Today on Encounter God's Truth, author and theologian Dr. John Whitcomb will teach us amazing truths about events that could happen in the Lord's plan in this coming New Year. Well, Dr. Whitcomb, he will address the subject, Elijah May Appear This Year. My name is Wayne Shepherd, and I'd like to prompt your thinking today with this word from the prophet Malachi. 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. With the help of our speaker, we're taking a careful look at what the Lord has clearly prophesied, which will happen in his appointed time. This season of the year is a good one in which to remind ourselves of the importance of the future. Dr. Whitcomb has said much more about Bible prophecy, including our topic today. So why not listen to that this New Year's week by going to sermonaudio.com forward slash Whitcomb. We hope you'll join us there. If you can, please turn now to Matthew chapter 16. Dr. Whitcomb begins with a challenging thought. Friends, as we face the new year, think of the amazing possibilities of things that can happen according to the word of God, the Bible. Listen carefully to Matthew 16 as Jesus said to three of his disciples. Listen carefully. Truly I say to you, Matthew 16, 28, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they what? Until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Well, who saw that? When did that happen? Well, friends, the answer is the very next verse. Unfortunately, a chapter division here obscures the connection. Now listen to 17.1. Are you there, Matthew 17.1? And six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them. they were given a preview, a spectacular visual aid of his second coming in glory. So those three men, Peter, James, and John, just less than a week after he said this, were given a preview of the second coming of Christ. Now, the amazing thing to me is who was there on that mount, not just Peter, James, and John, but listen carefully to what happened to Jesus and two other men. Watch now. Matthew 17, verse two. And he, Jesus, was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as light. He was transformed before them, the only time in his earthly existence, at his first coming, that they could see him as he really is, the glorious Son of God. But look who else showed up. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Well, now that, friends, is exactly what the Old Testament said would happen. You remember the last verses of the Old Testament in Malachi chapter four? Listen to this. Malachi chapter four, verse four. Remember the law of Moses, my servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him on Horeb for all Israel, Mount Sinai. And behold, I'm going to send you Elijah the prophet. Moses, remember him, and Elijah, look for him. When's he coming? Before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord, before the great tribulation unfolds in his horrors. Well, what's he gonna do? He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse. Harem, the last verses of the Old Testament. And friends, the people of Israel really believe that. You know, when Jesus was here, over and over again, they thought maybe he's calling for Elijah when he cried from the cross finally. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. They thought he was calling Elijah to rescue him. When John the Baptist came, they said, are you Elijah? Even to this very day, dear friends, Orthodox Jews have a special chair, a place for Elijah at their Passover Seder celebration. because they know from Malachi chapter four that he's going to come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. So the Lord Jesus now is giving them a foreview of the second coming and lo and behold of course Moses and Elijah were there. Now Peter of course is absolutely overwhelmed by this and Jesus had to teach him a lesson, didn't he? That not Elijah and Moses but Jesus is to be worshiped and praised above all. They fell on their faces and were very afraid. So Jesus said to those three apostles, arise and do not be afraid. And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw Jesus himself alone. But as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus said, now don't tell anyone the vision until the son of man has risen from the dead. They won't understand it. They won't appreciate it. Wait until I have fulfilled my purpose here on the earth. and then his disciples said to him they were obsessed with this question why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first we saw you there but we saw Elijah too who's first? who's coming next? and he answered and said Elijah is coming and will what? will restore all things just like Malachi said beginning with the home then Jesus said something that's somewhat perplexing verse twelve of Matthew seventeen 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. John the Baptist, was he Elijah then? Well, they came and asked him and he said, no. So what does the Lord mean here? Back in chapter 11 of Matthew, he explains, truly I say to you, chapter 11 of Matthew verse 11, Among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist. Yet, he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In other words, the church, positionally, is higher than any pre-Pentecost, pre-church person, including John. Now, here's the question. What does it mean that he was Elijah? Here it is. From the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force, for all the prophets in the law prophesied until John." In other words, John was the greatest and the final Old Testament prophet. And the violent response, negative and positive, to his preaching, overwhelming, transformed Israel forever. But listen to this statement in verse 14, friend. If you care to accept it, if, if, if, watch this now, this contingency, if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah