Where Does Elijah Fit?

I received the following question:

Where does the next occurrence of Elijah fit in?  Jesus says in Matt 17:11 [NASB].

And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;

And Malachi says in Mal 4:5-6 [NASB].

“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.”

So we know these things:
1) Elijah will restore all things (i.e. he is a principle actor in the restoration)
2) He will come prior to the return of Christ
3) The restoration he will bring will prevent the wrath of God

So where does he fit in?

He can’t come right after the Second Coming of the Spirit – for all things will already be restored. He can’t come during the Revolt against the kingdom – for the Revolt is a time of rebellion not of renewal He can’t come during or after the Second Coming of Christ – for it clearly says he must come before that time.

So will he be coming just prior to the Great Ingathering?  Or are we missing something.  I have some ideas as found in the book of Joel. I’ll talk more on this later.

I do not think you are correct that he cannot come after the Second Coming of the Spirit.

Longing for the Day of the LORD

I received the following comment/question:

I was reading some of the minor prophets and came across this one.

Amos 5:18-20 (God’s Word Translation)

How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for that day? The day of the LORD is one of darkness and not light. It is like a person who flees from a lion only to be attacked by a bear. It is like a person who goes home and puts his hand on the wall only to be bitten by a snake. The day of the LORD brings darkness and not light. It is pitch black, with no light.

Amazing huh?  It asks why anyone would long for that day, but how many Christians do this very thing when they deeply desire Christ’s return.  They don’t realize that the time of Christ’s return will be hyper-violent.  While the killings will be just, it will make the holocaust seem like a Disney movie.  But what does Christ say to long for?  Thy kingdom come.

Food for thought.

We have to use care in interpreting this passage.

Before the Son of Man Comes

I received the following question:

I’m going through Matthew and have a quick question for you in chapter 10.  When all those flee to the mountains who are living in Judea, are the 12 disciples not part of this living outside the land?  It seems that they will be going from city to city but won’t get through all of them till Christ comes.  Any thoughts?

The twelve disciples most certainly will be among those who flee to the mountains from Judea. For one thing, Christ’s instructions regarding this are specifically to them. “‘Therefore when YOU see the ‘abomination of desolation,‘” “And pray that YOUR flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath,” “Then if anyone says to YOU,” and so forth in Matthew 24 (emphasis mine). They are to remain there in the mountains until the parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is the Millennium a Reign?

I received the following question:

I thought I heard you say in one of your lessons on Bins For Bible Prophecies that when our Lord comes back to this earth during the thousand years that it would NOT be for Him to reign. Did I misunderstand you or did I understand you correctly? If I did understand you correctly what do you believe is meant when John said the following? “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Rev 20:6).

A very good question. I believe you did understand me correctly. I think I was not as clear as I should have been, however. You are quite correct that while Jesus Christ is here on earth, He will be reigning over the earth. I did not mean to say that He will not be reigning. What I meant to say is that He is not coming back IN ORDER TO reign.

Matthew 13 in Bins

I received the following question:

Concerning the Matthew 13 account. How do you know that it goes into the Millennium bin? The term it uses is “conclusion of the eon” (some manuscripts have “this eon”.) If we use the Jewish concept (which is from OT) of “this eon” as compared to “the eon to come”, it seems that it is talking about the “last days” which is the transition between the two eons. Again – why is the 1000 years the same as this “last days”?

The 1000 years is not the same as the “last days.” Rather, it follows the last days, as I have shown in my “Bins” study.

What is a Prophecy?

I was asked the following question:

What is the definition of “prophecy?”

If I were to define what a “prophecy” is, I would point to I Peter 1:19-21, which reads:

19. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20. knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21. for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

This is a passage that is often used by men to support orthodox viewpoints. They point to the words “private interpretation.” Then, any time anyone wants to suggest an interpretation that is not the “normal” one taught by men who are respected scholars or by denominations, they will accuse the person of having a “private interpretation.” But this is not speaking of the interpreting of God’s words, but of the giving of God’s words.

Bins for Bible Prophecies Part 6: Two Difficulties

In our previous studies, we discussed the concept of “Sorting Prophetic Material,” suggested by Otis Q. Sellers in his pamphlet of the same name. We talked about creating “bins” into which we could sort the prophecies of Scripture predicting events in the future. We had used the book of Revelation to establish four future time periods that are set forth in Scripture, and called these our “bins” into which we could sort future prophecies. However, by examining other evidence, we concluded that there was a fifth time period “bin” we could create, coming before all these, and which we called, as a working title, the “last days.”

