Difference between revisions of "Elijah"

        <p> The prophet, a native of Tishbeh in Gilead, 1 Kings 17:1 . His parentage and early history are unknown. His bold faithfulness provoked the wrath of Ahab and Jezebel, especially when he threatened several years of drought and famine as a punishment for the sins of Israel, B. C. 908. By the divine direction the prophet took refuge on the bank of the brook Cherith, where he was miraculously fed by ravens. Thence he resorted to Zarephath, in Phoenicia; where one miracle provided him with sustenance and another restored to life the child of his hostess. Returning to King Ahab, he procured the great assembling at mount Carmel, where God "answered by fire," and the prophets of Baal were destroyed. Now too the long and terrible drought was broken, and a plentiful rain descended at the prophet's prayer. Finding that not even these mighty works of God would bring the nation and its rulers to repentance, [[Elijah]] was almost in despair. He fled into the wilderness, and was brought to Horeb, the mount of God, where he was comforted by a vision of God's power and grace. Again he is sent on a long journey to [[Damascus]] to anoint [[Hazael]] as king of Syria. Jehu also he anoints to be king of Israel, and [[Elisha]] he summons to become a prophet. Six years later he denounces Ahab and [[Jezebel]] for their crimes in the matter of Naboth; and afterwards again is seen foretelling the death of king Ahaziah, and calling fire from heaven upon two bands of guards sent to arrest him. Being now forewarned of the approach of his removal from earth, he gives his last instructions to the school of the prophets, crosses the [[Jordan]] miraculously, and is borne to heaven in a fiery chariot without tasting death, leaving his mantle and office to Elisha, 1 Kings 17:1-19:21 21:29 2 Kings 1:1-2:18 . </p> <p> His translation occurred about B. C. 896. Previously, it is supposed, he had written the letter which, eight years afterwards, announced to king [[Jehoram]] his approaching sickness and death, 2 Chronicles 21:12-19 . </p> <p> Elijah was one of the most eminent and honored of the [[Hebrew]] prophets. He was bold, faithful, stern, self-denying, and zealous for the honor of God. His whole character and life are marked by peculiar moral grandeur. He bursts upon our view without previous notice; he disappears by a miracle. He bears the appearance of a supernatural messenger of heaven, who has but one work to do, and whose mind is engrossed in its performance. His history is one of the most extraordinary on record, and is fraught with instruction. It was a high honor granted to [[Moses]] and Elijah, that they alone should appear on the mount of Transfiguration, many centuries after they had gone into heaven-to bear witness of its existence, and commune with the [[Savior]] concerning his death, Luke 9:28-35 . </p> <p> John the [[Baptist]] was foretold under the name of Elias, or Elijah, from his resemblance in character and life to the ancient prophet of Israel, Malachi 4:5,6 Matthew 17:10-13 . </p>

        <p> <i> Old [[Testament]] </i> . [[Elijah]] of Tishbe was a lone figure from the remote part of [[Gilead]] east of the Jordan. One of the better known characters in the Old Testament, he also made an impact on later [[Judaism]] and on the New Testament writers. A contemporary of the [[Israelite]] kings Ahab and [[Ahaziah]] (874-852 b.c.), Elijah represented a class of prophets who were normally not associated with any sanctuary or prophetic guild (but see 2 Kings 2:3-7 ). He challenged Ahab, whose policies were designed to replace the Israelite idea of kingship with the ancient Near Eastern concept of monarchy and royal law. Elijah defended Yahweh's sovereignty over history and justice, as well as over false gods ( 1 Kings 17-18 ). </p> <p> The stories of Elijah (known as the Elijah cycle) dominate much of the latter half of 1Kings (17-19,21) and the early chapters of 2Kings (1-2). The chronological order of the cycle is uncertain, making the course of Elijah's life obscure. The cycle was incorporated into the theological history of [[Israel]] and Judah, without which our knowledge for the reign of Ahab would be almost unknown. It contained six separate narratives that included several anecdotal stories about Elijah's life that may have circulated independently among his disciples in the northern kingdom. All but the last were concerned with the clash of Baal and Yahweh. Elijah appeared to vindicate the distinctive character of the people of God when their identification was threatened by Ahab's liberal policies. He also answered Jehoshaphat's question ( 2 Kings 3:11 ) and sent a letter to [[Jehoram]] ( 2 Chronicles 21:12-15 ). </p> <p> Elijah appeared on the scene without warning, introduction, or genealogy ( 1 Kings 17:1 ) to deliver an oracle to Ahab announcing a drought, presumably a punishment for defection to the Baal cult. Afterward, he returned to [[Zarephath]] where he was miraculously sustained ( 1 Kings 17:17-24 ). God then chose a [[Gentile]] believer (the Phoenician woman of Zarephath) to shame his people and to rebuke Jezebel, Ahab's Phoenician queen, showing that there was a Yahwistic believer in her own country. The unfailing water supply shows that God—not the kingwas the dispenser of the water of life. Chrysostom said that Elijah learned compassion in the house of the widow so he could be sent to his own people. Yahweh did not just intervene at critical times in the affairs of people, but was now accessible to believers in the ordinary affairs of life ( 1 Kings 17:12 ). </p> <p> Three years later there was a break in the drought and Elijah was successful in ending Baal worship at Carmel. The Baal priests were not completely destroyed; they actually continued on past the end of the Ahab dynasty, until the time of [[Athaliah]] of [[Judah]] (who was related to Ahab's royal house). Elijah helped Israel understand that Yahweh guided the fortunes of the nations; even the Baal cult was under his control. Yahweh, not Baal, had the power of life and death, and was the giver of rain and good things. The [[Carmel]] story showed a reminiscence of the change of political and religious sovereignty from Tyre to Israel. Israel was not truly synchretistic; Baal or Yahweh would be king, but not both ( 1 Kings 18:21 ). Ahab was not wholly Baalist; his family bore Yahwistic names, and he consulted with Yahweh after the encounter with Elijah ( 1 Kings 20:13-15,22,28 ). The [[Tyrian]] cult of Baal Melqart may have been a pseudo-monotheistic movement that precipitated this struggle. Israel now saw the mediation of God's will in history and the interpretation of his divine will. </p> <p> Elijah's success was merely temporary; he fled to Mount [[Horeb]] (although this may not be in chronological order) to escape Jezebel's wrath ( 1 Kings 19 ). Here, the small voice of God was in direct opposition to the noisy and primitive sounds of the Canaanite deities, which pointed toward a more spiritual and transcendent concept of Yahweh. The theophany in 1 Kings 19 is similar to Exodus 33:19 , and like the story of the widow, may show that God is to be found in the daily affairs of humans, rather than in supernatural phenomena. </p> <p> Like Amos in a later period, Elijah showed an astute social concern, emerging as a leader with strong ethical ideals ( 1 Kings 21 ). The [[Naboth]] incident shows a social dimension in the clash between Israelite law and Canaanite kingship. By appropriating Naboth's land as crown property, Ahab was out of his jurisdiction. Inalienable land in Israel was in principle hereditary, although Yahweh was the true owner. In this position, God demanded the rule of law and justice, and watched over ethical and legal morals. Elijah, whom Ahab saw as a blood avenger (v. 20), is introduced with dramatic suddenness only at the end of this section, confronting Ahab for taking possession of the vineyard. The king was indicted for infringing on two of the ten commandments that were recognized as the basis for society: murder and forcible appropriation, both capital offenses. The curse concerning Ahab was not literally executed on him, however, but on his successor. This may have been because of his repentance, but probably was due to the [[Hebrew]] idea of the extended self, taking for granted the cohesion of life and liability between generations. Ahab's dynasty ended because of the Naboth incident, not because of the Baal struggle. Later, Elijah protested Ahaziah's appeal to Baal-Zebub, the local god of [[Ekron]] ( 2 Kings 1:9-15; [[Josephus]] called this god "the lord of the flies, " as did the Ras Shamra texts ). Elijah was here described as a hairy man with a shaggy cloak, evidently the insignia of a prophet ( 2 Kings 1:8 ). </p> <p> The translation of Elijah into heaven occurs in an anecdotal section concerned mainly with [[Elisha]] ( 2 Kings 2:1-12 ). Elijah was associated with the prophetic guilds in Bethel, Gilgal, and Jericho. He did not bequeath his staff to Elisha, but his cloak, which had a spiritual not a magical power. Elisha desired a double portion of Elijah's spirit, a stipulation in Hebrew law whereby the eldest son received his share and was equipped as the true successor to his father. The whirlwind and sudden disappearance of Elijah, with the addition of a theophany, emphasize God's presence in the incident. </p> <p> In later Old Testament prophetic tradition, Elijah was associated with the day of the Lord ( Malachi 4:5-6 ), and was soon to be sent by God on the behalf of the people. He was described as similar to the messenger in Malachi 3:1 (which also may have been an allusion to Elijah, since both prepared the way for Yahweh). The purpose of Elijah's coming was either to pacify family quarrels ( Malachi 2:10-16 ), culminating in a new social order, or to restore the covenant relationship. </p> <p> <i> Later [[Jewish]] Tradition </i> . Elijah was prominently featured in popular legend and theological discussion of eschatological expectation during the intertestamental period. The reason for this may be his enigmatic rapture in 2 Kings 2:11 (the reward for his zeal for the law, according to 1 [[Maccabees]] 2:58 ,; which fostered the idea of his sinlessness ), and the prophecy of his return in Malachi, which nurtured the idea of him becoming a messianic figure from the heavenly kingdom who came to purify the priesthood. He was said to be an intercessor for Israel in heaven, a heavenly scribe who recorded the Acts of men, and who had an eternal existence ( [[Sirach]] 48:1-14 ). </p> <p> <i> New Testament </i> . The New Testament, which mentions the prophet nearly thirty times, shows the influence of the late Jewish tradition of Elijah being the forerunner of the Messiah. The expectation of Elijah's return occurs frequently in the [[Gospels]] ( Matthew 17:10; Mark 9:11 ). Many were convinced that either [[Jesus]] ( Matthew 16:14; Mark 6:15; 8:28; Luke 9:8,19 ) or John the [[Baptist]] ( John 1:21,25 ) were the expected prophet. Although John denied that he was Elijah, he wore the prophet's style of clothing (a mantle of camel's hair and a leather girdle Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6 ). Moreover, Jesus said that John went forth as Elijah in spirit; he was thus the symbolic fulfillment of the prophet's mission ( Matthew 11:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 1:17 ). </p> <p> Although the tradition that [[Moses]] and Elijah would appear together in the last days was not to be found in rabbinic Judaism, both of these Old Testament characters were present and spoke at the transfiguration of Jesus, testifying to the importance of the impending events as eschatological ( Matthew 17:3-4; Mark 9:4-5; Luke 9:30,33 ). Some have seen the two as representing the Law and the Prophets, which were now both considered to be subservient to Christ. </p> <p> Jesus' prayer on the cross with the opening words of [[Psalm]] 22:1 , "Eli, Eli" (My God, My God) was either misunderstood or willfully misinterpreted as a petition for help to Elijah ( Matthew 27:46-49; Mark 15:34-36 ). Jewish lore identified Elijah as a helper in time of need, and since Elijah did not come, Jesus' petition was considered a failure. The church, however, did not accept this figure of Elijah; only [[Christ]] himself would be called on in stressful times. </p> <p> Various events of Elijah's life are alluded to in the New Testament. James uses Elijah as a powerful example of a supplicant (5:17), relying on Jewish tradition, which credited Elijah with a reputation for prayer (although this is not specifically mentioned in 1 Kings 17-18 ). He also describes the passage of time of the drought in 1 Kings 18:1 as three and a half years (cf. Luke 4:25; Revelation 11:6 ). James attempts to refute the Jewish tradition of the sinlessness and eternal nature of the prophet by stating that Elijah was a man "just like us." His prayers were effective because he was righteous. </p> <p> Jesus used the story of God sending Elijah to the widow of Zarephath to show that the [[Gentiles]] were not to be excluded from salvation ( Luke 4:25-26 ). Later church tradition takes the two witnesses of Revelation to be modeled after Moses and Elijah ( Revelation 11:3-6 ). They were given the power to shut up the heavens and to bring the fire of judgment like Elijah in 1 Kings 17-18 (cf. Malachi 4:5; Sirach 48:1-14 ). In a similar vein, Jesus rebuked the sons of [[Zebedee]] for wondering whether they should call down fire from heaven on the [[Samaritan]] village ( Luke 9:54 ). </p> <p> Paul uses the rabbinic model of Elijah and the idea of the remnant of Israel in Romans 11:2-5 (see 1 Kings 19:10-18 ). Just as Elijah became aware that a remnant of true believers still existed in Israel, Paul understands that there was still a sacred remnant of Jews who were elected by grace. </p> <p> Mark W. Chavalas </p> <p> <i> See also </i> [[Israel]]; Kings, First And Second, [[Theology]] Of; Prophet, Prophetess, [[Prophecy]] </p> <p> <i> Bibliography </i> . F. Anderson, <i> JBL </i> 85 (1966): 46-57; H. Bietenhard, <i> NIDNTT, </i> 1:543-45; J. Gray, <i> I-II Kings </i> ; J. Jeremias, <i> TDNT, </i> 2:928-41; H. H. Rowley, <i> BJRL </i> 43 (1960): 190-219; R. W. Wallace, <i> Elijah and Elisha </i> . </p> <p> </p>

