ELIJAH : WHERE ARE THE TRUE PROPHETS? : PART 3
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Net
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Evil Times Ahead, Maitreya Buddha, Marshall Applewhite,
Reverend Moon, Proper Research Methods, Defining The
Endtime, God's Eternal Status, The Lord's Prophecy About
John, The Jewish Plot, Elijah = Elias = John The Baptist,
The New Covenant, Teshuva, Purpose Of John's Ministry,
Humility, Endtime Moses And Elijah?, Branham's Delusion,
What Malachi Really Meant, The Fiery Ministry Of Jesus
Christ, Intentional Deceit, True Fruit Of A Prophet, How
Many Endtime Prophets Are There?, A Sober Warning To All
In part one of this article, I took a brief look at the
doctrine of the Endtime Elijah. After that, I examined the
lives of a few men who have claimed to be this Elijah, or
else some other Prophet of the Endtime. I also exposed the
dangers of man worship and provided some specific examples.
In part two, I focused in on the signs of a true Prophet of
God, the problem of Christian unity versus the spirit of
exclusivity, and I presented some of the dangers involved in
keeping statistics. In this final part, we will be examining
more closely the basis upon which the Endtime Elijah theory
is based, as well as discussing other peripheral themes
associated with our main topic of discussion.
To begin, I am going to provide a few examples of men who
are undoubtedly workers of darkness; even though they have
all claimed to be true bearers of the Light. These people
are not just men who claimed to be Divine Prophets of the
Lord; no, not by any means; these are men who actually had
or have the audacity to actually boast that they are Jesus
Christ come in the flesh here and now! To introduce these
vile vipers of the underworld, allow me to share a few
verses with you from the Apostle Paul:
"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the
things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of,
knowing of whom thou hast learned them;"
(2 Timothy 3:13-14)
Notice what Paul is saying here. Just as I have pointed out
in other articles such as 'Lying Wonders Of The Endtime' and
'Age Of Deception, Age Of Delusion', Paul is saying that
these evil men and seducers, or deceivers, are going to grow
in number as we draw closer to the very end of this current
world system. But then notice what he says to Timothy. He
basically tells him to not worry about what is going on
around him, and to just stay on the strait and narrow path.
He encourages Timothy to remember what he has learned, and
from whom he has learned it. If he does these things, Paul
tells Timothy that he will be alright. That is precisely
what we have to do in these current days as more and more
false prophets appear on the horizon. We need to stay close
to Jesus and His Word. We need to keep our eyes on the
Author and the Finisher of our faith, and on no one else!
Period!
The first of these evil seducers I am going to discuss is
the man whom some people refer to as 'Lord' Maitreya Buddha.
This deceptive Endtime false prophet would have us believe
that he is the current manifestation of Jesus Christ who
will soon reveal himself to the world as the 'Master'. Well,
I have some news for Maitreya. Consider what the real Jesus
Christ has to say about that:
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or
there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs,
and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the
very elect." (Matthew 24:23-24)
Maitreya created quite a stir in the late 1980's when he
made what some claim was a 'miraculous' appearance in a
small village near Nairobi, Kenya. According to newspaper
articles of that period, he was immediately recognized as
Jesus Christ by the local people. This included the
followers of a local 'prophetess-type' woman whose name I
cannot currently remember. She may have been associated with
the Catholic church. Since that time, it appears that
Maitreya has secretly resided in the Asian district of
London just waiting for his day of revelation; at least that
is what is claimed by his self-appointed public relations
man, Benjamin Creme.
On several occasions, Creme has announced that the time of
his master's appearance is drawing near. When this happens,
it is said that he will transmit an important message of
peace via all of the television sets in the world. In fact,
from what I have read, these people claim that even if one
does not have his television set turned on, he or she will
still receive Maitreya's 'wonderful' message. It is also
said that Maitreya will provide workable solutions to all of
the problems currently facing the world, including hunger,
war, disease, etc. These people have a website where they
propagate all of their deceptive garbage concerning
Maitreya's world vision. In recent years, it seems that
perhaps the Maitreya fad has slowly been dying out. From
what I understand, Benjamin Creme is quite elderly; possibly
around seventy years of age; so perhaps once he is gone, the
Maitreya myth will disappear with him.
Maitreya is not alone in making the absurd claim of being
Jesus Christ. Marshall Applewhite of the Heaven's Gate UFO
cult boasted of the very same thing. In the early years, he
and his wife were known as 'Ti and Do', or 'The Two'. For
almost twenty years, Applewhite indoctrinated a small group
of followers with a religion which was an odd mixture of
Christianity, New Age thought, and UFOlogy. During most of
that time, the group remained underground, only surfacing on
rare occasions in order to try to win new converts to their
monastic way of life and belief system. In their later
years, they also maintained a website which attracted people
by the thousands. In the end, Applewhite committed suicide
along with thirty-eight of his followers, who all believed
that they would be transported to a spacecraft of celestial
origin which followed in the tail of the now-famous Comet
Hale-Bopp of early 1997. Since that tragic event, at least
one other member of this cult has followed in their suicidal
footsteps. I discuss this cult in more detail in 'Heaven's
Gate: Is Suicide The Right Way To Go?'.
After gathering a strong following in the United States of
America in the 1970's, the 'Reverend' Sun Myung Moon,
founder of the so-called Unification Church, was purportedly
forced to flee to his homeland of South Korea in order to
avoid facing charges of tax evasion. It has been so long now
since this event occurred, that I don't remember all of the
specific details. Despite his problems, over the past
several decades, it appears that Moon's Unification Church
has spread out all over the world, much like The Family
which I discussed in part two. This is born out by the fact
that they have quite a few websites in different languages.
To his followers, who are commonly referred to as 'Moonies',
Sun Myung Moon is reverently referred to as 'Father'. As I
pointed out in part one of this article, this is in direct
contradiction to Jesus' own words. In Moon's case, I find
this particularly blasphemous since his deceived followers
actually believe that he is Jesus Christ in the flesh.
Similar to The Family, the Unification Church also appears
to place a lot of emphasis on sex and marriage. Moon and his
wife are referred to by their followers as 'True Parents',
although I don't see what possible truth can be found in a
man who claims to be a manifestation of Jesus Christ.
