Elijah and the Apocalypse

The Third Elijah: Person or Messageand What is it?

Karl S. Wagner March 11, 2009 Restore All Things Introduction The third century Egyptian Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah involves deception and false leaders in the last days how deception will manifest itself, how it will be exposed at the end, and how a millennial paradise.1 Truth lies close to the track of error.2 Here, we can see Revelation the righteous and the saints can expect vindication in an eschatological judgment and rest in 13 coming to pass, giving us the Baal system of false worship in the last days followed by the message of Gods saints in chapter 14. For nearly 2,000 years, Christians of all varieties have been applying the Elijah message to an imminent consummation and return of Jesus. Adventism was born out of an apocalyptic movement calling for the appearance of Elijah as promised by Malachi.3 But what is this all about? Are we to look for the person Elijah? While Jesus affirmed John the Baptist as Elijah4, John denied it.5 Is it the message of Elijah? If so, what is the message that is to be proclaimed before messiah comes? We will examine Elijah and the apocalypse according to the Bible in light of Adventist mission and message. The Key Word The word relating to Elijah and his end-time work is the word restore. In Matthew 17:11, Jesus tells His disciples that Elijah must indeed come and restore all things. Peter tells us concerning Jesus who was taken up to heaven that He must remain until the restoring of all things. The Scripture reads, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the
things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.6 There could be all manners of speculation regarding what is to be restored and by whom. That seems to be the problem regarding one of Adventisms offshoots. They have taken upon themselves the prerogative of God regarding whom Elijah is while holding to a narrow view regarding his message. The Shepherds Rod, a movement founded by Victor Houteff in 1930, views its founder as the last Elijah, let alone other titles that are attributed to him. Their message is a call-out message to Adventists in order to separate the 144,000 into a final remnant of the remnant. They have no message to the world, but see themselves as the ones the world will beat a path to because they alone remain unharmed by that which is coming upon the world. They have no Gospel to give, just control over others to offer. Are we to look for the third Elijah in such a person as this, and does his message only speak to a small class of people and not the whole church of God?

David Frankfurter, Elijah in Upper Egypt: The Apocalypse of Elijah and Early Egyptian Christianity, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press 1993), page 7. 2 Reference 1SM, 202 3 Malachi 4:5,6 4 See Matthew 17:11-13 5 See John 1:21 6 Acts 3:21 (ESV) Elijah and the Apocalypse

The restoration, spear-headed by Elijah, is the heart of what will be presented here. This journey regarding this message of Elijah was prompted by my experience with the Shepherds Rod Movement over the last ten years. This movement threatens to undermine the legitimate Advent calling of 1844, which focused on presenting to the world the Three Angels Messages. Houteffs movement, founded almost 80 years ago, turns into itself and away from the original calling. It makes Ellen Whites ministry a lie because of this redirection away from evangelism. My concern is to save those who would be prey to this movement and kept from the real cause of the remnant church alive. While the reasons for this paper has been presented, I want to keep it from turning into a simple apologetic or a tirade against seekers of truth, however misdirected I may think they are. The Call to Lay Hold of a Message The Special Message Given John in Revelation 11 writes, And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. Hes told, measure not the court yardits given to the Gentiles After this, we see two witnesses. What is John measuring? And what does this mean? Ezekiel 40:3-4 gives us some insight into what this measuring reed is. The text reads, And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. (KJV) Ezekiel is given a message to declare to Israel. John measures the saints and not world. This tells us of a message given to Gods people. Chapter 11 falls right in-between the sixth and the seventh trumpet. This interlude gives us an idea of when this takes place. Chapter 10 tells of the opening of the book of Daniel and its preaching in the Millerite movement. What is the message John is unfolding here? Looking at Adventist history, we find that our first paper was called, Present Truth. The present truth preached from its pages was the Sabbath truth. We might cite other truths that have been lost sight of in the past and restored in the end-times. But what I want you to think about is not the individual truths. Think instead of the basket they all will go in to. What name might you put on that basket? What is it that needs to be restored? I think this is a good time to reflect on the word restore and what this has meant in the Old Testament and especially what it might mean when its connected to the work of Elijah. Restoration When Adam and Eve rebelled, God comes looking for them in the garden. Why is this? Like He doesnt know where they are? He calls out for Adam while walking in the garden.

