If the children of Israel had accepted/received it, John the Baptist would have been the fulfillment of Elijah, according to the prophecy. Much like if they had accepted/received Jesus as Messiah, the day of the Lord would have happened and the kingdom would have been ushered in.
Matthew 11:13-14 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
It was a conditional statement. John is Elijah IF you will receive it. They did not. Jesus said that Elijah will first come and "restore all things". John is the greatest of the prophets, but he did not do that. Israel rejected their Messiah, and are lost right now.
John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
John was a fantastic evangelist, and yes, he did fulfill the prophecy, but he did not completely fulfill the prophecy.
So now because that happened, we have the church age we are in right now.
Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Once the church age is over and the tribulation begins, God will send Elijah himself as one of the two witnesses of Revelation.
Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Revelation 11:3-6 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 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. 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.
1260 days = about 3.5 years
Elijah's mission, as was John the Baptist's mission, will be to prepare Israel for its Messiah.
Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 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.
This time, however, the children of Israel will believe and be saved.
To summarize: Yes, John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy in Malachi 4:5, but he did not COMPLETELY fulfill it. It was conditional. "...if ye will receive it..." Much like how Jesus offered the kingdom to the Jews when He arrived the first time, they rejected it. "He hath a devil..."
So you think it is a partially fulfilled prophecy then. A lot of people believe that, the only problem is where Jesus himself said it was fulfilled. He said Elias has come already, AND that they knew him not. The Lord is recognizing that the Jews didn’t accept him as to who he was. Jesus didn’t say he would come again but said he
is come alreadyMat 17:12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Scripture usually makes it sort of clear if the prophecy is to be fulfilled in 2 parts, like the where he spoke the prophecy of Isiah 61. The Lord stopped at
and the day of vengeance of our God;, because he wasn’t here for that yet. That is a 2 part prophecy. The Lord said that Elijah had ALREADY come and they rejected him. Elijah fulfilled his prophecy as John the Baptist.
Now could Elijah come a third time? he could, but nowhere in scripture does it state the identity of the two witnesses. a lot of people speculate and have some good theories as to who they are, but none can say with 100% proof of it. Especially in light of Matt 17:12.