With all of the examples I have now presented in this
article, it should be easy to see how the idea of an Endtime
Elijah fits right into the mentality which has prevailed for
at least the last three decades within the United States of
America. As I stated at the beginning of part one, some of
the primary verses used to support this belief in a final
Elijah, can be found in the the prophetic Book of Malachi:
"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 4:5-6)
Those who adhere to this belief use the above verses to
basically make two claims: First, they interpret these
verses as referring to the Endtime; and second, they state
that these Scriptures are not referring to a second Elijah,
or Elias, who lived during the time of Jesus Christ, but
rather to a third Elijah in our modern times. If we read
these verses exactly as they are written, it is easy to see
that there is absolutely no mention of the Endtime, nor of
two additional Elijah's to come, but only of one. As such,
to make such claims, in my view, is clearly reading
something into the Scriptures which is simply not there.
As I have stated in a number of my articles, unless one is
properly prepared, trying to understand the correct time
frames of some of the Old Testament prophecies can be an
extremely difficult and frustrating experience. I have
discovered that in order to arrange events in their proper
chronological order, one must possess, or take steps to
acquire, at least a basic understanding of ancient Jewish
history. If we fail to do this, we may very well end up with
a timeline which is totally inaccurate. Let me again remind
you that the Bible is like one great CrossWord puzzle. The
Lord has seen fit to provide us with all of the necessary
clues; but it is in knowing how to properly interpret each
clue that we find our challenge.
In our attempt to properly interpret the clues of the Lord's
CrossWord puzzle, we should first look for similar or
related verses in the very same chapter which might help us
to understand the riddle. If we do not find our answer
there, then we should expand our search for similar verses
to include the entire book. If that still does not serve to
confirm what we think a particular verse might mean, then we
should expand our search even further to include the entire
Bible. There are many excellent concordances and other Bible
research materials which can assist you in your studies. If
you are fortunate enough to own a computer, your work
becomes even easier as there are many well-written programs
availabe for different operating system platforms. In
addition, you also have the Internet and the World Wide Web
at your disposal.
Returning to our main topic of discussion, I will admit that
some time ago, I too was under the erroneous impression that
the Prophet Malachi wrote of events concerning the Endtime;
that is, the days in which we are now living. In a technical
sense, we have been living in the Endtime since Jesus gave
His life on the Cross almost two thousand years ago. This is
due to the fact that with His Death on the Cross and
subsequent Resurrection, not only did Jesus overcome Death
itself, but His Resurrection also signified the beginning of
the end of Satan's reign, and the beginning of the reign of
the Kingdom of God on Earth; at least in a spiritual sense;
for as Jesus said:
"...The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20b-21)
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might
have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
With His Death and Resurrection, Jesus wrought a great
victory over the Forces of Darkness, even though it was not
immediately apparent at the time. A close study of the
Gospels and the Epistles will quickly reveal that even some
of the Early Disciples were under the false impression that
Jesus would return with great Power and Glory at any minute.
A number of the Apostles had to clarify this matter for
them. For example, in his second Epistle to the Church at
Thessalonika, the Apostle Paul wrote the following:
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That
ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son
of perdition;" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)
I discuss the full meaning of the above verse in other
articles such as 'Who Is Hindering The Antichrist?' parts
one and two. In his Epistles, the Apostle John, who is also
believed to have written the Gospel of John, and the Book of
Revelation, also referred to the First Century as the Last
Time:
"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard
that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."
(1 John 2:18)
While a cursory understanding of this verse may give us the
erroneous impression that John may have been mistaken or
confused by saying this, or that he may have even been
contradicting what Paul wrote, I prefer to believe that John
simply knew how to see things in the Spirit. In other words,
as I explained earlier, in the grand scheme of things, John
knew that Christ's victory spelled Satan's doom from the
very moment that the Lord died on the Cross. John also knew
that He who dwells in the Eternal Now sees all things as if
they have already been. Consider some of the following
interesting verses from the Old Testament:
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there
is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" (Isaiah 46:9-10)
"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever:
nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and
God doeth it, that men should fear before him. That which
hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been;
and God requireth that which is past."
(Ecclesiastes 3:14-15)
In the New Testament, many times Jesus also demonstrated His
ability to know the future. Aside from His predictions
concerning His own Death, consider the following where He
first predicts Peter's martyrdom by crucifixion, and then He
informs Peter that John will not die until he sees the
Kingdom of God come:
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but
when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he
should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith
unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the
disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on
his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that
betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and
what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that
disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He
shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come,
what is that to thee?" (John 21:18-23)
Some people have erroneously misinterpreted the above
verses as meaning that John never died. They actually
believe that old man John is miraculously still with us
today waiting for the Lord to return in the clouds of heaven
with great Power and Glory. However, that is not what Jesus
meant by any means. What the Lord said that day came to pass
exactly as He predicted about sixty years later when John
was given one of the most amazing revelations the world has
ever known, in which he saw Jesus, the Heavenly Host, and
the Heavenly New Jerusalem coming down to Earth in all of
their magnificent splendor. In the Book of Revelation, John
uses the phrase 'I saw' thirty-five times, and the phrase 'I
John saw' two times. Here are a few selected verses from
that book which will thrill your hearts:
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make war."
(Revelation 19:11)
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was
given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God,
and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in
their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years." (Revelation 20:4)
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it,
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small
and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works."
(Revelation 20:11-12)
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:1-2)
So you see, in his visions, John did indeed see the Lord
come before his physical death, possibly on the isle of
Patmos in the Aegean Sea. In the previously-quoted verse
from his Epistle, John also stated that one reason he knew
that it was already the Last Time was because there were
already many antichrists in the world. It is easy to see
that from John's time until now, there have been certain
individuals and societies down through history who have been
bent on utterly destroying Christianity. In a sense, anyone
who opposes Christ is an antichrist; however, as I point
out in 'Who Is Who?: Defining Important Endtime Terms', I
believe that John was specifically referring to the
legalistic law-bound Jews of his day, who fought against
Christianity, and attempted to corrupt it from within by
feigning to be disciples. In this manner, they hoped to
weaken the young new faith by causing division between those
who trusted solely in the Blood of Jesus Christ for their
Salvation; and those who believed it was still necessary to
keep the Mosaic Law as well. Sadly, we find this very same
thing happening today within modern Christianity.