Once we had established this fifth time period called the “last days,” we went through all the Scriptural occurrences of it to get an idea in our minds of what this term means. We concluded that this phrase does not speak of only one time, but that none of the time periods of which it speaks fit into that time period called “the millennium.” We concluded that the word “last” in this case means “result” or “outcome,” and the phrase “last days” indicates a time period that is the result of all that came before it. Thus, the last days of Isaiah 2:2 and Micah 4:1 are the result of God’s great work to bring in His order upon the earth through His government.

Bins for Bible Prophecies Part 5: Sorting More Prophecies

In our previous studies, we discussed the concept of “Sorting Prophetic Material,” suggested by Otis Q. Sellers in his pamphlet of the same name. We talked about creating “bins” into which we could sort the prophecies of Scripture predicting events in the future. We had used the book of Revelation to establish four future time periods that are set forth in Scripture. From this study, we constructed four bins to sort prophecies. However, by examining other evidence, we concluded that there was a fifth time period, coming before all these, and which we called, as a working title, the “last days.” Once we had established this fifth time period called the “last days,” we went through all the Scriptural occurrences of it to get an idea in our minds of what this term means. We concluded that this phrase does not speak of only one time, but that none of the time periods of which it speaks fit into that time period called “the millennium.” We concluded that the word “last” in this case means “result” or “outcome,” and the phrase “last days” indicates a time period that is the result of all that came before it. Thus, the last days of Isaiah 2:2 and Micah 4:1 are the result of God’s great work to bring in His order upon the earth through His government.

I had been bold in saying that the “last days” of Isaiah 2:2 cannot be the millennium. One reason I believe this is because of what the Bible says must happen “before the day of the LORD.” In our last issue, we examined this phrase, “the Day of the Lord.” An examination Revelation 1:10 led us to the conclusion that the “Lord’s Day” of Revelation is the same thing as the “Day of the Lord,” and so that all of Revelation takes place in that Day. However, the “last days” take place before the Day of the Lord, so they are a time period not found at all in Revelation, and that precede all the prophecies made there, including Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the Millennium, the Little Season, and the New Heavens and New Earth.

Bins for Bible Prophecies Part 4: The Day of the Lord

In our previous studies, we discussed the concept of “Sorting Prophetic Material,” suggested by Otis Q. Sellers in his pamphlet of the same name. We talked about creating “bins” into which we could sort the prophecies of Scripture predicting events in the future. We had used the book of Revelation to establish four future time periods that are set forth in Scripture. From this study, we constructed four time periods. However, by examining other evidence, we concluded that there was a fifth time period, coming before all these, and which we called, as a working title, the “last days.” Thus, we can construct a chart of five time periods, as is shown below:

The          Last      Days	Daniel’s Seventieth Week	The      Millennium	The             Little            Season	The New Heavens and  New Earth

      1                            2                            3                          4                          5                             6

Once we had established this fifth time period called the “last days,” we went through all the Scriptural occurrences of it to get an idea in our minds of what this term means. We concluded that this phrase does not speak of only one time, but that none of the time periods of which it speaks fit into that time period called “the millennium.” We concluded that the word “last” in this case means “result” or “outcome,” and the phrase “last days” indicates a time period that is the result of all that came before it. Thus, the last days of Isaiah 2:2 and Micah 4:1 are the result of God’s great work to bring in His order upon the earth through His government.

Bins for Bible Prophecies Part 3: The Last Days

In our previous studies, we discussed the concept of “Sorting Prophetic Material,” suggested by Otis Q. Sellers in his pamphlet of the same name. We talked about creating “bins” into which we could sort the prophecies of Scripture predicting events in the future. We had used the book of Revelation to establish four future time periods that are set forth in Scripture: Daniel’s Seventieth Week, The Millennium, The Little Season, and The New Heavens and New Earth. We have examined these four future time periods, all of which we suggested considering as “bins” into which we can sort the future prophecies of the Scriptures. All of these take place after the dispensation of grace, the current time period we live in. If we have properly identified all the future “bins” into which prophecies can be sorted, then we should be able to fit any future prediction we find in the Bible into one of these four bins.