Here we present a side by side comparison of the life of Elijah with the history of the true church to help us more readily see the similarities between the two.
These are striking coincidences, and we believe are not accidental, but with Jesus, we believe that to those (of the Israelite's) who could "receive" Johns testimony, he to such filled the office or work of Elias, which the church more fully accomplishes.
The expression, "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers," is a peculiar one, and the sense of the Hebrew is even less clear; but we have it repeated by the angel as recorded by Luke 1:16, 17, in a manner which makes it plain--"to turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous." In a word, to restore harmony between Israel and "the fathers," (the patriarchs and prophets of old) and, in the fuller sense, the world that Israel typified or represented, shall come into a condition of harmony and peace with God, similar to that of the "fathers."
When in the foregoing prophecy it is said: "He shall turn the hearts... lest I come and smite the earth with a curse," (Mal 4:5, 6) it apparently teaches that the mission of Elijah would be successful--that he would turn the hearts. But looking at the ministry of John the Baptist, and also at the ministry of the church, we find that neither SUCCEEDED in turning any considerable proportion of men to the Lord. This seeming discrepancy causes us to look again at the word of the Prophet, and looking more closely, we find that it is a CONDITIONAL statement.
IF Elias succeeds, the earth will not be smitten with a curse, but IF he succeeds not, the curse will come.
This harmonizes exactly. If John had been heeded in the Jewish church and had succeeded in turning that institution to the Lord, so that they had recognized the present Savior, then that Jewish church would have received Him and He would have exalted it; but, on the contrary, they (as a church) rejected the teaching of Elias, rejected the greater one whom he announced, and, as a consequence, they as a people received THE CURSE mentioned by the prophet. Their polity was overturned in utter destruction.
Now let us look at the larger fulfillment.
Representatives of the Elijah class--the saints-- have rebuked sin and censured sinners, denounce the popular and accepted errors of the Scribes and Pharisees (the teachers and leaders of the professing church today) and have sought to turn the people away from these errors to the truth, and finally announced the (invisible) presence of Christ; but alas now as then, there are few turned so that they recognize the presence which they had expected so differently. And here, as in the Jewish prototype, the rejection of the Elijah message brings the curse mentioned by the prophet--the overthrow both of the church (nominal) and also of the civil powers to which she is wedded.
This curse or wrath of the "Day of the Lord" commenced in A.D. 1878, at the exact parallel time in which the curse came upon the nominal fleshly house in A.D. 33 when Jesus gave them up and declared their house desolate. Their destruction came shortly thereafter in A.D. 70. As for the nominal spiritual house they likewise having been declared desolate await their destruction.
However, the work of Elias—the church glorified--will be successful. "He shall restore all things"; hence, while the curse comes and overturns much, it shall not be "utterly" cursed and forever destroyed, because the exalted Elijah--Christ--shall put down all opposition and then restore and bless.
The two characters, Elijah and John, are both needed to fully illustrate the closing work of the saints. The circumstances of the close of John’s career, combined with those of Elijah’s, seem to fill out the picture completely. According to Johns experience, we should expect that as his reproval of Herod for having an unlawful wife (Luke 3:19), led to his imprisonment, so here, the reproval of the church and world for their unlawful union, provokes the displeasure of both and leads to the ostracizing (beheading) of the faithful reprove them.
Then, too, John died, but Elijah was taken to heaven, and thus they two represent the last class of the saints. The moment of the death of the flesh (as pictured by John’s death), will be the moment of translation to the new nature (as picture by Elijah being taken up into heaven).” R556 Edited
