the time of the offering of the {evening} sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word.
37 "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O LORD, art God, and {that} Thou hast turned their heart back again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God."
40 Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
41 Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a {heavy} shower."
42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth, and put his face between his knees.
43 And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back" seven times.
44 And it came about at the seventh {time,} that he said, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare {your chariot} and go down, so that the {heavy} shower does not stop you.'"
45 So it came about in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
46 Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel.
The Jewish people knew that Elijah must come as a forerunner of the Messiah. This is one reason that they did not believe that Jesus was the Christ. Yet the bible says that this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus’ time.
Matt 17:10-13
10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
11 And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things;
12 but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
Notice two things here. Jesus said that Elijah had already come in the person of John the Baptist. Notice also that He says that Elijah will come again. Jesus is referring to His second coming and shows that the prophecy about Elijah will have a double fulfillment - once before His first coming, and once before His second coming. How is it that Jesus could say that John the Baptist was Elijah?
Luke 1:13-17
13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.
14 "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother's womb.
16 "And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 "And it is he who will go {as a forerunner} before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
You see that it was not Elijah himself who would appear, but one who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. Remember Elijah’s message to the people. Does God have a similar message to the people living just prior to Christ’s return?
Rev 3:14-22
14 "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot.
16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and {that} the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.
19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.
21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' "
This message is repeated again twice more in the book of Revelation with a clue as to who the messenger is this time. Jesus has entrusted the three angels’ messages to His remnant church to proclaim in the spirit and power of Elijah prior to his second coming.
Rev 14:6-12
6 And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;
7 and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters."
8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality."
9 And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand,
10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
God uses the symbol of an angel as a messenger. In the last days, God’s remnant people are the messengers of His truth to the world.
The order of the three angel’s messages is very important. They must occur in that order in the lives of individuals or of a people. The first angel has the everlasting gospel to preach to all the earth. The gospel message is:
SALVATION (from SIN - guilt/power/presence, justification/sanctification/glorification)
by GRACE
through FAITH
in JESUS
The second angel’s message calls attention to the religious and doctrinal confusion of the false church, Babylon. It says that the truth has been revealed in the bible and that false doctrines must no longer hold sway over God’s people.
The third angel’s message identifies the anti-Christ beast and his mark. The beast and his mark are in direct controvention to the Lamb of God and the Seal of God. This is the setting for the final Elijah message.
Rev 18:1-5
1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.
2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed {acts of} immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues;
5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
The three angel’s messages set the stage for the final Elijah message. God’s final plea to his true followers is "Come out of her, my people." Come out of Babylon. Make a decision. If Jesus is God then follow Him, if the beast is god then follow him.. It is either the Lamb or the Beast. It is either the mark of the beast or the Seal of God. It is either God’s commandments or the traditions of men. Quit being lukewarm, be hot or cold.
And after the Elijah cry of God’s remnant people has swelled to its peak - after all the world has chosen a side - then God will rain fire down upon the earth, and those who choose not to follow Him will be destroyed. And God’s people will look into the eastern sky and see Jesus coming in the clouds with all his mighty angels. And showers of blessing will fall upon the earth and make it anew. "Even so, come Lord Jesus. Amen."