If we take into consideration all of the previous evidence,
I believe that it is appropriate to say that just as the
First Century Christians were living in the beginning of the
Endtime, we Twentieth Century Christians are currently
living in the end of the Endtime. If you accept the Biblical
record which points to the Earth as only being about six
thousand years old, then in this regard also, the past two
thousand years have been the final third, or the end, of
this long period of time. You will find a clear timeline of
events which explains the age of the Earth in my article
'The Earth Is Under Seven Thousand Years Old!'. Thus, no
matter how you look at it, it appears that the Endtime
actually began during the First Century with the Birth,
Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was the
Firstfruits of the Resurrection and the Beginning of the
Kingdom of God on Earth. In like manner, the Endtime will
come to its conclusion when Jesus Christ returns in the
clouds of Heaven to resurrect and/or change and rapture His
beloved children:
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But
every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."
(1 Corinthians 15:20-23)
The question then arises: Exactly how does all of this
relate to the prophecies of Malachi? First of all, if you
perform either a manual or a computer search on the Book of
Malachi looking for such Endtime terms as latter days,
latter years, end of days, last years, last days, end of
time, etc., you will quickly discover that your search will
produce absolutely zero results. None of these terms are
found in the Book of Malachi whatsoever! In light of this
amazing fact, one must surely wonder how it is that some
people come to the erroneous conclusion that Malachi was
writing about events which would transpire at the time of
the Lord's Second Coming. The answer to this mystery is
found in a phrase contained in the following verse from the
last chapter of the Book of Malachi:
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:"
(Malachi 4:5)
In times past, like some of these other students of the
Word, I erroneously interpreted the phrase 'the great and
dreadful day of the LORD' as meaning the current time in
which we are all now earnestly awaiting the Second Coming of
the Lord; however, after performing a much more in-depth
study of the Scriptures, I am now convinced that this is not
what this verse is referring to whatsoever. It is actually
referring to Jesus Christ's First Coming in the First
Century, not as a King coming to take charge of His Kingdom,
but rather as a Lamb prepared for the slaughter who would
shed His innocent Blood for the sins of the world:
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as
a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who
shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the
land of the living: for the transgression of my people was
he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the rich in his death; because he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD
to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he
shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was
numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of
many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
(Isaiah 53:7-12)
As you will see shortly, there is ample Scriptural evidence
to prove that Malachi was actually writing about the First
Coming of the Lord in the First Century. Remember what I
have already said in this, and in many other articles: To
properly understand the Word of God, we must compare
Scripture with Scripture. This is a vital point. It is
absolutely essential if you wish to put everything in proper
perspective. If you don't follow this practice, you are
going to end up with faulty interpretations such as those
who believe in this American Endtime Elijah. If we go back
only one chapter in the Book of Malachi, we discover that in
chapter four, Malachi is simply repeating in different
words, something which he already said in the third chapter.
Perhaps if I put these two verses one after the other, it
will be easier for you to see it:
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the
way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom
ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of
hosts." (Malachi 3:1)
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:"
(Malachi 4:5)
I am convinced that this messenger who was to prepare the
way, or Elijah, as Malachi refers to him in the second verse
above, was none other than John the Baptist who came to
prepare the way before Jesus. These two verses are speaking
about the very same event, the very same messenger, and the
very same Lord. Who is it who 'shall suddenly come to his
temple'? The answer is found right before that in the phrase
'the Lord, whom ye seek'. You see, for hundreds of years
prior to Jesus' birth, those who knew the words of the
Prophets had been anxiously awaiting their Messiah. It is
for this reason that in the Gospels we find the following
incidents concerning Simeon and the Prophetess Anna:
"And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was
Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for
the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he
should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the
parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the
custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and
blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face
of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the
glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother
marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. And
Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold,
this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in
Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea,
a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one
Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of
Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband
seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about
fourscore and four years, which departed not from the
temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and
day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise
unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for
redemption in Jerusalem." (Luke 2:25-38)
So what Malachi is actually saying is that John the Baptist
will come to prepare the way before Jesus who 'shall
suddenly come to his temple'. That is precisely what Jesus
did on more than one occasion; He came to His Temple at
Jerusalem; at least to the one that was supposed to be His,
to speak the Truth:
"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all
them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the
tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold
doves," (Matthew 21:12)
"In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come
out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take
me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid
no hold on me." (Matthew 26:55)
"And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and
when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the
eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the
twelve." (Mark 11:11)
Notice that Malachi also refers to Jesus as 'the messenger
of the covenant'. If you study the writings of the Apostle
Paul, you will see how time and time again he wrote of how
Jesus came to establish a New Covenant between God and man;
not the old covenant of keeping the Mosaic Law, but rather
the New Covenant of Grace and Mercy, which He paid for with
His own Blood. I also discuss this topic in such articles as
'Jesus Christ: Son Of God, High Priest Of Melchizedek':
"But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how
much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises. For if that first covenant
had been faultless, then should no place have been sought
for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith,
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them
out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my
covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into
their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to
them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall
not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from
the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath
made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old
is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:6-13)
"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that
of Abel." (Hebrews 12:24)
If we turn to the writings of the Prophet Isaiah, we
discover yet another prophecy which predicts the coming of
John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord. While
Isaiah does not specifically refer to John as Elijah like
the Prophet Malachi did, from verses found in the New
Testament, we know that this is precisely who Isaiah was
referring to:
"The voice of him that crieth in the 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."
(Isaiah 40:3-5)
Here then is the confirmation in the New Testment where
Matthew clearly tells us that Isaiah was indeed referring to
John the Baptist:
"For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias,
saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
(Matthew 3:3)
Later on in this very same Gospel, Jesus made it very clear
to the multitudes that John the Baptist was the fulfillment
of the prophecies of Malachi when He said:
"But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto
you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is
written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which
shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you,
Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a
greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is
least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from
the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For
all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if
ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come."
(Matthew 11:9-14)
Notice that Jesus quotes Malachi almost word for word. Then,
to make sure that the people really understand Him, at the
very end the Lord says to them 'if ye will receive it, this
is Elias, which was for to come.' Jesus couldn't have made
it any clearer than that. At this point, allow me to offer a
short explanation for those of you who are not familiar with
Hebrew and Greek. Being as the parchments and scrolls from
which our English New Testament is derived were originally
written in Greek, we find some of the Old Testament English
names transliterated with an 's' ending, usually preceded by
one or more vowels. Thus, Isaiah becomes Esaias; Elijah
becomes Elias, Jeremiah becomes Jeremias, Zechariah becomes
Zacharias, etc.