        <p> The chief purpose for which God raised up [[Elijah]] was to preserve in [[Israel]] the worship of Yahweh, Israel’s covenant God. Israel had always been tempted to mix the worship of their God with the religious practices of local [[Baalism]] (see BAAL), but matters suddenly worsened after [[Jezebel]] became queen. Jezebel was daughter of the king-priest of [[Philistia]] and had married King Ahab of Israel. She brought with her a new and more dangerous form of Baalism, which she then tried to make the national religion of Israel. This was the Baalism of the god Melqart, whose influence had already spread south along the [[Mediterranean]] coast as far as Mt [[Carmel]] ( 1 Kings 16:30-33). </p> <p> [[Early]] resistance to Baalism </p> <p> Baal was supposed to control nature and fertility. Therefore, to show the powerlessness of Baal, Elijah announced a three-year drought throughout Israel and Phoenicia. God’s miraculous provisions of food, both in Israel and in Phoenicia, showed that he, not Baal, was the God of nature ( 1 Kings 17:1-4; 1 Kings 17:9; 1 Kings 17:16; cf. Luke 4:25-26). Elijah’s healing of the widow’s son confirmed the woman’s faith in the one true God ( 1 Kings 17:24). </p> <p> After three years of drought, Elijah challenged Ahab to gather Baal’s prophets to Mt Carmel for a public contest to show who was the true God, Yahweh or Baal ( 1 Kings 18:19-21). The Baal priests considered Mt Carmel to be one of their sacred sites, yet even there they were shamefully defeated ( 1 Kings 18:40). As a final proof that Israel’s God, not Baal, controlled nature, Elijah announced that God would end the drought by sending a storm. That same day the drought ended ( 1 Kings 18:41-46; cf. James 5:17-18). </p> <p> Elijah felt that he was fighting alone in his battle with Jezebel’s Baalism ( 1 Kings 18:22; Romans 11:1-5). This feeling was strengthened when, in spite of his spectacular victory over Baal at Mt Carmel, nothing in Israel seemed to have changed. The people did not cease from their Baal worship, and Jezebel did not cease from her efforts to kill him. He therefore fled for his life ( 1 Kings 19:1-3). </p> <p> God directed Elijah south to Mt Sinai, the place where, centuries earlier, he had established his covenant with Israel. There he showed Elijah the difference between spectacular public events and the quiet work of God within people’s hearts. The former may have some use, but Israel would have truly lasting benefits only as people listened to the voice of God in their hearts and responded to it. God assured Elijah that a minority of people in Israel would make the quiet response of faithfulness to him ( 1 Kings 19:10-12; 1 Kings 19:18). </p> <p> For Israel’s idolatrous majority, however, there would be further violent and spectacular events, but these would be in judgment against them rather than against Baal. God’s instruments of judgment against Israel would be an enemy king Hazael, an [[Israelite]] king Jehu, and Elijah’s successor [[Elisha]] ( 1 Kings 19:15-21). </p> <p> [[Ministry]] fulfilled </p> <p> In addition to opposing Ahab and Jezebel because of their Baalism, Elijah opposed them because of their greed and injustice. After their seizure of Naboth’s vineyard, Elijah announced the judgment of God upon them ( 1 Kings 21:20-24). Ahab’s son Ahaziah, who came to the throne after Ahab’s death, continued the worship of Baal and likewise met opposition from Elijah. God preserved Elijah from Ahaziah’s attempts to capture him, and then used Elijah to pronounce certain death upon the Baalist king ( 2 Kings 1:2-4; 2 Kings 1:13-17). </p> <p> The time had now come for Elijah to pass on to Elisha the responsibility for preserving the faithful and preparing judgment for the Baalists. Elijah tested his young successor to see whether he was prepared for the difficult and wide-ranging work ahead, or whether he would rather settle at one of the schools of the prophets ( 2 Kings 2:1-6). Elisha stayed with Elijah to the end, and in due course received Elijah’s spiritual inheritance ( 2 Kings 2:9). Elijah’s earthly life ended when he was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind ( 2 Kings 2:11). </p> <p> Jews of a later era expected the return of Elijah immediately before the coming of the [[Messiah]] ( Malachi 4:5-6; Mark 6:15; Mark 8:27-28). [[Jesus]] pointed out that this ‘Elijah’, this forerunner of the Messiah, was John the [[Baptist]] ( Matthew 11:10-14; Matthew 17:10-13; Luke 1:17). </p> <p> On the occasion of Jesus’ transfiguration, Elijah and [[Moses]] appeared together talking with Jesus about his coming death, and witnessing something of his coming glory. These two men, the great lawgiver and the great prophet, were representative figures from the former era. Their presence symbolized that the one to whom the law and the prophets pointed had now arrived. All the expectations of the former era were now fulfilled in Jesus [[Christ]] ( Luke 9:28-31; cf. Luke 24:27; see TRANSFIGURATION). </p>

        <li> The [[Elijah]] spoken of in 2 Chronicles 21:12-15 is by some supposed to be a different person from the foregoing. He lived in the time of Jehoram, to whom he sent a letter of warning (Compare 1 Chronicles 28:19; Jeremiah 36 ), and acted as a prophet in Judah; while the [[Tishbite]] was a prophet of the northern kingdom. But there does not seem any necessity for concluding that the writer of this letter was some other Elijah than the Tishbite. It may be supposed either that Elijah anticipated the character of Jehoram, and so wrote the warning message, which was preserved in the schools of the prophets till [[Jehoram]] ascended the throne after the Tishbite's translation, or that the translation did not actually take place till after the accession of Jehoram to the throne ( 2 Chronicles 21:12; 2 Kings 8:16 ). The events of 2 Kings 2 may not be recorded in chronological order, and thus there may be room for the opinion that Elijah was still alive in the beginning of Jehoram's reign. <p> </p> <div> <p> [[Copyright]] StatementThese dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated [[Bible]] Dictionary, [[Third]] Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. Entry for 'Elijah'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/e/elijah.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

        2 Kings 2:18 <p> He was a complex man of the desert who counseled kings. His life is best understood when considered from four historical perspectives which at times are interrelated: his miracles, his struggle against Baalism, his prophetic role, and his eschatological relationship to Messiah. </p> <p> [[Miracles]] His first miracle was associated with his prophecy before King Ahab ( 1 Kings 17:1 ) in which he said there would be no rain or dew apart from his declaration. Immediately after the prophecy, he retreated to the brook [[Cherith]] where he was fed by ravens. </p> <p> His next refuge was [[Zarephath]] where he performed the miracle of raising the widow's dead son ( 1 Kings 17:17-24 ). Here he was first called “a man of God.” </p> <p> On Mount [[Carmel]] his greatest public miracle involved his encounter with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [[Asherah]] ( 1 Kings 18:19-40 ). The contest was to determine the true God. The false prophets called on their gods, and [[Elijah]] called on His God to see which would rain fire from heaven. After the false prophets failed to hear from their gods, Elijah wet the wood on his altar to the true God by pouring four jars of water over it three times. In response of Elijah's prayer, Yahweh rained fire from heaven to consume the wet wood. As a result of their deception, Elijah ordered the false prophets killed. </p> <p> Elijah next prophesied that the drought was soon to end ( 1 Kings 18:41 ) after three rainless years. From Carmel, Elijah prayed. He sent his servant seven times to see if rain was coming. The seventh time a cloud the size of a hand appeared on the horizon. Ahab was told to flee before the storm. Elijah outran his chariot and the storm to arrive at Jezreel. </p> <p> [[Baalism]] Interwoven in the life of Elijah is his struggle with Baalism. Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of [[Sidon]] and Tyre ( 1 Kings 16:31 ), was Ahab's wife and Israel's queen. She brought the worship of her god Baal into Ahab's kingdom. Even “Ahab served Baal a little” ( 2 Kings 10:18 ). The contest on Carmel showed a contrast between the contesting deities. Yahweh's power and Baal's impotence was further revealed through the drought. A later involvement with [[Naboth]] showed the moral superiority of Elijah's faith ( 2 Kings 9:25-37 ). </p> <p> [[Jezebel]] planned revenge toward Elijah for ordering the false prophets slain, so Elijah retreated to [[Judah]] and finally Mount Horeb. There he observed the power of the wind, earthquake, and fire; but the Lord was not seen in these forces. In a small voice the Lord commanded him to go anoint [[Hazael]] king of Syria, Jehu king of Israel, and [[Elisha]] as his own successor ( 1 Kings 19:1-17 ). </p> <p> [[Prophet]] His prophetic role constantly placed Elijah in opposition to the majority of the people of his nation. His prophetic confrontations involved King Ahab and later his son Ahaziah. Their toleration of polytheism was the ongoing reason for Elijah's prophetic denunciations. </p> <p> When [[Ahaziah]] fell and injured himself, he sent messengers to ask Baal-zebub (lord of flies) about his fate. Elijah intercepted them and sent word back to Ahaziah that he was soon to die ( 2 Kings 1:1 ). Ahaziah sent three different detachments of fifty soldiers each to arrest Elijah. The first two units were destroyed by fire from heaven. The captain of the third group pleaded for his life. He safely escorted Elijah to the king where he delivered the prophecy of his pending death personally. </p> <p> Relationship to [[Messiah]] Elijah and Elisha were involved in the schools of the prophets when Elijah struck the waters of the [[Jordan]] and they parted to allow their crossing ( 2 Kings 2:1-12 ). There, immediately after conferring a double portion of his spirit on Elisha ( 2 Kings 2:9 ), the two were separated by a chariot and horses of fire which carried Elijah away in a whirlwind as Elisha watched shouting, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” </p> <p> Malachi promised God would send Elijah the prophet before the coming “day of the Lord” ( Malachi 4:5 ). John the [[Baptist]] was spoken of as the one who would go before Messiah “in the spirit and power” of Elijah ( Luke 1:17 ). John personally denied that he was literally Elijah reincarnate ( John 1:21 ,John 1:21, 1:25 ). Some considered [[Jesus]] to be Elijah ( Matthew 16:14; Mark 6:15 ). </p> <p> Elijah appeared along with [[Moses]] on the Mount of [[Transfiguration]] with Jesus to discuss His “departure.” Here Peter suggested that three tabernacles be built for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah ( Matthew 17:4; Mark 9:5; Luke 9:33 ). </p> <p> Paul used as an illustration of faithfulness the 7,000 faithful worshipers in the time of Elijah ( Romans 11:2-5 ). </p> <p> The two witnesses referred to in Revelation 11:6 are not identified by name, but their capacity “to shut heaven, that it rain not” leads many to conclude they are Moses and Elijah. </p> <p> [[Nelson]] [[Price]] </p> <p> </p>

        <p> Though the history of this highly favoured servant of the Lord would afford much improvement to enlarge upon, according to the [[Scripture]] testimony concerning him, yet it would swell this work to a size much beyond the limits intended, for the writer to indulge himself in it. I have therefore noticed this prophet, only with a view to remark the greatness of his name. [[Elijah]] is a compound word, including two of the names of JEHOVAH. Eli, my God; and Jah, the Lord. It would be thought presumptuous to call our children in the present hour by such names, in the plain English of the words, but with the Hebrews it was done in honour of the Lord God of their fathers. And so particular do the pious fathers of the Old [[Testament]] seem to have been, in naming their children, that they studied to give them such as might have some allusion to the Lord, or to retain one of the letters of JEHOVAH in them. If I venture to add another observation concerning this great man, it would be but just to remark, that in that memorable prophecy of Malachi, concerning the coming of Elijah before the day of Christ, ( Malachi 4:5) though our Lord explained this to his disciples, in making reference to the spirit of [[Elias]] in the person of John the baptist, ( Matthew 17:11-12) yet our Lord did not limit the coming of Elijah to that season only. The Evangelists, in describing the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus, relate that Elijah and [[Moses]] were present at the solemn scene. ( Matthew 17:3-4) And there doth not seem an objection, wherefore Elijah may not again appear before the Lord [[Jesus]] comes in glory, as is supposed, he will in his reign upon earth. The expression of Malachi seems to warrant this conclusion, for it is said, that this mission of Elijah will be "before the great and dreadful day of the Lord." The first coming of Christ, was indeed a great and glorious, but not a dreadful day. Whereas, the second coming is uniformly spoken of as the terrible day of the Lord. For while it will be "to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe," it is no less said to be "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ." ( 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2Th 1:10) </p>

