MINOR PROPHETS AND THE END-CHURCH PART 27THE BOOK OF MALACHI (Part 2)

By: Darryl Henson Date: 12/30/00 Tape 556

Last time we examined whether John the Baptist was the last Elijah and concluded that he was not. Another has to prepare the way of Christ and prepare Him a people. We questioned whether that man was Herbert Armstrong. I made the connection between Moses and Elijah types and the two witnesses of which it is now apparent Herbert Armstrong was not one.

Today we will examine the life of Elijah in the scriptures for that holds the key for understanding the spirit and power of Elijah. What he did before he must in some fashion do again. John the Baptist had a similar style, but did not fulfill Elijah’s functions in any where near the same fashion, as we shall see. The most dramatic fulfillment is yet ahead.

We will pick up the setting in I Kings 16. I am not going to turn to that particular part, but turn to I Kings 17. Israel had been divided into Judah and the Northern Ten Tribes in the days of Jeroboam. Now the Ten Tribes were split again. Not into sections of Judah and Israel, but the Ten Tribes were split when Zimri conspired and slew the king. Interesting that in this context there was conspiracy and the king was slain. I referred once to Isaiah 1:21 where it says you had adulterers and this and that in the Church and now murderers. And it raises the question, once again, of the rumors that Herbert Armstrong was murdered, smothered to death or perhaps agitated into a heart attack as opposed

to dying peacefully in his favorite chair as reported by Tkach and company. Perhaps we will never know in this life, but the parallels in the scripture are interesting. Half of Israel followed Tibni and the other half Omri and Omri followed the ways of Jeroboam. Asa was at this point King of Judah and not so hot himself. So, all in all it was a very tempestuous time and Ahab took over and was the worst of all the kings before him.

“And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” (1 Kings 16:30-33)

This was a bad dude, in deed.

So, this is the setting. I want to read a short section from Unger’s Dictionary about him. But, one comment about Jezebel first. He married Jezebel, a Baalite, and we pick her up again in Revelation 2 where she leads Thyatira astray. You will notice in

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the context all the Churches see what happens to Thyatira. So, they all exist now, they haven’t disappeared in times past or Thyatira wasn’t in the middle of the middle Ages. She’s there now and all the Churches see what happens. This makes yet another tie into Elijah and the present Church and the end time. They worshipped, both Jezebel and her husband King Ahab. Ironically, this year they had a huge advertised Christmas bash advertised in the auditorium dedicated to “The Great God of Israel”. It is being used for Baal worship this very month.

Now on to the quote from Unger’s:

“The better to understand his history (speaking of Elijah) let us briefly consider the condition of affairs when Elijah made his appearance. Ahab had taken Jezebel a Canaanite woman and daughter of Ethbaal for his wife. Of a weak and yielding character he allowed Jezebel to establish the Phoenician worship on a grand scale. Priests and prophets of Baal were appointed in crowds. The prophets of Jehovah were persecuted and slain or only escaped by being hid in caves. It seemed the last remnants of true religion were about to perish. (Does that sound anything like the Church today?) Jezebel had also induced Ahab to issue orders for the violent death of all the prophets of Jehovah, who since the expulsion of the Levites had been the only firm support of the ancient religion.”

Not much is written about Elijah as a person. He wore rough clothing and a sheepskin cloak, much as John the Baptist and not much was said about John the Baptist either other than eating

locusts and wild honey and walking around in the wilderness a great deal. But, Elijah also often sojourned in the wilderness and disappeared there often. That is where God sent him in times of danger and where he went on his own at other times. There he communed with God. He was an outdoors type and probably a stark contract to the soft, well-dressed, polished priests of Baal. He was also a man of like passions as we are as we see in James 5:17 in the healing passage there. Does this mean he would not strike us as a super spiritual appearing person, I speaking of the one yet to come? Maybe! It should encourage us that what we are about to examine in his life was done by the power of God through an ordinary man. If the pattern of the original Elijah and John the Baptist holds, we can expect a similar personality as a final fulfillment in the end time prophet.

Now let’s go to I Kings 17 because this is where Elijah just, without fanfare, suddenly appears on the scene. He is not mentioned before this in the Bible and blam here he is. First of all, the word Elijah means “My God is Jehovah” or as some say “Yah or Jehovah is God”.

“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)

So, he confronts King Ahab and tells him there will be no rain on the earth. He wasn’t afraid of the king and notice that he appears on center stage before the King of Israel. This isn’t something done in a corner, but he went right to the King of Israel and he said,

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“these years”. We know from James 5:17 that is was three years six months, exactly three and one-half years. Similarly to the three and one-half year period that the two witnesses of Revelation can proclaim no rain on the earth as they choose. So, he does that.

“And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,” (1 Kings 17:2)

Here is a very strange thing in a way. Let’s examine it:

“Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.” (1 Kings 17:3)

It was a creek running into the river Jordan. But, God recognized that what Elijah had said to Ahab would call for a death warrant on Elijah through Ahab and through Jezebel certainly. So, He told him to go hide. We don’t see a lack of faith in Elijah here because God simply instructs him to go hide after he confronts Ahab.

