[ELIJAH COMES FIRST -
PART IV]
Elijah on
the mount. There is another evidence that an "Elijah
ministry" must come forth and "prepare the way" of the
Lord in these last days. It is presented to us by
symbolic drama. The story is given in
all three synoptic gospels, so we know it is of great
importance. I refer to Jesus taking three of His
disciples up into a high mountain and being transfigured
before them. In Mt. 17:3, we read, "And behold, there
appeared to them Moses and
Elijah talking with him." Moses was refused entry into
the Promised Land by the Lord because of his smiting of
the rock in anger (Num. 20:11-12), but there on the Mt.
of Transfiguration we see him IN the Promised Land,
talking with Jesus. This speaks of the end-time of this
age, when God is going to lead His people into the
FULNESS of their spiritual inheritance. Though the
church has failed many times through "striking the rock"
(Jesus) in its unbelief, waywardness and apostasy, we
are yet to see the church in the "spiritual mount" of
the promised blessing and power and victory. Since
Elijah was there with Moses and Jesus, he pictures the
end-time ministry and move of the Spirit of God which is
PREPARING the church for her destined hour of full
glory. The three disciples (only one fourth of the
chosen twelve) who went up into the mount with Jesus,
portray the fact that only a PORTION of the church will
be willing to "ascend" into that higher spiritual realm
which the Lord has prepared for His people in this end
time.
Time
element. I want to present two evidences from the
Mount of Transfiguration story to show that it portrays
events which are to take place in this very end time in
which we are living. First, in Mt. 17:1, we read that it
was "after six days" that Jesus took Peter, James
and John up into the high mountain. Six days after what?
Reading the 16th chapter of Matthew, we see that the
event from which the transfiguration is dated, is the
Lord's first mention of His sufferings. In other words,
six days after He tells them that He is going to be
killed at Jerusalem, He takes them up into the mount. In
II Pet. 3:8, we read that according to God's reckoning
of time, one day is a thousand years; thus the six days
represent six thousand years. However, we are not to
reckon the six thousand years from the time that Jesus
was historically crucified, but from the time that He
was crucified in the foreordained plan and purpose of
God, for that was when God reckoned it to be done. We
need, then, to ask the question, WHEN was Jesus thus
crucified? According to Rev. 13:8, Jesus was "the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world." The Greek word
translated "foundation" here is katabole, which means
"casting down." It is NOT the word usually used to
denote the foundation of a house or building: that word
is themelios, as used in Lk.
6:48-49; 14:29; I Cor. 3:10-11, etc. I point this out
because I believe katabole
(used in Rev. 13:8) should not be translated
"foundation,” but rather "casting down" or "fall.” WHEN
was the sacrifice for sin NEEDED? When Adam FELL, and
was "cast down" from his pristine perfection and unity
with God, and all creation fell with him. Thus Rev. 13:8
should read that Jesus was the "lamb of God slain FROM
the CASTING DOWN or FALL of the world. Katabole (and the
verb form kataballo) is incorrectly translated
"foundation" in a number of New Testament passages, such
as Mt. 13:35, Lk. 11:50, Eph. 1:4, etc., but in II Cor.
4:9, and Rev. 12:10, we have the correct rendering,
"cast down.”
[Ed. Note – Brother Earls’ exegesis
of “katabole” should be considered more prophetically
interpretive than grammatically definitive.
Grammatically the word also means to “lay down” (as one
lays tile on a floor), hence “to found.” In certain
passages, “katabole” cannot sensibly be translated as a
destructive casting down (e.g., Heb. 4:3; 11:11).
]
Foreordained before.
In I Pet. 1:20, we
read that Jesus was "foreordained BEFORE the foundation
of the world.” The word "foundation" here is again from
the Greek word katabole (casting down). In the
foreordained plan and purpose of God, Jesus was chosen
to become the sacrificial lamb slain for sin BEFORE Adam
and Eve fell and the "casting down" of the world because
of sin occurred; but He was actually "slain" in the
purpose of God FROM the time of that fall, for that was
when the sacrifice was needed. God Himself
symbolically dramatized this truth by killing some
animals and clothing Adam and Eve with the skins (Gen.