In the very next Gospel, we discover that Mark was even more
specific than Matthew. Whereas Matthew only quoted from the
Prophet Isaiah, Mark chooses to quote from both Isaiah and
Malachi. Notice that Mark makes it a point to say 'prophets'
and not just 'prophet' to show that he is referring to more
than one Old Testament source:
"As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way
before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
(Mark 1:2-3)
Again in Mark chapter nine, Jesus reaffirms that John the
Baptist is indeed the Elias, (or Elijah), spoken of by the
Prophet Malachi:
"And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias
must first come? And he answered and told them, Elias verily
cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is
written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things,
and be set at nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is
indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they
listed, as it is written of him." (Mark 9:11-13)
If we turn to the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we
find the Angel Gabriel speaking in the Temple with
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. In describing
John's coming ministry, Gabriel says in part to him:
"And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of
Elias, 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." (Luke 1:17)
Like Jesus and the Gospel writers, the Angel Gabriel is
quoting directly from the writings of the Prophet Malachi
who wrote:
"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 4:5-6)
Malachi and the Angel Gabriel are both saying that John the
Baptist will turn the hearts of the fathers, that is, the
Patriarchs, towards their children, that is, their
descendants; and he will likewise turn the hearts of the
children, that is, the descendants, back to the writings of
their fathers, that is, the Patriarchs. According to Hebrew
tradition, this return to the Law, or Torah, and the
writings of the Prophets, is known as 'teshuva'. I explain
this in more detail in the article 'The Kings Of The North
And The South: Part Two' which I encourage you to read. As
you will see, while 'teshuva' already occurred during the
First Century, because of the strong delusion they are
currently under, the Jews believe that modern-day Israel is
currently experiencing another 'teshuva' in preparation for
the appearance of their 'messiah', whom I personally believe
may be the Antichrist.
The overall message then is that John the Baptist's ministry
was to spiritually prepare the people to receive Jesus by
making a call for repentance, and by pointing out to them
their need for a Saviour:
"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the
wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:1-2)
"Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be
baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you
to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits
worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within
yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto
you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children
unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of
the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire...I indeed
baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the
latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is
in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will
gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn
with fire unquenchable." (Luke 3:7-9, 16b-17)
It was because of John's boldness in exposing King Herod's
sin of adultery, that John eventually found himself in a
prison cell. Later, at her mother's vengeful insistence, the
daughter of Herodias petitioned her step-father, King Herod,
for the head of the Baptist, to which Herod conceded. One
detailed account of this incident can be found in Mark
chapter six, verses seventeen through twenty-eight. As I
point out in other articles such as 'Revelation's Babylon
The Great Whore', by the time Jesus arrived, the
self-righteous Jewish leadership had exalted the Mosaic Law
and Oral Tradition to such a degree that they had convinced
themselves that they had no need for a Saviour. Jesus
clearly exposed their sin of self-righteous pride in such
incidents as the following:
"And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house,
behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with
him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they
said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with
publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said
unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will
have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Matthew 9:10-13)
Returning to the birth of John the Baptist in the first
chapter of the Gospel of Luke, when Zacharias prophesied
over his son, he also referred back to the Old Testament
prophecies of Malachi and Isaiah:
"And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the
Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to
prepare his ways;" (Luke 1:76)
Two chapters later, Luke himself likewise testified that
John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah:
"As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the
prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill
shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all
flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:4-6)
In Luke chapter four, it appears that Jesus may have also
made a veiled reference to the connection between John the
Baptist and the prophecy concerning Elijah when He preached
in the synagogue at Nazareth. Those present knew exactly
what He was implying, and thus they immediately threw Him
out of Nazareth and even tried to throw Him over a hill:
"And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted
in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows
were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was
shut up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias
sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that
was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of
Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving
Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they
heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and
thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the
hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him
down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went
his way," (Luke 4:24-30)
In the above incident, it is also possible that Jesus may
have been referring to Himself; for as John wrote in the
beginning of his Gospel:
"He came unto his own, and his own received him not."
(John 1:11)
In the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus again
made it very clear that John the Baptist was indeed the one
prophesied in the Book of Malachi when He said:
"...What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed
shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man
clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously
apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. But
what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you,
and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is
written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which
shall prepare thy way before thee." (Luke 7:24b-27)
Finally, in the Gospel of John we find John the Baptist's
own testimony concerning his encounter with those sent by
the Temple priests and Levites:
"And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests
and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he
confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the
Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And
he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered,
No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give
an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet
Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And
they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then,
if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there
standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who
coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet
I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in
Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."
(John 1:19-28)
This account reveals a number of important things. First of
all, as in the previous Gospels, we see that the Sanhedrin
was fully aware of the ancient prophecies. King Herod was
also familiar with them; and this is why he feared that
Jesus was actually John the Baptist returned from the dead:
"But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I
beheaded: he is risen from the dead." (Mark 6:16)
The point is that both the political and the spiritual
leadership of Israel knew that the Prophet Elijah would
return some day. They also knew that when he did arrive,
just as he had done hundreds of years before, he would tear
down their false religious and political systems; and they
certainly weren't about to allow that to happen! They had a
cozy relationship with the Roman government, and they wanted
to hang on to their wealth and power as long as they
possibly could. It was for this very same reason that Jesus
was crucified. As Caiphas the High Priest said:
"...Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is
expedient for us, that one man should die for the people,
and that the whole nation perish not." (John 11:49b-50)
It is also interesting to note that at first, John denied
being the Prophet Elijah, and then he turned around and
quoted from the Prophet Isaiah. Some people have wondered
why John would do this. While I cannot provide a definitive
answer to this question, I can offer a few possibilities. It
may simply be that John was afraid of them. In that regard,
he was exactly like the original Elijah. When the Spirit was
upon him, Elijah was as bold as a lion; but when the Spirit
departed from him, Elijah was a coward just like the rest of
us. You may recall how after slaying four hundred and fifty
false prophets of Baal, he fled from the evil Queen Jezebel,
a mere woman:
"And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal
how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 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. And when
he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to
Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant
there." (1 Kings 19:1-3)
So again, perhaps John may have initially feared for his
life; but then the Lord anointed him with the Spirit and
inspired him to quote from the fortieth chapter of the
Prophet Isaiah. Perhaps the Lord convicted his conscience to
speak the truth regardless of what his flesh may have been
experiencing. Another possibility is that John was simply
too humble to recognize that he really was the Elijah
prophesied by Malachi. It may also be that he knew in his
heart that he was Elijah, but he also realized that they
wouldn't believe him, so why even tell them? How many of us
today would have the audacity to make such a claim? I can
tell you this; if I had been in John's shoes, I would have
denied being a Prophet of the Lord too. How about you?