Elijah and the Apocalypse

For the literalist, this is absurd. But for God, this passage explodes with relationship. He wants to commune with us. Its for this reason that God made us. No, He didnt make us for worship. Worship is a very important part of our make-up; but the core reason is to be in relationship with the creator. And after we sinned, He still desired us. Job tells us that God desires the work of His hands.7 And so, He came looking for us, even when we decided that we didnt need Him. In Gen 3:15, we find the first promise of restoration. Its here that God gives the promise of a prolonged war. Man rebelled. If the war ended there, wed be dead. God continues the battle with the institution of the plan of salvation. Though we live under the punishment of sin, we are not cursed. The Serpent is cursed, but not man. Man has hope and in that hope we move and breath in the ongoing grace of God. We wait for that day when this present age ends and all things are restored. The book of Judges gives us another lesson of Gods on-going act of restoration. The children of Israel are living in the Promised Land during the time before the kings. We read time after time how the people of God flip back and forth between idol worship and true Yahweh worship. Time after time God restores them back into relationship with Him. He does this because the people cry out to Him. He does this because He remembers His covenant,8 not because they have done anything to deserve it. What is restored is the relationship of Gods people with their God. Gods solution to the whole sin problem is to restore us back to relationship like He had with Adam and Eve before they sinned. Restored Worship While we were created for relationship, it is worship that identifies to whom or what we deem important to be connected. Where do you spend your time? Where are your efforts and energies directed? This will give you a clue to which you worship. Is Jesus just somebody you know about, or do you really know Him? Will He tell you in that day to depart from Him for He doesnt know you?9 The northern kingdom of Israel comprised ten tribes of Gods people who broke away into their own kingdom after Solomon. They distinguished themselves by their blended Yahweh/idol worship. In 1 Kings 16, the story of the Omri dynasty begins. The Bible as worse then those before him regards his reign. Yet it was the Omri dynasty that gave the most growth to Israel and the most stability in the region. His son, Ahab, was even worse. And to prove it, the Bible says, 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. 10 Upon setting up an altar to Baal and groves or gardens of worship to banal he angered Yahweh. Because of this, God sends his man Elijah. Elijah tells the king that there will be neither dew nor rain for 3 years. This is the price we pay when we reject God. His word dries up and we are left with a spiritual famine. But God doesnt leave it there. He plans to restore and to give that opportunity to all who would listen.
7 8

Job 14: 15 Gen 9:15, Lev 26:42; Eze 16:60 9 see on Matt. 7:23 10 1 Kings 16:31 Elijah and the Apocalypse

Three and a half years later, Elijah comes back into town looking of the King. You can continue reading this story in 1 Kings 18. Elijah runs into the prophet Obadiah and convinces him to give a message to the king. Elijah is here was the message. King Ahab comes looking for him and Elijah tells him to gather all of Israel along with the 450 prophets of Banal and the 400 prophets of the groves. He tells Ahab to meet him on the mountain of Carmel. Once gathered, Elijah stands before the people and the prophets of Baal and says, 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.11 Elijah restored all things to the nation of Israel. He restored the worship of the one true, Creator God and exposed the false system of worship for what it was. What greater work could any one do in the service of the Lord? He thought he was alone, though there were 7.000 who had not bowed a knee to Baal nor kissed him.12 Its this mission that God repeats before He arrives. He did so in miniature at the first Advent in that of John the Baptist. He will do so in a greater work in the end just before His second coming in the work of His remnant people. A Few Lessons From John the Baptist Johns father is in the temple when he gets the word that his wife will bear a child. He
is told that, many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And that, he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah), 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. 13 We know John was not Elijah, but rather he came in the spirit of Elijah. That is to say, he had the same kind of work Elijah had. That was to restore true worship, turning the people back to the God they left off following. Even here, its not so much the person, but the message that person bore. The same holds true in the end-times with the message of restoration by Gods people. John bore his message. Not as the person Elijah, for that, he denied. Rather, he declared, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the

Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. The promise of Elijah just before the great day of the LORD is not to be discovered in the person or a person. The promise is in the message of returning the people to the true worship of the one God. As Elijahs message ended in the slaying of the prophets of Baal, so too, the false prophet is slain in the end, at the Battle of Armageddon.14 This restoration of worship is part and parcel of what needs to be restored before the end. It spans the current age from paradise lost to paradise found.
11

1 Kings 18:21. Note here that the word LORD is the translation of the Tetragramton, which is the divine name for God. The four letters are in Hebrew Yod, He, Vav, He and appears in the Hebrew language, reading from right to left, existent one. 12 See on 1 Kings 19:18 13 Luke 1:16, 17 14 Revelation 16:16

