Don’t forget Matthew 17 also mentions Elijah AND John the Baptist at the Mount of Transfiguration where Christ is seen in in his true glory speaking with Moses and Elijah.
The pertinant passage::: “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone about this vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
10The disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
11Jesus replied, “Elijah does indeed come, and he will restore all things. 12But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”
13Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist.”
I thought it might amplify a most interesting thread!
Also: God says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5,6).
Later on, Beloved John while on earth and physically alive was given a vision into Heaven, as was Paul also, Neither of these instances were of an NDE category. It might be possible that John Boanerges and Saul/Paul, like Daniel in his old age, might have been in a catatonic styate whilst receiving a vision of which special revelation used the vision as a vehicle to impartr spiritual teruth, but it was to certified prophets, not NDE experiences nor earthly manipulations of Satan giving his disobedient fallible disbelieving children fake visions.
Satan has the power to conduct lying miracles and utterances to deceive the watching world. Be wise and not misled by them, of which we seem now to be in the middle of many of these special devilish powers.
Stand fast. Keep to the scriptures. Don't ne led to misinterpret them to supprt Satan in his workings, as he did at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, testing him by misquoting and misapplying the words of God.
Put on the spiritual armor, of which the only offensive weapon is the memorizedand coerrectly applied Spoken Words (ρημα = hrayma, Strong's Number G4487 in his Concordance's Greek dictionary) of God.