Sadly, as we have already seen, false prophets are becoming
a common trend as the world becomes further enveloped in
spiritual darkness.
In the extremely popular movie 'The Ten Commandments', we
are also given the impression that Moses was a bold Prophet
of God; however, as I pointed out in part one, this is the
furthest thing from the truth. After the Lord had dealt with
him, Moses became a very shy soft-spoken man who tried to
evade the special ministry for which the Lord had chosen
him. In the Book of Numbers we are told:
"(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which
were upon the face of the earth.)" (Numbers 12:3)
It was this very quality of being meek and humble which made
Moses prime material for the Lord's Hall of Fame; for as the
Apostle Paul wrote in his first Epistle to the Corinthians:
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of
the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base
things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought
things that are: That no flesh should glory in his
presence." (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
I discuss this topic more fully in the article 'The Only
Credentials You Need'. The point is, that Moses was so
timid, that the Lord had to raise up his brother Aaron to be
his mouthpiece as the early chapters of the Book of Exodus
will reveal. While I enjoy the pageantry of 'The Ten
Commandments', I feel that the movie 'Moses', starring the
excellent actor Ben Kingsley, offers a much more realistic
portrayal of this ancient Prophet of the Lord.
We must all remember that God cannot begin to use people who
are full of their own pride and vanity, those who think they
know it all, until He has utterly broken and remolded them,
just like the clay vessel in the potter's hands. This is why
the Lord had to break Moses' pride for forty years and teach
him the patience of a Bedouin shepherd before He could take
him back to Egypt to be the Deliverer of the Hebrew
children. Despite the many successes the Lord gave him,
eventually, Moses' impatience was his downfall. Not only did
he break the tablets of stone in a moment of rage, but he
later struck the rock at Meribah twice instead of waiting
patiently for the Lord to produce the needed water after he
had struck the rock the first time. In the Lord's eyes, this
was a sign of impatience, as well as a lack of faith, and a
poor testimony to the Children of Israel; thus it was for
this reason that the Lord did not allow either Aaron or
Moses to enter the Promised Land:
"And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye
believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children
of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation
into the land which I have given them. This is the water of
Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the
LORD, and he was sanctified in them."
(Numbers 20:12-13)
"Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not
enter into the land which I have given unto the children of
Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of
Meribah." (Numbers 20:24)
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount
Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the
children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also
shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was
gathered. For ye rebelled against my commandment in the
desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to
sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the
water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin."
(Numbers 27:12-14)
Returning to the prophecies of Malachi, because of their
lack of a proper understanding of these verses, some people
believe that this American Elijah of the Endtime is going to
instruct people to keep the Mosaic Law. This is how they
interpret the phrase 'turn the heart of the children to the
fathers'. They use this as their argument to refute the
claim by others such as myself who believe that we are no
longer bound by the Mosaic Law for our Salvation, but rather
solely to the Blood of Jesus Christ. While I discuss this in
a variety of my articles, one in particular which you may
wish to read is entitled The Royal Law: Thou Shalt Love'.
These people raise the question that if we are no longer
under the Mosaic Law, then why will this Endtime Elijah
encourage everyone to keep it? Obviously, their whole
argument falls apart when you realize that Malachi was not
referring to an Endtime Elijah whatsoever, but rather to
John the Baptist as I have already clearly shown by many
Scriptural proofs.
We must remember that during John's days, the Laws of Moses
were still in full affect because Jesus had not yet died on
the Cross. People were stilling placing their faith in the
keeping of the Law in order to obtain their Salvation. It
was completely a religion of works, and not one of Grace and
Faith. This was in complete contradiction to what the
Apostle Paul later wrote to the Church at Ephesus, as well
as to his beloved Disciple Titus:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any
man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" (Titus 3:5)
Thus, as I stated earlier, John the Baptist's whole purpose
was to turn the hearts of the common people towards the
Torah, the Old Testament laws and writings of the Prophets,
so that they would not only willingly recognize their sinful
condition and repent, but so that they would also accept
Jesus as their one and only means of Salvation when He
manifested Himself to Israel; exactly as Peter stated in the
fourth chapter of the Book of Acts:
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved." (Acts 4:12)
To further add to this confusion concerning a modern-day
Elijah in America, or spiritual Israel if you will, there is
also the belief that the Lord is going to raise up an
Endtime Moses as well. I can only assume that those who
embrace this belief are implying that he will also appear in
America. One fellow has stated that this Endtime Moses will
be similar to the Moses of old, while this Elijah will be
his spokesman, just as Aaron was Moses' spokesman in the Old
Testament. The overall thought seems to be that this Endtime
Moses and Endtime Elijah will work as a team in America; and
that they may even be the Two Sackcloth Witnesses of
Revelation chapter eleven. This belief in an Endtime Moses
is probably based on the following verses taken from the
Book of Deuteronomy where we find Moses saying:
"The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the
midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye
shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the
LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying,
Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither
let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the
LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they
have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their
brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his
mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command
him." (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)
As I mentioned in part one, towards the end of 'The Kings Of
The North And The South: Part Two', I provide a wealth of
Scriptural evidence to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that
the original Moses was by no means referring to a second
Moses of the Endtime. He was prophesying the coming of Jesus
Christ during the First Century. Rather than go into great
detail and repeat myself here, I encourage you to read the
aforementioned article for a more in-depth explanation of
why this is so. By now it should be obvious that this whole
concept of an Endtime Elijah in America is based in part
upon faulty assumptions and a clear lack of understanding of
the Scriptures due to insufficient research. As another
example of this, consider the following. In his book, 'An
Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages', William Marrion
Branham stated in part:
----- Begin Quote -----
"Jesus called John the Baptist, Elijah. Matthew 17:12, "But
I say unto you that Elijah is come already, and they knew
him not, but have done unto him what they listed." The
reason that he called John Elijah, was because the same
Spirit that was upon Elijah had come back upon John, even as
that Spirit had come back upon Elisha after the reign of
King Ahab. Now once again that Spirit will come back upon
another man just before Jesus comes. He will be a prophet."