(hwhy). This is where we get the names Jehovah or Yawheh. The self-

Elijah and the Apocalypse

The disciples questioned Jesus concerning the coming of Elijah. His disciples asked Him, saying, why then says 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. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 15 From this, they
understood He talked about John the Baptist, but, the work of Elijah also includes the consummation. Elijah will first come and restore all things. Peter, in his second sermon in Acts tells us that the heavens have recieved this same Jesus until the restoration. The restoration is something that God is in charge of. He is driving the events leading up to His second coming. He is not waiting passively for us to dosomething in order for Him to return. He comes back on his own time-table. The text reads, of Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all

things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. He has been talking about this restoration since the beginning. We found it in the words of His prophets just as He says. While Elijah calls for worship of the true God, it is God Himself that has gone beforehand to prepare the hearts of those who will receive it. The message is not dependent on how will we sell it. While we give the message, it is written on the heart of the receiver by the Spirit of God. 16 Lets take a look at how this message of restoration is to be presented in the last days. It is the very heart of the Adventist message and why He called us into existence. The Message of the End-Times 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.17 With this promise came the mysterious prediction of the return of Elijah before the coming of messiah and the day of Yahweh. Jews still today incorporate this prediction into their Passover Seders. The portion of the meal is called, Kos shel Eliyahu ha-Navi (cup of Elijah the Prophet). In many traditions, the front door of the house is opened at this point. Psalms 79:6-7 is recited in both Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions, plus Lamentations 3:66 among Ashkenazim. Most Ashkenazim have the custom to fill a fifth cup at this point. This cup is traditionally called the Kos shel Eliyahu ("Cup of Elijah"). Traditionally, Elijah the Prophet visits each home on Seder night as a foreshadowing of his future arrival at the end of the days, when he will come to announce the coming of the Jewish Messiah. Some Jewish feminists place a Cup of Miriam filled with water beside the Cup of Elijah. The Passover Seder is traditionally connected with the Messianic age.18 John the Baptist when asked if he was Elijah, told them he was not. They were looking for the person, while John acknowledged he was not that person. When asked who he was, he simply quoted Isaiah, who wrote, The voice of him that crieth in the
15 16

Matthew 17:10-12 see on 1 Cor. 3:3 17 Mal 4:5-6 18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder Elijah and the Apocalypse

wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.19 John, not Elijah the man, certainly carried forth the message in the spirit of Elijah. John made straight the highway to carry the people away from the heretical teachings of the day in order to direct them to the true God who had come in the person of Jesusthe lamb of God. So too, in the end of days, that message will again go forth into the world to proclaim the one true God and once again make straight the highways by the restoration Of all things, which include doctrines lost or made of little importance. The true God will be revealed to all flesh, and all flesh, together, shall see Him. So when the disciples asked Jesus about Elijah20 and were told that he must indeed come and restore all things, we can understand just what that restoration must be. And John was certainly a fulfillment of that. Peter adds to that in his second sermon in the book of Acts when he tells us that the heavens have received Jesus until the time of restitution. God is in charge of His prophets (spokesmen) and they deliver the message only as they are directed. God is not passive, waiting for the Elijah message to go forth and do its work. He is active, in heaven, in the sanctuary, taking charge of the progress towards the consummation. While that consummation may seem delayed, it is not delayed. 21 It only appears so. In Revelation 11, John is given a measuring reed and told to measure the temple of God, the altar and those who worship in it. Ezekiel 40 in verse 3 gives us a glimpse of what this might mean. Here, in Revelation, we see a promise of restoration and rebuilding. In this case, the restoration of truths lost sight of. Namely, the worship of the one true God as Elijah called for on Mount Carmel. Uriah Smith understood this and applied it to the early Adventist movement. In his classic, Daniel and the Revelation, he writes, the measuring rod, taken as a whole, is a special message now given to the church, which embraces the great truths peculiar to this time, including the ten commandments.22 The restoration of these truths go hand-in-hand with the Elijah message. The eschatological application of the Elijahs question is found in the first angel of Revelation 14. We will go there shortly. Meanwhile, chapter 11 continues the story of the propagation of this restored message in the guise of the two witnesses. While we in the Adventist community assert that this represents the Old and New Testaments, we find that we are not heretical to the text. The question of course is, Who are the two witnesses? They are sent by God for a specific period of time. They prophesy, which is to say, they speak for God. Prophecy not only foretells, but also forth tells.
19

Isa. 40:3-5 Matthew 17:10ff 21 Hab 2:3 22 Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation, (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald-1944), page 532
20

