Why was the prophet Elijah chosen as a type of the prophet that the Lord would send before the day of the Lord?

In Luke 1:16–17, we read that John the Baptist would go before the Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah. This highlights two aspects of Elijah’s ministry that would typify the ministry of John the Baptist. Elijah possessed a fearless spirit that enabled him to stand up against fierce opposition—not so much against King Ahab, for Ahab was rather weak, but against his demon-possessed wife, Jezebel. He dared to oppose the royal couple, even though the royal couple had slain all the faithful prophets of the Lord and had turned the hearts of the people away from God to Baal. Elijah possessed a spirit of courage that enabled him to wage war against all four hundred and fifty priests of Baal, though he stood alone with his God on Mount Carmel. He dared to boldly declare to Ahab that the heavens would be closed so that no rain should fall for six months. He dared to appeal to God against Israel (Romans 11:2). That was the spirit of Elijah, a man filled with the Holy Spirit.

Elijah’s power is also highlighted in Luke 1:16–17. This is not a reference to the power he was granted to perform miracles such as raise the dead (1 Kings 17:20), call for lightning to consume his drenched sacrifice (1 Kings 18:38), or call for lightning from heaven to slay the soldiers whom King Ahab sent to arrest him (2 Kings 1:9–13). The power that our text alludes to is the power that Elijah possessed to work miracles in the spiritual realm, the power to work a great reformation in the hearts of so many of God’s people who had become apostate.

John the Baptist possessed a fearless spirit like Elijah. He dared to oppose the leaders of the church who came to the Jordan River to be baptized. He dared to expose their hypocrisy and to declare what they really were, a brood of vipers. He dared to expose the adultery of King Herod, who had illegally married his brother Phillip’s wife.

John also had a powerful ministry. He had preached with great effect, for we read that all Judea came to be baptized, confessing their sins (Matthew 3:5).