The Word for the Day – Perhaps better, the word for the year
2026 – PREPARE for the days of Elijah
If the Holy Spirit is saying to prepare for the days of
Elijah, the question is for what and how?
Remember the words of the worship song “The Days of
Elijah”?
“These are the days of
Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord
And these are the days of your servant Moses
Righteousness being restored
And though these are days of great trial
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying
Prepare
ye the way of the Lord”
John the Baptist came in the spirit and anointing of the
prophet Elijah to prepare the way for the first coming of Jesus to the earth.
It is not the true church that should be preparing the world for the second
coming of Jesus to the earth?
The prophet Malichi gives us some clues.
"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; and
the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
[Mal 3:1 ESV]
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 fullers' soap. [Mal 3:2 ESV]
He will
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of
Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in
righteousness to the LORD. [Mal 3:3 ESV]
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to
the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. [Mal 3:4 ESV]
"Then
I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against
the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against
those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless,
against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD
of hosts. [Mal 3:5 ESV]
"For
behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all
evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze,
says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
[Mal 4:1 ESV]
But for
you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its
wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. [Mal 4:2
ESV]
"Remember
the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him
at Horeb for all Israel. [Mal 4:4 ESV]
"Behold,
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD
comes. [Mal 4:5 ESV]
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the
hearts of children to their fathers,
lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter
destruction." [Mal 4:6 ESV]
In the New Testament, the apostle Matthew add “repent” to John’s
message.
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the
wilderness of Judea, [Mat 3:1 ESV]
"Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [Mat 3:2 ESV]
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when
he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of
the Lord; make his paths straight.'" [Mat 3:3 ESV]
So, the warning or word is that the Lord is coming. He is
coming in judgment as a refiner’s fire. He is coming to destroy evildoers, and He
is coming to bring in righteousness. He is coming to turn the hearts of fathers
to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, and John’s call
to the people was to repent.
But is there more to this “word for the day” than this. Did
the Old Testament give us more information about how to “prepare” for the days
ahead?
Let’s see what looking up the word “prepare” [azar in the
Hebrew] might show us.
"The
bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with
strength. [1Sa 2:4 NKJV]
For You
have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who
rose against me. [2Sa 22:40 NKJV]
It is
God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect. [Psa 18:32
NKJV]
For You
have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who
rose up against me. [Psa 18:39 NKJV]
"Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you.
Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them.
[Jer 1:17 NKJV]
Then David reminds us that the battle is the LORD’s.
Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with
a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the
LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. [1Sa
17:45 NKJV]
"This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you
and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp
of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth,
that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. [1Sa 17:46 NKJV]
"Then
all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear;
for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."
[1Sa 17:47 NKJV]
So, the preparation is for the coming of the Lord. The
preparation includes having the fear of the Lord, remembering His law and
commandments, repentance, speaking to the people all that He commanded, and not
being dismayed or fearful. We are also to know that the battle is His and that
He will equipment or arm us with strength for the battles ahead.
Then the apostle Paul gives us some final instructions.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
[Eph 6:10 NKJV]
Put on
the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. [Eph 6:11 NKJV]
For we
do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places. [Eph 6:12 NKJV]
Therefore take
up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all,
to stand. [Eph 6:13 NKJV]
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, [Eph 6:14 NKJV]
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; [Eph
6:15 NKJV]
above
all, taking the
shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked one. [Eph 6:16 NKJV]
And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; [Eph 6:17 NKJV]
praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with
all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-- [Eph 6:18 NKJV]
Even though the days
ahead might be days of trial, of darkness, evil, and sword
still, we know the end of the story. The LORD
wins and righteousness is being restored! And because of Him, we, the true
church, win. And we are now the voice in the desert crying,
Prepare ye the way of
the Lord.
