Now as for Elijah’s role in the last days, he will turn the Jews about. They will embrace their fathers message of Messiah from their own Torah.
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
Malachi 4:5-6 NASB
Elijah the Tishbite, is also a gentile.
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “ As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
1 Kings 17:1 NASB
But when Elijah comes in the last days he will have a ministry of restoration according to the above verses in Malachi as the sons are turned back to the Fathers. What does that mean?
There are those who say Elijah has already come. He preceded the Messiah at His first coming as John the Baptist, but listen to what scripture says of John:
…It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17 NASB
Although John fulfilled a part of this O.T. Scripture and prophecy, he did not fulfill the later part. The children would be turned back to the fathers, but the children, after Messiah actually rejected Him, and they were once agin scattered Luke 21. They forgot their Messianic roots which had been presented to them by the fathers such as Paul, Peter and the disciples following the resurrection of Jesus. The Apostles, who became the fathers of the New Covenant, had presented the gospel to them, and pled with them — but there is a time coming when in the Tribulation that Elijah again as a Gentile chosen as a prophet of Israel will return. It is then that he will complete his mission restoring the hearts of the children to their fathers, their Messianic roots which brought forth “The Root”, Yeshua — the Christ.
During the Tribulation the role of the mainly Gentile New Covenant believer in Israel’s Messiah is not changed, for we have not yet fulfilled it. It is to make the nation Jealous. The gospel will be preached again in power as in the days of the Apostles. Men will pour out their souls and some will die at the hand of Antichrist’s system as in the days of the Apostles, and the final Remnant of the Nation Israel will be saved as was the first Remnant in the days of the Apostles.
How can we believe that the prophesied mission of the Ekklesia will go unfulfilled. We will take the gospel to the nation Israel – to all nations, and we will make Israel jealous for her God and His Messiah. And then the end shall come.
I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Romans 11:11 KJV
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Romans 11:12,15 KJV
IF we desire to see Jesus return to bring about our life from the dead, or resurrection, then we will fulfill His command to us:
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 NASB
Today there is religious confusion spread across the world. Man says the age of which Jesus spoke is “The Church Age”. The church age is a term that you will not find in scripture. Here is what Jesus stated about the age of which He speaks.
Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
Luke 20:34-36 NASB
To Jesus this age involves man’s repopulation of the earth, and the next age begins with man’s resurrection, and this resurrection is always followed by the rapture in Paul’s teachings on this subject. The Rapture will not be pre-Trib, because the Gospel will not be spread and accepted by Israel until the end of the Tribulation. Nor will marriage be ended for those in the first resurrection until after the Tribulation. The doctrines of man will teach many things, all of which will be different than what Jesus taught His disciples, and instructed that they be delivered unto us. That deliverance has been made complete in His word.
Every teaching of man must comport with scripture otherwise it is false.
Are we living in the days of Elijah? — not yet, for the body is not yet unified in the teachings of the Lord as delivered unto the disciples for our understanding. So that we may deliver it unto the nations.
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’
Revelation 2:11 NASB
Jerry, brother,
Elijah is in heaven among the other Old and New Tetament saints. Malachi 4 is fulfilled, certainly, from the mouth of the Lord Himself:
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will [e]restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a [f]curse.”
Matthew 11
7 As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 [h]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ [i]palaces! 9 [j]But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it [k]is written,
‘Behold, I send My messenger [l]ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’
11 Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is [m]least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven [n]suffers violence, and violent men [o]take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who [p]was to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, [q]let him hear.
How much clearer can the Lord be?
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Maria, do you ever study or look into the the Jewish Celebrations of the Feasts given to Israel? After the conclusion of the Seder’s Grace, after the meal, there is a universally accepted custom to pour a cup of wine (the “Cup of Elijah”), open the front door of the home, and recite several verses (mostly from Psalms) wherein they beseech God to pour His wrath upon their oppressors.
The day of wrath is spoken of in the Old Testament as the day of the Lord. Elijah did not die as normal human beings do. Nor did he leave behind a physical body to confirm his death. He was taken up. This gave rise to Midarshim about Elijah entering heaven physically.
Second, is the mention of Elijah in the closing of the book of Malachi, where God says that He will send Elijah before the Day of The Lord will come.
Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 5, and 2nd Thessalonians 2 that the day of the Lord is future, and will not occur until the Antichrist is present. Thus Elijah is thought to be one of the two prophets (witnesses) of Rev. 11, by most premillennial scholars.
