As a prophet chauffeured by the Spirit of God (1 Kings 18:12; John 3:8), Elijah appears out of the blue in 1 Kings 17 – without any formal warning or introduction whatsoever – to reproof King Ahab, the most idolatrous King whom Israel had to endure. The wisdom of God is indeed marvellous for He raises the right person at the right time. As we sing in the Qolo of Wednesday Compline;
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦: 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘩𝘢𝘣, 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘫𝘢𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘩, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺-𝘉𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴.”
From Moses until the period of judges, Yahweh’s work is spearheaded by the High Priests. From King David, Yahweh worked through Kings. Finally, when the Kings fell for idolatry and rejected Yahweh, He begins a new form of ministry led by the prophets. Prophet Elijah kick starts this new paradigm of prophetic era and hence may indubitably be conferred with the title “Father of the Prophets.”
The life and witness of Elijah reinforce the meaning of his name which is “Yahweh is my God” (אליהו – Eliyahu). A maxim that Elijah often uses is “𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥…”This bolsters the fact that Elijah is the true prophet of Yahweh for the false ones could never stand before Him (Jer.23: 18, 22). With this axiom Elijah confronts King Ahab, son of Omri, who reigned over Israel in Samaria.
Ahab was the most notorious and outrageous King of Israel who overtly endorsed and practiced idolatry. He married a callous Sidonian Princess Jezebel (who would later become the chief contriver of anti-Yahweh pursuits in Ahab’s palace) and erected an altar for Baal and worshipped him. The Scripture records of King Ahab; “𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮” (1 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 16:33).
In a nutshell, King Ahab pitched a policy to “Re-Canaanitize Israel” as is symbolically depicted in his desire to convert the vineyard of Naboth into a vegetable garden (legan yaraq, לגן ירק) an expression used only in Deut 11:10 in reference to the land of Egypt.
Owing to the idolatry of King Ahab, Yahweh through his prophet Elijah, shut the heavens and withheld rain for 3 years and six months (1 Kings 17:1; Jas.5:17). Drought was one of the curses Yahweh had promised if Israel ever worshipped idols; “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥.” (𝘋𝘦𝘶𝘵. 28: 23-24).
As if the ordeal of drought was not enough, Yahweh sends off Elijah to Zarephath – Jezebel’s territory and thus the territory of Baal – thereby depriving Israel not only of food but also the word of God. On the contrary, the food of the widow of Zarephath is replenished and her son is raised from dead. Elijah becomes the first one to revive someone from dead an act which even the great Moses could not do. In so doing, Elijah proclaims Yahweh’s superiority not only above Baal – the Canaanite god of fertility but also over Mot – the Canaanite god of the underworld. What a sight to behold! Going into the territory of Baal and obliterating it outright.
In the third year of the drought, Elijah returned to Samaria and single-handedly renewed the Sinai-covenant on the Mount of Carmel. He openly challenged the 450 priests of Baal. Elijah asked for two bulls one for himself and one for the priests of Baal. Both of them chopped the bulls and laid them on wood. Then they both had to call on their respective gods. The god who answered with fire would be considered the true God. As expected no response came from Baal however Yahweh sent fire from heaven and consumed the offering of Elijah fulfilling the prophecy of David, “𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘳” (𝘗𝘴 51:19). Elijah then slaughtered all the prophets of Baal. After this Yahweh sent rain and renewed the land.
Elijah then headed to Beersheba and later to Mount Horeb where he sought God in a great wind, an earthquake and a fire all associated with Yahweh’s advent (2 Sam 22:11; Is 29:6). Yet he encountered God in a voice entrusting him with three tasks to overthrow King Ahab’s house which were to anoint Hazael (a Gentile) and Jehu (an Israelite) as the two swords of Yahweh and Elisha as a prophet who would assume his place.
The investiture of Elisha was performed with the prophetic mantle Elijah adorns as he stands before Yahweh in his prophetic capacity (1 Kings 19:19) and therefore it should not be surprising that Elisha receives this mantle as the double share of Elijah’s spirit as he dodging death is taken up to heaven by a whirlwind in a fiery chariot driven by two horses of fire.
May I conclude with the words of St. Jacob of Serug;
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘫𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘮𝘱, ‘𝘎𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘐 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘎𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦. 𝘎𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦.’”
~ 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐨 𝐅𝐫. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥
Urho, The Way 