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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Pastoral Pings ~ The Elijah Prophecy that John Fulfills

          As a bystander to much of the prophecy-mongering that floods the internet, I often feel like a little child who wonders what in the world is going on, and feels confident that my Father is working out everything according to his will, just as he clearly revealed in the first coming of Jesus the Christ.
          There are many times when I hear some precise interpretation of prophecy and marvel at how these people managed to get themselves into something that is not clearly stated in Scripture. I often wonder why it is so important to to pin things down in advance, when there are many exhortations to have the mindset that it is not ours to know such things.[1]
          This morning, while reading the context of another Scripture that had grabbed my attention, I was blessed with this little interruption (likely no interruption at all in the divine teacher’s plan). The interruption was found in this revelation: “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.”[2]
          What stood out to me was the way the prophet Malachi had spoken very specifically of the reappearance of Elijah in the latter days.[3] Reading or hearing those prophecies would lead to the natural conclusion that Elijah would appear, and that the clear revelation of Elijah the prophet would enable everyone to know that the person Elijah pointed to was the promised Messiah of God.
          However, the fulfillment of this prophecy was not the reappearance of Elijah the prophet, but the appearance of John the Baptist. When Zechariah heard the good news that his prayer for a child would be answered, the angel told him, he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah.”[4]
          God’s angel was speaking to a man who knew that God had been silent since speaking through Malachi about the one who would prepare the way for the Lord. Zechariah knew that he was to expect the appearance of Elijah at some point in history. What he never would have guessed was that, when God answered his prayer for a child, that his own child would be the fulfillment of that prophecy.
          This application of the Elijah-prophecy to John the Baptist was expressed in another way as well:
And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.[5]
          The simple point for me was to remind myself that prophecies may sound so precise as telling people to expect Elijah to reappear, and yet can be fulfilled in ways quite otherwise than expected. It makes me wonder how many other times this takes place. How often are people side-tracked from this characteristic of God’s ways so that they are looking for a literal Elijah, instead of watching and listening for God’s presentation of prophetic fulfillment.
          When I consider how no one ever used Old Testament prophecy to get them in the right place at the right time for anything to do with the first coming of Jesus Christ, I wonder why we are so determined to figure out ahead of time all these prophecies regarding the second coming of Christ.
          As I see it, we are supposed to be about the work of the kingdom of heaven while leaving all the issues of times and seasons in our Father’s hands. One reason for so many prophecies and fulfillments already flooding the Scriptures is not so that we will try to figure out the unfulfilled prophecies ahead of time, but will let the fulfilled prophecies assure us that all the remaining prophetic promises will be fulfilled in the same way.
          Even if that means Jesus has to tell us that John the Baptist is Elijah. Who would have thought?

© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)




[1] Acts 1:7
[2] Matthew 11:13-14
[3] Malachi 4:5-6
[4] Luke 1:17 (read Luke 1:13-17 as context)
[5] Matthew 17:10-13

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