OLD TESTAMENT PROMISES OF THE FORERUNNER
I. OLD TESTAMENT PROMISES OF THE FORERUNNER
A. Isaiah prophesied of the forerunner ministry three times:
B. “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her
warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” The
voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make 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.” (Isaiah 40:1-5)
C. And one shall say, “Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, take the stumbling block out of the way of My
people.” For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy
place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the
contrite ones. (Isaiah 57:14-15)
D. Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway! Take out the
stones, lift up a banner for the peoples! Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world: “Say to the daughter of
Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.” And they shall call them
The Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken. (Isaiah 62:10-12)
E. Malachi prophesied of the forerunner ministry two times:
“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. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He
appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of
silver; he will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an
offering in righteousness. “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the
days of old, as informer years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against
sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and
orphans, and against those who turn away an alien – because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.
“For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” (Malachi 3:1-6)
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be
stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them
neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing
in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they
shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this”, says the Lord of hosts. “Remember the
Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
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” (Malachi 4:1-6)
F. Micah prophesied of the forerunner ministry once: in Micah 2:12-13
“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them
together like sheep of the fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make a loud noise because
of so many people. The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through
the gate, and go out by it; their king will pass before them, with the Lord at their head.” (Micah 2:12-13)
G. Zechariah prophesied of the forerunner ministry once in Zechariah 4:1-14 as interpreted by the angel in
Revelation 11:3-13.
Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees – at the right of the lampstand and
at its left?” And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the
receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” then he answered me and said, “Do
you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” So he said, “These are the two anointed ones,
who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” (Zechariah 4:11-14)
“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and
sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the
God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their
enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut
heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them
to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. Now when they finish their
testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them,
and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom
and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations
will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And
those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because
these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath
of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And
they heard a loud voice from heaven staying to them, “Come up here”. And they ascended to heaven in a
cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city
fell. In the earthquake seven thousand men were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God
of heaven. (Revelation 11:3-13)
H. The scripture is clear that the forerunner ministry is specifically described at the end of the age. Most of the
forerunner prophecies refer to the glory of God being released in a global dimension. The context of the forerunner
ministry is to touch all the nations of the earth with the glory of God.
I. There are two to three specific forerunners that God has ordained to appear at the end of the age.
1. Elijah is portrayed as the first and foremost forerunner that will literally return before the Second Coming
of Christ.
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. Malachi 4:5-6
2. The two witnesses released by God at the end of the age – Revelation 11:3-6
3. The spirit of Elijah was on John the Baptist
”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 1:17