Elijah Has Come and With Him the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord!

[swainkas]

The very last words of the Old Testament are as follows:

Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6​

Please note that these are the very last words of the Old Testament. They describe the coming of the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD and associate it with the coming of Elijah. The Great and Terrible Day of the LORD is assumed by many today to be the final event on earth’s eschatological time clock. But according to Jesus, it has already occurred. In the following statements, Jesus says that John the Baptist was Elijah.

And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. Matthew 11:14 NASB​

And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Matthew 17:11-13 NASB​

Because Jesus says something, I take serious note of it. By Jesus making these claims about John the Baptist, and by equating John’s coming with the coming of Elijah, I see no other way to interpret them than to conclude that Jesus was claiming His own coming was in fact the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD. How else can these verses be interpreted?

And if Jesus’ first coming was the Great and terrible Day of the LORD, what on earth are Christians waiting for with respect to His Second Coming? What more great and terrible day can there be than the day God Himself came in the flesh and allowed Himself to be hung on a cross? I find it hard to believe anything else could be done and be more aptly described as Great & Terrible…

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

All it would take would be to cross reference other instances where the Bible talks about the 'great and terrible day of the Lord' and look in context to see what it's talking about. if anyone took time to actually do that then it would be easy to see the OP is incorrect.

 

[Mr. M]

John the Baptist is not Elijah. We have a birth narrative of John. Elijah was taken, and will return.
Luke 1:17. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘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.
Matthew 12:14. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.
"if you will receive it", requires comprehension. If Yeshua is Messiah, there must be a forerunner
before Him.

Isaiah 61:2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
Luke 4:19. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Why does Jesus stop His reading here? He came to proclaim the acceptable year, not
the day of vengeance. We have the first and second coming in one verse of Isaiah, Jesus
proclaims only the first part. Elijah will proceed the second. John only came in Elijah's spirit.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Well scripture says...

Jas 5

17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

So the Elijah ministry can again manifest through the church in a late hour...

 

[Mr. M]

Well scripture says...

Jas 5

17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

So the Elijah ministry can again manifest through the church in a late hour...

Matthew 17:11. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore
all things.

Acts 3:
20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,
21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Elijah must come first.

 

[Aussie Pete]

The very last words of the Old Testament are as follows:

Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6​

Please note that these are the very last words of the Old Testament. They describe the coming of the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD and associate it with the coming of Elijah. The Great and Terrible Day of the LORD is assumed by many today to be the final event on earth’s eschatological time clock. But according to Jesus, it has already occurred. In the following statements, Jesus says that John the Baptist was Elijah.

And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. Matthew 11:14 NASB​

And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Matthew 17:11-13 NASB​

Because Jesus says something, I take serious note of it. By Jesus making these claims about John the Baptist, and by equating John’s coming with the coming of Elijah, I see no other way to interpret them than to conclude that Jesus was claiming His own coming was in fact the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD. How else can these verses be interpreted?

And if Jesus’ first coming was the Great and terrible Day of the LORD, what on earth are Christians waiting for with respect to His Second Coming? What more great and terrible day can there be than the day God Himself came in the flesh and allowed Himself to be hung on a cross? I find it hard to believe anything else could be done and be more aptly described as Great & Terrible…

It's quite simple. Lord Jesus is not yet ruling and reigning on this earth. Satan has yet to be cast into the bottomless pit. The dead in Christ have yet to rise and Christians have yet to receive their new bodies. Whatever day you want to call it, Christians are looking forward to that day. (1 Thess 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10). Cherry picking Bible verses is not the way to interpret God's word correctly.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

The very last words of the Old Testament are as follows:

Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6​

Please note that these are the very last words of the Old Testament. They describe the coming of the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD and associate it with the coming of Elijah. The Great and Terrible Day of the LORD is assumed by many today to be the final event on earth’s eschatological time clock. But according to Jesus, it has already occurred. In the following statements, Jesus says that John the Baptist was Elijah.

And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. Matthew 11:14 NASB​

And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Matthew 17:11-13 NASB​

Because Jesus says something, I take serious note of it. By Jesus making these claims about John the Baptist, and by equating John’s coming with the coming of Elijah, I see no other way to interpret them than to conclude that Jesus was claiming His own coming was in fact the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD. How else can these verses be interpreted?

And if Jesus’ first coming was the Great and terrible Day of the LORD, what on earth are Christians waiting for with respect to His Second Coming? What more great and terrible day can there be than the day God Himself came in the flesh and allowed Himself to be hung on a cross? I find it hard to believe anything else could be done and be more aptly described as Great & Terrible…

Wonder what curse was smited on the earth after JB got beheaded ..

 

[swainkas]

John the Baptist is not Elijah. We have a birth narrative of John. Elijah was taken, and will return.
Luke 1:17. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘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.
Matthew 12:14. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.
"if you will receive it", requires comprehension. If Yeshua is Messiah, there must be a forerunner
before Him.