3:21). These animals slain at the time of the fall were
the first to shed their blood for man's atonement,
beginning the long succession of animal sacrifices
to typify the eventual sacrifice of Jesus Christ Himself
as the "lamb of God."
Passover
pattern. The pattern for the
slaying of the Lamb of God was set in the rites that
were given to Moses when the Passover was first
instituted in the land of Egypt.
God told the people to "take" a lamb for each
family on the 10th day of the first month, and then
"keep" it until the 14th day of the month, when it was
to be killed in the evening. Thus the Lamb was "marked
out" for death ("slain" in the purpose of God) on the
10th day, but not actually killed until the 14th day,
being kept for 4 days. As a day is with the Lord as a
thousand years, we see how this portrays the fact that
Jesus (although "slain" in the purpose of God from the
time of Adam's fall), was kept in the heavenlies for
4,000 years before coming to the earth to actually
die.
Knowing the
time. Based on the above pattern, we know that the
time previous to the cross of Christ was 4,000 years,
and that leaves just 2,000 years on this side of the
cross in order to "fill out" man's "work week" of 6 days
(6/000 years) before the "day of
the Lord,” the 7th day begins. Time can be figured by
either lunar (354+ days per year), or prophetic (360
days per year) or solar (365+ days per year): 2,000
years of lunar time ran out in the year 1941; 2,000
years of prophetic time ran out in 1972; and 2,000 years
of solar time runs out at the end of this century. Since
the days are to be "cut short" (Mt. 24:22), we will not
likely reach the end of the solar time reckoning. Which
makes us realize that NOW we are in the closing years of
the 6th 1,000 year "day," and in the DAWNing of the 7th,
which will be the "Sabbath" of God's REST: the one
thousand year millennium.
[Ed. Note
–Obviously we are well into the 21st century without the
fulfillment of these time patterns having occurred.
While referring to the cross as his time point of
reference, Brother Earls erroneously makes all his
calculations from the birth of Christ—which was the
common starting point for anybody calculating the Lord’s
return in the late 20th
century. Truly, if we use Calvary as the starting point
of reference for calculations, two thousand solar years
will not actually occur until approximately 2030
AD.]
Another
evidence. The above
shows that now is the time for that which is portrayed
by the Mount of Transfiguration drama to take place. But
we want to take a look at a second evidence. The 6 days
of Mt. 17:1 equate to exactly 144 hours. Does not that
number speak to us? Multiply 144 by 1000 (the number of
Christ in His High Priestly ministry: being the number
of the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle—10 x 10 x 10 =
1000) and we get
144,000—the number of the Firstfruits of Rev. 14:1.
These "firstfruits" are seen standing WITH the Lord on
mount Zion, BEFORE the main harvest of Rev. 14:15.
Thus after 6 days, or 6,000 years from Adam's
fall, shall 144,000 be READY to be taken by Jesus into
the "high mountain" of His Kingdom, and enter into the
powers of the "glorified life.” Whether 144,000 is to be
taken as an exact number, or merely symbolic of a
larger firstfruits company, makes little
difference. The truth is the same: that a "remnant" of
God's people are now being prepared to "come up
HIGHER"—as did Moses (Ex. 24:18), while the people
stayed at the foot of the mountain. Ascending the mount
with Jesus, as did Peter, James and John, symbolizes
both that "higher" spiritual place or realm which the
Lord is NOW leading us into: to walk in His ways and be
conformed to His image, and also the coming literal
entering into His heavenly Kingdom through the
translation of the physical body into a glorified body
like to His (Phil.
3:21). Hallelujah! Elijah is here!—"talking with Jesus"
in the spiritual mount, and calling a people to
ascend into their spiritual
inheritance.
A voice in
the wilderness. We will now take a final look at the
preparatory ministry of John the Baptist, who went forth
in "the spirit and power of Elijah" (Lk. 1:17). When
asked by the priests and Levites, who came out to where
he was baptizing, "Who are
you?,” John said, "I am the
voice of one crying in THE WILDERNESS, make straight THE
WAY of the Lord, as said the prophet Esais (Isaiah)."
(John 1:21, 23). We have already seen that God speaks in
"similitudes" (patterns) by the ministry of the
prophets. John was preaching in the wilderness of Judea
(Mt. 3:1-3), in order to portray the truth that in his
day, the Jews were in a spiritual "wilderness" OUTSIDE
the "Promised Land" of Kingdom blessing and fulness.
