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The Work of Elijah

By M. John Allen

Many people down through time have claimed to be the Prophet Elijah.  In our present day, individuals from time to time do this as well.  Some say they have seen God either personally in a vision, or an angel, and that this Being told them they were Elijah and had a special mission.  I know of one such person who boasts this, and also appears to claim special powers.

In the Bible, two individuals have been identified as Elijah: the original, and John the Baptist.  Yet, in the book of Malachi, it is foretold that there will yet be one more Elijah in the end time to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ.  Did Herbert Armstrong fulfill this role?  Has it been spiritualized away to be the Church?  God gives us understanding if we study His Word carefully.

The purpose of this article, then, is to discover the purpose for Elijah and to understand his astounding role in this end time, which will also let us know, hopefully, just WHO he is when he finally appears.

For centuries, the subject of just who the end time Elijah is to be and what his role is has been shrouded in mystery.  Many misguided people have thought that THEY were Elijah from time to time.  Others have thought it is not a person, but a work, or a church.  The Bible also talks about Two Witnesses to appear at the time of the Tribulation to warn a sin sick world of God’s impending intervention.  Is Elijah one of these Two Witnesses?  Is he their leader?  Perhaps -- but that is not what is important at this time.  What IS of vital importance to us at this time is that this end time figure will prepare the way for the second  coming of Christ, as well as perform a mission for God similar to that of the original.

Before we get into all of this, though, let’s begin at the beginning, with what God reveals through the Prophet Malachi: “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” [margin: in some Bibles: “ban of utter destruction.”  Mal. 4:4-6, NKJV throughout unless otherwise noted; emphasis mine.]

Let’s fully understand the above before we go on.  First of all, Elijah will instruct God’s people to remember the Law of Moses, as well as the statutes and judgments.  This is a direct contradiction to those who believe the Law of God is done away -- otherwise why would God remind His people of them just before the return of Christ through His Elijah?  It just wouldn’t make sense.  In other prophecies, God also says He will send Moses before the return of Christ, so it is possible that the types of Moses and Elijah will be the two witnesses, in which case the Moses figure would probably be in charge and the Elijah figure would be the spokesman, just as Aaron was Moses’ spokesman anciently.  This, however, is simply speculation.

Another fact often overlooked is that Elijah will come BEFORE the Day of the Lord.  We have always understood the Day of the Lord to be the final year before Christ’s second coming.  Secondly, if Elijah is one of the Two Witnesses, the Book of Revelation says that they shall witness during the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.  Technically, then, this could mean that Elijah might not appear until the start of the Tribulation.  However, the next part of this passage would seem to indicate that the Work of Elijah will begin sometime PRIOR to the start of the Tribulation.  And further, after we are through analyzing the other two Elijah’s and their ministries in the Bible, he could in fact appear several years or even a decade or more before the Tribulation!

Further, it must be remembered that the Tribulation is primarily focused on modern day Israel, and that Elijah’s first ministry was entirely to the people and government of ancient Israel.  His ministry then spanned many decades.  Therefore, it is not impossible to think that his ministry might last for many years in these end times before the start of the Tribulation.

Before we go on, though, let us finish this passage from Malachi.  The last words of the last book of the Old Testament tell us that Elijah will “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers.”  This could mean several things.  ON the surface, this is an apparent reference to the modern day generation gap.  It seems today that parents and children are at each other’s throats.  There is war in the home as Satan works to destroy it.  So on this level, the passage can mean that Elijah will re-institute the natural love that should exist in families -- at least among God’s people. 

On another level, though, this could also mean that the harts of the children --i.e. our generation -- will have it’s heart turned to the fathers of our people, the patriarchs of God!  This would seem to fit in with the theme earlier in the passage that talked about teaching again the Law of Moses.  It will be interesting to see how all of this develops as God’s Plan and endtime Work unfolds!  Far from being over, as some have claimed, it would appear that the endtime Work of God hasn’t even begun!  This should be clear by the end of this article.

The Work of the Recent Past

For the last few years of his life, Herbert Armstrong and those around him claimed that HE was doing the Elijah Work, and that he therefore was the Elijah to come.  I suppose at the time it made a strange kind of sense.  We were under the influence of the doctrine of exclusivity (even the original Elijah had this problem, as we shall see a little later), which says that God is only working in one place at one time, and primarily through one individual.  Perhaps this will be partly true during the work of the endtime Elijah and the Two Witnesses, but we haven’t reached that time as yet as will shortly be demonstrated.

In any case, we all felt very special and very privileged to be where we were, and the leadership cultivated this.  In fact, Mr. Raymond McNair and Mr. Roderick Meredith, among others, told my freshman class at Ambassador College in 1980 that being called into the college was like being called into the Church in the first place.  It was a very special call of God to be at “The West Point of God’s Work!”  And so, a sense of further exclusivity was instilled in us college students.  We felt like we were part of some elite corps -- specially called by God for important things.  That this only reinforced the sickness of exclusivism didn’t occur to us.

Sadly, there are many today within the churches of God who are returning to the old habits of exclusivity.  This is really sad because most of us have just been through a prolonged and traumatic experience that should have shown us just the opposite, that God can work and does work in more than one place at a time and that we should love and treasure our brothers and sisters no matter what human organization they belong to and call them brothers and sisters in the Lord as long as they are obeying the commandments of God to the best of their abilities.