        <p> <strong> ELIJAH </strong> . <strong> 1. </strong> Elijah, the weirdest figure among the prophets of Israel, steps across the threshold of history when Ahab is on the throne ( <em> c </em> <em> [Note: circa, about.] </em> <em> . </em> b.c. 876 854), and is last seen in the reign of [[Ahaziah]] (854 853), although a posthumous activity is attributed to him in 2 Chronicles 21:12 ff. A native of This be in [[Gilead]] ( 1 Kings 17:1 ), he appears on the scene unheralded; not a single hint is given as to his birth and parentage. A rugged Bedouin in his hairy mantle ( 2 Kings 1:8 ), [[Elijah]] appears as a representative of the nomadic stage of [[Hebrew]] civilization. He is a veritable incarnation of the austere morals and the purer religion of an earlier period. His name (‘Jah is God’) may be regarded as the motto of his life, and expresses the aim of his mission as a prophet. Ahab had brought on a religious crisis in [[Israel]] by marrying Jezebel, a daughter of the [[Tyrian]] king Ethbaal, who, prior to his assuming royal purple, had been a priest of Melkart, the Tyrian Baal, and in order to ascend the throne had stained his hand with his master’s blood. True to her early training and environment, [[Jezebel]] not only persuaded her husband to build a temple to Baal in [[Samaria]] ( 1 Kings 16:32 ), but became a zealous propagandist, and developed into a cruel persecutor of the prophets and followers of Jehovah. The foreign deity, thus supported by the throne, threatened to crush all allegiance to Israel’s national God in the hearts of the people. </p> <p> Such was the situation, when Elijah suddenly appears before Ahab as the champion of Jehovah. The hearts of the apostate king and people are to be chastened by a drought ( 1 Kings 17:3 ). It lasts three years; according to a statement of [[Menander]] quoted by [[Josephus]] ( <em> Ant </em> . VIII. xiii. 2), in the reign of Ithobal, the Biblical Ethbaal, PhÅ“nicia suffered from a terrible drought, which lasted one year. [[Providence]] first guides the stern prophet to the brook [[Cherith]] ( <em> Wady Kelt </em> in the vicinity of Jericho), where the ravens supply him with food. Soon the stream becomes a bed of stones, and Elijah flees to [[Zarephath]] in the territory of Zidon. As the guest of a poor widow, he brings blessings to the household (cf. Luke 4:25 , James 5:17 ). The barrel of meal did not waste, and the cruse of oil did not fail. Like the Great [[Prophet]] of the NT, he brings gladness to the heart of a bereaved mother by restoring her son to life ( 1 Kings 17:8 ff., cf. Luke 7:11 ff.). </p> <p> The heavens have been like brass for months upon months, and vegetation has disappeared. The hearts of Ahab’s subjects have been mellowed, and many are ready to return to their old allegiance. The time is ripe for action, and Elijah throws down the gauntlet to Baal and his followers. Ahab and his chief steward, Obadiah, a devoted follower of the true God, are traversing the land in different directions in search of grass for the royal stables, when the latter encounters the strange figure of Jehovah’s relentless champion. Obadiah, after considerable hesitation and reluctance, is persuaded by the prophet to announce him to the king ( 1 Kings 18:7-15 ). As the two meet, we have the first skirmish of the battle. ‘Art thou he that troubleth Israel?’ is the monarch’s greeting; but the prophet’s reply puts the matter in a true light: ‘I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father’s house.’ At Elijah’s suggestion the prophets of Baal are summoned to [[Carmel]] to a trial by fire. The priests of the Tyrian deity, termed ‘prophets’ because they practised the mantic art, select a bullock and lay it upon an altar without kindling the wood. From morn till noon, and from noon till dewy eve, they cry to Baal for fire, but all in vain. Elijah cuts them to the quick with his biting sarcasm: ‘Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked.’ Towards evening a dismantled altar of [[Jehovah]] is repaired, and a trench is dug round it. After the sacrificial animal has been prepared, and laid upon the wood, water is poured over it, until every thing about the altar is thoroughly soaked and the trench is full. At the prayer of Elijah, fire falls from heaven, devouring the wood, stone, and water as well as the victim. The people are convinced, and shout, ‘Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.’ That evening, Kishon’s flood, as of old ( Judges 5:21 ), is red with the blood of Jehovah’s enemies. The guilt of the land has been atoned for, and the long hoped for rain arrives. Elijah, in spite of his dignified position, runs before the chariot of Ahab, indicating that he is willing to serve the king as well as lead Jehovah’s people ( 1 Kings 18:41-46 ). The fanatical and implacable Jezebel now threatens the life of the prophet who has dared to put her minions to death. Jehovah’s successful champion loses heart, and flees to Beer-sheba on the extreme south of Judah. Leaving his servant, he plunges alone into the desert a day’s journey. Now comes the reaction, so natural after an achievement like that on Carmel, and Elijah prays that he may be permitted to die. Instead of granting his request, God sends an angel who ministers to the prophet’s physical needs. On the strength of that food he journeys forty days until he reaches Horeb, where he receives a new revelation of Jehovah ( 1 Kings 19:1-8 ). Elijah takes refuge in a cave, perhaps the same in which [[Moses]] hid ( Exodus 33:22 ), and hears the voice of Jehovah, ‘What doest thou here, Elijah?’ The prophet replies, ‘I have been very jealous for Jehovah, God of Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.’ Then Jehovah reveals His omnipotence in a great wind, earthquake, and fire; but we read that Jehovah was not in these. Then followed a still small voice (Heb. lit. ‘a sound of gentle stillness’), in which God made known His true nature and His real purpose ( 1 Kings 19:9-14 ). After hearing his complaint, Jehovah gives His faithful servant a threefold commission: [[Hazael]] is to be anointed king of Syria, Jehu of Israel; and [[Elisha]] is to be his successor in the prophetic order. Elijah is further encouraged with information that there are still 7000 in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal ( 1 Kings 19:15; 1 Kings 19:18 ). As far as we know, only the last of these three commissions was executed by the prophet himself, who, after this sublime incident, made his headquarters in the wilderness of [[Damascus]] ( Ki 19: 15); the other two were carried out either by Elisha or by members of the prophetic guilds ( 2 Kings 8:7 ff; 2 Kings 9:2 ). </p> <p> Elijah is also the champion of that civic righteousness which Jehovah loved and enjoined on His people. [[Naboth]] owns a vineyard in the vicinity of Jezreel. In the spirit of the [[Israelitish]] law ( Leviticus 25:23 , Numbers 36:8 ) he refuses to sell his property to the king. But Jezehel is equal to the occasion; at her suggestion false witnesses are bribed to swear that Naboth has cursed God and the king. The citizens, thus deceived, stone their fellow-townsman to death. Abah, on his way to take possession of his ill-gotten estate, meets his old antagonist, who pronounces the judgment of God upon him: ‘In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine,’ is the prophet’s greeting. For Ahab’s sins, every male child of his house will be swept off by an awful fate ( 1 Kings 21:19; 1 Kings 21:21; 1 Kings 21:24 ). By the ramparts of [[Jezreel]] itself, the dogs will devour the body of Jezebel ( 1 Kings 21:23 ). These predictions, although delayed for a time on account of the repentance of Ahab, were all fulfilled ( 1 Kings 22:38 , 2Ki 9:25 f., 2 Kings 9:30 f., 2 Kings 10:7 ff.). </p> <p> Ahaziah is a true son of Ahab and Jezebel. [[Meeting]] with a serious accident, after his fall he sends a messenger to [[Ekron]] to inquire of Baal-zebub, the fly-god, concerning his recovery. Elijah intercepts the emissaries of the king, hidding them return to their master with this word from Jehovah: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.’ Ahaziah recognizes the author of this message, and sends three captains of fifties to capture the prophet, who calls down fire from heaven on the first two. The third approaches him in a humble spirit, and at God’s bidding Elijah accompanies the soldier to the palace and reiterates the message of doom ( 2 Kings 1:1-18 ). </p> <p> Like all the great events of his life, the death of this great man of God was dramatic. Accompanied by his faithful follower Elisha, he passes from [[Bethel]] to Jericho, and from thence they cross the Jordan, after Elijah has parted the waters by striking them with his mantle. As they go on their way, buried in conversation, there suddenly appears a chariot of fire with horses of fire, which parts them asunder; and Elijah goes up by a whirlwind to heaven (cf. Elisha). </p> <p> In the history of prophecy Elijah holds a prominent position. Prophetism had two important duties to perform: (1) to extirpate the worship of heathen deities in Israel, (2) to raise the religion of Jehovah to ethical purity. To the former of these two tasks Elijah addressed himself with zeal; the latter was left to his successors in the eighth century. In his battle against Baal, he struggled for the moral rights and freedom of man, and introduced ‘the categorical imperative into prophecy.’ He started a movement which finally drove the PhÅ“nician Baal from Israel’s confines. </p> <p> Elijah figures largely in later Scriptures; he is the harbinger of the Day of the Lord ( Malachi 4:5 ); in the NT he is looked upon as a type of the herald of God, and the prediction of his coming in the Messianic Age is fulfilled in the advent of John the [[Baptist]] ( Matthew 11:10 ff.). On the Mount of [[Transfiguration]] he appears as the representative of OT prophecy ( Matthew 17:3 , Mark 9:4 , Luke 9:36 ). The prophet whose ‘word burned like a torch’ ( Sir 48:1 ) was a favourite with the later Jews; a host of Rabbinical legends grew up around his name. According to the Rabbis, Elijah was to precede the Messiah, to restore families to purity, to settle controversies and legal disputes, and perform seven miracles (cf. <em> JE </em> <em> [Note: [[Jewish]] Encyclopedia.] </em> <em> , s.v. </em> ; Lightfoot, <em> Hor. Heb </em> . on Matthew 17:10; Schoettgen, <em> Hor. Heb </em> . ii. 533 ff.). [[Origen]] mentions an apocryphal work, <em> The [[Apocalypse]] of Elijah </em> , and maintains that 1 Corinthians 2:9 is a quotation from it. Elijah is found also in the [[Koran]] (vi. 85, xxxvii. 123 130), and many legends concerning him are current in Arabic literature. </p> <p> <strong> 2. </strong> A [[Benjamite]] chief ( 1 Chronicles 8:27 ). <strong> 3. 4. </strong> A priest and a layman who had married foreign wives ( Ezra 10:21; Ezra 10:26 ). </p> <p> James A. Kelso. </p>

        <p> ( Ἠλίας) </p> <p> One incident in the life of [[Elijah]] is recalled by St. Paul ( Romans 11:2-4) and another by St. James (james 5:17f.). </p> <p> (1) Much is to be learned from a great man’s mistakes; the memory of his lapses may save others from falling. In a mood of despair Elijah imagined that the worst had happened to Israel, and that the worst was likely to overtake himself. The prophets were slain, the altars were digged down, he was left alone, and his enemies were seeking his life. Ahab and [[Jezebel]] and the false prophets had triumphed; it was all over with the cause of righteousness and truth for which he had laboured. Seeing that all [[Israel]] had proved unfaithful to God, there was nothing for the lonely, outlawed prophet to live for, and he requested that he might die. But the answer- ὁ χρηματισμός, the [[Divine]] oracle-proved him to be the victim of a morbid fancy, and brought him back to facts. Among the faithless many others were as faithful as he. God had reserved for Himself seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal. All Israel had not forsaken Him, and-what was still more important-He had in no wise forsaken Israel. There is but one thing that could ever conceivably justify pessimism-the failure of Divine power or love; and the fear of that calamity is but a human weakness. Now St. Paul could not help seeing the close analogy between the conditions of Elijah’s critical time and those of his own. Israel as a whole seemed once more to have forsaken God, in rejecting the Messiah. In certain moods St. Paul might be tempted to compare himself-lonely, hated, hunted-to the sad prophet. But did the ‘great refusal’ of the majority prove either that all Israel was unfaithful or that God had cast off His people? No, for ( <i> a </i> ) now as in Elijah’s time there were splendid exceptions, forming a remnant ( λεῖμμα = שְׁאָר) which was the true Israel; and ( <i> b </i> ) God’s immutable faithfulness made the idea of a rejection incredible and almost unthinkable. </p> <p> (2) St. James (5:17f.) takes an illustration from the story of Elijah, and in doing so reminds his readers that, though so great in life and so remote from ordinary humanity in the manner of his exodus from the world, the prophet was yet a man of like passions (or ‘nature,’ Revised Version margin) with us- ἄνθρωπος ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν-so that his experiences may serve as a help to weak, ordinary mortals. The success of his prayer for a time of drought, and again for rain in a time of famine, is cited as an evidence of the fact that ‘the prayer of a righteous man availeth much in its working.’ It has to be noted, however, that the OT narrative (1 Kings 17) contains no reference whatever to the former petition, while the latter is scarcely deducible from 1 Kings 18:42, where it is only stated that the prophet bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. [[Sirach]] (48:2, 3), however, affirms that he ‘brought a famine,’ and ‘by the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven’. In <i> 4 Ezra </i> (7:109) Elijah is cited as an example of intercession <i> pro his qui pluviam acceperunt </i> . </p> <p> James Strahan. </p>

