Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The spirit of Elijah

John the Baptist was sent by God for a purpose. The angel who appeared to John's father said:

"...And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And it is he who will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:16-17

Elijah was a prophet in a time when Israel had turned to the worship of pagan gods. Ahab's wife Jezebel had killed as many prophets of the Lord as she could find, and supported hundreds of prophets of Baal and of the Asheroth. The people had known the God of Israel; they knew their history. But they had adopted the religions of the peoples around them, religions of prosperity and sexuality.

Elijah called for a famine on the land; for three and a half years no rain fell. Then Elijah told Ahab to gather all of the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, to witness a test between the God of Israel and Baal. Elijah told the people gathered at Mount Carmel:

"...How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him..." I Kings 18:21

After the prophets of Baal had failed to bring fire on their offering, Elijah called the people to watch. He had the offering drenched in water, and then prayed in the hearing of the people.

"Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O Lord, art God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again." I Kings 18:37

The fire of the Lord fell, consuming the offering, the wood, the stones, and the water in the trench around it.

Then the people fell on their faces, saying:

"The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God." I Kings 18:39

Elijah turned the hearts of the people back to the Lord. This is what John the Baptist did, coming in the spirit and power of Elijah.

But John performed no miracles; no fire fell on any mountain. Yet the hearts of the people were turned back to the Lord.

There had been no famine in Israel in the time of John the Baptist, yet the people were hungry, spiritually hungry. They went out into the wilderness to listen to a strange man from the desert.

No fire fell when John the Baptist preached, yet the people came to him to be baptized, as they confessed their sins.

John the Baptist had come in the spirit and power of Elijah; the same spirit and power was at work in John. Elijah prayed, and it did not rain. In the time of John the Baptist there was a spiritual famine, a hunger for the word of the Lord.

"'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord God,
'When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the Lord.'" Amos 8:11

Elijah had prayed for fire to prove that the Lord was God. John the Baptist preached, and men believed that the Lord was God. Elijah called for the people to bring the prophets of Baal down to the river. John the Baptist called for the people to come to the river to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Elijah prayed and the sky poured out rain, and the earth bore fruit. John the Baptist told those he baptized to bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.

The spirit and power of Elijah was present in John the Baptist, not in outward ways but in inward ways. This is what was needed to prepare a people for Jesus Christ.

This is what is needed now, a wild man who does not fit into our world.

...A wild man to pray for a spiritual famine in the hearts of men.
...A wild man to bring fire on men's hearts when they preach.
...A wild man to bring men to the river.
...A wild man to pray for spiritual rain to fall on men.

Our tame world does not have many like John the Baptist, but there are a few. We may try to preach like John the Baptist, thinking men will listen, but it is not the same. Men listen because they are hungry; they are hungry because a famine has been sent on them. A famine was sent because someone actively prayed. Someone prayed because he does not live in this tame world.

It is not our events that bring repentance; it is a man with the spirit and power of Elijah.

18 Comments:

At 10:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

amazing!

 
At 10:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

thank you so much this is such a blessing!

 
At 4:50 PM, Blogger gravity said...

thank you for this! it was prophesied over me that i had a similar mission as that of John the Baptist and i was to read about it... i love finding out more and more. thanks again!

 
At 10:45 PM, Blogger Blinkety said...

This is an excellent study! Thank you.
Acts 3:21 re. the "restoration of all things" led me to Matt 17:11 which says "Elijah is coming and will restore all things." That led me to this sight, looking to see what it said about Elijah. It is so interesting to see the comparison in methods between Elijah and the spirit of Elijah through John the Baptist. I take from that we can only see by the fruit whether one is truly operating in the spirit of Elijah. The methods might showy, or they might not.

 
At 8:43 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for your insight from the Bible. God Bless You!

 
At 12:36 PM, Anonymous Brian said...

You are correct, but you miss the following point as explained very clearly in Matthew 17:10-13

10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

This states very clearly that John the Baptist in the reincarnation of Elias.

I know that modern Christianity has chosen to ignore such things as reincarnation and karma, but here it is.

Feel free to e-mail me to discuss this further here. =) God bless.

 
At 6:28 AM, Blogger Teddy said...

One point that would puzzle anyone I guess is this: since it is the expressly outspoken activity of the Holy Spirit to produce repentance and awareness of sin, judgment and righteousness, which is done through every faithful teacher of the truth, what added role would men or women with the spirit of Elijah, since that can be no other than the spirit of God, have?

Then again: if no-one any longer preaches Christ truly then of course such a messenger is called for...

 
At 6:09 AM, Blogger Amor meus amplior quam verba est... said...

...why not a woman?:)

And Björn, the spirit of Elijah means to have a longing to see the sons and daughters of God (the Church) resturn to Him again.
And as you know, NOT every teacher of the Word is able to teach with such passion & anointing like Elijah & John the Baptist...It takes grace...and loads of preparation (in terms of the heart)!

 
At 6:13 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

The Spirit of Elijah/Elias was manifested in the Spirit. The prophet Elijah's mantle or anointing was displayed on the life of John the Baptise. It is important to denote that God does not clone people. He sends His Spirit and the Holy Spirit interacts within our individual lives making us more than a conqueror and more like the author and finisher of our faith. Verse 11 says He must come, verse 12 says He has come. The anointing or mantle that has been tested and preserved can become available for the faithful and redeemed.

 
At 3:35 PM, Blogger Herbert Tangani said...

God bless you! Wow

 
At 3:31 AM, Blogger Catharina said...

Amazing the message in a nutshell. My comment is actually for gravity you have a forerunner mantle need to know more contact me at catharinafr7@gmail.com as I have the same mandate. I can give you teachings etc to help you in your mission.

 
At 1:07 PM, Blogger Thomas Strobel said...

This article begs attention to the restoration of the fullness of the gospel which occured in the early 1800's in America's northeast. Elijah has come, the "restoration of all things has happened." It is the "stone rolling forth to fill the whole earth" and an "ensign to the nations." See how it happened at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVw6PsSinI
View it with an softened and open heart and you will feel the holy spirit communicate to your that it is true!

 
At 1:33 PM, Anonymous God Chaser! said...

God Bless and thanks for making it plain.

 
At 2:17 PM, Anonymous killingidols.com said...

This is awesome. The Lord also shared something with me about it:
Elijah did not turn the hearts of men by saying 'turn your hearts'. What he did was set up a confrontation between God and idols, thru himself and the false prophets.
A CONFRONTATIONAL Preaching Anointing has to come if we want to see the day of the Lord like Malachi 4 says.
Http://killingidols.com

Come Quickly Lord Jesus

 
At 6:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think there is one other thing this person left out:

-A wild man who will pray that the fatherless eyes of this nation will be open to our eternal Father's love.

I think that is really what Elijah the prophet was sent to do. He did miracles even greater than his predicesor Elisha. And what greater love is there to expereince than that of the love of our eternal Father.

That is what I think the verse is leading us to now.

John the Baptist lead the hearts of the father's back to the children by preaching repent, and be saved. Thus cleaning the hearts of the men and women and making them like children.

The next person(s) may very well lead the hearts of the unrighteouse and heathened children back to the Father by preaching on His love. That is what i got from that verse.

 
At 5:54 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I what more

 
At 5:54 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I what more

 
At 5:55 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

I what more

 

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