One might think that Prophecy ended with the
coming of Jesus. Well, no, it is exactly the opposite: “perfect prophecy”
starts with Him and spreads. “Do not
think that I have come to abolish […] the prophets. I have come not to abolish
but to fulfill.” In the day of Pentecost, everybody is filled with the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of Prophecy. Everybody was then able to listen to God and
speak to Him and about him, helped for that by the Holy Spirit. If in the Old
Testament, Prophecy was the privilege of few ones, now, with the Holy Spirit
outpoured, Prophecy is the privilege of even the smallest in the Kingdom (see
Mt 11:11-12).
The essence of real and perfect prophecy is
revealed by Jesus. Since He is the Messiah, the anointed, the one who is full
of the Holy Spirit and the Giver of the Holy Spirit, from the Father, He perfects
Prophecy, bringing it into earth, to everybody.
The man who is in charge of explaining to us the
fulfilment of Prophecy, is John, the Evangelist, the "Boanerges" (Mk 3:17), the "son of Thunder" (an allusion to the similarity of spirit with Elijah).
The
similarity with Elijah is striking:
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| Elijah's offering, by Chagall |
1- Elijah’s mission is to show to the false prophets that YHWH is God (1st Kings 18:20-39). John’s mission is to show us that Jesus is God: “these [signs] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31).
2- Jesus' Name means (Yah Shoua): God-Yah (or YHWH) saves. Both Prophets,
Elijah and John, are focusing on the Name of God and on invoking the Name.
3- Both are focusing on the vital necessity to know who is the real God.
Elijah says: “If YHWH is God, follow Him”, and “YHWH, God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel”.
And John says it about Jesus: “believe that Jesus is […] the son of God” (John
20:31), in other words: God.
Two more striking similarities:
4- Elijah is busy reconstructing the “Altar of the Lord”. “He built an
altar in honor of the LORD with the stones” says the text of the first book of
the kings mentioned above. John, is busy with re-building the “new man”, the “new
heart” that will be able to “worship in
Spirit and in Truth” (See John 4). The heart who will, then purified, be
able to receive the Holy Spirit, the very Life of God, coming from Above.
Through the journey of the 6 sings (the 6 jars in Cana of Galilee), the heart
is purified and reborn, in order to access Jesus’ divinity.
5- The second similarity is the falling of
the Fire from above. This is a practical issue, a matter of experience, there
is no doubt about it when you witness it. This IS THE criterion of discernment
between the real God and the false God. “The God who
answers with Fire is God” Says Elijah. This is the same criterion that John
uses. He says that the fact we believe that Jesus is God makes us receive from
Him the Holy Spirit, the Life of God in us: “believing, you may
have life in his Name” (John 20:31).
Now, with these 5 similarities, the whole
structure of Prophecy, the Old Testament one (the imperfect one) and the
Perfect one, brought to us and realized by Jesus is clear. All the elements are
shown either by Elijah on Mount Carmel or by John on Mount Golgotha. John is of
the same lineage of Elijah (like John the Baptist, see Luke 1:17): he is called
with his brother: “the Son of Thunder” (Boanerges),
reminding us of Elijah, the Prophet that brought the Divine Fire from Above.
John is the man who had the Mission from Jesus to explain to us the Real,
Perfect and Fulfilled Prophecy. He does it in his Gospel.
In order to understand what is real Prophecy, we
need to know 1- who is the Real God, and 2- who is the Real Prophet of that “Real
God”. “The god that answers with Fire is
God” Says Elijah. The Real meaning of Prophecy is to be able to access the
Fire of God, the Holy Spirit, and to transmit it to others. Elijah is the
archetype of the Prophet. He is the measure of Prophecy, but presented as a
figure. John is the realisation and perfection of Prophecy. John believes that
Jesus is God, and therefore he receives the Holy Spirit from Jesus, from Jesus’
opened side (John 19:34-37).. Through Jesus, John is the perfect initiator/teacher of the “accomplished
Prophecy”.
Elijah’s mission with the false prophets is to
make them: believe that YHWH is God.
Only the
real Prophet of God possesses the Divine Fire, can make if fall from above:
“YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known this day […] that I am your servant and have done
all these things by your command.”
John’s mission is to make us believe that YHShWH
(Jesus) is God. Believing this way, we receive the Fire from Above.
Only God is the Source of Fire. Receiving the
Fire proofs that He is God.
(to be continued... (see "Spirituality 18"))
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