        <p> This remarkable prophet is introduced abruptly in scripture in the midst of the apostasy of the kingdom of Israel, which was brought to a head in the reign of Ahab. The object of his ministry was to recover the people to the God they had forsaken. This will explain the miraculous displays accompanying his testimony, by which the people were left without excuse. It may be noted however that the miracles had a judicial character. He shut heaven that it did not rain, and he called fire down on the captains and their fifties. They were intended to recall the people to their allegiance and responsibility to God. </p> <p> He is called "Elijah the [[Tishbite]] who was of the inhabitants of Gilead" ( 1 Kings 17:1 ), and with no further introduction he delivered a message to Ahab of fearful import to Israel, that there should be no rain or dew these years but according to his word. In the [[Epistle]] of James we learn that what was pronounced so boldly in public was the outcome of inward exercise and earnest prayer. He forthwith retired from the public eye, and was miraculously cared for at the brook Cherith, being fed with bread and flesh morning and evening by ravens. The brook at length becoming dry, he went to [[Zarephath]] belonging to [[Zidon]] at the commandment of the Lord, where he lodged with a poor widow, whose faith was tested at the outset by the prophet's request that she should provide for his need <i> first </i> from her slender store of meal and oil, on the assurance of the Lord God of [[Israel]] that her barrel of meal and cruse of oil should not waste till He sent rain on the earth. She was further tested by the death of her son, upon which the power of God in resurrection was taught her through the instrumentality of the prophet. The soul of the child came again into him and he revived. This widow is referred to in Luke's [[Gospel]] along with the case of [[Naaman]] the Syrian, as illustrating the abounding of the grace of God beyond the limits of Israel. 1 Kings 17 . </p> <p> In the third year the time had at length arrived for the rights of [[Jehovah]] to be vindicated before all Israel, to the confusion of the followers of Baal. [[Elijah]] under the full direction of the Lord came forth from his mysterious retreat, and showed himself to Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's house, who was engaged in searching the land for provender. This man, though in such apostate surroundings, was truly pious, and had befriended Jehovah's prophets when [[Jezebel]] had sought to slay them. Assured by Elijah that he was ready to show himself to Ahab (though this latter had in vain sought him in many kingdoms to wreak vengeance on him for the prolonged drought), he reported Elijah's appearance, and the prophet and king were soon face to face. Charged with troubling Israel, the prophet in the power of God rejoined that the guilt of this lay on Ahab and on his house, in forsaking Jehovah for Baal. He directed him to call all the prophets of Baal together to mount Carmel, and there before the assembled throng of Israel he stood alone for God. Nothing can exceed the interest of this moment when the question raised was whether Jehovah or Baal was the God. Sustained by the mighty power of Jehovah, His faithful servant directed everything. The issue is presented: the prophets of Baal offered their sacrifice, and from morning till noon in vain implored the intervention of their god. There was no voice nor any that regarded. Their failure being patent to all, Elijah then invited the people to draw near. He repaired Jehovah's altar that was broken down, building it of twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, he offered his sacrifice, deluged three times with water the altar, wood, and victim, till the trench around the altar was full; then offered up in the hearing of Israel an affecting prayer to the "Jehovah God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel," upon which the fire of the Lord fell, and all was consumed, the sacrifice, wood, stones, dust, and water. "Jehovah, He is the God" was the twice repeated cry of Israel in view of these things; and, controlled by the power of God in the prophet, they, at his bidding, seized the prophets of Baal, who were to a man slain by him. Upon this he told Ahab that there was a sound of abundance of rain, while he himself retired to the top of [[Carmel]] to note the first indications of the approaching blessing; and then, still in the power of God, he ran before Ahab's chariot to the entrance of Jezreel. 1 Kings 18 . </p> <p> Jezebel let him know that her vengeance was at hand; and at the threat of this terrible woman, the prophet, lately so bold, fled the country. We now see Elijah in the wilderness, a weak and timid man, weary of the conflict, occupied with himself rather than the Lord, and asking to be allowed to die. Sustained by miraculous food, he went in the strength of it for forty days and nights to Horeb, the mount of God. Here the Lord dealt most graciously with his poor and feeble servant, who is found pleading his own jealousy for God while interceding against Israel. Wind, earthquake, and fire would have well suited the prophet in his frame of mind, but the still small voice was that of the Lord, and Elijah had to learn that He had not given up His people. He had yet 7000 whose knees had not bowed to Baal. But Elijah was to anoint [[Hazael]] to be king over Syria, Jehu to be king over Israel, and [[Elisha]] to be prophet in his room. Judgement should be executed where necessary and by instruments prepared of God. Elijah thereupon departed, and finding Elisha threw upon him his mantle. 1 Kings 29 . </p> <p> For a time Elijah was in retirement, but he again reappeared on the occasion of Naboth's murder, and with the old energy of faith prophetically announced the doom of Ahab and Jezebel to Ahab's face. Once more the prophet is seen, confronting Ahab's successor and son Ahaziah, who, following closely in his parents' steps, had sent messengers to [[Baalzebub]] the god of [[Ekron]] to inquire whether he should recover from his sickness. Two captains and their fifties, who had been sent to arrest him, were smitten with fire from heaven at Elijah's word. Accompanying the third, who humbly begged for their lives, the prophet announced to the apostate king the judgement of the God he had despised. 1 Kings 21; 2 Kings 1 . </p> <p> We have now reached the closing scene of this truly remarkable man's long and faithful service for Jehovah. The ordinary lot of man should not be his. Traversing in the close company of Elisha the spots which, however now perverted, told of certain great truths — Gilgal, of the necessity of the judgement of self, the place of circumcision — Bethel, of the faithfulness of God and the resources which are His for His own, the place where God had appeared to [[Jacob]] — Jericho, of the power of God as against all that of the enemy — they reached the [[Jordan]] through which they passed dry shod, the waters being separated hither and thither by Elijah smiting them with his mantle. The land of Israel is left by the well-known figure of death, "and it came to pass, that as they still went on and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." Figuratively he had passed through death, and ascended to heaven: this forms the basis of Elisha's ministry. 2 Kings 2 . </p> <p> In the N.T. John the [[Baptist]] was in the character of Elijah as the prophet who was to come before "the great and terrible day of the Lord," to affect the hearts of the people, if he had been received; but not being received, except by a few, John declared to the Jews that he was not Elijah. So it remains for Elijah's ministry to be fulfilled ere [[Christ]] appears in glory. Malachi 4:5,6; Matthew 11:14; Luke 1:17; John 1:21 . </p> <p> [[Moses]] and Elijah were seen on the mount of transfiguration, as representatives of the law and the prophets; but theirs was then a subordinate place, for the proclamation was "This is my beloved Son; hear him." Matthew 17:3; Mark 9: 4; Luke 9: 30. Elijah's testimony was given in <i> righteousness: </i> his ministry demanded that the righteous claims of God as the Jehovah of His people should be satisfied. Elisha's ministry differed from this, and was more of <i> grace. </i> </p>

        <p> [[Elijah]] ( e-lî'jah), my God is Jehovah. 1. That most renowned prophet of [[Israel]] who, with no introduction as to his birth or parentage, or even account of the divine commission given to him, bursts forth in sacred story as the stern denouncer of judgment on apostate Israel, and who, after his marvelous course of miracle and bold vindication of God's authority, is translated without tasting death. He first appears as a messenger from God to Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, probably in the tenth year of his reign. He was sent to prophesy three years' drought in the land of Israel. After delivering this startling and distressing prophecy, he was directed to flee to the brook Cherith, where he was miraculously fed by ravens. When the brook had dried up he was sent to a widow woman of Zarephath, and again the hand of the Lord supplied his wants and those of his friends. He raised the widow's son to life. 1 Kings 17:1-24. After the famine had lasted the predicted period, Elijah encountered Ahab, and then ensued the magnificent display of divine power and of human trust upon the ridge of Carmel. 1 Kings 18:1-46. See Ahab. The reaction from such a mental strain left the prophet in a weak, nervous condition, and in a fit of despondency he fled from [[Jezebel]] into the "wilderness" and desired death. In Mount [[Sinai]] the downcast man of God was witness of Jehovah's strength and experienced Jehovah's tenderness in a very remarkable vision. 1 Kings 19:9-18. He anointed [[Elisha]] to be prophet in his room. 1 Kings 19:1-21. He then retired into privacy, but after the dastardly murder of [[Naboth]] he suddenly appeared before the guilty king and announced the judgment of [[Jehovah]] against the royal pair. 1 Kings 21:1-29. Several years after occurred the prophecy of Ahaziah's death. 2 Kings 1:1-1 See Ahaziah. The slaughter by fire of the two companies of troops sent to take Elijah must have greatly increased the popular awe of the prophet. Elijah was translated to heaven in a miraculous manner. 2 Kings 2:1-25. The character of Elijah made a deep impression upon the Jews. He was expected to return to earth as the forerunner of Messiah; an expectation encouraged by the remarkable prophecy, Malachi 4:5-6, already referred to. The prophecy was indeed fulfilled, but not in the way they imagined. John Baptist, though not personally Elijah, John 1:21, was to go before the [[Messiah]] in the spirit and power of the ancient prophet, Luke 1:17; and thus our Lord himself explained the matter to his disciples. Matthew 17:10-13. There was, it is true, a personal appearance of Elijah with Moses, when the two in glory stood beside the transfigured [[Saviour]] on the holy mount, and talked with him of his coming death—a proof how both the law and the prophets pointed to a [[Redeemer]] suffering ere he was triumphant. Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36. There are those who believe that the prediction of Elijah's coming has not yet had its full accomplishment; and they expect, before the second appearing of the Lord, that the old stern prophet of Gilead, who never died, will tread the earth again. Such a question, however, cannot be discussed here. </p>

        <p> Eli'jah. (my God is Jehovah). [[Elijah]] has been well entitled "the grandest and the most romantic character that [[Israel]] ever produced." "Elijah, the Tishbite, ... of the inhabitants of Gilead" is literally all that is given us to know of his parentage and locality. Of his appearance as he "stood before" Ahab, (B.C. 910), with the suddenness of motion, to this day, characteristic of the Bedouins, from his native hills, we can perhaps realize something from the touches, few but strong, of the narrative. </p> <p> His chief characteristic was his hair, long and thick, and hanging down his back. His ordinary clothing consisted of a girdle of skin around his loins, which he tightened when about to move quickly. 1 Kings 18:46. But in addition to this, he occasionally wore the "mantle," or cape of sheepskin which has supplied us with one of our most familiar figures of speech. </p> <p> His introduction, in what we may call the first act of his life, is the most startling description. He suddenly appears before Ahab, prophesies a three-years drought in Israel, and proclaims the vengeance of [[Jehovah]] for the apostasy of the king. Obliged to flee from the vengeance of the king, or more probably of the queen, (compare 1 Kings 19:2, he was directed to the brook, Cherith. There, in the hollow of the torrent bed, he remained, supported in the miraculous manner with which we are all familiar, till the failing of the brook obliged him to forsake it. </p> <p> His next refuge was at Zarephath. Here, in the house of the widow woman, Elijah performed the miracles of prolonging the oil and the meal, and restored the son of the widow to life after his apparent death. 1 Kings 17. In this or some other retreat, an interval of more than two years must have elapsed. The drought continued, and at last, the full horrors of famine, caused by the failure of the crops, descended on Samaria. </p> <p> Again Elijah suddenly appears before Ahab. There are few more sublime stories in history than the account of the succeeding events - with the servant of Jehovah and his single attendant on the one hand, and the 850 prophets of Baal on the other; the altars, the descending fire of Jehovah consuming both sacrifice and altar; the rising storm, and the ride across the plain to Jezreel. 1 Kings 18. </p> <p> [[Jezebel]] vows vengeance, and again Elijah takes refuge in flight into the wilderness, where he is again miraculously fed, and goes forward, in the strength of that food, a journey of forty days to the mount of God, even to Horeb, where he takes refuge in a cave, and witnesses a remarkable vision of Jehovah. 1 Kings 19:9-18. He receives the divine communication, and sets forth in search of Elisha, whom he finds ploughing in the field, and anoints him prophet in his place. 1 Kings 19. </p> <p> For a time, little is heard of Elijah, and Ahab and Jezebel probably believed they had seen the last of him. But after the murder of Naboth, Elijah, who had received an intimation from Jehovah of what was taking place, again suddenly appears before the king, and then follow Elijah's fearful denunciation of Ahab and Jezebel, which may possibly be recovered by putting together the words recalled by Jehu, 2 Kings 9:26; 2 Kings 9:36-37, and those given in 1 Kings 21:19-25. </p> <p> A space of three or four years now elapses, (compare 1 Kings 22:1; 1 Kings 22:51; 2 Kings 1:17, before we again catch a glimpse of Elijah. [[Ahaziah]] is on his death-bed, 1 Kings 22:51; 2 Kings 1:1-2, and sends to an oracle or shrine of Baal to ascertain the issue of his illness; but Elijah suddenly appears on the path of the messengers, without preface or inquiry utters his message of death, and as rapidly disappears. </p> <p> The wrathful king sends two bands of soldiers to seize Elijah, and they are consumed with fire; but finally the prophet goes down and delivers to Ahaziah's face, the message of death. No long after, Elijah sent a message to [[Jehoram]] denouncing his evil doings, and predicting his death. 2 Chronicles 21:12-15. </p> <p> It was at [[Gilgal]] - probably on the western edge of the hills of [[Ephraim]] - that the prophet received the divine intimation that his departure was at hand. He was at the time with Elisha, who seems now to have become his constant companion, and who would not consent to leave him. "And it came to pass as they still went on and talked, that, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (B.C. 896). </p> <p> Fifty men of the sons of the prophets ascended the abrupt heights behind the town, and witnessed the scene. How deep was the impression which he made on the mind of the nation may be judged of from the fixed belief which many centuries after prevailed that Elijah would again appear for the relief and restoration of his country, as Malachi prophesied. Malachi 4:5. He spoke, but left no written words, save the letter to Jehoram king of Judah. 2 Chronicles 21:12-15. </p>

