Does the prophecy of Malachi 4: 5, 6 about Elijah's coming to restore all things have a dual fulfillment?

Serenity

Serenity

Well-known member
At Matthew 17:11 Jesus used the term "restore all things": "In reply he said: "Elijah, indeed, is coming and will restore all things. However, I say to you that Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him but did with him the things that they wanted." Matthew 17:11, 12. This was in response to his disciple's question about why the scribes said that Elijah must come first. Jesus was referring to John the Baptist as being Elijah, but when John was asked if he was Elijah, he said, "No I am not.", however, Jesus said that he was.

▪︎Did John the Baptist not know that he was the Elijah that was prophesied to come?
▪︎Why did he say he was not Elijah when Jesus said that he was Elijah?
▪︎Does this perhaps indicate that John was actually a type for a future Elijah to come before the day of Jehovah? Malachi 4: 5, 6
▪︎Also, how did John the Baptist fulfill the role of Elijah and restore all things?
▪︎And, what things did John restore?
▪︎Also, is there to be another Elijah before Christ's return who will do a similar restoration work?

Jehovah gave Malachi this prophecy: “Look! I am sending to YOU people E·liʹjah the prophet before the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah. And he must turn the heart of fathers back toward sons, and the heart of sons back toward fathers; in order that I may not come and actually strike the earth with a devoting [of it] to destruction.”
Malachi 4: 5, 6

These seeming discrepencies seem to indicate a dual fulfillment, in that Elijah, perhaps the major Elijah, to which other Biblical types point forward, would come before the day of Jehovah, which, at least the final Day of Jehovah, has not come yet. Also, Jesus said Elijah is indeed coming, after he said that Elijah had already come, which also seems to also indicate a dual fulfillment of Malachi 4: 5, 6. (Note: the Apostle Johnn aldo said the antichrist is coming, though there were already many antichrists in his day.)

▪︎Is the Elijah that "is coming" referring to the anointed ones who appeared on the scene in the 1800s? Or is another future Elijah to arrive before the return of Christ?
▪︎Is there more than one restoration of all things, or different types or phases of the restoration of all things?
 
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[11 I, for my part, baptize you with water because of your repentance, but the one coming after me is stronger than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to take off.]

John the Baptist came before Jesus, likewise the two-witnesses and 8th king come before Jesus.

It is during the 42-months of captivity that God's people are cleansed/refined, which at the end they are the GC that are said to have washed their robes and made them white.

Also, in regard to the two-witnesses they indirectly represent Elijah and Moses. The 8th king also serves as Jehovah's means of refining/cleansing his people before Armageddon which is the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.

First the refining occurs during the 42-months, then the restoring occurs after they end.

9 I am sending for all the families of the north,” declares Jehovah, “sending for King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and something to whistle at and a perpetual ruin.

17 Between the porch and the altar Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep and say: ‘Do feel pity, O Jehovah, for your people; Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, Letting the nations rule over them. Why should the peoples say, “Where is their God?”’ 18 Then Jehovah will be zealous for his land And show compassion on his people. 19 Jehovah will answer his people: ‘Here I am sending to you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be fully satisfied; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

25 And I will make compensation to you for the years That the swarming locust, the unwinged locust, the voracious locust, and the devouring locust have eaten, My great army that I sent among you.
 
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So, then Russell and the Bible Students were just reappearing anointed ones? What about the preaching of the good news, the dispelling of demonic teachings that existed for many centuries, some 1,900+ years, and teaching of basic truths hidden behind those lies for centuries, and the 8.5M who now worship Jehovah instead of Jesus? Is that not some type of restoration work?

▪︎Did John the Baptist not know that he was the Elijah that was prophesied to come?
▪︎Why did he say he was not Elijah when Jesus said that he was Elijah?
▪︎Does this perhaps indicate that John the Baptist was actually a type for a future Elijah to come before the day of Jehovah? Malachi 4: 5, 6
▪︎Also, how did John the Baptist fulfill the role of Elijah and restore all things?
▪︎What things did John the Baptist restore?
▪︎Also, is there to be another Elijah before Christ's return who will do a similar restoration work?
▪︎Is the Elijah that "is coming" referring to the anointed ones who appeared on the scene in the 1800s? Or is another future Elijah to arrive before the return of Christ?
▪︎Is there more than one restoration of all things, or different types or phases of the restoration of all things?
 
