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rerun7378
Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:13 am

Re: Was St. John the Baptist the "Second Messiah" 
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2 Kings 13:20–21

20 Elisha died and was buried.

   Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. 

BTW, guess what Elisha had?

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I believe you do. 

Not true.  I experienced the risen Christ on my own.  So did Paul.  And millions of others too.  The bible is my "guide after the fact" so to speak.

If you truly want to know, and are patient, you can too.

Just ask God to reveal His Son to you.  If you trust God will, in His time, reveal Christ to you, it will happen.

What I meant by convincing is, a real Elijah return would be more convincing in the context of the story not convincing to people. 

But, it is destined for man to die only once.  John was put to death.

If Elijah was to return then, he would have been killed too.

God has other things in store for Elijah.

I believe he is to be one of the two witnesses in the tribulation.

Therefore, he cannot come back to herald Christ.

But, John, in the "spirit and power of Elijah" can certainly fulfill this role; the Malachi prophecy can be true; and the prophecy of the two witnesses can be true; all at once.

Then there is no hoops, hurdles or anything else that causes an apparent contradiction.

Any thoughts why John came in the essence and demonstrated the conviction of Elijah while the real Elijah made a cameo appearance a few weeks later? 

As stated above, I believe God has other plans for Elijah.  Luke clarified Malachi by showing what Gabriel had prophesied to Zechariah.