From the very beginning of the New Testament church the apostle Peter showed that everything happened according to the Scriptures. When asked about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he said, "But this is that which was spoken through the prophet, Joel" (Acts 2:16). In chap. 3:20-23 he speaks about the times of refreshing that should come from the presence of the Lord. He also states that Jesus Christ, who was preached unto us, will return "whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the time began." If words still have a meaning, this is to say that a time of refreshing and of restitution of all things must come first, before Jesus, the Bridegroom, will return to take His beloved Bride home.

James writes, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain" (5:7). Before the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit takes place and the harvest is brought in, the promised Word for today (which is the seed) must first be sown. As promised in Isa. 55:11 the Word of God cannot return void, but will accomplish what it was sent for. In Jas. 5:11 the restoration Job experienced is given as an example. Everybody is familiar with his story, the afflictions he had to endure, how Satan destroyed everything around him, and how at the end God restored unto him a double portion (Job 42:10). We must first come to know and believe what God has promised, and then experience the marvellous restoration in reality.

The precision of God's Word is overwhelming. When speaking of the ministry of John the Baptist, the Word prepare is always used (Is. 40:3; Mai. 3:1). When the angel Gabriel announced the birth of John, he said, "And he shall 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" (Lk. 1:17). Zacharias prophesied, "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways" (Lk. 1:76). Our Lord confirmed this in Mt. 11:10, "For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee."

Not one time is the word restore used in connection with the ministry of John. On the other hand it is repeatedly found in reference to the ministry promised for the end time. Already through the prophet Joel the Lord said, "I will restore to you the years…" (ch. 2:25). In Mt. 17 we read about the Mount Transfiguration experience. Our Lord took Peter, James and John with Him, and also Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Him. Peter, as usual, was very quick and said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

After coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked our Lord, "Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?" Right after this the Lord made two statements. The first one was then in the future, the second one in the past. The first one is found in vs. 11, "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things." Without any shadow of doubt, that verse was spoken in future tense and refers to the ministry prior to the second coming of Christ. Dr. Scofield, who is internationally recognized as a Bible scholar and translator, writes in his footnote:

"Christ confirms the specific and still unfulfilled prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6." To this agree profound apologists.

As we noticed, John was confirmed to be Mai. 3:1. When he was asked, "Art thou Elijah?", he answered, "I am not" (Jn. 1:21). Right after that statement, the delegation which was sent by the Pharisees asked him, "Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet?" (Jn. 1:25). The prophecy of Mai. 4 must be fulfilled shortly just before the Day of the Lord comes – the day of vengeance (Is. 61:2), which will burn like an oven (Mai. 4:1) and will come like a thief in the night (II Pet. 3:10; I Thess. 5:2).

Since the ministry of John about 2,000 years have elapsed, and the Day of the Lord has not yet been. There are many Scriptures describing the Day of the Lord. The interested reader is referred to Isa. 13:6-13; Joel 2:30-31. Peter spoke of it in his first sermon, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come" (Acts 2:20). The events connected with the Day of the Lord are found in the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17), "…for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Most certainly at that time the mercy seat becomes the judgment seat.

In the last two verses of the Old Testament's concluding chapter we find the outstanding promise to which Jesus referred: "Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible 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." The first part, to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, was accomplished through the ministry of John the Baptist. Gabriel confirmed this to Zacharias, "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children" (Lk. 1:17).

According to Heb. 1, God in times past spoke unto the fathers by the prophets. At last He spoke by His Son. The Son was the answer. John bridged the Old to the New Testament. His duty was to take those from the Old Testament period of the fathers into the New Testament period of the children of God which commenced then. In that sense he was spoken of to be more than a prophet (Mt. 11:9). The prophets spoke about the coming Messiah. John had the privilege to introduce Him. Jesus referred repeatedly to his ministry in reference to Mai. 3:1. The statement in Mt. 17:12, "But I say unto you, That Elijah is come already, and they knew him not", was necessary, because the first part of the Elijah-promise was accomplished. We are dealing with two special ministries: one at the first coming of Christ, the other one before His second coming.

In various places in the Scriptures we find that even in one and the same verse the different comings are mentioned. Ps. 2:7-8; Acts 13:33; Hebr. 1:5 deal with the first coming. His second coming will not be noticed by the world. Then He will take His blood-washed (Rev. 1:5), His Word-cleansed (Eph. 5:26), His Spirit-sealed (Eph. 4:30), beloved Bride-church home (IThess. 4:13-18) to the marriage supper (Rev. 19:1-9). The rest will not even know about it. Ps. 2:9; Rev. 2:27; 12:5 and many other Scriptures deal with His coming in great power to finish with His enemies and to commence His reign on earth. In Lk. 4:19 Jesus stopped in the middle of the second verse while reading from Isa. 61, simply because only the first part applied to His ministry then. The day of vengeance will come when the time of grace is over. As we have stated before, Mai. 3:1 pertains to the first coming, and, as the context reveals, Mai. 4:5-6 is in connection with His second coming.