So, think about this — if John the Baptist was the Elijah prophesied to be the forerunner of Jesus then the Bible teaches reincarnation. I think not. John the Baptist, was born from the womb a second time if that is the case, and being reborn as John and dying as John, Why then did he not appear as John (the last form of Elijah) on the Mount Of Transfiguration? Also I had mentioned here in this article that John did not fulfill all that Elijah was prophesied to fulfill.
Since Elijah has not died he will most likely appear again to fulfill the prophecy concerning his coming before the yet future day of the Lord, not as John but as Elijah. So then I would conclude along with some scholars that John was sent in the Spirit of Elijah as it states in the scripture I quoted to turn Israel back. Certainly to recognize their Messiah, but as a people they did not, and thus as Paul tells us in Romans 11, most were cut off. But he also makes clear that one day all Israel will be saved. That does not mean that all who were physically born to Israel will be saved, but that a future nation following her purging as scripture teaches will all be saved completing this present age.
I realize that this is complicated, and probably debatable, but the verses you quote are true spiritually speaking:
It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17 NASB
So, unless we want to believe in reincarnation this proclamation of our Lord appears not to be physically speaking, but spiritually speaking. I’m not saying that I am right and you are wrong, but all of this must be considered in our conclusion concerning the Elijah prophecies.
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Jerry, I own a couple of versions of the Passover Seder and have read them. Years ago I attended a kind of Seder with explanations with my Mom at her Catholic church. She was involved in the Ministry to Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Don’t they also invite Elijah in to the Seder? I thought I remembered this, so I looked it up here:
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/504495/jewish/Why-Is-Elijah-the-Prophet-Invited-to-the-Seder.htm
At this website it also states that it is believed that Elijah attends the circumcisions of all Jewish boys and comes to the Seder to testify that all those at each Seder were circumcised.
Jerry, this End Times treatment concerning Elijah is weak.
Should we return to shadows and types when we have the reality, Jesus Christ?
We aren’t supposed to talk to people in heaven. It’s not a matter as some would say that this is “talking to the dead” because everyone in heaven is alive, eternally alive. Elijah was taken up into heaven, just as Enoch was, and they are types of our gathering to Jesus at His return. Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of heaven, both these men were changed to enter heaven and so they come down here to die and be raised – they are changed and clothed with immortality.
Why should I go to the Midrashim to learn about Elijah entering heaven? The Tanakh or Hebrew Scriptures – the Old Testament – clearly teach this.
The day of the Lord is a term that refers not only to the outpouring of judgment at the Christ’s Return at the End of the Age but to various judgments of God during Old Testament times; it also refers to the destruction of the Temple and dispersion of the Jewish people in the first and second centuries.
The New Testament interprets the Old. Jesus explained that John was the prophesied Elijah who would come to prepare for Him. It’s explicit. There’s no question about this.
“11 Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Matthew 11 NASB
“It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17 NASB
Clearly, the day of the Lord that is referred to in 2 Thessalonians 2 is the day of the Lord at the End of the Age.
Certainly John being the Elijah who was to come can be true without saying that reincarnation is therefore being taught. John, the antitype of Elijah, was Jesus’ forerunner. Jesus did not say that Elijah was his forerunner but explained Malachi to us as speaking about John.
You wrote, “Also I had mentioned here in this article that John did not fulfill all that Elijah was prophesied to fulfill.” Of course he did, Jerry. Jesus explained this.
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Posted: as response on original post: Do you ever study or look into the the Jewish Celebrations of the Feasts given to Israel? After the conclusion of the Seder’s Grace, after the meal, there is a universally accepted custom to pour a cup of wine (the “Cup of Elijah”), open the front door of the home, and recite several verses (mostly from Psalms) wherein they beseech God to pour His wrath upon their oppressors.
The day of wrath is spoken of in the Old Testament as the day of the Lord. Elijah did not die as normal human beings do. Nor did he leave behind a physical body to confirm his death. He was taken up. This gave rise to Midarshim about Elijah entering heaven physically.
Second, is the mention of Elijah in the closing of the book of Malachi, where God says that He will send Elijah before the Day of The Lord will come.
Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 5, and 2nd Thessalonians 2 that the day of the Lord is future, and will not occur until the Antichrist is present. Thus Elijah is thought to be one of the two prophets (witnesses) of Rev. 11, by most premillennial scholars.
