A man who saw God and a zealot for faith in God
Is there anybody who doesn’t know about the Holy Prophet Elijah? I believe everybody knows about him, including atheists. He lived so long ago that he seems to be totally “inaccessible” to us. Among our fellow countrymen, this unique holy man is mainly associated with traditional folklore and superstitions. For example: “When it is thundering, St. Elijah is riding his chariot across the sky;” “St. Elias Day marks the beginning of haymaking season.”
Who is the real Prophet Elijah? He is a saint. He was the kind of prophet who could take a sword and stab 450 false prophets to death. Though St. Elijah is in Heaven, he never died. Though he is a righteous man of the Old Testament, he revealed new amazing truths about God to us.
Elijah, name and historical context
Elijah appears in the history of the Hebrews, having lived around the year 900 BC, in Tishbe, which was in the northern kingdom, when the people were divided into two kingdoms (Israel in the north and Judah in the south). According to biblical information about the prophet, he exercised his ministry during the reign of King Ahab. Its history is recorded in the Books of Kings, which are basically chronicles about the rulers of Israel and the political institutionalization of the Hebrews, in some of its phases, and their intercultural and interreligious relations, which occurred because of this institutionalization and its contact with neighbouring peoples. The name of the prophet Elijah means 'Yahweh is my God'.
Elijah the Holy Prophet
The holiness of the prophet Elijah is attested in the Books of Kings in several ways. Some passages testify to his complex personality, great authority in his speech, and use of irony unprecedented among the prophets. The book of Ecclesiasticus has a reference to some of Elijah's deeds, a fitting summary of his merits:
'His words burned like a blazing torch. Elijah the prophet soon arose like a fire. He caused famine to come upon Israel. He closed the sky and caused the fire to fall three times. How glorious you have become, Elijah, by your wonders! Who can boast of being like you? You raised a dead man from the dead, by the word of the Lord; Thou hast cast kings to ruin, Thou hast smitten without their power, Thou hast caused glorious men to fall from their beds. "On Sinai, you heard the judgment of the Lord, and on Horeb his decrees. You consecrated kings for penance, and prophets to succeed you. You were caught up in a chariot of fire. Chosen to soften the wrath of the Lord, reconcile fathers to children, and restore the tribes of Jacob. Blessed are those who knew you, and were your friends!" (Eclo 48, 1-11). In addition to the Bible and the writings of tradition, the piety of the Jewish people has customs that constantly remind the prophet: in the paschal celebration, they put a glass of wine on the table, leaving the door open for Elijah to enter and drink! In circumcision ceremonies, they mark a seat for the prophet, considered a 'guardian angel' of the Jewish child.
Elijah the Holy Prophet in the New Testament
Elijah appears, in the New Testament, with Jesus, when he is transfigured on Mount Tabor. He appears on one side, and Moses on the other, meaning that Jesus is at the centre of the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) and gives fullness to both. Elijah, the greatest of the prophets, is so admired in Judaism that it was even said that before the Messiah came, he had to reappear. Jesus says, about John the Baptist: 'Elijah has already come', responding to this hope (Mt 17, 10-11). Thus, Christianity also continues to admire the prophet: Saint Elijah. This sanctity is recognized in some deeds that the Church understands as prefigurations of Jesus Christ. For example, when Elijah raises a dead person: the son of the widow of Sarepta would be a direct reference to the resurrection of Jesus. There are also other characteristics of the prophet Elijah, such as his trust in God, prudence and great compassion. The passage about flour and oil that was never used up is understood as a reference to the sacrament of the Eucharist. Elijah's rapture is a prefiguration of Christ ascending to heaven in the Ascension. All of this justifies Christianity calling this prophet Saint Elijah, who predates him by nine hundred years! The Qur'an also testifies to admiration for the saint, saying that he was a great and just prophet - the three great religions that share the one God recognize Elijah's holiness. who predates him by nine hundred years! The Qur'an also testifies to admiration for the saint, saying that he was a great and just prophet - the three great religions that share the one God recognize Elijah's holiness. who predates him by nine hundred years! The Qur'an also testifies to admiration for the saint, saying that he was a great and just prophet - the three great religions that share the one God recognize Elijah's holiness.