Even more tragic is one group that claims that it, the church, is the Elijah Work now, and says dogmatically that Mr. Armstrong was the Elijah to come.  If one doesn’t accept these doctrines, they cannot be a part of that fellowship.  In fact, what they have done, unwittingly, is to turn Mr. Armstrong into an idol for virtual worship and admiration, and they have set up their ministry on the same egomaniacal pedestal.  Even angels will not allow themselves to be treated in this way, so why do mere men?  As will soon be evident, the Elijah of God is yet future.  He may not be recognizable at first, but he will be finally to those who are being guided by the Spirit of God.

Two Opposites

Most people are aware that in the end time a great False Prophet will arise.  He will eventually be imbued by Satan with tremendous supernatural power.  He will be able to perform miracles so fantastic that they will almost deceive God’s very elect!

Many people in our modern world have an antisupernaturalistic bias.  They think everything through to its logical conclusion, and they generally think that both God and Satan work primarily within the natural laws of the universe and with human choices.  Such has been the case for a long long time, but it was not always so.  If certain non-canonical books such as The Book of Jubilees are to be believed, before the Flood things were much different.  At that time, Satan and his demons were running wild over all the earth, and still had the power to manifest themselves in physical bodies.  The Holy Angels still have this power, but use it sparingly.

However, Satan and his demons did not use their powers sparingly.  They used their abilities to manifest physically and perform miracles to turn that whole world to evil.  It became so bad, in fact, that God readied Himself to destroy the whole world again.  But, Noah, fortunately, was different from everyone else, and remained loyal to God.  This saved the human race from extinction.

After the Flood, God decided to make a major change to try and make sure the human race didn’t corrupt itself so fast again.  First, God took away the power of Satan and the demons to take on physical bodies at will.  Thus, they were denied many physical sensations they had no doubt grown accustomed to, which is probably why they like to posses human beings and sometimes animals to this day.  Great restrictions on their supernatural powers were also no doubt also instituted.  And lastly, God’s original intent was to put all of the demons in bondage and only allow Satan to run free on the earth.

Satan was no doubt very upset by all of this, but being left alone to do his dirty work was the last straw.  The Book of Jubilees states that Satan asked God at this point how he could do his work of deceiving the nations if he had no help.  God thought this over, and allowed a tithe of the demons to remain free with their master. 

Of course, this book is not part of the Biblical record, so we cannot take everything or even much of what it says at face value or as factual.  However, if you will read this book, much of it rings true.  I do not recall anywhere where it directly contradicts the Biblical record -- rather, it appears to fill in the many gaps in the Book of Genesis.  Most other non-canonical books I have read have serious flaws and directly contradict the Bible at one point or another, but I do not recall seeing such a thing in Jubilees (I also read part of the Book of Enoch, which is quoted in Jude; I recall that I had some problems with it, but may read it again at some point if I have time).

However, if even part of what this Book says is true, it answers many questions.  And one should also remember that the problems of the Tribulation escalate, as does supernatural activity, as more and more demons are released from their captivity. 

It should also remember that the two magicians of Egypt were able to duplicate very miracle of Moses except for the last.  This shows that in ancient times Satan’s servants had great power to perform miracles, supernatural signs, and wonders in order to deceive the people.  Thus, it can be seen that our materialistic modern view of the world is actually quite narrow and incorrect.  Those who fail to understand this point set themselves up for Satan’s tricks in the future.

The Work of the recent past has been very much a physical, rational, effort.  Sure, credit has been given to God for His interventions, and God has done some great miracles, but all of it is disguised so that things appear to be just human and normal to those who refuse to accept the supernatural underpinnings.  Satan, by and large, has been forced by God to work by and large in the same way in recent centuries.

At some point, though, when it is God’s time, a great, shocking paradigm shift will occur on this earth.  God’s miracles and Satan’s will increase dramatically, forcefully, and rapidly.  Satan will work primarily through the False Prophet, and God will work primarily through the Two Witnesses.  However, it is my opinion that if Elijah is one of the Two Witnesses, then his work will actually start before the miracles begin.  It is also my feeling that the False Prophet will begin his work before the day of miracles dawns.  In fact, both of these figures are no doubt already on this earth being prepared for their futures.

Some very exciting times are just ahead of us.  But, in order to fully understand the role of Elijah, and what he will do, we must look at the two types -- the two Elijahs that have come before.  One of these days I hope to discover the historical types for the False Prophet, as that will shed light on the end time one.  Perhaps Simon Magus is one of these, but historical data on him is scanty at this point.  Antiochus Epiphanes is a type of the Beast, and a lot is known about him.  But the False Prophet, like the Babylonian Mystery religion he represents, is shrouded in darkness.

The major part of this article, then, will be devoted to the historical accounts of the two types of Elijah in history.  I believe you will discover many things you have never noticed before -- things vital to our understanding of this end time Work.

The Original Elijah

Now, let’s take our story to the original Elijah and see what we can learn from him.  He is, after all, the prototype for the other two. 

Elijah was sent to a very sin sick nation of Israel, and to perhaps the most wicked king it ever had: Ahab.  As our governments in modern day Israel -- especially in the United States -- become more and more corrupt and even downright evil, the stage will be set for the modern day Elijah’s ministry of warning and witness before God strikes our nations down.  And remember this: just as the first Elijah punished Ahab’s Israel with real plagues, so shall the modern day Elijah do to our peoples to punish them for turning their backs on Almighty God!  Many have thought that the punishments of God leading up to the Tribulation would be rather passive -- a natural consequence of sin.  But, nothing could be further from the truth.  As we shall shortly see, the endtime Elijah will be given discretionary power to proactively PUNISH a sinful nation if it ignores mere words.

