There are
numerous passages in the Bible which infer that John and Jesus in
their last incarnations were, respectively, Elijah and his disciple
Elisha. (These are the spellings in the Old Testament. The Greek
translators spelled the names as Elias and Eliseus; they reappear
in the New Testament in these changed forms.)
The very end of the Old Testament is a prediction of the reincarnation
of Elijah and Elisha: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."
{FN35-3} Thus John (Elijah), sent "before the coming . . . of the
Lord," was born slightly earlier to serve as a herald for Christ.
An angel appeared to Zacharias the father to testify that his coming
son John would be no other than Elijah (Elias).
"But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer
is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou
shalt call his name John. . . . And many of the children of Israel
shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him
{FN35-4} 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." {FN35-5}
Jesus twice unequivocally identified Elijah (Elias) as John: "Elias
is come already, and they knew him not. . . . Then the disciples
understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
Pages:
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431