Elijah
Elijah's illustrious career is a matter of record but he left nothing of his own in writing; there is no record of any of his prophecies yet he is the most mentioned prophet in the New Testament and his spirit has influenced all the prophets to follow. Ahab the King of Israel had taken for wife a Canaanite woman named Jezebel, daughter of Eth-baal. "And Ahab, the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." Showing a weak and vacillating character, Ahab tolerated Jezebel and allowed the practice of Phoenician worship in Israel on a grand scale. The false prophets and priests of Baal were chosen in great numbers and were known to sacrifice infants at the altar. Elijah suddenly appears before Ahab speaking words of majestic power and proclaims God's vengeance for the apostasy of King Ahab and the corruption of Israel. Elijah challenged the priests of Baal and consumed them in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit by calling down fire from heaven.
Elijah's unquestioning faith in God was boundless and that passionate faith was his purpose in life. "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts," he would say, and his courage was a fearless example to God's prophets since. He was a recluse by nature and only appeared before men in God's own time to deliver His message, enforce it by a miraculous sign, and then disappear again. Elisha asked from him a double measure of his spirit. Elijah said, "You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be done for you; but if not, it shall not be so." If you know the story, you know that Elisha did indeed receive the double portion. The translation of Elijah is given to us to confirm the fact that there will be an ultimate deliverance for all of God's people, we ourselves will be carried off into the heavens and spend eternity in the company of such men as Elijah.
Elijah's prophetic spirit left a great impression upon Israel. He became the archetype of the promised forerunner of the great and dreadful day of the Lord of hosts. "Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist received a message from an angel telling him that his son will come in the spirit and power of Elijah. Jesus taught the truth of an end time Elijah to come to His disciples in the future tense after John the Baptist was dead:
Saint John in his Apocalypse informed us of two witnesses who were to preach against the Anti-christ, be killed by him and then miraculously resurrected in the eyes of all and translated to heaven like Elijah taken away in the chariot. Zechariah has identified them as the two olive branches, the "two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." Popular eschatology throughout church history has identified these two witnesses as Elijah and Enoch, or sometimes Elijah and Moses, but always Elijah. Elijah was "translated that he should not see death." These are the only three Bible characters that were translated to heaven without undergoing bodily corruption. We confirm that by scripture concerning Elijah and Enoch and by tradition as regards to the assumption of Moses. It was Moses and Elijah with Jesus at the transfiguration. The Elijah pattern is the model these two last day figures will follow in denouncing the exploitation and oppression of the four-headed beast, the Anti-christ and the false prophet of Babylon. Like the two witnesses to come, it was Elijah that called down fire to consume the messengers of King Ahaziah and it was Elijah who was responsible for a drought, "there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." The prophet Elijah comes also as the new Daniel, to whom is given the key of David to open the book sealed with seven seals.
There is a lot being revealed lately about the Elijah company, being a corporate Elijah that come with his spirit in the last days as a group rather than one man. Believe it, there will be many who will be revealed with the manifest sons of God who have transcended the religious system brainwash and bursting forth with denunciation and spiritual outpouring in the power of Elijah. This comes with a deception however, for those that think that they are in the power and spirit of Elijah and one of the two witnesses when they are not. Without true discernment and anointing, many are being spiritually deceived and deceiving others.
This corporate Elijah will be part of the man-child of Rev.12:5 and may be the messenger of Revelation 10. The Elijah spirit as one of God's two witnesses however, seems to be totally upon one man. Elijah as one of the two witnesses should have the power of a double-portion ministry. God often uses His stories in the Bible to serve as a lesson to us. The Elijah that we will know will have the power to bestow that double portion on the Elijah Company like he did with Elisha, we should expect no less. Through an anointing of the manifest sons we should be able to recognize those in the church who can stand out with a double portion and be part of the restoration, speaking the word of God with boldness, authority and prophetic power.
