The 2 “Johns” as the 2 Witnesses
As I have been translating Matthew 11 for the LGV, I was forced by the Greek grammar of verse 14 to an entirely new conclusion about the two witnesses in Revelation 11. The question concerns whether or not John the Baptist completely fulfills the prophecy of Malachi concerning Elijah. Let’s consider Malachi’s prophecy applied to John the Baptist and Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah.
Malachi 3:1 (NKJV) 1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 4:4-6 (NKJV) “4 Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
Looking at these two prophecies from a purely Jewish mindset, they appear to be both speaking of the same coming of the Messiah, and that “My messenger” in Mal. 3:1 is then identified as “Elijah the prophet” in Mal. 4:4-6. That is, the Messiah suddenly coming “to His Temple” in Mal. 3:1 is a reference to the “Day of LORD” in Mal. 4:5. This is why the Jews are looking for Elijah to come just before their Messiah appears.
The first prophecy in Mal. 3:1 is clearly identified with John the Baptist in the Gospels (Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27). But how do the Gospels handle the second prophecy in Mal. 4:5-6? This prophecy is also said to be fulfilled in John the Baptist. Consider what Gabriel said to Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist, about John’s role in fulfillment of Malachi.
Luke 1:17 (LGV) 17 “And he [John] will go before in His sight, in the breath and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the disposition of the just, to make ready a people having been prepared for the Master.”
Jesus also interpreted Mal. 4:6 (turning the hearts of the fathers to the children) in reference to John the Baptist.
Mark 9:11-13 (LGV) 11 And they were inquiring of Him saying that, “The Pharisees and Scribes say that Elijah is required to come first.” 12 So He was explaining to them, “Indeed, Elijah, having come first, restores everything [Mal. 4:5-6]. And how has it been written about the Son of Man that He should suffer much and be scorned? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come (and they did to him whatever they were willing), just as it has been written concerning him.”
Jesus said that not only had “Elijah” come already, but He also said that “Elijah, having come first, restores everything,” thus fulfilling Malachi 4:6, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Did John the Baptist restore everything? Hardly.
The problem concerning John the Baptist and Elijah has created radical divisions among Christians concerning eschatology, whether the Millennial Kingdom arrived at Jesus’ first coming (Amillennialism) or arrives at His second coming (Premillennialism). If John the Baptist fulfilled all of Malachi 4:5-6, then the Kingdom should have immediately followed. But if Elijah has a future role to play before the second coming, then Malachi 4:5-6 was only partially fulfilled by John, or it is a prophecy with two completely different meanings!
As to whether “Elijah” still has a role to play in the future just before the second coming, that issue was decisively resolved by Jesus in Matthew’s account which is parallel to Mark 9:11-13 quoted above.
Matthew 17:10-11 (NKJV) “And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things‘.” Note that Jesus used the future tense verb, yet He said this after John the Baptist had been beheaded. Therefore, when Jesus spoke these things, there was both a past coming of “Elijah” and a future coming of “Elijah,” both in fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecies.
According to Gabriel, John the Baptist would be “Elijah,” not literally, but in the sense that the same “spirit” and “power” of God that was upon Elijah would be upon John the Baptist. (Remember that Elisha also asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit when Elijah was about to be taken up in the fiery chariot, and he indeed received it, demonstrating a precedent for this language – 2 Kings 2:9-10). Consequently, according to Gabriel, John would indeed fulfill Malachi 4:5-6. This would seem to support the Amillennial interpretation of the Kingdom. Yet, while John certainly could be said to have come in the “spirit” of Elijah, the same could not really be said of his coming in the “power” of Elijah, the one who called fire down from heaven upon his enemies, who parted the Jordan river, and who commanded a drought for 3.5 years. John’s Gospel makes a point of the fact that John the Baptist performed no miracles at all (John 10:41). Also, how could John fulfill Mal. 4:6 concerning turning the hearts of the people back to God, which Jesus interpreted as “restore everything” (Mark 9:12)? While he did bring repentance to a few, he certainly did not completely fulfill what Malachi 4 says that “Elijah” would do just before the Day of the LORD when God strikes the land and consumes the wicked (Mal. 4:1-3).
The solution to this puzzle is found in Matthew’s account. Consider Jesus’ statement about John the Baptist in Matthew 11.
Matt. 11:7-14 (LGV) 7 So with these leaving, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see, a reed being shaken by wind? 8 But what did you go out to see, a man having been dressed in effeminite [clothing]? Look, those wearing effeminite [clothing] are in king’s houses. 9 But what did you go out to see, a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it has been written, ‘Look, I send My messenger before Your face who will prepare Your way before You.’ [Mal. 3:1] 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women none has been raised up greater then John the Immerser. Yet the least in the Kingdom of the skies is greater than he. 12 Yet from the days of John the Immerser until now the Kingdom of the skies is violently seized, and the violent snatch it [away]. 13 For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept [this], he is ‘Elijah,’ the one who is to come.” The personal pronoun “he” refers to John. That is, John is the one who is yet to come. While Malachi says that God will send “Elijah the prophet” before the Day of the LORD, “Elijah” is a surname given to John because of the spirit and power of Elijah placed upon him. Therefore, the original prophet Elijah is not coming in the end times as one of the two prophets, John the Baptist is coming again in the spirit and power of Elijah. The two end-time prophets are John the Baptist (the last prophet of the Old Testament) and John the Apostle (the last prophet of the New Testament).
Some English translations wrongly translate verse 14 as: “And if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come“ (KJV, NASB), thus giving cover to the Amillennial interpretation and leaving no future role for John. But the Greek reads: αὐτός ἐστιν Ἠλίας ὁ μέλλων ἔρχεσθαι, literally, “he is Elijah, the impending coming one.” The NASB and KJV wrongly translate the present participle μέλλων (which means “impending”) as past, “who was to come” instead of how it is actually written, “who is yet to come.” The Greek word μέλλων which I translated as “impending” always refers to expectation of a future occurrence. John not only came already as “Elijah” (Mark 9:13), but he is coming again as “Elijah”! The personal pronoun “he” refers to John, not to Elijah. He will be one of the two witnesses, coming in the spirit and power of Elijah. This time he will display the power that Elijah displayed, in calling down fire from heaven and withholding rain (Rev. 11:3-6). So while the Jews are expecting the historical Elijah to show up soon, what they will actually get is John the Baptist.