I love the vivid word picture describing Elijah, the fiery chariots, and charioteers. And I believe he will return, stand, preach, be killed and resurrected in the streets of Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation period. And I also know bodies will rise from the grave to meet Jesus in the Rapture.
But in the mean time, where is Elijah’s earthly body? I wonder if the fire consumed his body for this time until he inhabits it again during the Tribulation? Or is the body he’ll inhabit in Jerusalem already glorified?
We know from 2 Kings 2:11 that Elijah did not die but was taken alive. We know from Daniel 3:24-27 that God is able to preserve human bodies in the midst of fire. We also know that glorified bodies are immortal and can’t be killed (1 Cor. 15:51-53). Therefore, when Elijah appears again in Rev. 11:7 it will be in his earthly body which God will have preserved for him.