“And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.” (1 Kings 17:4-6)

Some commentaries try to say that ravens could be interpreted Arabians because they didn’t want to believe that

the ravens, the actual black birds, brought him his food. But, there is no way really of showing that and there was a miracle here. It was ravens who brought bread and flesh in the morning and in the evening and he drank from the brook.

“And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.” (1 Kings 17:7)

Then God told him to leave there. It is very interesting that there is no apparent reason that this was done and it certainly is not explained here. No one apparently witnessed this, so in that sense it was not a message to Israel or any one else. So, to whom is this message directed? Was it just for Elijah? Or, was it written for us upon whom the ends of the world are come? Could it be Elijah was doing this specifically as a witness to us at the end of the age when another prophet will arise in the spirit and power of Elijah? Notice Psalm 78:19 where it says, “can God prepare a table in the wilderness?” Can God bring food? Can God bring water? That is a question that is asked there in Psalm 78. In Isaiah 43:19 we read:

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.” (Isaiah 43:19-20)

And we are the chosen as I Peter 2:9 point out. “This people have I

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formed for myself. They shall show forth my praise.” That is speaking of the Church here at the end time. Also, Isaiah 41:18:

“I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”

Then He talks about planting seven trees in the wilderness. Trees in this instance being a type of Churches. Remember all seven women take hold of one man. God is going to provide a leader and they will take hold. God is going to provide in the wilderness for His people. He tells us in Revelation 12 that they will be taken to a place prepared for them and many scriptures show it is wilderness, deserts and mountains.

“They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.” (Isaiah 49:10)

So, indeed He is going to prepare a table in the wilderness for His people just as He did for Elijah. The end time Elijah is going to be very very much a part of the Church, as we will see.

Now, I Kings: 9-24. It is in a sense a similar story. Different, but not explained.

“Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was

there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

There had been no rain. There was famine on the land and this poor widow was about to eat her last meal and lie down and die along with her son.

“13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.”

Now, it is strange in the sense that there were many widows in Israel. There had been lots of wars; drought and famine were on all the land. Many were starving to death. This woman intended to eat her last food and die. So, God’s object was not to feed people by Elijah as Joseph did. Elijah was a prophet against the sins of the nation. A witness

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against them and vary involved as we shall see. God intended people to die in this circumstance of starvation. But, he made an exception or she would have died as the others did. So, there is no clue in either story that Elijah lacked faith. He just did as directed. The lesson is for others. The lesson is for us, 1) God promises to feed and protect the faithful remnant of the Church. (Revelation 12) and the Church is essentially in that sense a widow. Her betrothed Jesus Christ has turned His face from her as we have seen in several scriptures. Also, she wanders about in Song of Songs, the watchmen working her over, beating her up pretty well. That is the unfaithful ministry of the Church today beating up on the Church people. We have seen, through this series that God will select one woman, a virgin, called the Virgin Daughter of Zion and save her children, not all the children of the Churches organizations. I am getting a little ahead of the story here. Let’s pick it up again in Verse 17.

“17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?”

We might look at the ministry today, as members, and say, “What have you come to do?” You are destroying the Church. You are abusing and misusing the sheep and doing what Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 and Malachi 1,2, and 3 say. “Are you really men of God”?

“19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.”

He was resurrected. Are you beginning to get a little bit of an inking of the Spirit and Power of Elijah? Have we seen this yet in this age?

“23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.”

If she had doubted before, she didn’t doubt any more.

So, a type is borne out by Elijah here saving the child of one woman, not all the widows of Israel. That wasn’t the point. Remember Isaiah 4 where it says all seven women, or all seven widows in that sense; take hold of one man asking for relief from their reproach. “Let us be called by your name,” they say. There is a great deal here that is going to be

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carried out in the prophecies for this end time.

People will question, they will reject Elijah at the end, the end time Elijah. Just as this woman did the original Elijah and also what occurred to John the Baptist as we read in the last sermon. But, Elijah came through and so will the end time Elijah. He will raise up the children of the widow anyway, restoring them. Once this happens the end time Elijah will be recognized by the faithful as a true minister of God. Perhaps not entirely before. In the words of Ezekiel 2:5, “Then will they know that there has been a prophet among them.” Now let’s go to Chapter 18 because the story goes right back to the king.

“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.” (I Kings 18:1)

He tells him to go right back to Ahab. Perhaps the last time he had seen Ahab he said, “there will be no rain”. This time he is told to go to Ahab again and say there will be rain. This was not done in a corner. Elijah was on center stage of the whole nation of Israel. Consider all the nations of Israel today and the fact that the end time Elijah then will be on center stage with all Israel.

“And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. (The Northern tribes)3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Ahab’s servant) (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: (So, here was a true man among all those Baal worshippers.)

4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.” (1 Kings 18:2-5)

He was really suffering from the effects of these 3.5 years of no rain.

“So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.” (1 Kings 18:6-10)

He was public enemy #1. The end time Elijah is going to be public enemy #1. Was Herbert Armstrong public enemy #1? Or, did he, for the most part, have a user-friendly message of give and get and the Kingdom of God will come and you can be part of it and the human potential of man etc.? It was not, for the most part, except early in the 50’s and 60’s perhaps a strong message of prophesy against the nation.

