―So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he
them.‖ (Gen 1:27)
Interestingly, even Paul offers a feminine aspect to the coming Kingdom:
―But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.‖ (Gal 4:26)
17:11 Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things
―And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.‖
Y‘shua says Elijah has yet to come, but the next verse says it in a different way.
17:12-13 That Elias is come already, and they knew him not
―(12) 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. (13) Then the disciples understood
that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.‖
Y‘shua, of course, is referring to John the Baptist, whom he says "was Elijah". Critics often point to this as a
"contradiction". Some go as far to say that this indicates that Scripture teaches reincarnation.
However, the concept of multiple appearances of Elijah is not foreign to Judaism; nor is the idea of someone
being "in the spirit" of a great prophet; nor is the concept of Elijah coming more than once:
Seder 'Olam Rabba, ch. 17: ―In the second year of (King) Ahazia, Elijah was hidden, and he will not be seen
again until King Messiah comes. And then he will be seen but will be hidden a second time, and seen again
only when Gog and Magog come.‖ (The Messiah Texts, Raphael Patai, 1979, Wayne State University Press,
Detroit, p.134.)
The prophesied Eliyah from an eschatological point of view
Who are the two witnesses of the Revelation chapter 11? They are two men – not covenants or
dispensations. They are YHWH‘s witnesses, because YHWH said ―my two witnesses‖. They are possibly
sent by YHWH to warn and prepare the Jews and Gentiles for the Great Tribulation period. It could be any
two known or unknown men. YHWH tells us through the prophet Malachi (Mal 4:5) that He will send us Elijah
―before the Coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord‖ (The Tribulation period). In this context, it is
not clear if Elijah‘s spirit (as in the days of Yochanan the Immerser – Matt 11:7-14) or the person himself will
return.
The two witnesses are symbolised in the Tanach by two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before
YHWH (Zech 4:11-14). They will have power to destroy their enemies the same way their enemies sought to
destroy them. When their ministry is finished, the Antichrist will be allowed to kill them; or better, they will
possibly challenge the Antichrist to kill them to prove that they will be resurrected.
There are three men who never died a natural death, of which the possibility exists that the two witnesses
can be from them. Scripture informs us that Elijah is a possible witness – now, who are the other two who
have never died a natural death?
Enoch is the only other man in Scripture who has not seen death in his time on earth, and is now in heaven
(Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5). Both Elijah and Enoch were prophets of judgment. Enoch also prophesied the Coming
day of the Almighty's judgment and the return of Y‘shua with his church (Jude 14-15). The lives of Enoch
and Elijah are parallel in every sense, and many scholars accept that they will be the two witnesses.
On the other hand, YHWH buried Moses Himself; and nobody knows where the grave is till today (Deut
34:6). Moses and Elijah appeared with glorified bodies and talked to Y‘shua on the Mount of Transfiguration
(Matt 17:3). In Jude 9, Michael the archangel was in a dispute with Satan about the body of Moses. Satan
challenged Michael‘s right to bury Moses, since Moses had murdered an Egyptian (Exod 2:11-15).
Deut 34:5-6 indicates that Moses‘ burial was divinely arranged. Another interesting factor is that the prophet
Malachi mentions both Elijah and Moses in his passage about the Messiah, and many scholars conclude that
Moses is the second of the two witnesses. There are also similarities between the future plagues that they