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Serenity said:
At Matthew 17:11 Jesus used the term "restore all things": "In reply he said: "Elijah, indeed, is coming and will restore all things. However, I say to you that Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him but did with him the things that they wanted." Matthew 17:11, 12. This was in response to his disciple's question about why the scribes said that Elijah must come first. Jesus was referring to John the Baptist as being Elijah, but when John was asked if he was Elijah, he said, "No I am not.", however, Jesus said that he was.

▪︎Did John the Baptist not know that he was the Elijah that was prophesied to come?
▪︎Why did he say he was not Elijah when Jesus said that he was Elijah?
▪︎Does this perhaps indicate that John was actually a type for a future Elijah to come before the day of Jehovah? Malachi 4: 5, 6
▪︎Also, how did John the Baptist fulfill the role of Elijah and restore all things?
▪︎And, what things did John restore?
▪︎Also, is there to be another Elijah before Christ's return who will do a similar restoration work?

Jehovah gave Malachi this prophecy: “Look! I am sending to YOU people E·liʹjah the prophet before the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah. And he must turn the heart of fathers back toward sons, and the heart of sons back toward fathers; in order that I may not come and actually strike the earth with a devoting [of it] to destruction.”
Malachi 4: 5, 6

These seeming discrepencies seem to indicate a dual fulfillment, in that Elijah, perhaps the major Elijah, to which other Biblical types point forward, would come before the day of Jehovah, which, at least the final Day of Jehovah, has not come yet. Also, Jesus said Elijah is indeed coming, after he said that Elijah had already come, which also seems to also indicate a dual fulfillment of Malachi 4: 5, 6. (Note: the Apostle Johnn aldo said the antichrist is coming, though there were already many antichrists in his day.)

▪︎Is the Elijah that "is coming" referring to the anointed ones who appeared on the scene in the 1800s? Or is another future Elijah to arrive before the return of Christ?
▪︎Is there more than one restoration of all things, or different types or phases of the restoration of all things?
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Revelation 11: the two witnesses. One is able to stop up the heavens so that no rain occurs. Another Elijah type person or persons perhaps?
 
John the Baptist fulfilled this prediction so far as Fleshly Israel was concerned, endeavoring to turn their hearts so that they would be ready to receive Jesus in the flesh; but John failed to reform Israel and turn them to repentance, and as a consequence (Matt. 27:12) Israel rejected Jesus in the flesh, and they crucified the Lord; and hence the curse or time of trouble came upon the nation, destroying it A.D. 69-70.

But as the prophecy relates still more particularly to spiritual Israel than to natural Israel, so it relates still more particularly to the antitypical Elijah sent to spiritual Israel than to the antitype sent to natural Israel. The Little Flock throughout this age has been and still is the Elijah to the nominal system, exhorting it and seeking to bring it into harmony with God. That it has failed to convert and prepare the world to receive the King of Glory, is foretold in the Scriptures, and that hence the great time of trouble is upon us. The great day of wrath must come upon the world, to melt, humble and prepare all to cry out from the heart, “Hosannah! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Jehovah!”
 
Serenity said:
So, then Russell and the Bible Students were just reappearing anointed ones? What about the preaching of the good news, the dispelling of demonic teachings that existed for many centuries, some 1,900+ years, and teaching of basic truths hidden behind those lies for centuries, and the 8.5M who now worship Jehovah instead of Jesus? Is that not some type of restoration work?