Isaiah 61:2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
Luke 4:19. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Why does Jesus stop His reading here? He came to proclaim the acceptable year, not
the day of vengeance. We have the first and second coming in one verse of Isaiah, Jesus
proclaims only the first part. Elijah will proceed the second. John only came in Elijah's spirit.

We need to be careful as Christians not to dismiss the very words of Christ. I believe that if His words do not line up with our preconceived notions, our notions should be reevaluated instead of dismissing His words.

 

[Mr. M]

We need to be careful as Christians not to dismiss the very words of Christ. I believe that if His words do not line up with our preconceived notions, our notions should be reevaluated instead of dismissing His words.

Who appeared on the mount of transfiguration? John who had been beheaded, or Elijah?

John the Baptist is not Elijah. We have a birth narrative of John. Elijah was taken, and will return.
Luke 1:17. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘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.
Matthew 12:14. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.
"if you will receive it", requires comprehension. If Yeshua is Messiah, there must be a forerunner
before Him.

Isaiah 61:2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
Luke 4:19. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Why does Jesus stop His reading here? He came to proclaim the acceptable year, not
the day of vengeance. We have the first and second coming in one verse of Isaiah, Jesus
proclaims only the first part. Elijah will proceed the second. John only came in Elijah's spirit.

Matthew 17:11. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore
all things.

Acts 3:
20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,
21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Elijah must come first.

By Jesus making these claims about John the Baptist, and by equating John’s coming with the coming of Elijah, I see no other way to interpret them than to conclude that Jesus was claiming His own coming was in fact the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD. How else can these verses be interpreted?

Your question has been answered, the day of vengeance is second coming, this is why Jesus stopped
reading Isaiah 61:2 midverse in the synagogue. First coming, preached the acceptable year of the Lord,
"I have not come to condemn the world but to save it".
He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and requite His enemies.

And if Jesus’ first coming was the Great and terrible Day of the LORD, what on earth are Christians waiting for with respect to His Second Coming? What more great and terrible day can there be than the day God Himself came in the flesh and allowed Himself to be hung on a cross? I find it hard to believe anything else could be done and be more aptly described as Great & Terrible…

Have you read the book of Revelation yet?

 

[swainkas]

It's quite simple. Lord Jesus is not yet ruling and reigning on this earth. Satan has yet to be cast into the bottomless pit. The dead in Christ have yet to rise and Christians have yet to receive their new bodies. Whatever day you want to call it, Christians are looking forward to that day. (1 Thess 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10). Cherry picking Bible verses is not the way to interpret God's word correctly.

• Lord Jesus is not yet ruling and reigning on this earth.

Jesus is ruling and reigning in my heart, as I'm sure He is in yours.

• Satan has yet to be cast into the bottomless pit.

Satan has been judged per Christ, so in effect has been cast into the bottomless pit.

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. - John 16:8-11​

• The dead in Christ have yet to rise...

The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. - Matthew 27:52-53​

• (1 Thess 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10). Cherry picking Bible verses is not the way to interpret God's word correctly.

I'm not cherry picking Bible verses. What I am doing is giving more weight to the words of Christ than anything else written in the Bible.

 

[Mr. M]

I'm not cherry picking Bible verses. What I am doing is giving more weight to the words of Christ than anything else written in the Bible.

Here is something Christ taught in the synagogue, and is highly relevant to the topic. Can you
rightly divide the Truth here?
Here is the reading:
Isaiah 61:
1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
Luke 4:
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was,
He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book,
He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Note: He stops reading at mid verse of Isaiah 61:2 He declares "the acceptable year of the Lord",
not the day of vengeance. The first and second coming in one verse. He proclaimed the first half
has been fulfilled in their hearing. Do you see? Trying to help here.
If you can receive it, there is a first and second coming. Elijah comes before that great and terrible
day. John the Baptist came "in the spirit and power of Elijah, to fulfill all righteousness".
Otherwise, the scribes and Pharisees could challenge Him with: "If you are the Messiah, why has
Elijah not come"? Please note that when they later challenged Him to say by what authority He was
speaking, He responded, first you tell me, was John's baptism from heaven or man.

Matthew 21:
23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him
as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us,
‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.
27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

 

[TribulationSigns]

And if Jesus’ first coming was the Great and terrible Day of the LORD, what on earth are Christians waiting for with respect to His Second Coming? What more great and terrible day can there be than the day God Himself came in the flesh and allowed Himself to be hung on a cross? I find it hard to believe anything else could be done and be more aptly described as Great & Terrible…

Yes, it has to do with Christ's first coming. It was a Great and Terrible Day of the Lord FOR His Old Testament congregation that because of rejection of the Messiah (and put Him to death), they have lost a kingdom representation that God took from them and gave to New Testament Congregation where He has established a kingdom. I know many misguided Christians thought that Elijah has yet come and only applies to Second Coming.

 

[swainkas]

Here is something Christ taught in the synagogue, and is highly relevant to the topic. Can you
rightly divide the Truth here?
Here is the reading:
Isaiah 61:
1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;

You did what Jesus did. You cut off your quote in mid sentence. Why did you cut it off early? Probably because of convenience, just like Christ might have done for the same reason.

