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| “The Spirit and Power of Elijah”—Not the Soul—Were in the Baptist.
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2. “The Spirit and Power of Elijah”—Not
the Soul—Were in the Baptist.
I have thought it necessary to dwell some time on the
examination of the doctrine of transmigration, because of the suspicion
of some who suppose that the soul under consideration was the same in
Elijah and in John, being called in the former case Elijah, and in the
second case John; and that, not apart from God, had he been called
John, as is plain from the saying of the angel who appeared to
Zacharias, “Fear not, Zacharias, for thy supplication is heard,
and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his
name John;”5834
and from the fact
that Zacharias regained his speech after he had written in the tablet,
that he who had been born should be called John.5835
But if it were the soul of Elijah,
then, when he was begotten a second time, he should have been called
Elijah; or for the change of name some reason should have been
assigned, as in the case of Abram and Abraham, Sarah and Sarrah, Jacob
and Israel, Simon and Peter. And yet not even thus would their
argument in the case be tenable; for, in the case of the aforesaid, the
changes of name took place in one and the same life. But some one
might ask, if the soul of Elijah was not first in the Tishbite and
secondly in John, what might that be in both which the Saviour called
Elijah? And I say that Gabriel in his words to Zacharias
suggested what the substance was in Elijah and John that was the same;
for he says, “Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the
Lord their God; and he shall go before his face in the spirit and power
of Elijah.”5836
For, observe,
he did not say in the “soul” of Elijah, in which case the
doctrine of transmigration might have some ground, but “in the
spirit and power of Elijah.” For the Scripture well knows
the distinction between spirit and soul, as, “May God sanctify
you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire,
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;”5837
and the passage, “Bless the Lord, ye
spirits and souls of the righteous”5838
as
it stands in the book of Daniel, according to the Septuagint,
represents the difference between spirit and soul. Elijah,
therefore, was not called John because of the soul, but because of the
spirit and the power, which in no way conflicts with the teaching of
the church, though they were formerly in Elijah, and afterwards in
John; and “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets,”5839
but the souls of
the prophets are not subject to the prophets, and “the spirit of
Elijah rested on Elisha.”5840
But we
ought to inquire whether the spirit of Elijah is the same as the spirit
of God in Elijah, or whether they are different from each other, and
whether the spirit of Elijah which was in him was something
supernatural, different from the spirit of each man which is in him;
for the Apostle clearly indicates that the Spirit of God, though it be
in us, is different from the spirit of each man which is in Him, when
he says somewhere, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit that we are the children of God;”5841
and elsewhere, “No one of men
knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of the man which is in him;
even so the things of God none knoweth save the Spirit of
God.”5842
But do not
marvel in regard to what is said about Elijah, if, just as something
strange happened to him different from all the saints who are recorded,
in respect of his having been caught up by a whirlwind into
heaven,5843
so his spirit had
something of choice excellence, so that not only did it rest on Elisha,
but also descended along with John at his birth; and that John,
separately, “was filled with the Holy Ghost even from his
mother’s womb,” and separately, “came before Christ
in the spirit and power of Elijah.”5844
For it is possible for several spirits
not only worse, but also better, to be in the same man. David
accordingly asks to be established by a free spirit,5845
and that a right spirit be renewed in his
inward parts.5846
But if, in
order that the Saviour may impart to us of “the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and reverence,”5847
he was filled
also with the spirit of the fear of the Lord; it is possible also that
these several good spirits may be conceived as being in the same
person. And this also we have brought forward, because of John
having come before Christ “in the spirit and power of
Elijah,”5848
in order that the
saying, “Elijah has already come,”5849
may be referred to the spirit of Elijah that was in John; as also the
three disciples who had gone up with Him understood that He spake to
them about John the Baptist.5850
Upon Elisha,
then, only the spirit of Elijah rested, but John came before,5851
not only in the spirit, but also in the
power of Elijah. Wherefore, also, Elisha could not have been
called Elijah, but John was Elijah himself. But if it be
necessary to adduce the Scripture from which the scribes said that
Elijah must first come, listen to Malachi who says, “And behold I
will send to you Elijah the Tishbite,” etc., down to the words,
“Lest I come and smite the earth utterly.”5852
And it seems to be indicated by these
words, that Elijah was to prepare for the glorious coming of Christ by
certain holy words and dispositions in their souls, those who had been
made fittest for this, which those upon earth could not have endured,
because of the excellency of the glory, unless they had been prepared
before hand by Elijah. And likewise, by Elijah, in this place, I
do not understand the soul of that prophet but his spirit and his
power; for these it is by which all things shall be restored,5853
so that when they have been restored, and,
as a result of that restoration, become capable of receiving the glory
of Christ, the Son of God who shall appear in glory may sojourn with
them. But if also Elijah be in some sort a word inferior to
“the Word who was in the beginning with God, God the
Word,”5854
this word also
might come as a preparatory discipline to the people prepared by it,
that they might be trained for the reception of the perfect Word.
But some one may raise the question whether the spirit and power of
Elijah, suffered what was suffered in John, according to the words,
“They did in him whatsoever they listed.”5855
And to this it will be said on the one
hand, in simpler fashion that there is nothing strange in the thought,
that the things which assist do, because of love, suffer along with
those that are assisted; and Jesus indeed says. “Because of the
weak I was weak, and I hungered because of the hungry, and I thirsted
because of the thirsty,”5856
and, on the other
hand, in a deeper sense that the words are not, “But they did
unto him whatsoever they listed in him,” for the things which
suffered leaned upon the spirit and the power of Elijah, the soul of
John being in no wise Elijah; and probably also the body (leaned upon
them). For in one fashion is the soul in the body, and the
spirit, and the power; and in another fashion is the body of the
righteous man in these better parts, as leaning upon them, and clinging
to them; but “they who are in the flesh cannot please God; but ye
are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the Spirit of God dwell in
you;”5857
for the soul of the
sinner is in the flesh, but of the righteous man in spirit. And
likewise, further, this might be inquired into, to whom refer the
words, “But they did in him whatsoever they
listed.”5858
Was it to the
scribes in regard to whom the disciples inquired and said, “Why
then do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?”5859
But it is not at all evident that John
suffered anything at the hands of the scribes, except, indeed, that
they did not believe him; or, as we said also before, that they were
accomplices in the wrongs which Herod dared to inflict on him.
But another might say that the words, “But they did in him
whatsoever they listed,”
refer not to the scribes but to Herodias and her daughter, and Herod,
who did in him whatsoever they listed. And that which follows,
“So shall the Son of man suffer from them,”5860
might be referred to the scribes, if the
former were referred to them; but, if the former refers to Herod and
Herodias and her daughter, the second passage will also refer to
them;5861
| 5861 The text is
uncertain. | for Herod also seems to have joined in the
vote that Jesus should die, perhaps his wife also taking part with him
in the plot against Him.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
