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Originally posted at American Revival Press
Malachi 4:5,6
“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.”
Harbinger:
“a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; a herald. anything that foreshadows a future event; an omen; a sign.”
Elijah (and his spirit) has been a harbinger for the end several times in history already.
The first time Elijah and his spirit came to the earth it was about 870 BC. In his time The Promised Land had already split into two nations, Israel to the north and Judah to the south, Elijah ministered to Israel in the north. Israel’s sins were terrible, especially during Elijah’s time when Jezebel was ruling Israel with her husband Ahab. It was a very wicked and sinful time for the kingdom of Israel, perhaps it’s darkest time ever. (For those of you that don’t know the story of Elijah, his story begins in I Kings 17, I encourage you all to read it even before reading this article.)
Elijah became a harbinger for the end of the northern kingdom of Israel. He prophesied and warned them what would become of their nation and people should they refuse to repent and change from worshiping idols, and worse. Elijah was entirely a harbinger unto Israel, warning them of certain destruction should they not relent. In 722 BC the Assyrian army came for a final conclusive battle against Israel and entirely wiped them out! Some estimate as many as 30-50 Million Israeli’s were killed during that time. The remaining Israelites, the few left that they did not kill, were brought back to Nineveh, the Assyrian Capital, as their slaves.
And many of you Bible scholars are aware that John the Baptist, according to Jesus and His angel, came in the spirit and power of Elijah! Therefore, John the Baptist could be considered Elijah number two, correct? And if John the Baptist was in fact Elijah number two? Was John the Baptist a harbinger for a final judgment of God towards Israel??
John was born sometime around 3 BC. His message was simple, “Repent and turn from your wicked ways, and God will heal your land.” He said it over and again but also prophesied of the coming of the Son of God. “Whose sandals,” he said, “I am not worthy to unloose.” The gospels together all tell a wonderful and detailed story of John the Baptist, Jesus even exalted him above all the Old Testament prophets when he said, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist…”. John’s importance is often overshadowed by Jesus, the Messiah, and His ministry and for obvious reasons. But the importance of this prophet must not be overlooked.
Did they repent from the preaching of Elijah? No. Perhaps a small group of them did and maybe a larger portion for a short season but in the end, the people of Israel continued to sin. So, the Lord God allowed an enemy to come and destroy their land. And John the Baptist was also a harbinger, preaching repentance and warning of “The Wrath to Come”. And yet was there a revival? Was there true repentance among the Jews for the saving of a nation and its people? Clearly not. They crucified the Son of God, which was a witness against them.
And John’s unheeded warnings came to pass, just as did Elijah’s. In 70 AD the Roman army came, quite upset with the Jews and almost entirely destroyed Jerusalem. Just as Jesus said of their temple, “Not one stone was left upon another… for all shall be throne down.” The Romans literally tore that temple apart stone by stone and brick by brick! Thus, the fulfillment of John’s ministry was revealed when that generation of Jews refused to repent, killed the Son of God and receive their just reward for that terrible transgression against God and His Son.
But in context, Malachi was not exactly prophesying about John the Baptist. In context (read it again above), Malachi is clearly referring to the end of days, the time before God comes to judge the entirety of the earth, those who are in it and everything built upon it. Therefore, Elijah must come a third time, or the spirit of Elijah must come a third time. And he will be heralding as another harbinger, the time of the end. He will be the key harbinger, again, making the way for the Son of God’s triumphant return! Just as John the Baptist came, “To prepare the way of the Lord”, Elijah, and/or his spirit, will return to the earth, to prepare the Lord’s way once more.
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Well, has Elijah returned to us? Let us investigate. Elijah’s ministry was about what, according to Malachi and then the angel Gabriel? “He would turn the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their children…” But at first glance, this prophecy may seem almost insignificant. Of all the things this mighty man could do before God why, turning the hearts of the children to their fathers and vice versa?
When a society breaks down and falls apart doesn’t it all start at home? The degradation of the family is certainly the necessary beginning for the demise of a society. In fact, it could be said, as the family goes, so goes the nation! But the opposite is also true, a thriving nation must also be filled with thriving families. A thriving church… must also be filled with thriving families. A thriving organization must be full of thriving individuals, and so on.
It can therefore be surmised, once the families fall into sin, corruption, hopelessness, lovelessness, etc. they die. And the death of God’s created families will always come before the collapse and death of a nation.
It's not hard to see what is happening around us. The families have been under attack for nearly a century. What started slowly absolutely picked up pace after WW2. Women started to leave their homes for work, children started being raised by government schools and divorce rates started to skyrocket. The 1950’s and 60’s all throughout the world were a time of tremendous and unparalleled economic success, growth and opportunity ruled the day but they were also the years the families began to fall apart. The 70’s, 80’s and 90’s saw unparalleled rates of divorce -rates perhaps never before seen on the earth!
But there seems to be a growing trend right now to save the marriages. Younger generations are hesitant to get married but once they do, they are staying married better when compared with the generation before them. Surprising, right? I can’t help but wonder what changed?
