We are taught that “Pinchas is Eliyahu.”
Shouldn’t it say Eliyahu was Pinchas since Pinchas lived before Eliyahu? When someone hears of Pinchas, he may think aggressive with a short fuse based on his act of zealotry.
On the other hand when one thinks of Eliyahu, he thinks of pleasantness, as Eliyahu is the one associated with the redemption. The phrase “Pinchas is Eliyahu” is telling us that it is the same person. Pinchas was a zealot at that time because that’s what was Hashem’s will then. However, the real Pinchas is Eliyahu, someone who is calm and associated with pleasantness, not a zealot.
This is analogous to the difference between a housewife and a cat chasing a mouse. The cat wants there to be a mouse and is happy when there is one, in contrast to a housewife who is disgusted by mice.
In our case, Pinchas wasn’t looking for someone to unleash on as he would rather there be no such person like that. However the situation called for his act of zealotry and thus he acted accordingly.
