John the Baptist Replaces Elijah

Dr. Couch, does John the Baptist "replace" the coming of Elijah? Elijah is supposed to come before the arrival of the Messiah to establish the earthly Davidic Kingdom. The amillennialists say that John fulfills the prediction of Elijah, and therefore, the Kingdom has come already! ANSWER:  Of course, they are wrong, and they do not read carefully. There are two predictions about the arrival of heralds (1) to announce the first coming of Christ, and (2) to announce His second coming. Isaiah 40:3-5 and Malachi 3:1-3 announce the coming of John the Baptist. Isaiah 40:3-5 is directly applied to John in Luke 3:4-6. He is the voice "in the wilderness."    The Angel of the Lord made it clear to John's father, Zecharias, that John came in the "spirit and power" of Elijah (Luke 1:17). That is, John came announcing the first coming of Christ, with the same spirit and purpose that Elijah will have when he comes to announce the Lord's second coming.    Malachi 4:5-6 tells Israel that Elijah will come to announce Christ's second coming. The passage reads "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, …" Here, the "great and terrible day" is not the Tribulation period, but is describing the judgment brought on the Gentiles, and upon Israel, when the Messiah arrives to establish the kingdom. He comes with fury and judges the wayward Gentiles and the rebellious Jews.    The Jewish people, and Christ's disciples, understood that there was no confusion about the coming of John the Baptist (to announce the Lord's first coming) and the arrival of Elijah (to announce the Lord's second coming). Matthew 16:28-17:13 is an important section of verses on this issue:    Christ told His disciples that the Son of Man, the Messiah, would someday come in His messianic, Davidic Kingdom (16:28). This is the one thousand year reign of Christ! Then Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, that is, He suddenly appeared in His glorified form, as He will be seen, when the Kingdom arrives and is established. Elijah and Moses appear with the Lord and began talking to Him. Moses was used of God to establish the nation of Israel following the liberation of the Jews from Egypt. Elijah announces the Lord's first coming.    Christ's disciples said to Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" (v. 10), that is, come first to establish the earthly Kingdom rule. Christ then confirmed: "Elijah is coming and will restore all things" (v. 11). The "restore all things" refers to Malachi 4:5-6. But then Christ added, "But I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him …" (v. 12). With these words, "The disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist" (v. 13).    To clarify what Christ is saying, one must look carefully at Matthew 17:11. Jesus uses the Present Tense, and the Future Tense: "Elijah IS COMING and He WILL RESTORE all things." Was John the Baptist coming back "to restore in the future all things?" No, the disciples understood that John was a type of Elijah who signaled the Lord's First Coming, as Elijah would signal the Lord's Second Coming. The transfiguration of Christ was a presentation and preview of His future appearance as "the Son of Man (strong messianic term)" who will someday come to inaugurate His earthly one thousand year Davidic Kingdom (16:28).    The disciples were not confused. They got it. We are the ones who are confused because we are not reading carefully enough! Unger well explains:    "Just as God sent John the Baptist to be the Messiahs' herald at His first advent, so He will send before Christ's second advent 'Elijah the prophet,' … as a great prophetic witness in Elijah's 'official, not his personal capacity,' in the sense that John the Baptist was an Elijah in spirit (Luke 1:16-17)."    I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch