EGW identified in Malachi 4

[ClubV12]

I believe this chapter is talking about the end of time. The Elijah prophet that is sent, is Ellen White.

I believe that the hearts of the Fathers turned to their children has yet to be fulfilled.

I'm constantly trying to find the balance between scripture and Sister Whites work. It is difficult to separate the two. When I need to make a decision, I search both for counsel. When I'm talking to a neighbor, I use only the bible. When I'm talking to Adventists I make no apology or excuse for using Ellen Whites counsel in conjunction with and to enlighten the biblical counsel. For those that wonder how to apply the prophets counsel to their life, how do you apply the biblical counsel to your life? I see no difference, how you apply it is between you and the Lord.

For two thousand years the world did not have a prophet. It is a gift, from God, that we have been given His messenger in Ellen White.

[Kevin H]

Actually over the 2,000 years there have probably been a number of prophets. I say this because John writes a lot about the importance of the gift of prophecy to help guide the church after the apostles died off. They probably have all been what archaeologists would call "Local" prophets, who would apply the Bible to their local situation and we keep looking for "world" prophets or the type of prophets with such a large powerful ministry that a small part of their ministry is to write the Bible. Few if any of these have had a ministry that was as encompassing a ministry as Mrs. White's ministry had since she was to guide in the development of the Seventh-day Adventist church and to help us in the transition between the 5th and 6th head and to try to lay a foundation that would be needed later for the transition into the 7th head.

Also, since the rise of Fundamentalism in the end of the 1800s and early 1900s we have a picture of prophets that prophets don't fit and a number of the problems we have in the church is how we try to fit the Bible and Mrs. White into the Fundamentalist idea. The split between the so called "Historic Adventists" and the so called "New Theology" is both see about half of the truth (with a very jagged edge sometimes going more to one side or the other), place their approximately half of their truth in a fundamentalist framework and clearly see the word of God supporting their part of the truth and are baffled by the heretics in the other group.

I think because of wanting to fit prophets into a fundamentalist framework we need to be very careful in the study the churches guiding prophets through history, as we would probably end up confused reading with our current presupositios about what a prophet should be. However with this caution, it should be pointed out that Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135 – March 30, 1202) was considered to be a true prophet had a ministry that was especially picked up by the Franciscan priests and eventually developed into Protestantism and developed all the way to an Advent movement that Sir Isaac Newton belonged to and the principles of Joachim's ministry, not having to deal with Fundamentalism, people felt free to modify his prophecies as they learned more about the Bible and as history developed. This continued into the Powerscourt Conferences from which Miller got his Biblical interpretation and lead to Mrs. White's ministry. A story that comes from one person seen to have the true gift of prophecy to another, there may have been other prophets with less widrangeing ministries between John and Joachin and between Joachin and Mrs. White. We know of the ministry of William Foy (who was a faithful prophet) and maybe some would have even more specialized ministries.

In elementary school I saw a play about Harett Tubman. In one scene they were trapped, people around were panicing but the actress playing Ms. Tubman just sat motionless then said that she had a vision showing how to escape. I have not read in any histories if she had these visions, but God may have given her the gift of prophecy for her ministry of leading the slaves to freedom. God probably had other prophets with similar jobs through out history.

Dispensationalism is a side track from the above. They started out with the same presumption that Joachim was a true prophet, but instead of just modifying his principles as the above trail took, the Dispensationalists took only a part of Joachim's prophecy at the expense of the rest of it, and did a lot of wild speculation on that part and developed it into things that do not fit the main thread and principles as we find in the train of thought that starts with Joachim' prophetic ministry through the Franciscan priests to the Advent movement that Newton belonged to through the Powerscourt conferences, Millerism and Ellen White.

[ClubV12]

I acknowledge there have been various people down through the ages that have had divine light from time to time. For instance the 70 Elders Moses picked to help govern the people, "prophesied", but they were not prophets. Loughborough, an early pioneer had a divine dream, as acknowledged by Ellen White, but he was not a prophet. Hiram Edson had what I consider a "vision", others call it a divine revelation (or less) but he was not a prophet. Now was William Miller, Martin Luther and a host of others, who WERE led of God. But they were not prophets, called to do the work of a prophet. Many doubt the inspiration of Ellen White or even if they profess to believe, they pick and choose those parts they are comfortable with. Is that how we interpret that bible as well, pick and choose those parts that we are comfortable with, ignoring the rest?

