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It is true that before John’s birth, an angel prophesied to his father, Zechariah, that John would “go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). John the Baptist denied being “Elijah” to counter the expectation (that was held by the Pharisees in his day) that the same Elijah who escaped death in a fiery chariot would return in like spectacular manner.<ref>Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 60.</ref>
It is true that before John’s birth, an angel prophesied to his father, Zechariah, that John would “go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). John the Baptist denied being “Elijah” to counter the expectation (that was held by the Pharisees in his day) that the same Elijah who escaped death in a fiery chariot would return in like spectacular manner.<ref>Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 60.</ref>


==What did John the Baptist restore?==
=What did John the Baptist restore?=


The Greek verb ἀποκαταστήσει, “will restore,” is drawn verbatim from the Septuagint (LXX Mal 3:23), where, however, the object clause is “the heart of the father to the son and the heart of a man to his neighbor” (the Hebrew of Mal 4:6 is only slightly different).  
Let’s first look at the Greek.  The Greek phrase in Matthew 17:11 to “restore all things” is “αποκαταστησει παντα”.


The future tense, therefore, does not suggest that Jesus expects a future return of John the Baptist. The restoration of “everything” (πάντα) must here refer not to the renewal of the present order itself (which would make Elijah the Messiah himself, rather than the forerunner of the Messiah), as, for example, apparently in Acts 1:6 (especially the cognate noun ἀποκατάστασις, “restoration” or “establishing,” in Acts 3:21 in an allusion to the return of Jesus), but to a preparatory work of repentance and renewal (as in the Malachi passage; see especially Luke 1:17).
The meaning of αποκαταστησει is to “reestablish, restore; cure, make well; send or bring back”<ref>Barclay M. Newman Jr., A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament. (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft; United Bible Societies, 1993), 21.</ref>.  As a result, we read the following alternate translations:


Only an interpretation of this kind can make possible Jesus’ identification of John the Baptist with Elijah in Matthew 17:12. In short, Jesus responds initially by fully agreeing with the scribes in their understanding of Malachi’s prophecy that Elijah is to come and accomplish his preparatory work. It is only in the astonishing conclusion now to be drawn that Jesus parts company with the scribes.<ref>Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14–28, vol. 33B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1995), 499.</ref>
John Wesley's Translation
:''And Jesus answering said to them, Elijah truly doth come first, and will regulate all things. <ref> John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old and New Testament: Translation (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012), Mt 17:11.</ref>


The restoration he brought must thus have included his ministry of preaching and the widespread repentance to which it led. Full restoration of course awaits Christ’s return (Acts 1:6; 3:21)<ref>Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 266.</ref>
Literal Translation from the Original Tongues
:''And Jesus having answered, said to them, Elias truly comes first and will re-establish all things. <ref> Julia E. Smith, trans., The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments; Translated Literally from the Original Tongues (Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, 1876), Mt 17:11.</ref>


Elijah’s function is to usher in the events that will (through the atoning work of Jesus) restore the pristine blessedness.<ref>Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 443.</ref>
God's Word Translation
:''Jesus answered, “Elijah is coming and will put everything in order again. <ref> GOD’S WORD Translation (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 1995), Mt 17:11.</ref>


Jesus first takes up the Jewish expectation and formulates it “biblically” with the words of Mal 3:23* (LXX). As there, ἀποκαταστήσει appears in the future tense. Did Matthew think that Elijah would appear again before the parousia of Jesus? That is improbable, since the order of the two returns of Elijah in vv. 11–12* would then be reversed.  
The restoration of “everything” (πάντα) refers not to the renewal of the present order itself (which would make Elijah the Messiah himself, rather than the forerunner of the Messiah) but to a preparatory work of repentance and renewal (see Luke 1:17).<ref>Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14–28, vol. 33B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1995), 499.</ref>


Ulrich Luz, Matthew: A Commentary, ed. Helmut Koester, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 2001), 400.
The restoration that John the Baptist brought was the promised restoration we see throughout the prophets that God – a restoration that would bring the nation of Israel their Messiah. (Jer 15:19; 16:15; 24:6–7; 31:31–34; 50:19–20 [27:19–20 LXX]; Ezek 34–37; Hos 11:8–11; Amos 9:11–15).<ref> David Turner and Darrell L. Bock, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11: Matthew and Mark (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 476.</ref>
And Jesus goes on to observe that Elijah’s mission, to restore the people of God, was met with opposition, and that this same opposition will lead to the death of the Son of man.<ref>W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, vol. 2, International Critical Commentary (London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), 715.</ref>


It is clear that Mark understands John the Baptist to have accomplished his mission successfully, since everyone in Judaea and Jerusalem went to him, confessing their sins and being baptized; the task of the promised Elijah was thus completed, and everything put in order.<ref>Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel according to Saint Mark, Black’s New Testament Commentary (London: Continuum, 1991), 220.</ref>


The idea that Elijah would preach repentance was presumably common and can also be seen in Revelation 11:1–13.
The scribes had done their job well in concluding “Elijah must come first.” Their insistence on this point, however, was determined to a large extent by their presupposition about how the prophecy's fulfillment had to occur, and it was probably motivated by their unwillingness to accept Jesus or his message.  


Elijah has in fact already come. But Jesus goes on to observe that Elijah’s mission, to restore the people of God, was met with opposition, and that this same opposition will lead to the death of the Son of man.
As they saw nothing in John’s fate in Herod’s prison that corresponded with their expectations of Elijah, so also they saw nothing in Jesus’ claims or in his humility that corresponded with their conception of the Messiah. And when he was crucified, that served only to confirm that he could not have been the Messiah.
 