Elijah, the holy prophet in the Tradition
The Bible makes reference to the holiness of Elijah speaking of the power of his word, his power over nature and fire, and the power of his prayer. This sanctity shines through even more in a passage of a slightly different tone from these impressive manifestations: when he perceives the presence of God in a subtle breeze. The prophet, pursued by his opponents, goes to Mount Horeb. In that moment of trial and discouragement, a great wind and a great earthquake pass, but he does not recognize the presence of God there. However, when a light breeze passes, he covers his face as a sign of humility and resumes his mission, receiving from that divine presence the courage to defeat the priests of Baal. It is at this moment that Elijah summons the people to Mount Carmel and there, he defeats the false prophets, bringing Israel back to faithfulness to God. This capacity for contemplation and his life of prayer, plus the testimony that the early Fathers of the Church left in their writings on the interpretation of the scriptures, gave rise to a whole tradition of monks and hermits who lived this way of relating to God.
Ancient writers attribute to him the virtue of virginity. Cornelius a Lápide, a biblical commentator, speaks of his holiness, austerity and innocence, and this last term means precisely consecrated virginity. By saying 'model of the monks', in the litany of Saint Elijah, it is affirmed that he was the forerunner of the consecrated life, the model of those consecrated to God. They gave rise to a whole tradition of monks and hermits who lived this way of relating to God.
The Prophet's First Wonder
"As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain in these years, but according to the words of my mouth" (1 Kings, 17, I). So, by order and by the prayer of the Prophet, for the punishment of the wicked, heaven was closed, and drought and famine came on Israel for more than three years.
The great Saint John Chrysostom comments on the Eliatic prodigy in these terms: "When Elijah, the most holy prophet, laid eyes on the prevaricating people who, despising the Lord, worshipped Baal, moved by the zeal of God, decreed against Judea the sentence of drought and from the sterility of the rain. Then suddenly the earth gives off vapours, the sky closes, the rivers dry up, the fountains are extinguished, bronze boils, the temperature tortures, the tranquillity becomes painful, the nights become dry, the days arid, the corns wither, the bushes wither, the meadows wither, the groves languish, the fields fast, the earth becomes waste, its herbs die". (Sermon by John Chrysostom)
It was in the course of this scourge, however, that Elijah's heart also shows mercy. Invoking the power of God, he obtains the resurrection of the only son of the widow of Sarepta who hosted him while famine punished Israel ( 1 Kings, 17,21.). In this regard, Cornelius a Lapide observes: "Elijah is the first man who, since the creation of the world, brought a dead man to life". Only Elisha, his follower and successor, would afterwards repeat the miracle in the Old Law.
Elijah the Ignopotent
This scourge Elijah only makes ceased after killing the four hundred and fifty false prophets. He orders Ahab that these assassins from Belial are gathered on Mount Carmel (a mountain in Palestine, located between Galilee and Samaria, ten kilometres from Nazareth), where he will challenge them to prove the power of Baal.
When Ahab saw him, he said, "Are you the one who is causing Israel to be troubled?" Baal. Nevertheless, send now, and gather all the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel" (1 Kings, 18, 17-20.). And before all the people, Elijah proclaims: "I am the only one left of the prophets of the Lord".
The oxen for the burnt offering are prepared, and so that fire from heaven may consume them, the prophets of Baal invoke their idol for three days. And the Thesbite ironizes: "Scream louder, because he is a god, and perhaps he is speaking or is found in some inn or on a journey, or is sleeping, and needs to be awakened".
Faced with the failure of the Baalites, Elijah invokes the Lord, he is answered and his holocaust is devoured by fire from heaven! The people prostrate to the ground and worship the true God through his servant Elijah. This one led the prophets of Baal to the stream of Cison, and there he killed them. And the curse of God departs from the country. Elijah, in Carmel, begs God to make it rain and is answered.
