19

THE MESSAGE
PROPHETIC
OF ELIAS
Friday, May 14

To break the ice

Do you remember any episode in which you almost lost your life in
a dangerous situation? Share your experience with the group.
Is there someone you know whose life was completely transformed
by the power of the gospel? What do you admire most about that
person?

Introduction
The Holy Scriptures close the pages of the Old Testament with a
prophecy that was given about 400 years before Christ. This prophecy
announces the coming of the prophet Elijah. This has caused many
Christians to develop various theories regarding the work he will do, the
message he will proclaim, and the date on which the already prophesied
Elijah will appear. (It should be noted that even the Jews themselves still
await his coming). Who is this prophet Elijah who will come in the time
of the end? Will the prophet Elijah come down from heaven in person?
Could God be illustrating the work His church will do on earth for this
end time?

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PROPHECIES OF HOPE

PROPHECIES OF HOPE

Study text

V Malachi 4:5,6
“Behold, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and
terrible day of the Lord comes. 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 land with a curse.”

Interpreting the text

The Jews lived waiting for Elijah to come soon to announce the
arrival of the Messiah. But this prophecy in Malachi was never intended
to imply that the Old Testament prophet would return to earth. The
prophecy referred, rather, to the return of Elijah's spirit of revival and
reformation.
Speaking about the birth of John the Baptist, the angel Gabriel said
to Zechariah: “He will precede the Lord, with the spirit and power of
Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and of the
rebellious to the prudence of the righteous; to prepare a well-disposed
people for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17).
Gabriel was the first to point out that Malachi's prophecy was
fulfilled in John the Baptist. John was to precede the Lord to carry out a
special task of revival and reformation. Jesus later confirmed this when
he said, “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if
you want to receive him, he is that Elijah who was to come” (Matthew
11: 13,14).

Issue
But the completion of Malachi's prophecy does not end with John
the Baptist. There is also a fulfillment for our days. Notice that the
prophecy says: “I send you the prophet Elijah before the great and
terrible day of the Lord comes.” The “great and terrible day of the
Lord,” which is also expressed as “the great day of his wrath” in
Revelation 6:17, is synonymous with the second coming. This is why
this other fulfillment points to a period just before Jesus' return!
Seventh-day Adventists have been chosen by God as a particular
people, separated from the world. With the great instrument of truth, he
has taken them from the quarry of the world and related them to himself.
He has made them his representatives, and has called them to be his
ambassadors during this last phase of the work of salvation. He has
charged them to proclaim to the world the greatest sum of truth ever
entrusted to mortal beings, the warnings

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most solemn and terrible that God has ever sent to men. (Jewels of the
Testimonies 3:140) – (EUD 43.2)
The servant of the Lord declares that “Those who are to prepare the
way for the second coming of Christ are represented by the faithful
Elijah, just as John came with the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for
the first coming of Christ.” (CRA 84.)
In a very special sense, Seventh-day Adventists have been placed in
the world as sentinels and transmitters of light. To them has been
entrusted the task of directing the last warning to a perishing world. The
Word of God casts a wonderful light on them. A work of the greatest
importance has been entrusted to them: to proclaim the messages of the
first, second and third angels. No other work can be compared to this
one and nothing should divert our attention from it. (Jewels of the
Testimonies 3:288)

Conclusion
In the Old Testament, Elijah led the people to repent and return to
God on Mount Carmel. Then he prayed and God sent abundant rain to
end the drought. Likewise, John the Baptist called for repentance and
acceptance of Jesus. Shortly after, they received the early rain of the
Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Just as God called Elijah and John the Baptist,
today he calls the Adventist people to preach a message of repentance.
Then, when the church humbles itself, the latter rain of the Spirit of God
will come.

Missionary activity for this week

Knock on the doors of five of your neighbors and ask them if they
have anything to pray for. Pray for them.

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PROPHECIES OF HOPE

20
ELIAS
ILLUSTRATES
TIME
DOLPHIN
Friday, May 21

To break the ice

Have you ever felt like a victim of prejudice? Have you seen
anyone unfairly judged or rejected? What feelings did that situation
provoke in you? What was your reaction?

