The Elijah Ministry

No. I am not talking about the ministry of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. If you like there are many books written about the ministry of Elijah. But, I am led by the Spriit of God to share with you the urgent need of the restoration of the "Elijah Ministry" to the Church of Jesus Christ. Strangely enough, I have not heard any preaching of this important message anywhere.

I believe the last words of the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the last Words of Jesus Christ or any writer, have great significance to the Church. Usually the last words of anyone, in any situation are the most important words. They contain "hidden" last messages to individuals and to the Church. The Lord willing, I intend to to study in some details all the "last words" in the Bible. But, at this time let us study the last two verses of the Old Testament:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I com and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:5,6, NKJV, emphasis added).

In other words, the reason God sent Elijah in the last days (before the Day of the Lord) is to minister to the fathers and to remind them to repent and to reconcile with their children.

Notice that "turn the hearts" suggests that the "Elijah Ministry" is a ministry of repentance, reconciliation and restoration. It is not a coincidence that the ministry of John the baptist in the beginning of the New Testament was also the ministry of repentance. The angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias that John the baptist would do the work of another Elijah:

"And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. he will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, '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" (Luke 1:16,17, emphasis added).

John the baptist, come with the spirit and power of Elijah. In other words, he is a type of Elijah.

In my opinion, "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children" is the most important agenda for all christian father. This is the end-time message for all fathers.

If christian fathers fail in their duties to take their God given role as the heads of their families, they and their families will be under a curse.

"You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity" (Deu. 28:41).

Surely no father likes to see their sons and daughters taken captive by a rebellious subculture devoted to drugs, sex, satanic music, and every form of occult. Malachi (the last two verses of the Old Testament) depicts an evil force at work, alienating parents from their children and producing a breakdown of family relationship. Unless God intervenes, this curse that is destroying family life will be extended to all countries of the world. I believe this is one of Satan's agendas in the last days.

As the head of his family, the father has to be the priest, prophet and king to his family. As priest he prays for his family, as prophet he is the oracle of God for his family and as king he rules his family. In this message, we examine the important role of the father as the priest of the family.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children" (Hosea 4:6,emphasis added).

Strong words from God! If the fathers are disobedient, even his prayer will not be heard or answered, and God will reject the children! Fathers cannot afford to reject knowledge.

An important facet of the Elijah ministry is the restoration of headship of man in the family. In 1 Kings 18 we read about the Elijah's confrantation with king Ahab and Zezebel. The Zezebel spirit is the witchcraft spirit and Ahab was under the dominion of this spirit. I believe any family with the mother as the head of the family is also under a curse. God forbids any woman to take the role of priest, prophet and king in any family.

I hope this is a timely message for all fathers in this Chinese New Year reunion season. It is time for fathers to remember and pray for their children.