As to a prophet coming in the spirit of Elijah, Ellen White is the only one in the last 2,000 years or so that fits that desciption without qualification.

Today we don't have a prophet, but we have the prophets body of work. Very detailed in the lifestyle the Lord would have us lead. Still, we pick and choose and wonder what applies and what was her "opinion" and what was for "her time", etc. etc.

In the end, we have no excuse, the lifestyle plan, the blueprint has been laid out in great detail. What to wear, what kind of house we should live in, what kind of furniture we should have, how to be good stewards, what kind of recreation is acceptable, counsel on theaters, card playing, games, clothing and dress, food and diet, how we run our business. Personal business, institution business, where we work and where we shouldn't. No stone has been left unturned, the details have been written down, we have had the details for over a 100 years. We are without excuse. What applies today, to us? All of it, not parts and pieces of it, the PRINCIPLES apply today just as they did in her time. These details come from the throne of God, to us. Sister White was merely a messenger. Rejection of her counsel is rejection of the voice of God.

Legalism? Call it what you like, it is what it is. These are hard sayings, who can hear them? Those that believe with all the hearts and minds, those that ask the Lord to give them a love for the law. For if the counsel is not based on love, it is worthless. Make your first work asking, pleading for a love for the law. Righteouness by faith is made evident through keeping the law.

...it is little wonder that few Adventists will go through to the end, we have been asleep for SO long "arguing" over the details, what applies and what doesn't. It all applies, there will be no excuse.

What we need today, more than ever, is to get back into books like "The Desire of Ages" and reconnect with reality, with Jesus. Only love can awaken love, a love for God's law.

[John317]

I believe this chapter is talking about the end of time. The Elijah prophet that is sent, is Ellen White.

Quote:

John separated himself from friends, and from the luxuries of life. The simplicity of his dress, a garment woven of camel's hair, was a standing rebuke to the extravagance and display of the Jewish priests, and of the people generally. His diet, purely vegetable, of locusts and wild honey, was a rebuke to the indulgence of appetite, and the gluttony that everywhere prevailed. The prophet Malachi declares, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." Here the prophet describes the character of the work. Those who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ, are represented by faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ's first advent. {CD 71.1}

Quote:

The prophet Malachi declares, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." Malachi 4:5, 6. Here the prophet describes the character of the work. Those who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ, are represented by faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ's first advent. The great subject of reform is to be agitated, and the public mind is to be stirred. Temperance in all things is to be connected with the message, to turn the people of God from their idolatry, their gluttony, and their extravagance in dress and other things. The self-denial, humility, and temperance required of the righteous, whom God especially leads and blesses, is to be presented to the people in contrast to the extravagant, health-destroying habits of those who live in this degenerate age. {CH 72,73}

Quote:

The closing words of Malachi are a prophecy regarding the work that should be done preparatory to the first and the second advent of Christ. {FLB 290.2}

Those who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ are represented by faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ's first advent. {FLB 290.3}

Our message must be as direct as was that of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity. Notwithstanding the peril his life was in, he never allowed truth to languish on his lips. . . . {FLB 290.4}

In this time of well-nigh universal apostasy, God calls upon His messengers to proclaim His law in the spirit and power of Elias. As John the Baptist, in preparing a people for Christ's first advent, called their attention to the Ten Commandments, so we are to give, with no uncertain sound, the message: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." With the earnestness that characterized Elijah the prophet and John the Baptist, we are to strive to prepare the way for Christ's second advent. {FLB 290.5}

The hour of God's judgment has come, and upon the members of His church on earth rests the solemn responsibility of giving warning to those who are standing as it were on the very brink of eternal ruin. {FLB 290.6}

All can do something in the work. None will be pronounced guiltless before God unless they have worked earnestly and unselfishly for the salvation of souls. {FLB 290.7}

Your duty cannot be shifted upon another. No one but yourself can do your work. If you withhold your light, someone must be left in darkness through your neglect. {FLB 290.8}

[John317]

... When I'm talking to a neighbor, I use only the bible. When I'm talking to Adventists I make no apology or excuse for using Ellen Whites counsel in conjunction with and to enlighten the biblical counsel.

