Elisha the Baldhead, the Two She Bears, and the Forty-Two Boys - Closing Thoughts
Bible prophecy predicts the return of the ministry of Elijah at the close of this age and the dawning of a new one, here's what to expect and what to be prepared for
Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
As we close our series on Elisha the Baldhead, I would like to offer some final thoughts on why these stories are extremely relevant and instructive for the church in the closing hours of this age, before the coming consummation of the Kingdom of God. The circumstances that tested and tried men like Elijah and Elisha are going to come upon the church. The evil and gaslighting that tested these men are going to test the hearts and minds of all mankind. The spirit of murder that hunted these men will hound believers. And the call of God that greatly empowered these men will fall upon those whose hearts are loyal to him to boldly confront his enemies in high places.
As we see from the verse above from Malachi, scripture informs us that the ministry of Elijah will return before the “great and awesome day of the Lord comes”. Jesus instructs us that the ministry of Elijah has already returned in the person of John the Baptist.
Matthew 17:9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist
But there are some problems in assuming that John the Baptist completed this prediction from Malachi. First, the “great and awesome day of the lord” refers to God’s rescue of Israel from her enemies and his final judgement and eradication of evil from the earth. That certainly has not happened.
Second, we have no evidence that John the Baptist ever offered any ministry in restoring families.
But there were many clues in John’s life that do overlap with the ministry of Elijah. He dressed like Elijah. He offered his ministry from the wilderness like Elijah. He confronted hostile and corrupt kings like Elijah. But when directly asked by the Jewish leadership if he was actually Elijah (since Elijah had never died, many Jews thought the actual Elijah was going to return in fulfillment of this prophecy), John denied it. But the other clues from his life indicate that he clearly understood himself to be functioning in that role and ministry even if he wasn’t literally the man himself. This is what Jesus is acknowledging about John’s ministry as well.
As we proceed with our discussion about what to expect in God’s future completion of this prophecy from Malachi, I would refer you back to Episode 9 of the “Kingdom Come” series, where we illustrate how this is a clear pattern of God fulfilling Bible prophecy. There is both a near/partial and far/completed fulfillment of almost all Bible prophecy. That principle is no more clearly illustrated than referencing God’s fulfillment of the plan of salvation in the first and second coming of Jesus Christ.
Look closely at the ministry of the two witnesses described in Revelation 11:
2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
Do you see the similarities between Elijah/Elisha’s ministries? Moses’ ministry? Does the number 42 ring a bell?
John the Baptist functioned and ministered in great truth. He was a preacher of repentance and truth to a lost and corrupt nation. But we have no evidence he ever functioned in any miracle working power like Elijah.
On the other hand, we know very little of the content of Elijah’s message. He left us no writings. We only know of his great acts. Moses, on the other hand, represents both of these ministries combined into one. So it will be with the end-time church.
In every case there is one common thread, they all confronted corrupt men and women who held positions of power and thwarted them. It took tremendous courage to do so.
Jesus came the first time only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. John’s ministry was specifically to prepare Israel for the coming of Jesus ministry. So it will be with the end-time church. Jesus is coming the second time for the entire planet. The spirit of Elijah and ministry of Elijah will rest upon the church worldwide to prepare every nation, tribe, and tongue for the man that is coming on the scene. Jesus informs us we can expect many of the same circumstances that Elijah and Elisha faced.
Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
There will be intense civil war that breaks out worldwide as antichrist/pharaoh/jezebel seek to gain control of the hearts and minds of the masses, and entices them to “go up” and worship in metaphorical “high places”, committing treason against the one true God by accepting the “mark of the beast”. We have gotten to see a glimpse of this with the Covid wars and racial tensions (“nations” in the text literally means “ethnos” or ethnicities) that have broken out globally over the last three years. God’s people are going to continue to be challenged with more and more difficult tests. That is what will precipitate what the Apostle Paul predicts in the “apostacy” of the church, or the great falling away from the faith (2 Thess 2:3). Just like Elijah got worn out by the trauma of war, many believers will thrown in the towel as well.
We can also see from the prophecy in Malachi the attack on the nuclear family coming to fruition in a completely unprecedented way with the global cultural attack on traditional sexual values. And while much of the global church is caving to the pressure of “wokeism”, God has a 1,000 prophets who have not bowed the knee to Ba’al. They are in the wilderness preparing, waiting to be activated and called into duty in their workplaces, communities, families, churches and yes government centers. Just like God had Elisha’s back when he stepped out in faith for the very first time crossing over the Jordan river, believers who have never been used by God in such a way will step out in faith for the first time in a public way and call on the God of Elijah. And they will strike the waters with the mantle of Elijah, and the waters will part.
Luke 21:25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”