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“11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?”

God is going to protect His people again.

“14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.” (1 Kings 18:11-15)

Don’t worry Obadiah I’ll stay here and I’ll face the king. You may be afraid of him, but I’m going to face him because that is what God has told me to do. So, he put him at ease.

Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

I want to make one comment here going back some was about Jezebel. We are going to face another Jezebel, who is going to order all true ministers and people of God killed. (Matthew 24) We will even be betraying one another perhaps. She is right in the mix in Revelation 2 in relationship to Thyatira.

What happened then when Elijah and Ahab confronted?

“And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17)

Are you the one I have been looking for? Are you that Elijah who shut down the rain and has caused this curse on all of us? Notice Elijah’s answer: Verse 18

“And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.”

Is this the way you normally approach a king? Who is the problem here? Elijah didn’t cut him any slack at all and he didn’t back water at all himself. He just was right there with it. I think you are going to see that the end time Elijah has that type of personality as well. It is kind of the hair on approach like John the Baptist had. Elijah took charge here. He didn’t ask a request of the king, he said,

“Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel…”

Again this is not being done in a corner. It is important for us to understand this.

“…gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.” (1 Kings 18:19)

So, there were 850 prophets of Baal and of Jezebel who were invited to this showdown that is about to occur. Now 450 showed up of the prophets of

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Baal, but the prophets of Jezebel apparently did not. Jezebel did her own thing.

“So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.” (1 Kings 18:20)

I don’t know how long this all took, but word went out to all Israel, all over the land, to gather at Mount Carmen. This is sort of like gathering all the Laodecian ministers, plus the Protestants and Catholics today together. We are going to determine who really is God and who is going to stand for God.

“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” (1 Kings 18:21)

The people didn’t know what to say. Jeremiah 9:3, “Who will be valiant for God?” In other words there is no double mindedness allowed. Get on or get off, get in or get out. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love and or power and of a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7) We are going to face things in this world that we have never faced before. There is going to be a confrontation between the Church and this world. We had better make up our minds now not to have a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love and power and a sound mind. That is what the end time Elijah is going have to have to have this kind of personality, this kind of strength and power to go up before the rulers and not back water whatsoever. And, to tell the people, “how long will you halt”, what are you going to choose?

“Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; (Jezebel had been killing everyone she could find. As far as he knew he was the only one left.) but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.” (1 Kings 18:22)

So, this, he is pointing out is a 450 to 1 standoff. Those are pretty sad odds normally speaking.

“Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, (He gave them first choice.) and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.” (1 Kings 18:23-24)

He gave them another advantage here; because the god of Baal was know as a fire god and a sun god. Baal was known as the god of fire. He threw this challenge out. Let’s see who answers by fire. And the people answered and said, It is well spoken. We will take these odds, 450 to 1 and we will see who produced fire.

“And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us.”

Can you imagine this? They have this bullock on the wood and 450 of them are running around in circles screaming for Baal to hear them.

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“But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.” (1 Kings 18:26)

They screamed and leaped and jumped up and down and made as much noise as they could.

“And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.”

And they didn’t see the sarcasm in this.

“28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.” (1 Kings 18:27-28)

They thought is they would draw blood maybe that would cause Baal to hear them. Here they were, bleeding screaming, shouting, crying aloud doing all they could to get Baal to pay some attention.

“And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.” (1 Kings 18:29)

Dead Silence!

All this screaming and yelling and letting of blood for all those hours, all day long had produced absolutely nothing.

And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the

people came near unto him. And he repaired the of the LORD that was broken down.” (1 Kings 18:3)

Remember Revelation 11:1-2 there it tells the two witnesses there to measure the alter. I think there is a parallel here. He took care of the alter first.

“And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:” (1 Kings 18:31)

Twelve represents the unity of the 12 tribes and we find, if we go back and read in Isaiah 49:6 that this will happen in the wilderness. When God takes His people out He is going to begin the restoration of the twelve tribes and ultimately there will be 144,000 sealed of all the people that have ever lived who have been faithful to God. Unity will return even though we are now scattered, divided and being spewed out of God’s mouth. This is going to happen again and Elijah works out the symbology of it. As it says in Haggai 2:9 as well, “In this place will I bring peace” unity, harmony.

“And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

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35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.”

So, He soaked this thing down.

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” (1 Kings 18:32-37)

What does he? He invokes the fathers. He is turning the hearts of these people back to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The faith of our fathers, this is echoed in Malachi 4:6. He also said that the people would turn their heart again to God in Verse 37. Haven’t we read many times through this series on the Minor Prophets that God’s whole desire and purpose in this scattering that is being done on the Church right now is to turn out hearts back again to God. That is what this is all about. We have been Laodecian, lackadaisical, lacks. We have halted between two opinions. We have halted between the world and God. We have allowed the world to encroach upon our relationship with God. And what does God think of that? Well, notice Verse 38.

“Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, 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 the God; the LORD, he is the God.”