Here is the entire sentence:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. - Isaiah 61:1-3​

I've heard the theory about this verse representing both the first and second coming. I just don't buy it. Thank you though.

 

[Douggg]

Elijah will likely be one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11.

 

[Aussie Pete]

• Lord Jesus is not yet ruling and reigning on this earth.

Jesus is ruling and reigning in my heart, as I'm sure He is in yours.

• Satan has yet to be cast into the bottomless pit.

Satan has been judged per Christ, so in effect has been cast into the bottomless pit.

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. - John 16:8-11​

• The dead in Christ have yet to rise...

The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. - Matthew 27:52-53​

• (1 Thess 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10). Cherry picking Bible verses is not the way to interpret God's word correctly.

I'm not cherry picking Bible verses. What I am doing is giving more weight to the words of Christ than anything else written in the Bible.

Well you are wrong to do that too. The whole of the NT and OT is God's word. Do you know that the gospels were the last books to be written? All that Paul and Peter had to say about the last days preceded the gospels. Yes, Satan has been defeated, no he has not yet been cast down. No, he has not been imprisoned. Anyone who believes that Satan is no longer control of the world system is deluded and ignorant of God's word. Lord Jesus won the victory. It is the role of the church to enforce the victory. When that happens, everyone will know it without a shadow of a doubt.

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

The very last words of the Old Testament are as follows:

Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6​

Please note that these are the very last words of the Old Testament. They describe the coming of the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD and associate it with the coming of Elijah. The Great and Terrible Day of the LORD is assumed by many today to be the final event on earth’s eschatological time clock. But according to Jesus, it has already occurred. In the following statements, Jesus says that John the Baptist was Elijah.

And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. Matthew 11:14 NASB​

And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Matthew 17:11-13 NASB​

Because Jesus says something, I take serious note of it. By Jesus making these claims about John the Baptist, and by equating John’s coming with the coming of Elijah, I see no other way to interpret them than to conclude that Jesus was claiming His own coming was in fact the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD. How else can these verses be interpreted?

And if Jesus’ first coming was the Great and terrible Day of the LORD, what on earth are Christians waiting for with respect to His Second Coming? What more great and terrible day can there be than the day God Himself came in the flesh and allowed Himself to be hung on a cross? I find it hard to believe anything else could be done and be more aptly described as Great & Terrible…

John himself said he was NOT Eliyahu. John 1:21

 

[swainkas]

Well you are wrong to do that too. The whole of the NT and OT is God's word. Do you know that the gospels were the last books to be written? All that Paul and Peter had to say about the last days preceded the gospels.

• The whole of the NT and OT is God's word.

This is a very dangerous statement without qualifying addendums. For instance, one might read the book of Job and assume all the counsel he received before ch 38 was good Godly wisdom, when God thought it was rubbish.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,“Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? - Job 38:1-2​

• Do you know that the gospels were the last books to be written? All that Paul and Peter had to say about the last days preceded the gospels.

It doesn't matter what was written first. All words, both OT & NT have to be filtered through the lens of Christ & what He taught. We must remember everyone who wrote on God's behalf wrote while under inspiration, except for Jesus. His mind was God's mind and His words were God's words in a special way. Why else do we distinguish them in red?

 

[swainkas]

John himself said he was NOT Eliyahu. John 1:21

John is not a credible witness when compared to Christ. Remember he even doubted that Christ was the Christ when he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the one or not. This doubt was after he claimed by inspiration that Jesus was the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. John was human and can't be faulted for not knowing his own importance in God's grand design. Jesus on the other hand was God in the flesh. So when His opinion differs from that of John's, I'm going to side with Jesus.

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

John is not a credible witness when compared to Christ. Remember he even doubted that Christ was the Christ when he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the one or not. This doubt was after he claimed by inspiration that Jesus was the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. John was human and can't be faulted for not knowing his own importance in God's grand design. Jesus on the other hand was God in the flesh. So when His opinion differs from that of John's, I'm going to side with Jesus.

The angel Gavriel said he will come preaching IN THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIYAHU (Luke 1:17). It was never said he was THE Eliyahu. What Yeshua said was "if you want to believe that". Yeshua said John was an angel/messenger too in Matthew 11:10.

 

[Aussie Pete]

• The whole of the NT and OT is God's word.

This is a very dangerous statement without qualifying addendums. For instance, one might read the book of Job and assume all the counsel he received before ch 38 was good Godly wisdom, when God thought it was rubbish.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,“Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? - Job 38:1-2​

• Do you know that the gospels were the last books to be written? All that Paul and Peter had to say about the last days preceded the gospels.

It doesn't matter what was written first. All words, both OT & NT have to be filtered through the lens of Christ & what He taught. We must remember everyone who wrote on God's behalf wrote while under inspiration, except for Jesus. His mind was God's mind and His words were God's words in a special way. Why else do we distinguish them in red?

Either Paul was preaching, teaching and writing the revealed word of God or he was a complete heretic. Paul claimed to have received revelation directly from God. I cannot see how the teaching of Peter, Paul or the other apostles contradicts the words of Christ in any way.