First, then, let’s read a little about the setting and King Ahab: “In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel [Note: historical records show that to the surrounding nations, Omri was perhaps the most powerful king of Israel.  He oppressed and exacted tribute from the nations round about, causing them to hate Israel, but Israel was the big power of that area, so there was nothing they could do about it.  As I sit here and write these words, I have been in Costa Rica for over a year now.  I can assure you that the oppression the United States has exacted in Latin America, and in the world in general, hasn’t really made us any real friends.  But, for the present moment, there is nothing they can do about it.  Things will change, though, and then....]; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.  Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Eternal, more than all who were before him [and that was a tall order indeed!].  And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ehbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshipped him.  Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

“And Ahab made a wooden image.  Ahab did more to provoke the Eternal God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.  In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho [this was something God had absolutely forbidden].  He laid its foundations with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he shut up its gates [in other words, they died according to God’s curse], according to the word of the Eternal, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.” [I Ki. 16:29-34.]

Before God introduces us to the greatest prophet who ever lived, He shows us the reason He had to send him.  Ever since its founding by Jeroboam, Israel had lived in rebellion against God and His Commandments.  Jeroboam had changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the eighth day, Sunday, and had changed the Feast from the seventh month to the eighth month, about the time the world celebrates Halloween today (in fact, some claim that this wicked, Satanic holiday is actually the last remnant of Jeroboam’s false Feast.  This illustrates what happens when man arrogates to himself the decision of when to observe the Sabbath and the other Holy Days -- perhaps those in Pasadena had better pay attention!).  Jeroboam also set up a false priesthood with the most BASE of the people, and sent the Levites back to Jerusalem.  None of the other kings of Israel reversed these sins, but some were better than others.

But, it appears that King Ahab actually worked hard at being evil!  Not only did he continue in the ways of his fathers, which was bad enough, but he built a temple to Baal, erected an alter and an idol, and actually worshipped there.  Further, he married a foreign woman, and in perhaps one of the ultimate affronts to God, had the audacity to rebuild the city of Jericho which God Himself had supernaturally destroyed and actually forbidden to be rebuilt on pain of death to the children of  the one responsible.  As it turns out later, Jezebel was to go down in history as the wickedest woman of all times.  What a couple!

It was in response to all of these affronts that God was compelled to send His greatest prophet of all times, the Prophet Elijah.  First Elijah would warn, but then, he was commissioned to actually punish those who would defy the Living God and provoke Him to wrath.

I can’t help but think  the situation the United States confronts today.  For those who have eyes to see, and who just don’t glibly accept the pabulum spewed by the mainstream press, it is easy to see that President Clinton and his wife are perhaps the most morally corrupt couple to ever occupy the White House.  Many in the so called “moral majority” movement have dug up the facts, and they aren’t pretty.  The Whitewater scandal is merely the tip of the iceberg.  While the US press has trod softly, careful not to reveal the truth about a President with whom they agree, there have been those in the British press and non-mainstream US press who have not been afraid to print the cold hard truth about our own King Ahab.

Perhaps a worse man will someday be elected, but let’s just look real quickly about what Clinton stands for and is alleged to have done, and then compare that to God’s standards and to the antics of the ancient King Ahab as the story in the Book of Kings unfolds.

Everyone knows about the Whitewater affair, but that isn’t so bad, as there have been other Presidents and leaders who have gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar.  No, this goes much deeper, and reveals the total corruption and evil at the very heart of our government.  Perhaps you won’t believe much of this, but exercises in self denial don’t mean anything to God: He knows all of it already.

Lately, The Mercury News in San José, California, published a series of articles on the CIA / drug connection.  Despite denials from all over, many in the black community are up in arms to think that the Federal Government would purposely sell drugs to their people in order to fund covert operations.  But, for those in the know, who read the alternative and foreign press, this comes as no surprise and they simply laugh at the predictable government denials.  This scandal goes much deeper than simply one operation: it is actual business as usual for many of the rogue agencies in our government. 

Let me illustrate how far this leads.  If the American people ever became totally aware of just this one aspect of our government run amuck, and if they cared, there would be a revolution overnight.  The British press has documented that there was a little operation being run out of Mena, Arkansas some years ago when Clinton was governor.  An exposé of this was supposed to appear about two years ago in  The Washington Post, and the writers had even received payment for the story, but, at the last moment, the story was pulled and no other paper would publish it.  All of the facts were documented and reliable, the stories had run in the British press for quite some time, but our controlled “mainstream media” refused to cover it.  Finally, only Penthouse magazine had the guts to print the story domestically.

According to this well documented story, the CIA brought in drugs from outside of the country to an airstrip in Mena, AR.  Then Governor Bill Clinton was aware of this, but received payoffs to look the other way.  The drugs were then taken to Illinois, where Governor Thompson was also paid off.  Of course, then President George Bush got his payoff, as well as many other important politicians.  There is more to the story, but you can find information on this through the internet or through, if I recall correctly, the July, 1995 issue of Penthouse.  This scandal alone could, in the words of some commentators, bring down much of the United States Government in scandal.  And, of course, this is only an operation that we know of.  Statistics show that in situations like espionage, only the tip of the iceberg ever gets out, so you can just imagine what is really going on behind the scenes!  No sane person, once they expose themselves to the facts, could actually believe government denials on subjects such as this.

