Will Elijah come at Passover for the seder meal?  That's what many Jews and Bible believing Christians believe.  Passover and the eating of the seder meal is nearly upon us.  Will Elijah come?  More to the point and at the very heart of the matter is will the Messiah come this Passover?

 

Malachi said that Elijah would precede the coming of the Messiah.  We have other prophecies in the Bible (see Revelations 11:3-12) that help us see Elijah in his prophetic role for three and a half years during the seven year tribulation.

 

The return of Elijah as stated by the prophet Malachi is perhaps the most interesting part of Passover.  It has been a long-standing tradition to set an extra place at the table in anticipation of his return.  Even the wine is poured for him as the celebrants fill their own cups for the third cup of wine. Practicing Jews believe that Elijah will come on the eve of Passover as a forerunner to the Messiah.

 

It is a custom to have the young children to open the door for Elijah during the meal while everyone watches his cup of wine to see if it diminishes in the least bit as a sign that he has come.

 

The belief is that Elijah will return on Passover and will precede the coming of the Messiah. The reading on the “Great Sabbath,” (the Sabbath preceding Passover), is Malachi’s final words. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

 

Food for thought.

 

YBIC

Bruce Baber