In order for us to get a good picture of the third group of individuals who will enter the great tribulation (viz., the Great Company or as some like to refer to them the Tribulation Saints) we will need to back track a bit and establish events leading up to this time.

“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 4:4, 5)

In another one of our post under the thread (“Alive or dead”, Post # 119) we mentioned how our Lord had said that Elijah must come first, “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”, this he did twice, once representative in the guise of the prophet John the Baptist and then now once again as the real or greater Elijah in the form of the true Church. Both of these performed a work in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17) in the hopes of preparing the people for the arrival of the Lord. John with the hope of reforming the nation of Israel in preparation for the First Advent, and the true Church (in the flesh) in converting the world to receive the King of Glory at the Second Advent, both failed to accomplished the intended goal, viz., to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers”.

What does this mean, to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers”?

“The expression, “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,” is a peculiar one, and the sense of the Hebrew is even less clear; but we have it repeated by the angel as recorded by (Luke 1:16, 17), in a manner which makes it plain–

“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.”

In a word, to restore harmony between Israel and “the fathers,” (the patriarchs, etc.) and, in the fuller sense, the world whom Israel typified or represented, shall come into a condition of harmony and peace with God, similar to that of the “fathers.” (R556)

“The turning of the hearts of parents to children and children to parents would seem to mean the establishment in the earth of a spirit of reciprocal love. And it would further mean, the turning of the minds of the aged (the mature, adults steeped in the wisdom of this world) so that they would become as little children, humble, teachable.

Had this taken place had they become childlike they would have been ready to turn their hearts to the teachings and example of the early fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the holy prophets, and they would have been made ready for divine favor and blessing and to be spared from the foretold curse or trouble to come.

John the Baptist fulfilled this prediction so far as Fleshly Israel was concerned, endeavoring to turn their hearts so that they would be ready to receive Jesus in the flesh; but John failed to turn them to repentance, and they crucified the Lord, and hence the curse or time of trouble came upon the nation, destroying it A.D. 69-70.” (R2544)

“The Prophet Malachi declared that one of two things would follow the work of the true Elijah–either it would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and of the children to the fathers, i.e. bring into full accord and loving harmony the people–or else it would result in the bringing of a great curse upon the people and great tribulation. The world must be made ready for Messiah’s kingdom either by repentance and true conversion to the Lord, or by judgments of the Lord.

Malachi does not state which way the results will be accomplished, but other Scriptures clearly indicate that the work of the antitypical Elijah WOULD NOT SUCCEED, would not convert the world, and that as a result the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom would come in connection with a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation—the curse mentioned by Malachi, the great tribulation mentioned by our Lord. (R3477: 2-3) Elijah–Type and Antitype

 But of course where the true Church in the flesh failed the Church glorified will succeed.

Now in Part 5 of this study where we mentioned the three groups who would enter the great tribulation we likewise noted that the Church (the true Church) would not have to endure this tribulation that the last members of the body of Christ, “the feet of him” would be taken up near its very beginnings.

NOTE: When we speak of the great time of trouble, the great tribulation we are not referring to the whole period of that time, beginning from A.D. 1914 with the pouring out of the first plague, but specifically of the climax of that trouble when the seventh plague is poured out, when we reach Armageddon. It is this latter part which the Church will escape.

As we stated we need to back track a bit through events leading up to the time the Great Company or Tribulation Saints enter the great time of trouble, this will require us to review several events (Numbers 10-13) on our list of prominent events which precede Armageddon and the time of Jacob’s Trouble (See Part 6 in this study).

We will take a look at the first of these, “The Chariot of fire and Elijah taken up by a whirlwind into heaven” beginning with our next post.