▪︎Did John the Baptist not know that he was the Elijah that was prophesied to come?
▪︎Why did he say he was not Elijah when Jesus said that he was Elijah?
▪︎Does this perhaps indicate that John the Baptist was actually a type for a future Elijah to come before the day of Jehovah? Malachi 4: 5, 6
▪︎Also, how did John the Baptist fulfill the role of Elijah and restore all things?
▪︎What things did John the Baptist restore?
▪︎Also, is there to be another Elijah before Christ's return who will do a similar restoration work?
▪︎Is the Elijah that "is coming" referring to the anointed ones who appeared on the scene in the 1800s? Or is another future Elijah to arrive before the return of Christ?
▪︎Is there more than one restoration of all things, or different types or phases of the restoratio9n of all things?
Click to expand...
If there isn't more than one "restoration of all things" or different phases of the restoration of all things,and we are not living now in the times of restoration yet, but it is future, then it seems that it must be logically concluded that neither has the Elijah that was fortold to come before the day of Jehovah arrived yet, as was fortold in Malachi 4: 5, 6. This is because according to Malachi, it is Elijah who restores all things. In other words, if the restoration of all things is yet in the future, and we are not living in the time of the restoration of all things, and it is Elijah, according to the prophecy, who restores all things, then Elijah has not yet arrived on the scene and his coming is yet in the future.
 
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Easy there...:)

serenity - the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled

_______________________

I don't know what you did or not get from post #3 along with what you looked up from WOL but here is another go at it along with change to my earlier view.

As it pertains to the future:

4:1 “For look! the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the presumptuous ones and all those practicing wickedness will become like stubble. The coming day will certainly devour them,” says Jehovah of armies, “and it will leave them neither root nor branch.
5 “Look! I am sending to you E·liʹjah the prophet before the coming of the great and awe-inspiring day of Jehovah.

That day that is coming is speaking about Armageddon. Prior to that day the two-witnesses and the 8th king come on scene for 42-months. Prior to the 42-months is WW3.

WW3
two-witnesses/8th king 42 months (Elijah like period)
Jesus comes/Armageddon

Coming back to this:

19“Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, so that seasons of refreshing may come from Jehovah himself 20 and he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. 21 Heaven must hold this one within itself until the times of restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old.

11 In reply he said: “E·liʹjah is indeed coming and will restore all things.

WT 1955 Jesus knew that Malachi’s prophecy did not mean Elijah himself would come again, but that one like Elijah would come to do a work similar to that done by Elijah, a work of turning sincere Israelites to true repentance.
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Before I said Jesus remains in heaven UNTIL 'the times of restoration of all thing' are to begin, viewing that time starting when Satan is abyssed and God's kingdom is now here, which happens when Jesus comes.

But perhaps the restoration time pertains to the 42 months because it is during that period where it calls to repent/be refined/wash your robe, etc.

Therefore, Jesus does not remain in heaven until the time to restore begins, but instead it is that he remains in heaven until the restoration takes place/is completed then he comes.

In regard to the following, it is during Joel 2:17 which is the same period as the 42-months of the 8th king that this is being said, so it would seem the restoring happens here and then Jesus will come after as corresponds to Joel 3:1,2.

[13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests; Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come in and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God; For grain offering and drink offering have been withheld from the house of your God. 14 Proclaim a fast; call for a solemn assembly.Gather the elders together, with all the inhabitants of the land, To the house of Jehovah your God, and cry to Jehovah for help.12 “Yet even now,” declares Jehovah, “return to me with all your hearts, With fasting and weeping and wailing. 13 Rip apart your hearts, and not your garments, And return to Jehovah your God, For he is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in loyal love, And he will reconsider the calamity.]

[3 I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days dressed in sackcloth.”]

And:
Revelation 7:9,10,13-17
 
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Frank D said:
Easy there...:)

serenity - the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled
Click to expand...
Yes, and so I am calm. I'm just trying to understand and stating what seems a logical conclusion based on available information and connecting the pieces. I'm not saying if the fortold Elijah has or has not arrived. I know what, or who, I think may be the modern day Elijah, but I'm not absolutely certain of it; not yet anyway. It seems to me that like many things with God, the restoration of all things occurs not all at once, but over time and in phases. For instance, it will take 1,000 years before everything is fully restored back to what things were before Adam's fall in Eden.
 
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Frank D said:
Easy there...:)

serenity - the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled

_______________________

I don't know what you did or not get from post #3 along with what you looked up from WOL but here is another go at it along with change to my earlier view.

As it pertains to the future:

4:1 “For look! the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the presumptuous ones and all those practicing wickedness will become like stubble. The coming day will certainly devour them,” says Jehovah of armies, “and it will leave them neither root nor branch.
5 “Look! I am sending to you E·liʹjah the prophet before the coming of the great and awe-inspiring day of Jehovah.

