JOHN WAS TO COME IN THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIJAH
And many of the children of Israel shall he [John] turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him [Christ] in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah], to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:16,17)
JOHN EMPHATICALLY DENIED THAT HE WAS ELIJAH
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. (John 1:19-21)
MALACHI PREDICTED THE COMING OF ELIJAH BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD
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. (Malachi 4:5,6)
ELIJAH SHUT OFF RAINFALL FOR 3 1/2 YEARS. THIS WILL BE REPEATED DURING THE TRIBULATION
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:17)
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days [3 1/2 years], clothed in sackcloth... These [two prophets, Elijah and Moses] have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will [as did Moses]. (Rev 11:3,6)