New Days, Old Demons: A Study of ElijahSample

When Will Elijah Return to Earth for His End Times Ministry?

God’s prophets had been told by revelation that the time had come for their fearless leader, the mountain man Elijah, to be taken to Heaven without tasting death. This had happened only once prior with Enoch.

For the latter portion of his ministry, Elijah was blessed to have Elisha with him as a faithful friend and trustworthy assistant. The relationship between these men was like father and son. In fact, Elisha refers to him in this scene as “my father”.

We all have physical fathers. This is the man with whom we share a genetic physical connection and general longing to have a relationship with and loving help from. We also have spiritual fathers. These are Christian leaders whom we share a spiritual connection with. In addition to physical parents, the Bible teaches that we also have spiritual parents. This is the heart of spiritual fathering and the kind of relationship that Elijah had with Elisha.

Once Elijah is taken to Heaven, Elisha faithfully carries forth the message and mission of spiritual father. Today, in business or ministry leadership, we would call this succession. The insight is that the best successor to a godly leader is someone who sees the previous leader as their father and learns from them to continue their work in new ways.

Reminiscent of the days of Moses when God parted the Red Sea, God then performs yet another miracle as the prophets of God look on the Jordan River. Following Elijah’s departure to Heaven, Elisha crosses back over the Jordan by striking the water with the cloak of Elijah, parting it yet again. It is evident that the anointing was transferred to the next generation of leadership.

In an emotional farewell scene where Elisha will say his last goodbye to Elijah, he makes one request. Elijah was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and Elisha asks for the same anointing. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is the power and presence of God at work for us, in us, through us, and around us. Elisha rightly knows that to continue supernatural ministry will require the Spirit of God.

In what is truly a first-class flight, God sends a chariot with horses to deliver Elijah home as he rides off into the sunset. For Elisha and the other prophets standing below, watching him fly away might have felt like a scene from a Christmas movie with flying reindeer transporting Santa Claus.

Throughout his life, Elijah honored God. As we have examined, he was not a perfect man, but he was a great “man of God.” God honored Elijah with a very public homecoming unlike anyone before or since. The reason Elijah battled ungodly kings on earth was because he was fighting for his God King in Heaven, Jesus Christ. Many years after Elijah went up, King Jesus came down. Jesus was empowered by the same Holy Spirit as Elijah, and the two men were so much alike that some thought Jesus was Elijah come back down to earth, which we read in the Gospels.

It seems from Malachi 4:5-6 that Elijah will return to earth one last time to finish his ministry, preparing the way for Jesus’ second coming. In Jesus’ first coming, this prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptizer who prepared the way for Jesus. In Jesus’ second coming, the prophecy of Malachi will be completed and fulfilled by Elijah. Further evidence in Revelation points to Elijah coming back to Earth before Jesus' second coming, as well.

Until that day, as we see Elijah ascending into Heaven, we are to remember that it was a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus’ ascension after his rise from death to forgive sin. On the day of Jesus’ Second Coming following the crucifixion and resurrection of Elijah, all believers will experience the same kind of homecoming that he did when God took him up in the clouds. Be encouraged. Your chariot is coming, and you will be riding off into the sunset.

Having studied the life of Elijah, what would be the top one or two things that the Holy Spirit has highlighted for you to learn from?