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In Matthew 17:11 we read —

“Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.”

As all true believers know, the Lord’s word cannot return void. He does not lie. So this promise must be fulfilled. Yet, we as fallible humans, often do not understand clear plain Scriptures as we should. While that verse is simple it is profound and deep. Let us look at this very important promise from the Lord.

Last week we posted on the subject on the Trinity. Occasionally we will receive a comment or two below our post. Last week we received some from “Dave” and he actually brought up a very timely point and that is –if brother Victor Houteff, who we as present truth believers believe was the Elijah to come as prophesied in Mal. 4:5, was to restore all things, how can that be when he died and all things have not been restored? This is a very good and proper question!

SOP counsels us–

“The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation.” (Counsels to Writers and Editors, p.35)

Ah, so true — “ No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation.”

There should be no questions, no inquires that we should be afraid to answer. If we have studied as we should, the Spirit of Truth is well able to recall for us the helpful answer. The real problem does not come from the questions but whether the hearer can shake his pre-conceived ideas for a “Thus sayeth the Lord”.

So let us look at the question in-depth.

The original Elijah as we all know , fought the good fight in calling out sin and abominations taking place among his people. He did his work then the Lord took him alive from the earth to heaven. So likewise many think that the latter-day Elijah to come must also follow in these exact steps and do his work and, like Elijah, not die and be transferred to heaven without seeing death.

But instead of our thinking, our ideas how about we take Inspired words from God’s prophets?

SOP says the following —

“Elijah was a type of the saints who will be living on the earth at the time of the second advent of Christ and who will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, without tasting death.” (Prophets and Kings, p.227)

“Since there are two types for the living, and as Enoch himself was not a descendant of Jacob, he cannot logically represent Jacob’s descendants, the 144,000.  In fact, the name Jacob, or the title “Israelite,” did not even come into existence until centuries after Enoch was translated. Accordingly, Elijah, an Israelite himself, logically typifies the 144,000, and Enoch logically typifies the great multitude, who are from “all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Rev. 7:9), because from his generation have descended all nations.” (SRod Tract, p.22)

So there we have it–Elijah typifies the 144,000! These are the ones who shall not taste death as Elijah did not, type meets anti-type.

This clears one of our issues that some raise. Because brother Houteff died, that did not disqualify him as the end time prophet because, although he came “in the spirit and power of Elijah” he did not typify Elijah just as John the Baptist did not. Both came with the Elijah spirit of rebuke and calling out reform, yet died after their work was done.

One other fact we cannot overlook. Both of them , John the Baptist and Victor Houteff had a preparatory work to do, in preparing the people to meet the Lord. Present truth believers know very well that the message of the Rod is all about this preparation. It is often referred to as the “sealing message” as the instructions within It show how we are to be sealed when the Lord “suddenly comes to His temple”(Mal. 3:1).

We are all well familiar with the purpose of John the Baptist’s mission, to prepare the way for the Lord first advent.The following Scripture tells of God’s end time messenger preparing the way for the Lord’s next coming — the invisible coming to His temple (church). This is not the “Second Coming” as that is the second “visible” coming for the world to see.

“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal. 3:1)

If you have any confusion of why this coming is needed, just continue reading verses  two to six.

You see brethren the Lord left no stone unturned. His concern is for our eternal welfare and therefore the Elijah to come “before the great and dreadful day of the Lord” was to enlighten us on all the prophecies pertaining to this fateful day, great for those who survive and dreadful for those who don’t. The message explains–

“Evidently God’s people at this particular time are not in need of visions, but rather of interpreters  of the visions of the prophets of old which are not as yet understood. And that is what He has seen fit to give us so that we may understand the Bible. This is the greatest miracle connected with The Shepherd’s Rod, (See illustration in Tract No. 6, Why Perish, 1944 edition, p. 18.)”

“… as John was a messenger to God’s own people at that time, just so at this time the Elijah of Malachi’s prophecy represents a message which is to be delivered not to the world, but to the professed people of God. As John was their last prophet, his message was their final means to fit them for the Messiah’s appearing, for which cause said the Master, “If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. (Matt. 11:14) Likewise, Elijah’s message of today must be to the professed people of God, and is to be their last means to fit them for Christ’s appearing at this time.

   Thus as John “…declared that those who claimed to be the chosen people of God were defiled by sin, and that without purification of heart and life they could have no part in the Messiah’s kingdom” (Desire of Ages, p. 104), just so the Elijah’s message at this time will denounce the denominational corruptions — “the abominations in the midst thereof” (Etc. 9:4) — rebuke the prevailing sins, and exclaim: “What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right, when they are all wrong!…They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God….The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startling denunciation.” — “Testimonies for the Church, ” Vol. 3, pp. 252-3. ( Symbolic Code, vol. 1, no.4, p.5)

The skeptics cannot nor will they ever come to the powerful truth of these statements if they do not read what the prophet Victor Houteff interpreted for us concerning the numerous prophecies in the Scriptures. Let us review some of them —

Hosea chapter 1 and 2, Daniel 8, Daniel chapter 11, Revelation –all chapters, Nahum, Micah, Zechariah, Zephaniah, Joel and the list goes on and on. Much of this pertains to the great and dreadful day or the promise of His end time kingdom in Israel. In other words brother Houteff’s work was to reveal to us what the Lord has in store for us His remnant people.

This is always the tell-tale sign that an adversarial power is at work when the Rod is denied or rebuffed. They will not address the prophetic explanations rather try personal attacks such as “Houteff died”,  “Houteff married a very young woman”,”Houteff taught that Davidians will someday kill Adventists..” and so on.  On our sister site “HearYeTheRod” we just completed a 10 part series detailing how the most infamous accuser of the Rod–Ismael Rodriguez brings such utter falsehoods and accusations, without merit, against the Lord’s Rod.