But this is far from all.  Despite what the press says, there is ample evidence that Vincent Foster’s death was a murder.  There is also plenty of evidence of foul play in the death of Secretary Brown.  The only survivor of the crash, a stewardess who was well enough to actually walk away from the wreckage, mysteriously died en-route to the hospital.  Also, the flight data recorder disappeared, as did the tape made by the control tower of what was actually said!  Many feel that Brown was about to be indicted for several things, which probably would have pointed back to Clinton himself.  So what happens?  A convenient plane crash in the Balkans.

There is also documentation that the four agents who died from friendly fire in the Waco tragedy had been bodyguards for Clinton.  In fact, it seems that to be around Clinton is to risk one’s very life, as many people close to him have wound up dead (I used to have the exact number, but I don’t recall it now).

We could also discuss Clinton’s romantic escapades, Janet Reno’s alleged appetite for 13 year old girls, etc., etc.  You name it, this administration seems to be doing it!  Yet, in the last election, the issues of the moral reprehensibility of this administration barely came up, except maybe for the filegate scandal, illegal campaign contributions, allowing people with failed drug tests to work in the White House, and other such minor “scandals” while the big bombshells were left seemingly untouched.  One has to ask why.  Could it be that everyone’s in on the party except the taxpayer?

To digress slightly, this situation was actually prophesied over two thousand years ago.  It must also be remembered that King Ahab wasn’t the only wicked one in his administration either -- he had plenty of help!  There are many places you can turn and read what is wrong with our people today.  The Book of Amos would be a good place to start.  It is beyond the scope of this article to get into all of these prophecies, but to get a flavor of what is wrong, “let’s turn to Isaiah 1:5-9: “Why should you be stricken again?  You will revolt more and more.  The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints.  From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment.

“Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire [race riots, or civil disobedience against an oppressive and wicked Federal Government after the people have discovered what it has done to them, or both?]; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.  So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.  Unless the Eternal of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorra.”

These verses are a summary of future events.  When we are ushered on the scene, the nations of modern day Israel are very sick indeed.  They are on the point of death from their sins and from wrong decisions they have made.  As in the case of King Ahab, God is going to hold the governing authorities strictly accountable for the evil that they have done, but they are not the only ones to blame.  Since the people elect their governments, it is actually THEY who have the primary blame.  The lifestyles of each and every one of us make the whole country either a little healthier or a little sicker.

I found it fascinating in the election just past that people didn’t seem to care about the character issue much anymore.  People had an idea about the scandals faced by Clinton, about his illicit affairs, and other things -- many even considered him a liar -- but they voted for him anyway!  They were bedazzled by his dog and pony show, and ignored the fact that only a moral ruler should be placed over a nation.

And how could such a thing have happened?  Well, I believe that, by and large, our people have become so morally bankrupt themselves that they actually feel a little good and comfortable voting for someone they can relate to on a moral level!  In other words, just as this prophecy states, THE WHOLE BODY IS SICK, FROM THE HEAD DOWN TO THE FEET!  And there is no one to bind up the wounds.  The nation is becoming like Sodom and like Gomorra.

If you don’t believe me, just look at a few issues.  I remember a time, when I was a child, when divorce was considered a shameful thing.  Now, people consider it ordinary and the so called broken home is now the norm.  There was a time when homosexuality was considered a horrendous sin, but now it is almost acceptable.  Abortion once was considered murder by many, but now most people see nothing wrong with sacrificing their children on the altar of convenience, much like ancient peoples once sacrificed their children to the god Molech.  Sure, it’s a different god that people worship, but they still sacrifice their children to it and worship it instead of the One True God, the Creator, Who make life and Who only has the right to take it away!

I was really sickened some time ago (I wish I still had the article, but I don’t) to discover that many products such as lipstick, etc., might possibly contain materials extracted from aborted fetuses (actually, the article claimed that most products made from collagen might contain extracts of fetuses).  If this is indeed true, it shows the total callousness and indifference our people have towards human life, which all should consider sacred.

Another sign of the times is that televangelists can now get thrown off of radio or television stations if they read the wrong scriptures from the Bible -- especially those having to do with homosexuality being wrong and other things that run afoul of the sickening, perverted, political correctness movement.

In the Book of Amos, and throughout the prophets, it talks about perverting justice, calling what is white black and what is black white.  On one hand, the insane double standard of today can get students thrown out of school for taking aspirin, exercising their rights of free speech, etc., while it is perfectly fine to teach people that murder (abortion) and sexual perversion are just “alternative choices.” It seems as if our people are just daring God to strike them down -- and He will!  King Ahab did the same thing, and God finally acted, as we shall shortly see.

But where are the ministers of religion?  Aren’t they supposed to compare the practices of the people with the Bible and let people know if they are not doing the right thing?  Yes, of course, that is supposed to be their role, but, it must be remembered who pays their salaries!  If the majority of the people don’t want to hear messages on a particular subject, woe be it to the average minister if he tries.  He will find himself out on the street very fast if his sermons aren’t acceptable to the people listening.  Sure, there are a few that are courageous enough, and there are some who are lucky enough to serve God fearing people, but the vast majority either agree with their people or prudently keep their mouths shut.

