“As they were coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ He said in reply, ‘Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” [Matthew 17:9-13]
Elijah is the archetype and model for all those called to “wake up” others numbed by the death and decay of the mind and heart that comes with being enslaved to sin where the human spirit lives in and for the flesh.
Prophet’s speak truth. They reveal what is unseen as “light”… but they always make it clear, they are not the light!
In fact, being a prophet isn’t an enviable job, and most never wanted it in the first place [some tried to run away like Jonah].
Yes, Elijah did go eventually go up into heaven in a flaming chariot after a hard life, but John the Baptist got his head chopped off, so as you can see, “retirement plans” are pretty dicey with the profit career track.
Elijah is a very important figure for our time, because he challenged the same collective culture of darkness from idolatry that we are experiencing in the world, including worship and child sacrifice to Baal.
Children are once again being placed on that altar in so many horrific and tragic ways today.
The “light” that Elijah witnessed to was the powerful word and Spirit of God, the one true God of the Israelites, Yahweh, who intervened with his chosen people very decisively through Elijah with great manifestations of miraculous power.
The “light” that John the Baptist brought and testified to (who Jesus coincidentally identified as Elijah) was the very WORD of God made flesh, born into world in the person of Jesus. John pointed to Jesus and referred to him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the light of all light!
In a culture of “darkness and death” we need “light and life,” and that’s who Jesus is: the light of life!
So be an Elijah, and in your own unique way, announce the coming of the “light of life” who is to come again into the world, to judge, but also to heal and restore through the manifestation of the power and glory of God.
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the LIGHT OF LIFE.” [John 8:12].