Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquila
Perhaps the strongest example of this seen in the Bible is regarding what God said about Elijah way back in the book of Malachi:
Malachi 4:5
{4:5} Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: This is long after Elijah’s death. However, God states, “I will send you Elijah”. God didn’t say, “I will send one like unto Elijah”. Literally, one would have to admit that God promised to actually send… Elijah himself. There is evidence that the Jews took this to mean exactly that…God would send Elijah himself, not another.
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Hmmm...Elijah did not die. In the book of II Kings, the passages describe Elijah and Elisha talking to one another. Elijah asked Elisha what he shall do for him before he was taken away from him. Elisha asked for a double portion of thy Spirit be upon him.
9 ¶And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
11
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 ¶And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
(
II Kings 2:9-15)
Since it says here that the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha, it is quite possible that the
spirit of Elijah rested on John the Baptist, but not Elijah's soul, which that would be what it would take for gilgul to have any truth to it at all.
The spirit and the soul are different...as you pointed out. The spirit Elijah and John the Baptist had were given to them by God. I think in this case, the "spirit" of Elijah and John were descriptions of the spirit of God.
Jesus says much about the soul. I think one of the most profound things He said was this:
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
(
Matthew 16:26)
The soul is the very essence of the human being when one looks at what Christ says about the soul. This tells me that people trade earthly or spiritual things for the one thing that the devil wants...their soul...because it will live eternally somewhere.
This is what gives man life...And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
(
Genesis 2:7)
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
(
Luke 12:17-20)
So I have trouble thinking that our souls can attach itself to another living human. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. God gave each of us a unique soul. When it is our appointed time for death, God requires our soul from us...some to everlasting life...some to shame and everlasting contempt.
We must be careful about "seducing spirits" in the world. I believe that these are the last days and the seducing spirits are everywhere trying to entice the redeemed from pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.