So, think about this — if John the Baptist was the Elijah prophesied to be the forerunner of Jesus then the Bible teaches reincarnation. I think not. John the Baptist, was born from the womb a second time if that is the case, and being reborn as John and dying as John, Why then did he not appear as John (the last form of Elijah) on the Mount Of Transfiguration? Also I had mentioned here in this article that John did not fulfill all that Elijah was prophesied to fulfill.
Since Elijah has not died he will most likely appear again to fulfill the prophecy concerning his coming before the yet future day of the Lord, not as John but as Elijah. So then I would conclude along with some scholars that John was sent in the Spirit of Elijah as it states in the scripture I quoted to turn Israel back. Certainly to recognize their Messiah, but as a people they did not, and thus as Paul tells us in Romans 11, most were cut off. But he also makes clear that one day all Israel will be saved. That does not mean that all who were physically born to Israel will be saved, but that a future nation following her purging as scripture teaches will all be saved completing this present age.
I realize that this is complicated, and probably debatable, but the verses you quote are true spiritually speaking:
It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17 NASB
So, unless we want to believe in reincarnation this proclamation of our Lord appears not to be physically speaking, but spiritually speaking. I’m not saying that I am right and you are wrong, but all of this must be considered in our conclusion concerning the Elijah prophecies.
The Jewish belief that Elijah would come before the Messiah was so ingrained in their minds that when Yeshua came without their understanding of Elijah’s role coming to pass, they subsequently dismissed Him as a Messianic candidate. Without a preceding Elijah, Yeshua had to be an imposter. Here’s a quote from the a book by Justin Martyr (approx. 100 CE), a man considered to be an early church father. In this quote, the author is describing his discussion with a Jewish Rabbi who makes it clear that the Jews would not accept a Messiah without an Elijah –
“(the rabbi says) . . . but if the Messiah has been born and exists anywhere, He is not known, nor is He conscious of His own existence, nor has He any power until Elias comes to anoint Him and to make Him manifest to all. But you [Christians] have believed this foolish rumor, and you have invented for yourselves a Christ for whom you blindly give up your lives.” 2
Lev 7:19 `And the flesh which cometh against any unclean thing is not eaten; with fire it is burnt; as to the flesh, every clean one doth eat of the flesh;
He uses several other scriptures to show that Elijah may have been a gentile. This is the one about eating meat from an unclean animal, the raven.
I don’t think you understood my points. The Jews do in most Passover seders set a cup of wine for Elijah, that is not consumed, and after the meal they send a child or children to the front door and open it and invite Elijah in. Their belief is that he will come before Messiah as the forerunner of Messiah. And that Messiah cannot come until he has first come to announce Him. This is based on their understanding of the scripture.
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
Malachi 4:5 NASB
I’m not sure what you are saying concerning John, are you agreeing that John was not the reincarnated Elijah? But the fulfillment of the prophecy as forerunner preparing the way of the Lord’s first coming? I guess I would need a better explanation of how the day of the Lord in the Old Testament is not the same day of the Lord that Paul also refers to. If we look at Joel’s prophecy he states that the day of the Lord will be preceded by the sun moon and stars sign causing darkness on the earth. This is followed by the Lords presence in Jerusalem.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. The Lord roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth tremble. But the Lord is a refuge for His people And a stronghold to the sons of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will pass through it no more.
Joel 3:14-17 NASB
This is an obvious end time statement.
Paul spoke of the Lords coming as a thief in the night. It can only be night over all the earth if God has caused this darkness. Jesus also spoke of this sun, moon and stars sign in Matthew 24 after the Tribulation of those days. Isa. Also spoke of the Sun moon and stars sign associated with the day of the Lord. So the day of the Lord which is preceded by Elijah has very strong last days implication, and in my opinion is not weak at all.
I am not disputing that John fulfilled this prophecy in part, and it is not the only scripture that has a double prophetic meaning. But it does not seem that Jesus first coming was the prophesied fulfillment of the day of the Lord that Elijah would proceed.
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Jerry, may I answer tomorrow?
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Maria, I would hope that these articles will be open to anyone to raise issues at any time. This is not about us it is about finding what God wants us to know. And it may not even be us that need know it. We may not be here, but people including us need to know that we must be (Berians my spelling is awful sometimes). As you can see tomorrow is here and I just got to this. So sorry, yes today or tomorrow, whenever. Thanks for reading. Your replies are a plus.
