The Last Promise: Unveiling the Role of Elijah Before the Day of the Lord
Key Takeaways
In the final verses of the Old Testament, the prophecy of Malachi foretells the coming of Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. This enigmatic figure is not only an individual messenger but also symbolizes a movement associated with the message Elijah proclaims. The fulfillment of this prophecy entails significant events, including the emergence of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, a confrontation akin to Mount Carmel, and the parallel with Herod’s banquet hall. Drawing parallels between historical events and prophetic imagery, this article delves into the intricate tapestry of symbolism, tracing the progression of prophetic sequences leading up to the climactic Sunday law and beyond.
- Elijah’s Identity and Role:
- Foretold in Malachi, Elijah’s coming signifies a critical juncture before the day of the Lord.
- Represents both an individual messenger and a movement heralding the impending events.
- Symbolizes the emergence of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who evade death.
- Historical Parallels: Mount Carmel and Herod’s Banquet:
- Mount Carmel confrontation mirrors the impending Sunday law crisis in the United States.
- Elijah’s victory over false prophets echoes the triumph of genuine Protestantism over apostasy.
- Herod’s banquet hall represents a parallel scenario with Herodias (Jezebel), symbolizing the impending judgment.
- Prophetic Sequence and Symbolism:
- Sequence of events at the “decree” marks the transition from the sixth to the seventh kingdom.
- The seventh kingdom’s birth follows the defeat of false prophets, akin to Elijah’s victory.
- Herod’s oath and the beheading of John the Baptist symbolize the alliance with apostasy leading to the Sunday law.
- Relevance of Prophecy in Contemporary Context:
- Interpretation of historical and prophetic events in light of modern geopolitical and societal developments.
- Implications of prophecy on the convergence of political, religious, and global dynamics.
- Examination of prophetic voices and their relevance in discerning the signs of the times.
- Conclusion and Future Discourse:
- Anticipation of continued exploration into the intricate layers of prophetic symbolism.
- Examination of Isaiah’s prophecies regarding the mountain of the Lord and its implications for the future.
- Reflective analysis of prophetic narratives and their resonance in contemporary theology and eschatology.
The last promise of the Old Testament is that before the great and terrible day of the Lord, Elijah would come.
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 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. Malachi 4:4–5.
The Elijah that comes in advance of “the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” is an individual messenger, and also the movement associated with the message the messenger proclaims. The Elijah that is sent is therefore the one hundred and forty-four thousand who do not taste death, just as Enoch and Elijah represent. They are those who are lifted up as an ensign at the soon-coming Sunday law.
The last day Elijah was also represented by John the Baptist, but John did not represent the one hundred and forty-four thousand. He represented those who join the movement and accept the message of the last day messenger, who are then murdered by the papacy in the hour of the Sunday law crisis that begins at the soon coming Sunday law and ends when Michael stands up and the papacy comes to its end with none to help.
Elijah is represented on Mount Carmel and John is represented in Herod’s banquet hall. Those two historical witnesses identify the two groups of God’s last day people represented in Revelation chapter seven. The one hundred and forty-four thousand and the great multitude align with Mount Carmel and Herod’s birthday party. Those two prophetic lines provide a sound point of reference to carefully identify the elements of the eighth head, that is of the seven heads in Revelation seventeen, with enough prophetic detail to clarify how and why the last president, which is the eighth president that is of the seven, becomes the great dictator of the United States in the last movements of the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy.
At the Sunday law the threefold union is accomplished.
“By the decree enforcing the institution of the Papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” Testimonies, volume 5, 451.
Yet in this illustration there is a sequence, and that sequence is a subject of the inspired word. It is an event that happens at the decree, which in one sense is a singular event, but it is actually a very careful sequence of events. At the “decree” the United States ceases to be the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy, which means that it is there that the seventh kingdom begins, but the seventh kingdom agrees to give their kingdom unto the beast. When the false prophet is defeated, the dragon takes its position, and immediately gives half its kingdom to the beast.
