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The spirit of Elijah by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf "And they asked Him, saying, Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Then He answered and told them, Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him" (Mark 9:11-13). Elijah [אֱלִיָּהוּ, Eliyahou in Hebrew] whose name means 'My God is the Lord' came to make God known to the people of Israel. Elijah was called to give this word from God to the idolatrous king Ahab, "There will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word" (1 Kings 17:1). Three years later, he presented himself again before the king to assemble all the people of Israel, the ten tribes from the North, and to confront the false prophets of Baal and Asherah. These prophets called on their god to consume their offerings, but nothing happened. Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord which had been knocked down, cut twelve stones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, placed his offering on the wood and called on his God, "The Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel! so that they will know this day that you are God in Israel… and that I have done all these things by your word!". The fire of the Lord consumed the offering as well as the altar. God used Elijah in this way to bring back the heart of His people to Him and His Torah (1 Kings 8:20-40). An angel had announced to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John… he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth… he will walk before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:13-17). John[יוחנן, Yochanan in Hebrew] means 'The Lord is grace'. Since the hellenisation of the land of Israel by the emperor Alexander the Great in the third century BC, the spirit of Javan (Greece) has influenced the portion of the people of Israel who are scattered in the Roman empire. John was the messenger that God sent to bring back the heart of His people to Him, in order to prepare them to welcome the Messenger of the Covenant, the Messiah of God (Malachi 3:1). It is why, John, preaching repentance, baptised in the Jordan those who turned towards God and His Torah. And he proclaimed the One who would come after him, Jesus, the Messiah of God (Matthew 3). John the Baptist was the Elijah who would prepare the people of God for the 'Great Day of The Lord' which was the first coming of Jesus (Malachi 4:5-6). The prophetic word of Malachi says, "See I will send you the prophet Elijah, before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes". This verse speaks of two different days: the 'Great Day of the Lord', the Day of Grace, that of the first coming of Jesus, and the 'Dreadful Day of the Lord' the Day of Judgement, that of the second coming. Because the heart of the people of Israel, gathered on the earth, will have been seduced by the Antichrist and the false prophet, for "They will have the power to close up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying…’’ (Revelation 11:16). These two witnesses will lead the heart of the people of God to Him and to His Torah to prepare them to welcome the Messiah of God, Jesus Christ. He will come then with His Bride to judge the earth– to fulfil the anger of God– and deliver His people from the nations gathered to destroy them. All the wicked will be thrown out of the earth, and Jesus will then establish His Kingdom and will sit in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14). This is why the spirit of Elijah will come first and re-establish all things before the second coming of Jesus. |