[cheddar]

Ellen White was no type of Elijah the prophet! LOL

[Words here deleted by the moderator. It is enough to say Ellen White was not a male.]

Elijah was a real man of God - He cracked jokes and made fun of the prophets of Baal.

Ellen White couldn't even crack a smile - she was all business all the time.

Are there any quotes where EGW made a joke or made fun of someone? NO, she would have to pray for 20 hours as penance if she ever did anything like that.

[John317]

Jesus did not make fun of people, either, nor did John the Baptist, yet according to Jesus, they were greater prophets than Elijah. As a matter of fact, most of the prophets of God did not make fun of anyone.

It's important to remember that all of God's prophets have different personalities and characteristics. Most are male but some are female. We shouldn't expect a female prophet to be like the male prophets. But what makes Ellen White a prophet similar to Elijah is not that she made fun of people or acted like a "real man," but that she acted like a real godly woman and wrote the messages that God gave her to convey to His church.

[ClubV12]

John, thanks for posting those quotes concerning the latter day Elijah. I was not aware of them and they really clench the idea I first presented in this thread. I have to admit, presented with a certain hesitancy because I was not sure what the prevailing view on the interpretation of Malachi was.

I've heard, many times now, various members reciting the verse about the turning the hearts of the children. A promise often cited by those whose children have left the church, and the hope they cling to in this chapter, so I looked it up. It's talking about a LOT more than just hearts turning, it's an Elijah message chapter, a powerful prophecy!

As for the part about turning of the Fathers and childrens hearts, I don't know how to apply that. But I suspect, sadly, it remains unfulfilled at this time.

[cheddar]

Jesus called the woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit a dog which sounds like an insult to me but that's not the point I'm trying to make.

Ellen White did not teach a pure gospel - she always included the ten commandments as part of the gospel and that's a false teaching. The new covenant is about having faith in Jesus and having God's agape love written in our hearts.

John talked about commandment keeping more than any of the disciples and he always linked it with faith and love(agape), never once did he link new covenant commandment keeping with the decalogue.

[ClubV12]

Ellen Whites entire body of work is about righteousness by faith and love, everything she writes is fundamentally bound to those two principles. The Desire of Ages fairly screams it.

The new covenant did not do away with the law in any respect. Without a LOVE for the law, it means nothing, even if you DO keep it in every regard.

[John317]

John talked about commandment keeping more than any of the disciples and he always linked it with faith and love(agape), never once did he link new covenant commandment keeping with the decalogue.

But so did Ellen White link the Ten Commandments with love and faith. She never wrote of the Decalogue as something that can save us. Quite the contrary, she stated many times that obedience to law cannot save anyone and that everyone who is saved will be saved by God's grace through faith in the merits of Jesus Christ.

She constantly repeated Christ's words, "If you love me, you will keep My commandments."

[cheddar]

How many times did Ellen White say 'do this' or 'strive to be like that' - about a billion.

Doesn't sound like faith and love to me.

How do I become righteous by not eating cheese - that's a classic.

[Lysimachus]

Cheddar doesn't seem to understand that there is a difference between being Elijah and coming in the "spirit" of Elijah.

A woman cannot come in the spirit of Elijah?

Give me a break.

[cheddar]

Ellen White has been dead for a hundred years.

I don't think she's going to be around for the 'day of the Lord'.

But who cares about details - We'll just make her fit the verse anyway.

[ClubV12]

Uh, actually SHE will be around and see from afar the actual real coming of the Lord, BEFORE the resurrection of the Saints now sleeping in the dust who are raised AT the time of the 2nd coming. Her, along with ALL who have died under the 3rd angels message (blessed is he who waits for the 1335 days of the 2,300 year prophecy). Sister White, all who have died under the 3rd angels message AND those that pierced Him and reviled Him during the crucifixion. This is a "special resurrection" that occurs just before the main resurrection of all the Saints who ever lived, that takes place AT His 2nd coming.