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That Elijah the Tishbite could be a Gentile is a somewhat new thing to me – you’ve mentioned it before though. I will look this up. 🙂
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There is some debate over his being a Gentile. But what is new among God’s people. One argument for is the use of ravens to feed him. The raven is listed as an unclean bird. Anything touching an unclean animal would be unclean. The area where he is said to be from is said to be located in Samaria. Let me know your thinking.
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Jerry, I’m really done and hope not to answer at length again evrer in contradiction to you. Forgive me then. Of course I’ll still read.
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Maria, I really don’t mind a discussion of these questions. We learn by discussion, and by questioning. I hope that I don’t come across as though I’m offended or always right, because I know that I too have some questions. The trouble I think is that there are some seeming contradictions in scripture. I don’t think that we can believe them to be actual contradictions. So when they seem to crop up we need to seek for Scriptural answers to assist us in our understanding. Or we can as many do and just ignore some passages that we don’t like, and allow them to remain contradictions. I think that we all need to be challenged to hear as the Lord calls us to do even in the passage that you presented. I don’t know all truth yet, and neither does any one that I’ve ever sat under, but when we are open to learn we can progress with hearing and understanding. I appreciate the things you point out, because they point out a weakness in my presentation, or in my thinking. Thanks for the discussion.
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Jerry, this discussion is difficult for me. You don’t come across as thinking you’re always right, but you don’t seem to grasp that some truth is settled. When we know that a truth is settled then it’s wrong to go on with an open mind, searching and searching. I do not want to be a foolish woman, always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.
Jesus explained Malachi and I will stay with that, grounded in it and not search into Jewish fables about Elijah. Most of the Jews now – this will change, praise God! – do not have the key to Scripture which is the Messiah. All of Scripture is about Him – remember His words on the road to Emmaus? – and it cannot and should not be used to speculate about future things. The Jews rejected John’s ministry, you see, and therefore they rejected the One that John testified about, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. This is why they speak the way they do, rejecting Jesus because they say Elijah did not come as His forerunner. Jesus explained, to repeat myself, that John was Elijah, not reincarnated – that is an awful thing to bring into this discussion, Jerry – but His Forerunner, a forerunner too of the day of the Lord in 70 A.D. I’m honestly angry with you that you can make basic mistakes because of your desire to figure out details of the End of the Age, sacrificing Christ’s perfect words to speculation.
Please forgive me. This is too much for me, brother. You are a true man of God but something is leading you astray and it is your need to know all of this.
I made a mistake in one of the comments on this post, in this paragraph:
“Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of heaven, both these men were changed to enter heaven and so they come down here to die and be raised – they are changed and clothed with immortality.”
It should read: “Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of heaven, both these men were changed to enter heaven and so they CANNOT come down here to die and be raised – they are changed and clothed with immortality.”
Forgive me. I can’t do this any further and, too, it is unbecoming in a woman professing godliness to have an interchange like this.
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Maria, sorry to make you angry. Not my intent. I don’t want you to discuss this more. So please don’t feel obligated to do so, but for clarification for anyone reading our discussion I need to say that the Messianic Jews who like the Gentiles don’t seem to agree on much, do seem to agree that Elijah will be one of the two witnesses of Revelation, which they see as being future. I will do some additional study on your point concerning the day of the Lord and 70AD. I had not had that thrown at me before, and had always believed it to be future. Your statement regarding immortality is an interesting point also, again one I had not heard before, but this does seem to fly in the face of one other scripture. It is appointed unto man once to die and then comes the Judgment. The reason Elijah was considered to be one of the witnesses was because he had never died, and both witnesses do die and lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three days.
Buy the way I don’t consider your positions or our discussion to be ungodly, and I certainly don’t think that the Lord would. He has allowed us to be told in scripture to study to show ourselves approved. We are not arguing over words. We are discussing them. But I respect your feelings and position. If you have information re: the 70ad day of the Lord, I would appreciate you sharing it. Again please forgive me if I have offended in any way.
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Okay, Jerry. You haven’t offended me.
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Thank you for your many kindnesses to me, Jerry.
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Ditto that. You always have your reasons to challenge. Don’t change.
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That’s very kind.
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Maria I have added an additional thread in this post concerning the issues that you raised, which challenged my thinking. I would like to ask that read it and see if you understand what I’m saying and if it rings true or false to you. It seems to clarify what we were discussing from the scripture.