who is to come. In other words, the kingdom was contingent upon the acceptance of john the baptist message by israel but they rejected him they killed him they didn't want the kingdom they didn't want the king they didn't want god in their lives so he said it's removed from you and you'll never see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord you see how important it was the coming of the king jesus said it over and over repent for what the kingdom of heaven is at hand The 12 apostles went everywhere in Israel saying, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The 70 went out two by two. What was their message? Repent, the kingdom is at hand. If they had believed, if they had repented as a nation, they would have had the kingdom. And John the Baptist would have functioned as Elijah will function. But sad to say, dear friends, they weren't ready for John's message or the message of the Lord Jesus. and therefore the kingdom was postponed. It still isn't here. And I say now, in this coming new year, what can happen? The beginning of the kingdom can happen. Now listen carefully, dear friends, what's gonna happen when the church is supernaturally, instantaneously removed from this world? 1 Thessalonians chapter four, this we say to you by the word of the Lord, verse 15, that we who are alive and remain, we Christians, until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep." That means who have died believing in Jesus. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout. Number two, with the voice of the archangel. Stop there. With the voice of whom? The archangel. There's only one archangel. His name is Michael. And that means when the church is gone, dear friends, Michael will again be established by God as the protector of the nation of Israel. You know, during this church age, Israel has been set aside. The branch has broken off the olive tree of divine theocratic blessing, Romans 11. And Gentiles now, including most of us who are talking right this moment and thinking together, have been grafted into that tree, the root of which is the Abrahamic covenant. We have the exclusive blessing of God during this church age, not Israel, the church. But when the church is gone, Guess what's going to be reestablished? Israel. In fact, Paul said in Romans 11, all Israel will be saved. When the kingdom begins, there'll be a saved remnant of that nation with Jesus, the son of David, the king of kings in the kingdom age. So the voice of the archangel means what? That Michael is going to function again. And what else is going to happen? There'll be the trumpet of God. and the dead in Christ shall rise first to honor them, and then we who are alive and remain. What a blessed hope this is, friends, of seeing Jesus being glorified without dying. This is a blessed hope exclusively for Christians. Israel never had that hope, never will. But listen to what's gonna happen. We'll be caught up, raptured, harpazo is the word, that Greek word, snatched away. We use that word sometimes, don't we, in English. If you wanna snatch a whale out of the ocean, you use a harpoon. When you wanna pluck music out of a beautiful instrument, you call it a harp, you're harping. We'll be harpooned, harped out of this world, together with them, the now resurrected Christians, in the clouds, that's clouds of glory, to meet the Lord, that's Jesus, in the air, not on the earth, in the air, and thus, we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. That could happen this New Year, friends, any day, any moment. And when it happens, what's gonna happen in Jerusalem? Look at this. Revelation 11, verse three. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. They'll have a ministry that is in many ways so tragic, judgmental upon those who may oppose them. But friends, who are these two witnesses? Well, first of all, in Revelation 11, 4, God says they are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. Oh, thank you, Lord. Now we know who they are. You see, the book of Revelation assumes we have mastered the previous 65 books of the Bible, including, for example, Ezra and Nehemiah, Zechariah, Haggai, that tell us that after the Babylonian captivity of 70 years, remember, the Jews came back with Zerubbabel, the governor, Joshua, the high priest, to do what? To reestablish worship again in Jerusalem on the temple platform. And they were the two olive trees, according to Zechariah 4. They were the lampstands that were what? The light of the world, the light of the world in that day. The reestablishment of the theocracy minus the king, no king, just a high priest, yes, legitimate priests, legitimate sacrifices, legitimate temple and altar. Amazing. That's what these two men will do. You remember who they are? Elijah and Moses. Now listen to this description. First of all, Elijah. Verse five. Are you with me? Revelation 11, verse five. If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone would desire to harm them in this manner, he must be killed. Well, you remember, that's what characterized Elijah. He was a one-man army. He brought fire from heaven, you remember, upon the sacrifice on Mount Moriah. And I say, that is an amazing, amazing connection. And when Ahab, the wicked king, died, his son, Ahaziah, tried to capture Elijah and sent three armies to take him. The first two armies, Elijah spoke the word, they were devoured by fire from heaven. The third army saw the light and surrendered and were spared. He could not touch Elijah. Amazing. But not only that, what else did Elijah do? He pronounced a curse on the nation of Israel in the days of Ahab that lasted how long? Three and one half years. Now look at this. At the beginning of the 73rd year of Daniel, the first half, three and one half years, there'll be a terrible drought during the whole time of their prophesying. Do you