The readers of this blog are likely familiar with the well known song “Eliyahu HaNavi” (Elijah the Prophet) that is typically sung at the end of the Passover seder and by some at the conclusion of the Sabbath. The first line of the song is as follows: ”Elijah the Prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah the Giladite, May he soon come to us with Messiah the Son of David.”
Permit me to share some thoughts I was musing over earlier this morning. What role was Elijah expected to play when he preceded the coming of the Messiah? Has Elijah already come? Why do we, as believers in Jesus Christ, sing this song?
We find the expected role of Elijah in the last book of the Prophets, Malachi ch. 3 which begins, “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple” (NRSV). The remainder of the chapter goes on to speak of the coming of the Messiah as one who “is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap” or to use the words of John the Baptist, “His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” The prophet Malachi concludes his words with the verse “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.”
Based on Malachi’s words Elijah was supposed to bring the hearts of the people back to God and between their fellowman as well as preparing the people for the coming of the Lord. Within a short amount of time after Malachi uttered these words we find Jesus saying of John the Baptist, “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you’” quoting from the same chapter of Malachi that begins speaking of the coming of Elijah, the messenger of God. But was John the Baptist the Elijah spoken of by Malachi?
Jesus says, “if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen!” (Matthew 11:14-15) and in Luke 7 Jesus says that John is the one of whom the prophet is speaking. In Mark 9:12 Jesus says, “But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.” But what about John the Baptist’s reply in regards the question by the Jews as to whether he is Elijah in John 1:21 where John says, “I am not”?
The questioners were asking if John was Elijah himself but he was not. Rather, John had the spirit and power of Elijah. This is similar to the name David being used in the prophets for the Messiah but when he actually came His name was not David. Rather, He came from David’s line. The same is true here of John the Baptist: God was saying that a prophet like Elijah was going to come. Therefore, God called this prophet that would arise by the name Elijah in the book of Malachi but when he actually came he was called John.
We can see that John the Baptist performed his role in the spirit and power of Elijah by returning the people’s hearts to a right place through his teaching of repentance and he performed his role as the one who would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.
In light of the above, why sing “Eliyahu HaNavi” after a Passover seder or at the conclusion of the Sabbath? Is it because it’s the ‘kosher’ thing to do so to speak? Would omitting the song at the end of the Sabbath and Passover seder somehow cast doubt in the belief of the words of Malachi or somehow distance us from the rest of the Jewish world (as if belief in Jesus hasn’t already done a good job of that!)? A song which begs God to send us Elijah seems to ignore the fact that Jesus said Elijah has already come.
Why not do as the Rev. Paul Levertoff has done with part of the Amidah prayer in the service which reads at the end of the first blessing, “who, in love, brings a redeemer” to which he changed the letter mem in the word u’mei’vi to the letter hey which then allows the line to be translated, “who in love hast brought a Redeemer” (translation from Levertoff’s “Meal of the Holy King”).
I have never felt comfortable singing this song about the coming of Elijah simply because of the words of our Lord. Why do I want to sing a song that speaks of my longing for a prophet whom our Lord says has already come?
These are the thoughts I had this morning. Do with them what you will.
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