Elijah in the New Testament

2023-06-29

The last words of the Old Testament leave us with this: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6). Elijah, or Elias as his name will be rendered, is mentioned several times in the New Testament.

The angel Gabriel told Zacharias this of his son John that would be born: “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” (Luke 1:17). John the Baptist would pave the way for our Lord as he preached repentance to the people. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 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” (Matthew 17:11-12).

“And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true” (John 10:41). Though John did no miracle like Elias, both men caused many to turn back to the Lord. “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again” (1 Kings 18:37). And again, “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God” (1 Kings 18:39).

The stories and traits of Elias are a theme in the New Testament. He healed a Gentile woman. “But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow” (Luke 4:25-26). Elias had compassion for people outside the Jewish nation, as the Lord does.

The apostle Paul mentioned Elias regarding his prayer against Israel, and the hope of the remnant. “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal” (Romans 11:2-4).

James the Lord’s brother used Elias as an example of prayer. “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5:17-18).

Lastly, Elias himself appeared in the New Testament on the mount of Transfiguration. “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30-31). As the chief of prophets, he bore witness that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and not himself, for the Father said, “And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Luke 9:35).