About 400 years before Christ, God revealed this to the nation of Israel (and subsequently to the Church):
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse... For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (Malachi 4:5,6,1)
There are many who mistakenly believe that Elijah came to earth as John the Baptist. But when the angel Gabriel spoke to John’s father Zachariah, he said that John would come “in the spirit and power of Elijah”, not as an incarnation of Elijah: And he shall go before Him [Christ] in the spirit and power of Elias [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.
Just as Elisha received a double portion of the spirit of Elijah (2 Kings 2:9,15), John received the sprit and power of Elijah, which enable him to bring many in Israel to repentance. So when Jesus said that Elijah had “already come”, this is what He was referring to metaphorically.
But the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation are in the future (possibly in the very near future). Which means that immediately after the Antichrist takes control of this world, Elijah will appear with Moses in Jerusalem to preach the Gospel to the Jews (Revelation 11) and turn many to Christ (even though they will be martyred).
When Elijah was on earth during the reign of wicked king Ahab, he caused the rain to cease in Israel for 3 ½ years (which time also corresponds to the reign of the Antichrist). The epistle of James refers to this: Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. (James 5:17,18)
The Bible tells us that the witnesses (who are also prophets) in Revelation 11 will do exactly the same thing: These 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 smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. (Rev 11:6)
Therefore it is reasonable to connect the prophecy of Malachi with Revelation 11, and presume that one of these prophets is Elijah. And since Moses turned the Nile into blood, it is reasonable to postulate that Moses is the other prophet.
We know from Revelation 11 that the wrath of Satan and the Antichrist will be kindled against these two prophets and they will be killed. But we also know that after 3 ½ days they will not only be resurrected, but will also be raptured to Heaven:
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [the Antichrist] shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse... For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (Malachi 4:5,6,1)
There are many who mistakenly believe that Elijah came to earth as John the Baptist. But when the angel Gabriel spoke to John’s father Zachariah, he said that John would come “in the spirit and power of Elijah”, not as an incarnation of Elijah: And he shall go before Him [Christ] in the spirit and power of Elias [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.
Just as Elisha received a double portion of the spirit of Elijah (2 Kings 2:9,15), John received the sprit and power of Elijah, which enable him to bring many in Israel to repentance. So when Jesus said that Elijah had “already come”, this is what He was referring to metaphorically.
But the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation are in the future (possibly in the very near future). Which means that immediately after the Antichrist takes control of this world, Elijah will appear with Moses in Jerusalem to preach the Gospel to the Jews (Revelation 11) and turn many to Christ (even though they will be martyred).
When Elijah was on earth during the reign of wicked king Ahab, he caused the rain to cease in Israel for 3 ½ years (which time also corresponds to the reign of the Antichrist). The epistle of James refers to this: Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. (James 5:17,18)
The Bible tells us that the witnesses (who are also prophets) in Revelation 11 will do exactly the same thing: These 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 smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. (Rev 11:6)
Therefore it is reasonable to connect the prophecy of Malachi with Revelation 11, and presume that one of these prophets is Elijah. And since Moses turned the Nile into blood, it is reasonable to postulate that Moses is the other prophet.
We know from Revelation 11 that the wrath of Satan and the Antichrist will be kindled against these two prophets and they will be killed. But we also know that after 3 ½ days they will not only be resurrected, but will also be raptured to Heaven:
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [the Antichrist] shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
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