Or “Jehovah is God, Jehovah is God” that is the whole point God is trying to get across to you and me. There is only one God. We cannot afford to break the First Commandment.

“And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.” (1 Kings 18:40)

I don’t know whether he actually took a sword, had them all lined up and heads rolled. He may have cut all their heads off. Or, he may have assigned it and overseen it saying he is the one who caused it to be done, or he may have done it himself personally. It doesn’t really say.

“And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” (1 Kings 18:41)

What had this man done here? He had confronted all Israel. He had confronted all the pagan priests. He had caused the people to turn from Baal, to quit halting and say, “The Lord is God, The Lord is God”. He had destroyed the entire ministry of Baal. Then God said, Alright we’ll turn the spigot back on. So, he turned to Ahab the king again and said, Alright now there is going to be an abundance of rain.

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“So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;”

Mount Carmel there slopes very sharply down into the sea there at the site of modern day Haifa. He was in sight of the sea being up on Mount Carmel. “…and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.”

Go tell Ahab that he had better hurry because it’s going to rain cats and dogs here and he will mire down and get stopped and not even get home if he’s not careful.

“And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”” (1 Kings 18:45)

He stayed right ahead of Ahab’s chariot. He must have been some kind of physical condition to be able to do this. People then walked a great deal almost everywhere they went. In this

case, he even ran. He didn’t want to get caught in the rain either I suppose.

Elijah pointed back to the faith of the fathers as per Hebrews 11, which is full of it. Christ said, “will I find faith on the earth when I return?” Will it be there? We had better turn our hearts to have the same kind of faith that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had, the same kind of faith that Elijah had when he slew these prophets. See Revelation 11 again, about what happens to any who contest the two witnesses. There are so many parallels here.

Then the abundance of rain came once the repentance was there. I don’t know how long the repentance lasted, probably not very long. Ahab never did really repent, but the people did at least admit that God was God and he had pointed them to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You will notice in Joel 2 that the former and latter rains will come once we turn to God with our whole heart. That is an end time prophecy just before the Day of the Lord.

What Elijah does in the end time is going to cause the blessing, the benefits, the gifts of God and His Spirit to come back on the Church, His faithful remnant through Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two witnesses. and again through Elijah and Moses, the two witnesses. These types come together right here at the end.

Now, let’s go to Chapter 19.

“And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

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2 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 the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.” (1 Kings 19:1-2)

I’m going to kill you Elijah. There was no repentance in this woman at all and there won’t be in the coming Jezebel that the Church faces.

“And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.” (1 Kings 19:3)

He went clear down south of Jerusalem about 40 miles to Beersheba. He left his servant there and he, by himself, went a day’s journey into the wilderness. Probably farther south than Beersheba.

“But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” (1 Kings 19:4)

I’ve had enough excitement. I faced Israel, I faced the king and now I have to face Jezebel. I don’t really want to do this. He went in this case on his own. God didn’t tell him to go down to Beersheba, to go into the wilderness, but he did. This is what God had told him to do in the past and what he by personality apparently was want to do anyway. But, God wasn’t done with him. He may have been tired and frustrated. He might have been a little bit discouraged and may be he feared her more than he had Ahab. At any rate,

“And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

6 And he looked, (I guess he had rested a while and he ate and was strengthened and refreshed.) and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. (You still have work to do.)

8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.” (1 Kings 19:5-8)

The same place Moses went. The parallel is interesting between what Elijah did and what Moses did. Moses also fasted 40 days and 40 nights, twice actually.

“And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9)

Elijah really didn’t know what he was doing. But, God had something in mind and he said,

“…I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” (1 Kings 19:10)

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He felt helpless. He felt hopeless even through God had done these tremendous miracles and had faced down the whole nation before him and stopped the rain for three and one-half years and started it when he prayed about it, he still felt alone and left out. Jezebel was after him and he felt he was about to die. Perhaps he wavered here somewhat. He was human and a man subject to passions as we are. Probably, the end time Elijah is going to be rejected as John the Baptist was and probably he too will feel some of this rejection and aloneness having to do these things and go up against the world and against all Israel.

“And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; …”

Now there was some wind. It broke the rocks.

“…but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)

God showed three very dramatic happenings here and He wasn’t in any of it. Perhaps He was showing that all you need is a still small voice as an indication of God’s presence. You don’t have to have dramatic things all the time. He had drama there at Carmel with the prophets of Baal and then he went out here in the juniper by himself and he was afraid. But, this man was strong.

Fasting 40 days and 40 nights isn’t something you or I would want to take on, I don’t think. Yet, still there were times he felt vulnerable and helpless and hopeless to some degree. But, I think the whole point that God was giving Elijah here was that “I am with you”. You don’t have to have this dramatic thing all the time, just a still small voice, to know that God is with you. He was telling Elijah, “I’m here, I am with you, so get back to work”. Verse 13,

“And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, (Get back to work, quit whining about this apparently.) return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: (He had been down at Beersheba and Damascus is in the north.) and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:” (1 Kings 19:13-15)

He tells him three things to do.

