A prophetic forerunner who calls Israel back from idolatry. The pattern unfolds across three biblical figures. (1) Elijah himself, the ninth-century BC prophet who confronted Baal worship under King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, called fire from heaven on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs 18), and was taken up by a whirlwind in a chariot of fire (2 Kgs 2). (2) John the Baptist, prophesied in 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 identified by Christ as the Elijah-who-was-to-come (Matt 11:14; 17:11-13). Like Elijah, John dressed roughly, ate desert food, lived ascetic life, and preached repentance to a culture deep in compromise. (3) An eschatological Elijah-figure expected at the end (Mal 4:5; many take Rev 11:3-12's two witnesses as including this figure). The Elijah-pattern is therefore not a one-time figure but a recurring office: the prophet who arrives in dark times to call God's people back to the covenant.