,,,just thought I'd throw that footnote in there.

[John317]

How many times did Ellen White say 'do this' or 'strive to be like that' - about a billion.

Doesn't sound like faith and love to me.

Didn't Jesus Himself also tell us to "strive"?

"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Luke 13: 24

He said,

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' [23] And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' Matt. 7: 21-23

Note: Many people who thought they would be saved will be lost because they thought they were obeying God even while they were actually disobeying His law. Many who call Him "Lord" are deliberately and willfully practicing sin. They think that God's commandments are of no consequence, and they will discover too late that God's commandments do matter, just as Paul said in 1 Cor. 7: 19:

1 Cor. 7:19

For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God [is what counts].

Eccles. 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. [14] For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Rev. 22:14

Blessed are they that do his commandments [or wash their robes], that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

[John317]

How do I become righteous by not eating cheese - that's a classic.

Please quote where Ellen White states that anyone will become righteous by not eating cheese.

I think you're not understanding why she said not to cheese. It wasn't in order to earn salvation or righteousness. This is impossible, and Ellen White has made this clear many times.

Please go back to her writings and read everything she says on the topic. You'll see for yourself that she is not saying people can become righteous by refraining from cheese-eating.

[John317]

Ellen White couldn't even crack a smile - she was all business all the time.

Wow-- you're revealing how little you know about Ellen White as an individual. Of course she smiled, and smiled often. She had a great sense of humor, actually.

Read a few good biographies of her as well as her private letters to her family members and close friends.

Also read Herbert Douglass' Ellen G. White, Messenger of God. You can read this online.

Her granddaughter, Grace White Jacques, also made video tapes in which she tells what it was like living with her grandmother.

[Kevin H]

Ellen White was no type of Elijah the prophet! LOL

[Words here deleted by the moderator. It is enough to say Ellen White was not a male.]

Elijah was a real man of God - He cracked jokes and made fun of the prophets of Baal.

Ellen White couldn't even crack a smile - she was all business all the time.

Are there any quotes where EGW made a joke or made fun of someone? NO, she would have to pray for 20 hours as penance if she ever did anything like that.

Ellen White had a keen sense of hummor. In my life and writings of Ellen G. White class at college the professor told how he read in her diarys that there were some churches where she was not welcomed because they felt that all their laughing and jokeing was inapproprate. Photos in those days were often blury so they needed to have serious looking faces and I have heard from a few sources that Mrs. White hated needing to have the serious look for the photos instead of smiling. When she died many of her non-adventist neighbors kept getting back in the line for viewing her body, they said that they wanted to see one more time the face of the pleasant lady who loved to tell them about Jesus.

[Kevin H]

I acknowledge there have been various people down through the ages that have had divine light from time to time. For instance the 70 Elders Moses picked to help govern the people, "prophesied", but they were not prophets. Loughborough, an early pioneer had a divine dream, as acknowledged by Ellen White, but he was not a prophet. Hiram Edson had what I consider a "vision", others call it a divine revelation (or less) but he was not a prophet. Now was William Miller, Martin Luther and a host of others, who WERE led of God. But they were not prophets, called to do the work of a prophet. Many doubt the inspiration of Ellen White or even if they profess to believe, they pick and choose those parts they are comfortable with. Is that how we interpret that bible as well, pick and choose those parts that we are comfortable with, ignoring the rest?

As to a prophet coming in the spirit of Elijah, Ellen White is the only one in the last 2,000 years or so that fits that desciption without qualification.