Many Muslims also look forward to the coming of Elijah. The Quran records, "So also was Elias among those sent and we left this blessing for him among generations to come in later times: Peace and salutation to such as Elias." Elijah will be called as like the last Imam to the Muslims but it will only be to a remnant that has washed themselves in the blood of the Lamb. Most of the entire nation of Islam will attempt to bathe in the blood of the anointed one through violence, not love, and march against Zion.
God's two witnesses will come in the power of Elijah to shut up the heavens so it may not rain upon the earth. "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." Thomas Muntzer wrote that the church should with sighs and prayers recognize their abject condition and at the same time their need for a new, God sent leader. "If the holy church is to be renewed through the bitter truth, a servant of God must stand forth in the spirit of Elijah and set things in motion. In truth, many of them will have to be roused, so that with the greatest possible zeal and with passionate earnestness they may sweep Christendom clean of ungodly rulers."
The ministry of Elijah will be in the warning of impending judgment and the broadcasting of restoration principles to a church starving for truth and thirsting for the power of the Holy Ghost. Elijah will warn the church of its false practices, denounce the false leadership and prophesy the downfall of the false church and false prophets. He will come and "restore all things." Restoration principles are the apostolic truths and spiritual power that the church has rejected. "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers." This will not be business as usual. Will the people listen? Many will and it is in this acceptance that more drastic judgments will be averted: "Else I will come, and strike the land with a curse." It is in the blessings of this latter rain outpouring that a great revival will commence over the entire earth through the marriage supper of the Lamb. Unfortunately, many will not heed the warnings of Elijah, including the church, and it is in this denial that Christian Babylon will show forth her apostasy by rejecting and opposing the outpouring. They will be cut off from fellowship with God's spirit. Daniel writes that "many shall be purified and made white and tried, but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." The wickedness and apostasy of the church is in the main - the refusal to put away their pride long enough to be able to love each other.
Elijah's words will burn like an intense flame, subduing his enemies with the sword of the spirit. God has given him the power to control the elements and perform miracles. He will set the trumpet to his mouth and come as an eagle against the house of the Lord. He will be more of a social revolutionary than evangelist and can only teach the Christian freedom taught by Jesus by denouncing the legalism of the churches and the oppression and right wing tyranny and oppression of the forces of Anti-christ. This is not what people will be expecting and Babylon can only hate, fear, oppose and disrespect him. Elijah will set the stage for the Day of the Lord and will preach righteousness and judgment and cleanse the church with a purifying fire. He will deliver stinging retribution toward the ministers of the Lord who have chosen mammon instead of His spirit with soothing words of peace and safety.
The cry of Elijah will be the cry of the oppressed and by his word will nations arise to denounce the nature of the beast. He will be able to enter a congregation and call down a powerful invocation reminiscent of Pentecost and the Lord will suddenly appear like the mighty rushing wind of old. False prophets and the proud have no power over him, their tongues will stammer and they will be left as fools. He is able to stretch forth his hand in rebuke and call spiritual fire from heaven. The ministers of the Lord will weep between the porch and altar and they are left alone to bear recompense for the iniquities of Babylon. "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand."
Elijah was the greatest of the Hebrew prophets and deservedly revered as the most honored. The boldness and faithfulness of Elijah stands out like a lighthouse in the midst of a dangerous sea. He was a strict and selfless zealot for the adoration of God but endearingly human. The name Elijah means whose God is Jehovah. Elijah bursts upon Bible history without warning and then just as suddenly, miraculously disappears. He appears as a supernatural messenger from heaven with a chosen job to do and a single mindedness to accomplish God's will. As promised, his spirit has returned to our generation.
Elias truly shall first come and restore all things. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Jesus had suggested that John the Baptist was the expected Elijah but John had denied being the Christ, Elijah or the prophet to come. John the Baptist was the return of the spirit of Elijah, but just as it was Elijah before the first coming of Christ, so it will be before the second.
[12, 35, 58, 70, 81, 224, 58, 330, 338, 35, 08, 380, Unger's BD, Matthew 11, Luke, I Kings 16, 17, II Kings 2, Ecclesiastes, Malachi 3, 4, James, Revelation 11, 12]
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