In the book of Malachi we learn that Elijah the prophet will come before the Day of the Lord. For Pre-Tribbers this presents a problem, you see, Pre-Tribbers believe that the rapture is the next and only “prophetic event” to occur before the “Day of the Lord”, and place Elijah as not coming until three and a half years after the rapture! How can this be? Well, either Scripture is wrong or the Pre-Tribbers take on it is. Let’s search the Scripture and see.
Malachi 4:5-6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (KJV)
The prophet Elijah is coming before the Day of the Lord to turn the heart of fathers to children and the heart of children to their fathers, so that the Lord will not come and strike the earth with utter destruction, but as we know, the Lord will come again and utterly destroy the earth, because the majority of the people of the earth do not turn their hearts to God.
According to Pre-trib theology, Elijah isn’t scheduled to make an appearance until the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation period which would be three-and-a-half years after the Pre-Tribbers claim the rapture of the church occurs and the beginning of the Day of the Lord. The Pre-Tribbers get their theology from their main rapture text found in the book of 1 Thessalonians.
1 Th 4:16-5:4
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (KJV)
According to Pre-Tribbers the rapture occurs before the Day of the Lord which is well support be the text, so if the text supports the rapture before the Day of the Lord, then it must be their timing of this event which must be faulty, because as noted earlier, Elijah must come before the Day of the Lord and he doesn’t appear until mid-way through the tribulation period.
Rev 11:3-12
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. (KJV)
It is commonly known and excepted that the two witnesses ministry takes place during the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation, even Pre-Trib doctrine teaches this! It is also excepted that Elijah is one of the two witnesses because it is prophesied that he will come again (Mal 4:5) and as we know he never died, that he was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire (2K 2:1-12), and that it is appointed unto man once to die (Heb 9:27), so with these things in mind Elijah has one of the two slots of the two witnesses.
Now if Pre-Tribbers believe that the rapture occurs before the seven year tribulation and that the Day of the Lord is the beginning of the tribulation, how is it then that according to their theology Elijah doesn’t coming until three-and-a-half years after the Day of the Lord when he is suppose to come before for it? The answer is simple: the rapture of the church and the day of the Lord do not occur when Pre-Tribbers teach. If Elijah is indeed one of the two witnesses (and Pre-Tribbers already agree that he is), and that their ministry takes place during the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation (something else which Pre-Tribbers agree with), then it only figures that the rapture of the church and the Day of the Lord cannot happen until at least the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation or at the end of this period. To say otherwise, is to contradict Scripture.
I encourage you to take your time and go back over this and search for yourself the timing of the prophet Elijah, who will come before the Day of the Lord. In doing so you will discover more than when Elijah will come, but also grasp a better idea of when the rapture and the Day of the Lord will occur. May the Lord bless you as you prayerfully study His Word!
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