At Mount Carmel, there were four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and there four hundred prophets of the grove who were in Samaria eating at Jezebel’s table.
Now therefore send, and 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.
Elijah identifies the confrontation at Mount Carmel as a controversy, not only the question of who was the true God, but also that it was a controversy over who was the true prophet.
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 1 Kings 18:22.
When Elijah’s offering was consumed by the fire that came down out of heaven, he then slew the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal with his own hands.
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.
Baal was a false masculine deity, and the four hundred prophets of the grove, who were still with Jezebel, eating at her table in the city of Samaria were the prophets of the female deity, Ashtaroth. The female deity survived Elijah’s slaughter of the prophets of Mount Carmel.
“The people upon the mountain prostrate themselves in terror and awe before the unseen God. They cannot look upon the bright, consuming fire sent from Heaven. They fear that they will be consumed in their apostasy and sins. They cry out with one voice, which resounds over the mountain, and echoes to the plains below them with terrible distinctness, ‘The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.’ Israel is at last aroused and undeceived. They see their sin and how greatly they have dishonored God. Their anger is aroused against the prophets of Baal. With fearful terror, Ahab and Baal’s priests witnessed the wonderful exhibition of Jehovah’s power. Again is heard, in startling words of command, the voice of Elijah to the people, ‘Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.’ And the people were ready to obey the word of Elijah. They seized the false prophets who had deluded them, and brought them to the brook Kishon, and there Elijah, with his own hand, slew these idolatrous priests.” Review and Herald, October 7, 1873.
Mount Carmel typifies the soon-coming Sunday law in the United States. It is then that the ensign of the one hundred and forty-four thousand (typified by Elijah), is lifted up. It is there that the genuine Protestant horn is distinctly manifested in contrast with the counterfeit Protestant horn, who is in Samaria, eating Jezebel’s diet. It is there that the Republican horn that had become the horn of both church and state leading up to Mount Carmel comes to its end as the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy. What remains then is Ahab, and his tenfold nation, and Jezebel, who has been hiding in Samaria, while she dines with apostate Protestants. The sixth kingdom is finished, and the rain then comes without measure.
At Herod’s birthday party, Elijah, represented by John the Baptist is in the Roman prison awaiting deliverance or death. There are no prophets of Baal to accomplish the dance of deception, just Salome, Jezebel’s daughter. Herod and his royal friends are drunk with the wine of Babylon, for his birthday also represents the Sunday law, and all nations began to drink the wine of Babylon on September 11, 2001, well before the soon coming Sunday law.
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Revelation 18:1–3.
These three verses were fulfilled when the great buildings of New York, the Twin towers were thrown down by a touch of God.
“Now comes the word that I have declared that New York is to be swept away by a tidal wave? This I have never said. I have said, as I looked at the great buildings going up there, story after story, ‘What terrible scenes will take place when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth! Then the words of Revelation 18:1–3 will be fulfilled.’ The whole of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation is a warning of what is coming on the earth. But I have no light in particular in regard to what is coming on New York, only that I know that one day the great buildings there will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of God’s power. From the light given me, I know that destruction is in the world. One word from the Lord, one touch of his mighty power, and these massive structures will fall. Scenes will take place the fearfulness of which we cannot imagine.” Review and Herald, July 5, 1906.
The soon coming Sunday law is represented by the second voice of Revelation chapter eighteen, and it represents Ahab’s Mount Carmel, and Herod’s birthday party. Herodias, who is also Jezebel, is not present at Herod’s drunken party, just as Jezebel was absent from Mount Carmel. Until the Sunday law, she has been forgotten during the seventy symbolic years of the reign of the earth beast, the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy. When Jezebel received her deadly wound in 1798 and 1799, the sixth kingdom (the United States) began its term as the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy. When the sixth kingdom ends, she then returns and begins to sing her songs and commits fornication with all the nations on earth.
Her songs of fornication and wine was prophetically initiated on September 11, 2001, but that was simply the period of preparation, as had been represented by the thirty years from 508, unto 538, the first time she took the throne. Up until the Sunday law, when the sixth kingdom is slain by the hands of Elijah, she has been hidden in Samaria. At that point John the Baptist is being held in her prison, awaiting either deliverance or death.
Herod and his noble friends were drunk with the wine of Babylon, when Salome, the daughter of Herodias (Jezebel), performed her highly seductive dance, and Herod manifests his lustful and incestual desires. He is fully captivated by his step-daughters’ sexual overtures, and offers her up to half his kingdom.
And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. Mark 6:21–28.
The first voice of Revelation eighteen sounded on September 11, 2001, and the second voice sounds at the soon coming Sunday law. In the history represented in John chapter six, the first voice of 2001 was the voice of Christ informing His disciples that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood, for He was the true Bread of Heaven. That period began in Galilee and ended with a purging of His disciples who turned away from him in John chapter SIX, verse SIXTY-SIX. That history began at Galilee with a dietary test, and ended at the enforcement of the mark of the beast, as typified by the number of the pope’s name, which is SIX, SIX, SIX. Galilee means “turning point,” and September 11, 2001 was a prophetic “turning point” (Galilee), and Herod’s birthday was with the leadership of Galilee. The beginning voice of Revelation chapter eighteen, and the ending voice of Revelation eighteen, are both represented by Galilee, which is a turning point.
“There are lessons to be learned from the history of the past; and attention is called to these, that all may understand that God works on the same lines now that He ever has done. His hand is seen in His work and among the nations now, just the same as it has been ever since the gospel was first proclaimed to Adam in Eden.
“There are periods which are turning points in the history of nations and of the church. In the providence of God, when these different crises arrive, the light for that time is given. If it is received, there is spiritual progress; if it is rejected, spiritual declension and shipwreck follow. The Lord in His word has opened up the aggressive work of the gospel as it has been carried on in the past, and will be in the future, even to the closing conflict, when Satanic agencies will make their last wonderful movement.” Bible Echo, August 26, 1895.
Galilee at 2001, and Galilee at the soon coming Sunday law, identify when the light of the latter rain is poured out. In 2001 it was a measured outpouring, but at the second voice it is poured out without measure, as represented by the tremendous outpouring after Elijah slew the prophets of Baal, which occurred at Herod’s birthday party. Herod’s birthday identifies the birth of the seventh kingdom of Bible prophecy, which immediately follows the death of the preceding kingdom. The United States began to reign in 1798, at the death of the fifth kingdom, and at the death of the prophets of Baal, the seventh kingdom’s birthday has arrived. That seventh kingdom is represented by Ahab’s tenfold kingdom of the north, and by Herod, a representative of the tenfold northern kingdom of pagan Rome.
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Revelation 17:16–18.
Herod agrees to fulfill the oath he made to Salome, and give her the head of John, and his oath was represented as up to half his kingdom. The ten kings of the United Nations, in spite of hating the whore, agree to give their seventh kingdom unto the eighth head, that is of the seven previous heads. They agree to a kingdom that is premised upon the combination of the worldwide State, being combined with her worldwide Church. But the marriage is a Latin marriage, not an English marriage, for their marriage is represented by the “woman” reigning “over the kings.” In a Latin marriage the family retains the woman’s surname, not the mans’, and the name of this twofold marriage is an important element of the prophetic narrative.
“Kings and rulers and governors have placed upon themselves the brand of antichrist, and are represented as the dragon who goes to make war with the saints—with those who keep the commandments of God and who have the faith of Jesus.” Testimonies to Ministers, 38.
We will continue this study in the next article.
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. . .. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. Isaiah 2:1–3, 4:1–4.
God’s people in the final crisis are going to really need the spirit and power of Elijah and John the Baptist! They both moved fearlessly, forcefully and unashamedly to rebuke the sins of both people and leaders, and they both spent a long time in solitude, tarrying, before their final crisis. We are in the last tarrying time now. Let us earnestly seek the Lord for His power and spirit or we will not stand up strongly against falsehood in our own final crisis!