“…since Elijah is to herald the great day, he can therefore be the only one who will rightly interpret the prophecies of the day, which are still mysteries to Christendom, and even to our own Denomination!  Indeed, to reiterate, it is for this very reason that the prophet is sent.  He is to unroll the scroll to explain what the day of the Lord is like, what the Lord will do then, and how we may survive His judgments. 

To re-emphasize the fact, let it be said again that being the last of the prophets Elijah is, therefore, the only one who can open to our understanding all the prophecies of the Scriptures pertaining to the great and dreadful day of the Lord — prophecies which heretofore have been only mysteries to all.  Thus he is, as the Scriptures say, to blow the trumpet in Zion, and to sound an alarm in God’s holy mountain, in the church.” (General Conference Special, p.19)

Ok, let’s now deal with the point of how can Victor Houteff be the Elijah to come if all things were not restored by him?

To begin with we should remember the very important statement by the prophet —

The prophet, or the message is called , Elijah, “with the spirit and power of Elijah.”(SRod, vol.1,  p.47)

The shows that though brother Houteff died, right now “Elijah” is still alive through the message sent out! Thus Victor Houteff did his job as sent by the Lord. The message explains further —

“In doing all this, he sets in motion the power that is to restore all things. Hence Christ’s positive declaration: “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” (General Conference Special, p.19-20)

Ok, although we’ve cleared some basic points , but we still need to go further. There remains much more restoring to be done. For instance, the final gospel proclamation, the set up of the Loud Cry kingdom headquarters in Israel. Where does Victor Houteff fit in concerning that?

As we go further it is helpful we remember that the Lord said this —

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”(Isaiah 55:8-9)

It is natural for us humans to say, “Well Victor died so that means he’ll not be able to restore all things”. But as we have shown already, Victor Houteff did the preparatory work in setting in motion the Lord’s Rod (Micah 6:9, 7:14). Yet, why would we then say that the Lord really did not mean that Houteff would do both, the preparatory work and the restoration work? Does not make any sense. Further the word promises only ONE Elijah to come, not “Elijahs”. Where does it say that another prophet is to come after the Elijah? Nowhere.

Yet watch closely, many accusers and deniers that Victor Houteff could be the final Elijah for this and that reason (or even denying him a prophet),  have their own prophet they are following, or they themselves may even declare themselves a prophet! For many SDA, just like the Jews with Moses, they are stuck on one prophet–Ellen White, even some going so far as to claim she was the Elijah to come!

“Surely the Lord GOD doeth nothing, unless He revealeth His secret unto his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7)

“Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning.” (Evangelism, p.118)

Let us look what the Lord has in store in His word. He does not fail us in telling us the Elijah plans.

First, the following shows that “the house of David shall be as God” in the latter days –wow! Let us read–

“In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.” (Zech 12:8)

The message tells us the purpose  of this house of David–

“Now, what is the overall purpose of the house of David? — The house of David, the Scriptures reveal, is being built up for a three-fold purpose: (1) During the ingathering of the people, it is to “build the old wastes,” to “raise up the former desolations,” and to “repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” Isa. 61:4. 

This work of rebuilding and restoring has as its type the rebuilding of ancient Jerusalem by the ancient Jews returning from their Babylonian captivity to the land of their fathers.  Just as they were to build the wastes, the former desolations — the temple of the Lord, the city and the walls — and to restore the worship of God according to the Lord’s own Divine will, so we, too, now in the antitypical ingathering are called to do a similar work, only much greater both in scope and in proportion.  We must therefore labor even more incessantly than they labored, and be happy and thankful for having been privileged to have a part in such a great and glorious work.

   (2) In addition to this great and grand work, while in God’s hand as a battle ax (Jer. 51:20), He is with it to break the Gentiles’ yoke which now rests upon the shoulders of God’s people.  With it He is to emancipate His people from Gentile rule: “from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea….” (Isa. 11:11).  With it He is to “set up an ensign for the nations,” and to “assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Isa. 11:12.

To get this work done we are to be at first the “many fishers,” then the “many hunters” (Jer. 16:16).  Thus it is that the first fruits are to be gathered “one by one.” Isa. 27:12.  We are now in the hunting days — going from city to city, from village to village, and from door to door, a thing which has never before been done.  Besides fishing and hunting we also are to make “a highway for the remnant of His people which shall be left, [after the first fruits are gathered] from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” Isa. 11:16. 

After this hunting is over and the highway built up, then it is that the second fruits will flow to the mountain of the Lord’s house.  One nation, as it were, will say to another nation, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Mic. 4:2.

Thus our work has also as its type the Exodus movement going out of Egypt, establishing itself in the promised land.  As they were freed from their Egyptian bondage, so we shall be freed from the world’s yoke; and just as they possessed the land, and set up the kingdom, so shall we if we make their mistakes our stepping stones to success.

   (3) Finally, we are to hasten “the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” We are to bring “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Pet. 3:12, 13.

 (Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No., p.9-10).

This time shall be so glorious, truly a final witness to the world of God’s abilities–

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.’The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.” Yes, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zech. 8:20-23)

Ok so we see that the final work of God’s restoration plans is the house of David established in the Holy Land. But who runs that? Is the Lord to come down and sit on the throne? Is there to be a new person to come on the scene in the last days? Or is Victor Houteff to come back and finish the work God had him start?

Stay tuned for part two next week, Lord willing.

 

This entry was posted on July 1, 2017 at 5:05 am and is filed under Elijah Interpretations, End times, Our Lord's kingdom, Victor T. Houteff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.