That day that is coming is speaking about Armageddon. Prior to that day the two-witnesses and the 8th king come on scene for 42-months. Prior to the 42-months is WW3.

WW3
two-witnesses/8th king 42 months (Elijah like period)
Jesus comes/Armageddon

Coming back to this:

19“Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, so that seasons of refreshing may come from Jehovah himself 20 and he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. 21 Heaven must hold this one within itself until the times of restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old.

11 In reply he said: “E·liʹjah is indeed coming and will restore all things.



Before I said Jesus remains in heaven UNTIL 'the times of restoration of all thing' are to begin, viewing that time starting when Satan is abyssed and God's kingdom is now here, which happens when Jesus comes.

But perhaps the restoration time pertains to the 42 months because it is during that period where it calls to repent/be refined/wash your robe, etc.

Therefore, Jesus does not remain in heaven until the time to restore begins, but instead it is that he remains in heaven until the restoration takes place/is completed then he comes.

In regard to the following, it is during Joel 2:17 which is the same period as the 42-months of the 8th king that this is being said, so it would seem the restoring happens here and then Jesus will come after as corresponds to Joel 3:1,2.

[13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests; Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come in and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God; For grain offering and drink offering have been withheld from the house of your God. 14 Proclaim a fast; call for a solemn assembly.Gather the elders together, with all the inhabitants of the land, To the house of Jehovah your God, and cry to Jehovah for help.12 “Yet even now,” declares Jehovah, “return to me with all your hearts, With fasting and weeping and wailing. 13 Rip apart your hearts, and not your garments, And return to Jehovah your God, For he is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in loyal love, And he will reconsider the calamity.]

And:
Revelation 7:9,10,13-17
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Thank you. Sorry but I find the multi-colored text difficult to read (especially yellow)

Regarding this from your post:

Qupte: 4:1 “For look! the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the presumptuous ones and all those practicing wickedness will become like stubble. The coming day will certainly devour them,” says Jehovah of armies, “and it will leave them neither root nor branch.: Unquote.

The term "day" can mean more than a 24 hour day, and certainly does in this case. There is a "day" of judgment, a period of time of judgment. A "day" to Jehovah is a 1,000 years, a 1,000 years is as a day. During the 1,000 year millennial reign, mankind will be in a "judgment" period, or "day". The unrighteous will be resirrected to judgment. This doesn't mean adverse judgment, but it refers to a trial period, when they will be given an opportunity to learn aboout Jehovah, his purposes and to repent of their former sinful ways. If they continue in a wicked course, however, they will "become like stubble." and will not continue to live on in the kingdom. Isaiah 65:20.
 
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Frank D said:
4:1 “For look! the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the presumptuous ones and all those practicing wickedness will become like stubble. The coming day will certainly devour them,” says Jehovah of armies, “and it will leave them neither root nor branch.
5 “Look! I am sending to you E·liʹjah the prophet before the coming of the great and awe-inspiring day of Jehovah.

That day that is coming is speaking about Armageddon.
Click to expand...
Robert says the day of Jehovah is not Armegeddon but the great tribulation:

What will the day of Jehovah mean for you? – Jehovah's Watchman
e-watchman.com

What will the day of Jehovah mean for you?

Tuesday, June 30 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up. —Prov. 12:25. Paul showed that even one who has the responsibility of encouraging others needs to be built up himself. To Christians
e-watchman.com e-watchman.com
 
Frank D said:
5 Look! I am sending to you E·liʹjah the prophet before the coming of the great and awe-inspiring day of Jehovah.

19 and he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. 21 Heaven must hold this one within itself until the times of restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old.

11 In reply he said: “E·liʹjah is indeed coming and will restore all things.
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The verse reads, "times of restoration", in the plural. So, perhaps there is more than one time of restoration. Perhaps there are muliple and various "times of restoration", which lead up to The Time of Restoration.
 
Serenity said:
I know what, or who, I think may be the modern day Elijah,
Click to expand...
So please share your thoughts...