Once again, then, the fault lies both with the people and with their leaders, not just with the leaders.  However, when leaders follow opinion polls instead of their beliefs, the whole system becomes incestuous .  Let’s see what God has to say about this:  “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Eternal [oh yes, they say that the law is done away]; who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy [prophesy can also mean to preach] to us right things, prophesy deceits.  Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.’

“Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: ‘Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perversity, and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant [in other words, God is going to bring our nation down suddenly -- faster than any nation before in history!].  And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare.  So there shall not be found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water from the cistern.’” [In other words, the destruction of our peoples shall be complete and absolute!   Is. 30:8-14.]

I know that this is not a pleasant message to hear.  Even many of those who are true ministers of God preach this message less and less.  And, of course, another part of Elijah’s message will be one of hope, brotherly love, and unity -- but, The people of this nation need to be warned, and if they refuse to listen to mere words, God will later start using punishment!

We stand now at the most serious juncture in human history.  The world is headed towards destruction, and very few are telling the people why.  John the Baptist was the first Elijah.  He came into a physical wilderness preparing the way for the first coming of Jesus Christ.  Soon, our people and the world in general will become so evil and wicked that they will not be able to stand God’s Word any longer.  At that time, in response to their arrogance and sin, God will send another Elijah.  This Elijah will come into a spiritual wilderness proclaiming God’s Truth and warning in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in spiritual power to rule the world with a rod of iron!

At His first coming, Christ came as a physical human being to proclaim the Good News of the soon coming Kingdom of God and to qualify to replace Satan on the throne of this world.  That time He came to talk, and so did the Elijah before Him.  At His next coming, Christ will come as a conquering KING to put down a rebellious world.  He will crush the opposition of Satan and this world’s evil human governments and replace them with His righteous rule. 

No one will be able to stand in His way.  And so, God’s endtime Elijah will start out with a warning only.  But when a rebellious world will not listen, God will allow him to pour plagues out on a rebellious nation, and, if he is one of the Two Witnesses, eventually the whole world.  Many will hate him and blame him for their predicaments and problems.  In fact, humanity will look everywhere but at its own sins for the blame of the torture of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.

Those in charge of human governments like to play god with people’s lives.  They are filled with arrogance and self-importance.  In fact, down through history human governments have tried to usurp the rightful place that belongs only to God.  The Roman Emperor said that he was a god.  So did Nebuchandnezzar, and in our own day the Emperor of Japan.  But even if they did not directly claim it, most rulers in most nations demand obedience from their people, allegiance, and sacrifice even to the death in military service.  There is nothing noble or good in military life, as some have claimed.  It is simply teaching human beings to be murderers and oppressors of others like a band of gangsters.

Actually, when you strip away all of the veneer of supposed legitimacy, titles, elections, etc., what you actually have is a gang of warlords, gangsters and thugs who like to have the power and the money that their little egocentric empires bring them.  And when someone claims allegiance to any higher power, including the Living Eternal God, the real Ruler of the Universe, their sick little minds become enraged and want to destroy any that would dare serve God before them.

Of course, they do all that they can to conceal their greed, oppression, and megalomania from the people.  And in many cases they succeed -- after all, millions upon millions of humans have been duped into giving their lives under the guise of fighting for some “higher cause” when in actuality it was simply to help one warlord impose his will upon another one.

I can just hear the howls of protest now!  Many, especially in the United States and other so called democratic countries will say that this may apply to many other countries, but it most certainly doesn’t apply to them.  Well, I’m sorry, but many men have died over the centuries doing what they think is right for a “just cause,” when in actuality it may not have been.  For anyone that thinks the government of the United States is not an oppressive monster, they should look to their history books and learn the truth.  Maybe they should ask some Indians who had a program of genocide imposed on them.  Or maybe they should talk to some native Hawaiians who know that their kingdom was stolen from them.  Or maybe they should talk to a Nicaraguan whose father, brothers, sons, etc. were butchered just because Ronald Reagan didn’t like their government.

Or how about the fact that the CIA is the biggest drug and arms dealer in the world?  Or what about supporting a murderer like Saddam Hussein one minute and then turning on him the next.  Or how about encouraging the Kurds to rebel and then when they do refusing to help?  The litany of sins of the Federal government goes on and one.  They have engendered deep hatred and contempt throughout Latin America -- and guess what, it’s justified many times!

This is not to say that other countries are good and we are bad.  No, that is not true.  ALL are bad in the sight of God!  Every last one of them!  But the people of modern day Israel made a covenant with God through their ancestors.  God used to be their King until they rejected Him and wanted a human king!  And the people have suffered ever since.

God did not hide Himself from us, we hid ourselves from Him down through history.  When God thundered from Mt. Sinai, the people begged to hear the message from Moses rather than from God Himself directly.  When God came in the form of a human being, He was crucified for His trouble because the people preferred to listen to their human rulers rather than their King.

So it has been down through history.  Remember, it was Adam and Eve who hid from God, not the other way around.  But finally, God allowed people to have their perverse, evil, sinful ways.  He turned His back because they first turned their backs.  God is not to blame for the problems the world has -- humanity is because they have chosen to listen to Satan rather than God!