I just want to be careful. Some of who the church has seen as prophets has been ignored by recent generations due to rejection of Mrs. White and wanting to have prophecy stop with the Bible, despite the fact that John as he was coming to the close of his life and being the last of the apostles that God was going to have greater use of prophets. Joachim of Flore was probably the most influentual besides Mrs. White. And of course we have the prophetic ministry of William Foy

(we thought for a long time and in many of our older writings it says that he was offered the gift of prophecy but rejected it then it was offered to Hazen Foss who also rejected, then given to Ellen White who accepted. However in the late 1970s there was research in Foy's ministry, and he had a faithful ministry, went as far as an African American could in that culture. While he was encouraging the Millerites in the second coming but kept telling them that there were 3 things they needed to know and study out: Instead of studying them out, they just focused on the parts of his visions on the near coming and thus the conditions were not fulfilled. After Mrs. White started her ministry he left the big city, resigned from the church he was pastor of and went to the backwoods of Maine searching out people living in the woods, people who time forgot to lead them to Jesus and to pastor small country churches for the people he saw)

Joachim of Flore went to the middle east in the crusades and learned some about the culture including the day-year principle. Unfortunetely he applied the day-year theory to all day texts (we really need to check the context to see if it fits or not) but gave prophecies and applied the 1260 days to the 1260 years from Christ expecting Jesus to come around the year 1260. He was giving prophecies applying the scriputures to how the Lord could come during that time. Had the church taken his prophecies and run with them the Lord could have come then. There was a pope and the Franciscan priests and smaller groups here and there who really took him seriously, yet there were still those who saw him as a true prophet which once again lead to Protestantism (althought Luther and Calvin were Augustanians, while Seventh-day Adventism came from the Franciscan tradition, which is what causes some of the friction between us and the evangelicals)

The ministries of Joachim and William Foy prophetic ministry go way beyond the 70 elders, Loughborough, Miller and Luther. Other prophets may have been so local in application that we have lost sight of them. Now we may conisider this more along the lines of Loughborough, and we don't know if he had more of a prophetic ministry besides this but in October 1415 John Hus was burned to the stake. In his speech before he died he said "Today you cook a goose" [Hus means "goose" and the term "Your goose is cooked" is a reference to Hus' marterdom]" but in 100 years God is going to raise up a swan that you will not be able to kill" 95 years later, in the very church where Hus had his hearning and was condemmed a young man was ordained to the priesthood, his name was Zwinglig, and at the same time John Calvin was thinking and studying the Bible, and in Germany Luther was studying and in 102 years Oct. 1517 Luther presented his 95 thesis.

I believe that Mrs. White was a prophet, but we need to realize that she was not in isolation, that we have a thread between two people who the church has seen as prophets; starting with Joachin and going through Mrs. White. And there may have been lesser known prophets between John and Joachin and between Joachin and William Foy/Ellen White.

[John317]

...

Joachim of Flore went to the middle east in the crusades and learned some about the culture including the day-year principle. Unfortunetely he applied the day-year theory to all day texts (we really need to check the context to see if it fits or not) but gave prophecies and applied the 1260 days to the 1260 years from Christ expecting Jesus to come around the year 1260. He was giving prophecies applying the scriputures to how the Lord could come during that time. Had the church taken his prophecies and run with them the Lord could have come then. There was a pope and the Franciscan priests and smaller groups here and there who really took him seriously, yet there were still those who saw him as a true prophet which once again lead to Protestantism (althought Luther and Calvin were Augustanians, while Seventh-day Adventism came from the Franciscan tradition, which is what causes some of the friction between us and the evangelicals)

Please explain what you mean when you say that Adventism is "from the Franciscan tradition".

Originally Posted By: Kevin H

....I believe that Mrs. White was a prophet, but we need to realize that she was not in isolation, that we have a thread between two people who the church has seen as prophets; starting with Joachin and going through Mrs. White. And there may have been lesser known prophets between John and Joachin and between Joachin and William Foy/Ellen White.

How does Ellen White's not being in isolation affect how we should understand her writings? Any examples?

What thread started with Joachin and went through Ellen White?

From what I've studied about Joachin, I don't see him as a genuine prophet of God. He taught a lot of false doctrines and made false prophecies.

Here's some of what the Wikipedia says about his ideas:

Quote:

The mystical basis of his teaching is his doctrine of the "Eternal Gospel," founded on an interpretation of the text in Revelation xiv, 6.