        <p> [[Elijah]] or Elias, a prophet, was a native of Tishbe beyond [[Jordan]] in Gilead. Some think that he was a priest descended from Aaron, and say that one Sabaca was his father; but this has no authority. He was raised up by God, to be set like a wall of brass, in opposition to idolatry, and particularly to the worship of Baal, which [[Jezebel]] and Ahab supported in Israel. The [[Scripture]] introduces Elijah saying to Ahab, 1 Kings 17:1-2 , A.M. 3092, "As the Lord God of [[Israel]] liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." It is remarkable, that the number of years is not here specified; but in the New [[Testament]] we are informed that it was three years and six months. By the prohibition of dew as well as ruin, the whole vegetable kingdom was deprived of that moisture, without which neither the more hardy, nor more delicate kinds of plants could shoot into herbage, or bring that herbage to maturity. The Lord commanded Elijah to conceal himself beyond Jordan, near the brook Cherith. He obeyed, and God sent ravens to him morning and evening, which brought him flesh and bread. Scheutzer observes, that he cannot think that the <em> orebim </em> of the Hebrew, rendered "ravens," means, as some have thought, the inhabitants of a town called <em> Oreb, </em> nor a troop of Arabs called <em> orbhim; </em> and contends that the bird called the raven, or one of the same genus, is intended. Suppose that Elijah was concealed from Ahab in some rocky or mountainous spot, where travellers never came; and that here a number of voracious birds had built their nests upon the trees which grew around it, or upon a projecting rock, &c. These flying every day to procure food for their young, the prophet availed himself of a part of what they brought; and while they, obeying the dictates of nature, designed only to provide for their offspring, [[Divine]] providence directed them to provide at the same time for the wants of Elijah. What, therefore, he collected, whether from their nests, from what they dropped, or under a supernatural influence, brought to him, or occasionally from all these means, was enough for his daily support. "And the <em> orebim </em> furnished him bread or flesh in the morning, and bread or flesh in the evening." But as there were probably several of them, some might furnish bread and others flesh, as it happened; so that a little from each formed his solitary but satisfactory meal. To such straits was the exiled prophet driven! Perhaps these <em> orebim </em> were not strictly ravens, but rooks. The word rendered <em> raven, </em> includes the whole genus, among which are some less impure than the raven, as the rook. Rooks living in numerous societies, are supposed by some to be the kind of birds employed on this occasion, rather than ravens, which fly only in pairs. But upon all these explanations we may observe, that when an event is evidently miraculous, it is quite superfluous, and often absurd, to invent hypotheses to make it appear mere easy. After a time the brook dried up, and God sent Elijah to Zarephath, a city of the Sidonians. At the city gate he met with a widow woman gathering sticks, from whom he desired a little water, adding, "Bring me, I pray thee, also a morsel of bread." She answered, "As the Lord liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse; and I am gathering some sticks, that I may dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die." Elijah said, "Make first a little cake, and bring it me, and afterward make for thee and thy son: for thus saith the Lord, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." His prediction was fully accomplished, and he dwelt at the house of this widow. Some time after, the son of this woman fell sick, and died. The mother, overwhelmed with grief, intreated the assistance and interposition of Elijah, who taking the child in his arms, laid him on his own bed, and cried to the Lord for the restoration of the child's life. The Lord heard the prophet's petition, and restored the child. </p> <p> <strong> 2. </strong> After three years of drought, the Lord commanded Elijah to show himself to Ahab. The famine being great in Samaria, Ahab sent the people throughout the country, to inquire after places where they might find forage for the cattle. Obadiah, an officer of the king's household, being thus employed, Elijah presented himself, and directed him to tell Ahab, "Behold, Elijah is here!" Ahab came to meet the prophet, and reproached him as the cause of the famine. Elijah retorted the charge upon the king, and his iniquities, and challenged Ahab to gather the people together, and the prophets of Baal, that it might be determined by a sign from heaven, the falling of fire upon the sacrifice, who was the true God. In this the prophet obeyed the impulse of the [[Spirit]] of God; and Ahab, either under an influence of which he was not conscious, or blindly confident in the cause of idolatry, followed Elijah's direction, and convened the people of Israel, and four hundred prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal prepared their altar, sacrificed their bullock, placed it on the altar, and called upon their gods. They leaped upon the altar, and cut themselves after their manner, crying with all their might. Elijah ridiculed them, and said, "Cry aloud, for he is god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." When midday was past, Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord; and with twelve stones, in allusion to the twelve tribes of Israel, he built a new altar. He then laid his bullock upon the wood, poured a great quantity of water three times upon the sacrifice and the wood, so that the water filled the trench which was dug round the altar. After this he prayed, and, in answer to his prayer, the Lord sent fire from heaven, and consumed the wood, the burnt sacrifice, the stones, and dust of the place, and even dried up the water in the trench. Upon this, all the people fell on their faces, and exclaimed, "The Lord, he is the God." Elijah then, having excited the people to slay the false prophets of Baal, said to Ahab, "Go home, eat and drink, for I hear the sound of abundance of rain;" which long-expected blessing descended from heaven according to his prediction, and gave additional proof to the truth of his mission from the only living and true God. </p> <p> <strong> 3. </strong> Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, threatened Elijah for having slain her prophets. He therefore fled to Beersheba, in the south of Judah, and thence into [[Arabia]] Petrea. In the evening, being exhausted with fatigue, he laid himself down under a juniper tree, and prayed God to take him out of the world. An angel touched him, and he arose, and saw a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water; and he ate and drank, and slept again. The angel again awakened him, and said, "Rise and eat, for the journey is too great for thee;" and he ate and drank, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb, the mount of God. Here he had visions of the glory and majesty of God, and conversed with him; and was commanded to return to the wilderness of Damascus, to anoint [[Hazael]] king over Syria, and Jehu king over Israel, and to appoint [[Elisha]] his successor in the prophetic office. Some years after, Ahab having seized Naboth's vineyard, the Lord commanded Elijah to reprove Ahab for the crime he had committed. Elijah met him going to Naboth's vineyard to take possession of it, and said, "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall they lick thy blood, even thine. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." Both of which predictions were fulfilled in the presence of the people. Ahaziah, king of Israel, being hurt by a fall from the platform of his house, sent to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether he should recover. Elijah met the messengers, and said to them, "Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Now, therefore, saith the Lord, Thou shalt surely die." The messengers of [[Ahaziah]] returned, and informed the king, that a stranger had told them he should certainly die; and Ahaziah knew that this was the [[Prophet]] Elijah. </p> <p> The king, therefore, sent a captain with his company of fifty men, to apprehend him; and when the officer was come to Elijah, who was sitting upon a hill, he said, "Thou man of God, the king commands thee to come down." Elijah answered, "If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty." The prophet's words were followed with the effect predicted. The king sent another captain, who was also consumed; but a third captain going to Elijah, intreated him to save him and his people's lives, and Elijah accompanied him to the king. By these fearful miracles he was accredited to this successor of Ahab as a prophet of the true God, and the destruction of these companies of armed men, was a demonstration of God's anger against the people at large. </p> <p> Elijah could not in this case act from any other impulse than that of the Spirit of God. </p> <p> <strong> 4. </strong> Elijah, understanding by revelation that God would soon translate him out of this world, was desirous of concealing this fact from Elisha, his inseparable companion. He therefore said to Elisha, "Tarry thou here, for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel." But Elisha answered, "I will not leave thee." At Bethel, Elijah said, "Tarry thou here, the Lord hath sent me to Jericho;" but Elisha replied, he would not forsake him. At [[Jericho]] Elijah desired him to stay; but Elisha would not leave him. They went therefore together to Jordan, and fifty of the sons of the prophets followed them at a distance. When they were come to the Jordan, Elijah took his mantle, and with it struck the waters, which divided, and they went over on dry ground. Elijah then said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee." "I pray thee," said Elisha, "let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me;" that is, obtain the gift of prophecy from God for me, in the same measure that thou possessest it. [[Double]] may signify like; or the gift of prophecy, and of miracles, in a degree double to what thou dost possess, or to what I now possess. Elijah answered, "Thou hast asked me a very hard thing; yet, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so." As they journeyed, a fiery chariot, with horses of fire, suddenly separated them, and Elijah was carried in a whirlwind to heaven; while Elisha exclaimed, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!" </p> <p> <strong> 5. </strong> Elijah was one of the most eminent of that illustrious and singular race of men, the [[Jewish]] prophets. Every part of his character is marked by a moral grandeur, which is heightened by the obscurity thrown around his connections, and his private history. He often wears the air of a supernatural messenger suddenly issuing from another world, to declare the commands of heaven, and to awe the proudest mortals by the menace of fearful judgments. His boldness in reproof; his lofty zeal for the honour of God; his superiority to softness, ease, and suffering, are the characters of a man filled with the Holy Spirit; and he was admitted to great intimacy with God, and enabled to work miracles of a very extraordinary and unequivocal character. These were called for by the stupid idolatry of the age, and were in some instances equally calculated to demonstrate the being and power of Jehovah, and to punish those who had forsaken him for idols. The author of [[Ecclesiasticus]] has an encomium to his memory, and justly describes him as a prophet "who stood up as fire, and whose word burned as a lamp." In the sternness and power of his reproofs, he was a striking type of John the Baptist, and the latter is therefore prophesied of, under his name. Malachi 4:5-6 , has this passage: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Our [[Saviour]] also declares that Elijah had already come in spirit, in the person of John the Baptist. At the transfiguration of our Saviour, Elijah and [[Moses]] both appeared and conversed with him respecting his future passion, Matthew 17:3-4; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30 . Many of the Jews in our Lord's time believed him to be Elijah, or that the soul of Elijah had passed into his body, Matthew 16:14; Mark 6:15; Luke 9:8 . In conclusion, we may observe, that to assure the world of the future existence of good men in a state of glory and felicity, and that in bodies changed from mortality to immortality, each of the three grand dispensations of religion had its instance of translation into heaven; the patriarchal in the person of ENOCH, the Jewish in the person of ELIJAH, and the [[Christian]] in the person of CHRIST. </p>

        <p> THE prophet [[Elijah]] towers up like a mountain in [[Gilead]] above all the other prophets. There is a solitary grandeur about Elijah that is all his own. There is a mystery and an unearthliness about Elijah that is all his own. There is a volcanic suddenness, and a volcanic violence, indeed, about all Elijah's descents upon us and all his disappearances from us. We call him Elijah the Tishbite, but we are no wiser of that. We do not even know where Tishbe is. Elijah has neither father nor mother. As Elijah never died, so he was never born, as we are born. Elijah came from God, and he went to God. Elijah stood before God till God could dispense with and spare Elijah out of His presence no longer. Elijah's very name will tell you all that, and more than all that, concerning both Elijah and his father and his mother, Eli-jah-my God is Jehovah. You may know the hearts of fathers and mothers to some extent, even among ourselves, by the names they give to their children. And I leave you to judge what kind of a father and mother they must have been who so boldly coined out of Moses, and out of their own hearts, this magnificent name for their circumcised child. Elijah had a heavenly name, but he had, to begin with, but an earthly nature. Elijah was a man, to begin with, subject to like passions as we are. Elijah was a man, indeed, of passions all compact. We never see Elijah that he is not subject to some passion or other. A passion of scorn and contempt; a passion of anger and revenge; a passion of sadness and dejection and despair; a passion of preaching; a passion of prayer. Elijah was a great man. There was a great mass of manhood in Elijah. He was a Mount-Sinai of a man, with a heart like a thunderstorm. That man among ourselves who has the most human nature in him and the most heart; the most heart and the most passion in his heart; the most love and the most hate; the most anger and the most meekness; the most scorn and the most sympathy; the most sunshine and the most melancholy; the most agony in prayer, and the most victorious assurance that, all the time, his prayer is already answered-that man is the likest of us all to the prophet Elijah; that man has Elijah's own mantle fallen upon him. Only, alas! there is no such man among us. There is no man among us fit, for one moment, to stand like Elijah before God. </p> <p> Now, whatever is the matter with us that God has not an Elijah among us, or anything like an Elijah, it is not that we are wanting in passions. We have all plenty of passions; and too much, since we are all so subject to our passions. What an ocean of all kinds of passions all our hearts are; and lashed with what winds without rest. What dark depths of self-love are in all our hearts. And what a master-passion is that same self-love. Self-love is a serpent; and, like the famous serpent in Scripture, it swallows up and swells out on all the other serpents of which our hearts are full. Yes; we all have passions enough to make us not Elijahs and Ahabs only, but angels in heaven, or devils in hell. And our passions are every day doing that within us. All the difference between Elijah and Ahab was in the subjection of their passions. Elijah was a man of immensely stronger passions than poor Ahab ever was; only Elijah's powerful passions all swept him up to heaven, whereas all Ahab's contemptible passions shouldered And shovelled and sucked him down to hell. [[Queen]] Jezebel, also, Ahab's wife, when she was still a woman-child, her passions were as sweet and pure and good and subject as were the passions of the [[Virgin]] Mary herself. The whole difference between Elijah and Ahab, and between [[Jezebel]] and the mother of our Lord was in their hearts' desires, till their hearts' desires grew up into all-consuming passions. </p> <blockquote> On life's vast ocean diversely we sail,Reason the card; but passion is the gale.May I govern my passions with absolute sway,And grow wiser and better as my strength wears away. </blockquote> <p> And what a passionate preacher Elijah was. You know the story of the play-actor who scouted the minister because he dawdled over his prayers and his sermons as if he was ashamed of his message. 'We act our parts in dead earnest,' he said; 'and that is the reason that you have to sell your empty churches to us to make our theatres out of them.' </p> <blockquote> Yea,This man's brow, like to a title-page,Foretells the nature of a tragic volume.Thou tremblest, and the whiteness of thy cheekIs apter than thy tongue to tell thy errand. </blockquote> <p> 'Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me in this matter of preaching. Lord, be Thou my helper. Turn my dreamings,' implores the passionate Andrewes, 'into earnestness, my follies into cleansings of myself, my guilt into indignation, my past sin into all the greater fear for the future, my sloth into passionate desire, and my pollution into revenge. And enable me, O my God, to bend all my passions of faith, and love, and hate, and fear, revenge, and remorse, and what not, in upon my own salvation, and the salvation of my people!' </p> <p> And then in prayer. The translators of the New [[Testament]] tell us that they have preserved the [[Apostle]] James's passionate idiom in the margin of the text, 'Elias with all his passions prayed in his prayer.' And I, for one, am for ever deep in their debt for their so doing, for the prophetic and apostolic idiom in the margin takes possession of my imagination. It touches my heart; it speaks to my conscience and that because, after all these years of prayer, how seldom it is that we really 'pray in our prayers,' as the apostle tells us that the prophet prayed. We repeat choice passages of scripture in our prayers. We recite with studied pathos classical paragraphs out of Isaiah and Ezekiel. We praise one man and we blame another man in our prayers. We pronounce appreciations and we pass judgments in our prayers. We do everything in our prayers but truly pray. The [[Bible]] naturally shows a preference for men of like passions with itself; and the more of his passions any man puts into his prayer, the more space and the more praise the Bible gives to that man. [[Jacob]] was a prince in the passionateness of his prayer all that night at the Jabbok. What a tempest of passion broke upon the throne of God all that night. What a tempest of fear, and despair, and remorse, and self-accusation, of all indeed that was within Jacob's passionate heart. Jacob's raging passions really tore him to pieces that terrible night in his prayer. His very thighbones were twisted and torn out of their sockets, and his strongest sinews snapped like so many silly threads. There was not on the face of the earth another night of passion in prayer like that for the next two thousand years. Esau, also, often halted upon his thigh. But that was with hunting too hard; that was with running down venison, and leaping hedges and ditches after his quarry. Esau wrestled with wild beasts with all his passions, but Jacob wrestled with the angel. Now, let any man among ourselves henceforth pray in his prayers like Jacob and Elijah: let any man among ourselves determine to put his passions into his prayers like Jacob and Elijah, and it will make him a new man. His heart, and all the passions of his heart, will, in that way, more and more be drawn off the things of this life, and will be directed in upon the great world that is within him, and above him, and before him. The heat of his heart will begin to burn after heavenly things. His passions, that have made him so impossible for men to live with, will now all become subdued, and softened, and sweetened till he will be like a little child in your hands. He was at one time so hard, so harsh, so impossible to please, so full of his own opinions and prejudices, so loud, and so forward, and so wilful. But you never hear him now, he so despises himself, and so honours, and respects, and yields up to you. Nothing in the world so renews a man as putting his passions into his prayers. This, in time, will make a saint of the very chief of sinners. This, in time, will turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. O why do we ministers not preach more about prayer, and about the employment of our own and our people's passions in prayer! But if your ministers do not so preach, and do not know the way-you are independent of them. There is a great literature of prayer, and it would splendidly and immediately repay and reward you and your households to have it in your hands every day. </p> <p> But Elijah would not be the great lesson to us that he is if he were always Elijah, with all his passions at all times at a flame in his prayers. That no man may glory before God, after all that Elijah has done, we see him before he dies just as weak, and as downcast, and as embittered, and as unhappy as if he had never known how to subdue and subject and sanctify his passions. No. It is no strange thing that is happening to us when we sit under our juniper-bush and say, 'It is enough. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.' Elijah was getting old. He was feeling lonely. His work seemed to him to have all come to nothing. Till death was now his only desire, and the grave his true resting-place. All men have their own dejections, and defeats, and despairs. But ministers far more than all other men. Partly from themselves; partly from the peculiar nature of their work; and partly from the deadly opposition to it in the world, and in the hearts of their people. What have I been spending all my life for? an old minister asks himself. Who is any better of all my work? Who is any holier or any happier, or whose house? Who is any less selfish, any less proud, any less worldly-minded, any less envious, any less ill-natured, any less faultfinding, any less evil-spoken? So we despond. So we repine. So we despair. So we sit and say after the triumphs, and the praises, and the hopes of our youth are all past, and our early successes are all over. It is enough. And now, O Lord, take away my life. But it is our pride. It is our self-will. It is our passions coming out of our prayers and coming in between us and our despisers, opposers, and persecutors. How much better did Samuel behave himself when he was deprived and dismissed and his work all forgotten. Samuel's wisdom and sweetness and absolute heavenly-mindedness never came out more than in his solitary and superseded old age, when he counselled and comforted the people, and said, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will still teach you the good and the right way. In this way Samuel showed Elijah the way to keep his old heart young to the end, and his spirit quiet, and good, and sweet, and beautiful. And it was prayer that did it; and it was putting all his remaining passions still into his prayers to his very end; and it was in that way that Samuel did it, and that Elijah at last learned to do it also. </p> <p> For Elijah's passions all came back to all their first obedience, and to all their former splendid service, as he stood by [[Jordan]] and waited for his signal from the Lord. For, what was the chariot of [[Israel]] to Elijah that day, but Elijah's heart already in heaven? And what were those horses of fire that day, but all Elijah's passions all harnessed, in all their heaven-bounding strength, to that heavenly chariot? His faith, his fearlessness, his scorn of evil, his prayerfulness, his devotion to Israel and to God. Those horses of heavenly fire all spurned the earth as they stood and champed by the Jordan. And when the Lord would take up Elijah to Himself, all those horses of fire sprang with one leap up to heaven. And when [[Elisha]] saw it he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more. </p>

