The prophet Elijah is mentioned over 50 times in Scripture. Have you ever wondered why? Moreover, the prophet Malachi records the Lord’s prophecy, “Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5).

I presently do not believe there is any Scriptural support that would justify the idea that Elijah is going to return to the earth bodily before the second coming of Jesus Christ (unless it may be at the time of the second coming?).

So, this must be referring to the coming of the Spirit of Elijah. Because it does, we must take a serious look at Matthew 11:7-14, John 1:21 and Luke 1:17 (the reader should read carefully the first two of these references, but for this article Luke 1:17 will suffice):

And he shall go before him 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.

It seems to me that when the Scripture talks about the Spirit of Elijah, it must be referring to the work of the Holy Spirit in Elijah fashion or style. Plainly, the work of the Holy Spirit with Elijah characteristics or fashion. Thus, the Scripture seems to be affirming that in the day of the Lord there will be an Elijah outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and this spiritual inundation will be reminiscent of Acts 2. Therefore, it seems the last-days figure of the church is reflected in Elijah’s life and ministry.

In the first place we must note the meaning of the name Elijah: Eli (“my God”) and Jah (“is Jehovah”) means My God is Jehovah!! To be effective in days like this, we must personally, intently know our God and we must speak to Him on a regular basis! This quality is demonstrated in Elijah even though in one episode of his life he was afraid of Jezebel.

But in the cave of his hiding (1 Kings 19), God spoke to him inquisitively (of course, He knew the answer): “Why are you here, Elijah?” So, I ask the readers, “Why are you here?” Do you know for certain why you have life? It is so easy to get lost in a crowd of friends! It is so easy to get lost in church activity! We say we are doing the work of the Lord…are we really?

God bless all the readers of this article.