Elijah - Gate Keeper of Souls Symbolism and Baptism

I was reading Matthew last night and stopped for awhile at John the Baptist and baptism. If you remember anything about the story, the disciples were wondering if John the Baptist was Elijah come back to prepare the way for the return of the Lord. When John was asked, he said no. When Jesus was asked, he said yes.

If you have read my threads, you know that I am a firm believer in Jesus words in John 3 representing transmigration of the soul. In other words, "You must be born again" is a literal requirement. John 3 covers two topics. Rebirth into the water and spirit. It also covers baptism. In my view, baptism is a symbol for our birth into the water of the material world. When we gain union with God in love, we are then reborn into spirit. What does this have to do with John the Baptist and Elijah? Plenty.

In this thread, I will save space quoting by simply directing you to the proper passages. First, read the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 17. Rather than go into a lengthy discussion on what I see in this, I'll simply tell you briefly. I'll leave the Bible study and thought process up to you.

This chapter in 1 Kings 17 shows that Elijah has the power, under God's will, to raise the dead. Notice that the boy that is raised is brought 'down' to the lower part of the dwelling from above. For me, this indicates something about Elijah and the work he is being prepared for. In my view, he is the gatekeeper of souls later in the new testament. He is meant to reveal the process to us.

No read the entire book of Malachi It is short and shouldn't take long. Keep this thought in mind as you read. What will Elijah do between the time of Malachi and the time that Jesus arrives in Israel? Keep the gatekeeper idea and mind and the watchman on the wall. What did God have against the leaders in Israel, both in this book and in the NT? How were they hindering the process of finding union with God from the law? What does God have to say to us about this 2000 years later? The very fact that you are here in a body should tell you something about your past and your future.

After you read this, now examine what John the Baptist (Elijah) tells the Pharisees and Sadducees. Also notice that Matthew 4, after Jesus was baptized, we see Jesus testing in the wilderness by Satan. This is a picture of our own testing in the wilderness after we are baptized into a foreign land of the material world. Here is what John the Baptist says to the leaders of Israel shortly before Jesus baptism.

Matthew 3
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

What does Jesus say about the Pharisees and Saddusees?

Matthew 5:20

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now, go back and reread Malachi. It is important we get the message. We are baptized into this land for a reason. The worst thing we can do is crucify Christ by our actions and pattern ourselves after the leaders of Israel. This is a vivid lesson for today.

Hebrews 11

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

We are all passing through this foreign land. We are given a gift of new life by the gatekeeper. The lessons are plain to see in the symbolism left for us in the Bible. All characters in the Bible are you and I each day. There are 7 billion of us here today. Every eye will see--literally. We are all here to be judged and to witness the beginning of the next chapter.

The next chapter involves our baptism into the spirit as the holy spirit descends on the world.

The witness has power to shut up the heavens.

1 Kings 17

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

7 Billion Souls Thread