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Okay, brother, I will try. Thank you for asking me! Hope you and Ellen are enjoying your day.
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Good day, Sunday’s are always good.
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Good. Amen, a gift for us.
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Amen
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I was the one who started the discussion. Lord bless and guide you!
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Thanks.
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Maria has sent me on an expedition into the kingdom of God. How was that done? — by telling me that flesh and Blood cannot enter into heaven. I knew that that sounded authoritative when she said it, but I questioned it because I knew that the Apostles Paul and John were both called into the third heaven in the flesh. Which is irrelevant really, because there is no way to prove that their’s was or was not an in body experience, but it sent me to the text in 1 Corinthians 15.
And here is what he text states.
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
1 Corinthians 15:50 NASB
So the Kingdom Of God is what Paul tells us cannot be inhabited by flesh and blood. This i believe has far reaching implications when we consider it. It goes beyond the issue Maria raised, because there are men today who teach that the kingdom of God is present on earth right now, but based on this verse this cannot be. We are still flesh and blood. So the kingdom of God must still be future. In Daniel we learn when the kingdom of God is actually to be established.
In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Daniel 2:44 NASB
So first we learn that God’s kingdom is eternal from a given point in time, and that it will crush all other kingdoms. So that has not yet happened. And in Daniel 7 we learn why:
Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
Daniel 7:27 NASB
So God’s kingdom is not yet established and will not be until the end of this age when these earthly kingdoms are crushed.
My next question then was — was it necessary as Maria stated for Elijah to have been given an immortal body if the kingdom was not yet established? And please understand I am not putting anyone down including Maria when I ask these questions, I myself was unsure after she stated her case, but I believe that when we are unsure we should study more in order to resolve the issue from scripture. Man was originally in paradise where he walked with God in a body of flesh, if he was not in a body of flesh, then he was in a Spirit Body and immortal. But not so Listen:
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul .” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
1 Corinthians 15:45-49 NASB
Paul makes it clear that Adam was a natural man and we know that he walked with God. He states that the second Adam was a life giving Spirit. Jesus is that second man. Before He came the natural could not put on immortality. Elijah was taken up to heaven as a natural man. There is no reason to think that his sins were covered any sooner than Paul’s and John’s who were both called into the third heaven and remained mortal as was Adam when he walked in the Garden which at that time was paradise, with God. But there is another verse that neither of us, Maria or I used in this discussion. It I think proves what I recorded here in this posted article. This is Jesus speaking:
And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”
Matthew 17:11-12 NASB
At this point John the Baptist was dead and yes Jesus calls him Elijah, but He states that “Elijah is” still “coming” even after John the Baptist’s death, and he “will restore all things”. I am not at all certain that I fully understand what this implies. Restoring all things is a tall order, but at least we can understand that he will do certainly that which is prophesied concerning him, and possibly more.
I feel that this information is significant enough to be worthy of a separate post. So I will do that with this information.
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Jerry, I’m not competent to answer this latest comment. I tried, and drafted an answer but this comment makes me angrier than the post itself, since in a sense you were disingenuous by saying I didn’t address Matthew 17 when I addressed part of the same words of Jesus in Matthew 11. You are mishandling so much. Please go to brothers you know or online brothers.
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Maria, I don’t know what has angered you. I haven’t posted what I had written as a new blog post and won’t, since you take exception, but I don’t see reason for anger. I’m quoting the scripture without changing its meaning in any way. Your last answer to me led me to believe that I wasn’t giving Jesus’ teaching on Elijah it’s proper due. I read all that I could find and Matt 17 had not been yet quoted and it spoke directly to the point we were discussing. It added information that the other verses did not. I’m not certain what you see me mishandling. Certainly you can’t disagree that it took Jesus purchase of our eternal life at the very least before anyone could obtain the gift of immortality. I may be wrong about something I said hear, but these two points I would think you would agree with and they make the case for Elijah’s future coming before the day of the Lord which was the point we were discussing. I must be a very poor communicator if I have upset you so with this post. I’m so sorry.
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Jerry, all I can say is you’re my brother. Please forgive my manner. Somehow we are miscommunicating. I should have stayed with my decision to end my discussion with you on this topic. God bless you big-time.
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We will meet with all the saints one day in Glory sister. Love you both in Christ.
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Thank you! Lord bless you both! In Jesus’ love, Maria and Tom
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