see it there, friends? Look at that. They will have power to shut up the sky in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying. No wonder they'll be hated by people all over the world watching Doubtless on television. These two men in the temple. Now today, of course, no Jew could possibly walk into the temple and offer a sacrifice. The Muslims have that temple. It's like them saying to the Jews, you may have your temple back over our dead bodies. Don't try it. And the Israelis are not trying it. They somehow have a subconscious recognition. They can't enter the temple, set up the altar, offer a sacrifice, and tell what? Until Elijah comes. They somehow know that there's something they have to wait for. And so that will happen. Perhaps, friends, this year, this month, Are you ready for this amazing unfolding of prophetic events concerning the future of Israel? But wait a minute. Who's the other witness? There are two of them. Remember, at the mouth of two or three witnesses, every matter is established in Jewish law. The other man is Moses. You say, really? Listen to the description of his ministry. They have power over the waters to turn them to blood. Moses did that, remember, in Egypt to confound Pharaoh and his false magicians. And what else? To smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire. That's what Moses did too. Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest men in the history of Israel, who were especially equipped by God to oppose demonic, satanic forces of darkness that threatened the very existence of Israel. and God vindicated them. Now, they both ended in sad situations. They were just exhausted emotionally. Remember, Moses just lost his temper and lost his opportunity to enter the promised land. Elijah became discouraged, defeated. When Jezebel threatened his life, he fled for his life and went down to Sinai and entered that cave where Moses had been, to be reassured, encouraged, recommissioned by God. But friends, at the end of this age, He and Moses will appear again. You say, well, how could they appear again if they're going to die? You say, what do you mean if they're going to die? Listen, what's going to happen? When they have finished their testimony, Revelation 11, 7, the beast that comes up out of the abyss, that's the Antichrist, will make war with them and overcome them and kill them, leaving their dead bodies for half a week in Jerusalem for everybody in the world to just say, oh, at last, these two men are dead and gone. But friends, that creates a real problem in our thinking, doesn't it? How could these men die if they had already gone to heaven and been glorified? Well, the answer is they had gone to heaven, but they were not glorified. You say, really? Well, of course, the Lord Jesus settled that matter, didn't he? You've heard of John 3.16. Have you ever heard of John 3.13, where the Lord Jesus explains something that perhaps we haven't thought about? He said, no one has ascended into heaven. except he himself, the son of man. Really? Well, you know, the last time Elijah was seen by Elisha, his servant, his successor, he was heading to heaven. Yes. No one saw him die. Well, as a matter of fact, no one saw Moses die. God secretly took his life away, you remember, in a mountain somewhere. He did die, though. It is appointed unto men once to die. Now, we have to be careful with that, because some people have died twice. We understand there are some exceptions to that. but nobody has ascended to heaven in glory. So after Moses died, he was taken to where? To Upper Sheol, Hades, Paradise, Abraham's bosom, the realm of the righteous dead in the Old Testament. After Elijah disappeared, apparently, we assume, we take for granted here, that God gently separated his soul spirit from his body and deposited him also in Abraham's bosom in upper Sheol, Hades, in paradise with Moses, who had been there already for hundreds of years. Because those two men came up from that realm, you remember, to the Mount of Transfiguration to make a temporary appearance. They weren't resurrected. They weren't glorified yet. They were still dead, just like Samuel was temporarily, you remember, brought up by Saul from the realm of the dead. This is a very complex situation, dear friends. Nobody has ever yet been glorified. You remember 1 Corinthians 15? Christ is the first fruits of them that slept, and afterward, what? Those that are his that is coming. The only person in the universe, the only man in the universe that has a glorified body is Jesus right now. So these men, like some others, will have to die twice. Amazing. You remember, it almost sounds necessary, doesn't it? Jesus said, it is impossible that any prophet should die outside of Jerusalem. So they're gonna be killed in Jerusalem. That's not the only reason, but that is a fascinating connection, isn't it? So when you come back there, friends, to Revelation chapter 11, God will vindicate those two men Listen to this, Revelation 11, 11, and after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them. They stood on their feet and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them. Imagine people watching on television all over the world. