Chizuk Emunah Under the Microscope: Chapter 39

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6)

What a great way to end the book of the prophets! This section called the nevi'im is filled with declarations that Israel has been a wicked and disobedient nation, and that God will pour his vengeance upon it. Even after the exile, and even after rebuilding the second temple, the prophets do not change their tune. They still point out the wickedness and syncretism experienced by the restored nation of Israel. Contrary to rabbinical teaching, the exile did not cleanse the Jewish people of their lust for idolatry.

The dispute between the church and the rabbis is the identity of Elijah in that passage. Is this literally Elijah or someone that comes in his office? We can dismiss the idea that Elijah was reincarnated. For one, Elijah never died, so reincarnation would be right out. For those Jews who would still hold to things like reincarnation, I would recommend a book by Moshe Ben Chaim called Judaism: Religion of Reason.

The references in the New Testament are:

For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. (Matthew 11:13-14)

But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:12-13)

And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.” (Mark 9:12-13)

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:13-17)

And then we have this odd reference in the book of John:

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:19-23)

So John the Baptist (the first Baptist) had a different understanding of himself than Jesus did. While Jesus stated that John held the office of Elijah (like calling someone Caesar). John did not believe that he was Elijah, so his self-understanding was lower than how Jesus understood him. Possibly, John would not have been believed even if he had identified himself as Elijah, since the Jews of the day were expecting a literal Elijah.

Modern rabbinical Judaism is divided upon this issue. If one can make a case from this verse that only a literal Elijah will appear, then one can also make a case that David shall appear in person an be king, as Ezekiel states in the 37th chapter of his book.

The Yalkut Reubeni quotes Simeon ben Levi stating that Phineas is Elijah. There is also a similar passage from Pirkei d'Eleazar. Sometimes I feel bad for defenders of rabbinical Judaism, because almost any Christian interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures has a parallel somewhere in the tradition, due to its size and diversity.

 A few other misunderstandings by Troki are in order.

Troki believed that Jesus contradicted himself by first saying that Elijah will come and then that he has come. The problem is that in Matthew 17, Jesus is not saying that Elijah will come in the future, but is quoting Malachi. This is why in verses 10-12 it states that Elijah will come, and in verses 13-14 it states that Elijah has come.

Troki also states that John the (Southern) Baptist denied that the was a prophet. The Greek is pretty clear that John denied that he was THE prophet, not A prophet. John did not believe that he was Lord Messiah.