Is Eliyahu the Prophet still with us?
Contents:
1. Did Elijah die?
2. Could Elijah be still alive?
3. Descendant or Future Embodiment?
4. Is Brit-Am an Agent of Elijah?
5. Knowing Your Ancestry. Elijah as Intellectual Intuition and Spiritual Inspiration.
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1. Did Elijah die?
We saw an overview of the Prophet Elijah and his time.
See our previous article:
Eliyahu. An Overview of the Prophet Elijah in Scripture and Tradition.
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/elijah.html
We also saw how according to the simple meaning of the text Elijah was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot.
2-Kings 2:
11 THEN IT HAPPENED, AS THEY CONTINUED ON AND TALKED, THAT SUDDENLY A CHARIOT OF FIRE APPEARED WITH HORSES OF FIRE, AND SEPARATED THE TWO OF THEM; AND ELIJAH WENT UP BY A WHIRLWIND INTO HEAVEN.
Did Elijah really go up bodily to heaven or is the description figurative?
There are differences of opinion.
A Rabbinical article summarizing the case for Elijah having remained on this earth is to be found at:
The Storm Part 7a: Eliyahu Lives On
by
Rav Elchanan Samet
https://etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/neviim/sefer-melakhim-bet/storm-part-7a-eliyahu-lives
Rabbi Samet quotes from the Talmud (Sukka 5a):
# Rabbi Yosei said: "The Divine Presence never descended, nor did Moshe or Eliyahu ascend on High, as it is written (Tehillim 115:16), 'The heaven is God's heaven, and the earth He has given to mankind.'" #
Rabbi Yose was speaking at a discussion of the Sages on this matter.
Some of those present brought the following verses as arguments against him:
"God descended upon Mount Sinai" (Exodus 19:20).
"His legs will stand that day upon the Mount of Olives" (Zechariah 14:4),
"Moses ascended to God" (Exodus 19:3),
"Eliyahu ascended in a storm to heaven" (2-Kings 2:11).
Rabbi Yose explained all these cases as relative, e.g. Moses remained on earth but went to great height, God stayed in heaven but made HIS Presence felt at a lower level.
He brings more Biblical verses on this matter.
Also:
# In the Radak's view, then, Eliyahu dies. It is only his spirit that "returns to God, Who gave it." What is special about the description of his death is the manner in which he died, which is different from any other death recorded in Tanakh. In Eliyahu's ascent in a storm to heaven there is a process whereby the body is separated from the soul. The soul (spirit) ascends to heaven, while the body and its garments are consumed, such that there remains nothing for burial. #
Reish Lakish (a very important sage) also opined that Elijah died when he was taken up in the chariot.
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2. Could Elijah be still alive?
Conceptually Elijah might still be in existence in some spiritual or partly physical state.
There are indications that at some stage in the Messianic Era at the End of Times nature will change and people will not longer die.
When we get there we will doubtless know about it.
If this is going to happen it could be that in an exceptional case of Elijah it already has. Who knows?
Jewish tradition speaks of the frequent appearance of Elijah. These may however be no more than folk-tales or bear a symbolic meaning.
When it says that Eliyahu will be present at every Jewish Circumcision ceremony it is speaking in a figurative sense.
For more on this matter, see the series of articles by Rav Elchanan Samet
https://etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/neviim/sefer-melakhim-bet/storm-part-7f-eliyahu-lives-continued
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3. Descendant or Future Embodiment?
When the Bible mentions some figure from the past, such as David, it may be understood as meaning a descendant of theirs who fulfills the role the same as he would have done.
cf.
Ezekiel (NKJV) 34:
24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant DAVID a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
Ezekiel (NKJV) 37:
24 DAVID My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.
Hosea (NKJV) 3:
5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and DAVID their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
Passages that speak of Elijah may have a similar import.
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4. Is Brit-Am an Agent of Elijah?
Malachi (NKJV) 4:
4 Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you ELIJAH THE PROPHET
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
6 And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
The Message of Malachi 4:5 was preceded by a similar one concerning the MESSENGER:
Malachi (NKJV) 3:
3 Behold, I send My MESSENGER,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the LORD, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,
Says the LORD of hosts.
The Messenger has been identified (by Avraham Iben Ezra, 1089(92) - 11164(7) CE) with the Messiah son of Joseph future leader of the Lost Ten Tribes when they return:
'Kol HaTor' says [2.71] says:
'Behold I will send you my prophet Elijah, and he will return the hearts of the fathers to their sons' (Malachi 4). One of the tasks of Elijah is to arouse the spirit of the MESSIAH SON OF JOSEPH.
The holy task of Elijah (whoever he may be) is to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and that of the children to their fathers.
This could refer to conscious of ancestry.
Brit-Am/Hebrew Awareness in arousing consciousness of Hebrew Ancestry may in a way be fulfilling part of the Role of Elijah!
Malachi 4: 6 And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
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5. Knowing Your Ancestry. Elijah as Intellectual Intuition and Spiritual Inspiration.
An opinion exists attributed to the Maharal of Prague (Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, ca.1512 - 1609) that when Rabbinical scholars encounter difficult conundrums in their Torah researches and an answer is found it is because of Eliyahu.
These answers are reached thanks to a combination of refined intuition and learned deduction.
The spirit of Eliyahu, or something parallel to it, enables the scholar to draw closer to the Truth.
So too, in Brit-Am Researches.
Many of they who follow us, as well as we ourselves, instinctively-intuitively understand that Brit-Am Hebrew Identifications are correct.
We still need a modicum of rational factual researched to confirm the direction we are going in. And this is what we achieve.
The Lost Ten Tribes are among Western peoples.
This is confirmed by researches in Scripture, Rabbinical Sources, Archaeology, History, Linguistics, Mythology, Cultural Anthropology, Current Affairs, and other fields.
They who help Brit-Am in this are assisting the work of Elijah as predicted by the Prophet Malachi.