        <p> 1 Kings 17:1 (c) He is a type of CHRIST as Lord, as King, as the Lion, and as the Eagle. The word means "GOD is the Lord." </p>

        <p> '''''ē̇''''' -'''''lı̄´ja''''' ( אליּהוּ , <i> ''''''ēlı̄yāhū''''' </i> or (4 times) אליּה , <i> ''''''ēlı̄yāh''''' </i> , "Yah is God"; [[Septuagint]] Ἠλειού , <i> '''''Ēleioú''''' </i> , New [[Testament]] Ἠλείας , <i> '''''Ēleı́as''''' </i> or <i> '''''Elı̄́as''''' </i> , the King James Version of New Testament [[Elias]] ): </p> <p> I. The Works of [[Elijah]] </p> <p> 1. The [[Judgment]] of [[Drought]] </p> <p> 2. The [[Ordeal]] by [[Prayer]] </p> <p> 3. At [[Horeb]] </p> <p> 4. The Case of [[Naboth]] </p> <p> 5. Elijah and [[Ahaziah]] </p> <p> 6. Elijah Translated </p> <p> 7. The Letter to [[Jehoram]] </p> <p> II. The Work of Elijah </p> <p> III. Character of the [[Prophet]] </p> <p> IV. [[Miracles]] in the Elijah Narratives </p> <p> V. Elijah in the New Testament </p> <p> Literature </p> <p> (1) The great prophet of the times of Ahab, king of Israel. Elijah is identified at his first appearance ( 1 Kings 17:1 ) as "Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead." Thus his native place must have been called Tishbeh. A T ishbeh (Thisbe) in the territory of [[Naphtali]] is known from [[Tobit]] 1:2; but if (with most modern commentators) the reading of the Septuagint in 1 Ki is followed, the word translated "sojourners" is itself "Tishbeh," locating the place in [[Gilead]] and making the prophet a native of that mountain region and not merely a "sojourner" there. </p> <h4> I. The Works of Elijah </h4> <p> In 1 Kings 16:29-34 we read of the impieties of Ahab, culminating in his patronage of the worship of the [[Tyrian]] Baal, god of his Tyrian queen [[Jezebel]] ( 1 Kings 16:31 ). 1 Kings 16:34 mentions as another instance of the little weight attached in Ahab's time to ancient prophetic threatenings, the rebuilding by Hiel the [[Bethelite]] of the banned city of Jericho, "with the loss" of Hiel's eldest and youngest sons. This is the situation which calls for a judgment of Yahweh, announced beforehand, as is often the case, by a faithful prophet of Yahweh. </p> <p> 1. The Judgment of Drought </p> <p> Whether Elijah was already a familiar figure at the court of Ahab, the narrative beginning with 1 Kings 17:1 does not state. His garb and manner identified him as a prophet, in any case ( 2 Kings 1:8; compare Zechariah 13:4 ). Elijah declared in few words that Yahweh, true and only rightful God of Israel, whose messenger he was, was even at the very time sending a drought which should continue until the prophet himself declared it at an end. The term is to be fixed, indeed, not by Elijah but by Yahweh; it is not to be short ("these years"), and it is to end only when the chastisement is seen to be sufficient. Guided, as true prophets were continually, by the "word of Yahweh," Elijah then hid himself in one of the ravines east of ("before") the Jordan, where the brook [[Cherith]] afforded him water, and ravens brought him abundant food ("bread and flesh" twice daily), 1 Kings 17:2-6 . As the drought advanced the brook dried up. Elijah was then directed, by the "word of Yahweh," as constantly, to betake himself beyond the western limit of Ahab's kingdom to the Phoenician village of Zarephath, near Sidon. There the widow to whom Yahweh sent him was found gathering a few sticks from the ground at the city gate, to prepare a last meal for herself and her son. She yielded to the prophet's command that he himself should be first fed from her scanty store; and in return enjoyed the fulfillment of his promise, uttered in the name of Yahweh, that neither barrel of meal nor cruse of oil should be exhausted before the breaking of the drought. (Josephus, <i> Ant </i> , VIII, xiii, 2, states on the authority of [[Menander]] that the drought extended to [[Phoenicia]] and continued there for a full year.) But when the widow's son fell sick and died, the mother regarded it as a [[Divine]] judgment upon her sins, a judgment which had been drawn upon her by the presence of the man of God. At the prayer of Elijah, life returned to the child ( 1 Kings 17:17-24 ). </p> <p> "In the third year," 1 Kings 18:1 ( Luke 4:25; James 5:17 give three years and six months as the length of the drought), Elijah was directed to show himself to Ahab as the herald of rain from Yahweh. How sorely both man and beast in [[Israel]] were pressed by drought and the resulting famine, is shown by the fact that King Ahab and his chief steward Obadiah were in person searching through the land for any patches of green grass that might serve to keep alive some of the king's own horses and mules ( 1 Kings 18:5 , 1 Kings 18:6 ). The words of Obadiah upon meeting with Elijah show the impression which had been produced by the prophet's long absence. It was believed that the [[Spirit]] of God had carried Elijah away to some unknown, inaccessible, mysterious region ( 1 Kings 18:10 , 1 Kings 18:12 ). Obadiah feared that such would again be the case, and, while he entreated the prophet not to make him the bearer of a message to Ahab, appealed to his own well-known piety and zeal, as shown in his sheltering and feeding, during Jezebel's persecution, a hundred prophets of Yahweh. Elijah reassured the steward by a solemn oath that he would show himself to Ahab ( 1 Kings 18:15 ). The king greeted the prophet with the haughty words, "Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?" Elijah's reply, answering scorn with scorn, is what we should expect from a prophet; the woes of Israel are not to be charged to the prophet who declared the doom, but to the kings who made the nation deserve it ( 1 Kings 18:17 , 1 Kings 18:18 ). </p> <p> 2. The Ordeal by Prayer </p> <p> Elijah went on to challenge a test of the false god's power. Among the pensioners of Jezebel were 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the [[Asherah]] - still fed by the royal bounty in spite of the famine. Accepting Elijah's proposal, Ahab called all these and all the people to Mt. [[Carmel]] ( 1 Kings 18:19 , 1 Kings 18:20 ). Elijah's first word to the assembly implied the folly of their thinking that the allegiance of a people could successfully be divided between two deities: "How long go ye limping between the two sides?" (possibly "leaping over two thresholds," in ironical allusion to the custom of leaping over the threshold of an idol temple, to avoid a stumble, which would be unpropitious; compare 1 Samuel 5:1-5 ). Taking the people's silence as an indication that they admitted the force of his first words, Elijah went on to propose his conditions for the test: a bullock was to be offered to Baal, a bullock to Yahweh, but no fire put under; "The God that answereth by fire, let him be God." The voice of the people approved the proposal as fair ( 1 Kings 18:22-24 ). Throughout a day of blazing sunshine the prophets of Baal called in frenzy upon their god, while Elijah mocked them with merciless sarcasm ( 1 Kings 18:25-29 ). About the time for the regular offering of the evening sacrifice in the temple of Yahweh at Jerusalem, Elijah assumed control. Rebuilding an ancient altar thrown down perhaps in Jezebel's persecution; using in the rebuilding twelve stones, symbolizing an undivided Israel such as was promised to the patriarch [[Jacob]] of old; drenching sacrifice and wood with water from some perennial spring under the slopes of Carmel, until even a trench about the altar, deep and wide enough to have a two- <i> '''''ṣe'āh''''' </i> (half-bushel) measure set in it, was filled - the prophet called in few and earnest words upon the God of the fathers of the nation ( 1 Kings 18:30-37 ). The answer of Yahweh by fire, consuming bullock, wood, altar and the very dust, struck the people with awe and fear. Convinced that Yahweh was God alone for them, they readily carried out the prophet's stern sentence of death for the prophets of the idol god ( 1 Kings 18:38-40 ). Next the prophet bade Ahab make haste with the meal, probably a sacrificial feast for the multitude, which had been made ready; because rain was at hand. On the mountain top Elijah bowed in prayer, sending his servant seven times to look out across the sea for the coming storm. At last the appearance of a rising cloud "as small as a man's hand" was reported; and before the hurrying chariot of the king could cross the plain to [[Jezreel]] it was overtaken by "a great rain" from heavens black with clouds and wind after three rainless years. With strength above nature, Elijah ran like a courier before Ahab to the very gate of Jezreel ( 1 Kings 18:41-46 ). </p> <p> 3. At Horeb </p> <p> The same night a messenger from Jezebel found Elijah. The message ran, "As surely as thou art Elijah and I am Jezebel" (so the Septuagint), "so let the gods do to me, and more also" (i.e. may I be cut in pieces like a sacrificed animal if I break my vow; compare [[Genesis]] 15:8-11 , Genesis 15:17 , Genesis 15:18; Jeremiah 34:18 , Jeremiah 34:19 ), "if I make not thy life as the life of one of" the slain prophets of Baal "by to-morrow about this time." Explain Elijah's action how we may - and all the possible explanations of it have found defenders - he sought safety in instant flight. At Beersheba, the southernmost town of Judah, he left his "servant," whom the narrative does not elsewhere mention. Going onward into the southern wilderness, he sat down under the scanty shade of a desert broom-bush and prayed that he might share the common fate of mankind in death ( 1 Kings 19:1-4 ). After sleep he was refreshed with food brought by an angel. Again he slept and was fed. In the strength of that food he then wandered on for forty days and nights, until he found himself at Horeb, the mountain sacred because there Yahweh had revealed Himself to [[Moses]] ( 1 Kings 19:5-8 ). The repetition of identical words by Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10 and 1 Kings 19:14 represents a difficulty. Unless we are to suppose an accidental repetition by a very early copyist (early, since it appears already in the Septuagint), we may see in it an indication that Elijah's despondency was not easily removed, or that he sought at Horeb an especial manifestation of Yahweh for his encouragement, or both. The prophet was bidden to take his stand upon the sacred mount; and Yahweh passed by, heralded by tempest, earthquake and thunderstorm ( 1 Kings 19:9-12 ). These were Yahweh's fore-runners only; Yahweh was not in them, but in the "still small voice," such as the prophets were accustomed to hear within their souls. When Elijah heard the not unfamiliar inner voice, he recognized Yahweh present to hear and answer him. Elijah seems to be seeking to justify his own retreat to the wilderness by the plea that he had been "very jealous," had done in Yahweh's cause all that mortal prophet could do, before he fled, yet all in vain! The same people who had forsaken the law and "covenant" of Yahweh, thrown down His altars and slain His prophets, would have allowed the slaughter of Elijah himself at the command of Jezebel; and in him would have perished the last true servant of Yahweh in all the land of Israel ( 1 Kings 19:13 , 1 Kings 19:14 ). </p> <p> Divine compassion passed by Elijah's complaint in order to give him directions for further work in Yahweh's cause. Elijah must anoint [[Hazael]] to seize the throne of Syria, Israel's worst enemy among the neighboring powers; Jehu, in like manner, he must anoint to put an end to the dynasty of Ahab and assume the throne of Israel; and Elisha, to be his own successor in the prophetic office. These three, Hazael and his Syrians, Jehu and his followers, even [[Elisha]] himself, are to execute further judgments upon the idolaters and the scorners in Israel. Yahweh will leave Himself 7,000 (a round number, a limited but not an excessively