I don’t have time to go into this right now, but IF people would voluntarily and nationally accept God as their King, then there would be no reason anyone in that nation would ever have to die again in war because God would be their Protector!  This can be proved absolutely from the Bible, but it is a whole different subject, so I will discuss it in a future article.  So, if people would just care enough, they could turn their lives individually and nationally to Almighty God and He would bless and protect.  But instead, man has always chosen to listen to base, evil, conniving, arrogant human rulers, and discounted God as impractical. 

I know that these things are not easy to bear.  I know that many will become angry and offended, and I am sorry for that.  But people need to hear the plain, undiluted truth of God and not the “smooth things” Isaiah talked about.  But just why do I have to say things that give offense and that are hard both for me to say and you to hear? 

The sad fact is that I have a responsibility to proclaim God’s Truth.  If I don’t, then I shall be held liable by God Himself for what is about to happen.  This is true of any true servant of God -- not just me.  Sadly, many have chosen to ignore their responsibilities, and have instead decided to compromise with and accommodate the wishes of the world.  This is nothing less than spiritual idolatry and adultery, and all of those who do and support such a work will be judged by God.  This, then, is what the man of God must do: “Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Eternal came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:

“‘When I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

“‘Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.’” [Ez. 3:16-19.]

All servants of God bear a grave and serious responsibility.  If they do not fulfill their commission, then they are in deep trouble with God, and that is not something anyone would want.  That is shy I have to write articles like this and do whatever I can to fulfill whatever commission God has given to me.  I am not certain exactly what the dimensions of that commission are, but I know that I have been given certain knowledge and talents by God, as well as some very modest resources, and I must do with my modest resources whatever I can do to accomplish the work I have been given.  The same is true for every Christian.  They can’t delegate authority or responsibility completely to others.  The old “pay and pray” formula simply just isn’t what God expects.

Before I move on, I would like to point out one thing most people don’t realize about the prophet Ezekiel.  By the time of Ezekiel, Israel was already in captivity, and the book never reached the ancient people of Israel.  This means that all of this prophesy is for us today!  I know of no other prophetic book that is all directed to us today.  So, if you want to see what God has to say to us TODAY, you might want to read this special book.  [As a general principle all prophecy is dual, except maybe for Ezekiel!]

Now that we have completed much of the background, it is now time to discuss the life and mission of the original Elijah.

Elijah: Sent to Warn a Rebellious Nation

Let’s notice, now, the type of rulership Israel had in the time of Elijah.  Starting in I Ki. 17:30:  “Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Eternal, more than all who were before him.  [The kings of Israel, starting with Jeraboam, had all been evil, but Ahab and his wife were the worst up until this time.  It sort of reminds you of the present day, where the White House has become a whitewashed sepulcher of amazing sins, and advocacy of evil practices such as gay rights, abortion, etc.]  And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ehbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshipped him.  Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he built in Samaria.  And Ahab made a wooden image.  Ahab did more to provoke the Eternal God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.  In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho.  He laid its foundation with Abiaram his firstborn [there was a curse from God on any who would rebuild Jericho; some feel that God does not believe in cursing people, well, they are wrong!  Just look at this!], and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Eternal, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

            “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Eternal God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.’

            “Then the word of the Eternal came to him, saying, ‘Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.  And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there’.... And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 

“Then the word of the eternal came to him saying, “Arise, to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.  See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.’” [16:30-17:9]

Let’s quickly review what has been revealed so far.  First, we are told that the most wicked king in Israel’s history had come to the throne.  Then, Elijah is sent to tell the king what God thinks about this, and to pronounce a drought (God gave Elijah power over the skies just like He will do with the Two Witnesses and probably the end time Elijah).  After Elijah tells Ahab what God thinks of him (punishable by death), God tells him to get out of there and seek refuge by a brook.  After it dries up, God tells him to go to a widow in Sidon who will be supernaturally empowered to feed him until the famine is over.

Notice that Elijah DID NOT hide in Israel.  Perhaps the king had a price on his head and Elijah may have been considered a criminal.  People never like to hear the warning of God’s prophets, it seems, when He tells them to repent or else.  They either laugh at the prophet or persecute him or both.

I have recently experienced a similar situation.  In last month’s Restoration Times I recounted some visions and a curse that God had pronounce.  Now one would think that God’s people would welcome the call to repentance and heed the warning, and thus avoid the prophesied punishment.  But no.  Instead, I have been thrown off of an internet forum and branded as a heretic and a nut!  So if you are tempted to say, or if you hear someone say that if the prophets were alive today people would not ignore them or seek to kill them, you are wrong.  Human nature not only doesn’t want to be told that it is wrong, but it also absolutely HATES anyone who has a message direct from God Himself -- especially when that message seems humanly wrong or cruel.  But God does many things that we humans might not think are right.  However, this makes no difference because God is in charge and we are not, as He will begin to demonstrate in the years just ahead.

The rest of the chapter relates Elijah’s stay with the widow, the supernatural protection, and the reviving of the widow’s son from death.  After this miracle, Elijah is called back to King Ahab by God in chapter 18.

“Now it came to pass after many days that the word of the Eternal came to Elijah, in the third year, saying ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.’ [so, after three years of drought, it is over and God sends Elijah back to wicked Ahab to see if three years of drought and famine have made an impression]. 