Thus their rigid, preconceived notions tragically caused them to be blind to the very heart of God’s mission in his Messiah. What was required of them was to revise their preconceptions and to understand, with Paul among other Jews, that “Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23), rather than being a self-contained and intolerable contradiction, is the glorious high point of God’s promises to Israel—and through Israel to the nations of the world.<ref>Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14–28, vol. 33B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1995), 500.</ref>
 
Followers of the message have similar pre-conceptions to the Pharisees.  They see the truth only unfolding in one way and thus miss what God is doing in the world today.
 
=Do message followers think William Branham restored all things?=


<ref>W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, vol. 2, International Critical Commentary (London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), 715.</ref>
While message ministers used to say that William Branham "restored all things", they generally have tempered this statement significantly. They now say things such as:


:''Bro. Branham brought a restorative message to our generation by pulling the loose ends together...<ref>podtail.com/en/podcast/the-message-of-the-hour-bro-william-branham/</ref>


The account of John’s ministry in Matthew 3 supplies clear links with the prophecy of Mal 4:5–6: John preached the coming of judgment and warned people to repent so that they would escape its terror, and his requirement of baptism as a mark of that repentance and new beginning was a potent symbol of the “restoration” of those of the tribes of Israel who were willing to respond.
The above is a direct reference to repeated statements that William Branham made about himself:


But while some of the people had recognized the validity of John’s message, most of those in positions of religious leadership in Jerusalem had not (see Matthew 21:25, 32).  If Jesus is carrying on where John left off, he cannot expect to meet with any better treatment at the hands of those who are threatened by their reforming zeal (though in Jesus’ case they will in fact be different hands; the vague “at their hands” leaves the reader with a sense of generalized opposition). So the appearance of Elijah on the mountain, while it has testified to the heavenly glory and authority of the Messiah, is also (through the experience of John, the second Elijah) a pointer to the earthly fate of the Messiah which he has so graphically predicted in Matthew 16:21.<ref>R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 654–655.</ref>
:''But, God comes in the Power of His resurrection! And who is going to speak against It? If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He does the same that He did yesterday, today, and forever. That’s what this angel is supposed to do, take them mysteries, '''them loose ends that people run out on.'''


:''Now watch. There is a lot of Truth lost out there, (why?) where others compromised on Truth. But this seventh angel don’t compromise on nothing. '''He gathers up all the loose ends''', gathers them all up. And at his sounding, “All the mystery of God should be finished.” Oh! God, send him. All of the hidden mysteries was finished when, he, It was revealed to him. By what? If these are hidden mysteries, the man will have to be a prophet. And didn’t we just get through and see that the prophet, that would come in the last age, would be that great Elijah that we been looking for?  Because, these mysteries that’s hid, through the theologians, will have to be revealed; to God. And the Word comes only to the prophet. [“Amen.”] And we know it. He will be the second Elijah, as promised. Oh, my! The Message he—he’ll bring will be the mysteries, all, all these things.


What was the meaning of Malachi’s prophecy? The scribes had done their job well in concluding “Elijah must come first.” Their insistence on this point, however, was determined to a large extent by their presupposition about how the prophecy's fulfillment had to occur, and it was probably motivated by their unwillingness to accept Jesus or his message.  
:''Now is It plain? When the First Seal was opened, the Seals that was inside the Book, these mysteries that was sounded forth: justification, sanctification, Roman Catholic church, Protestants! And when all their little battles and things left '''these loose ends in the Word of God''', the seventh angel comes on and gathers them all up and explains them. See? And then, he finishes, Seven Thunders utter out.


As they saw nothing in John’s fate in Herod’s prison that corresponded with their expectations of Elijah, so also they saw nothing in Jesus’ claims or in his humility that corresponded with their conception of the Messiah. And when he was crucified, that served only to confirm that he could not have been the Messiah.  
:''These stars falling into their constellation back yonder! That Angel coming, and said, “As John was sent to wind up the Old Testament and to bring forth the introduction of Christ, '''a Message will wind up the loose ends and will introduce the Messiah''' just before His Coming, the Message of the last days.”<ref>William Branham, 62-1230E - Is This The Sign Of The End, Sir?, para. 268, 289, 353, 363</ref>
 
:''And at the end of the Pentecostal age, we are supposed to receive, according to the Word, as God help me tonight to show you, through here, that we are to see, receive '''a messenger that will take all those loose ends out there and reveal the whole secret of God''', for the rapturing of the Church.<ref>William Branham, 63-0318 - The First Seal, para. 74</ref>


Thus their rigid, preconceived notions tragically caused them to be blind to the very heart of God’s mission in his Messiah. What was required of them was to revise their preconceptions and to understand, with Paul among other Jews, that “Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23), rather than being a self-contained and intolerable contradiction, is the glorious high point of God’s promises to Israel—and through Israel to the nations of the world.<ref>Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14–28, vol. 33B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1995), 500.</ref>
But did William Branham restore anything?


Followers of the message have similar pre-conceptions to the Pharisees.  They see the truth only unfolding in one way and thus miss what God is doing in the world today.
We believe the evidence shows that he did not.  What he brought was such confusion that his followers constitute a bizarre legacy of multiple fractured sub-cults that all think they have the truth.




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