small one, conveying a doctrine, like the doctrine of later prophets, of the salvation of a righteous remnant) in Israel, men proof against the judgment because they did not share the sin. If Elijah was rebuked at all, it was only in the contrast between the 7,000 faithful and the one, himself, which he believed to number all the righteous left alive in Israel ( 1 Kings 19:15-18 ). </p> <p> 4. The Case of Naboth </p> <p> The anointing of Hazael and of Jehu seems to have been left to Elijah's successor; indeed, we read of no anointing of Hazael, but only of a significant interview between that worthy and Elisha ( 2 Kings 8:7-15 ). Elijah next appears in the narrative as rebuker of Ahab for the judicial murder of Naboth. In the very piece of ground which the king had coveted and seized, the prophet appeared, unexpected and unwelcome, to declare upon Ahab, Jezebel and all their house the doom of a shameful death (1 Ki 21). There was present at this scene, in attendance upon the king, a captain named Jehu, the very man already chosen as the supplanter of Ahab, and he never forgot what he then saw and heard ( 2 Kings 9:25 , 2 Kings 9:26 ). </p> <p> 5. Elijah and Ahaziah </p> <p> Ahab's penitence ( 1 Kings 21:28 , 1 Kings 21:29 ) averted from himself some measure of the doom. His son Ahaziah pulled it down upon his own head. Sick unto death from injuries received in a fall, Ahaziah sent to ask an oracle concerning his recovery at the shrine of Baal-zebub in Ekron. Elijah met the messengers and turned them back with a prediction, not from Baal-zebub but from Yahweh, of impending death. Ahaziah recognized by the messengers' description the ancient "enemy" of his house. A captain and fifty soldiers sent to arrest the prophet were consumed by fire from heaven at Elijah's word. A second captain with another fifty met the same fate. A third besought the prophet to spare his life, and Elijah went with him to the king, but only to repeat the words of doom (2 Ki 1). </p> <p> 6. Elijah Translated </p> <p> A foreboding, shared by the "sons of the prophets" at Beth-el and Jericho, warned Elijah that the closing scene of his earthly life was at hand. He desired to meet the end, come in what form it might, alone. Elisha, however, bound himself by an oath not to leave his master. Elijah divided [[Jordan]] with the stroke of his mantle, that the two might pass over toward the wilderness on the east. Elisha asked that he might receive a firstborn's portion of the spirit which rested upon his master. "A chariot of fire, and horses of fire" appeared, and parted the two asunder; "and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" ( 2 Kings 2:1-11 ). </p> <p> 7. The Letter to Jehoram </p> <p> In 2 Chronicles 21:12-15 we read of a "writing" from Elijah to Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. The statements of 2 Kings 3:11 , 2 Kings 3:12 admit of no other interpretation than that the succession of Elisha to independent prophetic work had already occurred in the lifetime of Jehoshaphat. It has been pointed out that the difficult verse, 2 Kings 8:16 , appears to mean that Jehoram began to reign at some time before the death of his father; it is also conceivable that Elijah left a message, reduced to writing either before or after his departure, for the future king of [[Judah]] who should depart from the true faith. </p> <h4> II. The Work of Elijah </h4> <p> One's estimate of the importance of the work of Elijah depends upon one's conception of the condition of things which the prophet confronted in Northern Israel. While it is true that the reign of Ahab was outwardly prosperous, and the king himself not without a measure of political sagacity together with personal courage, his religious policy at best involved such tolerance of false faiths as could lead only to disaster. Ever since the time of Joshua, the religion of Yahweh had been waging its combat with the old Canaanite worship of the powers of Nature, a worship rendered to local deities, the "Baalim" or "lords" of this and that neighborhood, whose ancient altars stood "upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree" ( Deuteronomy 12:2 ). The god imported from Phoenicia by Jezebel bore also the title Baal; but his character and his worship were worse and more debasing than anything that had before been known. Resistance offered by the servants of Yahweh to the claims of the queen's favored god led to persecution, rightly ascribed by the historian to Jezebel ( 1 Kings 18:4 ). In the face of this danger, the differences between the worship of Yahweh as carried on in the Northern Kingdom and the same worship as practiced at [[Jerusalem]] sank out of sight. The one effort of Elijah was to recall the people from the Tyrian Baal to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. The vitality of the true religion in the crisis is shown by the fidelity of such a man as Obadiah ( 1 Kings 18:3 f), or by the perseverance of a righteous remnant of 7,000, in spite of all that had happened of persecution ( 1 Kings 19:18 ). The work begun by Elijah was finished, not without blood, by Jehu; we hear no more of the worship of the Tyrian Baal in Israel after that anointed usurper's time (2 Ki 9; 10). To say that Elijah at Horeb "learns the gentleness of God" (Strachan in <i> HDB </i> ) is to contradict the immediate text of the narrative and the history of the times. The direction given Elijah was that he should anoint one man to seize the throne of Syria, another to seize that of Israel, and a prophet to continue his own work; with the promme and prediction that these three forces should unite in executing upon guilty Israel the judgment still due for its apostasy from Yahweh and its worship of a false god. Elijah was not a reformer of peace; the very vision of peace was hidden from his eyes, reserved for later prophets for whom he could but prepare the way. It was his mission to destroy at whatever cost the heathen worship which else would have destroyed Israel itself, with consequences whose evil we cannot estimate. Amos and Hosea would have had no standing-ground had it not been for the work of Elijah and the influences which at Divine direction he put in operation. </p> <h4> III. Character of the Prophet </h4> <p> It is obvious that the [[Scripture]] historian does not intend to furnish us with a character-study of the prophet Elijah. Does he furnish even the material upon which such a study may profitably be attempted? The characterization found in James 5:17 , "Elijah was a man of like passions (margin, "nature") with us," is brief indeed; but examination of the books which have been written upon the life of Elijah leads to the conclusion that it is possible to err by attaching to events meanings which those events were never intended to bear, as well as by introducing into one's study too much of sheer imagination. It is easy, for example, to observe that Elijah is introduced <i> to the reader </i> with suddenness, and that his appearances and disappearances <i> in the narrative </i> seem abrupt; but is one warranted in arguing from this a like abruptness in the prophet's character? Is not the sufficient explanation to be reached by observing that the historian's purpose was not to give a complete biography of any individual, whether prophet or king, but to display the working of Yahweh upon and with the kingdoms of Israel and Judah through the prophets? Few personal details are therefore to be found recorded concerning even such a prophet as Elijah; and none at all, unless they have a direct bearing upon his message. The imagination of some has discerned a "training of Elijah" in the experiences of the prophet; but to admit that there must have been such a training does not oblige us to discover traces of it in the scenes and incidents which are recorded. </p> <p> Distrusting, for the reasons above suggested, any attempt at a detailed representation of the prophet's inner life, one may seek, and prize, what seems to lie upon the surface of the narrative: faith in Yahweh as God of Nature and as covenant God of the patriarchs and their descendants; consuming "zeal" against the false religion which would displace Yahweh from the place which must be His alone; keen vision to perceive hypocrisy and falsehood, and sharp wit to lash them, with the same boldness and disregard of self that must needs mark the true prophet in any age. </p> <h4> IV. Miracles in the Elijah Narratives </h4> <p> The miraculous element must be admitted to be prominent in the experiences and works of Elijah. It cannot be estimated apart from the general position which the student finds it possible to hold concerning miracles recorded in the Old Testament. The effort to explain away one or another item in a rationalistic way is wholly unprofitable. Elijah's "ravens" may indeed be converted by a change of vowel-points into "Arabians"; but, in spite of the fact that Orientals would bring offerings of food to a holy hermit, the whole tenor of the narrative favors no other supposition than that its writer meant "ravens," and saw in the event another such exercise of the power of Yahweh over all things as was to be seen in the supply of meal and oil for the prophet and the widow of Zarephath, the fire from heaven, the parting of the Jordan, or the ascension of the prophet by whirlwind into heaven. Some modern critics recognize a different and later source in the narrative of 2 Ki 1; but here again no real difficulty, if any difficulty there be, is removed. The stern prophet who would order the slaughter of the 450 Baal prophets might well call down fire to consume the soldiers of an apostate and a hostile king. The purpose and meaning of the Elijah chapters is to be grasped by those who accept their author's conception of Yahweh, of His power, and of His work in Nature and with men, rather than by those who seek to replace that conception by another. </p> <h4> V. Elijah in the New Testament </h4> <p> Malachi ( Malachi 4:5 ) names Elijah as the forerunner of "the great and terrible day of Yahweh," and the expectation founded upon this passage is alluded to in Mark 6:15 parallel Luke 9:8; Matthew 16:14 parallel Mark 8:28 parallel Luke 9:19; Matthew 27:47-49 parallel Mark 15:35 , Mark 15:36 . The interpretation of Malachi's prophecy foreshadowed in the angelic annunciation to [[Zacharias]] Luke 1:17 ), that John the [[Baptist]] should do the work of another Elijah, is given on the authority of [[Jesus]] Himself ( Matthew 11:14 ). The appearance of Elijah, with Moses, on the Mount of Transfiguration, is recorded in Matthew 17:1-13 parallel Mark 9:2-13 parallel Luke 9:28-36 , and in Matthew 11:14 parallel Mark 9:13 Jesus again identifies the Elijah of Malachi with John the Baptist. The fate of the soldiers of Ahaziah (2 Ki 1) is in the mind of James and John on one occasion ( Luke 9:54 ). Jesus Himself alludes to Elijah and his sojourn in the land of [[Sidon]] ( Luke 4:25 , Luke 4:26 ). Paul makes use of the prophet's experience at Horeb ( Romans 11:2-4 ). In James 5:17 , James 5:18 the work of Elijah affords an instance of the powerful supplication of a righteous man. </p> <p> (2) A "head of a father's house" of the tribe of [[Benjamin]] ( 1 Chronicles 8:27 , the King James Version "Eliah"). </p> <p> (3) A man of priestly rank who had married a foreign wife ( Ezra 10:21 ). </p> <p> (4) A layman who had married a foreign wife ( Ezra 10:26 ). </p> <h4> Literature </h4> <p> The histories of Israel and commentaries on Kings are many. Those which tend to rationalizing tend also to decrease the importance of Elijah to the history. F. W. Robertson, <i> Sermons </i> , 2nd series, V; Maurice, <i> [[Prophets]] and Kings of the Old Testament </i> , [[Sermon]] VIII; Milligan, <i> Elijah </i> ("Men of the Bible" series); W. M. Taylor, <i> Elijah the Prophet </i> . </p>

