“Behold, I am going to send you 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 the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”  -Malachi 4:5-6

Message believers are taught that  there is a “conjunction” separating two different comings of this Elijah spirit in verse six.  They are taught that there is a total of five comings of the spirit of Elijah:

1. Elijah
2. Elisha
3. John the Baptist,
4. The 7th messenger Elijah of the last church age
5. Elijah will come back as one of the two witnesses to the Jews found in the book of Revelation.

Message believers are taught that William Branham is the 7th messenger prophet sent in the last church age with the Spirit of Elijah.  His ministry was to fore-run Christ’s second coming just like John the Baptist fore-ran His first coming.  Why do they believe this? Simply because this is how William Branham taught it.  He said,

“Well, I said, “That was right. I believe that.” Jesus said when the disciples asked Him that, they said, “Well, why did the…?” When He was claiming to be the Messiah, said, “Why does the scribes say that Elias must first come?”Jesus said, “He’s already come, and you didn’t know him.” And then they understood that He spoke of John the Baptist. How many ever heard that? Well, my, you all have read the Bible. John the Baptist… But remember, that wasn’t the Elijah that He spoke of of the last days, ’cause the world never burnt and the Millennium set in. Watch the Scripture. Watch the reading of it. Turn to Malachi 4 just a minute. Watch there. I never knew that before. I never try to speak anything until the Holy Spirit comes first to reveal it.  Watch. The first time Elijah come, he turned the hearts of the fathers, the old patriarch fathers (See?), back there, the old Jews, to the faith of the children that’d just received Him, and believed of the coming Messiah. “Turned the hearts of the fathers to the children, and (a conjunction, tying the sentence together, when He comes the second time) the hearts of the children back to the Pentecostal fathers.” Hallelujah. There you are.

So how can the evening Light be anything but back to Acts again? Right. When He said before that day comes, that’ll burn the earth like an oven and the righteous will walk out upon their ashes… Oh, brother, we are looking for a Light to come. It’s here.  And remember, when this Elijah comes… I’ll give you some of his description. When Elijah comes, that’s the messenger to the Laodicean church Age. We find Elijah coming before… Remember, Elijah was the one that went up on a chariot, never tasted death. And the message of this great messenger that’ll come in this closing day in the Laodicean church Age, the Pentecostal Age, will be the one that’ll take the church to the rapture. Exactly. He was raptured himself, and he will come with the church to the rapture.

And remember again… I’ll give you some of the descriptions of this man. He will be a woman hater. He sure will. Look at–look what he was on Elijah: Jezebel. Look on John: Herodias. See? Another thing, he will be firmly against denominations. Look at Elijah; look at John. “Don’t think to say within yourself we have Abraham to our father. God’s able of these stones to rise children to Abraham.” He will hate denominations; he will hate immoral women. He will be a man in the wilderness, that lives in the wilderness, coming forth with his Message. And he will bring the hearts of the people… Oh, there’s been a hundred Elijah’s come up in the last days: Alexander Dowie, and so many in the world today saying they’re Elijah, they’re Elijah of the day. Elijah will go back to the original Pentecostal Ephesus church, and bring that same Message to the people with signs of the Messiah. The Bible said so”. -WMB 610117

Firstly, William Branham acknowledges that Jesus said Elijah already came.  However, he then goes on to say, “but that wasn’t that Elijah”.  Why?  Because the world never burned and the millennium had not “set in”.   I’d like to point out that William Branham has been dead since 1965.  We are still here, and the millennium has not “set in”.  In which case also, the ministry of John would have qualified.

All of that seems rather futile when Malachi actually says, “so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”   In other words, if I do not send this messenger as I have promised, then I will smite the earth with a curse.

Secondly,  William Branham claims this Elijah, the last messenger to the Laodicean Age will also take the church in the rapture.  Again, considering William Branham is now dead and has been since 1965, shall we look for him to raise first?  I’ll be honest, I’m looking for Jesus. Let us not forget what Paul told us,

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”  -1 Thessalonians 4:16

Lastly I’d like to ask, where does the Bible say Elijah was a woman hater, where in the Bible is it written Elijah is against denominations?  Where in the Bible does it state, Elijah would come with the “signs of the messiah”?  (I recommend you read Matthew 24:24.)

This is where my personal study began.  Was there an Elijah promised in the last days to the Gentiles?  For myself, the Bible is my Absolute.  I must be able to take it back to the scriptures, so I began to read the book of Malachi from the start unto the end for full context.

The first verse of Malachi tells  to whom the letter is written:  “The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.”  -Malachi 1:1.  Israel was looking for an Elijah to prepare the way for the promised Messiah.

Malachi is the very last letter or book in the Old Testament so you do not have to read very far into the New Testament to find this promised “Elijah”.  When Jesus’ disciples asked about this Elijah, Jesus was clear when he replied, “he already came”.  Let’s also read what the angel Gabriel said to John’s father when he came to him:

“But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  -Luke 1

(Note there is also a “conjunction” just like Malachi 4:6)

1. Elizabeth will have a son
2. His name will be John
3. John was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb
4. Many of the sons of Israel will turn back to the Lord their God
5. John will be a forerunner before Him [the Lord]i
6. This will be in the spirit and power of Elijah
7. To turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children
8.  And the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous
9. Why? to make ready a people prepared for the Lord

Many attempt to separate Malachi 3:1 with Malachi 4:5-6. However, Luke chapter 7 clearly ties Malachi 3 to John the Baptist and Luke 1 states John would fore-run Christ.  If Luke 1 is Malachi 4:5-6, it is also Malachi 3.  Jesus and John both confirmed the fulfillment of these scriptures.

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. -Malachi 3:1

When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.   “This is the one about whom it is written,
‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’  -Luke 7

“And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”  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.”  – Matthew 17:11

John’s last testimony declared:  “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’   – John 3:30

Again, Jesus said,  “I say to you that Elijah already came”

I have read the New Testament over and over.  I have yet to find a scripture about an “Elijah to the Gentiles” or a “prophet of restoration” in the last day.

The prophet Malachi prophesied about one who would come in the power and spirit of Elijah.  The angel Gabriel came to Zacharias and told him this was John “about who it is written” and  Jesus confirmed it.

Jesus warned us in the book of Matthew chapter 24,

“See to it that no one misleads you.  “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.  “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.  “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.  “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.  “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.  “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.  “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.  “Behold, I have told you in advance.”

Jesus also told us who we should look for, in John chapter 14 He said, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”

“Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability”  – 2 Peter 3:15