Introduction
Today we will continue scrutinizing the life of the prophet Elijah.
He exercised his ministry between the years 874 –853. BC This prophet
of God has the immense privilege of living in heaven.
There are five important aspects in the life and work of this prophet
that illustrate very well the role that God's people must play in the time
of the end.
a. Elías emerges at a crucial moment
b. Elijah restores true worship
c. Elijah is pursued by Jezebel
d. Elijah is sustained by God
e. Elijah is transferred to heaven.

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PROPHECIES OF HOPE
Study text
V 1 Kings 18:17-21
“When Ahab came to Elijah, he said to him, Are you the one who
troubles Israel? And he said, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your
father's house, forsaking the commandments of the Lord, and following
the Baals. So send now and gather to me all Israel on Mount Carmel,
and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred
prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel.
Then Ahab called together all the children of Israel, and gathered
the prophets to Mount Carmel. And Elijah approached all the people and
said: How long will you hesitate between two thoughts? If Jehovah is
God, follow him; and if Baal, go after him. And the people did not
respond a word.”

Interpreting the text

“Early in the morning, Elijah is on Mount Carmel, surrounded by
apostate Israel and the prophets of Baal. A man alone in that vast crowd,
remains undaunted. He whom the entire kingdom blamed for their
misfortune stands before them, undaunted or accompanied by visible
armies or an imposing display. There he stands, dressed in his coarse
robe, with an expression of dread solemnity on his face, fully conscious
of his sacred commission as God's servant to execute his commands.
Elijah fixes his eyes on the highest peak of the mountains where
Jehovah's altar had been when the mountain was covered with flowers
and vigorous trees. The scourge of God is now upon the mountain; All
the desolation of Israel is in full view of the neglected and broken down
altar of Jehovah, and the altars of Baal are also visible. Ahab remains at
the head of the priests of Baal and everyone awaits the words of Elijah
in anxious and fearful expectation. (3,TI. P. 310)

Issue
to. Elías emerges at a crucial moment.
God raises Elijah when the people had entered into the most terrible
apostasy.
(1 King. 16:29-33)

V The king of Israel marries a pagan woman. Jezebel. Thus a pagan

religion is established in Israel. (Apocalypse. 2: 20-22).
• They built an altar and temple to Baal.

PROPHECIES OF HOPE
V They worshiped Baal: the main god of the Canaanites, represented

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 by a young and strong calf. He is also known as the god Helios
(Sun), Zeus himself of the Greeks or the god Jupiter of the Romans.
He was the god of storms and fertility.
V They built an image of Asherah: goddess who loved the gods.
V They loved the sexual act, public sex. They brought their daughters
to be impregnated by the priests of Baaal. (fertility festival)
V They sacrificed their children in the fire. (Jeremiah. 32:35)
V They had completely forgotten the law of God.
V Elijah was called by God to denounce false religion and bring the
people back to God.

In the same way, God raises up the Adventist people at a crucial

moment in history, in the time of the end, after 1,260 years of darkness
and apostasy. When the world was shrouded in spiritual darkness,
Adventism emerged to restore the truth that was trampled and to
announce the message of the three angels to every nation, tribe, tongue
and people.
Revelation 10 is without a doubt the beginning of Adventist history.
After the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17), and its fulfillment respectively,
October 22, 1844 is the day of birth of a people with a prophetic origin,
a mission, “And he said to me: it is necessary that you prophesy again to
many peoples, nations , tongues and kings” (Rev. 10:11), and a relevant
message: Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his
judgment has arrived! Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea
and the fountains of water” (Rev. 14:7)

Conclusion
V We live in the time of the last church: LAODICEA. There is no
octave.
V Today when Baal (Satan) is worshiped by the majority, we must
declare the truth to the world.
V We live in a time where homosexualism, pantheism, evolutionism,
spiritualism, ecumenism are normal.
V Just as the second Elijah prepared the way for the first coming of
Christ, we have been called by God to prepare a people for the
second coming of Christ.

Missionary activity for this week

Ask God to put in your path a totally unknown person who needs to
hear the good news of Jesus.

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 21
ELIAS
RESTORE
THE TRULY
A DORATION
Friday, May 28

To break the ice

Is the Gospel for all social classes? How can we reach the richest?
What has your community, church, or small group done to reach all
walks of life?

Introduction
Just as the prophet Elijah returned after the three and a half years of
drought, prophetic Elijah would also return sometime after 1798 when
the three and a half prophetic years were fulfilled (Dan. 7:25). His work
would be to restore all things (Matt. 17:11), which would imply the
restoration of the truth of the altar and its meanings within the services
of the heavenly sanctuary. The study of Daniel 8:9-12 showed us that
the truth about the sanctuary and the daily life were cast down during
the period of 538 AD. to 1798 AD If it was destroyed, it would need to
be restored, and that is exactly what happened with the emergence of
God's remnant.

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PROPHECIES OF HOPE

Study text

V 1 Kings 18:30.
“Then Elijah said to all the people: Come near to me. And all the
people came to him; and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was
ruined.”

Interpreting the text

“At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah repairs the altar of God
that Israel's apostasy had allowed the priests of Baal to tear down. He
does not ask anyone from the town to help him in his laborious task. The
altars of Baal are all prepared; but he goes to the broken down altar of
God, which to him is more sacred and precious in its ugly ruins than all
the magnificent altars of Baal.
Elijah reveals his respect for the covenant the Lord had made with
his people, even though they had apostatized. Calmly and solemnly he
repairs the knocked down altar with twelve stones, according to the
number of the twelve tribes of Israel. The disappointed priests of Baal,
exhausted by their vain and frantic efforts, sit or lie prostrate on the
ground, waiting to see what Elijah will do. "They are filled with fear and
hatred towards the prophet for proposing a test that has exposed their
weakness and the ineffectiveness of their gods." (3 TI, Page. 314)

Issue
According to Matthew 17:11, Isaiah 58:12, the work of the
prophetic Elijah will be to restore all things. God expects us to rise like
Elijah to recover various aspects of truth that have been completely
forgotten.

“Where do we find the people referred to here? Who is he who will

build the ancient ruins and raise the foundations from generation to
generation? Where are the people who have received the light from
heaven to see that a breach has been opened in the law of God?
John says in the Apocalypse: "The temple of God was opened in
heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen in the temple" (Rev.
11:19). John saw in vision the Lord's people awaiting his coming and
seeking the truth. When the temple of God was opened for his people,
the light of the law of God that was in the ark shone. In the proclamation
of the third angel's message those who receive this light appear on the
scene. That angel is seen flying in the middle of heaven “saying with a
loud voice: If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives its
mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the
wrath of God.” , which has been poured pure into the cup of his wrath;

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 PROPHECIES OF HOPE

and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels
and the Lamb... Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
These are the people who are repairing the breach of God's law.
They see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment has been
supplanted by a false day of rest, a day that the Word of God does not
authorize. They are loyal to their God in the midst of great opposition,
and they enlist under the banner of the third angel” (MS 48).
“At the time of the end, every divine institution must be restored.
The breach, or breach, that was made in the law when men changed the
Sabbath must be repaired. God's remnant people, those who stand before
the world as reformers, must demonstrate that the law of God is the
foundation of all permanent reform, and that the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment must endure as a monument of creation and a constant
reminder of power. of God. With clear arguments they must present the
need to obey all the precepts of the Decalogue.”—Prophets and Kings,
p. 501.

Conclusion
As a prophetic movement, the Adventist Church fulfills the role of
prophetic Elijah. We are the remnant of biblical prophecy (Revelation.
12:17; 14:12), which restored the truth of worship to the creator God
(Sabbath), and we believe that we have salvation, forgiveness and
mediation only in Christ (eternal gospel). God calls those people to
present that message and restore that truth throughout the world as a
testimony to all nations.

Missionary activity for this week

Invite a non-Adventist family or person to your home for dinner and
watch a video that contributes to family strengthening.

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