Following John's ministry, Jesus came preaching "The
TIME IS FULFILLED, and the Kingdom of God is AT HAND:
repent [ ] and believe the gospel" (Mark
1:15). Thus He gave them a
chance to ENTER IN and see the promises to Abraham
fulfilled and the kingdom fully established. But they
refused to accept Him: "He came to His own, and his own
received him not" (John 1:11). Paul says in Rom. 11:7,
"Israel has not obtained
that which he seeks for; but
the election has obtained
it, and the rest were blinded." "Even so then at this
present time also there is a 'remnant' according to the
election of grace" (Rom. 11:5). This remnant obtained
the promise on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit
was outpoured to establish them in a position of
spiritual blessing and power.
Later the Gentiles were added to this elect
company when the house of Cornelius received the Holy
Spirit (Acts 10:44-48).
Not
maintained.
History shows, however, that the early church failed to
maintain the spiritual estate in which they were
established; neither did they press in to "fully
possess" the ground given to them "in Christ." On the
contrary, even before the death of the apostles, a
general declension had set in which eventually led the
church into a "wilderness" of spiritual
impoverishment. As we have already seen, though
there have been times of "spiritual refreshing" and
revival, the church has been, and still is to a great
degree, in a spiritual "wilderness" OUTSIDE the FULNESS
of spiritual blessing and power manifest at the
beginning. But God is now moving by His Spirit, and
giving His people an opportunity to once again
ENTER IN and fully POSSESS their spiritual inheritance.
As John the Baptist raised his voice in the "wilderness"
of his day, so NOW there are those that God has raised
up to be a VOICE in the "wilderness" of religious
confusion, sectarianism, and apostasy. WHY? Because
"the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The "crossing over"
of God's saints into the Promised Land, first in
spiritual power, and then in translation glory, IS
NIGH.
Back to God
rule. We have seen that John the Baptist preached a
message of repentance to
restoration. The Greek word
translated "restore" in Mt. 17:11 is apokatastasis. The first three
letters are a prefix. The Greek apo means "from" or
"away from.” The rest of the word is defined as follows:
"setting, appointing, institution and introduction;
a state or condition; to bring ambassadors before the
assembly." The prefix and
the word together thus indicate a GOING AWAY (apo) from
MAN APPOINTED conditions of government. The
"restoration" of John was that of GOD-RULE.
He was a preacher of RIGHTEOUSNESS. He preached
RULE BY GOD within the human heart and in all the
affairs of life and the nation.
He was a spiritual REVOLUTIONIST. Most of the
people of his day were IN the world, OF the world and
FOR the world. While he was OUT of this world, IN the
Spirit of God and FOR the God of his fathers. All the
deliberations of man were but an abomination to
him. He corrected the
heart of countless multitudes, and IN their hearts he
"straightened the way" of his Lord, that a PATH in human
hearts might be prepared for Jesus Christ. Thus must be
our message: RESTORE RIGHTEOUSNESS within the human
heart and GOD RULE in all things. We must be so on FIRE
in the zeal of HIS SPIRIT that all the traditions and
practices of man get booted, that CHRIST ALONE shall
REIGN supreme in the heart of the individual, and in the
affairs of His church.
Preparing
the Way. "Go through, go through the gates: prepare
[ ] THE WAY of the people: cast up, cast up the highway;
gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the
people. Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world. Say [
] to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is
with him, and his work before him. And they shall call
them. The HOLY PEOPLE, The redeemed of the Lord; and you shalt be called, Sought
out, A city not forsaken." (Isa. 62:10-12). The picture
in this passage is that of the exiles RETURNING to
the Promised Land from captivity. The speaker exhorts
the people to pass forth from Babylon, and speed on
their homewards. They are clearing away obstacles,
bringing materials to construct a HIGHWAY along which a
stream of emigrants may march, removing stones that
might cause stumbling, and lifting up a STANDARD to
direct the march. Even so, would the Lord have us
prepare a WAY in the desert (of spiritual desolation),
that others might follow after and enter into the
"Promised Land" of blessing and power which God has for
His church. Not many like to be pioneers, preparing the
way for others, but some must hear His voice and obey,
saying to the "daughter of Zion,” "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with
him, and his work before him.” If we will be FAITHFUL to
seek Him and obey Him in all that He has shown us, then
HE WILL DO THE WORK, and the time will come when God's
people will be called "The Holy People, The redeemed of
the Lord. . . SOUGHT OUT, A city (people) not
forsaken."