----- End Of Quote -----
First of all, the reader should be aware that, while he does
not state it directly here, Mr. Branham is referring to
himself as this third Elijah. Anyone who knew Mr. Branham,
or who has read his books, knows that this is what he is
inferring by the above statement. What is so amazing is that
while he clearly recognized that John was the Elijah which
was to come, as per Jesus' own words which he even quoted,
Mr. Branham then adds on 'Now once gain that Spirit will
come back upon another man'. This is utter nonsense! Jesus
did not say that; William Branham did; and others like him
have said it since then! This is nothing short of
intentional deceit! To give you an example of how far some
of these people will go to prove their false theory of an
Endtime American Elijah, consider the fact that I visited
one website where the standard verses from Malachi chapter
four were displayed, followed by Jesus' words from Matthew
chapter seventeen:
"And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the
scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and
said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore
all things." (Matthew 17:10-11)
When the above verses appeared on my screen, I was utterly
shocked and amazed. 'Why so?' you may be asking yourself.
The answer is quite simple: I wasn't shocked by what was
there, but by rather what wasn't there; and that is the very
next verse after the eleventh verse of Matthew chapter
seventeen:
"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."
(Matthew 17:12)
As far as I am concerned, the person maintaining the website
is intentionally deceiving people by leaving off the very
next verse where Jesus clarifies exactly what He means.
Imagine if you are a young Christian who has just recently
come to know the Lord. If you happen to visit that website,
you are going to be given the false impression that Jesus
said another Elijah was still to come, when that is not what
He said whatsoever! God help such wicked deceivers! Is their
pride and their false doctrine more important than the
Truth? This was certainly the case with the Scribes and the
Pharissees.
As we have already seen, while William Branham acknowledged
all of Jesus' words in Matthew chapter seventeen, he totally
misinterpreted them and intentionally added his own words
to them so that it would validate his own false claim of
being the Endtime Elijah. But there is more. Another way
that Branham and other supporters of this false theory
support their claims is by stating that the opening verses
from Malachi chapter three are referring to John the
Baptist, while the verses from Malachi chapter four are
referring to the Endtime Elijah. Exactly how do they do
this? Again, it becomes clear if we consider a few more
things Mr. Branham said in his book 'An Exposition Of The
Seven Church Ages'. The opening verses to Malachi chapter
four describe the coming of the Lord. They are as follows:
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;
and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith
the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor
branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall
go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall
tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the
soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith
the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 4:1-3)
As I have already stated previously, these verses are not
referring to the Endtime. The Book of Malachi is not about
the Second Coming of Jesus Christ; they are prophesying His
First Coming two thousand years ago. Exactly how do people
like William Branham use the above verses to support their
Endtime Elijah theory then? They say that these things have
simply not happened yet; thus 'proving' in their minds that
verse five has not yet been fulfilled either:
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:"
(Malachi 4:5)
To show you the subtlety these people use to arrive at their
erroneous conclusions, and to convince other people of the
same, here is William Branham's distorted interpretation of
the previous verses taken straight from his aforementioned
book:
----- Begin Quote -----
"See, immediately after the coming of this Elijah, the earth
will be cleansed by fire and the wicked burned to ashes. Of
course, this did not happen at the time of John (the Elijah
for his day). The Spirit of God that prophesied the coming
of the messenger in Malachi 3:1 (John) was but reiterating
His previous prophetic statement of Isaiah 40:3 made at
least three centuries previously. "The voice of him that
crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Now
John, by the Holy Ghost, voiced both Isaiah and Malachi in
Matthew 3:3, "For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths
straight." So we can well see from these Scriptures that the
prophet in Malachi 3, who was John, was not the prophet of
Malachi 4, though indeed, both John and this last-day
prophet have upon them the same Spirit Which was upon
Elijah."
----- End Of Quote -----
The above explanation is utter nonsense. Not only that, but
it is in direct contradiction to what we find in the New
Testament. I have stressed over and over again that in order
to arrive at a clear understanding of the Word of God, we
cannot just pick and choose the verses that we like, or the
ones that support our theories and doctrines. We must
compare all things and balance Scripture with Scripture.
Personally, when I come across something in the Scriptures
which I do not fully understand, which troubles me, or which
challenges my current beliefs, I stop and ask the Lord to
help me to understand. If I am wrong about something, I want
to know about it. I take teaching others very seriously; and
I want to do my best to teach them the Truth to the best of
my knowledge. After all, someday we are all going to be held
accountable for every single word we have ever spoken!:
"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment." (Matthew 12:36)
"...for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ...So then every one of us shall give account of
himself to God." (Romans 14:10b, 12)
In the previous quote, Mr. Branham claims that following
John the Baptist's ministry, the Earth was not cleansed and
purged by fire as per the words of the Prophet Malachi.
Because of this, he claims that this purported third Elijah
has not yet come. If he were to have dug a little deeper
into the Scriptures, Mr. Branham would have discovered that
this is precisely what happened during Jesus' short Ministry
on Earth. In fact, John the Baptist, the second Elijah, said
so himself in very plain words for all to read:
"And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees:
therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is
hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose
fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor,
and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up
the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:10-12)
The first thing I want you to notice here is that these
verses are taken from the third chapter of Matthew. If you
go back and re-read Mr. Branham's interpretation of the
verses from Malachi chapter four, you will see that he also
quoted from Matthew chapter three; but notice, just like the
person who maintains the webpage I mentioned earlier, he
stops short of telling the whole truth. Mr. Branham doesn't
quote the above verses which come next which will totally
expose his faulty interpretation.
Notice the similarities between John's description of Jesus'
Earthly Ministry, and the words of the Prophet Malachi. By
trying to convince his followers that Malachi was referring
to the physical burning up of the wicked at the end of the
world, Branham adds even more false support to his erroneous
claims; while at the same time ignoring the true spiritual
significance of the Prophet's words. The truth of the matter
is that Jesus' Ministry totally exposed and burned up the
false Jewish religious system. Malachi, John the Baptist,
and Jesus all used the very same symbolism of fire to
describe the Lord's Ministry on Earth. The fire they were
all referring to was the Spirit of the Living God which was
upon and in Jesus Christ! While it is indeed true that the
end of this present world will be characterized by physical
fire, and that the incorrigibles will ultimately be cast
into the Lake of Fire, personally, I am not convinced that
this is what Malachi was referring to as he was not an
Endtime Prophet. Consider now some verses from the New
Testament:
"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire." (Matthew 7:18-19)
"The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the
end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so
shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall
send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who
hath ears to hear, let him hear...So shall it be at the end
of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the
wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the
furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth." (Matthew 13:39-43, 49-50)
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels:" (Matthew 25:41)
"I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it
be already kindled?" (Luke 12:49)
"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and
is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6)
"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of
fire, and it sat upon each of them." (Acts 2:3)
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God...For our God is a consuming fire."