“And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.” (1 Kings 19:16)

He told him annoint two kings and a prophet to replace himself

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ultimately and to be his companion for a few years as it turned out.

“And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.” (1 Kings 19:17)

You were feeling all alone here Elijah. You didn’t think there was anyone but you and you were about to die.

“Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18)

Then he went and threw his mantle for Elisha and Elisha who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen stopped and slew a yoke of oxen and boiled their flesh with the instruments, the plowing harness and gave it to people to eat. In other words, he got rid of his tools. He was not going to look back. He was going to follow Elijah as a student, as his learner, as his companion and he was not going to leave himself a place to go back to. It would be like Peter, James and John and those men as fishermen selling their boats when they went to follow Christ.

After this Elijah pretty much disappears from the scene. Elisha takes over. The only things that are mentioned after this, in this particular context, are that Elijah had said Jezebel would die and be eaten of dogs. This is mentioned again in II Kings 9:36 because Elijah had sort of disappeared and Elisha was at work. He was kind of in and out apparently, but not much is said of him for a while. He had also predicted that

the whole house of Ahab would be destroyed.

Now, let’s go to II Kings 1 because I don’t want to skip anything. That was about all that was said of Elijah through the rest of I Kings. Then we see him again in the second book of Kings.

“Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.

2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.

3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?

4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.” (2 Kings 1:1-4)

James mentions Elijah in terms of healing and having the kind of faith to be healed. The kind of faith required to have it not rain for three and one-half years. Healing becomes a very important part of Elijah’s life. Remember, he healed; he resurrected the son of the widow. Here he is told to tell the King of Samaria, the northern tribes, that he will die because he went to Baalzebub the god of Ekron. It would appear that healing is going to be a very important of the end time Elijah’s message. To have the kind of faith of our fathers where we are willing to trust

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in God who tells us very clearly, “I am God your healer”. (Psalm 103) But, today many times ministers will annoint people, then send them to the doctors showing that they have a lack of faith. They will go to whatever healing person that might be around. Maybe we can’t call the doctors of today the gods of Ekron or maybe they are not direct Baal worshippers, but is there a God in Israel? Should we go to another source or do we go to God whose name is “God our healer”? Is there something missing today? Will Christ find faith on this earth? So, Elijah told him, “because of this you are going to die”. Remember King Asa; he died because he sought the physicians instead of God when he was diseased in his feet. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Do we throw sand in God’s face when we look to someone other than Him for healing? It is something to think about. Remember the Elijah to come is going to come in the same spirit, the same attitude, the same mind set and the same power as Elijah.

“And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?

6 And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.” (2 Kings 1:5-6)

Because you sought the god of Ekron rather than the God of Israel.

“And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?”

He wanted to know who told them that.

“8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.” (2 Kings 1:7-8)

Very much like John the Baptist, a wilderness type, dressed in perhaps rougher clothes of leather. He was not your polished court lackey.

Then the king sent 50 men with a captain of 50 to tell Elijah to come see the king. Elijah called fire from heaven and devoured them. It happened again and he sent another captain of 50 and fire came down and consumed them. Word got around that this was happening. In Verse 13, he sent again a captain of 50 with his 50. The third captain was a little more careful.

“And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.

14 Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.”

He was more cautious.

“15 And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went

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down with him unto the king.” (2 Kings 1:13-15)

God was going to have Elijah go anyway. But, He wanted to make a point here. Who is in charge? Who has the backing and the power of God? A hundred men died as a result of this. God was making a point.

“And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.”

This time he told him face to face.

“17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken.” (2 Kings 1:16-17)

Here is a direct confrontation between the king and Elijah and he was never even treated of Ekron. He just inquired whether he would live of die and he died.

Now, in Chapter 2,

“And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind,”

Interesting here, apparently God at times took Elijah places on the earth. This ties in pretty closely with Ezekiel 1 and 3 where it describes the chariot of Jesus Christ where He rides through the universe. It has the wheels etc. you can go back and read that. We will see a little later on that it wasn’t a whirlwind, but a chariot that picked Elijah up.

“…that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.”

It was time, at this point for Elijah to go away and Elisha to take over. Much as perhaps the signs and wonders done by the men around Joshua in Joshua 3 will continue while Joshua goes on to do something else. Perhaps the message is taken to the world at that point, but the miracles will continue just as they did with Elisha here. It was time for Elijah to leave and leave Elisha in charge there, but Elisha didn’t want him to go. So, he followed him to Bethel and said, “I won’t leave you”. Then they went down to Jericho and he said, “I won’t leave you here”. Then they went down to the Jordan, Verse 6, and he said, “I won’t leave you here”. Then they went on and fifty men of sons of the prophets went and stood to view far off and they too stood by Jordan. (Verse 7) Now, Verse 8,

“And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together…”

His sheepskin coat that he wore, just like Moses at the Red Sea and Joshua at Jordan. These are all tied together, Joshua, Elijah and Moses.

“…and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.”

So, just a Joshua parted the waters when Israel came into Israel, so did Elijah do it here.

“9 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. And

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Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.”

In other words, it is up to God and here is the sign whereby you will know.