Are you
willing? Dear reader, are you willing to let the
Lord PREPARE A HIGHWAY in your heart? Are you willing to
let him "straighten" all your ways and gather out the
stones of stumbling? Are you willing
to LIFT UP A STANDARD to
others, that a WAY might be prepared and a PEOPLE
readied for His coming? In Isa. 40:4 we read: "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!!" The poor and
lowly in spirit are to be raised up; the proud and
self-righteous depressed; the "crooked" ways of
religious vanity and deceit are to be changed to those
of simplicity and integrity; the "rough" (rude)
places caused by the "hindering tactics" (Luke 11:52) of
self-seeking leaders are to be smoothed out. THEN shall
the GLORY of the Lord be revealed.
Praise His Name! So may He hasten the
day!
Postscript. Finally, in
presenting the evidence of an "Elijah" ministry for this
end time, we must include John's vision of the two
witnesses of Rev. 11:1-12.
In verse 6, we read that these witnesses have
power to "shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of
their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them
to blood, and to [strike] the earth with all plagues, as
often as they will." The miracles mentioned here were
performed by Elijah and Moses in the Old Testament, and
this has led many to believe that Elijah and Moses will
literally return to this earth to be the two witnesses
in this end time. I fail to see that this is necessary.
We have already seen that Elijah and Moses were TYPES of
that which God would do through other special messengers
and through His church by the power of His Spirit. My
personal conviction is that the "two witnesses"
represent the "faithful remnant" which has witnessed to the truth of God down
through this age during the two-church system. The
two-church system was represented first by the Eastern
Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches, and then
re-fulfilled by the split between the Roman
Catholic and Protestant groups. God has al ways had a
spiritual remnant as faithful witnesses within and in
the midst of the organized church systems, and this
witness will be intensified
in the end time as God anoints those whose hearts are
wholly to Him to "prepare
the way" for His coming. Out of their mouths will go
forth the "fire" of His Word (see Jer. 5:14; 20:9) to
"devour their enemies" as we read in Rev. 11:5. I
believe also that the two-witness prophecy will find
special fulfillment in this end time in the two-fold
ministry of the apostles and prophets that God is
restoring to the church (Eph. 2:20; Rev. 18:20; Lk.
11:49).
Two
men. But because of the special witness needed
(particularly to the Jews) the two witnesses will
also most surely be two individual men, prophets of God,
brought forth at the strategic time, to do the works of
Rev. 11:6, and to be martyred in the streets of
Jerusalem (Rev. 11:7-8). If God is going to bring back
two men, rather than Moses and Elijah, it would be
prophets of the New Testament era. Jesus said to His disciples, "You shall be witnesses to me" (Acts 1:8).
This was true then and has been true of all His
disciples down through this age even to the end. But there is a
special way in which the two witnesses of Rev. 11 could
be witnesses to Jesus. They
could be men who actually saw Jesus, heard Him teach and
perform miracles, and also witnessed His death and
resurrection. It would be impossible for Moses and
Elijah to be witnesses to
Him in this sense. Since the New Covenant is a better
covenant with better promises (Heb. 7:22, 8:6), why
should the Lord have to bring back two men who lived
under an inferior covenant to be His witnesses? The
Greek word "better" in these passages actually means
"stronger" or "more powerful.” These specially chosen
witnesses who shall minister under the New and more
powerful covenant than the old, will certainly have no
trouble doing similar or even more powerful works than
did Moses and Elijah, when the Lord gets ready to use
them. Jesus spoke to John, just before the vision of the
two witnesses, and said, "You
must prophesy AGAIN before many peoples, and nations,
and tongues, and kings." Will John, then, be one of
the two witnesses? Only time will tell. Maranatha! Even
so, come Lord Jesus! (see Rev. 10:11; 22:20). [Ed
note – Brother Earls speaks more fully about the
identities of the witnesses in the prophecy entitled
"The Two
Witnesses."
]
[END]
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