In the T'nach Malachi 3:23 (4:5 in Christian versions) says: "Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the L-rd." Notice anything? This passage says G-d will send Eliyahu / Elijah. Not a "spirit" of Elijah. Elijah. Not someone who denied being Elijah (aka John the Baptist): "They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”" John 1:21. Christianity rejects the idea of reincarnation, so how could John the Baptist be Elijah? The Christian bible even gives the birth information on John -- and it had nothing to do with Eliyahu / Elijah. To reiterate: Malachi 3:23 says that Eliyahu / Elijah himself will appear -- not some "forerunner" or "spirit." Another nail in the coffin of John the Baptist being some sort of pseudo-Elijah is found in the very next verse in Malachi, which ends the chapter and the book: "that he may turn the heart of the fathers back through the children, and the heart of the children back through their fathers-lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction." Malachi 3:24. After John the Baptist and Jesus did the hearts of the fathers turn to their children, and the children to the fathers? Nope. What exactly does it mean that fathers and children will turn to each other? Elijah will start the peace process by rectifying Israel's behavior, causing them to repent and return to G-d. It did not happen, ergo Eliyahu / Elijah has yet to make an appearance. The Malbim opined "הנה - עד לפני בא יום הגדול שאז תשוב לכם הנבואה שנית על ידי גדול הנביאים שהוא אליהו הנביא שיתגלה אז. "Until the great day", that then prophecy will return to them a second time through the Great of the Prophets (Eliyahu HaNavi / Elijah the Prophet) who will be revealed then." The Rambam (Maimonides), on the other hand, took Elijah's return as parable. "...and similarly all of these kinds of things (i.e."the wolf will dwell with the sheep etc.") are parables. And in the days of the Messiah it will be known to all what exactly it was a parable for, and what idea was hinted at with it." Hilchot M'lachim 12:2. In other words there are varying opinions as to Elijah's appearance before the messiah arrives. The concept of Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the prophet) returning throughout our history, including every Passover, is deeply rooted in Judaism, but in the realm of allegorical stories. . . In all likelihood it is literal in that Eliyahu / Elijah himself will return -- but how is simply not explained. You might have noticed that the list maker referenced "chapter 4" while the verse appears in chapter three in the T'nach. There is no "Chapter 4" in the book of מַלְאָכִי / Malachi. The book spans three chapters, but in Christian versions they break the third chapter into two -- chapters three and four. Why? Even the early Greek translations have three chapters. Why did later Christian versions break the book up into four? Probably for the same reason they moved it to the last position in their versions of the Hebrew bible -- because they thought it was a perfect "lead in" to the Christian bible. The Christian versions take verses 19 - 24 of chapter three and move them to a new chapter -- which leads into the Christian bible. In the T'nach (Jewish bible) the book of Malachi is found in Nevi'im / נְבִיאִים (Prophets). The entire contents of Ketuvim / כְּתוּבִים follow it -- this means that
All come after Malachi in the bible. The word T'nach is an acronym of the first Hebrew letter of the three sections of the Jewish bible. The first section is the תּוֹרָה / Torah (translation: instructions not law) -- the Five Books of Moses. The second part of the T'nach is נְבִיאִים / Nevi'im -- which translates to "Prophets." Nevi'im are the histories of the Jewish people along with prophecies which were important to the then living people and often have message of importance to those of us alive today. Not everything in Nevi'im (Prophets) IS prophecy for us -- some of it has already been fulfilled and passed --but the message is still important. Prophecy is also very straightforward and based on the plain meaning -- the Hebrew term is P'shat (פְּשָׁט). Malachi is the last book in Nevi'im / נְבִיאִים. Next comes Ketuvim / כְּתוּבִים. Ketuvim consists of histories, poetry, stories -- but NOT PROPHECY. Malachi does not prophesy anything about Jesus -- the prophet wrote about the Jews keeping the mitzvot of the Torah (not turning to Christianity or any other religion) -- and the day will come when G-d will send the people Elijah the prophet prior to the day of judgment. The Levites (Jewish priestly tribe) will be purified and sacrifices will resume in the Temple (which will be rebuilt). Elijah will turn the hearts of parents and children to one another, causing both to turn to G-d. If they won’t return to G-d, then He will strike the world with great destruction. But Malachi ends on a positive note -- with the people returning to G-d. This messianic prophecy is the last prophecy in the T'nach. This is the last book in Nevi'im / נְבִיאִים (Prophets). Next comes Ketuvim / / כְּתוּבִים / Writings -- which includes T'hillim / Psalms and the other books listed above. The books in Ketuvim were inspired by G-d, but written by holy men (not via direct communication with G-d, aka "prophecy").
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