Serenity said:
The term "day" can mean more than a 24 hour day, and certainly does in this case. There is a "day" of judgment, a period of time of judgment. A "day" to Jehovah is a 1,000 years, a 1,000 years is as a day. During the 1,000 year millennial reign, mankind will be in a "judgment" period, or "day". The unrighteous will be resirrected to judgment. This doesn't mean adverse judgment, but it refers to a trial period, when they will be given an opportunity to learn aboout Jehovah, his purposes and to repent of their former sinful ways. If they continue in a wicked course, however, they will "become like stubble." and will not continue to live on in the kingdom. Isaiah 65:20.
Click to expand...
I am aware of the term 'day' and its usage. You give a good example above but there is more to that 1,000 yearlong day. That day includes Jesus coming/with kingdom, the resurrection and Armageddon. (All the chosen have to be with Jesus at this point.) This day is known as the 'last day'.

Serenity said:
Robert says the day of Jehovah is not Armegeddon but the great tribulation:
Click to expand...
The GT is the 42 months. Armageddon comes after.

It can be said that the GT/42 months is 'the day of Jehovah'. That period is the judgment that starts on his house/people. The 8th king acts as his rod. In this case that day is 3 1/2 years.

But also, Armageddon is said to be 'the day of Jehovah'. When the captives are brought back that is after the 42 months/GT/judgment that started on his house/people. Then it is judgement on the nations/Armageddon. (At this point it is the 'last day', Jesus came along with the kingdom, and all chosen had been killed already by the 8th king and the first resurrection occurred. It is the start of the 1,000-year day.)

3 “For look! in those days and in that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather together all the nations
And bring them down to the Valley of Je·hoshʹa·phat. I will enter into judgment with them there In behalf of my people and my inheritance Israel, For they scattered them among the nations, And they divided up my land among themselves.
11 Come and help, all you surrounding nations, assemble together!’” To that place, O Jehovah, bring down your powerful ones.
12 “Let the nations be roused and come up to the Valley of Je·hoshʹa·phat; For there I will sit in order to judge all the surrounding nations.
14 Crowds, crowds are in the valley of the decision, For the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of the decision.

15 Then the kings of the earth, the high officials, the military commanders, the rich, the strong, every slave, and every free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they keep saying to the mountains and to the rocks: “Fall over us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

14 They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and they perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.

Serenity said:
The verse reads, "times of restoration", in the plural. So, perhaps there is more than one time of restoration. Perhaps there are muliple and various "times of restoration", which lead up to The Time of Restoration.
Click to expand...

:unsure: Perhaps 'times' means years as in 3 1/2 years.

21 Heaven must hold this one within itself until the times of restoration of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old.
7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was up above the waters of the stream, as he raised his right hand and his left hand to the heavens and swore by the One who is alive forever: “It will be for an appointed time, appointed times, and half a time. As soon as the dashing to pieces of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things will come to their finish.”
24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.
2 But as for the courtyard that is outside the temple sanctuary, leave it out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for 42 months.
3 I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days dressed in sackcloth.”
33 And those having insight among the people will impart understanding to the many. And they will be made to stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plundering, for some days.
25 And I will make compensation to you for the years That the swarming locust, the unwinged locust, the voracious locust, and the devouring locust have eaten, My great army that I sent among you.
 
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In Matthew 17, we read the account of the Mount of Transfiguration. To three of the disciples (James, Peter, and John), Jesus was transfigured, and “His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (verse 2). With Jesus were Moses and Elijah. These three figures represent the Jewish, Gospel, and Millennial Ages. Jesus represented the glorified Christ in the Millennium.

The disciples must have understood that Elijah was meant to represent something about their own time because they asked Jesus a question about it: “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” (Verse 10). The disciples were familiar with the concept that Elijah must first come before the kingdom is restored. “And he answered and said, ‘Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 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” (Verses 11-13).

However, Malachi clarifies that John the Baptist was not the complete fulfillment of the type of Elijah. “Behold, I am going to send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and hearts of the children to the fathers, so that I will not come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5,6). From this, it's understood that Elijah is a type of both John the Baptist and the Church. John did an Elijah-type work at the end of the Jewish Age, but Malachi’s prophetic restoration was not accomplished. The Jewish Age ended with a smiting of the earth — the destruction of Jewish society during their harvest. Malachi’s prophecy will not be accomplished until the second part of the antitypical Elijah in the Millennial Age restores all things in the Times of Restitution. Only then will there no longer be a curse on the earth.
 
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