“So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria.  And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house (Now Obadiah feared the Eternal greatly.  For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Eternal [so Ahab indeed had went after the true prophets of God to kill them, which is one of the reasons Elijah was sent to Sidon], that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.)

“And Ahab had said to Obadiah, ‘Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and the mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.’

“So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.  Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, ‘Is that you, my lord Elijah?’

“And he answered him, ‘It is I.  Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’

“Then he said, ‘How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?  As the Eternal your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you.  [Ahab was a powerful king, like a President of the United States.  He sent his “Federal Agents” into the surrounding countries in an international manhunt for this most wanted of men:  Elijah.]  And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here”’!

“‘And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Eternal will carry you to a place I do not know [Elijah apparently had a reputation of supernatural transport to escape his problems with the authorities.]; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me.  But I your servant have feared the Eternal from my youth.  Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Eternal, how I hid one hundred men of the Eternal’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

“‘And now you say, “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here,’” and he will kill me.’

“Then Elijah said, ‘As the Eternal of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.’

“So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.  Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, ‘Is that you, O troubler of Israel?’ [Isn’t it interesting how this very sinful man could call Elijah the troubler, when the plague had come because of HIS SIN?  Just so, I have been considered a troubler of God’s people for demanding that they repent of their wicked ways and for condemning their evil leadership.  Human nature never seems to change.]

“And he answered, ‘I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Eternal, and you have followed the Baals.  Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Ashera, who eat at Jezebels table.’

“So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.  And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions?  If the Eternal is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word.

“Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I alone am left  a prophet of the Eternal; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore, let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.  Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Eternal; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.’ So all the people answered and said, ‘It is well spoken.’

“....So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, saying ‘O Baal, hear us!’ But there was no voice; no one answered.  And they leaped abut the altar which they had made. 

“And so it was at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said [how unchristian of Elijah -- not showing sensitivity to the beliefs of others!  What a callous attitude!  Indeed!], Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’

“So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out of them.  And it was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice.  But there was no voice; on one answered, no one paid attention.

“....Then with the [12] stones he built an altar in the name of the Eternal; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.  And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, ‘Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.’

“Then he said, ‘Do it a second time,’ and they did it a second time; and he said, ‘Do it a third time,’  and they did it a third time.  So water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.  And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘Eternal God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.

“‘Hear me, O Eternal, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Eternal God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.’

“ Then the fire of the Eternal fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.  Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Eternal, He is God!  The Eternal, He is God!”

“And Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal!  Do not let one of them escape!’ So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Cushon and executed them there. [Oh, how politically incorrect!  He MURDERED these priests of another religion rather than starting an ecumenical dialogue!  But I thought God was LOVE, and He wouldn’t hurt a fly?  Well, if that’s what you think, you are serving another God, AND YOU HAD BETTER WATCH OUT!]

“Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.’

“So Ahab went up to eat and drink.  And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, ‘Go up now, look toward the sea.’ So he went up and looked, and said, ‘There is nothing.’ And seven times he said, ‘Go again.’

“Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, ‘There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!’ So he said, ‘Go up, say to Ahab, “Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.”” [It is obvious that God had given Elijah the power to open and to shut the sky.]

“Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds, and wind, and there was a heavy rain.  So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.  Then the hand of the Eternal came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.  [Elijah was enabled to outrun a chariot!]”

After all of this, one would have thought that the first couple would repent, especially when Elijah released the drought.  But no such luck.

“And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying,  ‘So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”  I Ki. 18:1-19:2  [Rather than repenting, the modern day Hillary -- or is it Janet Reno -- decided to still kill Elijah.  This, of course, was a fatal mistake for the first couple as they would soon discover.  It seems that mankind is so set in his evil ways that real severe punishment must occur before they change, and some never do.  The prophet of God, unfortunately, has the grim duty of telling people what God has said will happen, to cries of derision, outrage, and threats!]

One would have thought that after such miracles, Elijah would have laughed Jezebel’s threat to scorn.  But Elijah was as human as you or I.  And, unless the inspiration of God was directly upon him, just as frightened.  I know a little bit about this myself.  At those times when I am inspired by God, things seem to really happen, but at other times, I am just like everyone else.  This is because it is GOD doing the work, not the man. 

So, after his great victory, Elijah fled in fear, and finally, exhausted, collapsed and prayed to die!  What a change from a few days  earlier!  Then God sent an angel to him in a vision, gave him a special cake to provide the energy for a long journey, and then went without food for forty days on a long journey to Mt. Horeb.  Finally, he hid out in a cave, still sulking.  He mentioned that he was the only prophet of the Eternal left.  God then taught him some lessons, which you can read for yourself, and then sent him to anoint a new king for Syria.  He was also instructed to anoint Elisha as a prophet after him.  And Elisha was to be given the power to kill [which he did -- but oh my, God doesn’t curse or kill people, does He?]

I am now going to skip to the very end of Elijah’s ministry, in II Ki. 9-15.  Ahab had died, and another king had replaced him and wanted to send to another God to inquire about his health as he had fallen through the roof and hurt himself.  The messenger had met Elijah, and Elijah said that he would not recover.  This made King Ahaziah really upset, so he sent out a commando task force to go out and arrest Elijah.  What followed was like Waco, except the government troops are the ones who were burned, not the man of God:

“Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men.  So he went up to him; and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill.  And he spoke to him: ‘Man of God, the king has said, “Come down.”’