It’s a time of extremely polar opposites that we are living in, on the one hand there is this horrible movement to destroy the traditional family altogether: radical abortion laws being passed at throughout the leftist states, the activist-LGBTQ movement, the things pertaining to genetic engineering and DNA manipulation, the government schools undermining the family unit with many of their agenda’s, etc. but there is also something quite different and astounding happening in the hearts and minds of these younger generations, driving divorce rates down!? There is a new generation of young people who, although they might reject religion, want to remain married! Perhaps this is some proof that the spirit of Elijah is among us!?
Malachi tells us Elijah will come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord! And he will, do what exactly? Another way of saying, “turn the hearts of the fathers and children and the hearts of the children to their fathers” is to say, “Elijah will restore the broken families!!” Elijah, and/or the spirit of Elijah and his last days ministry, according to scripture, will bring about the restoration of the broken families and simultaneously preparing the way of the Lord. And just as the first Elijah was a harbinger for the impending destruction of Israel, just as the second (spirit of) Elijah was a harbinger for the impending destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, the third Elijah will herald the end of the age – the coming of Messiah to the earth to rule and reign!
With very little effort we can see the whole prophesy playing out before our very eyes. The spirit of Elijah is among us, telling the men to repent, telling the fathers to go after their children and win their generations! The spirit of Elijah is among us, telling the children to repent and humble themselves, to return to the God of their fathers and become new. The spirit of Elijah is telling the men to repent, hurry up and become good husbands and leaders of your families! For soon and very soon you will stand before the Lord of glory, and what will you say to Him?! The spirit of Elijah is upon the earth, telling the wives, “Submit to your husbands, as unto the Lord” and in so doing you please your Father in heaven. The spirit of Elijah is here to restore all things and make ready a people to present to the Lord…But the remaining question is,
Who among us will listen?
If we, fathers, cannot win our families unto righteousness, the Bible says, we are unworthy of being in any leadership role within the Church. The spirit of Elijah is here telling the fathers, it is your responsibility to lead the church and to encourage your brothers onward to their Father. Should the spirit of Elijah succeed in restoring the families, the Church will suddenly come alive! Should we, each, individually, turn our hearts towards our fathers, and turn our hearts towards our children – the God might see us from heaven and push back this destined end of this world, even for another generation! We absolutely have a role to play in the history that is being written right now.
Again, if we cannot honor our parents, if we cannot raise our children in the way of the Lord, if we cannot obey the word of God, especially as it pertains to the families, how could we ever expect that God might stave off the end and give us more time? Our churches, our government, our society is broken because we left the way of God and brought this rebellion and iniquity into our own homes. Had we kept our homes holy, had we kept our families rooted in the word of God, had we stayed faithful to this New Covenant – we would have seen the salvation of the Lord, even with our own eyes! But recent generations have refused.
But this generation must return to the foundations of truth, to the foundations of the gospel, to the fundamentals of the things which God has given to us. The Word, who was revealed in Christ Jesus, is the rock - and a wise man builds his house upon the rock. The foolish man builds his house upon the sand. Every household, every family that is built upon the rock will last, even thru the storms, even thru the tests of time
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Our Father has only good plans for us, brothers and sisters, but who will listen? Do the churches even want His Word anymore being proclaimed among the gathering? And what of His Spirit? Is the Spirit of God even welcomed anymore among our fellowships? We should repent for these things Church, especially the leadership. We must turn back to the foundations, return to the beginnings of our faith, then God will restore our families and the Church will come to thrive anew! But without this sure foundation, all hope is lost, there is no lasting structure we can build that will remain. There is nothing else for us to unite around, no other vision, no other hope.
I pray this message penetrates our hearts, especially the hearts of the men. What will we say to God brothers? If we did not love our families? If we brought a myriad of sins and iniquities into our own homes, if we warred against the God of heaven and refused His love and truth? If we refused to lead our families in the way that they should go, unto God? Come that day, what will we say? But I’m writing to encourage us all now, so that we might be able to say to Him, “I loved that woman you gave me with all my heart for all the days of my life, I raised my children in the way that they should walk with You, I told everyone who wanted to hear about the gospel and the salvation of God and I never denied Your name.”
And if we can live unto Him these humble foundations,
Certainly God can bring us life and life more abundantly,
An abundant life wherein we are worthy of being called the children of God!
It is never too late to repent, men.
There is always hope with our Father.
He never ever, ever gives up on us.
We might give up on ourselves,
But our Father will never stop pursuing us
He’ll never give up trying to win us back,
So that we might be restored to Him, forever!
Return to Him, brothers and sisters
He will restore everything
He has such great plans for our lives!
We cannot even imagine the things that our Father is capable of doing for His own children.
I hope this encourages you all…If we can win our families
Perhaps we can win a generation!?
If we can win a generation
Perhaps God see our good works from heaven
And give us more time to preach His holy salvation!
And WIN SOULS!! (“He who wins souls is wise…”)
Amen?
And it all begins at home.
"If You haven’t sent him yet
Send the spirit of Elijah to us Father!
Restore our broken homes.
Revive our families…"
"Amen."
I love you brothers and sisters.
With all my heart.
Yours in Christ,
Robert Anthony.
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