This ignopotence of his (power over the fire) Elijah will manifest prodigiously three times. And in this regard, Cornelius a Lapide comments, admiringly: "Whoever therefore resists Elijah, know that he has before him a victor and not a contender, for his battles, are the triumphs of the flames - whose pomp is light and whose applause is the roar of fires". This is Elijah, the fiery, the ignite!
"You who consecrated kings to avenge crimes, and made prophets for your successors" (Eccles. 48, 8)
The mission that the Lord God of hosts entrusts to him on Mount Horeb, Elijah will complete in a splendid victory: "Go and return on your way through the wilderness to Damascus; and when you are there, you shall anoint Hazael king of Syria, and Jehu the son of Nansi you shall anoint a king of Israel; and Elisha the son of Saphat, who is of Abelmeulah, thou shalt anoint him a prophet in thy place. , who have not bowed the knee to Baal and worshipped him by kissing his hand" (1 Kings 19, 15-18). The anointing of the kings of Syria and Israel was not done personally by the Prophet but by Elisha, heir to his mission. Ahab was slain in the war with Syria, his blood was licked by dogs, and afterwards, his house was annihilated by Jehu; Jezebel was thrown from a window by Jehu's soldiers and devoured by dogs.
Elijah's Ascension
Elijah's elevation is described in the Fourth Book of Kings in these words: "And as they (Elijah and Elisha) continued on their way, and they walked talking with one another, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them one from the other; and Elijah ascended into heaven in the midst of a whirlwind, and Elisha saw him and cried out, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its driver". According to the interpreters of Scripture, it is at this precise moment that Elisha is confirmed in his mission as the successor of the Holy Prophet. The Spirit of God led the Prophet. There is talk of an earthly Paradise or some other privileged place from which he would follow the events of this earth and even be able to intervene in them.
Belief in the coming of Elijah at the end of time, together with Enoch, is universal in the Church already in the first centuries of Christianity. The testimony of the Liturgy is eloquent in this sense: the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church celebrate the Holy Prophet, existing until the Mass of the Ascension of Elijah.
St. John Chrysostom gives the cause of the heavenly rapture of Elijah his extraordinary zeal. Otherwise, he would have destroyed the earth. Here is the dialogue that he figures between God and his Prophet: "Since you cannot bear sinners because of the excess of your zeal, ascend to Heaven; and I will be a pilgrim on earth. For if you remain longer you will end the human race, continually subjugated for thee .... ".
And in St. John Chrysostom's (the Doctor of the Church) Homily De Ascensione Eliae, comments: "God, King of kings, wanted to take .... his (prophet) Elijah, zealous in soul and body .... after the many and painful works, the most serious fatigues and cruel persecutions, the great and illustrious victories in so many combats. For it was fitting that he should be transferred to the heavenly realms ... the leader of the erring people, the governor of the priests, the ruler of voluptuous contenders, the leader of Israel who brought back to the yoke of the fear of God the lascivious and vagabond spirits.. .."
Elias still, representing the Law and the Prophets, together with Moses, appears next to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the transfiguration of Tabor, to give testimony of the divine sonship of the Messiah. (Mt 17) Elijah's mission is perpetuated throughout history from the community of the "sons of the prophets" on Mount Carmel, who in the Christian era came to be known as the "hermits of Elijah's cave". In the 13th century, they gave rise to the Order of Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel as the Order of Carmelites.
In the 18th century, Pope Benedict XIII granted permission to the Carmelite Order to place a statue of the Holy Prophet Elijah in the Vatican Basilica itself, which took place on February 15, 1727. And with the approval of the Sacred Congregation of Rites authorized to sing in the Litany of All Saints - Holy Prophet Elijah - Pray for us (Sancte pater Elia, Ora pro nobis); precisely because of all this deep connection of historical tradition.
Finally, let us join in the worship that the Carmelites pay to the Holy Prophet, in the mass on the 20th of July.
"Elijah was clothed like light, and his word was like a flame. In his zeal, he humbled kings and slew the prophets. Elijah, O chosen Prophet, you manifest yourself with fiery zeal for God, terrible and terrifying to the men of iniquity, unsheathing your sharp sword. ".
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