“11 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.” (2 Kings 2:8-11)

Whirlwind is in the first heaven. He didn’t go up to God’s throne or into the heavens as the Protestants think at this point. It ties together as I started to say with Ezekiel 1, 3 and 10 where the chariot of Christ, the chariot of fire comes before Ezekiel. That makes me wonder if the two witnesses pictured by Ezekiel there and perhaps by Elijah here will not be transported to various parts of the earth in that chariot of fire that Christ has so that they can preach. One place today, one place tomorrow, maybe comes home spend time with their families in the place of safety a night, I don’t know. But, it is mentioned in Ezekiel, a prophecy for the end, and it is mentioned here in the story of Elijah who will be the type of one of the men at the end who are doing these marvelous works that God is going to cause to come upon the world through the Church. So, that is a possibility.

“2 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel,…” (2 Kings 2:12)

He knew by this he would receive double the spirit of Elijah. He went on and did incredible miracles.

“…and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan…” (2 Kings 2:12-14)

He then parted Jordan and began to do all kinds of miracles.

This is the point I was trying to get at when I skipped ahead when Elijah disappears and is mentioned in Chapters 9 and 10 where the death of Jezebel happens as he had predicted it. She was eaten of the dogs and then the whole house of Ahab was killed as he had predicted.

We don’t see anymore of Elijah then except II Chronicles 21:12,

“And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,”

But, had sinned etc. He would strike king Jehoram with a great plague. He then had a plague come upon him and was sick in his bowels and died two years later of sore diseases etc.

So, Elijah was still alive. He had been transported somewhere else on the earth by the chariot of fire and wrote a letter back from another place proclaiming a plague and it happened.

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Now, let’s go back to Malachi 4. We have gone through the history of the actual life of the prophet Elijah and we have seen the things that he did.

Let’s review again in Malachi 4.

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

Here is someone appearing right at the end.

“6 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.” (Mal 4:5-6)

Before addressing Moses and Elijah, Moses work and Elijah here as an individual God delivers a withering condemnation of today’s ministry as we was in Sermon #25, when we went through Malachi. Starting with the alter, with the ministry here we again refer to Revelation 11:1-2, the ministry must be retrained or replaced. The alter must be measured and it will either be found wanting or not. According to Malachi and in Jeremiah and Ezekiel 34 it is found wanting. According to tradition, not in the scriptures, not in the scriptures, Elijah had a school of priests to counter the school of Baal. The school of Baal has its heads rolled. Ministers today are going to have their heads roll. Maybe not their physical heads right of way, but at least their jobs. We see that in Zechariah 11, Isaiah 5, Malachi and other places.

How will Elijah turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers? Three levels of this seem apparent to me: 1) our hearts,

as Christians, to our Father in heaven and His to us. Right now He has His head turned from us and is scattering us. He can’t bear to look on our sins and our Laodecianism because our heads have been turned too much to the world and not enough to Him. We have thought we were A.O.K. doing fine, thank you, we are Philadelphians. First of all, our hearts have to be turned to our Father in heaven. That is what Elijah did back there isn’t it? 2) Our hearts have to be turned to our fathers, plural, the kind of faith that our fathers had. Hebrews 11 is a chapter about our fathers, the faithful ones. Elijah is himself included there. If you read Hebrews 11:35 it talks about women receiving their dead restored to life and the only two references in the Old Testament to that are the two resurrections that Elijah and Elisha did. So, our hearts have to be turned back to where we have the kind of faith that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Gideon, Elijah, Elisha, Noah and on and on it goes in Chapter 11 of Hebrews had. We have to come to have that kind of faith. A primary aspect of Elijah’s ministry was faith in God and healing even resurrection and denouncing going to any one but God for the answers in our lives. Will Christ find faith on the earth? Are we His whether we live or die as Paul attested of himself? Or, are we double minded in doing all we can to cleave to this life? If so, what about facing martyrdom later on? Will we have to if we do not trust God in our lives now? Will we have to be tested further? Somebody has to come and show us the kind of faith that we have to have. Elijah has to turn us to that. The third area would be 3) the physical fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. In some ways it might be the hardest task. Look at our children today.

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Are they strong for God most of them? How many have just gone back into the world and how many who are still with us are leaning into the world? Herbert Armstrong did not turn the children to their fathers, fathers to their children in great respect and awe. Our children are somewhat rebellious today and they are departing from the ways of God. There are some few who are not, but most are. That is the trend. Herbert Armstrong did not accomplish this and he was not the end time Elijah. He worked mainly on the first level that we talked about. That is turning Christian hearts to God. Somewhat on the second, turning us to the kind of faith that Abraham and Isaac had and a little bit on the third, the physical fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. The families never did come back together. Marriage problems to the end of Worldwide of Church were the biggest problem in the Church and probably still are. With marriage problems come children problems as well. In other words, family problems, those problems have not been solved in the Church. YOU may have done more damage than good. It turned to competition; it pulled kids away from their parents to their coaches, to each other. Herbert Armstrong may have been a mild type of Elijah because he did do some restoring and he did do some turning to God of God’s people. But, God’s people were not prepared. When Herbert Armstrong died, just before he died, he said, “get the people ready, they are not ready”. A people was not prepared and he knew it.

