The Mission and the Mantle
Elijah has been a very active spirit.
Yet, in spite of Jewish expectations, he has never appeared again in the flesh as Elijah.
That is partly why Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah.
In their view, Elijah did not come to herald Jesus, as God had promised 400 years before Christ: “I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes” (Malachi 4:6).
Yet Elijah did come to herald the Messiah in the form of John the Baptist.
Jesus said John the Baptist was Elijah (Matthew 11:14).
Elijah’s spirit was “resting on” John the Baptist, as his spirit had “rested on” Elijah (2 Kings 2:15).
When Elijah appointed Elisha as his successor, he put his own mantle, or cloak, on him to symbolize that Elisha was inheriting his mission: “Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him” (1 Kings 19:19).
John the Baptist inherited the mission of Elijah too. Spiritually, he wore his mantle.
Yet John the Baptist did not have the same body as Elijah’s. He was a different man with a different body.
The two men were very similar, though.
They were both prophets of God.
People described Elijah as having “a garment of hair” and “a leather belt around his waist” (2 Kings 1:8).
John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist (Matthew 3:4).
Elijah went out into the wilderness and was fed by ravens and from a stream (1 Kings 17: 2-6).
John went out into the wilderness and ate locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4).
Both spoke truth to power, challenging the corrupt kings of their times.
When someone comes with the mission and mantle of someone who has gone before, Unificationists call it “Returning Resurrection.”
It is not the same as reincarnation.
John the Baptist had his own distinct talents, devotion, personality, and spirit, but he spoke in the power and spirit of Elijah, inheriting his mission and mantle.
We know that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah; the anointed one; the Christ.
When he comes again, we posit that he will come like Elijah did—“resting on” someone else who has inherited his mission and mantle, someone who has been anointed by God.
It will be someone with a different body than Jesus of Nazareth, just as John the Baptist had a different body than Elijah.
When Jesus came the first time, he did not literally fulfill the prophecy of Daniel 7:13 that he would come “with the clouds of heaven”.
He was spiritually surrounded by angels and trumpets and great heavenly heralding with pure clouds of heaven around him.
Yet he was born on earth in a lowly manger.
Like the prophecy of Daniel, there were prophecies about the Second Coming, including by Jesus himself that he would come on the clouds.
There are many such prophecies: Matthew 24:30-31, Matthew 26:64, Mark 13:26,
1 Thessalonians 4:17, and Revelation 1:7 all say Jesus will come on the clouds.
The question is whether these verses speak of mystical, spiritual experiences, such as the disciples had when they saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, or whether it will be a literal event that everyone can see.
Like Jesus, Elijah left the earth mysteriously. He was “taken up to heaven in a whirlwind on a chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire” (2 Kings 2:11).
Jesus also left the earth mysteriously, through ascending to heaven in the clouds as his disciples watched (Acts 1:9-11).
In spite of this, Elijah has never come back in the same body, recognizable as the prophet of old.
He has come back spiritually, helping those who have the same mission and mantle as he had.
When Jesus comes again, we believe it will be someone with a different body than Jesus of Nazareth, just as John the Baptist had a different body than Elijah.
But for those who have eyes to see, the Christ will be spiritually surrounded by angels and trumpets and great heavenly heralding with pure clouds of heaven showing that he comes in the power and spirit of God.
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