Malachi 4:5-6 - 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.
John the Baptist was the prophet who turned the hearts of the old Jewish fathers to the hearts of the children which were the new Christian believers like Peter, James, John, etc. So John the Baptist was the Elijah in that day. He prepared the way for the first coming of Christ.
In this generation there must be a prophet with that same Elijah anointing. This prophet will turn the hearts of the children (new Christian believers) to their apostolic fathers. This prophet will restore the Word of God which has been lost for 2,000 years and replaced with creeds and dogmas in the church systems. I believe that this has already happened because if it didn't then God would have already smitten the earth with a curse.
Elijah is one representation of the Bride today because he was taken up by firey chariots without tasting death and the Bride will not taste death but will be caught up (raptured). This is why it is so important that one not dismiss the Old Testament as something of history because it is a portend (shadow) of the New Testament. It just all dovetails together so wonderfully!