        <p> Eli´jah (Jehovah is God). This wonderworking prophet is introduced to our notice like another [[Melchizedek]] , without any mention of his father or mother, or of the beginning of his days. From this silence of [[Scripture]] as to his parentage and birth, much vain speculation has arisen. Some suppose that [[Elijah]] is called a [[Tishbite]] from Tishbeh, a city beyond the Jordan. The very first sentence that the prophet utters is a direful denunciation against Ahab; and this he supports by a solemn oath: 'As the Lord God of [[Israel]] liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years (i.e. three and a half years,; ), but according to my word' . Before, however, he spoke thus, it would seem that he had been warning this most wicked king as to the fatal consequences which must result both to himself and his people, from the iniquitous course he was then pursuing: and this may account for the apparent abruptness with which he opens his commission. </p> <p> We can imagine Ahab and [[Jezebel]] being greatly incensed against Elijah for having foretold and prayed that such calamities might befall them. For some time they might attribute the drought under which the nation suffered to natural causes, and not to the interposition of the prophet. When, however, they saw the denunciation of Elijah taking effect far more extensively than had been anticipated, they would naturally seek to wreak their vengeance upon him as the cause of their sufferings. But we do not find him taking one step for his own preservation, till the God whom he served said, 'Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan: and it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there' . Other and better means of protection from the impending danger might seem open to him; but, regardless of these, he hastened to obey the divine mandate, and 'went and dwelt by the brook [[Cherith]] that is before Jordan' . </p> <p> A fresh trial now awaits this servant of God (B.C. 909), and in the manner in which he bears it, we see the strength of his faith. For one year, as some suppose, God had miraculously provided for his bodily wants at Cherith; but the brook which, heretofore, had afforded him the needful refreshment there, became dried up. Encouraged by past experience of his heavenly Father's care of him, the prophet still waited patiently till He said, 'Arise , get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.' He then, at once, set out on the journey, and now arrived at Zarephath, he, in the arrangement of God's providence, met, as he entered its gate, the very woman who was deputed to give him immediate support. But his faith is again put to a sore test, for he found her engaged in a way which was well calculated to discourage all his hopes; she was gathering sticks for the purpose, as she assured him, of cooking her last meal, and now that the famine prevailed there, as it did in Israel, she saw nothing before her and her only son but starvation and death. How then could the prophet ask for, and how could she think of giving, a part of her last morsel? The same [[Divine]] [[Spirit]] inspired him to assure her that she and her child should be even miraculously provided for during the continuance of the famine: and also influenced her heart to receive, without doubting, the assurance! The kindness of this widow in baking the first cake for Elijah was well requited with a prophet's reward she afforded one meal to him, and God afforded many to her (see ). While residing here God accordingly saw fit to visit the family with a temporary calamity. 'And it came to pass that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick: and his sickness was so sore that there was no life left in him' . contains the expostulation with the prophet of this bereaved widow; she rashly imputes the death to his presence. Elijah retaliates not, but calmly takes the dead child out of the mother's bosom, and lays it on his own bed , that there he may, in private, pray the more fervently for its restoration. His prayer was heard, and answered by the restoration of life to the child, and of gladness to the widow's heart. </p> <p> Since now, however, the long-protracted famine, with all its attendant horrors, failed to detach Ahab and his guilty people from their abominable idolatries, God mercifully gave them another opportunity of repenting and turning to Himself. For three years and six months the destructive famine had spread its deadly influence over the whole nation of Israel. The prophet was then called by the word of the Lord to return to Israel. Wishing not to tempt God by going unnecessarily into danger, he first presented himself to good Obadiah . This principal servant of Ahab was also a true servant of God; and on recognizing the prophet he treated him with honor and respect. Elijah requested him to announce to Ahab that he had returned. Obadiah, apparently stung by the unkindness of this request, replied, 'What have I sinned, that thou shouldest thus expose me to Ahab's rage, who will certainly slay me for not apprehending thee, for whom he has so long and so anxiously sought in all lands and in confederate countries, that they should not harbor a traitor whom he looks upon as the author of the famine,' etc. Moreover, he would delicately intimate to Elijah how he had actually jeoparded his own life in securing that of one hundred of the Lord's prophets, and whom he had fed at his own expense. Satisfied with Elijah's reply to this touching appeal, wherein he removed all his fears about the Spirit's carrying himself away (as;; ), he resolves to be the prophet's messenger to Ahab. Intending to be revenged on him, or to inquire when rain might be expected, Ahab now came forth to meet Elijah. He at once charged him with being the main cause of all the calamities which he and the nation had suffered. But Elijah flung back the charge upon himself, assigning the real cause to be his own sin of idolatry. Regarding, however, his magisterial position, while he reproved his sin, he requests him to exercise his authority in summoning an assembly to Mount Carmel, that the controversy between them might be decided, whether the king or the prophet was the troubler of Israel. Whatever were the secret motives which induced Ahab to comply with this proposal, God directed the result. Elijah offered to decide this controversy between God and Baal by a miracle from Heaven. As fire was the element over which Baal was supposed to preside, the prophet proposes (wishing to give them every advantage) that, two bullocks being slain, and laid each upon a distinct altar, the one for Baal, the other for Jehovah, whichever should be consumed by fire must proclaim whose the people of Israel were, and whom it was their duty to serve. The people consent to this proposal. Elijah will have summoned not only all the elders of Israel, but also the four hundred priests of Baal belonging to Jezebel's court, and the four hundred and fifty who were dispersed over the kingdom. Confident of success, because doubtless God had revealed the whole matter to him, he enters the lists of contest with the four hundred and fifty priests of Baal. Having reconstructed an altar which had once belonged to God, with twelve stones—as if to declare that the twelve tribes of Israel should again be united in the service of Jehovah—and having laid thereon his bullock, and filled the trench by which it was surrounded with large quantities of water, lest any suspicion of deceit might occur to any mind I the prophet gives place to the Baalites—allows them to make trial first. In vain did these deceived and deceiving men call, from morning till evening, upon Baal—in vain did they now mingle their own blood with that of the sacrifice: no answer was given—no fire descended. </p> <p> Elijah having rebuked their folly and wickedness with the sharpest irony, and it being at last evident to all that their efforts to obtain the wished-for fire were vain, now, at the time of the evening sacrifice, offered up his prayer. The prayer of the Baalites was long, that of the prophet was short—charging God with the care of His covenant, of His truth, and of His glory—when, behold, 'the fire came down, licked up the water, and consumed not only the bullock, but the very stones of the altar also.' The effect of this on the mind of the people was what the prophet desired: acknowledging the awful presence of the Godhead, they exclaim, as with one voice, 'Jehovah He is the God! [[Jehovah]] He is the God!' Seizing the opportunity while the people's hearts were warm with the fresh conviction of this miracle, he bade them take those juggling priests and destroy them; and this he might lawfully do at God's direction, and under the sanction of His law . Ahab having now publicly vindicated God's violated law by giving his royal sanction to the execution of Baal's priests. Elijah informed him that he may go up to his tent on [[Carmel]] to take refreshment, for God will send the desired rain. In the meantime he prayed earnestly for this blessing: God heard and answered: a little cloud arose out of the [[Mediterranean]] sea, in sight of which the prophet now was, diffused itself gradually over the entire face of the heavens, and then emptied its refreshing waters upon the whole land of Israel. Here was another proof of the Divine mission of the prophet, from which, we should imagine, the whole nation must have profited; but subsequent events would seem to prove that the impression produced by these dealings of God was of a very partial and temporary character. Impressed with the hope that the report of God's miraculous action at Carmel might not only reach the ear, but also penetrate and soften the hard heart of Jezebel; and anxious that the reformation of his country should spread in and about [[Jezreel]] also, Elijah, strengthened, as we are told, from on high, now accompanies Ahab thither on foot. How ill-founded the prophet's expectation was, subsequent events too painfully proved. Jezebel, instead of receiving Elijah obviously as the messenger of God for good to her nation, now secretly conceived and openly declared her fixed purpose to put him to death. Dreading the vile woman's design, and probably thinking that there was no hope of producing any reformation among the people, he fled into the wilderness, and there longed for death. But God is still gracious to him, and at once touches his heart and corrects his petulancy by the ministration of His angel, and by an awful exhibition of His Divine power. And having done this, revealing Himself in the gentle accents of a still voice, He announces to him thathe must go and anoint [[Hazael]] king over Syria, Jehu king over Israel, and [[Elisha]] prophet in his own place, ere death can put a period to his labors. When God had comforted His prophet by telling him of these three instruments he had in store to vindicate his own insulted honor, then he convinced him of his mistake in saying 'I only am left alone,' etc. by the assurance that there were seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal. </p> <p> Leaving the cave of [[Horeb]] (B.C. 906), Elijah now proceeded to the field where he found Elisha in the act of plowing, and he cast his prophet's mantle over him, as a symbol of his being clothed with God's spirit. The Divine impression produced upon the mind of Elisha by this act of Elijah made him willing to leave all things and follow him. </p> <p> For about six years from this calling of Elisha we find no notice in the sacred history of Elijah, till God sent him once again to pronounce sore judgments upon Ahab and Jezebel for the murder of unoffending [[Naboth]] (, etc.). How he and his associate in the prophetic office employed themselves during this time we are no told. We need not dwell upon the complicated character of Ahab's wickedness (1 Kings 21), in winking at the murderous means whereby Jezebel procured for him the inalienable property of Naboth [AHAB; NABOTH]. When he seemed to be triumphing in the possession of his ill-obtained gain, Elijah stood before him, and threatened him, in the name of the Lord (. inclusive), that God would retaliate blood for blood, and that not on himself only—'his seventy sons shall die, and Jezebel shall become meat for dogs.' Fearing that these predictions would prove true, as those about the rain and fire had done, Ahab now assumed the manner of a penitent; and, though subsequent acts proved that his repentance was not permanent, yet God rewards his temporary abasement by a temporary arrest of judgment. We see, however, in after parts of this sacred history, how the judgments denounced against him, his abandoned consort, and children, took effect to the very letter. </p> <p> Elijah again retired from the history till an act of blasphemy on the part of Ahaziah, the son and successor of Ahab, causes God to call him forth. [[Ahaziah]] met with an injury, and, fearing that it might be unto death, he, as if to prove himself worthy of being the son of idolatrous Ahab and Jezebel, sent to consult Baalzebub, the idol-god of Ekron; but the angel of the Lord told Elijah to go forth and meet the messengers of the king , and assure them that he should not recover. Suddenly reappearing before their master, he said unto them, 'Why are ye now turned back?' when they answered, 'There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord: Is it not because there is no God in Israel that thou sendest to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Wherefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.' [[Conscience]] seems to have at once whispered to him that the man who dared to arrest his messengers with such a communication must be Elijah, the bold but unsuccessful reprover of his parents. Determined to chastise him for such an insult, he sent a captain and fifty armed men to bring him into his presence; but at Elijah's word fire descended from [[Heaven]] and consumed the whole band. Attributing this destruction of his men to some natural cause, he sent forth another company, on whom though the same judgment fell, this impious king is not satisfied till another and a similar effort is made to capture the prophet. The captain of the third band implored and found mercy at the hands of the prophet, who at once descended from Carmel and accompanied him to Ahaziah. Fearless of his wrath, Elijah now repeats to the king himself what he had before said to his messengers, and agreeably thereto, the sacred narrative informs us that Ahaziah died. </p> <p> The above was the last more public effort which the prophet made to reform Israel. His warfare being now accomplished on earth, God, whom he had so long and so faithfully served, will translate him in a chariot of fire to Heaven. Conscious of this, he determines to spend his last moments in imparting divine instruction to, and pronouncing his last benediction upon, the students in the colleges of [[Bethel]] and Jericho; accordingly, he made a circuit from Gilgal, near the Jordan, to Bethel, and from thence to Jericho. Wishing either to be alone at the moment of being caught up to Heaven; or, what is more probable, anxious to test the affection of Elisha (as [[Christ]] did that of Peter), he delicately intimates to him not to accompany him in this tour. But the faithful Elisha, to whom, as also to the schools of the prophets, God had revealed His purpose to remove Elijah, declares his fixed determination not to forsake his master now at the close of his earthly pilgrimage. Ere yet, however, the chariot of God descended for him, he asks what he should do for Elisha. The latter, conscious of the complicated and difficult duties which now awaited him, asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Elijah, acknowledging the magnitude of the request, yet promises to grant it on the contingency of Elisha seeing him at the moment of his rapture. Possibly this contingency was placed before him in order to make him more on the watch, that the glorious departure of Elijah should not take place without his actually seeing it. While standing on the other side of the Jordan, whose waters were miraculously parted for them to pass over on dry ground, angels descended, as in a fiery chariot, and, in the sight of fifty of the sons of the prophets and Elisha, carried Elijah into Heaven. Elisha, at this wonderful sight, cried out, like a bereaved child, 'My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof;' as if he had said, Alas! the strength and savior of Israel is now departed! But it was not so; for God designed that the mantle which fell from Elijah as he ascended should now remain with Elisha as a pledge that the office and spirit of the former had now fallen upon himself. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

        <p> A [[Jewish]] prophet, born at Tishbe, in Gilead, near the desert; prophesied in the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, in the 10th century B.C.; revealed himself as the deadly enemy of the worship of Baal, 400 of whose priests he is said to have slain with his own hand; his zeal provoked persecution at the hands of the king and his consort Jezebel, but the Lord protected him, and he was translated from the earth in a chariot of fire, "went up by a whirlwind into heaven." See Prophets, The . </p>

        <ref name="term_16026"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/elijah Elijah from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_17802"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/baker-s-evangelical-dictionary-of-biblical-theology/elijah Elijah from Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology]</ref>

        <ref name="term_18555"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/bridgeway-bible-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Bridgeway Bible Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_31443"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_35376"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_39913"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_45594"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hitchcock-s-bible-names/elijah Elijah from Hitchcock's Bible Names]</ref>

        <ref name="term_47693"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hawker-s-poor-man-s-concordance-and-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_50811"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/elijah Elijah from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>

        <ref name="term_55737"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/elijah Elijah from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>

        <ref name="term_65881"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_70024"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/elijah Elijah from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>

        <ref name="term_72343"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_80641"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/elijah Elijah from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref>

        <ref name="term_197260"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/whyte-s-dictionary-of-bible-characters/elijah Elijah from Whyte's Dictionary of Bible Characters]</ref>

        <ref name="term_197779"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/wilson-s-dictionary-of-bible-types/elijah Elijah from Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types]</ref>

        <ref name="term_3212"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/elijah Elijah from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref>

        <ref name="term_15606"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/elijah Elijah from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref>

        <ref name="term_38562"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/elijah Elijah from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>

        <ref name="term_72636"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/the-nuttall-encyclopedia/elijah Elijah from The Nuttall Encyclopedia]</ref>