"God is help."
(a) A Damascene who held the office of Abraham's administrator (Gen. 15:2; cp. Gen. 24:2). In all likelihood it was Eliezer who was sent to find a wife for Isaac.
Evidently, he was a devout man, who entrusted himself to God to make his journey successful. His mission is a notable type of the Holy Spirit's work of providing a wife for the Lord Jesus.
It is for this purpose that He is now gathering the church (Gen. 24:1-67).
(b) Second son of Moses and Zipporah. He, along with his mother and brother, were left in Jethro's care until after the Exodus, joining Moses in the wilderness (Ex. 18:4; 1 Chron. 23:15, 17; 26:25).
(c) Son of Becher, a Benjamite (1 Chron. 7:8).
(d) Priest who helped carry the ark to Jerusalem (1 Chron. 15:24).
(e) Son of Zicri and "chief" of the Reubenites (1 Chr. 27:16).
(f) Son of Dodova. He was the prophet who rebuked Jehoshaphat for allying himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, because Ahaziah “was given to wickedness” (2 Chron. 20:35-37).
(g) One who was sent by Ezra to seek Levites to accompany him to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:16).
(h) Three who had married foreign women (Ezra 10:18, 23, 31).
(i) Son of Jorim, ancestor of the Lord Jesus (Luke 3:29).
Meaning of ELIEZER
The prophet threatened him with divine punishment, provoked not only by the sins he had committed during Jehoshaphat's life, but also by the crimes he committed after his death (2 Chron. 21:12-15; cp. vv. 4 and 13). If Elijah was ascended to heaven during the reign of Jehoshaphat, he then predicted, during this king's lifetime, the future conduct of Jehoram of Judah, as he did with Hazael and Jehu (1 Kings 19:15-17).
Another explanation is given, which is that the account of Elijah's ascension would have been inserted in 2 Kings 2 to conclude the story of his public activity, and that Elijah would have still been in this world when the meeting of Elisha, at southern Judah, with Jehoshaphat's army and when Jehoram came to the throne. However, this explanation does not square at all with 2 Kings 3:11, and it must be accepted that Elijah's complaint was a prediction.
The last two verses of the OT announce that God will send Elijah before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5-6). In the NT John the Baptist came "in the spirit and power of Elijah," humble and full of zeal like the Tishbite (Mt. 3:4; Mark 1:6), and charged with a ministry similar to his own (Mt. 11:1-14; 17:10-12; Luke 1:17). Here the following should be noted:
(A) John the Baptist declared himself that he was not Elijah (John 1:21)
(B) The Lord Jesus, although he said that "Elijah has already come" in a certain way in the character of John the Baptist, also added that "Elijah will truly come first and restore all things" (Mark 9:11- 13).
It seems, therefore, that it is quite clear that, as often happens, we have here two successive fulfillments of the prophecy of Mal. 4:5, 6, the first partial, in the first coming of Christ, the other total in the second coming from him.
The “restoration of all things” means the establishment of the glorious reign of the Messiah (Acts 3:20, 21). As for the “great and terrible day of the Lord,” this is evidently still future. It is the day of the manifestation and complete dominion of the Lord, in which he will execute his judgments and establish his dominion.
Many commentators believe that Elijah could be (along with Enoch?) one of the two witnesses of Rev. 11:3-11. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah, representing the prophets of the OT, appeared to honor Jesus. His ascension and that of Enoch (Gen. 5:24) undoubtedly prefigure the ascension of the resurrected Savior.
The miracles that mark the ministry of Elijah belong to the second of the 4 periods of miracles presented in the history of redemption. This second period is that of the all-out struggle between the religion of Jehovah and the cult of Baal.
Maintaining the faith of the fathers or apostasy was the crucial issue of this battle that took place in northern Israel. Questions regarding other religious observances paled in the face of this capital fact.
2. Benjamite, son of Jeroham, resided in Jerusalem (1 Chron. 8:27).
3. A priest, son of Harim, he had married a Gentile woman (Ezra 10:21).
4. Israelite among those whom Ezra convinced to dismiss his foreign wives (Ezra 10:19, 26).