How was Elijah a type of this? What did he do? He removed the false heroes, the idols from the children of Israel. They then proclaimed the true God. He repaired the alter first, symbolizing going back to the beliefs of

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fathers. The same thing that Jude, Peter and Paul instructed the New Testament Church and us today to do. He put up the 12 stones, showing unity in Israel for a change. The alter was in disrepair and divided, just as the Church is divided, scattered and being further divided today. Elijah has to reverse this trend. There has to be a rejoining of the 12 tribes in the wilderness. Zechariah 11 shows the unity of the brotherhood is broken and it has to be restored. Christ indicated, John the Baptist was a type of Elijah, not much is said of John. What did he do? He paved the way for the straying children of Israel to recognize the Father through Christ. He opened up the way for Him who would proclaim the Father, Jesus Christ. Today, we preach loud and long for the adults to come out of Babylon give up our idols and materialism and entertainment, which take our time from the true God. It is hard enough for us, but what about the kids age 3 to 18? Dad and Mom are harried, busy making a living, keeping up the house. The Church idols must be removed from the fathers and the children. It is a big job. Let’s look at it. Dad is not the hero any more. Who are the heroes, the idols of the kids? Movie and television stars, basketball and football stars, race car drivers, rockers and rappers, those people, those things which take the time, interest and adoration of the children, even drugs, tobacco, alcohol, fast cars and fast women. Dad doesn’t have a chance against the electronic media, Mom either. That which they do is despised and taken for granted. A roof, food, transportation, convenience, you can do these things for us, but essential stay out of our heads and our habits. We will live our lives, you take care of us. I see

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only two possible ways to remedy this. You can either remove the children from the idols; this can’t seem to be accomplished in the middle of Babylon. There is no visible way to cause the children to not be impressed by what they see in front of them. Adults might resist. Children will not and with few exceptions are not resisting. This might be accomplished by taking them totally away from those idols as God did when He took Israel totally away from the idols of Egypt. But, this was not easy even though they were physically removed. Those idols lingered in the minds and imaginations, the memories, if you will, of those people. They cropped up every time any kind of hardship or trouble appeared. Moses smashed them at Sinai. For that matter, constantly, but they died hard. Can you imagine if God took His people physically away from the glitter of this world’s idols into a place of safety. The withdrawal symptoms would be incredible especially with the kids. Many would resent being taken away from their world. No movies on Saturday night or any other night, no TV, they would have to placed in a situation where Dad is again the hero. They might have to depend on him for food, shelter and education in a situation where there is nothing else to look to. So, you might take the kids and the parents away from the idols and this is partly the solution because the Church is going to be taken away to a place of safety, a place prepared for her away from the world. Now, the other thing you could do is take the idols from the children, as Moses did by destroy Egypt and destroying Egypt by its gods. They worshipped the frogs, the lice, the things of the Nile; they worshipped mother earth as people do today. So, he

pronounced plagues on them. What did Elijah do? He pronounced plagues back there as we read on king Jehoram. Elijah killed the wishy-washy ministry, halting between two opinions. He didn’t allow them to live. Elijah flat called them out, made a challenge “450 to 1 boys here we go”. He was one tough cookie. He destroyed their whole reputation in front of the people then killed them all. Maybe even by his own hand. That has to be done again. The idols have to be destroyed. This is not going to be done in a corner; it is going to be done on the world scene. The end time Elijah is going to confront the priests of this world, these Baalites, these modern ones of today. It will be repeated. Moses and Elijah will come and confront the Church first. They deal first with the Church and rebuild it. But, they have to give a warning to it as well. Then they are going to turn to the world. They will perform such miracles that they will discredit this world’s idols. They will be hated of all peoples; they will declare the true God. They will first do the job of Zerubbabel and Joshua to the Church, then do the job of Moses and Elijah to the world to destroy the idols of Egypt and Israel. Remember what he said in Zechariah 4, the mountains will become flat ground before Zerubbabel. Remember Micah 4 where it says arise and thresh O daughter of Zion when the Assyrian comes into your land? The end time leaders are going to face this world on its own terms and they are going to call them out just like Elijah did. Herbert Armstrong didn’t do this. This has to be done on an international basis and you have to understand this if you understand the spirit and the power of Elijah. In other words, God is going to be behind this

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and He is going to use these men to do these miracles.

Let’s go back for a moment and read it in the book of Revelation. You are going to see the same things that you saw in the life of Moses and in the life of Elijah. Remember the first few verses deal with the Church first. It tells them to leave out the court of the Gentiles, but they will tread down the city 42 months. Verse 3

“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Maybe they will or will not wear actual sackcloth, but sackcloth is symbolic of humility. So, they are not going to do it with great pride, but it is going to be done with humility. They are going to hate to have to do this to the people of this world.

“4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy:”

They have a three and one-half year prophecy the same as Elijah’s and they can shut the rain off.