(Hebrews 10:31, 12:29)
Thus, in my view, it is very easy to see that Jesus'
Ministry was indeed a ministry of fire, because He destroyed
the lies of His enemies with His fiery presence; and He also
anointed His Disciples with the Baptism of Fire, that is,
the Holy Ghost. As another clear example of how William
Branham distorted and added to the Scriptures in order to
validate his claim of being the Prophet Elijah, consider the
following quote taken from his book where he discussed
Jesus' admonition concerning false prophets in the Endtime.
The way he added to these verses almost defies belief:
----- Begin Quote -----
"Now this last-day prophet-messenger will have such power
before the Lord that there will be those who mistake him for
the Lord Jesus. (There will be a spirit in the world at the
end time that will seduce some and make them believe this.
Matthew 24:23-26, "For there shall arise false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the
very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if
they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not
forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it
not.") But don't you believe it. He is not Jesus Christ. He
is not the Son of God. He is one of the brethren, a prophet,
a messenger, a servant of God. He needs no greater honor
bestowed upon him than that which John received when he was
the voice that cried, "I am not He, but He is coming after
me."
----- End Of Quote -----
Let me again clarify for you that Mr. Branham was not
speaking about someone else being the Endtime Elijah; he was
referring to himself. His writings and testimonies reveal
that he honestly believed that he would be here to greet
Jesus Christ at his Second Coming, as the Endtime Elijah.
William Branham was more than aware that some people
considered him to be a false prophet. The above quote seems
to be a subtle attempt to totally pervert and neutralize the
true meaning of Jesus' warning regarding false prophets.
Jesus didn't say they would be 'one of the brethren, a
prophet, a messenger, a servant of God' as Branham claims.
Jesus said they would be false Christs and false prophets;
period! Anything more than that is Branham's own fabrication
to support his web of delusion. Let me again remind you of
Jesus' stern warning found in the seventh chapter of the
Gospel of Matthew:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall
know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth
good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
(Matthew 7:15-20)
The ultimate test in determining if a person is truly a man
or woman of God is by looking at the fruit they have born in
their lives. In the case of Herbert W. Armstrong, William M.
Branham, and Father David, we are left with a troubling and
very contradictory answer. I have never met any of these
men. The opinions I have formed concerning them are based
primarily on their writings, on articles written about them,
and in some cases, through actually fellowshipping with some
of their followers. Overall, it appears that these men,
directly or indirectly, led many souls to Jesus Christ; in
fact, thousands or millions of them! Of the followers I have
met, most of them have been very sincere, and have
demonstrated a genuine dedication to the Lord's work.
Concerning Mark John Allen, I am not familiar enough with
his ministry to really make a fair determination. In the
case of Maria, the widow and successor of Father David,
while I have never met her, many years ago I heard her voice
on a music cassette. She sounded very sincere and was in
fact leading the listener in a Salvation prayer.
Despite all of this, we are still plagued with their claims
of being Endtime Prophets of God. In fact, as we have
already seen, they have each claimed to be THE Endtime
Prophet of God, thus not only setting themselves above each
other, but also above every other Christian on the face of
the planet. Aside from the evidence I have already
presented, this claim of being the only one is emphasized by
remarks such as the following found in Branham's 'An
Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages'. As you read this, bear
in mind that the lives of all of the people we have been
discussing have overlapped each other, some more than
others. Mr. Branham wrote:
----- Begin Quote -----
"...this age will have one Prophet-Messenger. Revelation
10:7, says, "When he (singular) shall begin to sound." There
has never been an age where God gave His people two major
prophets at one time. He gave Enoch (alone); He gave Noah
(alone); He gave Moses (he alone had the Word though others
prophesied); John the Baptist came alone. Now in this last
day there is to be a prophet...and the infallible Word says
that he (the prophet) will reveal the mysteries to the
end-time people...I do not deny that people will prophesy in
this last age and their ministries can and will be correct.
I do not deny that there will be prophets even as in the
days of Paul when there was "one Agabus a prophet who
prophesied of a famine." I agree that is so. But I deny upon
the infallible evidence of the Word that there is more than
one major prophet-messenger who will reveal the mysteries as
contained in the Word, and who has the ministry to turn the
hearts of the children to the fathers...It will be a prophet
as thoroughly vindicated, or even more thoroughly vindicated
than was any prophet in all the ages from Enoch to this day,
because this man will of necessity have the capstone
prophetic ministry..."
In light of the extreme spirit of exclusivity adopted by all
of these people, how can we possibly reconcile their claims?
As I said earlier, they cannot all be telling the truth, if
any of them. If one of them is, or was, the true Endtime
prophet of God, then all of the rest of them must be liars.
So who is it? Armstrong? Branham? Berg? Allen? Or perhaps
one of the others I haven't even mentioned? Another factor
common to these self-proclaimed prophets is that every one
of them has warned their followers to watch out for false
prophets in the Endtime, while at the same time convincing
their faithful flocks that they are not one of them. Here
again is the advice of William Branham. Considering his own
deluded state, I find it a bit ironic that he would offer
the following advice to his followers:
----- Begin Quote -----
"Now in every case you will notice that a false prophet is
one who is outside the Word. Just as we showed you that
'antichrist' means 'anti-Word', so these false prophets come
perverting the Word, giving it a meaning that fits their own
devilish ends...There were four hundred of them and all of
them were in agreement; and by them all saying the same
thing, they fooled the people. But one prophet --- just one
--- was right, and all the rest wrong because God had
committed the revelation to only one."
----- End Of Quote -----
In the second half of the above quote, Mr. Branham is
referring to the story of the true Prophet Micaiah and the
four hundred false prophets of King Ahab found in 1 Kings
chapter twenty-two. I have used this same story in several
of my articles which discuss delusion and lying spirits.
