The following is a chapter from the book Behind the Veil of Moses, by Brian L. Martin.

If You Are Willing To Receive It

“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matt 11:13-15  

Prior to embarking on a comparison of the two covenants, we can gain some valuable insight from an example of Jesus Himself pulling the veil back for the disciples. In Matthew 17 we read an account of Jesus being transfigured on the Mount. We note two things from that event: 1) the disciples saw Elijah (and Moses), and 2) they heard the voice of God proclaiming that Jesus was His beloved Son. We are not told how the disciples recognized these Old Testament figures, but we must trust the inspired text. Being eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry, and now hearing a voice from heaven, the disciples were beginning to realize that Jesus was the Messiah. As they considered this fact, they questioned Jesus about the coming of Elijah. The person that they had just seen during the transfiguration was not ministering publicly as Jesus was, yet Elijah was supposed to come before the Messiah and “prepare a way before Him.” Thus the disciples’ question:

And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” Matt 17:10

What was Christ’s reply? Elijah had come!

Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. Matt 17:11-13

Clearly the disciples had understood the prophecies well enough to know that Elijah was to come first, yet they had missed the fulfillment of those prophecies before their very eyes. Because they were still looking upon the veil, they did not understand that the Elijah of the Old Covenant was a “type” that saw its fulfillment in John the Baptist. They properly understood the timing of the fulfillment (Elijah before Messiah), but not the nature of the fulfillment (not literally Elijah, but one in the spirit of Elijah). Let’s look at the specific prophecies:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make straight in the desert

A highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”  Isa 40:3-5

“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 . . .

“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 come and strike the earth with a curse.” Mal 3:1, 4:5-6

And now, let’s look at the Scriptures concerning John the Baptist:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea , and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” Matt 3:1-3

As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’” Matt 11:7-10

“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matt 11:13-15

As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Mark 1:2-4

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 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 1:13-17 (emphasis add)

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;

For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways . . . . Luke 1:76

“This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You.’” Luke 7:27

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the LORD,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” John 1:19-23

Clearly Jesus Himself taught that John the Baptist was the “Elijah” who was prophesied to come and prepare a way for the Lord. Yet the way that He states it seems to imply that He understood that the fulfillment was not entirely obvious to those around Him. Even John acknowledged that he was not Elijah, yet he knew that he was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” Notice again Jesus’ words in Matthew 11 (emphasis added):

14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

IF you are willing to receive it! This almost suggests that Christ thought some of them might have a hard time swallowing the fact that a prophecy that they had waited centuries to see fulfilled, had just been fulfilled before their eyes. It appears that Christ knew, as the disciples’ question implies, that they were taking the prophecy much too literally, looking for the literal Old Testament Elijah. Is it too far-fetched to conclude that many have made the same mistake regarding other prophecies? The Jews misinterpreted the “second coming” of Elijah and the first coming of the Messiah because of the veil of Moses. Unfortunately, the church is looking at many of the prophecies regarding the Second Coming of Christ through the same veil.

We will pursue that thought later. First, let’s take a closer look at the prophecy of Elijah and the fulfillment by John the Baptist. The following chart lists the details of the ministry of “Elijah”, and whether or not they were “literally” fulfilled:  

Over half of the details concerning the coming of Elijah were not fulfilled in a literal sense! Keep in mind that not being literally fulfilled (in a physical, material sense) is not synonymous with not being fulfilled at all. Philip Mauro states it as follows:

 . . . in Scripture the contrast is not between the spiritual and the literal, but between the spiritual and natural; for a passage of Scripture may refer, when taken “literally,” either to “that which is natural” or to “that which is spiritual.” In other words, the literal interpretation may call for a thing which exists in the realm of nature, or for the counterpart of that thing which exists in the realm of spiritual realities . . . .(p. 14, The Hope of Israel: What Is lt?, Philip Mauro—emphasis in original)

The New Testament specifically teaches that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies in Isaiah and Malachi about the coming messenger, Elijah. Because he was not literally Elijah, we must look for some other type of fulfillment. Call it what you will—spiritual, typical, or symbolical—there is a fulfillment to be found. John the Baptist was not Elijah resurrected (or returned to earth), but he was a prophet in the spirit of Elijah, proclaiming the way of the Lord.

For those who were willing to receive it, Jesus was illustrating a paradigm shift in the nature of fulfilled prophecy. Fulfillments were seen in the spiritual realm, not necessarily in the physical. This necessitates viewing through the “eyes of the heart” instead of using our natural vision, because “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”(1 Cor 2:14 ). We will develop this theme, and its ramifications, in the ensuing chapters.

The literal valleys and mountains, and the crooked and rough places of Judea did not change as a result of John’s preaching. But could they represent the difficulty of coming to God through the encumbrances of the Mosaic Law and the priesthood? Just as the torn curtain in the temple symbolized a new access to the presence of God, the valleys and mountains, the crooked and rough pathways of the law, have been replaced by Christ, the one Mediator between God and man. The gospel truly is a smooth and level journey compared with the Law. Look at Jesus’ response to the disciples one more time:

Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. Matt 17:11-13

Elijah had already come, and they did not know him. Likewise, they did not know Christ at His first coming. Unless we make every effort to allow the New Testament to remove the veil from the Old Testament prophecies concerning the nature of Christ’s kingdom and the New Covenant, we are in danger of misinterpreting details concerning the Second Coming. The interpretation of the Second Coming held by most Christians today sounds strangely like the “veiled” interpretation the Jews had of His first coming. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves!

If we can see obvious symbolic, or spiritual, fulfillment to prophecy, confirmed by Jesus Himself, in one place in the Bible, perhaps it is to be found in other places as well. In fact, should we not expect it? No one would argue that the spirit (the intent, the objective, the substance) of the prophecy concerning Elijah was fulfilled. To do so would be calling Christ either mistaken, or a liar. This begs the question, if Christ had not mentioned that John the Baptist was “the Elijah to come,” would the Christian community still be looking for him, as the Jews are today? Strangely enough, many actually are to a certain degree, by assigning one of the two witnesses in Revelation as being Elijah.

2 Corinthians 3:6 states that the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life. The Pharisees were living examples of this—they took the law, the spirit of which was to lead them to Christ, and made a dead religion out of it. Are we in danger of doing the same thing with prophecy? Are we so intent on literalizing every last detail, and then looking for the fulfillment in our morning paper, that we are in danger of missing the spirit of the prophecy altogether, just as the disciples were about to do with John the Baptist?

“How can we know anything, then”, you might ask, “if everything is spiritual?” Before you throw your hands up in despair, let’s consider a few points. First, the premise is not that everything is spiritual, rather that not everything is literal, or more precisely, natural/physical. Secondly, consider Christ’s response to the disciple’s question about Elijah. He did not rebuke them for being ignorant, or say “ye of little faith.” He affirmed their basic understanding of the prophecy, “ . . . Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things . . . .” He then went on to clarify their understanding. Is there not a lesson to be learned here? When unsure about the interpretation and fulfillment of prophecy, whom should be our primary resource? Should it not be Jesus, as opposed to the latest prophecy pundit? And how else do we seek out Christ’s knowledge than by studying the Bible? We should especially use the inspired interpretations of the New Testament to explain the Old Testament. To be sure, there are many honest and educated Bible scholars, commentators, etc., that can offer valuable insight. But we must remember that each is writing from his/her particular bias, even if unintentionally.

The question that we must ask ourselves is, when the inspired commentary of the New Testament does not fit with the popular and even time-tested interpretations we hold dear, are we willing to receive it?