“and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.” (Revelation 11:3-6)

Just as Moses did in Egypt. Both Moses and Elijah declared plagues,

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” (Revelation 11:7-8)

That is the physical city of Jerusalem. The whole world is going to rejoice because they will lie there for 3.5 days and they won’t even allow them to be buried. They want to party and jeer at them.

“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” (Revelation 11:10)

Then after three and one-half days they are going to rise to meet the Lord in the air. But, those two men are going to torment this world, a thorn in its side. They are going to destroy these gods of this world. They are going to destroy these people that we worship and idolize. When He says in Micah 4 and in Isaiah 41 to rise and thresh that means what it says. These men are going to thresh like you would thresh grain and shake it off. They are going to die once this is all done. Our kids are going to get big eyes over this and so will the parents because they are going to see that God is God. The fathers of the Church, and this isn’t limited to just the two because it says there in Micah 5 that other men will come out to meet the

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Assyrians. So, God is going to show signs and wonders through many people. That ties in with Joel 2 and Acts 2 where talks about young men and women and the old men dreaming dreams and doing miracles. It is not going to be just two men. They are going to be the leaders. God is going to set His Church in the wilderness, in a desert, on a hill and the whole world is going to know where they are and what they are doing. The two witnesses will probably spend their night there and go out on a chariot of fire by day and torment this world. The world will have no answer and if they try to kill them or hurt them, fire will come out of their mouths and destroy their enemies. You think this won’t get the attention of our kids? These powerful cataclysmic events will make Bruce Willis, OO7, and other so called action heroes pale into insignificance. Those idols and heroes will be removed. The Church is going to be removed from this society, its idols and then the idols are going to be removed and destroyed in the eyes of the children. Then they will look to their father. Suddenly, they are going to begin to have respect for the Church. They are going to begin to have a respect for God. Their parents won’t look like hypocrites any more.

YOU programs are not going to do this. They didn’t do this. These relationships have not been restored the way they must be restored so that our hearts are entirely with our God and we have kind of faith our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did. Where we look upon our children because they are respectful and loving and they look to their parents as their heroes for a change. Why do boys wear earrings in their ears? To identify with their peers in the world, not with their fathers. That respect is not there. This is going to require a lot more

than we saw Herbert Armstrong do. What he did was not wrong, but to restore all things incredible measures must be taken beyond what we have not yet seen. Incredible for it is beyond our comprehension. Credible for God says He will do it and His word cannot be broken. That is why this deliverance from sin, this slavery to Egypt and Babylon will pale into insignificance what was done in Egypt and the Red Sea. This is global and powerful nothing has ever approached it. The whole world is going to be in torment because of God’s people. A still small voice, it won’t be a great huge number of people. It will be 450 to 1, in fact the odds will be even greater against the Church, but they will have the power of God. Yes, false prophets will do lying signs and wonders and call fire from heaven, but just like with Moses the magicians made snakes too and Moses snakes ate their snakes. The same thing is about to happen.

No wonder God places such a challenge in Malachi 4:6 and says you do this, don’t back off or “I will come and smite the earth with a curse”. Zerubbabel and Joshua will rebuild the temple, as the two witnesses. It is very clear in Zechariah 4 and Revelation 11 that they are one and the same as the two witnesses. A Moses and Elijah type will also be used by those two men who will restore proper relationships with the fathers to their children and to the Church in all three categories that I talked about.

Can we begin to see that Elijah will utterly destroy the gods of this world, the gods of Israel that they have to day, just like he did before? That is what it means by coming in the spirit and power of Elijah. He faced them

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down, made fools of them and then killed them. The people finally admitted, “Jehovah is God”. He got the attention of the adults and the children alike. Their gods were destroyed before their eyes. This has to happen again. That is why God didn’t use Enoch and Noah or Abraham and Isaac as types at the end. He used Moses because, under God, he destroyed Egypt. He used Elijah because by the spirit of God and power he destroyed the priests of Baal. He prophesied the destruction of Jezebel and it occurred just as he said.

The two witnesses will take center stage and be thorns in the flesh and torment this earth. Herbert Armstrong did not come in the spirit and power of Elijah. He did not do what Elijah did. He did not do what Malachi 4:6 says to do except in a minor way and not with the kind of power Elijah exhibited. John the Baptist didn’t exhibit this quite this kind of power either. But, the end time Elijah will. The end time is more dramatic in every way than anything before it, culminating in the great and dreadful Day of the Lord, the putting down of all Satan’s and men’s societies. There will be healings. There might even be a resurrection or two. These things will be done. Our gods and our children’s gods will be taken away and destroyed before our very eyes. The world will not be nearly so impressive as it has been. Our hearts will finish turning back to God and our children will turn to God and to us. We will turn to our Father in heaven and He to us. We will learn to have the faith of our fathers as instructed in Hebrews 11. Our children will be humbled and impressed turning to us. We will be impressive to them and not hypocritical for we will live our faith. We will turn to them in love and respect as well

seeing their improved attitudes and zeal for the real God, not the gods of this world. They will see all this and say, “Jehovah is God”. This is the spirit and power of Elijah. A people will be prepared for the Lord. He will not have to come and smite the earth with a final curse.

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