WILL ELIJAH COME AGAIN IN PERSON, OR WILL HIS COMING BE IN CHARACTER?
By Chas. T. Everson
BEHOLD, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of ‘the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’ Mal. 4:5. Within the last few weeks the people of this country have had their attention especially called to this text by the fact that Dr. Dowie has announced himself as a reincarnation of the prophet Elijah. He bases his claim upon this text quoted from Malachi, and poses as the Elijah prophesied of in that scripture. That the present is the time for this text to meet its fulfilment is evident to every one that believes in the soon-coming of Christ. For the text plainly states that Elijah will come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. But the idea that there must be an incarnation of the original prophet in order to fulfil the prophecy is contrary to the general teaching of God’s Word. We read that God is no respecter of persons. Also we note in another passage that Christ says, “Without ‘Me ye can do nothing.” Putting the two thoughts together, we conclude that since man of himself can do nothing, and God must do the work that is accomplished, therefore God does not need any special individual in order to gain the desired results. For He can make a person with the same strength of character and qualifications that Elijah possessed, out of the men of to-day. Elijah was heir to the same frailties and human weaknesses that beset men of this age. We read in James 5:17 that “Elias was a man ‘subject to like passions as we are.’” And that this is true, we can readily see from taking a glimpse at his life. On one occasion he summoned the priests of Baal to Mount Carmel, that there it might be determined who was the true God. It was decided that the deity that responded by a fire that consumed the sacrifice placed upon the altar, was the true God. After the priests of Baal had exhausted all their resources in pleading with their god to no purpose, and with no response, Elijah builded his altar, and placed thereon the sacrifice, and poured twelve barrels of water over the sacrifice. When he had called upon the Lord, fire came down from heaven in response to his petition, and it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, and licked up the water. We would naturally suppose that after a man had received such a marvelous answer to his prayer, he would ever afterward trust God implicitly. But the fire from heaven had scarcely gone out before we see the prophet sitting out in the wilderness so discouraged that he asked God that he might die. The man that stood alone with God in opposition to the four hundred and fifty priests of Baal, fled before the threats of one determined woman. The great victory was forgotten, and he became so discouraged that he thought he was the only one in the whole land that followed God, and he asked that he might die. It therefore can truly be said of him that he was a man subject to like passions as we are. He was the most discouraged at a time when God had the greatest blessings in store for him. The Lord called him in the midst of his discouragement to come up into the mount, and there he heard the still small voice of God’s Spirit. He went forth from this communion with God with such renewed courage that he was soon ready for translation, and God sent the flaming chariot of angels to summon him to the courts above. A person is not translated because the time for translation is come, but because he himself is ready for it. Elijah was ready for translation, therefore God took him to Himself. We that are living in the last days will all need to be Elijahs, or we will never be translated. We will be translated, not because it is time for translation, but because, like Elijah, we have developed characters that entitle us to translation. It is the character of an individual that is of value in every age, and not his personality. The Lord does not need to bring back Elijah to this world to give the closing message; for He can make an Elijah out of every one that is willing to be transformed by His power. Not one Elijah, but a company of Elijahs, will give the message to the world just before Christ comes. For every one that will be giving the final message will need to possess the character of Elijah in order to be prepared for translation. The strong point in the character of Elijah was his willingness to stand for truth, even if he stood alone. Every one that goes through to the kingdom in these last days will need to possess this characteristic of standing alone with God in the face of all opposition.