“So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.’ And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

“Then he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men [governments are really on an ego trip to show “who’s boss,” aren’t they?  Have you noticed how deluded government officials, and especially the president of a country, are with their so called importance, and think that everyone should do what they tell them to do?  God doesn’t care about their so called authority, and someday the Federal Government of the United States and the Beast in Europe are going to learn this lesson the hard way, just as this arrogant king did!].  And he answered and said to him:  “Man of God, thus has the king said, ‘Come down quickly!’ [In other words, do what you’re told now!  I’ve got a SWAT team here.  God yawns and says, so what?] 

“So Elijah answered and said to them, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.’ And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.  [Imagine Janet Reno’s and Bill Clinton’s outrage if their precious Federal Agents and their helicopter gunships were ALL DESTROYED not once, but TWICE!  Such an outrage!  I can see multiple counts of murder, obstruction of justice, interfering with a police officer, etc.  I wonder if this happens in the future how long it will take our government to wake up to reality?]

“And he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men.  And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: ‘Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.  Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties.  But let my life now be precious in your sight.’ [Now this third “government agent” had the right idea.  He knew who was really in charge!]

“And the angel of the Eternal said to Elijah, ‘Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.’ So he arose and went down with him to the king.”

This ends our direct quotes from the Bible about Elijah’s life.  I believe that when we combine what we find here with what is written about John The Baptist, the second Elijah, and finally add in some modern day prophecies, we get a clear picture of Elijah’s mission in these end times.

John the Baptist preached in a physical wilderness a message of preparation about the physical Jesus coming to die for the sins of the world.  He prepared the way for Him by calling the whole nation to repentance.  The original Elijah also told the people to repent, but strongly rebuked corrupt government officials, performed miracles, and destroyed priests of Baal and arrogant army officers.  The end time Elijah will probably fulfill both roles.

His ministry will  no doubt start out as a work of evangelism, calling a sinful people to repentance, and setting the people of God’s church back on His track -- or at least those who will listen!  This first phase of his ministry is mentioned in Mal. 4:5-6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse [some margins say “ban of utter destruction].”

So the first part of Elijah’s end time ministry will be a saving work like that of John The Baptist.  The second part of his mission will be to Israel, just like the ancient Elijah’s was -- not Judah or the Jews, but to the United States and other nations descended from the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel (See ‘The United States and Britain in Prophecy” in our library section for a full explanation and proof of our national identity). 

Just as the ancient Elijah came to a sinful King and a sinful people who had forgotten God, so this endtime Elijah will come to a nation and a leadership that do not want to keep God in their remembrance.  Speaking of our times today, the Apostle Paul was inspired to write in II Tim. 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men shall be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.  And from such people turn away!”

Yes, people today are everything Paul says here.  It’s all around us.  Elijah will come to such a nation to give them God’s message.  But by and large they will violently reject him!  Even of those who once knew God’s truth, many will turn away, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” [4:3-4] 

Sad to say, this prophecy has been fulfilled in our day.  For many years, God led the group of  His people in the Worldwide Church of God through Herbert W. Armstrong.  Armstrong was not perfect -- no one is.  And he made some serious doctrinal errors.  But I vividly remember a sermon in which Mr. Armstrong thundered,  “Brethren, I am really concerned for your salvation.  I believe that over 50% of you JUST AREN’T GETTING THIS!!!!!!!!!  We are in the time of final exams, and I believe that  many of you are flunking!  We need to pay attention and learn the precious Truth of God and apply it in our lives.”

The final exams weren’t then.  They came after his death a few years after making this statement.  And, starting with Joseph Tkach, Sr., the church was led to abandon most of the precious Truth that God had taught through Mr. Armstrong.  This process only accelerated under his son, Joe Jr., after Joe Sr.’s death.  God cursed Joe Sr. to death, but nobody listened.  I was the instrument of God used to proclaim that curse.  But I was ridiculed and kicked out of all polite conversations.  People just don’t believe God can do these things today.  If you believe that, THEN GO BACK AND READ THE HISTORY OF ELIJAH ABOVE AND THEN COME BACK AND TELL ME THAT!

But, just as Paul predicted, the people do not endure sound doctrine, but would rather listen to teachers that tell them what they want to hear rather than the Truth of God.

Well, my friends, I don’t know who this end time Elijah is going to be, but he will be used to proclaim God’s Word IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS TO A SIN SICK WORLD AND A SIN SICK CHURCH, and they won’t like it one bit.

Elijah will call upon a sinning church and sinning nations of Israel to repent.  They won’t.  They will seek to shut him up.  Elijah will bring plagues upon the nations, they will hate him more and send out a military task force or two.  Fire from heaven will destroy them.  After all of this, the great United States of America and the other nations of modern day Israel will lay in ruins.  Part of the ruin will be the natural result of their sins, but another part will be plagues rained down on them by this end time Elijah.  They will not repent until the entire nation is destroyed and brought into a terrible national captivity and slavery by a rising Beast power in Europe. 

The invasion won’t be hard, because these sinning nations will have already been destroyed by terrible plagues rained down from God by His servant Elijah.

Whose side will you be on when all of this starts to happen?  Will you be on the side of GOD, or will you be on the side of man?  What you decide then begins today.  I pray you opt for the Truth of God!  He is the only Rock of Protection we have for the terrible Tribulation to befall the whole earth.  He’s the only hope we have.  He’s the only hope we ever have had.