Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,151,653 members, 7,813,200 topics. Date: Tuesday, 30 April 2024 at 08:35 AM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Religion / Was John The Baptist Elijah? (511 Views)
'I'm John The Baptist' - Kenyan ‘Prophet’ With 39 Wives / Ibadan Baptist Pastor Locked Out By Church Members Over Embezzlement (Photo) / Was John The Baptist Elijah? (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
Was John The Baptist Elijah? by mayorski22(m): 7:42am On Jan 12, 2016 |
Was John the Baptist really the prophet Elijah?
Believing that the Bible indicates John to have
been Elijah, some people have contended that the
Bible supports the idea of reincarnation. Others,
noting that John specifically denied being Elijah
(John 1:21), have argued that the Bible contradicts
itself. Thus this question merits attention for
more than one reason.
In Malachi 4:5-6, God announced that He would
send “Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and terrible day of the LORD.” In Luke 1:17,
we learn that the angel Gabriel told Zacharias,
John’s father, that John would fulfill Malachi 4:6,
stating that he would go before the Lord “in the
spirit and power of Elijah.” Jesus also identified
John as Elijah (Matthew 11:14;17:10-13; Mark
9:11-13). However, when asked by the priests and
Levites if he were Elijah, John denied it (John
1:21). How should this denial be understood?
First of all, it is noteworthy that John did not
apply Malachi 4:6 to himself, but instead quoted
Isaiah 40:3 to explain his purpose. Some have
concluded from this fact that John did not realize
he was Elijah. However, this is extremely
unlikely, since Zacharias would surely have told
John of Gabriel’s reference to Malachi 4:5-6. It is
also noteworthy that Isaiah 40:3 is parallel in
thought to Malachi 3:1 (which is closely related to
Malachi 4:5-6). In Mark 1:2-3, Mark quotes
Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 together to explain
John’s ministry, introducing the quotations with
the words, “As it is written in Isaiah the
prophet.” These facts indicate that John saw the
“voice” in Isaiah 40:3 as a humbler way of
expressing the same functional role as described
in Malachi, and that he realized he was to
function in that role “in the spirit and power of
Elijah.”
The actual reason for John’s denial that he was
“Elijah,” then, is that John was avoiding being
acclaimed as Elijah resurrected in the flesh.
Apparently the Jews in Jesus’ day expected Elijah
himself to come, based on an overly literal
interpretation of Malachi. (This would not prove
that the Jews believed in reincarnation, rather,
they expected Elijah to be raised bodily from the
dead by God.) In this sense, John denied that he
was “Elijah”; he had come merely “in the spirit
and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). Because the Jews
had misunderstood the Elijah prophecy in
Malachi, John instead applied to himself the
parallel prophecy in Isaiah 40:3 (John 1:23).
When Jesus said that John was “Elijah,” He meant
the same thing, namely, that John was to fulfill
the same role in his day that Elijah had, as
specified in Malachi 4:5-6. That role, specifically,
was to call the nation of Israel to repentance.
That John’s coming “in the spirit and power of
Elijah” did not mean that he was a reincarnation
of Elijah can be seen from the example of Elisha.
Just before Elijah was taken up into heaven in a
flaming chariot, Elisha requested that he be given
a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, which was
granted to him (II Kings 2:9-15). Obviously, Elisha
did not thereby become a reincarnation of Elijah,
since they had both lived at the same time, and
since Elijah was clearly taken from the earth once
and for all in bodily form. (The fact that Elijah did
not die but was taken up bodily into heaven also
rules out his being reincarnated in John.)
However, Elisha received in his prophetic
ministry the spiritual power that characterized
Elijah’s ministry. Indeed, Elisha’s request for a
“double portion” of Elijah’s spirit makes it
impossible that he was requesting to incarnate
Elijah’s personal spirit, for one’s individual spirit
surely cannot be “doubled.” Neither in the case of
Elisha, nor in the case of John, then, do we find
evidence of a reincarnation of the personal spirit
of Elijah. Nor is there any reason to regard John’s
statement in John 1:21 as a contradiction of
Gabriel’s promise and Jesus’ statements
regarding John’s ministry as a kind of second
Elijah. 2 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Was John The Baptist Elijah? by Scholar8200(m): 9:31am On Jan 12, 2016 |
Your conclusion is very correct. Luke 1:17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Meaning he will operate with the same measure of anointing of Elijah. |
Re: Was John The Baptist Elijah? by analice107: 10:38pm On Jan 12, 2016 |
Thank you brother Scholar. @Ops, When I saw him here, I knew you ve had your answer. |
(1) (Reply)
The Bible Fortold 'yahoo-yahoo'. Why Do We Fight It??? / Operations Of Spirits / Religious People Are Just Straight Up Retarded
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 14 |