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying, come up here. So now they will join resurrected and raptured Christians in heaven with glorified bodies. How marvelous is God's vindication of these two great men of God. And they went up into heaven in the cloud and their enemies beheld them. And I say, that is amazing series of events that could begin friends this new year. And so friends, in the light of these amazing statements, the Lord Jesus made, The second coming of Christ events could begin not just this year or this month, but today. With the church, the body of Christ disappearing, and very shortly after that, Elijah and Moses appearing in Jerusalem to begin what? To prepare Israel. Through them, the whole nation of Israel will come to the Savior, to the Messiah, and begin to prepare for the coming of the thousand year kingdom, which will be three and a half years after they are killed. Lord, how amazing are these prophetic events! Help me to know Jesus as my Savior so that when He calls His bride, His body, I'll be among them by faith in His finished work on that cross and His resurrection from the dead. The year is coming to an end, but there are some things that do not change. God's Word is true from the beginning to the end. And we'll continue to proclaim its teachings as God gives us strength each week here on Encounter God's Truth. Visit us anytime at WhitcombMinistries.org. And for the very latest news and information about our work, check Facebook.com forward slash Whitcomb Ministries where we post regular updates. Well, Dr. Whitcomb, you've taught us much today about the future reappearance of Elijah in the nation of Israel. Is the Bible clear that this will be the very same man who ministered in the Old Testament to the northern kingdom of Israel? Can you tell us more about his identity? Wayne, this is a very important question because, as a matter of fact, Revelation 11, that describes the function of the two witnesses in the first half of the tribulation period, are not even named. That's why some people wonder, will it really be Elijah and Moses? It just says there are two olive trees, there are two lampstands, they'll do the kinds of things that Elijah and Moses did in the Old Testament, but it doesn't name them. May I suggest the reason? Because the book of Revelation assumes, takes for granted, that the reader has mastered the previous 65 books of the Bible and doesn't have to repeat everything that has already been said. Maybe that's why God started this book of Revelation with this promise. Revelation 1.3, blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written for the time is near. In other words, if you mastermind the whole Bible, as God permits, in a lifetime of study, you can begin to see things that perhaps you would never have seen before in the book of Revelation. Now, how do we know they're literally going to turn? Well, in Matthew chapter 17, in the preview of the second coming, We saw Christ glorified. Is he coming? Yes. Will he be glorified? Yes. Who else did we see? Moses and Elijah. It says so. Now friends, they are what? The forerunners of the second coming of Christ. Just as John the Baptist was the forerunner for the first coming, these two men will prepare Israel, the nation now, to receive their Messiah at his second coming. And so Jesus confirms their question. In Matthew 17.10, the disciples asked him, why then did the scribes say that Elijah must come first? And he answered what? Elijah is coming and will restore all things. Now remember, John the Baptist would have been Elijah if they had accepted him, but they didn't, so he wasn't. God knew that. It was a genuine offer. The offer was contingent on what? Their acceptance of that condition for the kingdom, which is repentance. They refused to repent. They didn't have the kingdom. So John the Baptist was not Elijah, he was John the Baptist. Isn't that amazing, friends, how God enables us to understand what he meant by what he said in these amazing prophetic plans? Friends, this coming year could definitely be the year when these things come to pass. The resurrection of dead Christians. the rapture of living Christians, the appearance of Moses and Elijah in Jerusalem, along with the Antichrist, Revelation chapter 11, chapter 12, all these amazing things. Question, friend, are we ready? Are we ready for these great events? How can I get ready? By being sure that I know Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Savior. He came and loved, friends, to pay the price I could never pay on that cross, confirmed by what? His bodily resurrection from the dead. The self-authenticating Holy Bible, illumined by the Holy Spirit, is believable. God says, trust me, I don't lie to people. Believe me, you can be saved from sin and hell forever by accepting a substitute, a savior, Jesus, my son, who died for us on that cross and rose from the dead the third day. May it be a great year, friend, as you walk with God and look for these tremendous things to happen. And Wayne, may this indeed be a blessed new year for you and your family. And for all our listeners, may it be a year of deeper study in God's word for each one of you. And may I ask this prayer please, may it be a year of growth in God's mercy for our radio ministry, Encounter God's Truth. Well, amen to that. What a great prayer to end as we prepare to launch together into another new year of broadcasting. In the meantime, join us all week at facebook.com slash Whitcomb Ministries, where you'll always find our latest news. We remind you continually that God's word is true from the beginning to the end. And we want to encourage you to stay close to that word as we begin this new year. The very best way we can assist with that is to invite you to visit us regularly at sermonaudio.com slash Whitcomb, where you'll find hundreds of Dr. Whitcomb's broadcasts, sermons, lectures, and writings, including more messages for this special season. And as we conclude this year, Whitcomb Ministries is once again so grateful to each of the stations and internet outlets They carry Encounter God's Truth faithfully each week. And, of course, to the Lord God for providing us with this great opportunity to teach His Word. Our purpose is simple, to faithfully declare timeless truths for changing times. Now, for everyone behind the scenes, I'm Wayne Shepherd encouraging you to join us next week as we begin a new year of ministry together. May the Lord bless you and your loved ones today.