This is precisely the danger of such men; they mix partial
truths with their distorted doctrines. Through the above
quote, Branham convinced his followers that, like Micaiah of
old, he was the one true prophet of God amongst the many
false prophets of his day. How could he have made such
claims when he himself clearly distorted the Scriptures? I
am reminded of the Lord's sober warning in the Old Testament
through the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah:
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put
darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20)
This is precisely what Satan does; but remember, he is the
Author of Confusion, and the Father of Lies! If he is going
to tell a lie, it will be one that is so big, that very few
people will doubt that it is true. It is for this reason
that we must all take the time to diligently study the Word
of God so that we are not deceived by Satan's false apostles
and evil emissaries who pose as ministers of righteousness.
As the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
I have written an entire article on this topic called
'Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth'. I encourage you to
read it. Through a systematic study of the Scriptures, as
well as through close scrutiny of some of the things said
and taught by some of these modern-age 'prophets', I truly
hope that I have alerted you the reader, and motivated you
to be on guard against the subtle lies of the enemy. I also
hope that I have proven to you that Malachi was not writing
about our current day, nor about an Endtime Prophet named
Elijah. In the Bible we find the following wise counsel:
"Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude
of counsellors there is safety." (Proverbs 11:14)
"But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word may be established." (Matthew 18:16)
"This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of
two or three witnesses shall every word be established."
(2 Corinthians 13:1)
Considering this advice, I would now like to remind you of
the many witnesses whom I have quoted throughout this
article which have contributed to my conclusions: Matthew,
Mark, Luke, John, Gabriel, Zacharias, John the Baptist, the
Prophet Isaiah, and even Jesus Himself. All of these people
seem to indicate that the Prophet Malachi was not referring
to the end of the Endtime, but rather to an event which
occurred at the very beginning of the Endtime in the First
Century; and that event was the ministry of John the
Baptist. None of them, including Jesus Himself, said that
there would be another Elijah after John the Baptist. In my
view, the Scriptures have spoken clearly regarding this
issue. While I believe that some prophecies may have
intermediate and then final fulfillments, this does not
appear to be the case with the verses found in the Book of
Malachi, at least not according to my current understanding
of them. As with all of my writings, I leave it up to you
the reader to come to your own conclusions based on the
Scriptural evidence I have provided. As I have said before,
we must all be persuaded of what we want to believe:
"...Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."
(Romans 14:5b)
The main consideration here is that we are persuaded by the
full Word of God, and not just by one or two verses, the
correct meaning of which we have totally twisted and
distorted. While I reject the idea of an Endtime Prophet
named Elijah arising in the United States of America, I have
considered the possibility that an Elijah, or 'Eliyahu' as
the Orthodox Jews prefer to call him, may arise in the
nation of Israel. This would be in line with some things I
have stated in 'The Kings Of The North And The South: Part
Two'. If this is true, Elijah may be a false prophet sent by
God as a form of strong delusion to prepare the way of the
false Jewish messiah known as Moshiach or Moshiach ben
David; that is, the Antichrist, possibly mentioned by Paul
in the second chapter of his second Epistle to the
Thessalonians. Please refer to 'Who Is Hindering The
Antichrist?' for more details.
One final possibility, which I will be discussing in an
upcoming article entitled 'The Two Sackcloth Witnesses Of
The Endtime', is that the two witnesses of Revelation
chapter eleven may possibly be the return of Moses and
Elijah who will witness to the Jews in the streets of
Jerusalem during the final three and a half years known as
the Great Tribulation. This is one theory I have yet to
thoroughly explore.
In conclusion, let me state again that the purpose of this
article has not been to attack the individuals named herein;
but rather it is to expose the lies and subtle deceptions by
which we can all be overcome if we do not totally submit
ourselves to the Lord and prayerfully and carefully study
His Word. None of us are immune to these things, myself
included. We all have problems with our pride, and it can be
our very downfall. While I am more than willing to embrace
those mentioned in this article as dear brothers and sisters
in the Lord who had, or have, a sincere burden for lost
souls, given my understanding of the Scriptures, I cannot
possibly accept any of them as the Endtime prophets that
they claimed, or claim, to be. For those of you who are
still living, I would ask of you the following questions;
and believe me, I do not ask them sarcastically or in a
spirit of haughtiness, but rather in a spirit of humility
truly desiring to understand how you can possibly believe
the things that you do:
Why do you feel this need to place yourself above everyone
else? What positive proof can you offer to validate your
claim? While you insist that God has chosen you for such a
lofty position, where are the signs and wonders which
heralded and continue to confirm your calling and ministry?
If you are the greatest prophet or prophetess of all time,
or at least of the Endtime, why don't you at least possess
Spiritual Gifts like the first Apostles? After all, the
Apostle Paul wrote:
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
(Hebrews 13:8)
Let me also ask you, in how many different ways has the Lord
confirmed His calling to you? In his Epistle to the Romans,
the Apostle Paul stated:
"For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to
himself." (Romans 14:7)
In modern English, this verse might be translated as 'No man
is an island'. In other words, we all affect each other.
What if your claims of being THE Endtime Prophet of God are
wrong? Do you honestly realize the serious consequences of
making such a false claim? Do you honestly realize what
happens to those who lead so many astray? Allow me to share
with you Jesus' own words on this issue:
"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth
of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)
As I have explained in a few other articles, in the previous
verse, the English word 'offend' is actually derived from
the Greek word 'skandalizo', pronounced skan-dal-id'-zo,
which means to put a stumbling block or an impediment in the
way of someone so that it causes them to trip and fall. In
other words, Jesus' warning is directly related to what the
Apostle Paul wrote concerning the Apostasy, or the falling
away from the Truth in the Last Days:
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"
(2 Thessalonians 2:3)
Notice that this ties in directly with the coming of the
Antichrist, or the Son of Perdition as he is also known. In
short, those who cause others to fall away from the Truth of
the Bible through their wayward doctrines and false claims
of being an Endtime Prophet of God, are guilty of the very
same spirit of antichrist which entered the world thousands
of years ago! In the Book of Revelation, we are told that
the Beast and the False Prophet will be cast alive in the
Lake of Fire. Considering the gravity of making such claims,
if you happen to be a person who is guilty of these things,
don't you think it is wise to reconsider your position? Even
if you are not one of these so-called prophets, if you
are one of there deluded followers who goes around trying to
convince others of the same, don't you think that you should
likewise seriously consider where you might be headed?
With these sobering thoughts, I am going to bring this
series to a close. I truly hope that it has enlightened
you; and that it has been an inspiration and a blessing in
your life. Watch out for false prophets!
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