From the very beginning of the New Testament church the apostle Peter showed that everything happened according to the Scriptures. When asked about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he said, "But this is that which was spoken through the prophet, Joel" (Acts 2:16). In chap. 3:20-23 he speaks about the times of refreshing that should come from the presence of the Lord. He also states that Jesus Christ, who was preached unto us, will return "whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the time began." If words still have a meaning, this is to say that a time of refreshing and of restitution of all things must come first, before Jesus, the Bridegroom, will return to take His beloved Bride home.

James writes, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain" (5:7). Before the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit takes place and the harvest is brought in, the promised Word for today (which is the seed) must first be sown. As promised in Isa. 55:11 the Word of God cannot return void, but will accomplish what it was sent for. In Jas. 5:11 the restoration Job experienced is given as an example. Everybody is familiar with his story, the afflictions he had to endure, how Satan destroyed everything around him, and how at the end God restored unto him a double portion (Job 42:10). We must first come to know and believe what God has promised, and then experience the marvellous restoration in reality.

The precision of God's Word is overwhelming. When speaking of the ministry of John the Baptist, the Word prepare is always used (Is. 40:3; Mai. 3:1). When the angel Gabriel announced the birth of John, he said, "And he shall 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" (Lk. 1:17). Zacharias prophesied, "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways" (Lk. 1:76). Our Lord confirmed this in Mt. 11:10, "For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee."

Not one time is the word restore used in connection with the ministry of John. On the other hand it is repeatedly found in reference to the ministry promised for the end time. Already through the prophet Joel the Lord said, "I will restore to you the years…" (ch. 2:25). In Mt. 17 we read about the Mount Transfiguration experience. Our Lord took Peter, James and John with Him, and also Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Him. Peter, as usual, was very quick and said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

After coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked our Lord, "Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?" Right after this the Lord made two statements. The first one was then in the future, the second one in the past. The first one is found in vs. 11, "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things." Without any shadow of doubt, that verse was spoken in future tense and refers to the ministry prior to the second coming of Christ. Dr. Scofield, who is internationally recognized as a Bible scholar and translator, writes in his footnote:

"Christ confirms the specific and still unfulfilled prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6." To this agree profound apologists.

As we noticed, John was confirmed to be Mai. 3:1. When he was asked, "Art thou Elijah?", he answered, "I am not" (Jn. 1:21). Right after that statement, the delegation which was sent by the Pharisees asked him, "Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet?" (Jn. 1:25). The prophecy of Mai. 4 must be fulfilled shortly just before the Day of the Lord comes – the day of vengeance (Is. 61:2), which will burn like an oven (Mai. 4:1) and will come like a thief in the night (II Pet. 3:10; I Thess. 5:2).

Since the ministry of John about 2,000 years have elapsed, and the Day of the Lord has not yet been. There are many Scriptures describing the Day of the Lord. The interested reader is referred to Isa. 13:6-13; Joel 2:30-31. Peter spoke of it in his first sermon, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come" (Acts 2:20). The events connected with the Day of the Lord are found in the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17), "…for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Most certainly at that time the mercy seat becomes the judgment seat.

In the last two verses of the Old Testament's concluding chapter we find the outstanding promise to which Jesus referred: "Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible 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." The first part, to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, was accomplished through the ministry of John the Baptist. Gabriel confirmed this to Zacharias, "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children" (Lk. 1:17).

According to Heb. 1, God in times past spoke unto the fathers by the prophets. At last He spoke by His Son. The Son was the answer. John bridged the Old to the New Testament. His duty was to take those from the Old Testament period of the fathers into the New Testament period of the children of God which commenced then. In that sense he was spoken of to be more than a prophet (Mt. 11:9). The prophets spoke about the coming Messiah. John had the privilege to introduce Him. Jesus referred repeatedly to his ministry in reference to Mai. 3:1. The statement in Mt. 17:12, "But I say unto you, That Elijah is come already, and they knew him not", was necessary, because the first part of the Elijah-promise was accomplished. We are dealing with two special ministries: one at the first coming of Christ, the other one before His second coming.

In various places in the Scriptures we find that even in one and the same verse the different comings are mentioned. Ps. 2:7-8; Acts 13:33; Hebr. 1:5 deal with the first coming. His second coming will not be noticed by the world. Then He will take His blood-washed (Rev. 1:5), His Word-cleansed (Eph. 5:26), His Spirit-sealed (Eph. 4:30), beloved Bride-church home (IThess. 4:13-18) to the marriage supper (Rev. 19:1-9). The rest will not even know about it. Ps. 2:9; Rev. 2:27; 12:5 and many other Scriptures deal with His coming in great power to finish with His enemies and to commence His reign on earth. In Lk. 4:19 Jesus stopped in the middle of the second verse while reading from Isa. 61, simply because only the first part applied to His ministry then. The day of vengeance will come when the time of grace is over. As we have stated before, Mai. 3:1 pertains to the first coming, and, as the context reveals, Mai. 4:5-6 is in connection with His second coming.