His theories can be considered millenarian; he believed that history, by analogy with the Trinity, was divided into three fundamental epochs:

The Age of the Father, corresponding to the Old Testament, characterized by obedience of mankind to the Rules of God;

The Age of the Son, between the advent of Christ and 1260, represented by the New Testament, when Man became the son of God;

The Age of the Holy Spirit, impending (in 1260), when mankind was to come in direct contact with God, reaching the total freedom preached by the Christian message. The Kingdom of the Holy Spirit, a new dispensation of universal love, would proceed from the Gospel of Christ, but transcend the letter of it. In this new Age the ecclesiastical organization would be replaced and the Order of the Just would rule the Church. This Order of the Just was later identified with the Franciscan order by his follower Gerardo of Borgo San Donnino.

According to Joachim, only in this third Age will it be possible to really understand the words of God in its deepest meanings, and not merely literally. He concluded that this age would begin in 1260 based on the Book of Revelation (verses 11:3 and 12:6, which mention "one thousand two hundred and sixty days").[2] In this year, instead of the parousia (second Advent of Christ), a new Epoch of peace and concord would begin, thus making the hierarchy of the Church unnecessary.

[John317]

...Joachim of Flore went to the middle east in the crusades and learned some about the culture including the day-year principle. Unfortunetely he applied the day-year theory to all day texts (we really need to check the context to see if it fits or not) but gave prophecies and applied the 1260 days to the 1260 years from Christ expecting Jesus to come around the year 1260. He was giving prophecies applying the scriputures to how the Lord could come during that time. Had the church taken his prophecies and run with them the Lord could have come then. There was a pope and the Franciscan priests and smaller groups here and there who really took him seriously, yet there were still those who saw him as a true prophet which once again lead to Protestantism.

Do you think the Bible teaches that the Investigative Judgment could have begun before 1844?

I don't think so.

If Christ could have come around 1260 AD, how do you understand the 2300 day prophecy of Daniel 8: 14?

I believe the Bible teaches that God planned long ago to begin the pre-Advent Judgment in 1844, not before. The second coming can't and won't happen until the end of that phase of the atonement. Christ clearly could have come a fairly short time after 1844, and He could have come also around 1890, but there's no biblical or SoP evidence (that I know of) that Christ could have come around 1260 AD.

Do you have a clear statement from SoP about this? What's your clearest Bible evidence for it?

[ClubV12]

The primary reason, in my opinion, that Sister White didn't claim to be a prophet, but rather a messenger, is that about 200 people were making that claim during her life time. Through out history many many people have made such claims, some folks believe them. Joseph Smith makes such a claim and the Mormons believe him.

[Kevin H]

John: Joachin is the one who got us away from Augistinian's Biblical interpetations, started (well there was a biship, I can't check his spelling right now, but it started with an "A" and he was the one who made the final list of what books should be in the Bible, including both Hebrews and Revelation, and he said that the 7 churches were also symbols of the periods of church history) but everything we teach in our Revelation seminars started with Joachin's thoughts as was developed and modified as history went by, especially by the Franciscian priests, up through the Advent movement that Sir Isaac Newton belonged to up to the Powerscort conference where Miller got his information from. Joachin is the founder of historisism. Joachin is the one who began teaching the year-day theory, the papal antichrist, and the 2300 days. Yes his views were modified as time went by (as they were not fundamentalists) but the principles of what became our beliefs were started by him. Adventists are historisists and Joachin is in church history seen as the father of Historisism. Dispensationalism is a side track going off on a tangent from the main track which Adventists have continued with.

[ClubV12]

Suffice it to say, there are many who claimed to be prophets, there are many who are accepted as prophets (whether they be or not), many people through whom God worked to preserve His truth through the ages. Some we may not even be aware of.

As it concerns Malachi chapter 4, there are only two that could fulfill his prophecy. John the Baptist, in the first coming, and over 2,000 years later, Ellen White leading to the 2nd coming.

My initial take on Malachi chapter four was that it could ONLY apply to Ellen White. Because I considered the "great and terrible day of the Lord" and the general tone as applying to the 2nd coming (which I still think is mostly the case), not the first coming. However, as John317 posted additional comments concerning chapter four I now think it has a dual application, both the first and the second coming. Hence, John the Baptist and Ellen White. There are no other "prophets", men of God, or inspired persons since John the Baptist that fit Malachi's prophecy.