Elijah and the Apocalypse

The Word of God at the time John wrote the book of Revelation consisted of what we today call the Old Testament. The Jews divided the Holy writings into two main categories and further, divided the second category into two separate divisions. The first contain the books of Moses called the Law or Torah (hrwt), which is Hebrew for instruction. The second division contains what is called the Writings (divided into the Prophets and Writings). Moses, the greatest of all Jewish prophets heads up the Torah division. Elijah, the greatest after Moses, heads up the second division. John denotes the Word of God as pictured in the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah. Using the Word of God, His people who receive the end-time special message of restoration call for the worship of the one true God and the restoration of primitive Christianity. The measuring of the temple is an interlude between the sixth and last trumpets. Comments in the SDA Bible Commentary present the theme to this message in a compact statement. It reads, The present parenthesis between the sixth and the seventh trumpets may also be included as a reassurance that in the midst of the horrors attendant on the blowing of the trumpets, Gods temple- that is, the plan of redemption portrayed there and His true worshipers are secure. This restoration and preservation of Gods temple would seem also to have a particular application to the fuller understanding of the meaning of Christs ministry in the heavenly sanctuary that has come since 1844. 23 This end-time message of restoration includes the whole of the Adventist mission and message. Revelation chapter 11 is followed by 12, which describes the Great Controversy theme and identifies Gods people in the last verse as those who keep his commandments and have the testimony of Jesus.24 Chapter 13 tells us of the end-time Baal system of false worship. We see the sea beast, the land beast and the image to the beast and the whole world following after. This false system reminds us of the false system in the days of king Ahab and the challenge put forth by Elijah on Mount Carmel. How long halt you between two opions? God had a champion then, and He has one now. While chapter 13 tells us of the Baal system, chapter 14 tells us of the Yahweh system. This is not just Gods solution to the false worship problem; rather, I see it as the last great hope held out to those caught-up in the false system. There is only one way out. The Eschatological Elijah Message Gods people are described in the first five verses of Revelation 14 as following the lamb wherever He goes and are described as virgins. As virgins, they are pure, therefore, they are not whoring after other gods. They are the ones who proclaim the message of the three angels in verses 6 thru 12. This message is not contrary to the great commission of Matthew 28. All Christians are called to go forth, making disciples, teaching and baptizing. That has not changed. The first angel confirms our mission of proclaiming the gospel, while doing so in the context of judgment and a call to worship creator God. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come:

23 24

SDA Bible Commentary, Vol 7, page 800. Revelation 12:17 Elijah and the Apocalypse

and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.25 Gods people proclaim, 1) The Everlasting Gospel, 2) A Call to worship creator God, and 3) does so in the time of Judgment. As Paul affirms in Galatians, there is only one gospel.26 That has not changed. What has changed, is the whole world following a false system of worship, all the while believing they are following creator God. Gods saints proclaim, in the midst of judgment, the worship of the one true God. Like Elijah of old, they go forth in his spirit. Asking as Elijah did, How long will you halt between two opinions? Virtually quoting from Exodus 20:11, this angel directs worship to the one who made heaven and earth. Our reference from Exodus is in the fourth commandment, which is the Sabbath commandment. We are called to return to the restored relationship first lost in Eden and symbolized in the weekly Sabbath rest. Trusting our everything to God and seeking the intimacy with the one who died for us. While the Sabbath is not indicated outright, it is intimated. Again, the call is a call to the worship of the one true God. It is the Elijah message, but this time, directed to those caught-up in the false worship Baal system of Revelation 13. The Elijah message is proclaimed with more power when the second angel joins the first.27 The second angel of Revelation 14 proclaims that Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.28 You will notice here that the proclamation to come out of her my people is not there. This angel simply announces the fall of Babylon. But when the heavenly angel from Revelation 18 joins with the earthly messengers, God calls His people to come out of the confusion of the blended Baal/Yahweh worship such as a type king Ahab brought onto the people of the northern kingdom. The Scripture reads, And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. 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. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 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.29 Elijah restored all things in that he restored the true worship of creator God to the people of Israel. John the Baptist, in the spirit of Elijah restored worship in the true God by pointing to Jesus as the lamb of God. The last message will also confirm Elijahs message by calling for worship of the true God at the end of the age. At this time is the restoration of all things, as they were before sin entered the world.. Here, our relationship with God is restored to the pre-fall state. The consummation holds the idea of restoration with its completion. Elijah articulated Gods desire for restored relationship since the garden of Eden and so he becomes the proto-type of Gods servants who proclaim such a message before the coming of the great day of the LORD. As Isaiah 45 tells us of God Calling His
25 26

Revelation 14:6-7 Gal. 1:8-9 27 Rev. 18:1ff 28 Revelation 14:8 29 1 Kings 16:30-33 Elijah and the Apocalypse

people back to Him and away from their idols, He declares in the end, In the LORD shall
all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. (vr 25).

The Great Controversy Ended The Great Controversy ends with all things restored. When we are put right with God and all sin is banished from the cosmos, the promise of restoration, first given in the garden, will meet its fulfillment. The controversy is ended, we are home, we are restored.

Elijah and the Apocalypse